Sunday Preview

1:00pm Games

CLE @ BAL

The Browns have been dreadful on the offensive side of the ball and the problems all start at quarterback; Brady Quinn is almost as terrible as his alma mater. Quinn’s inability to throw the ball vertically hurts not only his own value but that of Braylon Edwards and other Browns who nobody owns. Jamal Lewis has a hard enough time fitting through doors let alone the holes that his O-line won’t be able to open. Lewis is a bit banged up so we could finally see preseason Wünderkid James Davis get some touches, now that he appears to be fully healthy. Although this isn’t the Ravens’ defense of yesteryear, it is most certainly going to outclass the pitiful Browns.

There should be plenty of fantasy goodness to be had for the Ravens this weekend. My favorite preseason sleeper, Ray Rice, should show up in this one with about 100 total yards and a possible score. Rice’s and my nemesis Willis McGahee has walloped his way into weekly must start territory. McGahee has 4TDs through 2 weeks and gets the goal line carries on team who will all probably have skin cancer after all the Red Zone exposure this week. Joe Flacco, for the third week in a row, should produce a stellar fantasy line. This match up is about as soft as it gets (* As Soft As It Gets would be a great title for a gay action moive starring Huge Jackman. He plays a gay ice cream truck driver who goes on a killing spree to exact revenge on the thugs who took the life of his grizzly, but sensitive older lover, played by Al Pacino, who appears in a vain attempt to seem like a credible actor. Best scene: Jackman goes incognito into the gang‘s hideout and serves them free ice cream with cyanide for toppings, partial revenge achieved. The sad part is that you could dupe people into actually going to see this movie. All you would need is a trailer with some quiet music and some chimes at the beginning showing their happy lives together. Show the death and then just blast some rock music and show some explosions and/or people getting killed by explosions. Throw Jackman in a tight ice cream serving uniform and you have women lined up to see it. All it would need is pseudo clever tagline like: Revenge is a dish served soft, ON MERCY!!!. There ya go, $50 million opening weekend*) and ….ah …. Oh yes Joe Flacco. The hardest part of Flacco’s day is going to be figuring out which open receiver to throw to, I mean he doesn’t want to seem like he plays favorites. I except the running game to be in full force here and while any member of the receiving corps, Mason, Heap, Washington, or Clayton could turn in a nice game, I just don’t trust any of them individually so be weary.

WAS @ DET

The Redskins offense is much like my deck, they have no finish. Nine points against the horrendous Rams’ defense is embarrassing. The more and more I look at this game it just seems like a perfect storm brewing. I think the Lions win this game, albeit by a narrow margin, in a lowish scoring affair. I love the match up but why would you start Jason Campbell? He’s one of the few players in football to have the amazing gift of making everyone around him worse. If the ‘Skins want to be successful they need to keep the ball on the ground and give Portis upwards of 30 carries. Portis should be alright here. I’ve been scorned by Santana Moss too many times in the past to trust him but I do like The Cooler to do his usual 6-8 catches for 60-90 yards and maybe a score.

Kevin Smith will shoulder the load (Great name for a Porn) this week and should produce double digit fantasy points with contributions through land and air. Megatron is a must start as always and should find the end zone again this week. There’s really no need to own, let alone start, any other Lion, out side of maybe Jason Hanson.

JAX @ HOU

MJD is the only Jag I have any faith in from week to week at this point. I expect the Texans to score at will in this one so Garrard and company will be playing catch up. I’m down on Garrard this week but he could be a garbage time legend, like last week: 3TDs. I would just rather start someone who I can count on to throw a score or two without need his team to be down by 25 first. If you want a safe six points, Torry Holt is the man for the job but if you want to roll the dice a little I think that Mike Sims-Walker has the higher upside.

Get ready for a scoreboard overload for the home side. Who can’t you like on the Texans this week? The Jags have zero pass rush and Schaub excels under limited pressure. The receiving crops are all starts. As usual, Andre 3000 and Daniels are going to be involved but if the return of K-Walt happens this week I think you should get him in there too. What do you do with Steve Slaton? Get him in your line up. He’s been terrible so far this year but I like him to get a lot of touches. In weeks one and two Slaton played against the best two run defenses going, at least stat wise. This is a great match up for Slaton, so look for him to treat the Jags like a chick who’s too drunk: he’s going to take advantage.

