Month: November 2009 (Page 4 of 71)

Fantasy Fallout, Week 12: TEs

– There weren’t a lot of yards or catches to go around in the Seattle passing game, which is why John Carlson (2-14) posted such an anemic line.

– Dante Rosario (4-62) has 8-102 over the last two weeks. Owners who need a TE (in a PPR league) should give him a look.

– Dallas Clark (9-63-1) had another monster day and has been great all season.

– With Owen Daniels sidelined, neither James Casey (2-17) nor Joel Dreessen (1-14) did enough to warrant a pickup.

– Antonio Gates (7-118-2) had just his second monster day of the season. The first came in Week 4 against the Steelers (9-124-2). He has four TD in two games, and zero in the others.

– Visanthe Shiancoe followed up his 8-78-1 performance in Week 11 with a 5-51-1 outing against the Bears. He is a solid start in most formats.

– Bo Scaife (5-68) put up a decent PPR line, as usual.

Check back in a bit for the WR, RB and QB positions.

Dixon’s only mistake costs Steelers in loss to Ravens

For all intents and purposes, Dennis Dixon only made one mistake on Sunday night but unfortunately for him and the Steelers, that one mistake cost them a potential victory.

Dixon’s interception in overtime set the table for the Ravens to kick a game-winning field goal in a 20-17 victory. The win helped Baltimore improve to 6-5 on the season and kept its playoff hopes alive, while Pittsburgh fell to 6-5 and has now lost three in a row.

Dixon, a third stringer making his first career start, gave the Steelers a chance to win in the second half when he broke off a 24-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. He also threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes in the second quarter and had a 31-yard run called back due to a holding call.

But on the possession following his fourth quarter touchdown run, the Ravens converted on a 4th and 5 from their own 46-yard line when Joe Flacco hit Ray Rice on a 44-yard completion. The drive ended in a field goal, which potentially forced overtime with the score tied 7-7.

Take away Dixon’s interception and the Steelers’ offense played pretty good – ultra conservative, but good. It was Pittsburgh’s defense that yielded several big plays, including Rice’s fourth down reception and a 54-yard reception by Mark Clayton late in the second half that set up a 10-yard Derrick Mason touchdown. If the Steelers had limited the big plays, Dixon’s effort would have been enough.

Pittsburgh needs a healthy Troy Polamalu back in the lineup if it has any chance of making another run at a Super Bowl, nevertheless the playoffs. Without him, Pittsburgh’s defense is good but certainly not great, which has been evident the past couple weeks.

Questions for Tiger Woods


Photo from fOTOGLIF

In a column on Fox Sports, Brooks from SPORTSbyBROOKS.com has a list of 20 questions he’d like answered regarding the bizarre incident. Here’s several of them.

Five days in the somehow-intertwined lives of Tiger Woods, his wife Elin Nordegren and Woods’ alleged mistress Rachel Uchitel have left me with more questions than answers. Twenty, actually.

1. Tiger’s official Web site characterized the incident as a “minor car accident,” yet his wife told police she needed to smash out the back window of his 2009 Escalade in order to rescue him. Does that sound like a “minor car accident”?

2. Why did the Florida Highway Patrol wait 11 1/2 hours to report anything about the incident to the public? The report came, perhaps not coincidentally, after Woods had received treatment and exited an Orlando hospital.

3. If the National Enquirer story of Woods’ alleged affair with Rachel Uchitel is untrue, which Uchitel maintains, why did TMZ.com report that Woods’ wife scratched his face and smashed his SUV in an apparent fit of rage over the Enquirer’s report?

4. Why are Woods and Nordegren stll refusing to formally talk to police about the accident? If you know you’ve been truthful with the police and have nothing to hide, why wait.

When the story of the accident came out, the explanation seemed ridiculous. Today, Tiger refused to speak to police for the third straight day. It looks like Team Tiger is doing everything possible to control the damage here, but his reputation is taking a serious hit.

Brooks is all over the story, with great photos Rachel Uchitel and constant updates on the story.

Could the Titans actually make the playoffs?

Seven weeks ago, the Titans resembled a rotting carcass on the side of the road. At that time, they had just been run over (might as well stick with the road kill them) by the Patriots in a 59-0 rout and fans wanted Jeff Fisher’s head on a stake.

Then Fisher made the decision to bench the highly ineffective Kerry Collins and replace him with Vince Young, who had gone from franchise quarterback to draft blunder in a matter of a season. What happened next was shocking, as Young led the Titans beat the Jaguars after the team’s bye week, then the 49ers, then the Bills, and then the Texans on Monday night.

On Sunday, Young orchestrated an 18 play, 99-yard scoring drive with just under three minutes remaining to lift Tennessee to a 20-17 win over the Matt Leinart-led Cardinals. The drive was capped off by a 4th and 10 play in which Young hit rookie Kenny Britt in the back of the end zone for the game-winning score. Both the game-winning catch and the game-winning drive were remarkable, just like the Titans’ latest five-game winning streak.

At 5-6, the Titans are very much still on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason. They’re currently behind the Steelers, Ravens (depending on the outcome of tonight’s game), Jaguars and Broncos in the Wild Card hunt, and are tied with the Dolphins, Jets and Texans.

But what if they ran the table? Outside of games against the undefeated Colts and the surging Chargers, they have winnable games against the Rams, Dolphins and Seahawks in the final month of the season. Wins over Indy and San Diego seem unlikely for the Titans, but so did their five-game winning streak after their disastrous start. Young has the hot hand, Chris Johnson (who finished with 154 rushing yards and also had an 84 yard TD scamper) is a touchdown waiting to happen on every play and they’re defense is playing better than it did earlier in the year – what’s stopping them from making a run?

If they lose to the Colts next week, then the Titans’ slim playoff hopes will likely vanish. But winning is contagious and if they can beat Indy next week, there’s no reason to write Tennessee off.

Vikings crush Bears, Favre showing zero signs of fatigue

If Brett Favre is wearing down, then he has everybody fooled because the guy is playing like a freaking maniac.

Favre completed 32-of-48 passes for 392 yards with three touchdowns and no inceptions in the Vikings’ 36-10 win over the Bears in Week 12. Minnesota attacked Chicago repeatedly through the air, throwing the ball 31 times to just 12 rushes in the first half. When the dust settled, the Vikings had a 24-7 halftime lead and the game was never in doubt from that point forward.

Minnesota is now 10-1 and will be rooting hard for New England to beat New Orleans on Monday night. The Vikes have the inside track on a first round bye, but they’ll have their eye on earning the top seed in the playoffs entering the final month of the season.

As for the Bears, their disastrous season continues. All of their defensive problems were on full display today as Favre and the Vikings went up and down the field with the greatest of ease. Chicago was out gained in first downs (31 to eight) and total yardage (537 to 169).

It was the same story today as it has been all season: They were outplayed in the trenches, they couldn’t run the ball and Jay Cutler turned the ball over multiple times. Nothing has changed about this team in over a month.

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