Fantasy Forum Week 13: Studs/Duds

After a week hiatus due to the Thanksgiving festivities, little bit of Views from the Couch family time if you will, the fantasy forum is back in action for week 13. Week 12 was a doozy with fantasy dud to this point in the season CJ1K going off for 190 yards against the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense and Mark Sanchez torching the Bills atrocious defense for 4 TD’s. Rest assured if there had been a fantasy forum for week 12 they both would’ve been on the studs list. Onto the week 13 studs and duds!

Season: 12-7 (4-3 last week)

STUDS

Tony Romo QB Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals secondary

For four straight weeks Romo has thrown at least 2 TD passes with two 3/0 TD/INT games thrown into the mix. He’s gone off for 20, 22, 23, and 13 points the past four weeks. He threw his only two interceptions during the four game streak against the Dolphins defense on Thanksgiving but the Fins have a very respectable front seven on defense and a solid secondary. The Cardinals have neither an exceptional front seven nor secondary aside from rookie CB Patrick Peterson has made a bigger impact in the return game than on defense I don’t see him being able to slow down Dez Bryant or Laurent Robinson. Speaking of Laurent Robinson that’s 7 TD’s in the past 5 games I see Romo keeping the hot hand alive.

Stats: 323 yards, 3 TDs, 0 Int, 2 rush, 5 yards

Tom Brady QB New England Patriots vs. the NFL’s punching bag Indianapolis Colts

Tom Brady tends to sit in the stud realm on a weekly basis but this week we’re looking at the possibility of 6 TDs throw the air and over 400 yards in about 3 quarters worth of work. The only thing that’s going to slow him down is whether or not Bill Belichick sits Tom early in the game and knowing the Hoodie I don’t think Brady sits until late in the 4^th. He’s never been shy about leaving his superstar QB in late into blowouts and by his own admission Tom Terrific doesn’t like leaving games until the clocks read 00:00. Brady is going to go wild and send the Colts to 0-12. ESPN has him projected at 25 but I see that as a little light I’m going over 30 fantasy points.

Stats: 382 yards, 5 TDs, 0 Int

New England Patriots D/ST vs. the Indianapolis ‘Suck for Luck’ Colts offense

Dan Orlovsky, need I say more? Orlovsky is attempting to become the first QB in NFL history to lead TWO teams, the 2008 Detroit Lions and this years Colts, to 0-16 records. I’m pulling for you Danny boy and I hope the Patriots can help you along your trek towards the history books. The last three games the Patriots defense has forced 7 turnovers and allowed 13.0 PPG. They lit up Tyler Palko for 19 points I see them being able to top that this week.

Stats: 193 yards against, 7 points against, 3 sacks, 2 Ints, 2 FumRec, 1 TD

DUDS

Steven Jackson RB St. Louis Rams vs. San Francisco 49ers #1 run defense

The Rams offense is terrible and it all starts with their horrendous offensive line. A porous offensive line has caused young QB Sam Bradford to take leaps backward after appearing to be a future superstar last year. Bradford and the passing games inefficiency have caused the Rams to lean quite heavily on Jackson. The only problem is that the offensive line isn’t any better at run blocking then it is pass blocking. Jackson had a few very good games against a few subpar run defenses he was held in check the past two weeks as the offense struggled severely to move the ball. A horrible offensive line, an out of sync offense, and a matchup with the 49ers #1 ranked run defense means bad news Bears for our man S-Jax. Its never easy to sit a usually reliable RB but if you have alternatives I’d look their direction.

Stats: 18 carries, 43 yards, 0 TD, 3 rec, 22 yards

Andre Johnson WR Houston Texans vs. Atlanta Falcons pass defense

After a 6 week hiatus one of the top 3 receivers drafted in this years fantasy drafts Johnson was expected by owners to come back last week against the Jaguars and rack up big yards and fantasy points. Wrong. Johnson was targeted only 3 times and reeled in 2 catches for 22 yards. He appeared to be out of rhythm and with the Texans down to third string QB T.J. Yates I don’t see Johnson’s number going up anytime soon. If he can’t reel in a touchdown pass or the Texans don’t find themselves down early I don’t see the Texans abandoning the run and throwing the ball very often. With Arian Foster and Ben Tate the Texans have one of the most potent rushing attacks in the league and they’ll lean on them heavily at the expense of Johnson.

Stats: 3 rec, 36 yards, 0 TDs

C.J. Spiller RB Buffalo Bills vs. Tennessee Titans

All the fantasy owners out there that hurried to pick up Spiller after stud RB Fred Jackson went down for the year had to be disappointed in last week’s production. Spiller was handed the starting job against the Jets and subsequently given 22 touches but what he did with those touches wasn’t too encouraging: 19 carries, 55 yards, 3 rec, 15 yards. The Bills drafted Spiller 9^th overall in the 2010 draft under the impression that he was a big play back who could break it on any given play. That hasn’t come to fruition yet and I don’t see it happening this week against a halfway decent Titans defense. He’s going to get upwards of 20 touches but I don’t see him reaching the end zone and in fantasy that’s what gets you points and wins you matchups. Don’t start Spiller.

