Fantasy Sports Blogger

I rebounded in Week 7 with an above .500 week.  But it again was so close to being a great week!  Minnesota botches the 4th Quarter, Houston blows a 21 point lead and the Resdskins blow every chance handed to them to be in Monday night’s game.  For the week I was 7-5-1.  That takes my record down to 46-36-1 for the year.  I was 3-1 on my locks.  I’m now 4 above .500 on those picks at 12-8.  This week, I think some lines are very favorable (i.e. Denver) and some not so favorable (SD by 17) to pick.  Picks on left.  Locks have asterisk.

*DEN +3.5 @ BAL - Denver just gets no respect from Vegas

HOU -3.5 @ BUF - Is it me or does Houston play better on the road

*CLE +13.5 @ CHI - If Anderson wakes up, Browns could win this game

DAL -10 vs. SEA - I think Ware will imprint his jersey number on Hasselbeck

STL +4 @ DET - Another Yuck game, but Rams should stay close

IND -12 vs. SF - Riding Colts until they show weaknesses

*MIA +3.5 @ NYJ - I always underestimate Sparano but not this week

NYG +2.5 @ PHI - Hard to pick against my team but McNabb is way off right now

JAX +3 @ TEN - Is Vince Young the answer?  I think not.

SD -17 vs. OAK - Chargers not great but Raiders are that bad

GB -3 vs. MIN - I just don’t have a feel for this game so I choose the home team

CAR +9.5 @ ARI - Hard to take ‘Zona by more than TD even though they should win easily

*ATL +10 @ NO - I think Miami drained the Saints a bit.  Expect ATL to step up here.

All those guys over there at ESPN can tell you it’s a no brainer to start Peterson, Brees, Wayne or Gates each week. I really don’t see any of them showing you when to start a second/third tier guy from your bench over a normal starter. That’s what this weekly post looks to accomplish. I want to give you the best possible matchups to consider versus the guys you auto-start each week.

Start
QB - Flacco, Orton, Hasselbeck, Garrard
RB - Kevin Smith, LeSean McCoy
WR - Mike Walker, Lee Evans
TE - Shockey
K - Kaeding, Folk, Hanson
DST - Cardinals, Chargers

Bench
QB - McNabb, Eli Manning
RB - DeAngelo Williams, Johnathan Stewart
WR - Boldin, Calvin & Andre Johnson
TE - Gonzalez
K - Elam
DST - Seahawks, Falcons

For the third straight week, there appears to be very little to choose from in the free agent pool.  There are a few speculative pickups and a one game situational pickup. 

1. Jamaal Charles RB KC - It looks like Larry Johnson’s days are over in Kansas City.  If so, it looks like Jamaal Charles is your next best RB there.  

2. Lee Evans WR BUF - In most leagues he was probably drafted but he may be availble after another abysmal start to his season.  He seems to have developed a good repoire with BUF’s new QB Fitzpatrick. 

3. Alex Smith QB SF - This is a stretch but if you can project SF having to throw more than Smith may actually be productive for a stretch.  He’ll have a big test against the Colt defense this week.  If he can show something this week he may be productive the rest of the season.

4. Fred Davis TE WAS - With Cooley down for at least 4 weeks, Davis proved on Monday night that he can catch passes.  He may not be able to block but he can catch.  I would take him as an IR replacement for Cooley if you don’t need somebody this week as WAS is on a bye.

5. Cardinals D/ST ARI - This is a one week pickup.  ARI welcomes the turnover prone Panthers to town this week.  This should be a safe week pickup if you have a bad matchup or a bye.

Honorable Mention: Shon Greene RB NYJ, Chris Wells RB ARI, Mike Wallace WR PIT (maybe next week’s pickups)

Last week Houston jumped out to a huge lead only to hang on by a thread.  But hey, a win is a win is a win.  If only there wasn’t that Week 2 blemish on my record.  I would be 6-1.  Oh well.  Moving into Week 8, there are still some huge mismatches on paper out there.  Do you remember the scene in the original Bad News Bears where the Yankee coach tells his players …”Take second, take third, take any base you want!”  Well that pretty much describes my top 5 plays this week.  SD over OAK, CHI over CLE, DAL over SEA, IND over SF and ARI over CAR.  Take any of them and you should be safe.  I’ll take DAL over SEA for my official pick.

All those guys over there at ESPN can tell you it’s a no brainer to start Peterson, Brees, Wayne or Gates each week. I really don’t see any of them showing you when to start a second/third tier guy from your bench over a normal starter. That’s what this weekly post looks to accomplish. I want to give you the best possible matchups to consider versus the guys you auto-start each week.

