Author: John Paulsen (Page 831 of 937)

As Anthony Stalter reported earlier, the Seahawks have acquired Deion Branch. This gives the Seahawks another talented receiver and the team has more depth at the position than they’ve ever had in Mike Holmgren’s tenure. From a fantasy standpoint, it’s tough to see how this move is a good thing for either Darrell Jackson or Nate Burleson. D-Jax is coming off a knee injury, and even though he looked pretty good on Sunday, this move could be seen as a lack of faith in his durability. The team just awarded Nate Burleson with a big contract, and by most accounts he’s had a great preseason – so why the trade for Branch? D-Jax and Burleson owners should watch this situation closely…Mike Bell ran well against the Rams after fracturing a finger. Thus far, the injury doesn’t appear to be too serious, but it’s worth noting…Joe Jurevicius will miss 4-6 weeks with a rib injury…T.J. Houshmandzadeh is targeting Week 2 for his return. Chris Henry was surprisingly awful filling in for Housh – the receiver only caught one ball for –5 yards…Trent Green left Sunday’s game with a head injury, but apparently recovered quickly. He is expected to miss some time, and shouldn’t be back in action until after the team’s 9/24 bye week. In the meantime, Damon Huard will take over, which will hurt the values of all the Chiefs’ offensive players – except for Tony Gonzalez. Gonzo might see an uptick in targets if the young QB looks underneath more than Green did…Reggie Williams started ahead of Ernest Wilford, catching six passes for 47 yards and a touchdown. Wilford got plenty of snaps, catching three passes for 58 yards…It looks like the Panthers are going to stick with DeShaun Foster until he falls apart. DeAngelo Williams didn’t get a single carry on Sunday.

Well, we’re off and running. There were some great performances Sunday from some very surprising players. “Glass” Chad tore up Tennessee, Gore ran all over the Cards and a new Eagle flew past the Texans. On the other side of the spectrum, some very big names put up some very disappointing numbers. All right, enough with the tease, let’s get right to this week’s Headliners and Flatliners:

SUNDAY HEADLINERS

Chad Pennington (319 yards, 2 TD)
It’s tempting to award this honor to Donovan McNabb, but he’ll make this list again this season. Pennington is so fragile that this might be his one and only opportunity to be recognized. When he’s healthy, he’s an accurate quarterback with great decision skills. He and Laveranues Coles have a great rapport – the duo hooked up eight times for 153 yards, shredding the woeful Titans defense en route to a 23-16 win. Enjoy it while you can, Jet fans.

ALSO: Donovan McNabb (314 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT), Mike Vick (140 yards, 2 TD), Byron Leftwich (237 yards, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD, 1 INT), Alex Smith (288 yards, 1 TD)

Frank Gore (170 total yards, 2 TD)
When the 49ers shipped Kevan Barlow off to the Jets, it was a huge vote of confidence for Gore, who won the job this preseason after averaging 4.8 ypc last year. On Sunday, he averaged 5.4 ypc against the Cardinals and added six catches for 83 yards. He looks like a good start as long as those knees hold up.

ALSO: Brian Westbrook (132 total yards, 1 TD), Warrick Dunn (142 total yards), Larry Johnson (140 total yards), Steven Jackson (140 total yards), Reggie Bush (119 total yards), Julius Jones (111 total yards, 1 TD), Ahman Green (132 total yards)

Donte Stallworth (6 catches, 141 yards, 1 TD)
Talk about immediate impact. I thought it would take a while for Stallworth to work into the Philly offense, but McNabb sure knows how to make a guy feel welcome. This could spell trouble for Reggie Brown, who was only targeted six times compared to Stallworth’s nine. But McNabb loves to spread the ball around, so Brown should still get his.

ALSO: Laveranues Coles (8 catches, 153 yards), Larry Fitzgerald (9 catches, 133 yards), Antonio Bryant (4 catches, 114 yards), Drew Bennett (8 catches, 106 yards), Muhsin Muhammad (6 catches, 102 yards), Andre Johnson (6 catches, 101 yards), Donald Driver (7 catches, 96 yards), Terrell Owens (6 catches, 80 yards, 1 TD)

Tony Gonzalez (10 catches, 81 yards, 1 TD)
Gonzo went off Sunday, catching six balls for 55 yards and a score – and that was after Trent Green left the game with an injury. Of course, the Chiefs were in full-on catch up mode at that point, which might become a trend if the offensive line isn’t able to protect the quarterback. Still, it doesn’t look like KC is keeping Gonzo in to block – and why would they? He’s clearly the team’s best receiver.