SF @ MIN

I just don’t like this game at all for the 49ers. A good offensive game for them is predicated on Frank Gore controlling the pace. That’s not going to happen unless Gore gets a sledgehammer and tears down the Williams Wall. Shaun Hill is a game manager at best and is going to be forced to win this one through the air, which isn’t going to happen.

Being a good fantasy analyst is all about giving consistent, good advice. So I’m stepping of on a ledge here when I tell you to start Adrian Peterson. I hear he’s pretty good. Other than that I’m going to go with Percy Harvin as the next best option with Favre sticking to short pass/game managing duties. Harvin is always a threat to break one of those short ones loose if he can find a bit of open space. It’s hard to get overly excited for anyone on the Vikings, I really think they try to control the clock with AD, and I think it works.

ATL @ NE

Of all the games this weekend this one is easily the toughest to predict. With that said, I’m going to predict a shootout and great fantasy value all around. Start the Falcon’s Fearsome Foursome of Turner, Ryan, White and Gonzalez.

Welker burned a lot of owners last week with his surprising inactive status. Edelman filled in valiantly but he’s no Welker, he’s just some other white guy . I love Moss this week as he has something to prove after experiencing THE DRE last week. Brady isn’t Brady yet but each week he will get closer to his old self. Per usual, you want no part of the run game.

KC @ PHI

The Chiefs could barely score on the Raiders last week, the Raiders! Things don’t look good for them in this on. I’d start Bowe and no one else.

Get rid of those cans because the Eagles are eating straight from the Kolb again. I like Brent The Tent to once again be highly productive. If Westbrook is out you have to love LeSean McCoy to make an impact on the ground and through the air. If DeSean Jackson is limited by his hamstring look for Jason Avant to get the targets avant the others.

NYG @ TB

The Giants are going to have a field day this week, complete with free orange drink and all. I love Eli Manning, Steve Smith, and Mario Manningham to deliver against the shaky man coverage Tampa is throwing out there. Jacobs has been a disappointment so far but you have to start him with this good of a match up. If you’re hurt up at the flex, Bradshaw should deliver 7+ points.

The Bucs are pretty wretched. They need to take a page out of the Cowboys’ game plan from last week and try to run the ball. Dallas was able to run for 200+ yards last week and there’s no Justin Tuck to stop Ward and Caddy this week. Which one do you start? Well, I have a feeling that Ward gets more touches and yards and Williams is likelier to score, so pick your poison. The only receiver you want is TE Kellen Winslow; the Giants have ceded TE scores in the first two games, Winslow has scored in the first two game. If your big on trends, I think this one will appeal to you.

GB @ STL

The Pack should get back to their winning ways aginst the number one contender for the first overall pick, the Rams. After posting a goose egg for owners last week, Greg Jennings looks to get Sister Act 2 this week; back in the habit. Keeping on the Whoopi trend, Rogers is going to be like Stella after a troublesome game vs. the Bengals. It will be “Bogus” if Driver doesn’t get involved and produce as the Rams have will not be able to pressure Rogers the way Odom did last week, 5 sacks!! Ryan Grant will be no “Ghost” this week and should enjoy “the View” from the end zone as he terrorizes the defense like the wonderful Julius Jones did in week one. The only way the Packers screw this one up is by replacing Mike McCarthy with “Eddie” at half time and that still may not be enough for the Rams, I mean it worked for the Knickerbockers.

Must like an ugly girl with a hot ass or a fat one with a pretty face there are some borderline attractive parts of the Rams this week. They may go 0-16 this year but two players, Steven Jackson and Laurent Robinson can help you. The Packers’ D looked very Swiss like last week and will give up points, I like Jackson to succeed on sheer touches alone and Robinson to with his playmaking ability.

TEN @ NYJ

The Titans are going to want to run the ball but the Jets just aren’t going to allow that. Frankly I don’t see much value in this game from either side, except for the Titans’ Defense. Look for this one to be a hard hitting, low scoring affair,

The NY Jets, one of my least favorite squadrons, don’t offer much here either, It won’t be unusual when Leon outscores Tom Jones but both will be a letdown against a very good Titan run defense. The two guys I like the best in this game are Cotchery and Natural Born Keller. The Texans exposed the Titans lack of pass rush last week so the Sanchise should have enough time to find some people downfield.