Start
QB - Ryan, Roethlisberger
RB - C. Williams,
WR - Driver, Breaston
TE - Miller, Cooley
K - Stover
DST - Bills, Colts

Bench
QB - Sanchez, Campbell
RB - Parker, Mendenhall
WR - Ochocinco
TE - Olsen
K -
DST -

Well, it finally hit me as I somewhat predicted.  I did not break .500 in Week 6.  The terrible part is that changed 4 games from Saturday night’s original predictions to Sunday’s posting.  I lost all 4 of those.  But that’s why they call it gambling.  Officially for the week I was 6-8.  That takes my record down to 39-31 for the year.  I didn’t have any locks picked last week so I’m sitting 2 above .500 on those.  This week, it feels just as tough as last week.  I think the oddsmakers are getting a good feel for how bettors are laying their money.  Thus it seems more difficult.  And you can bet I’m going to stay with my first instinct; yeah right.  Picks on left.  Locks have asterisk.

*GB -7 @ CLE - Hearing CLE team has flu plus more injuries

HOU -3 vs. SF - Crabtree/Gore not enough

*KC +4.5 vs. SD - Chargers on short week, on the road, divisional opponent

MIN +4 @ PIT - If field holds up, I like MIN to win

*IND -13 @ STL - Could have been 21 and I would take IND

BUF +7.5 @ CAR - Yuck game, at least it should be close

NE -14.5 @ TB - Bet Buc season ticket holders were glad to give up this one

NYJ -6 @ OAK - Raider nation got their upset last week, back to reality

CIN -1.5 vs. CHI - Classic AFC/NFC who’s better in the middle question

ATL +3.5 @ DAL - Cowboys need to showup big or Phillips will be gone before Zorn

*NO -6.5 @ MIA - Do you want me to pick against the hottest team going?

NYG -7 vs. ARI - I think the Giants are a wee little upset by last week

WAS +7 vs. PHI - No good reason for this other than WAS plays close games

Again, I’m really not a fan of many players this week.  I mentioned last week that I thought the free agent pool was shallow.  Last week I told you to pick up Maclin, Hasselbeck and Avery.  The first 2 are still looking for their helmets if you know what I mean.  Here’s who I do like for you to pick up this week though…

1.  Laurence Maroney RB NE - Everyone else is hurt in NE so Maroney has to get the bulk of the carries.

2. Hakeem Nicks WR NYG - I know many of you had him on your draft board and then he disappeared but he’s gotten the eye of Eli lately and he seems to know how to get it into the endzone when they play weaker defenses.

3. Sidney Rice WR MIN - Another guy that is getting the eye and confidence of a veteran QB.  Generally speaking, MIN is a running team but when they face teams that make them throw the ball, Rice is a good option.

4. Colts D/ST IND - They play the Rams this week and if you need temporary help, this is your fill in.

5. Matt Stover K IND - See #4.

This week has many mismatches.  If you can pick NE, IND, GB, NO or NYG then you should take them.  Seeing how I’ve taken all of them recently, I have a bit of a dilemna.  I really don’t like divisional matchups.  I also don’t like road teams.  But seeing how I don’t have much to choose from, I’ll have to go with a hot Houston Texan team versus a struggling for their identity, contending with a new player coming back from a holdout and on the road 49er team. 

Wow, I finally broke out of three consecutive .500 weeks in a big way!  10-4 doesn’t really tell the whole story as I went 8-0 in the early games.  I’m fairly sure I have never done that before.  I was also 3-1 on locks with only the last second Dolphin TD blemishing my picks.   Now I was 2-4 for the rest of the weekend, proving what goes up must come down.  I said it about week 4 and I’ll say it about week 6, I’m afraid of this week.  When the good and bad teams play each other, they have a tendency to be very inconsistent.  I think I will be lucky to stay above .500 this week but here are my picks.  Remember they are on the left and the locks are marked with an asterisk.

HOU +5 @ CIN — Something smells about a 5 point spread for CIN
DET +13.5 @ GB — Just too many points for banged up Packers
JAX -10 vs. STL — I may get hurt by these first 3 picks
MIN -3 vs. BAL — Changed my mind twice on this one
NO -3 vs. NYG — Tough one, going with home team
PIT -14 vs. CLE — Steelers have hammered CLE last few meetings
TB +3.5 vs. CAR — Home dog; can’t pass it up
KC +6.5 @ WAS — Redskins always play close ones
PHI -14 @ OAK — 2 TDs is a lot but this is the Raiders
SEA -2.5 vs. ARI — Another close one; and I’m taking home team
NE -9.5 vs. TEN — Titans could pull upset or lose by 20
BUF +10 @ NYJ — Got a feeling that Bills keep this close to the end
ATL -3 vs. CHI — Falcons won by 2 in 08; They are even better
SD -4 vs. DEN — Chargers have lit up good defenses all year

All those guys over there at ESPN can tell you it’s a no brainer to start Peterson, Brees, Wayne or Gates each week. I really don’t see any of them showing you when to start a second/third tier guy from your bench over a normal starter. That’s what this weekly post looks to accomplish. I want to give you the best possible matchups to consider versus the guys you auto-start each week.

Start
QB - Campbell, Garrard
RB - C. Williams, Bradshaw
WR - Burleson, Avery
TE - J. Finley
K - Scobee
DST - Patriots

Bench
QB - Favre, Edwards
RB - K. Smith, L. Johnson
WR - A. Johnson, C. Johnson
TE - Gates
K - Reed
DST - Giants