Week 15 - Comments and Concerns

It was a bad week for most receivers. It was a bad week for many running backs as well. When Ahman Green scored more fantasy points than Willis McGahee, Larry Johnson, Shaun Alexander, and Rudi Johnson, you know it’s a rough week.

As much as pass catching backs rule fantasy football leagues, you need help from your WRs. At times like these when Roy Williams is getting owned by Al Harris, Steve Smith is useless with Chris Weinke starting, Darrell Jackson is out with turf toe, and Randy Moss is considered a laughing stock, we need to plan for these types of events.

Steve Smith is essentially no better than a #3 WR with Jake Delhomme out. Deion Branch is seeing around 5 targets per game with Darrel Jackson out – pathetic. It’s times like these when backups shine and the highly drafted WRs make you pay. That’s one reason why highly drafted WRs never pan out well. Sure, Chad Johnson and Steve Smith are studs, but if Palmer/Delhomme gets hurt, these guys look average. This is why your first four rounds or so should be invested in running backs – Tomlinson, Johnson, Jones, Westbrook, Barber, Portis, Parker, etc.

Sure, guys like Terrell Owens have topped 1000 yards and gone for 11 scores…but Marques Colston missed three games and still has over 1000 yards and 7 TDs. My point is, guys like Marques Colston, Bernard Berrian, Mike Furrey, Eddie Kennison can get you to the playoffs in any fantasy league…as long as you rely on those pass catching backs for the bulk of your points. DJ Hackett was a solid pickup, as was Jeremy Stevens, Vernon Davis, and even Ronald Curry.

I guess I was wrong about the Seattle/San Fran game. The winds weren’t very bad at all and there was little to no rain. Vernon Davis produced, Alex Smith had a great day, Frank Gore produced, and Shaun Alexander laid an egg. Jeremy Stevens is a guy who could see more action in the coming weeks, so see if he’s available on the waiver if you need a TE for the playoffs. Why does Seattle to continually underutilize Deion Branch???

Roy Williams held to one catch? Al Harris is good, but not that good. Come on Roy, start playing like a pro. Why does Jon Kitna continually get free passes from Detroit media and the coaching staff? The guy is putting up terrible stats, as many fantasy players have found throughout this season; 350 yards means squat if he throws 3 picks and no TDs. Arlen Harris is not a substitute for Kevin Jones either, as you may have found out the hard way. With the way Chicago' s defense played last week, it's not hard to imagine a huge day for Roy Williams this week.

Ladell Betts is the real deal in Washington. Rumors are floating that the Skins want to unload Clinton Portis for someone like Shaun Rogers. Betts is continually a great flex back start in all formats.

Don’t fear – the Saints/Redskins game was merely a bump in the road. Brees, Colston, Bush, McAllister and co will be back to normal form this week against New York, now that the Saints aren’t a shoe-in for the bye.

Indianapolis is not as good as they seemed and neither is Dwight Freeney. Sure, Freeney sees a lot of double teams, but he’s not a continual double-digit sack type of guy, despite what his resume says. Some team will throw a lot of money away trying to get him for the next 6 years. Indy is playing up to their potential, but this past week, Cincinnati played down. By that, I mean they barely tried. Indy is a good team, but they’re extremely beatable...just ask the Titans.

The Titans – Wow. Vince Young is making an impact…too bad it’s hurting the stats that the rest of his team puts up. Tennessee’s defense is impressive. I thought they would have done pretty well against Jacksonville’s pass defense, but not as well as they did. I’m surprised Matt Jones did not work the Titan’s smallish CBs more.

The Bears gave up 31 points to a terrible Tampa Bay squad? Personally, my fantasy teams were strongest in the running backs, defense, and IDP areas…but last week they all failed miserably. Larry Johnson was owned by terrible play calling, Chicago stunk it up, Jacksonville stunk it up, Carolina has been terrible this year and should continue to be terrible as they have many holes to fill, Randy McMichael has become nonexistent in Miami, and so on.

One final question – where has Denver’s defense gone? Giving up 20 points to Arizona and over 100 yards rushing? Arizona is 31^st in the league in rushing. Denver still has the wild card race, so why let Arizona make you look bad? Denver’s in for a world of hurt if they end up playing Jacksonville in the wildcard game.