Start'em or Sit'em - Week 3

Start’em

Jason Campbell, Redskins. The Redskins at home are a totally different team than on the road. Last week was a huge confidence builder for Campbell and for Coach Jim Zorn. The running game should be solid against the Cardinals. That fact should open up the field for Campbell and his receiving corps.

Matt Ryan, Falcons. Most of you probably are in a league in which Matty Ice is still available. If you do have him, this is the week to play him against Kansas City. The Falcons’ skill players are faster and more comfortable on the turf field of the Georgia Dome. KC is beat up, down, and the secondary is very young. Look for Ryan to throw for 2 touchdowns, a long completion to Roddy White, and a long screen pass to Jerious Norwood.

Michael Bush, Raiders. Raiders are terrible in the passing game. Every other running back is hurt (McFadden has a steel plate in his shoe?) Bush averaged around 9 yards per carry last week and should take any goal line carries. Raiders probably lose, but Bush is the only player they have to run the football. He should score a touchdown at least.

Chester Taylor, Vikings. Various reports have AD on the shelf this week and not practicing. That should scare Fantasy owners and also Vikings’ fans. Starting Frerotte should help the offense. Even if Peterson plays, Taylor should get plenty of touches on the ground. The bonus for him is that Frerotte will be able to find him in the short passing game. Taylor is great at running screens and picking up yards after the catch.

T.J. Houshmanzadeh, Bengals. What has happened to the Bengals? My spies in Cincinnati assure me that Housh will break out of his slump this week. Bengals are at the Giants which will make life miserable for QB Carson Palmer. This pick looks dumb, but at some point these guys have to break out and have a big game. Right?

Sit’em

Matt Cassell, Patriots. The reports of Cassell’s prowess are greatly exaggerated. The Dolphins have had a couple weeks to study the guy; and they do have guys that pressure the quarterback. The Patriots might run for over 200 yards, but Cassell will not have a good statistical game—no touchdown passes this week.

Donovan McNabb, Eagles. Listen, I think McNabb is great. He was one of my sleepers in a pre-draft column for this blog. He was unbelievable last weekend. The Eagles are going to throw the ball over 40 times this week. Everything is pointing to McNabb having a monster game. Everything except an aggressive, physical Steeler defense. Predicting injuries is not a nice thing, but look out for Blitzburgh’s linebackers.

Earnest Graham, Buccaneers. Tampa Bay is headed to Chicago and the Bears are coming off a tough loss to Carolina. Galloway is out. For some reason, this game feels like a classic 13-3 win for the Bears. Urlacher has a big game and stuffs Graham all day long.

Braylon Edwards, Browns. This one is too easy. Edwards is dropping balls and getting boos from the home crowd. Going on the road does not make anything better. I predict an 0-3 start for the hapless Browns, a Kellen Winslow meltdown (now that is an easy prediction), and Brady Quinn starting for the Browns in Week 4.

Santonio Holmes, Steelers. This pick hurts me. The Steelers are my team. While I think they win the game this week, the passing game is going to suffer. Roethlisberger is hurt and limited to intermediate passes. Plus, the Eagles secondary responds after being embarrassed Monday night and takes Holmes out of the game. Steelers probably score 2 defensive touchdowns and escape with a huge 23-21 road win.

My Picks

@Falcons -5.5 Chiefs - Falcons
@ Bills -9.5 Raiders - Raiders
@ Bears -3 Buccaneers - Bears
@ Titans -5 Texans - Titans
@ Vikings -3.5 Panthers - Vikings
@ Patriots -13 Dolphins - Dolphins
@ Giants -13 Bengals - Bengals
@ Redskins -3 Cardinals - Redskins
@ Niners -4 Lions - Niners
@ Seahawks -9.5 Rams - Rams
@ Broncos -5.5 Saints - Broncos
@ Eagles -3 Steelers - Steelers
@ Colts -5 Jaguars - Jaguars
@ Ravens -2.5 Browns - Ravens
Cowboys -3 @ Packers - Cowboys
@ Chargers -10 Jets - Jets

Eliminator Contest. I need to think about this pick more on Saturday and add it to the post. I want to pick the Falcons, but I just do not have the confidence yet. My wife picked New England to beat Miami. I ended up taking Buffalo to beat Oakland. Early on, these picks look like trouble.

Trade Proposal: I logged onto my Dallas League site, and I had a trade proposal banner waving on the home page. There hardly ever are any trades in this league, because the owners are too smart and too competitive. No one wants to get burned. One of these guys still is living down taking TE Stephen Alexander of Denver with a high draft pick a couple of years back. The proposal is Selvin Young and Desean Jackson for Reggie Bush. This actually makes sense for me because I am weak at WR. I have to consider Jackson’s tendency to make ridiculous errors; and my belief that Michael Pittman is really the Broncos’ goal line back. Plus, I want to say "I told you so" when Bush scores 12 total TDs this year. No way I make this deal. Reggie Bush for Reggie Wayne, maybe?

Ryder Cup. What is Nick Faldo thinking? Hey, I am rooting for America in this, but is Faldo trying to give away the Ryder Cup? Sitting Garcia and Westwood is like Phil Jackson sitting Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant in game 3 of a 5 game series against the Knicks in 1991 (Padraig Harrington clearly is the Jordan on this team). Westwood has scored points in 12 straight matches. Stupid. Maybe Garcia and Westwood questioned the crazy decision to leave Colin Montgomery and Darren Clarke off the team. I would have paid to see Monty today playing against Boo Weekley. That would have been priceless.