Week 5 is upon us and it seems to be a week of reunions. Dick Jauron leads his band of merry men into Chicago where he was fired not so very long ago. LaVar Arrington gets to face his old teammates in his new home, the Meadowlands. Mike Anderson and Trevor Pryce return to Denver to show Shanny that they can be mediocre on another team and finally, TO will return to the place of his greatest debacle put forth on our fine league, until the whole farcical suicide attempt. How will each person deal with their respective returns? Only time will tell. The media circus will be looming large surrounding the Dallas/Philly game this week and you can be sure that the Philly fans have their batteries ready. Onto the games and what you have all shown up today for.
Sunday October 8, 2006
BUF @ CHI
Jauron has this group playing well together and actually winning some games. That will not continue this week. Chicago rolled on Seattle to stake their claim for top dog of the NFC.
JP Loseman - Anything promising you have seen this year should be forgotten this week.
Willis McGahee - I have always said that Willis disappears against strong defenses; here is his chance to prove me wrong. He won’t though.
Lee Evans - It’s too bad; he just seemed to start to heat up and now Chicago.
Rex Grossman - Grossman vs. Loseman, that sounds terrible doesn’t it. I am almost officially part of the Rex fan club. I needed to see that performance against Seattle to actually feel that he could play, and he can play. Berrian is a playmaker.
Thomas Jones - He will pound out some nice yardage in this one, although the scoring might be all kickers.
CLE @ CAR
Cleveland made a nice comeback last week. OK we all know it was Oakland. Too bad you can’t play the Raiders every week. Carolina is gaining some momentum after beating previously undefeated New Orleans. They could go on a serious roll.
Charlie Frye - He is still growing in that offense, but he needs to have all his weapons healthy to be able to even come close to being productive.
Reuben Droughns - Carolina can be run on. Injuries have made the middle of this defense soft.
Braylon Edwards - Great player that is still inconsistent, he could blow up or disappear each week. He’ll get more consistent with time and an experienced QB.
Jake Delhomme - Huge difference when Steve Smith is playing. It opens everything up for him and the offense.
DeShaun Foster - Just when I had counted him out, he has a big game. Maybe the DeAngelo Williams era will be delayed a bit.
Steve Smith - Nothing needs to be said. Play him every week.
DET @ MIN
Detroit played great against St Louis in Martz’s return to the Dome, but in an old time Best Show on Turf explosion of offense, the Lions fell short. Minnesota lost for the second week in a row, this time to an upstart Bills team. The Vikes need to and will right the ship this week.
John Kitna - He is playing great as of late and is making Detroit fans forget about Joey, ok, not yet. Smoot is still overrated and Martz will be chucking it like he loves to do.
Kevin Jones - He was bowling people over last week like we knew he could. He just needs to keep pounding it and wearing down defenses.
Roy Williams - He is thriving under Martz, but I know his fantasy owners would like a few more TD’s.
Brad Johnson - Old Man football is still plugging away. Master of the Dink and Dunk should be able to get average numbers this week.
Chester Taylor - Look for Childress to get back to the ground attack this week with a heavy dose of Chet.
Troy Williamson - Give him a great QB and this kid could be real nice.
MIA @ NE
Miami lost to the Texans. They continue to be the biggest surprise in football for your Professor. New England rattled off a win at Cincinnati. These teams are going in opposite directions.
Culpepper - I have lost all faith in Daunte, maybe he is scared or the play calling is just that bad.
Ronnie Brown - You can’t put up numbers when you don’t get opportunities and right now his offense is terrible and the o-line is worse.
Tom Brady - He can only work with what he is given. There is only so much TE’s can give you before you need to throw to the WR’s. He’ll give you his normal 15 per game score.
Laurence Maroney - The stud is here. The first rookie RB to really start to make a name for himself is L-Train. I give props to my man Lionel Simmons, but this guy motors down the track like the 20th Century Limited or the Super Chief.
STL @ GB
St Louis reminded me of games of old where The Rams would throw up 400 yards of offense and then give up 500 on defense. GB was knocked around by Philly and Brett got a boo boo.
Marc Bulger - Marc has started to settle into the new system nicely. He has yet to throw a pick this year and now faces a defense that has given up a ton of big plays in the passing game.
Steven Jackson - The unconditional man in the backfield. He is the guy that is carrying this team so far, must play every week.
Torry Holt - His name is big game and he always brings it. This week could be a huge week for Torry.
Brett Favre - Took a shot and now has a little bump. He will play and with the numbers Kitna had against these guys, well, we’re looking at another shootout here.
Ahman Green - This team is old and needs a rebirth or something. Green has played well enough, when he plays.
