Week 12 - Comments and Complaints

Joey Harrington returned to Detroit to prove that he wasn’t the only problem. He torched Detroit 213 yards and 3 TDs. His one INT came on a bad decision that he should have let go out of bounds. Not only did Harrington torch the Lions, but he did so with Marty Booker, kudos to those of you who started Booker. I knew they had some chemistry, but you figured with the gambling style of play by Dre Bly, Chris Chambers was sure to be the one going over 100 yards. For future reference, keep Jon Kitna on the bench. He’s not starter worthy until he avoids sacks a little better and makes decisions quicker. By the way, expect a lot more Sammy Morris now that Ronnie Brown is out for a few weeks with a broken hand.

If I thought of stats like 22/29 305 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INTs…the first name that would come to mind would probably be Peyton Manning, not Tony Romo! 110.8 passer rating, nearly 1700 yards, 13 TDs, and 5 INTs throughout five games. Nuff said. Romo’s a fantasy stud…which only makes Jason Witten, Terry Glenn, and TO’s value shoot through the roof. Even Pat Crayton has fantasy value once again. One stud who’s taken a back seat is Julius Jones. Jones is splitting carries with Marion Barber III and is being hurt by the goal line passing. Against the Bucs, the Cowboys passed for TDs FOUR times within the 10 yard line, though, two were to Barber.

As well, the Dallas Cowboys defense seems to be getting better and better. They’re a very good start from now on, but have some tough matchups. If they can play at the level they did against Tampa Bay, they’re unstoppable.

Jake Plummer yanked for Jay Cutler; no surprise there. Shanahan won’t deal with Plummer’s mediocre play. Of course, the fact that Denver’s running game has been awful for a few weeks doesn’t help at all. Denver’s been relying on the pass with a struggling QB, which doesn’t work very well – ask Ben Roethlisberger, Jon Kitna, or Charlie Frye. Mike Bell looked like a stud in training camp, what happened to him?

Larry Johnson is carrying the Chiefs, as many people expected. Replacing Huard with Green has seemed to have hurt the value of Eddie Kennison and Tony Gonzalez. KC really needs a playmaker at WR. Johnson’s carries were sure to skyrocket with Herm Edwards making the calls. I am surprised that Michael Bennett hasn’t gotten very many carries. Speaking of carries, Shaun Alexander got 40 in his healthy return against the Packers and ran for over 200! Regarding the Packers, Ahman Green looked like garbage, once again. The Packers offensive line just doesn’t run block very well. Green has been running with some injuries and has been running strong, but doesn’t seem to have the quickness and the burst he did last season, even against a weak Seattle front seven.

Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin are both superstuds. They both went over 140 yards against a decent Minnesota pass defense. Arizona will be lucky to squeeze another win this season with the schedule they have. Edge has been a complete bust this year, which I’m faulting to his pathetic OL and the fact that Arizona has played some very good run defenses. Troy Williamson has stunk this year and nobody has picked up the slack. Somehow, Brad Johnson managed 271 yards and 3 TDs last week. I’m not sure how with Marcus Robinson as his leading receiver. Don’t count on this “chemistry” sticking, because Robinson is inconsistent.

Hines Ward (out for Week 13) and fast Willie Parker have both stunk lately. Pittsburgh is officially in the tank at 4-7, unless you somehow see them running the table and winning the last five. Pittsburgh’s OL has allowed Big Ben to be sacked 39 times…in comparison, Detroit has allowed 44 sacks. That’s pretty pathetic considering how many Pro Bowlers are on Pittsburgh’s line.

Carolina’s offense is awful without Steve Smith having monster days, day in and day out. Jake Delhomme has shown that if Steve Smith is shut down, which is rare, he doesn’t have the playmakers in Keyshawn, Drew Carter, and Keary Colbert. It’s pretty sad when your first two WRs have a combined 114 catches and your #3 and #4 have a combined 23 catches. Keyshawn is a possession man and Smith is the playmaker. Carolina needs someone else.

Well, the bi-polar Rex Grossman let down a lot of fantasy owners, once again. But, don’t get used to it, he’ll more than likely tear it up this week. Wait to see the start/bench. Thomas Jones surprised me, 1 yard shy of triple digits. Benson looked very good as well. The Bears contained the run pretty well, which surprised me, but they did get eaten up by Ben Watson, who torched them for 87 yards on 6 grabs. Look for a lot more Watson this week against the Lions, who have terrible coverage LBs. After Asante Samuel’s 3 INT day, he could see some serious cash come free agency.

Jeff Garcia looked good against the Colts, but why is he not using LJ Smith more? As much as he bird-dogged Marcus Pollard in Detroit, I figured that Westbrook and Smith would turn into fantasy superstuds.

Joseph Addai with 200 all purpose yards? If you told me that in August I would have said you’re crazy. Addai is the man in Indy, as his numbers have dwarfed Rhodes for the past few weeks. Keep in mind, anyone facing Philly’s run D is a solid start!

Jason Campbell has brought back Chris Cooley’s once solid fantasy reputation.

Maurice Jones-Drew has been looking great this season. It’s only a matter of time before he takes over for Fred Taylor as the full-time back, which is bound to happen since Taylor is injury prone. Surprisingly, Taylor’s stayed healthy this season and has been running well. As well, Willis McGahee looked good returning from his injury.

TJ Houshmandzadeh has, arguably, number one fantasy WR status now that Chad Johnson is drawing double coverage. That is one nasty passing attack that Cinci brings. Now only if Rudi Johnson could start doing something. On the other end, the Browns have been ravaged by injuries and are awful. Their OL is looking like swiss cheese. Three out of the four Cinci sacks came on blitzes by LBs and safeties. Cleveland can’t pick up a blitz at all.

I was impressed with Aaron Brooks until he threw the game away in the 4th. What’s new, I guess? Antonio Gates was disappointing for a few weeks, but came back with a big week last week, thankfully.

Travis Henry helped to ruin me last week, but this week he’s going to run all over the Colts, just like he did the first time around this season. Vince Young had his best day and looked like he did at the Rose Bowl last year. I was impressed with his decision making, his running, and his accuracy/velocity on his passes.

NYG is in disarray. It’s getting rough for Coughlin when Tiki is upset and not getting any goal line touches. It’s just a matter of time before Tiki’s touches drop below 15 and Brandon Jacobs shoot up past 15. Time will tell.

Devery Henderson had a big week last week, but both Marques Colston and Joe Horn were hurt, so don’t expect another big repeat week. IF Colston is healthy (day-to-day), expect Colston to start and Henderson to backup. Where are all the Reggie Bush lovers at nowadays?