Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week thirteen, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) With the playoffs right around the corner, you most likely need a win badly this week to clinch that first round BYE (or to even get a playoff spot!) Hopefully our list this week can help you get over the hump and into your league’s tournament, where you will surely bring home the bacon because you frequent such an awesome and knowledgeable fantasy football website! Alright, enough tooting of our own horn, let’s get to the hits and misses for this week and GOOD LUCK!
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Hits & Misses - Week 13: Win or Go Home
Brandon
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Hits & Misses - Week 9: Baseball is finally over!
Brandon
Now that baseball is finally over, we can focus on the sport that should have a spotlight at this point in the year…football. Before we get to the players though, remember to enter in our contest to win a $50 NFL.com gift card simply by predicting the top fantasy quarterback of the week (my QB “hits” might help you out!) Also, if you’re feeling generous, head over to the Fantasy Football Librarian’s site and vote for FFGeekBlog.com in her first annual Readers’ Choice Poll.
Anyways, that’s enough self-promotion…here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week nine, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) (More …)
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Hits & Misses - Week 7: New England heads to Old England
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week seven, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) This week I’ve again tried to leave off the most obvious picks, such as Peyton Manning’s dream match-up against the Rams, so that the list only includes players you may have been scratching your head about starting this week. Also, not to get too far off topic, but the Patriots head to London this week to play the Buccaneers, which got me thinking…is the team name “New England Patriots” offensive to the British? I mean, they ARE the nation that we were being patriots against in the first place! Anyways, I guess we’ll let some of our readers from the U.K. comment on that, so let’s get into the hits and misses for the week… (More …)
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Hits & Misses - Week 6: Brady Back in Business
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week six, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) Normally I would leave off the most obvious picks, such as Tom Brady against the Titans. However, the Patriots passing game hasn’t lived up to it’s billing so far this year and there are managers who are probably considering benching this week, so I’ve included him as a reminder to get him in your line-ups! Anyways, here we go with the hits and misses for the week… (More …)
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Hits & Misses - Week 5: Pierre Garcon makes the list
Brandon
Here are our “Hits” and “Misses” for week five, listing players you want to make sure are in your lineup, as well as those you might consider shelving for the week (or at least lowering your expectations!) As always, I’ve tried to leave the most obvious picks off the list, such as Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne’s scheduled abuse of the Titans secondary on Sunday night, so that I can save space for players that might have you scratching your head a little more. Anyways, here is your hits and misses for the week… (More …)
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2009 Running Back Handcuff Index
Brandon
As everyone knows, football is a brutal game and injuries are very common. You may draft an awesome duo of running backs for your fantasy football team, only to have one of them knocked out for the season in week two and if you didn’t have their backup (or were slow on the waiver wire,) you’re screwed. As I did last year, I’ve written up the Running Back Handcuff Index, listing all the starting running backs in the league, along with their primary backup(s). Also, I’ve included how important it is to draft their backup as a handcuff (if you need to draft them at all.) I’ve listed them in groups ranging in level of importance (Very High to Very Low), so you know how important it is to draft them as an insurance policy, so here you go…
Very High
Philadelphia Eagles
Starter: Brian Westbrook
Handcuff: LeSean McCoy
Concern(s): Injury / Committee
Notes: Westbrook has never been Mr. Durable to begin with, but he’s getting up there in age and has a very talented rookie in McCoy waiting for his shot. I’d say this is a mandatory hand-cuff, but you might not be able to get McCoy without giving up one of your early picks as someone else will surely draft him with the hopes of trading him to you or of Westbrook going down.Buffalo Bills
Starter: Marshawn Lynch
Handcuff: Fred Jackson
Concern(s): Suspension / Ineffectiveness
Notes: Lynch is suspended for the first three games of the season, so naturally you would like his hand-cuff on your team so it’s easy to fill the void. However, Jackson looked good in limited playing time last season and could be picked up by another team if you’re not careful in your draft. -
Running back rankings for 2009
Brandon
Following my wide receiver rankings, here is the list for running backs. Keep in mind that this is primarily for non-PPR leagues, but I’ve mentioned in my comments the tailbacks that will be valued higher in leagues that award points for receptions.
