For most of your leagues across the ESPN and Yahoo! Fantasy football platforms the playoffs begin this week if you were fortunate enough to get that far. For all of you in the playoffs good luck going forward and for those of you who playing in the consolation bracket well there’s always going to be next year. Without further adieu let’s move on to your week 14 studs and duds.
STUDS
Carson Palmer QB Oakland Raiders vs. the Green Bay Packers
Palmer has actually been a pretty good starting QB for the Raiders and fantasy owners alike since being inserted in week 9. He hasn’t scored below 10 points in the 5 games posting lines of 19, 15, 16, 10, and 16, respectively. The Packers score points in bunches and force other teams to throw. Luckily for their opponents their secondary hasn’t been all that solid this year and has been giving up yardage at a record pace, luckily for the Packers the Patriots pass defense has been even worse thus they aren’t last in the league. I see the Raiders getting down early and Palmer being forced to the air early and often. It’s not going to be pretty but he’ll put up over 300 yards and a few scores.
Stats: 326 yards, 3 TDs, 2 Ints
Chris Johnson RB Tennessee Titans vs. New Orleans Saints
After sucking thru the first 8 games of the year Johnson has turned it on the past 4 weeks, minus a 2 point performance against the stout Falcons run defense, scoring above 17 points 3 times. In those three games Johnson has gone for at least 130 yards with 3 scores total. He’s always a threat to catch a few passes out of the backfield and the Saints don’t do an overly good job of stopping the run. The key for Johnson is the Titans not being forced to the air too early for him to be able to find running lanes cause they’ll be there. I’m thinking that the Johnson from the past two weeks and last season is going to show up again in week 14.
The Cowboys have been taking to the air in the recent weeks with Bryant and Laurent Robinson being the main beneficiaries. Tony Romo has been throwing TD passes at a pretty good clip and Bryant’s reeled in at least 1 score in 3 of the last 4 games. This week I don’t see being any different when you look at the Giants 29th ranking against the pass. Miles Austin is returning this weekend but I only see that helping Bryant get open. I expect to see Bryant dancing in the end zone.
Stats: 6 rec, 89 yards, 1 TD
DUDS
T.J. Yates QB Houston Texans vs. Cincinnati Bengals
A rookie QB without his top WR against a top 5 defense? I’ll pass thank you very much. Yates scored in double digits last week, 10 points, but that was with Andre Johnson reeling in 4 catches for 97 yards before he was forced to exit the game after he hurt his hamstring. That hamstring is going to keep him out of this week’s matchup with the stingy Bengals defense leaving Yates to lean on TE Owen Daniels who’s been a no show all year and WR Jacoby Jones who can’t seem to grab onto the reigns as a number one wideout. The Texans are going to lean heavily on RB Arian Foster and keep the ball out of Yates hands. Sit him.
Stats: 159 yards, 1 TD, 2 Ints
Dwayne Bowe WR Kansas City Chiefs vs. New York Jets pass defense
Bowe hasn’t found the end zone in 7 straight games and he’s about to take a vacation on to Revis Island. Advantage: Revis and the Jets. Tyler Palko is also still going to be under center for the Chiefs after Kyle Orton hurt himself last week after 1 play last week against the Bears. That equals bad news for Bowe and the Chiefs. He’ll get targeted but I don’t see him reeling in too many of those targets and especially none in the red zone.
Stats: 4 rec, 45 yards, 0 TD
Pierre Garcon WR Indianapolis Colts vs. Baltimore Ravens
Garcon has had 3 huge games this year scoring over 24 points in each of them. The other 9 games he hasn’t been able to crack 8 points with outputs of 3, 2, 8, 3, 3, 6, 2, 4, and 3. He reeled in 2 TDs against the worst pass defense the league has ever known, the record books will confirm this at the end of the year, and racked up 150 yards on 9 catches. With Dan Orlovsky at QB attempting to become the first man to ever lead two teams to 0-16 records I don’t see Garcon repeating that success against the 7th ranked Baltimore Ravens pass defense. The offense isn’t strong enough all around to support Reggie Wayne and Pierre Garcon having huge games and if I had to put my money on of them I’d take Wayne and his past success. Don’t look to either though to carry your team with a weak offensive line and Dan Orlovsky throwing the passes.
Stats: 3 rec, 36 yards, 0 TD
There you have it my faithful readers week 14 of the NFL is about to get underway and you now know who to start and who to sit. Good luck in the playoffs! Until we cross paths again.
