Sunday Stylings

Miles Austin? You’ve got to be kidding me. Austin lit up the Chiefs to the tune of 10 catches for 250 yards, yes 250, and two TDs. He was the biggest fantasy contributor of the week and was started in a grand total of…….. 1% of leagues. There is going to be a frenzy to go grab him but I’m going to remain a skeptic. His 37 fantasy points in week 5 are almost three times what he has produced in the first four weeks. Before this encounter with the Chiefs he had amassed a grand total of five catches for the year. He was a popular pre-season sleeper and certainly has the tools to take the next step but I’m going to contribute this big day to the combination of Roy Williams’ injury and the soft match up. If you have the room on your roster, by all means go grab him but don’t expect a player you can start every week.

Ahmad Bradshaw put up a ton of points on people’s benches. Bradshaw turned his 12 touches into 165 yards and two touchdowns. He’s now outscoring Brandon Jacobs on the year 54-40, which is very shocking. Going forward you should be able to use Bradshaw in soft match ups as a RB2 or a flex and not worry about it.

San Francisco looked terrible all day. The defense couldn't get anything going all day. The only thing they did right was a Dry Bly pick in the 2nd quarter in which he started celebrating while running after about five steps, down 28-10 at this point. He got the ball stripped from him after about 20 yards which led to another Michael Turner TD. Mike Singletary may actually kill him, no joke. Roddy White was a monster, 8-210-2. The talk of his demise was more than a little bit premature.

If you have Andre Johnson you should have been worried for about 47 and a half minutes of this game. The fourth quarter of the Texans/Cards save many owners, including myself. Johnson, Schaub, and Owen Daniels all helped the cause this week. Steve Slaton even chipped in with 98 total yards despite looking awful all day long. The reason I’m pissed about this game is that it really could have been more. After Schaub through a pick six late in the 4th quarter he successfully led a drive all the way to the one yard line. It was 2nd and goal from the one and they were in 4 down territory, so what did they do? They decided to take Johnson, Walter and Slaton off the field. They run three straight play without the aid of their three best offensive weapons. That is just mind boggling. They were unable to run the ball all day so they decided to bring Chris Brown in to get stuffed on 2nd and 4th down. I was praying that he would score so he could do some sort beating his girlfriend end zone celebration but it never came to that. Terrible play calling killed the Texans and I’m sure some fantasy owners who needed the points.

Apparently the Bengals and Broncos are actually for real. Cincinnati marched into Baltimore and used Cedric Benson, my sit of the week, to run the ball down the Ravens’ throats. Benson became the first man of any sort to gain over 100 yards on the ground against the Ravens’ defense in 40 games. It’s all mind blowing stuff. Carson Palmer is the new comeback king of the NFL. I watched this game and couldn’t tell how he was doing it, but he did. Three penalties on the last drive were the deciding factor in their win but they’ll take it I’m sure. While he may be winning games on the field, there are better options out there for fantasy purposes.

I love Ray Rice. He looked awesome again this week and should be considered an every week start from here on forward. If he could ever get some goal line touches, he'll be a top 10 fantasy player.

Denver beats New England? It’s been a pretty brutal weekend for Boston with this and the premature exit of the loathsome Red Sox. Champ Bailey shut down Randy Moss. Moss’ best catch of the day was a pick at the end of the first half. Brady missed him in the end zone in the 1st quarter on a no doubt TD which is something that Brady is doing more often than naught this year. I think it’s time to start taking Kyle Orton seriously as a real life and fantasy quarter back. He doesn’t do anything overly well but knows that he has the playmakers around him to be successful. Orton has posted double digit fantasy points every game this season and his only pick came on an end zone shot with no time left this week. Go pick him up.

What happened to the Jags? I’ll tell you. About 15 minutes before the game Jacksonville’s website announced that Mike Sims-Walker was inactive for breaking team rules. Without Sims-Walker out there Garrard looked lost and couldn’t get anything going. As much as I love Torry Holt for a decade of consistent production, he’s just not a number one anymore. Without Sims-Walker’s big play ability the Seahawks were able to shut down MJD and Garrard didn’t have the weapons to beat them. On the other side, Hasselbeck looked great. When he doesn’t face any pressure what so ever he one of footballs’ best. When he’s healthy you’ll want him, Housh, and Nate Burleson in there. John Carlson was restricted to blocking duties for most of the day as to make sure that Matty H remained in the game.

The Browns and Bills were a fantasy cesspool up at Orchard Park. The wind reeked havoc on all throws which allowed Derek Anderson to prevail as the winning quarter back in a game in which he completed two passes for 23 yards and a pick. This was the winning QB we’re talking about here. The surprise return of Jamal Lewis killed all the value of last week’s hot pick up Jerome Harrison. Lewis got 31 carries to Harrison’s 8. Not good news. Massaquoi finished with only one catch but hey, that led the Browns in receiving. From Buffalo it looks like you’re going to want Beast Mode over Fred Jackson going forward. Lynch was the best player on the field, from either team.

Brandon Marshall is officially back. Eddie Royal made a cameo too.

Trade Clinton Portis now. Portis racked up 74 total yards but it’s the two touchdowns that you can sell. He didn’t look nearly as good as those numbers would suggest and if you can get 95% of where you drafted him do it as soon as possible.

The Colts really look they’re the best team in the NFL. They straight up dominated on Sunday night.

What happened to Chris Cooley? No catches and no targets. This my friends, is why Washington sucks.

Pick ups of the week

Kyle Orton (79% owned). Go grab him if he’s still out there.

Matt Cassel (77 % owned). As dreadful as the Chiefs have been Cassel is finding ways to be a useful fantasy option. You wouldn’t notice it but he’s put up double digit points in every game this season. You may not trust him or his situation but the numbers don’t lie.

Miles Austin (2% owned). As discussed before, if you have the room you may as well scoop him up and hope for the best.

Jeremy Maclin (9% owned). The Eagles’ rookie had his first breakout game of his short career with a 6-142-2 line. Pick him up and stash him away to see if he can be consistent, a huge problem with rookies. He clearly has the talent and a great situation but don’t just throw him into the line up based on one solid game.

Nate Burleson (50% owned). He seems to be in the pick up column almost every week. There’s a reason for that. This week the son of Burle helped the cause with 6 catches for 98 yards and two TDs. Playing the NFC West provides him with the opportunity to face bad defenses a lot of the time. From weeks 12-16 he gets the Rams, 49ers, Texans, Bucs and Packers. The only decent defense in there is the 49ers and they didn’t show up at all today.

Austin Collie (2% Owned). For the second straight week Collie made an impact from the slot for the Colts. He picked up 8-97-2 and that makes 14 catches over the last two weeks. Peyton trusts him and that’s generally good news for fantasy owners. Go pick him up

Antonio Bryant (70% owned). He’s been dropped on mass over the last few weeks but looks to finally be healthy, which is the key. The tough match up did the talking this week but if he’s available, go grab him or try to buy low on him.

Tashard Choice (64% owned). Make the right Choice, PUN!, and get your hands on him. He’s been far too productive to not be used by the Cowboys and he’ll continue to have flex value every week until Felix Jones is healthy.

Injuries:

Calvin Johnson’s injured thigh from last week lingered over and took Megatron out of the game in the 1st quarter after totaling a measly one catch for two yards. He’ll work on it this week and should be available for next week’s juicy match up at Green Bay.

Glen Coffee hurt his leg in 4th quarter after posting some nice numbers. Not much is known about the severity of his injury but his days as a starter were over with the return of Frank Gore in two weeks anyways, after the 49ers bye.