You can check out the rest of our positional cheat sheets here.
- Adrian Peterson, MIN – Unless you’re in a PPR league, A-Pete is top dog and Favre should distract defenses a bit and open more holes.
- Michael Turner, ATL – As with Peterson, he is spectacular as long as you’re not in a PPR league, and he’s only slightly less than spectacular then.
- DeAngelo Williams, CAR – Jonathan Stewart continues to show durability issues, meaning plenty of carries again this year for D-Williams!
- Matt Forte, CHI – I’m digging Forte this season with Cutler in town.
- Maurice Jones-Drew, JAX – Finally mini-me becomes the feature back…I expect it to pay some dividends
- Steven Jackson, STL – UPGRADE! The Rams offense scares me…and S-Jax has trouble staying healthy. He is a beast though.
- LaDainian Tomlinson, SD – He didn’t go from the best in the league to Average Joe over night. Expect LT to surprise the quick-to-be-haters this year.
- Frank Gore, SF – Taking a leadership role on the team, hopefully it equates to some leader-like stats.
- Brian Westbrook, PHI – He’s never played a full 16 game season and there are already injury worries. He’s a monster when he plays (especially in PPR leagues), but he’ll be 30 in a few weeks and this could be the year he starts slowing down, LT-style.
- Ryan Grant, GB – UPGRADE! As long as he stays healthy, Grant should put up decent numbers.
- Brandon Jacobs, NYG – He’s a beast when not injured, just hope he can stay on his two feet the whole season.
- Chris Johnson, TEN – He hasn’t been impressing this preseason, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt at this point.
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Top 25 scoring fantasy football players through 13 weeks
Brandon
It’s been 13 weeks since the season started and four since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this is a list of the top fantasy football scorers so far this season, based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are in, which follows near-standard scoring rules…
Note: The number in parenthesis is the ranking of the player after week 9.
1 (4). Drew Brees, QB, Saints: Brees has been a yardage and touchdown machine this year, even with his top receiver from last season (Marques Colston) out for a bit. I’m sure he helped many a team into the playoffs this season.
2 (3). Kurt Warner, QB, Cardinals: Warner’s stats were pretty close to Brees’ and while he did throw less interceptions, he fumbled the ball a lot more. However, I’m sure he’s on a lot of playoff bound team’s rosters.
3 (5). Aaron Rodgers, QB, Packers: Packers fans can’t complain about the production they got out of the quarterback after Favre’s departure and they should be happy that they won’t have to worry about the position for another decade or so.
4 (6). Jay Cutler, QB, Broncos: While I was expecting a bit more out of his “favorite” receiver Brandon Marshall, Cutler has been all that fantasy owners could have wished for.
5 (1). Philip Rivers, QB, Chargers: He’s dropped off a bit over the past few weeks, but you can’t really complain considering the receivers he’s passing to. (More …) -
Week 11 Wrap-Up: So much for that awesome Ravens defense
Brandon
Going into this weekend, the Baltimore Ravens were holding opposing team’s running games to a ridiculous 2.9 yards per carry. One week and a brutal beating by the defending Superbowl champs later, that number is up to 3.4 as they were manhandled in the trenches by Brandon Jacobs and crew. Let’s look at more from that contest and the rest of the action from week 11…
- New York Giants 30, Baltimore 10: The G-Men continue to show that they’re the team to beat in the NFC as they hand out a pretty serious beatdown to one of the better teams in the AFC. The Ravens were the team that didn’t let up 100 yard rushers…and I guess they can take pride in the fact that none of the Giants running backs hit the century mark. However, if you combine the stats of the three-headed-monster that they employ in their backfield (Jacobs – 73 yards, 2 TD; Bradshaw – 96 yards; Ward – 41 yards), it’s pretty apparent that as a whole (210 yards!), New York was way too much for the Baltimore defense to handle. (More …)
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Hits and Misses - Week 11: Turner the Burner ready to blaze!