Week 11 has arrived folks and its time for this week’s Studs/Duds here at the Fantasy Forum brought to you by Views from the Couch. Last week was a strong week for yours truly nailing 5 out of 6 picks, thanks for not showing up for your meeting DeSean Jackson making me look like a genius appreciate it. This week we’re going to be bringing you a special edition with 4 studs, 3 duds, and 2 sleepers.
Since being acquired from the Bungals and Mike Brown for 2 future 1st round picks (nice trade Oakland) Palmer hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire. He’s thrown 5 TD passes as opposed to 7 interceptions and fumbled twice for good measure. Expect all of that to change this week however. Palmer has managed to sling the rock for 332 and 299 yards the past two weeks respectively and he’s now facing the 31st ranked pass defense. Denarious Moore also appears poised to continue his ascent up the Raiders WR depth chart and Palmer loves lobbying it up deep to him. Expect big things this week in Minnesota for Carson.
Stats: 30-44, 325 yards 3 TD 1 INT
Brandon Marshall WR Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills pass defense
Buffalo is 25th against the pass this year and is 31st against opposing teams #1 wide receivers, which is exactly what Marshall is for the Dolphins. Since coming out of the gate on fire in the first 2 weeks and then slowing down for a few games Marshall has picked it up the past 2 games going for 8 rec, 106 yards and a score and 7 rec for 98 yards. He gets targeted on more than 50% of the Dolphins pass plays so opportunities are aplenty on a weekly basis for the man with the notorious case of the dropsies. He’ll get his yards every week the question as always is can he find the end zone and grab those 6 extra fantasy points. This week I’m going to go with yes.
Stats: 7 rec, 112 yards 1 TD
Brandon Jacobs RB New York Giants vs. Philadelphia Eagles atrocious run defense
With Ahmad Bradshaw already having been ruled out for the 3rd consecutive week Jacobs is in line to get the lion’s share of the carries against the Eagles this week. The Eagles can’t stop anyone on the ground and Jacobs used to be a good back. I see the possibility of him regaining some of that old form this week against a run defense that is surrendering over 20 fantasy points a game to opposing backfields. He’s received 18 carries in each of the last two games I think he’ll get around 20 this game and make the most of them while finding the end zone to boot.
New England Patriots D/ST vs. Kansas City Chiefs and starting QB Tyler Palko
The Patriots defense has struggled all year to stop anyone, which you already know if you live in the New England area and read the paper, watch TV, or listen to the radio. It’s well documented how the Patriots lack elite personnel on defense to create turnovers at the same clip they did last year when they finished a league best +28 in takeaways/giveaways. Insert the Kansas City Chiefs sans QB Matt Cassel and RB Jamaal Charles and viola all your defensive ills are cured. Last week against the Sanchize and the Jets the Pats D/ST racked up 17 points I think they can approach that number again this week. Palko was cut from NFL Europe a few years back, enough said. The Patriots defense will have a strong day for the second straight week.
Andy Dalton QB Cincinnati Bengals vs. Baltimore Ravens
Last week Dalton somewhat came back to earth against a strong Steelers defense in an AFC North showdown. This week is another AFC North battle against a Baltimore Ravens defense that always brings the pressure and heat on opposing QB’s. In none of the past 3 weeks has Dalton thrown for more than 217 yards twice finishing under 200 I see that continuing this week especially with star rookie and favorite target WR AJ Green banged up and approaching the rookie wall. UPDATE: Green has been ruled doubtful for this weeks tilt against the Ravens making Dalton’s task even taller against the league’s number one pass defense.
Stats: 15-33, 167 yards 1 TD 2 INT
Beanie Wells RB Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers stout run defense
The 49ers have the top ranked run defense in the league and Wells is an enigma. After a few big weeks early in the year and a solid game against the Ravens 3 weeks ago (83 yards, 1 TD) juicy matchups against the Rams and Eagles seemed like great opportunities to rack up major points. Wrong. Bells ran for 20 yards and 62 yards putting 3 and 6 points, respectively, on the board fantasy wise. If he couldn’t run all that well against the weakest run defenses on the league I don’t see much reason why he’ll torch the best run defense. UPDATE: Wells has been ruled Questionable for this weeks matchup so if you have him I wouldn’t run the risk of starting him.
Stats: 14 carries, 34 yards, 0 TD
Darrius Heyward-Bey WR Oakland Raiders vs. Minnesota Vikings
Even though his QB, Carson Palmer, is in the studs category I’m going to put Heyward-Bey in the duds section. Since Palmer took over the starting job in Oakland Heyward-Bey has disappeared. He doesn’t appear to have any chemistry with Palmer causing him to put up back to back goose eggs. What’s so frustrating about that for fantasy owners is that the previous 4 weeks with Jason Campbell under center Heyward-Bey actually seemed like a guy worthy of being drafted 7th overall in the NFL Draft, news flash he wasn’t. He had put up 11, 15, 8, and 8 points making it look like he was trending upwards but alas he is back to the Darrius Heyward-Bey who recorded to goose eggs thru the first 3 weeks.