Stats: 18 carries, 61 yards, 4 rec, 18 yards

There you have it folks week 13’s fantasy forum: studs and duds. Take the advice you’ve been given and start ‘em or sit ‘em. Good luck to all dedicated readers as the fantasy football playoffs creep up next week.  Until we cross paths again…

Geoff Jablonski

The Quick Slant Week 6: Brady, Hernandez move the Pats to 5-1

After a week’s hiatus in order to provide an in depth preview of the Boston Bruins ‘The Quick Slant’ is back and better than ever. A brief synopsis of the game before I get into what I saw in particular and a few random thoughts on the game and its outcome. As most of you know the Patriots beat the Dallas Cowboys 20-16 yesterday with Tom Brady hitting Aaron Hernandez for an 8 yard score with :22 left in the 4^th quarter. Brady went 27/41 (identical to Romo) for 289 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 picks. Now that you’ve seen a final score and how Tom Terrific did on the day let’s get to some of the news and notes from the matchup.

-Thank God Buddy Ryan only had two defensive minded sons. Rex Ryan and the Jets (before last week) were 3-2 against the Patriots since he’s been at the helm and unceremoniously knocked the Patriots out of the playoffs last year. Rob Ryan, the current defensive coordinator of the Cowboys, was at the head of the Browns defense that before Sunday was the last d to hold the Patriots under 30 points in the regular season. Ryan guided defenses tend to give Brady and the Patriots some trouble for extended period of times. The common theme between the brothers Ryan ability to slowing down the Patriots is the ability to get pressure on Brady with 4 and a good amount of the time only 3 rushers. DeMarcus Ware is an absolute beast and he showed it again yesterday wreaking havoc on Matt Light and the Pats o-line all day long. He and the Boys d-line were able to take down Brady 3 times and the secondary picked up 2 interceptions. Until the final drive the Cowboys had done a great job of holding the Patriots in check but that’s just it: it’s almost impossible to hold them down for a full 60 minutes and Brady showed why when he marched down the field 80 yards with precision and accuracy to lead the Patriots to victory.

-Yesterday’s matchup between New England and Dallas provided a much clearer view of why Tom Brady’s one of the greatest of all-time and Tony Romo will never excel into the upper echelon. Brady scores TDs and is allowed to make plays when the game is on the line where Romo scores FGs and is forced to call a handoff dive off right tackle on 3^rd down in the Red Zone. Romo has been at this for almost 6 years now and he’s still not allowed to throw the ball late in the game with the game tied. The Cowboys would rather hand off and take 3 points instead of risking Romo throwing an INT. The Cowboys went 1-3 (TDs-atts) in the Red Zone yesterday with the Patriots going 2-4. Romo leads the Cowboys on long drives that yield 3 instead of the 7 points Brady and Patriots consistently put on the board.

-Andre Carter looked great yesterday putting 2 sacks on the board and disrupting multiple others. Carter is a strong presence in the locker room and the kind of guy you root for. He’s been in the league for 11 years and if he can continue the level of play that he brought to the table last week for the rest of the year the Patriots found them a gem on the scrap heap.

-If he’s healthy, and I know it’s a big IF, Albert Haynesworth can bring the noise. On one of Carter’s sacks yesterday Haynesworth occupied 3 (3!) blockers to allow Carter a free lane to Romo. His presence doesn’t always show up on the stat sheet but he is a beast and occupies multiple blockers on every play allowing the other linemen and linebackers free shots at the ball carrier. He can also provide some pressure up the middle, which for all his other talents and soft hands, Vince Wilfork isn’t the best at. He’s more of a run stuffer and block occupier than he is pocket collapser. Haynesworth is a pocket collapser.

-The Patriots turned the ball over 4 times yesterday including putting it on the ground for the first 2 times all year. They were lucky to win considering they lost the turnover battle 4-2. Yet, championship caliber teams win these games and the Patriots did just that.

-The Cowboys are way too skilled to be sitting at 2-3. They should pretty easily be at 5-0 with the talent they field at every position. If you look at the Pats and Cowboys man for man the only areas where you would give the Patriots a decided edge is Quarterback. Running Back is a close push and I’ll give the o-line to the Patriots slightly though the Cowboys have some talent but WRs? Cowboys. D-Line? Cowboys. DBs? Cowboys? LBs? Cowboys? The Patriots have 2 very good TEs whereas the Boys only have Witten but he just happens to be one of the 3 best in football. Not too shabby. Jerry Jones needs to figure out who is the right head coach for this team because Jason Garrett is nothing more than a glorified offensive coordinator. As we’ve all seen from when Belichick tried it a few years ago head coaches shouldn’t be the offensive coordinators at the same time. Find a strong personality to come in and lead this talented bunch to their place among the NFL’s elite.

-Finally, Chad Ochocinco might be close to putting ex-New England Patriot on his resume. He only made it on the field for 7 plays yesterday and none after the Patriots ran isolation for him on the left side and he ran the wrong route. Ochocinco ran an in instead of an out when the Patriots lined him up alone on the left with 4 WRs bunched on the right. After the game Brady said that he still believes Ochocinco can contribute but on the field you can tell that he’s lost all confidence in throwing him the ball and Ochocinco looks stiff and lot. He’s not playing fluid and loose like he did in Cincinnati. If he has any chance of making it in New England he has to dedicate himself to this offense play a little more carefree and think less. He’s a talented player and the Pats could use him down the stretch but we all know if he doesn’t produce soon Belichick won’t be afraid to cut ties and move on.

That’s all for this week folks we’ll see you again in two weeks since YOUR New England Patriots are on a bye this week. Until we cross paths again…

Geoff Jablonski