Fantasy Football Geekly: Week 3

by Demonboy

HOLY HEADSPIN batman! What a wild week 2. First off, who would've thought that the 49ers, Houston, Lions and Packers would be 2-0? AND that Larry Johnson, Reggie Bush & LaDainian Tomlinson would be the fantasy busts of the draft so far?

Where do I go from here? Ok - let's go to the wild wild midwest of the *cough* great state of Ohio *cough*. Who would of ever thought that A) Carson Palmer not only throws for over 400 yrds with 6 TDs but it's all for nothing in a loss to none other than their in-state rivals of the Cleveland Browns and B) the Browns would score 51 in beating Cinci?? Did the defense for both teams take the day off or were they all sleeping in the locker room with Prince Valium???

Is this year, Matt Schaub's coming out party? He hasn't been too spectacular - a bit better than average (452 yrds 3 TDs 1 INT in 2 games) in fact but, the Texans are 2-0 so something has to be said for his leadership abilities. Because of this, he has been a solid low option #1 or high #2 fantasy QB while his #1 WR (Andre Johnson) is starting to show signs of being a solid starter (262 yrds 3 TDs in 2 games).

Let's move on to the east with the Patriots v Chargers game. Now we all know that the Pats were more and likely going to win this game. But, who would've ever thought it was going to be the blow out that it was? Again, LaDainian Tomlinson was held to under 50 yrds and he's only averaging 1.8 yrds per carry - worst in the NFL RB's with at least 20 carries. I have a theory on this game - it's called the Space Jam theory. You see, on the way to New England, the Chargers had a long layover in Cleveland. While in Cleveland, a few of the guys got together and had a little scrimmage game. The teams were Phillip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson & Antonio Gates vs Derek Anderson, Jamal Lewis, Braylon Edwards & Kellen Winslow. The Browns not only won that game but also stole San Diego's powers - this is why they (Browns) were able to beat Cinci 51-45 and the Chargers tank big. How else would you explain this one??

Going back to the midwest - did anyone want to win the Lions v Vikequeens game? I was at this one. From the opening kickoff, I could tell this was going to be a good game. Yes the Lions did have a 17-0 lead at one point but after that "First down" catch - you know the one; where the ball bounced and Tavaris Jackson did a quick spike of the ball so it couldn't be challenged - anyways, that set up the Vikes 1st TD. After that, things went downhill. Jon Kitna goes out at halftime with a mild concussion and J.T. O'Sullivan comes in. Detroit's offense just wasn't the same - and everyone could feel it. At the end of the 3rd, they were tied and things didn't look good. In the 4th, Jon Kitna did something that no one expected - he came back into the game and Ford Field just went nuts. Kitna drives the offense down to Jason Hanson range - only for Hanson to miss. The Vikequeens get the ball back and try for a last second FG - thankfully Ryan Longwell hits the uprights and game is sent into overtime. The Lions defense steps it up a notch - AGAIN (2 sacks & 4 INT) and stops the Vikes. Jon Kitna shows heart and sacrifices his own body & health and again drives the ball into Hanson range - this time it's good. Needless to say, I couldn't speak for almost 6hrs after the game - had a strained throat from screaming so much.

Taking another long flight - this time down to Tampa Bay. Holy upset of the week! The feel good story of 2006 is now the what the hell happened story of 2007. The Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Deuce McAllister and the Reggie Bush owners must be banging thier heads on the tables. 1 owner I know had the 8th overall pick and went with Brees while another owner in this same league had the number 1 pick overall - took LT in round 1 and took Bush in the 2nd round - talk about crying! Anyways, while it wasn't spectacular, Jeff Garcia still lead his team to a 1 sided game by throwing for 2 TDs - both to Galloway and Cadillac Williams ran in for another 2. What can you say about this game except look at the box score, shake your head and say "DAMN"!

Taking a small commuter flight - this time up north just a bit to Jacksonville. Not much to say here except for maybe - is the Blue Skies Harrington experiment finally over? What was Atlanta thinking? Trading away Matt Schaub then signing Harrington and making him a starter after the Michael Vick P.R. fiasco. Maybe by week 4 Atlanta will show a little bit of life, while it may not be much, when Byron Leftwich joins the starters.