Stats: 1 Rec, 7 yards, 0 TD
SLEEPERS
I’m not going to put up any stats predictions for the following two players but I am going to put a brief blurb on why the Couch thinks that it might be wise to grab the following two players for the stretch run.
Kendall Hunter RB San Francisco 49ers
If you own Frank Gore in any of your fantasy leagues I’d suggest picking up Hunter quickly before someone else scoops him up. With Gore ailing and the 49ers already having seemingly wrapped up the NFC West, they own a 5 game lead on the 2nd place team with 7 to play I like their odds, Hunter is going to get some carries going forward. He managed to rack up 40 yards and a TD on 6 carries last week. He’s been getting 8 or 9 carries pretty consistently all year and I think that number will actually trend upwards in the coming weeks. Hunter’s going to see carries while the 49ers attempt to keep the ever-fragile Gore healthy for a playoff run.
Damian Williams WR Tennessee Titans
When Kenny Britt went down in week 3 with a torn ACL the Titans #1 WR spot was vacant waiting to be taken. At first it appeared that Nate Washington would step in and fill that role but he’s been somewhat of a disappointment and Williams is slowly catching up to him. QB Matt Hasselbeck is targeting and gaining more and more confidence in Williams each and every week. Williams has found paydirt in each of the last two weeks while also racking up 107 yards last week. He has 4 scores on the year and I don’t see Hasselbeck decreasing his targets moving forward. If he’s available in your league, he probably is considering he’s only at 7.2% ownership, scoop him up and reap the benefits.
There you have it folks another week here at the Fantasy Forum. We’ll see you next week for week 12’s Studs/Duds.
That brings me to my next point. The Bengals suck. Because Mike Brown refuses to spend money on his franchise. NOBODY wants to play there. Carson Palmer requested a trade, one that was rebuffed by Brown. Brown is a man who believes in loyalty, which is commendable as a human trait. But when it becomes a point where he expects the players to give their all, and he not pry open that chastity-belted checkbook of his to help the team back, he is a one-way street. Chad Ocho Cinco got out. Corey Dillon got out long ago. But why will Brown not grant Palmer his wish? In Brown’s words: “Carson signed a contract. He made a commitment. He gave his word. We relied on his word. We relied on his commitment. We expected him to perform here. He’s going to walk away from his commitment. We aren’t going to reward him for doing it.” This man just refuses to better his franchise by getting something for a player who obviouslyDOES NOT WANT TO BE THERE.
You have got to be smoking some serious peyote if you try to tell me the Bungals cannot get something for their franchise quarterback. Prior to being placed on the Failed to Report list, I would have ranked Palmer as the tenth best quarterback in the National Football League, just behind Eli Manning of the New York Football Giants, and just ahead of Bucs signal-caller Josh Freeman. In my humble opinion, Brown could pry two second-round picks, or even a conditional first-rounder, from five-to-eight franchises as they are presently constructed.
The Definitely Maybes
9. Denver Broncos
The Broncos unsuccessfully tried to unload incumbent starter Kyle Orton every second of every day between the end of the lockout and the first preseason game, where they then realized that their two backup quarterbacks were Brady Quinn and Tim Tebow, both awful choices for John Fox if he hopes to keep his job, and are really career United Football League starters at best from what we have all seen thus far. Orton will likely remain the starter in the Mile High City until either Quinn shows he has even just a little bit of Bryan Hoyer in him, or Tebow decided to stop turning water into Gatorade, whichever comes first.
8. Tennessee Titans
The Titans signed Matt Hasselbeck to take over for the immortal Kerry Collins and the woefully inconsistent Vince Young, who was so atrocious last year that when Collins was out for a week, Jeff Fisher chose to start the man, the myth, the legend: Rusty Smith. Hasselbeck can be loosely described as a “Game Manager” which is the same title that was bestowed upon the likes of greats Brian Griese, Jay Fiedler, and the aforementioned Kyle Orton. Hasselbeck can get it done, and he is a great seat warmer for first-round pick Jake Locker, so there is little to no chance for Palmer to go here unless Locker’s arms fall off or he by chance runs into JaMarcus Russell at a local McDonalds.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
For those of you who have probably been wondering, Jacksonville still does have an NFL team. David Garrard is the incumbent starter, another game manager, who is keeping the seat warm for first-rounder Blaine Gabbert, which for all intents and purposes, could be somewhere around week seven to ten. Behind Gabbert is Luke McCown, brother of fellow shit-sandwich third-stringer Josh McCown of the 49ers, and Todd Bouman, who was signed so the Jags could have another quarterback for week one of the preseason. Much like the Titans, no Palmer here, as Gabbert is primed and ready to most likely have Jack Del Rio send Garrard out to pasture sooner rather than later.
