Wrap Up - Week 4

Start’em

Carson Palmer, Bengals. Heard on Atlanta sports talk today that for several days Marvin Lewis had been telling people Palmer probably would not play and could not grip the football. A press release might have been nice. Palmer did not play, so that is big loss for me.

JT O’Sullivan, Niners. JT went 18-36 for 257 yards and a touchdown. That sounds great until you figure in the 2 interceptions and 6 sacks. O’Sullivan put up some Fantasy points for owners and for the Saints’ defense. I am calling this a win.

Matt Forte, Bears. Forte finished the game with 85 total yards rushing and receiving. Clearly, this was not a great game for Fantasy owners, but Forte was vital to the Bears’ offense. He is the only running back they can put into the game with confidence.

Hines Ward, Pittsburgh. Wow, do I need Hines Ward to come through with a big game tonight. He must score a touchdown. This is the worst game I have watched the Steelers play in a long time. Hines might not even have a catch in this game. No matter what happens I am calling this a loss and the game is still in the 3rd quarter. Hines finished with 57 yards on 2 catches.

Marshawn Lynch, Bills. He finished the game with only 81 combined rushing and receiving yards. Lynch should get into the end zone every week. Against St. Louis, he has to at least get a touchdown—I was counting on 2 TDs this week.

Sit’em

Jake Delhomme, Panthers. The Falcons’ defense let me down. Delhomme passed for 294 yards and 2 TDs. This included a 56 yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith. With Smith back, Delhomme has some weapons to spread the football around to on offense. Muhsin Muhammed is a great number two wide receiver and complement to the speedster Smith. In a weak division, Delhomme is capable of scoring in the high teens in Fantasy each week.

Philip Rivers, San Diego. Going into week 4, Rivers was the number 1 Fantasy scorer. The Raiders were able to shut him down, but LT ran wild on Oakland in the 4th quarter. Rivers finished the game 14-25 for 180 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Rivers is still a must start, but I always get nervous when everyone is comparing a QB to Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Michael Turner, Falcons. 56 yards on 18 carries is not even an average game for Turner. Everyone’s expectations have been raised by his quick start for the Falcons. Depending on your running back situation, Turner might only be a start when the Falcons play at home. He is the main option at running back, so he is going to have opportunities every week. This is clearly a win for me.

Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals. The Cardinals versus Jets game was unbelievable. Fantasy points were piling up for lots of different players. For some reason, I thought this game was going to be low-scoring and be played in a rain storm. That prediction could not have been more wrong. Fitzgerald had another solid game with 122 yards on 8 catches.

Adrian Peterson, Vikings. With 80 yards rushing, Peterson matched what I thought he would accumulate yardage wise. My problem is that he scored 2 touchdowns. Peterson has not had the monster weeks like he did last year, but he is clearly one of the top 2 running backs in the NFL. Play him every week and forget what I said about him losing a step!

Totals: 3-6-1 (Overall 21-14-3)

My Picks

Wins: Texans, Panthers, Saints, Jets, Buccaneers, Titans, Chargers, Redskins
Losses: Bengals, Broncos, Rams, Eagles, Steelers
Total: 8-5 (Overall 35-24-1)

Eliminator Contest. My season is over. The Chiefs just ran over the Broncos on Sunday. The Broncos defense was awful and Larry Johnson had a great day. The coronation of Jay Cutler as the next John Elway will have to wait.

Fantasy Games. I won my Dallas league game and moved to 2-2 despite getting 0 points from Bills’ TE Robert Royal and 0 points from the Atlanta Falcons’ defense. Starting David Garrard in place of Roethlisberger paid off with a big game from Garrard. My receivers, Santana Moss and Jericho Cotchery, exploded for big points. In my Atlanta league, I made some terrible plays this week. I started Selvin Young instead of Edgerrin James, because I figured Denver would put up a ton of points against Kansas City. In the first few weeks, I have been alternating Donald Driver and Tory Holt at WR. Driver was awful yesterday. Right now, I am 18 points behind with the Steelers’ defense and Hines Ward left to play tonight. Ended up losing my game by 3 points. I really needed a touchdown from Hines tonight.

*On a personal note, I could not be more frustrated right now by the Steelers’ performance tonight. Steelers look confused on both sides of the ball. Finally, Hines Ward just caught a pass. Okay, let me watch this comeback. Steelers won on a Jeff Reed field goal in overtime.