ALSO: Kellen Winslow (8 catches, 63 yards, 1 TD)

SUNDAY FLATLINERS

Jake Plummer (138 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT)
Surely more fantasy owners were counting on Plummer this Sunday, which is why he gets the nod over Chris Simms and his miserable performance. Plummer was harassed by Jim Haslett’s defense the entire day and, in addition to the three picks, he also lost a fumble. A few more games like this and the fans in Denver will be screaming for Jay Cutler. Not to worry, Skeletor will straighten things out next week.

ALSO: Chris Simms (133 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT), Brett Favre (170 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT), Trent Green (90 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT), Drew Bledsoe (246 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT)

Carnell Williams (8 carries, 22 yards)
The Caddy needs a tuneup. Actually, playing any defense other than the Ravens would probably help. Unfortunately for Williams, he faces Atlanta and Carolina the next two weeks. Fantasy owners that drafted him in the late first/early second are going to need more than 2.8 ypc this season to be successful, but they might have to wait a month before they see a vast improvement in his numbers.

ALSO: Shaun Alexander (19 carries, 51 yards), Wali Lundy (11 carries, 32 yards)

Javon Walker (3 catches, 41 yards), Rod Smith (3 catches, 34 yards)
It’s tempting to give the nod to Roy Williams, who was supposed to explode in Mike Martz’ offense (which mustered only six points against the Seahawks), or Joey Galloway, who put up a goose egg against the Ravens – but collectively, Walker and Smith were bigger disappointments. Walker was able to get open, but had hands of stone, while the ageless Smith couldn’t shake loose like he has in years past. The Rams defense is a lot better than advertised, so maybe a date with the Chiefs at home will be just what the doctor ordered.

ALSO: Roy Williams (3 catches, 36 yards), Lee Evans (2 catches, 25 yards), Joey Galloway (0 catches, 0 yards)

Jason Witten (3 catches, 33 yards)
With nine targets, Witten is still a favorite target of Drew Bledsoe, but he had a touchdown nullified because he interfered with the defender, while two more balls meant for the Pro Bowler were picked off. All in all, it was a tough day for Witten and the rest of the Cowboys.

11:30 AM: ESPN’s John Clayton reported that Kerry Collins will start for the Titans…T.J. Houshmandzadeh looked shaky in warmups and isn’t likely to play today. Chris Henry will start in his place and is a good option for fantasy owners scrambling to replace Housh.

11:55 AM: Steve Smith is out this week with a sore hamstring. Keary Colbert is expected to start in his place.

12:30 PM: On “Sunday NFL Countdown,” after Michael Irvin said that a win in the Giants/Colts game would be more important to Eli Manning than it would be to Peyton Manning, Tom Jackson asked Irvin, “Are you retarded?”

3:20 PM: Trent Green was taken off the field on a stretcher after an apparent head injury…Damon Huard replaced him…Green’s departure hurts the entire Kansas City offense, and if he’s out for more than one week, the values of Tony Gonzalez and Eddie Kennison will certainly take a hit.

Randy Moss voiced his displeasure with the way things are going thus far in Oakland, ranging from the Doug Gabriel trade to the handling of the Jerry Porter situation (who, by the way, parked in Al Davis’ personal parking space this week)…Mike Vanderjagt is not expected to play in Week 1…Joe Gibbs said that Clinton Portis will be used as a backup in Week 1. Portis basically ruled himself out of the game earlier in the week but now says he’s “93.9%” healthy (whatever that means). It’s hard to get a handle on Portis’ availability, but it would be wise not to count on him this week. If he practices next week, then he’d be worth a start in Week 2…The Seahawks are planning to give Darrell Jackson about 25 snaps on Sunday to work him back into game shape. WRs normally get around 60 snaps in a game, so don’t expect D-Jax to put up his usual numbers. By most accounts, Nate Burleson has had a great preseason and could have a comeback year after a miserable 2005.