Brandon
Last week I came through with my second great feature pick of the season (I know, only two through ten weeks is a little embarassing!), as Vikings running back Adrian Peterson absolutely torched the Packers defense to the tune of 225 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. I ended up the week with a respectable 15-5-3* record, helped out by stellar, three-score games from Thomas Jones and Maurice Jones-Drew, along with a solid performance from Tony Gonzalez and a predictable, lackluster showing by Steve Slaton (could he be hitting the rookie wall?) Although the Jets passing game proved to be non-existant in their demolition of the Rams and Peyton Manning had a huge game against one of the better defenses in the league (ironically, his two best games this season against the Steelers and Ravens…go figure!), I still finished with some fairly good predictions and I hope to do the same this week. For week 11, my sure bet is for Michael Turner “The Burner” to have a big game against a less than average Broncos defense in Atlanta this weekend, so get him in your lineup!
* Hits-Misses-Pushes
Hits
- Michael Turner, RB, Falcons: I admit, I tried to come up with some clever saying here that some how involved the Broncos, Turner the Burner, and the game being a potential barn burner, but I couldn’t come up with some all that witty, so I ended up with the title you currently see on the post. Anyways though, continuing the trend (big games against bad defenses…poor games against good ones) that he has followed all season, you can expect big things from Turner this weekend as he takes on an Denver defense that is allowing 5.6 yards per carry. This should turn into a barn burner if all goes according to plan…and expect Turner to be right in the middle of the action. (More …)
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Week 10 Wrap-up: Keepin' up with the Jones'
Brandon
What a week 10, huh? The Jets and Ravens break the 40 point mark, Brady Quinn makes his big debut…and the Bills drop from first to last in the AFC East! The biggest achievements of the week though by far came from some of the league’s running backs, primarily Thomas Jones of the Jets, and Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jaguars, who both had three touchdown games. In addition to the Jones’, I think an honorable mention is also deserving of Adrian “All Day” Peterson, who broke the 200 yards from scrimmage mark in the Vikings exciting, last minute victory over the Packers. (By the way, all three running backs were on the Hit list this week!) Anyways, let’s jump into the action that took place in week 10…
- New York Jets 47, St. Louis 3: While I predicted a solid game from Thomas Jones, I was not prepared for what transpired Sunday afternoon when he dominated the Rams defense to the tune of 149 rushing yards and three touchdowns. What’s nearly as amazing as T-Jones’ performance was the fact that Brett Favre, Laveranues Coles nor Jericho Cotchery really contributed much of anything to this slaughter. Rookie tight end Dustin Keller had the biggest game of his short career with 107 yards receiving and a score, but the player who paid off the most for fantasy managers (besides Jones) was kicker Jay Feely, who had five extra points and four field goals, which equated to 21+ fantasy points in most leagues.
- Jacksonville 38, Detroit 14: My question is how many people started Maurice Jones-Drew this week? MJD has been extremely frustrating to own in fantasy football this season and has really only been worth playing three out of nine weeks the Jaguars have had a game so far (week 3, 6, 10…every third game actually…do I sense a big game in week 13 against the Texans?) So when he goes for 91 combined yards and three touchdowns, how many of you were screaming in joy? And how many in regret? In other news, Lions rookie running back Kevin Smith had a solid game with over 90 rushing yards and a score and is becoming a guy you can feel semi-confident starting as a RB2 or flex play against mediocre or worse defenses. Also, what is going on with Detroit’s quarterback situation? Nevermind…I just remembered that I don’t care. (More …)
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Top 25 fantasy football players after nine weeks
Brandon
It’s been nine weeks since the season started, and three since my last posting of the top 25 fantasy football players in the game. As I mentioned last time, this list is based on a non-PPR league that Matt and I are in, which follows pretty standard scoring rules. At this point, most teams have had their bye, so the stats paint a pretty accurate picture of the players effectiveness this season.
Note: The number in parenthesis is the ranking of the player after week 6.
1 (1). Philip Rivers, QB, SD: It’s pretty amazing, but at the three, six and now the nine week mark, Rivers is STILL the top fantasy football player in the league.
2 (7). Clinton Portis, RB, WAS: Portis has been solid all season long and now that all the aberations are starting to fall off the list, the greats are shining through.