Could Definitely use the Help, But Who Knows
6. San Francisco 49ers
The Niners have most likely tried the Alex Smith Experiment to its fullest extent. The former number-one overall pick in the 2005 draft has amounted to an average NFL quarterback at best after being the WAC Player of the Year in 2005 while at Utah. Was it living outside of the Mormon-y confines of Utah that may have done him in? I don’t know really, but what I do know is that throwing a ball to a receiver is a little easier for them to catch when the ball isn’t trying to be thrown through them. With former Nevada great Colin Kaepernick as the backup and perennial journeyman/shit-sandwich Josh McCown as the third-stringer, the 49ers have effectively put together an underachieving quarterback core that is about right on par with the rest of the offensively challenged NFC West. Who knows how much longer Jim Harbaugh will put up with Smith, especially considering how Aaron Rodgers just won the Super Bowl after being drafted twenty-one picks behind good ol’ Alex in 2005. (Side note: I wrote this column too late to mention that San Fran sent Daunte Culpepper packing from a training camp invitation. Oh how the mighty have fallen.)
5. Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders. Where do I begin? First off, it started with the JaMarcus Russell draft, where everyone knew that he would eat more McDonalds, than convert successful completions. JaMarcus had a penchant for overthrowing the widest open of receivers on a regular basis, eventually leading to his pink slip in May of 2010. JaMarcus finished with eighteen touchdowns against twenty-three interceptions in his NFL career (I say this barring some unforeseen circumstance in which he somehow miraculously gains a whiff of interest from another team) , and is still making it rain with twentys at the club because of that ill-advised $32 million guaranteed that Al Davis’ Corpse gave him. I am inclined to agree with most in that backup core of former Baltimore Ravens franchise quarterback hopeful and current third-stringer Kyle Boller, former Buffalo Bills franchise quarterback hopeful “Checkdown Trent” Edwards, and the 4,983 person that Al Davis has drafted based on his 40 time in Terelle Pryor, will end up helping former Washington Redskins franchise quarterback hopeful Jason Campbell in any way, shape, or form. Campbell was supposed to be the savior for Daniel Snyder when he was drafted in the same 2005 draft as Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith, but he was flipped to Oakland for a fourth-rounder and has lost his job to the likes of Bruce Gradkowski, who is now a Bengals’ backup. Palmer could help immensely, unless Pryor acclimates to the heavy pay cut he has been forced to take by going pro and becomes a star in the Bay Area.
4. Carolina Panthers
What we do know:
The Panthers should really think about paying Jimmy Clausen to not wear their clothing anymore, much like Abercrombie did with Mike Sorrentino and the rest of the Jersey Shore cast.
Derek Anderson went from starting sixteen games with the Arizona Cardinals last year to battling former Cincinnati Bearcat Tony Pike for the emergency quarterback spot behind Clausen and Cam Newton
Cam Newton still has that new car smell
What we don’t know:
How long it will be before Ron Rivera and Jerry Richardson decide to sign someone who may actually be able to play quarterback
How Cecil Newton will take to the news that his son isn’t allowed to have tattoos, considering he already sold space on his back, left biceps, and legs
When the last time the Panthers were actually relevant was
Definitely Needs a Quarterback
3. Washington Redskins
2. Miami Dolphins
I only need to say a couple words on this one. I felt as though that Miami’s three-headed monster of Chad Henne, Matt Moore, and Pat Devlin (or Kevin O’Connell, who’s goal in the league seems to be to play for every team in the AFC East) is weaker and in more need of a quarterback than the three-headed monster of Rex Grossman, John Beck, and Kellen Clemens that Washington will sport this season. Matt Moore lost his job to Jimmy Clausen last year. Enough Said.
1. Seattle Seahawks
Any time your team’s starting quarterback is Tavaris Jackson, who looks to be in mid-season form this preseason, and the backup is Chaz Whitehurst, you need a quarterback. Mike Brown could easily pry a couple second-rounders from Seattle, but chooses not to. He instead chooses to do the following when asked about possibly trading his former franchise quarterback:
Palmer: “Mr. Brown I would really appreciate it if you could trade me, or I will take my ball and go home. Can you help me out?”
