Funny story (at least to me): I had two games up for grabs last night. In one PPR league, I was up 13 points facing Marques Colston and wasn’t particularly optimistic about my chances given the way the Seahawks shredded the 49er pass defense in Week 1. But Colston was held to 5-67, so my team held on. In my other league, I was trailing by 12 with Drew Brees (254 yards, 2 TDs), Pierre Thomas (103 total yards, 8 catches) and Michael Crabtree (1-32) going, while my opponent only had Frank Gore. Seven catches, 168 yards and two TDs later, I lost by two. Ugh. To make matters worse, I had Jahvid Best sitting on my bench, which serves as the ol’ double kick in the nuts. UGH.
What’s the lesson? Anything can happen in fantasy football. Just when you think you’ve locked a game up, you’ll find a way to lose, and when you’re holding on for dear life, the lead will be just enough.
Oh, and don’t bench Jahvid Best.
But back to the SF/NO game…Alex Smith (275 yards, TD, 2 INTs) looked pretty good at times, but both interceptions were his fault. He threw a few very nice passes to Vernon Davis (4-78, seven targets) and Josh Morgan (6-70, eight targets), but Crabtree only saw three passes come his way. I’d keep him on the bench until he’s starts producing.
For the Saints, Reggie Bush looked great (34 total yards, TD, four catches) before leaving the game with a leg injury, and now ESPN is saying that he’s going to miss at least 6 weeks. Bump up Thomas and put DeShawn Wynn on your radar. Heath Evans might get some extra work as well, but it’s more likely that Sean Payton will elect to feature Devery Henderson (3-28) or Robert Meachem (0-0) more in the passing game to account for Bush’s production there.
Michael Vick showed that he still has the speed to cause headaches and with the Lions on tap, he’s probably going to have a big day… Despite missing much of the preseason due to an ankle injury, Donovan McNabb looked pretty good against the Cowboys, all things considered. This week, he has a terrific matchup with the Texans, who gave up over 400 yards passing to Peyton Manning last week. I wouldn’t expect that kind of production from McNabb, but 250 yards and a TD or two is well within reach…Joe Flacco has a big arm, and he threw for 248 yards against the Jets’ vaunted defense last week. With a much easier matchup against the Bengals coming up, he should have a very nice day…Need a sleeper? Jason Campbell threw for 180 yards and a TD against the Titans last week and even ran for 35 yards. With the Rams coming to town, he’s in line for a solid week…Need another sleeper? How about Josh Freeman, who faces a Panthers defense that struggled mightily against Eli Manning and the Giants last week?