3 (6). Kurt Warner, QB, ARI: Warner keeps getting it done and now that receiver Anquan Boldin is back and in action, Warner shouldn’t stray too far from the top of this list.
4 (2). Drew Brees, QB, NO: The bye week dropped him down a few spots, but he’ll stay at the top of the list for the duration.
5 (3). Aaron Rodgers, QB, GB: Rodgers continues to prove that Green Bay made the right decision in letting Favre go. (More …) -
Week 9 Weekend Wrap-Up: Halloween hang-over
Brandon
While I wish I could write about something super-exciting that happened this past weekend in the NFL, there just wasn’t a whole lot going on worthy of it. The most interesting thing to happen was probably the Chiefs near-victory over the heavily favored Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so we’ll start there…
- Tampa Bay 30, Kansas City 27: While the final outcome of this game was pretty predictable (TB beats KC), the score was no where near what we all expected. I’m not sure which stats are more interesting: 1) a non-quarterback for both teams (RB Earnest Graham for the Bucs, WR Mark Bradley for the Chiefs) threw a touchdown pass (with the Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen catching the touchdown from Bradley) or one of the top run defenses in the league let up over 100 yards to a rookie (Jamaal Charles) who plays for the Chiefs. Anyways, in the end it doesn’t matter what the score was, as the Chiefs couldn’t find a way to stop the Jeff Garcia to Antonio Bryant (8 catches for 115 yards and a TD) connection all day long.
- New York Jets 26, Buffalo 17: I’m surprised that the Jets even won this game, considering the play of Brett Favre (201 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT.) Either way though, as a Patriots fan I can’t complain about how bad either of these teams look these days. Honestly, even though they’re the only team in the division without a winning record, the Dolphins are the team that scares me the most to challenge New England for the division crown. (More …)
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Hits and Misses - Week 8: T-Jones up next to abuse the Chiefs
Brandon
After weeks of mediocre results, last week I hit the jackpot with my picks (must have been the renaming of the post!) I finished up 17-7-6 (hits-misses-pushes) for the week, carried there by the stellar play of the Titans running game versus the joke that is the Kansas City Chiefs defense. I also got some help from a few other running backs including Ryan Grant, who finally found the endzone, and Dominic Rhodes, who filled in quite nicely for the injured Joseph Addai and rewarded fantasy managers with two touchdowns. While the Jets passing game failed pretty miserably against what I thought was supposed to be a weak Raiders pass defense, it wasn’t enough to keep me from my best week of the season.
This week I’m going to continue my trend of hating on the Chiefs defense by recommending all the Thomas Jones owners out there get him in your lineup this week. While I’m usually not too keen on picking against a team twice in a row (you figure they’ll try to make SOME adjustments), it’s just too good to pass up at this point. Anyways, here’s the rest of your hits and misses for week 8:
Hits
- Thomas Jones, RB, Jets: T.Jones has come alive the past two weeks (much to the enjoyment of his owners…like me!) with possibly the two best games of his career in terms of touchdowns (week 6) and yards (week 7.) As a reward for his hard work, this week he gets to take on a Chiefs defense that was absolutely annihilated by the Titans running game last week. If starting a running back at home against a defense that is allowing 5.6 yards per carry, 207 yards per game and has allowed 12 rushing touchdowns already this season is something you’re interested in (it better be), get Jones in your lineup ASAP! (More …)
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Week 7 Weekend Wrap-up: Running backs gone wild!
Brandon
After staying up late to watch my favorite baseball team lose to the Tampa Bay Rays (!) last night, I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle staying up for what will most likely be a disaster of a game tonight when the Fantasy Football Librarian‘s boys from Denver come into Gillette Stadium to take on the Patriots…but I’ll give it a shot. The good news is that even though the Sox are done and the Pats chances tonight are not all that promising, the fantasy football gods seemed to shine down on me this week and I should pull off some solid victories in most of my leagues (although the fact that Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall having huge games against New England would help many of my teams causes quite the personal conflict!), including a potential victory in which I idiotically started Larry Fitzgerald on a bye. Anyways, enough of my rambling about New England sports and my fantasy teams, let’s get to the action from the weekend that caused my good fortunes, including a few running backs gone wild!
