The strategy behind DTBWW is that each week, you pick up a defense, preferably one playing at home against a bad offense. And each week, you get pretty good numbers out of your DT position. To see how this approach performed last season, click here.

Last week, I recommended three DTBWW picks. Let’s see how they fared…

#1 Bengals: 2 SK + 1 INT + 1 FR = 4 fantasy points
#2 Redskins: 14 PA (4) + 5 SK = 9 fp
#3 Jaguars: 1 SK + 1 INT = 2 fp

The Texans have a pretty potent offense, so in hindsight it probably wasn’t too smart to take the Bengals, even if they’ve been playing good defense this year. The Jaguars were a disaster, which is a shame, because I was thisclose to recommending the Bucs, who had 16 points against the Panthers. (I did mention Tampa Bay as a bonus pick.) The deciding factor? Anthony Stalter thought the Jags’ DT was a bit better. Thanks for nothing, Stalter.

For the season, my #1 pick is averaging 10.5 ppg, #2 is averaging 9.2 and #3 is averaging 8.3. Combining all the picks, DTBWW is averaging 9.3 points per game. Those are DT7 numbers.

Let’s take a look at this week’s picks. Keep in mind that to be eligible for DTBWW, a defense must be available in at least 40% of ESPN fantasy leagues.

Pick #1: Indianapolis Colts (@ STL)
The Colts are reasonably healthy, well-rested and pretty solid all-around. The Rams’ offense has looked a little better the last couple of weeks, but Donnie Avery is hobbled and Indy should be able to pressure the statuesque Marc Bulger.

Pick #2: Buffalo Bills (@ CAR)
Despite their offensive woes, the Bills have been pretty solid defenisvely. They are fantasy’s 8th-ranked defense and have averaged 8.1 fppg. They face the Panthers, who have been awful offensively. Fantasy defenses are averaging 14.4 against Carolina.

Pick #3: Oakland Raiders (vs. NYJ)
The sheen is off of Mark Sanchez and the verdict is in: He really is a rookie quarterback. Fantasy defenses have scored 9.3 ppg against the Jets through six weeks, and the Saints and Bills have gone for 26 and 12, respectively, in the last three weeks. Meanwhile, the Raiders are showing some life, as evidenced by their performance against a pretty potent Eagles’ offense in Week 6. Nnamdi Asomugha should be back in the lineup and the Jets won’t be helped by a cross country flight.

Bonus Pick: If you run out of options, the Panthers play at home against a Bills offense that will probably run Ryan Fitzpatrick at QB.

1. Royal is making his presence felt in other facets of the game
After hauling in 91 receptions for 980 yards and five touchdowns as a rookie last year, Eddie Royal has largely been a bust in his second year. But he proved Monday night that he could contribute in other areas, especially on special teams. He returned a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter and a 71-yard punt return in the second quarter. As Denver’s offense sputtered in the first half, Royal provided a major spark.

2. The Broncos’ offensive line has been fantastic
Kyle Orton has turned out to be a great fit for Josh McDaniels’ offense, but he owes a lot of his success to his O-line. They’ve protected him like Fort Knox all season and did so again Monday night. Orton had all day to throw and was accurate when his receivers broke free from defenders. The Broncos’ front five continues to be one of the better units in the league.

3. The Chargers’ defense is a mess
One would have thought Ron Rivera would have fixed some of San Diego’s defensive issues during the team’s bye week. But the same problems that the Bolts had heading into the bye were evident again tonight: They couldn’t generate any pressure, they didn’t tackle well and they couldn’t come up with the big stop when they needed it. The Broncos did whatever they wanted offensively in the second half.

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Steelers kicker’ Jeff Reed is a big fan of exposing himself publicly it seems.

From the Pittsburgh Post Gazette:

Steelers kicker Jeff Reed was given a citation for public intoxication and disorderly conduct around 9 p.m. last night outside of McFadden’s bar on the North Shore, according to Pittsburgh Police.

Earlier this year, Mr. Reed, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and criminal mischief after police said he damaged a paper towel dispenser and harassed employees at a Sheetz convenience store in New Alexandria in February.