4:05 Games

NO @ BUF

Ralph Wilson stadium doubles as the OK Corral when the shootout goes down this week. Brees looks unstoppable, as does Colston. With Lance Moore still rehabbing his knee, Devry Henderson should meet my favorite Irishman, Targets O’Plenty. Even Robert Meachum should get involved, I think all are good plays. Mike Bell and “Lucky” Pierre Thomas both have MCL sprains and may not play. This leaves the door open for Reggie Bush to spilt touches with someone else. Lynell Hamilton says, “I’m someone else”. Hamilton has been taking first teams snaps in practice this week and I highly recommend you play him of word of Bell and Thomas both being inactive trickles out Sunday afternoon.

My main man T Ed should continue his hot streak this week. TO and Lee Evans will contribute as well. The awesomeness that is Fred Jackson will keep posting those big numbers. All four are great starts this week as you’ll want to have people in this game.

CHI @ SEA

Matt Forte needs to have a good game here. He just has to. It’s my contention that he will along with the rest of the Bears. Cutler should be able to find Hester, Olsen, Knox and Bennett all day but it’s Forte who I like to be the standout. After watching Frank Gore make the ‘Hawks defense look like pylons last week, I don’t think some W. D. Forte is going to help.

I’m not starting any Seahawk this week if Hassel beck isn’t playing, which is looking more and more likely. My team does not need to overdose on Seneca Wallace. Can’t win with him. Wallace is the Shang Tsung of fantasy value, he just sucks the soul out of everyone in sight. That’s bad news for Housh and Sons, Burl and Carl.

PIT @ CIN

Surprisingly, it’s been very hard to score on the Bengals through the air this year, unless you’re Brandon Stokley that is. Two passing scores given up in two weeks is pretty good. I think Antwan Odom turns the tables on Big Ben and harasses him all day, hopefully Odom can settle before court. This is going to hurt the value of Ward and Holmes but not to the point where you don’t start them, you just need to limit your expectations. I’m not starting any Steelers’ running back until they show they’re able to effectively run the ball.

Palmer and Ochocinco looked great last week and with no Polamalu patrolling the secondary I actually like them both in this seemingly tough match up. Once again, Chris Henry is a threat to get a red zone score and may be worth a high upside flyer. Despite the bad match up, Cedric Benson has made himself very useful two weeks in a row and could find pay dirt in this one. Remember: he’s their only option at running back and he’s going to get 25 touches, that’s value in an of itself.

DEN @ OAK

I really don’t know what to make of the Bronco’s passing game. I’m sitting “I AM” Marshall and Eddie Royal until they do something positive at all. I’m calling Orton a sit as well. One guy I do like for a breakout game is Knowshawn Moreno. They fed him the ball last week and will be looking to do the same again here, which could lead to some big numbers. Correll Buckhalter is a sneaky flex play but needs to score to have value.

Anyone you trust from this group of winners? Run DMC is your only option here and he’s not even that great of one. You’d be crazier than the inhabitants of the Black Hole to start any other Raider.

MIA @ SD

The only two things you can count on from the Dolphins are the WILDCAT and Ted Ginn dropping TDs. Since Pennington can now only throw a max distance of 7 yards, in length that is, he can still reach almost 60 yards vertically, the Fins have to turn to Ronnie Brown to carry the load. I like Brown a lot this week as the Ravens were able to run all over the Chargers last week. Don’t except too much else from the Miami as east coast teams generally struggle coming out west.

The Colts scored seemingly whenever they wanted last week and I see much of the same this week for the San Diego Super Chargers. Rivers will be finding a lot of Vincent Jackson downfield, he is quickly becoming an elite receiver. As usual, Gates will get his touches and be productive. For the second straight week it looks like there’s no LT which means a lot of Sproles, get him in your line up.

8:15 game

IND @ ARZ

Start Manning, Clark and Wayne with confidence, after them it gets a bit dicey. Last week it was the Frenchman, Pierre Garcon, nabbing a TD but he only had one catch. You need to be tentative if you’re think about starting Garcon, Collie or Baskett. Addai and Brown have a nice match up here but it’s still tough to get a handle on their situations. It seems to me, after Monday night, that Brown is going to be more involved through the air and that is where I see this game going. Brown over Addai this week.

This is a statement game for the Cards and I think they deliver. I like Hightower and Wells against the Sanderless Colts defense. You need to be starting the usuals, Warner, Bolding and Fitz, as you should every week. Thing are eventually going to get out of control in this one and the points will start piling up.