If there is 1 thing that we all have learned in all of the 32 games that have been played so far - that is; outside of Peyton Manning, Tom Brady,Randy Moss, Steve Smith & maybe Edgerrin James, there has been no real consistent stud stand-outs yet. Everyone else would fall into the mediocre category - nothing great - just average to a little above. The middle round picks are performing just as well, if not better than the early round picks - see Andre Johnson.

Week 2 Fantasy Gods

• Carson Palmer - 401 yrds 6 TDs

• Chad Johnson - 209 yrds 2 TDs

• Jamal Lewis - 216 yrds 1 TD

• Peyton Manning - 312 yrds 1 (gets the god pick due to the yards)

• Andre Johnson - 120 yrds 2 TDs

• Jake Delhomme - 316 yrds 3 TDs

• Braylon Edwards - 146 yrds 2 TDs

• Steve Smith - 153 yrds 3 TDs

• Marc Bulger - 368 yrds 1 TD

• Jerricho Cotchery - 165 yrds

• Joey Galloway - 135 yrds 2 TDs

• Travis Henry - 128 yrds

Injury Report

• D.J. Hackett - High ankle sprain. Out indefinately.

• Josh Scobee - Strained right quads. Out 2-3 weeks.

• Brandon Jacobs - Sprained MCL and is expected to miss 3 to 5 weeks. Derrick Ward is his replacement.

• Andre Johnson - Left knee sprain. The Texans are waiting on the results of the MRI. At first glance, it appears that he won't be playing in week 3 and if he does, it won't be for very long.

Must starts

• Steve Smith - The Panthers face the 0-2 Falcons. Smith should torch Atlanta's secondary for huge points.

• As many Pats players as you can including the defense. This week, the Bills come to town. The Bills have zero defense and practically zero offense so this should be a no brainer.

Low risk / high reward starts

• Jake Delhomme - Of Delhomme's 508 passing yards, 271 belong to Smith. As long as Smith is healthy and active, Delhomme should be too.

• Vince Young - If Jeff Garcia can beat New Orleans, a better QB of Young should be able too also. Don't expect big numbers from him but 225 yrds 1-2 TDs shouldn't be out of the question.

• Jon Kitna - Philly showed that they are a weak team and can be beaten. Kitna has a lot of targets he can throw to. This could shape up to be a huge game for him. If Kitna gets less than 300 yrds 3 TDs here, I'll be shocked.

• Vikings defense - A bad KC team comes to town. They have a bad QB & a bad offensive line - this could mean big points for the Vikes defense.

High risk starts

• Larry Johnson - Once again he's at the bottom of the pile. Kansas City has no offensive line, without a good o-line, the RB can't make the plays and that's exactly what's going on here. In week 3 KC goes against the Vikes who have been doing very well against the run - just ask the Falcons and Lions.

• Matt Schaub - Listing him here for 2 reasons - 1) he faces the Colts and 2) he's more & likely going to be without his favorite target of Andre Johnson.

• Reggie Brown - In most drafts, Reggie went in the middle to late rounds but was worth the pick up due to the fact he's McNabb's #1 WR. However, in the past 2 weeks he's had 1 reception for 14 yrds & 2 receptions for 27 yrds. This does not look good.

Sleeper of the week

• Chris Chambers - Chambers has been the only bright spot in a dreadful Miami team. In week 3, Miami plays the Jets and Chambers had a decent game aainst them last year (5 rec 60 yrds 1 TD). If you either have Chambers or can get him, I would for that #3 WR spot or the flex spot.

Waiver wire

• Brandon Marshall - A solid #3 WR in any format. He had 5 receptions for the second week in a row. He won't get many yards but with Jay Cutler as his QB, he has the potential to be agood pickup.

• Jacoby Jones - If Johnson is out, this wouldn't be a bad play in picking up Jones. Owned in less than 10% of Yahoo leagues, he's more & likely available in yours. Don't expect high numbers but for that flex position, it wouldn't be bad pickup.

• Shaun McDonald - When you play with a QB that loves to throw (Kitna), McDonald is right there with the receptions. Shaun has lead the Lions 2 weeks in a row with receptions (6 for 90yrds in week 1 & 7 for 71 yrds in week 2).

Good luck - see you on the turf.