Donald Driver - Dealing with some rib and hip issues, but when Favre is your QB, you have got to play.
TBB @ NO
Simms is out with his recovery to take some time. Tampa had a much needed bye week and this week goes against the league Darlings thus far. New Orleans played uninspiring against Carolina and looked bleh except for that 86 yards catch and run by ROY Marques Colston. New Orleans meet Earth, this is where you belong.
Bruce Gradkowski - The rookie gets his first start in the league and should see a lot of pressure with NO’s big ends coming at him.
Cadillac Williams - With the new rookie QB, his production may actually get worse.
Drew Brees - Deuce and Co. have really helped in acclimating him into the system and Colston has been a godsend
Duece McAllister - He has been the better running back so far.
Reggie Bush - When will this superhyped athlete score a TD?
Marques Colston - Joe who?
TEN @ IND
Tennessee is bad, they can stop no one and they have a rookie QB doing option plays. This could not only be the first season that we have an 0-16 team, but there could really be two – See Oakland. Indianapolis survived the Jets imitation of the Cal/Stanford play and remained undefeated. Indy doesn’t lose that much until the playoffs.
Vincent Young - I still say it is too soon to throw him into the fire, but then again the owner shouldn’t be doing the coaches job.
Drew Bennett - Well you see a lot of option plays coming from Vince and they look just bad out there. The only solace that you could take is there will be plenty of garbage time passing in their games this year.
Peyton Manning - The spread this week is Colts -19, get all your Indy players into your lineup.
Joe Addai - He will continue to grasp a hold of the starting job with a great performance this week.
Marvin Harrison - Marvin moved into 4th all time in receptions last week and this week will break Marshall Faulk's team record for consecutive games with a catch. The theme here is consistency.
WAS @ NYG
Washington pulled one out of their asses last weekend when Moss finally started earning a paycheck. The Giants had their bye week early in the year and now have to face a division opponent that is playing well with Portis back.
Mark Brunell - Last week was an aberration from the norm. Mark is on his last legs and needs Clinton to survive.
Clinton Portis - He is back and feels good and tore up the Jaguars defense that only allowed 26 to Pittsburgh and Indy to 63. He should definitely do well against a team that is giving 90 yards and a touchdown a game to their opponents.
Three Blind Mice - See how they run. Moss actually did some catching with that running last week. Get used to it not happening consistently.
Eli Manning - He looks to pick up right where he left off. Playing like hell for three quarters to only pack a game worth of good stats into one quarter at the end. This is a tough game that the Giants are expected to win.
Tiki - He needs to average more than 70 yards a game for the Giants to contend seriously. Washington is 5th in the league against the run btw.
Plaxico Burress - All talent and no attitude. He listens to Shockey more than his coach.
KC @ ARI
Damon Huard leads the Chiefs into Arizona where we will witness the Larry Johnson show this weekend. Arizona hands the reigns over to Matt Lienart. The speed of the game will mess with him for a little while. Expect a slow start to his career with that o-line.
Damon Huard - If you are in need of a desperate starter, Damon is not a bad choice going against a defense that hasn’t figured out their identity yet. Matt is going to need some time to learn and the defense should be playing a lot.
Larry Johnson - This weekend it is going to be the Larry Johnson show in the desert.
Tony G - Inexperienced QB’s and backups alike always exploit the safety valve that is the TE. This one happens to be one of the best.
Matt Lienart - His first NFL start and only one week after Vince. It will take some time getting used to the speed that Linemen and DB’s will be rushing you because your o-line is pathetic.
Edge - Did you take him at 5 or above? How is next to last place feeling right now?
Boldin and Fitzgerald - These two should lose some stats with the new guy, but they will always make tough catches and are a threat to score once the pigskin is in their hands.
NYJ @ JAX
The Jets are soaring and have delusional thoughts running through their heads right now. Jacksonville looks like a different team on the road; it’s a good thing they are at home this week.
Chad Pennington - He has been hot with his two receivers putting up huge numbers. Not bad for a guy with two shoulder surgeries. I still believe that at some point Penny will go down. I am just waiting for those magic words, “Chad experienced some “Shoulder Soreness” today. It is only a matter of time and this week he should be chewed up and spit out like Ben Roethlisberger at a Harley Davidson convention.
Coles and Cotchery - The killer C’s are killing the opposition right now and as long as Penny is in there, it shouldn’t be too much different, unless you are facing the Jags at Jacksonville a week after they had a heartbreaking overtime loss.
Byron Leftwich - He has a ton of weapons at his disposal and an emerging one in Drew. He doesn’t wow too many, but he gets the job done when he has too.
