Author: John Paulsen (Page 795 of 937)

It’s playoff time, which means more than a few hearts were pounding as Week 15 unfolded. It was an unusually slow day for most fantasy players and a lot of big names put up crappy numbers. LT and Westy kept things rolling while Tatum, Chester and Roy let their owners down. But enough with the tease, let’s get to this week’s Headliners and Flatliners.

HEADLINERS

Rex Grossman (339 yards, 2 TD)
Those owners that rolled the dice with the inconsistent Grossman reaped the benefits as he sliced and diced the Bucs defense to one of his best games of the year.

Honorable Mention: J.P. Losman (200 yards, 3 TD), Tim Rattay (268 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT), Jay Cutler (261 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT), Kyle Boller (238 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT), Derrick Anderson (223 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT), Ben Roethlisberger (140 yards, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD), Chad Pennington (339 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT)

LaDainian Tomlinson (26 touches, 204 yards, 2 TD)
Tomlinson single handedly lifted the Chargers over the feisty Chiefs. If you’ve got LT, the chances are pretty good that you’re on the way to your league’s title game.

Honorable Mention: Brian Westbrook (24 touches, 137 yards, 2 TD), Steven Jackson (31 touches, 127 yards, 2 TD), Maurice Jones-Drew (28 touches, 145 yards, 1 TD), Willie Parker (23 touches, 132 yards, 1 TD), Kevin Faulk (6 touches, 68 yards, 2 TD), Mike Bell (16 touches, 61 yards, 2 TD), Vernand Morency (7 touches, 54 yards, 2 TD), Tiki Barber (24 touches, 104 yards, 1 TD), Ladell Betts (25 touches, 162 yards)

Laveranues Coles (12 rec, 144 yards, 1 TD)
On a day when the wideouts around the league were pretty quiet, Coles huge day really stood out. The Minnesota pass defense is pretty bad, but Coles made a mockery of the Vikings’ secondary.

Honorable Mention: Joey Galloway (3 rec, 107 yards, 1 TD), Javon Walker (5 rec, 84 yards, 1 TD), Reggie Brown (4 rec, 77 yards, 1 TD), Plaxico Burress (6 rec, 120 yards)

Desmond Clark (7 rec, 125 yards, 2 TD)
The tight ends were also pretty quiet and it’s quite possible that Clark wasn’t started this week. But those that did have Clark in their lineup enjoyed his huge day at the Bucs’ expense

Honorable Mention: Jeremy Shockey (8 rec, 70 yards)

FLATLINERS

Steve McNair (0 yards)
My condolences go out to anyone who started McNair this week. He’s always a threat to be knocked out of a critical game, and that’s exactly what happened this week.

Dishonorable Mention: Philip Rivers (97 yards, 2 INT), David Carr (127 yards, 4 INT), Jon Kitna (135 yards, 2 INT), Aaron Brooks (98 yards, 1 INT), Brett Favre (174 yards, 3 INT), Matt Leinart (214 yards, 2 INT), Marc Bulger (137 yards), Trent Green (185, 1 INT), Drew Brees (207 yards, 1 INT), Vince Young (85 pass yards, 4 rush yards), Joey Harrington (20 yards, 2 INT)

Tatum Bell (20 touches, 41 yards)
Bell followed up a couple of huge games with a clunker this week and found Skeletor’s dog house after fumbling away the football. Mike Bell took over and finished with two scores. Remember this when you’re considering drafting a Denver running back next August.

Dishonorable Mention: Chester Taylor (11 touches, 38 yards), Reggie Bush (12 touches, 33 yards), Travis Henry (13 touches, 39 yards), Reuben Droughns (9 touches, 31 yards), DeShaun Foster (10 touches, 47 yards), Willis McGahee (28 touches, 79 yards, 2 Fumbles), Larry Johnson (22 touches, 93 yards)

Roy Williams (1 rec, 11 yards)
Williams blew a great matchup against a suspect Packers secondary and let down more than a few fantasy teams this week. He headed into the playoffs as one of the best third round picks of the draft, but this Week 15 performance tainted a pretty solid season.

Dishonorable Mention: Mike Furrey (3 rec, 20 yards), Chris Chambers (0 rec), Greg Jennings (1 rec, 5 yards), Devery Henderson (2 rec, 20 yards), Andre Johnson (5 rec, 28 yards)

Antonio Gates (1 rec, 7 yards)
Earth to Antonio. Come in, Antonio. It’s the playoffs. Do you copy? Earth to Antonio. Come in, Antonio. Do you copy? I repeat: do…you…copy?

Each week in the Pregame, I’ll provide a few players to start and a few to bench. These recommendations are based on that player’s strength of schedule (SOS) for that particular week or that player’s specific situation.

I’m a strong advocate of always starting your studs, so I won’t be telling you about LaDainian Tomlinson’s tough matchup or how Peyton Manning and company will light it up against a bad defense. Anyone can make those calls. I’ll be discussing marginal fantasy starters – guys that can start for you, but only under certain circumstances.

START

Rex Grossman, David Garrard, Jason Campbell and Jay Cutler are all borderline fantasy starters that have favorable matchups this week. Steve McNair and Jeff Garcia also fall into this category. If you’re desperate for a starter, you can do worse than these guys…Sammy Morris, Edgerrin James, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ahman Green have enticing matchups this week. You probably don’t want to bench a stud for any of them, but if you’re having problems at RB, they should be able to help this week…Bernard Berrian broke out of his funk last week and has a great matchup this week against Tampa Bay. Jerricho Cotchery, Laveranues Coles and Terry Glenn should also have nice days.

BENCH

Stay away from Bruce Gradkowski, David Carr, Chris Weinke/Jake Delhomme, and Alex Smith this week. Each guy faces a defense that has been pretty tough against QBs in recent weeks…Don’t expect anything out of Reuben Droughns (vs. BAL) or Cedric Houston (vs. JAX) this week. Travis Henry, Willis McGahee and Ron Dayne should also be avoided if possible…Don’t be surprised if Isaac Bruce and Joey Galloway have below average days as they face the Raiders and Bears, respectively.

INJURY UPDATE (THURSDAY GAME)

It looks like Bobby Engram is going to play on Thursday, which will help soften the blow of losing Darrell Jackson for a very important game against the 49ers…Nate Burleson will start in Jackson’s place, but D.J. Hackett will also see extra snaps and has been playing well of late.