In that incident, witnesses told police that Mr. Reed, 30, went into the store bathroom and then became infuriated that there were no towels in the dispenser. He began banging on the dispenser and hurling profanities at employees, even after leaving the store.

Well, at least this time no towel dispensers took the brunt of Reed’s actions.

I wonder what this ass clown does after he screws up in a game. Liiiike…when he choked not once, but twice in a loss to the Bears earlier this season.

“It’s bittersweet. We get the win, but I have a limited role. So, obviously, I see this game as showing I’m no longer an asset to this team. That’s all I got. My name’s Steve Smith and I stand by that.”

– Steve Smith on Carolina’s win over the Buccaneers (Herald Online)

Mark Sanchez learned a valuable lesson on Sunday: In the NFL, things can always go from bad to worse.

Three weeks ago, Sanchez threw thee interceptions and fumbled once in a 24-10 loss to the Saints. One of those interceptions was returned 99 yards for a touchdown by Darren Sharper and the fumble produced a TD for New Orleans as well. It was the first time that the Jets’ quarterback looked like the rookie he is.

Yesterday, Sanchez completed just 10 of 29 passes for 119 yards and finished with a career-high five interceptions in a 16-13 overtime loss to the Bills. He missed open receivers, he often threw into double coverage and at times, looked absolutely hopeless.

But guess what? That’s going to happen with a rookie quarterback. When Sanchez led the Jets to a 3-0 start and beat the Patriots in Foxboro, everyone was ready to anoint him the next Joe Namath before he even had four games under his belt. But now that he’s playing like the love child of J.P. Losman and Joey Harrington, nobody should be ready to throw in the towel – especially the Jets.

At least for the time being, Rex Ryan has to stick with Sanchez and ride him through the good and the bad this season. Sanchez was bound to struggle and now that he is, the first thing Ryan needs to do is make it known that the rookie is still his quarterback. Sanchez’s confidence is shaken right now and the last thing he needs is Kellen Clemens breathing down his neck.

The Jets are going to find out what kind of quarterback they have over the next couple weeks. They play the Raiders next Sunday and host the Dolphins before their bye in Week 8. If Sanchez can lead the Jets to two victories, then he can build some confidence going into the off week and into the second half of the season. If he fails, then Ryan can reassess the situation in the bye and go from there.

It’ll be interesting to see how Sanchez responds to Sunday’s performance. Ryan Leaf tanked after two strong performances his rookie year, while Peyton Manning threw 28 interceptions but rebounded to be one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.

Which way will Sanchez go?

Via Shutdown Corner…

The play was close enough to warrant a measurement, and the picture above is a screenshot of that measurement. The guy pulled the big first down stick, the ball wasn’t quite there, so no first down, correct?

Incorrect, as it turns out. The official, Walt Anderson, looked at what you’re seeing above, and he ruled that it was a first down. The Steelers ended up getting a field goal out of it.

Odd. I would use a stronger word, but the Steelers were going to beat the Browns, regardless of that first down or the ensuing field goal. It didn’t affect the outcome.

Predictably, the official in question stands by his call, saying that the ball broke the plane even if the angle on the TV didn’t show it. But that’s a fairly straight on shot of the football and even if the angle were changed by a few degrees, it would still be short.

- What can I say about Tom Brady (380 yards, 6 TDs)? This was the kind of day fantasy owners were expecting when they took him as the first QB off the board back in August. He completed 29 passes while the opposing QB, Kerry Collins, went just 2/12 for -7 yards.

- Matt Schaub (392 yards, 4 TD, INT) looks like an every-week start as long as he stays healthy. I’d keep a good backup on my bench, however.

- Predictably, Aaron Rodgers (358 yards, 2 TD, INT) torched the Lions.

- Brett Favre (278 yards, 3 TD) had a very nice game against a Ravens defense that has traditionally been pretty good against the pass.

- Drew Brees (369 yards, 4 TD) rewarded owners who had faith in the Saints’ offense despite a tough match against a very good Giants’ defense.

- The Steelers let Ben Roethlisberger (417 yards, 2 TD, INT) throw, and he turned in a nice fantasy day. He’s a solid every-week starter going forward.

