Miami at Carolina
The Dolphins travel north to Bank of America Stadium winners of four of their last six for a date with the equally resurgent Panthers. One problem: Mr. Wildcat himself, Ronnie Brown has been placed on the IR and is out for the year. What does this mean for everyone’s favorite gimmick offense? Who knows. Brown handles the Wildcat snap about 75% of the time, so that leaves the Dolphins with one of three options: Hope Ricky Williams can step in and run the Wildcat seamlessly; a lethal does of Pat White and the “WildPat”; or exclusively rely on Chad Henne to play an entire game as a real quarterback. I’ll bet we’ll see more of Henne under centre with direct orders to hand the ball off Ricky to pound the Panthers 25th ranked run defense. For fantasy purposes on Miami’s side, Williams is about the only guy you can really feel comfortable starting. It’s a really nice match up. If you’re streaming defenses, you may want to take a flyer on the Phins’ defense as they get to face the prince of turnovers Jake Delhomme, he’s passed the torch to Jay Cutler. If your league counts return stats, Miami’s defense is upgraded with Ted Ginn a threat to score every time the ball is kicked to him.
On the other side of the ball, Jake Delhomme gets a nice match up against a young secondary but are you really going to put your trust in Delhomme? Didn’t think so. Steve Smith made a cameo last week catching two touchdowns and should be a viable number two option this week. Despite having the 7th ranked run defense you have to go with DeAngelo Williams solely based on his big play ability. Williams was a guy who I thought had bust written all over him this preseason but has quietly been one the best backs in fantasy. Since a poor performance in week 5 against Washington, Williams has been on a tear, scoring in double digits the last five games. Jonathan Stewart is a different case all together. If you like playing trends, this is your week to sit the Daily Show. The Panthers had their bye in week four and Stewart has traded bad performances with great ones every week. the past six weeks Stewart has put up 9, 15, 4, 20, 1, and 20 points. If this pace keeps up, he’s in line for about 2-5 points this week. It’s not a good match up but you really never know. You should have better options on your team. If not, wondering whether or not to start Jonathan Stewart is the least of your concerns.
This is a crucial game for both teams if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. Despite the absence of Ronnie Brown, I like the Dolphins to sneak out a road win on a short week.
Picks
Mayo: Miami (+3)
Anderson: Miami (+3)
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