- Tennessee 34, Kansas City 10: I was pretty pumped about this game for one reason…the Chiefs helped me break the FFGeekBlog Hits/Misses cover curse! Kansas City came into this game allowing 180+ yards per game on the ground and what do you know…the Titans nearly doubled that average with 330+ yards. Hopefully you took my advice and started LenDale White (149 yards, 3 TD) and Chris Johnson (168 yards, TD), as you were rewarded heavily. (More …)
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Sell High, Buy Low: Trade ideas for Week 5 2008
Matt
Last week I advised you to sell high on Reggie Bush, Chris Chambers and Ronnie Brown while you still could. The jury’s out on Ronnie Brown since he was on a bye, but I’m going to pull an “I told you so” on Bush (38 total yards, 0 TD, and Deuce is back in action) and Chambers (2 catches, 45 yards, 0 TD).I suggested that you buy low on Ocho Cinco; little did I suspect that Carson Palmer’s injury would turn out to be worse than everyone thought. As long as Palmer’s OK (looks like he is), I still think the OC will be putting up AOK numbers very soon, and could return to elite status by the second half. I advised trading for Ryan Grant, who had another rough game, but I still think he’ll be fine. And Brandon Jacobs had a bye week.
Here are the players I recommend wheeling and dealing this week:
Sell High
Kurt Warner - When does a 472-yard, two-touchdown game spark a debate among fans and commentators over whether you should be benched? When you also throw three interceptions and fumble the ball four times. Warner is the sixth-best QB in the league from a purely statistical perspective, but his shaky play against the Jets has to have the coaches wondering whether they made the right call in benching Leinart. Any trade you offer will look impressive – Warner’s gleaming fantasy numbers are sure to make any owner at least think about it, especially if they’re desperate for QB help. But I’ve got my doubts as to whether Warner will be keeping his job for much longer, so I’d unload him while you still can. The key here is finding an owner who needs a QB so badly that he or she is willing to take the risk that Warner gets benched. (More …)
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Sell high, buy low: Trade ideas for week 4 2008
Matt
What’d I tell you about Carson Palmer? He might have only thrown one TD pass, but 286 yards and a 98.9 QB rating against the Giants defense should tell you that the reports of his demise were exaggerated indeed. Just wait to see what he does this week with Cleveland in town. If you were in need of QB help last week, I hope you listened to me and did your best to wrench him away from his dejected owner.Now that we’ve all learned an important lesson (I am infallible and questioning me puts you at risk of looking as silly as the dissenters in last week’s Sell High, Buy Low comments section), we’re on to this week’s trade ideas:
Sell High
Reggie Bush, RB, Saints – He’s a must-start for now and – as long as he stays healthy – should continue to be a top fantasy rusher. But Deuce McAllister’s healthy again, and coach Payton says “his time is coming.” With the Saints struggling to run the ball (most of Bush’s production has come in the passing game), count on Payton to dramatically increase Deuce’s workload in the weeks to come, which will cut down on the number of plays that Bush is involved in. As far as fantasy football value is concerned, Bush will likely go back to being more of an RB2 than an RB1. If you’re a Bush owner, find the member of your league who’s most likely to be enamored with Bush’s famous name and thus-far stellar production and see if you can swap him for a feature back like Joseph Addai, Marshawn Lynch, or Clinton Portis. (More …)
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Ask the Geeks - Week 3
Brandon
Here we go with the questions rollin’ in for week three…hopefully we can offer you some decent advice and give your team what it takes to carry you to victory this week…Ali asks: hey Brandon, great blog. I need some advice. I have Megatron (CJohnson) and Roddy White as my two starting receivers. I also have David Patten and Patrick Crayton on the bench. For backup RBs i have Justin Fargas, BJax, and Sproles (I do not own LT).
I feel like I need help at WR b/c White is inconsistent. So, my question is would you recommend dropping any of the guys mentioned above for Stuckey, Gage, Antonio Bryant (TB), Isaac Bruce, Bryant Johnson (SF), Robert Meachem, or Amani Toomer?
