Author: John Paulsen (Page 816 of 937)

Most of Week 7 is in the books, and several big names put up even bigger numbers. Peyton went apeshit on the Redskins, Hines carved up the Falcons, while LJ ran roughshod over the Chargers. But enough with the tease, let’s get to this week’s Headliners and Flatliners.

HEADLINERS

Peyton Manning (342 yards, 4 TD)
After a fairly quiet first half, Manning exploded in the second, throwing two touchdown passes to Marvin Harrison and one to Reggie Wayne. He did this despite taking a nasty hit in the first half where his back was bent the wrong way and his helmet got knocked off. Maybe he will be the one to eventually break Brett Favre’s consecutive game streak.

Honorable Mention: Michael Vick (232 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 40 rush yards), Jon Kitna (269 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT), Ben Roetlisberger (238 yards, 3 TD), Donovan McNabb (303 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT, 76 rush yards), Joey Harrington (414 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT)

Larry Johnson (30 touches, 161 yards, 2 TD)
It’s tempting to give this award to Westbrook, but LJ had the slightly bigger day with the two touchdown runs. There has been a lot of talk about about the Chiefs’ offensive line, but they played well today against a tough Chargers rush defense.

Honorable Mention: Brian Westbrook (20 touches, 214 yards, 1 TD), Chester Taylor (30 touches, 188 yards, 1 TD), Leon Washington (21 touches, 137 yards, 2 TD), LaDainian Tomlinson (21 touches, 138 yards, 1 TD, 1 pass TD), Kevin Jones (21 touches, 143 yards, 1 TD), Tatum Bell (26 touches, 126 yards, 1 TD), Ahman Green (18 touches, 118 yards, 1 TD), Wali Lundy (23 touches, 108 yards, 1 TD), Corey Dillon (14 touches, 47 yards, 2 TD)

Hines Ward (8 rec, 171 yards, 3 TD)
Ward had by far the best day of any wide receiver, torching a normally stout Falcons secondary en route to a career day. On a personal note, I played against Ward in three of my four fantasy leagues. (Ouch!)

Honorable Mention: Darrell Jackson (7 rec, 136 yards, 1 TD), Marvin Harrison (7 rec, 73 yards, 2 TD), Randy Moss (7 rec, 129 yards, 1 TD), Reggie Wayne (7 rec, 122 yards, 1 TD), Mike Furrey (9 rec, 109 yards, 1 TD), Marty Booker (7 rec, 110 yards, 1 TD), Andre Johnson (8 rec, 106 yards, 1 TD), Donald Driver (10 rec, 93 yards, 1 TD), Steve Smith (8 rec, 126 yards)

Alge Crumpler (6 rec, 117 yards, 3 TD)
Mike Vick threw four TD on the day, three of them to his favorite target – Crumpler. Vick has been in the press a lot the last couple of weeks, grumbling about his offensive system and his receivers, but Alge stepped up today.

Honorable Mention: Antonio Gates (9 rec, 63 yards, 1 TD), Tony Gonzalez (6 rec, 138 yards), Chris Cooley (4 rec, 42 yards, 1 TD)

FLATLINERS

Matt Leinart (203 yards, 2 INT)
Given his matchup, many fantasy owners were counting on Leinart this week, but he and the rest of the Cardinals offense still look hungover from the debacle last Monday night. He’s a rookie and is going to have some ups and downs – today was definitely a “down.”

Dishonorable Mention: Byron Leftwich (125 yards), Bruce Gradkowski (104 yards), J.P. Losman (193 yards, 1 INT)

LaMont Jordan (0 touches, 0 yards)
Leading up to the game, it looked like Jordan was going to play, but he ended up sitting and hamstrung fantasy owners in the process. Maroney’s performance against a bad Bills rush defense wasn’t good either.

Dishonorable Mention: Laurence Maroney (9 touches, 30 yards), Edgerrin James (14 touches, 38 yards), Willie Parker (20 touches, 47 yards), Maurice Morris (19 touches, 58 yards), Reuben Droughns (16 touches, 60 yards), Clinton Portis (14 touches, 64 yards), DeShaun Foster (16 touches, 79 yards)

Joey Galloway (0 rec, 0 yards)
Galloway did play, but you wouldn’t know if from his stat line. Gradkowski is a rookie and will struggle, so expect some inconsistent games from Galloway and Michael Clayton.

Dishonorable Mention: Lee Evans (1 rec, 11 yards), Braylon Edwards (2 rec, 6 yards), Greg Jennings (1 rec, 14 yards), Santana Moss (3 rec, 20 yards), Chris Chambers (2 rec, 29 yards), Laveranues Coles (4 rec, 29 yards)

Kellen Winslow (3 rec, 34 yards)
Winslow was one of the top fantasy TEs heading into the game, but the Denver defense was smothering, and the Browns’ offense never really got on track.

Dishonorable Mention: L.J. Smith (4 rec, 38 yards), Alex Smith (1 rec, 6 yards)

Byron Leftwich will be a game-time decision on Sunday after an MRI on his injured ankle came back negative…Trent Green has been cleared to practice, but not yet cleared to play…Brian Westbrook and Donte Stallworth are reportedly expected to play despite their questionable status. Be sure to check back Sunday before finalizing your lineups…Ahman Green has been upgraded to probable and should play…LaMont Jordan is expected to play unless he experiences a setback with his sore back…Samkon Gado and Wali Lundy split the snaps with the first team this week. Neither guy is a good play against a tough Jacksonville defense…Jerramy Stevens is expected to play in Week 7, but it might take him a game or two to get back into the flow of things…Tiki Barber confirmed that he will retire after this season. Obviously, this makes Brandon Jacobs even more valuable in keeper leagues as he’s already penciled in as the Giants’ starter at RB next season…Laveranues Coles missed a part of practice on Thursday, but is expected to play…Matt Jones was downgraded to out and will not play Sunday. Jones has been a mild disappointment this season, while teammate Reggie Williams has been a nice surprise.

Every 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

BRETT FAVRE has a nice matchup with a Miami defense that has yielded just 172 passing yards per game, but has allowed 10 TD through the air, which is tied for fourth worst in the league…BYRON LEFTWICH and CHAD PENNINGTON also have good matchups with the Texans and the Lions, respectively…The Bengals haven’t been able to stop the run, so it’s a good week to play DESHAUN FOSTER…Likewise, EDGERRIN JAMES, COREY DILLON and LAURENCE MARONEY have great matchups against the Raiders and Jets, respectively…LEE EVANS has been playing well of late and is a good start against the Patriots, who have allowed an average of 222 passing yards per game…REGGIE WILLIAMS is also a solid start against the Texans, who have one of the worst secondaries in the league.

BENCH

Several fringe QBs have tough matchups this week. CHARLIE FRYE, DAVID CARR, BEN ROETHLISBERGER and PHILLIP RIVERS should be avoided if at all possible…WALI LUNDY owners are certainly happy with the recent news that he is going to be much more involved in the offense in the near future, but he has a tough matchup week against the Jaguars (9th in the league in rushing yards allowed)…WARRICK DUNN may find the going tough against the Steelers, who have allowed just 78 rushing yards per game thus far…If you have another good option, it wouldn’t be a bad week to bench BRAYLON EDWARDS, who faces a Broncos squad that has allowed only one passing TD in five games.

Be sure to check back on Saturday for a complete injury update. In the meantime, feel free to post your questions on our Fantasy Q & A.