Fantasy Column 8
QB
Philip Rivers @ NO- Tally Ho! This game will be the game played in London this year. It has all the ingredients for a shootout, and in order for the Chargers to get out in front early, Rivers will need a big game and will deliver it.
Drew Brees vs. SD- The opposing QB in this game will need to throw often in order to keep up with the Chargers. San Diego’s pass D has been bad, but with the absence of Reggie Bush in this one, the Chargers may focus on the pass so Brees will get a lot of throws. Whether or not he will deliver is yet to be seen.
Kurt Warner @ CAR- Carolina has really good days and really bad days defensively. With the return of Anquan Boldin, expect a really bad day defensively for Carolina. Warner will love having Fitzgerald, Boldin, and Breaston all on the field and should have a big day.
Brett Favre vs. KC- Remember what Favre did a few weeks ago against Arizona in the Big Apple? Well the matchup against KC should make owners drool. Favre should have a big day at home against a pretty awful secondary.
Eli Manning @ PIT- Eli has been pretty shaky the past few weeks after his meltdown at Cleveland. Expect another long day for Eli since Pittsburgh is a great defense that will need to step up in order to have a shot to win. Without Santonio Holmes, the offense will struggle which means the defense will have to step up.
RB
LaDainian Tomlinson @ NO- Although the Chargers will throw it early in order to get ahead, in order to do that, they will have to establish some kind of run. Don’t expect huge amounts of yards from LT since they were able to shut down runners like Earnest Graham and Adrian Peterson in the past. But LT could find the end zone on a goal line carry or a receiving TD.
Clinton Portis @ DET- This is as good as it gets if he plays. Detroit is atrocious at every part of football this year. They will be lucky to win one game. Portis should go off on this team and might even hit 200 yards. He has the talent to do so and this team is bad enough to let it up but check his status before game time.
Marion Barber vs. TB- Don’t expect big numbers from Barber this week. Tampa Bay is a great defense and the fact that the Cowboys won’t be able to throw will hurt both dimensions of his game this week.
Michael Turner @ PHI- Turner has had some great games this year and he is a player who can go off at any time. Expect a respectable game but not an outstanding game from Turner who goes up against a top 5 rushing defense in Philly.
Frank Gore vs. SEA- Although Seattle is a bad team, their front-7 isn’t that bad. Gore will put up a TD or 2, but maybe not that many yards since he will be up against the likes of Leroy Hill, Lofa Tatupu and Patrick Kerney. He does have home-field advantage.
WR
Larry Fitzgerald @ CAR- This really could go either way for Fitzgerald. On the upside, with Boldin’s return and the presence of Breaston, he will have less pressure on him. On the downside, that means less looks also. Boldin is more of a red zone target but Fitzgerald could get a lot of yards and maybe more looks this week as they easily work Boldin back in.
Terrell Owens vs. TB- This is a bad matchup for TO. He has Ronde Barber as his counterpart and Brad Johnson as his compadre. This spells disaster. On the flipside, maybe Barber will outdo TO in number of receptions from Johnson this week.
Reggie Wayne @ TEN- As good as Wayne is, I don’t like this matchup. Indy will have bad field position all game which could give him yards if he comes through, but at the same time, this is the #1 pass defense. Indy looked awful last week against Green Bay and it doesn’t get easier here. Don’t bench him by any means but don’t expect miracles either.
Andre Johnson vs. CIN- Whoever is a Andre Johnson owner should jump for joy. Cincy has no secondary whatsoever and Andre Johnson is absolutely turning it on as of late. Expect a huge day from Andre. If Schaub can get him the ball, he may break 200 yards in this one.
Calvin Johnson vs. WAS- Calvin Johnson is a great player. But being on Detroit is killing him. Dan Orlovsky will have a lot of trouble getting him the ball against a ferocious secondary in Washington. Don’t expect much from Calvin this week.
TE
Antonio Gates @ NO- Gates will see a lot of action in this one since Rivers will be throwing it a lot. New Orleans hasn’t been particularly good against the tight end which bodes well for Gates.
Jason Witten vs. TB- Witten will have a decent game since Brad Johnson will check down a lot in this game but Johnson might have trouble getting him the ball. I’d expect him to be in the area of 50 yards and maybe a TD.
Tony Gonzalez @ NYJ- Gonzalez should do well here since the only other target the Chiefs will have, Dwayne Bowe, will have a tough time against Darrelle Revis. The Chiefs will have a tough time since Larry Johnson will be benched so Gonzalez will get looks and should produce good numbers.
Chris Cooley @ DET- Cooley should do well here since Detroit may not be able to stop anything here. Cooley has been pretty good the past few weeks so expect more of the same.
Owen Daniels vs. CIN- Daniels did great last week against Detroit and is playing against an equally bad defense in Cincinnati. Expect a similar performance but maybe not 2 TDs this time.
Boom Picks
QB- Donovan McNabb vs. ATL- McNabb has played solid lately. He has had 2 weeks to prepare for the mediocre Atlanta defense and he gets 2 main targets back this week in Brian Westbrook and Kevin Curtis.
RB- Steve Slaton vs. CIN- Slaton has gotten some big games against teams like Indianapolis and Tennessee. Slaton should have a field day against Cincinnati who will struggle to stop anything this week.
RB- Chris Johnson vs. IND- Johnson has played very well lately and will make a strong case for ROY this year. He should be able to explode in this one as Indy has been awful against the run.
WR- Randy Moss vs. STL- Moss showed signs of life a few weeks ago against San Francisco and then also played great last week against Denver. Now St. Louis seems like a great matchup for him since no one will be able to defend him.
TE- Jeremy Shockey vs. SD- SD’s pass D has been bad lately but will improve this week. With that said, the Chargers may have trouble finding an answer for Shockey and he will find the end zone in this one.
Bust Picks
QB- Peyton Manning @ TEN- Manning has no Addai this week and he goes on the road to face the best pass defense in the NFL. This will not be Manning’s best day.
RB- Brandon Jacobs @ PIT- Pittsburgh’s run defense has been very good lately, so Jacobs should have a tough time running on the road this week.
WR- Roddy White @ PHI- White seems to play well against bad teams and bad against good teams. Against Ronde Barber, he had problems. He will have major problems seeing Asante Samuel in his face for 60 minutes.
TE- Dustin Keller vs. KC- Even though you see Kansas City and it seems like a good matchup, the fact is that the KC corners will have such a hard time against Coles and Cotchery that Favre might not need Keller. The presence of Chris Baker doesn’t bode well either.
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