- The Redskins benched Jason Campbell (89 yards, TD) and finished the game with Todd Collins (75 yards). This is a bad sign for the Washington pass offense.

- The Eagles’ offense was terrible against the Raiders. Oakland brought a lot of pressure and Philly didn’t adjust. Donovan McNabb (269 yards) had a decent day yardage-wise, but didn’t throw a TD.

- Coming into the game, Arizona had the worst passing defense in the league (in terms of yards allowed), but they held down Matt Hasselbeck (112 yards, INT), who torched Jacksonville last week. It just goes to show you how quickly things can change in the NFL.

- Trent Edwards (43 yards) was knocked out of the game with a concussion and Ryan Fitzpatrick (116 yards, TD, INT) was pretty shaky in his stead.

- Surprisingly, the NFL’s leading rusher, Cedric Benson (16-44-1), had a pretty quiet game against a suspect Texans rush defense.

- Steve Slaton (25 touches, 145 yards, TD) didn’t do much in the rushing game, but had 6-102-1 through the air.

- Maurice Jones-Drew (38 touches, 178 yards, 3 TD) had a day worthy of the second overall pick in fantasy leagues this year.

- Steven Jackson (22 touches, 128 yards) didn’t score, but the Rams got him involved in the passing game.

- Ray Rice (20 touches, 194, 2 TD) had a monster game against a pretty good Minnesota rush defense. Rice did much of his damage through the air (10-117).

- He didn’t score, but Adrian Peterson’s Week 6 performance (26 touches, 166 yards) is nothing to sneeze at. (Does anyone ever “sneeze at” anything?)

- The Saints’ RBBC worked out this way: Pierre Thomas (15 carries, 72 yards), Mike Bell (15 carries, 34 yards, TD) and Reggie Bush (7 touches, 24 yards, TD). When the Saints were inside the five, it was Bell who got most of the work. Thomas appeared to score on one play, but the replay did not show enough for the Saints to challenge.

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- Fresh off his “lady-friend rendezvous” suspension, Mike Sims-Walker (9-120) posted another nice game. He is averaging 7-100-0.8 per game over the last four games played. Torry Holt (5-101) was also a factor against his old team.

- Donnie Avery (1-17-1) started the day with a TD catch, but left the game with a bruised hip. The guy just can’t seem to stay healthy.

- Sidney Rice (6-176) is turning into a pretty startable wideout. He is averaging 4.8-91-0.5 over the last four games and Brett Favre looks his way often.

- Derrick Mason (7-97-1) scared some people off with his goose egg last week against the Bengals, but he posted 5-118-1 in Week 3 and 7-88-1 in Week 4 to go along with a nice performance this week.

- Lance Moore (6-78-1) finally looks completely healthy and seems to be the Saints’ WR2 once again. Meanwhile, Marques Colston (8-166-1) made it clear that he’s the team’s WR1.

- Steve Smith 2.0 (4-44) had a quiet game, while rookie Hakeem Nicks (5-114-1) and Mario Manningham (4-50-1) both had nice games. Eli Manning just missed Smith on a TD pass in the first half. He’s still an every-week start.

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Be sure to check back for some random fantasy thoughts about the QB, RB and WR positions.

- Owen Daniels (7-78-2) is turning into one of the very best pass-catching TEs in the league. He is averaging 5.3-62-0.7 this season.

- Jermichael Finley (5-54) had another solid game and is starting to look like a starting-caliber TE.

- Visanthe Shiancoe (4-48-2) has four TD in the last three games. Brett Favre has always loved to throw to his TE around the goal line, and that hasn’t changed now that he’s quarterbacking the Vikings.

- Heath Miller (5-80-1) has been on fire of late. Over the last three games, he is averaging 6.0-68-1.3 and should be in starting lineups until he cools off.

- Zach Miller (6-139-1) has started to hit waiver wires, but he shouldn’t last long. Even with the erratic JaMarcus Russell throwing the ball, he’s worth rostering.

- Greg Olsen (5-57-1) has caught a TD in each of the last three games.