Other RBs available are: Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw (I have Jacobs), LaMont Jordan, Le’Ron McClain , Jamal Charles … what do you think?
Brandon’s take: Thanks for the compliment! As for your team, you might consider dropping David Patten for Bryant Johnson, who seems to be a favorite target of J.T. O’Sullivan, but it’s really not that much of an upgrade. Robert Meachem has a brighter future than Patten, but there’s no telling that it’ll be this season. Stick with your guys for now (probably starting Crayton with White and CJ) and see what happens. White had four catches last week, so it appears that Ryan is looking his way and he should get better as the season goes along.
As for your running backs, you definitely want to scoop up Ahmad Bradshaw since you own Jacobs. I would pick him up and probably drop BJax (Brandon Jackson I assume?) If Jacobs goes down, Bradshaw will be very productive for you. The others are nothing special, but you might consider trading Sproles to the LT owner immediately (while he’s shaking in his boots that his top pick could lose some carries.) Hope this helps!
Matt’s take: Why does Brandon get all the love? Don’t make me pull a Chris Cooley.
For a league that starts 2 WRs, you’ve hardly got a killer corps there, but none of the waiver options you mention are an upgrade at this point. Keep an eye on Gage and Meachem, as both have some upside this season (especially Gage – Meachem will probably fade out of the picture once Colston’s healthy again).
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Sunday Wrap-up: Brandon Marshall is back!
Brandon
While the Bronco’s should definitely have lost their game with the Chargers (I have no clue what the officials where thinking when they blew that ball dead!), the most important thing to take away from the game for all of us non-Broncos/Chargers fans is that Brandon Marshall is back…and he’s very pissed at anyone who discounted him in their league’s draft. Marshall finished the game with the second most receptions for a game in NFL history with 18 (two shy of T.O.’s record of 20) and racked up 166 yards and a touchdown in the process. If you were in a PPR league that awards bonus points for breaking the 100 yard or 150 yard mark…and you had Marshall in your starting roster…you are very, very happy right now. Anyways, here are some other notes from the games this past weekend that you may find interesting…
- Broncos 39, Chargers 38: Besides being happy to be a Brandon Marshall owner, those of you who had faith that Cutler would be a top notch talent after getting his diabetes under control are being rewarded nicely…to the tune of 650 yards and six touchdowns through the first two games of the season. Looking at the Broncos schedule, I wouldn’t expect too much of a drop off in production either (if any). For all of you who took him late in the draft…it’s time to start laughing at the guys who drafted Derek Anderson and Carson Palmer five rounds earlier. In other news, LT owners should have a waiver claim in for Darren Sproles (317 all purpose yards and two touchdowns) immediately (at the cost of dropping Jacob Hester if necessary). Philip Rivers (21 of 33 for 377 yards and three TD, two INT), Chris Chambers (four catches for 83 yards and two TD), and Tony Scheffler (six catches for 64 yards, 2 TD) didn’t look too bad in this one either. If you picked up Eddie Royal after his first week outburst…keep him around. Cutler has confidence in him and you can expect a ton of chances to put up quality numbers all season long as defenses try to contain Marshall. (More …)
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Giants pound the Browns, 37-34
Brandon
Alright, so maybe the score doesn’t show that the Giants pounded the Browns, but if you watched the first quarter and a half, it was definitely a lopsided match. With all the “starters” in (I use the term loosely because the Giants were missing Plaxico Burress, Amani Toomer and Steve Smith, while Cleveland was without Braylon Edwards), Eli Manning showed that maybe the Superbowl victory was no fluke as he bombed two touchdown passes to receiver Domenik Hixon in the first quarter. Hixon, a third year receiver out of Akron who had only one reception for a measly five yards all of last season, looked like a Pro Bowl player in this one (4 catches for 63 yards and 2 TD), dragging his feet in the endzone on both touchdown grabs and also torching the Browns special teams for a kick off return touchdown. Even with the great game, at this point it doesn’t appear that Hixon will be a relevant fantasy player this year…but if injury strikes one of the top three receives on the team, keep his name in mind as a possible late season sleeper. (More …)

