
Rookie Ted Ginn Jr. will get the chance to show his wares now that Chris Chambers has been traded tot he Chargers.
|
Snap
The NFL’s first regular season game in Europe will be this
Sunday in London. It works out pretty
well for Miami Dolphins’ fans. They
have one fewer home game to suffer through.
The winless Dolphins lost RB Ronnie Brown for the season with a torn
ACL. Until the injury, Brown had a
streak of four consecutive games with over 100 yards rushing. Veteran backup Jesse Chatman takes over for
Brown against the Giants. The Dolphins started the season with Brown at RB, Trent Green at
QB and Chris
Chambers as their #1 receiver.
All are gone now. Rookie WR Ted Ginn could
develop into something eventually, but the rest of the team is such a mess
right now. Ginn has value only in
keeper leagues. Could the Dolphins go 0-16?
That’s much more likely than the Patriots or Colts going undefeated.
Marc Bulger finally returned to action last week and mercifully ended
the tenure of Gus Frerotte as the Rams’ quarterback. Too bad Bulger did his best Frerotte
imitation with three interceptions. It’s
not entirely Bulger’s fault, with all the injuries that St. Louis has
suffered. The latest blow was the loss
of guard Claude
Terrell, who was released after being arrested. Terrell started three games for the Rams
this season. The offensive line was already
depleted by the loss of guard Mark Setterstrom and tackle Orlando Pace,
both of whom are on injured reserve.
The Rams are a mess. They might
get Steven Jackson back this
Sunday against the Browns, which would help.
Jackson missed the last four games with a groin injury. He still will have to find holes behind
that bad line, so Jackson carries some risk, even against a bad Browns defense.
Who is worse, Miami or St. Louis? My vote is for Miami since the Rams have at
least a few fantasy league options.
The Jets defense made RB Kenny Watson look like, well, Rudi Johnson last week. Johnson was inactive, nursing a sore hamstring and cursing his lost opportunity to face the Jets. Check the status of Johnson’s injury before setting your lineups. Watson, even if he starts, would not be a good fantasy choice against the Steelers on Sunday.
The
Packers figure to run a lot on the Broncos.
Denver has the worst run defense in the league. If he plays, DeShawn Wynn
could get his first 100-yard rushing game against the Broncos. However, Wynn injured his neck lifting
weights so check his status later in the week.
If he can’t go, then Ryan Grant or Vernand Morency would carry the rock.
The Travis Henry
countdown is down to two. The Broncos
running back has two more games before his appeal of a failed drug test. He faces a potential suspension after
Denver’s week 9 game. Henry bruised his ribs last Sunday against Pittsburgh, but you have to figure that he will drag himself out onto the field against Green Bay since he could have so little time left in his season. You have at
least another couple of weeks before the Selvin Young era begins in Denver.
Jacksonville
QB David Garrard
will miss the next two games with a high ankle sprain. Garrard was having a very good season in the
ultra-conservative Jaguars offense. Quinn Gray gets the start against Tampa
Bay. Gray was terrible in relief of
Garard last week, posting a QB Rating of 11.1.
Garard’s rating is 102.9 for the season--- that’s quite a drop-off to
Gray.
Minnesota QB
Tarvaris Jackson
suffered a broken finger on his throwing hand last week against Dallas. Tendons and ligaments were pulled off the
bone in the injury. Yuck. The Vikings are overly optimistic about
Jackson playing against Philadelphia given this type of injury. Kelly Holcomb gets the start if Jackson can’t grip or throw the ball.
Titans QB Vince Young’s
injured quadriceps is improving and he expects to play this Sunday against
Oakland. Young was in uniform last
week, but only as an emergency backup. Kerry Collins took the start against
Houston.
It’s
unclear which quarterback will get the start for the Raiders at Tennessee this
week. Josh
McCown is close to returning from his toe injury, though Daunte
Culpepper could get one more start. Culpepper has been serviceable
in McCown’s absence.
Houston QB
Matt Schaub is hurting all over from last week’s loss to Tennessee. He
has a bruised right hip and left ankle and a lingering thigh bruise. Nevertheless, he figures to play
Sunday. Expect Schaub to have a tough
day – WR Andre
Johnson is still out and the Chargers defense is capable of knocking around the wounded Schaub.
Crackle
Houston RB
Ahman
Green has had a tough go since returning from a knee injury. He has rushed for only 83 yards in his last two games, for only a three yard average. It won’t get any easier against a strong Chargers run defense.
Washington RB Clinton Portis is still looking for that first 100-yard game of the season. He won’t get it against the Patriots defense. Everyone on the Redskins will be overmatched against New England. That includes QB Jason Campbell, TE Chris Cooley and wide receivers Santana
Moss and Antwaan Randle-El.
Oakland’s Dominic
Rhodes got his first action of the season last week with nine rushes for 21 yards. Rhodes is useless in fantasy play, but this development is very bad news for LaMont Jordan owners.
Jordan had only two more carries than Rhodes, so the potential is there for a RBBC. Stay away from all Oakland
running backs for now and especially this Sunday against the Titans. Tennessee has the top-ranked run defense in
the NFL.
Pop
Titans RB LenDale White will carry the load this Sunday since backup Chris Brown is still hurt and Young will be less than 100%. White has a great match up against the Raiders’ 29th ranked run defense.
The Giants team defense is an excellent play against the depleted Miami offense. Several Giants are also good IDP choices, including Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan, Aaron Ross, Gibril Wilson, Antonio Pierce, Mathias Kimanuka... Oh heck, pick anyone on the starting eleven. The Giants figure to build an early lead on Miami and then keep the ball on the ground. Brandon Jacobs is the obvious
beneficiary. A big Giants lead will mean more carries than usual for Derrick Ward, so even he figures to be usable as a bye-week filler.
The Jets’ Chad Pennington moved the ball well and rang up 31 points last Sunday in
a losing effort in Cincinnati. He faces
another soft pass defense this week, Buffalo’s, and his receivers are healthy again. Wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles were a combined 14 for 193 with three TD against the Bengals. Of course, this applies only if Eric Mangini sticks with Pennington over Kellen Clemens.
Bears QB Brian Griese has topped 300 yards passing the last two weeks. This Sunday he faces the dreadful Detroit defense. Griese and his receivers, Bernard
Berrian and Muhsin Muhammad, are strong plays against the
Lions. Even the tight-end-by-committee
of Desmond
Clark and Greg Olsen is fantasy startable.
San Diego
QB Philip Rivers gets to play with his new deep threat, Chambers, against the Texans this Sunday. The presence of Chambers will help Rivers, WR Vincent Jackson and TE Antonio Gates. LaDainian Tomlinson doesn’t need any help.