Fred Taylor - He keeps on Chooglin’ to borrow a phrase from CCR. The Jags are going to look to control this one on the ground and give the Jets a heavy dose of Freddie.
Reggie Williams - With Matt Jones likely to miss this week heading into the bye, Williams has surfaced as Leftwich’s go to guy.
OAK @ SF
This game really could go either way. The Niners look pretty good at times with Smith – Bryant and Frank Gore rushing, but Gore does lead the league in fumbles lost. Oakland’s ground game finally got going last week, but could put away the game. Don’t expect any fireworks from that passing offense that is averaging 70 yards per contest so far.
OAKLAND - Randy Moss is not happy and neither are his teammates. Why does this Porter thing still going on. Has Shell made his point yet? This is ridiculous for an NFL Franchise. They are terrible. If you can’t beat Cleveland after your bye week with a 21-3 lead, then you will lose every single game this season. Jordan is the only start from this team and only against poor defensive teams. He isn’t getting 70 receptions this year.
Alex Smith - People are putting him into their lineups this week, but I say be careful. Oakland is surprisingly #3 in the league against the pass so far, mostly because they can be run on easily, but let this be a warning to think that Smith will perform because Oakland Sucks. They have given up fewer pass yards than Baltimore and Chicago.
Frank Gore - Lets say the fumbling is behind him. He will explode this week against an extremely porous run defense surrendering 145 yards on the ground.
Antonio Bryant - Knock him down a few notches and leave him on your bench if you can afford it this week.
DAL @ PHI
Dallas is coming off the week where their Center was stomped on ala Ed Norton in “American History X.” Philly dominated the entire Green Bay game, despite the often incoherent ramblings of Theismann. How does he still have that job? TO returns to face the crowd that once defended his childish antics, to now showcase them in the national spotlight. Hey TO, better duck.
The Statue - He holds the ball way to long and the blitzes will have him in frustration mode this week.
Julius Jones - Quietly, He has put together a nice season so far. I wonder if he has any predictions on the remainder of the season. Nobody has been able to run on the Eagles, I don’t see why that will change.
TO - TO returns to philly, Ho Hum. He is useless. He always put up stats against us, but his teams rarely won. This malcontent has yet to show any reason why he deserves the attention he gets.
Terry Glenn - Hello Mr. Eagle Killer. I hate him. He is the real weapon to watch this weekend. If the DB’s can’t go, He will have a huge game.
Donavon McNabb - He is the best QB in the league right now. Where are all the people that questioned whether or not he could put up these numbers without TO. Sit the fuck down now.
Westy - The offense is definitely different without him in the lineup and I firmly believe that he will be in there on Sunday breaking the century mark in total yards and at least one touchdown.
Donte Stallworth - He has dropped a few passes, but so far has looked to put his past in New Orleans behind him and at this point he makes a great play every week.
LJ Smith - He roams the middle of the field waiting to catch the ball and roll on somebody. You should start everyone in this offense until they cool off, in other words, never.
PIT @ SD
Another team to stumble into their bye week is Pittsburgh. They need to turn it around against a San Diego team that should still be undefeated. They will be looking to get back to winning against a struggling offense.
Ben Roethlisberger - Ben’s must have lost his near sight in that accident because he is always looking upfield instead of looking right in front of him for Parker and Miller more often. Hey Ben, stop throwing into double and triple coverage and maybe your team might be able to run the ball. Now he plays like a rookie.
FWP - Another week and another great run defense. Don’t expect much.
Hines Ward - Owners, I know that you are aggravated over what has or hasn’t happened in Pittsburgh, but you saw their schedule and knew what types of defenses they were playing early, so deal with it.
Heath Miller - *******Breaking News******* Once Heath Miller catches one pass, he puts on his Invisible Suit making it extremely difficult for Ben to see him over the middle. What’s that? Huh? There is no such thing as an invisible suit? Then how can you explain it then?
Monday October 9, 2006
BAL @ DEN
Baltimore pulled off another improbable victory last Sunday in the final minutes of the San Diego game. This Monday Night Game will expose them for the farce that they are. They could easily be 2-2 this week and will get their first loss here. Jake has shaken off the rust of the first game and played great in the New England game heading into their bye.
Steve McNair - The Mile High City welcomes Air McNair into town. You would first assume that this game is going to be a defensive struggle. Well it will be for one team. Steve just doesn’t light up the board like he used to and it won’t happen in Denver.
Jamal Lewis - He really seems to be one step from breaking one. He won’t break one this week either. 75 and a TD if he is lucky.
Mark Clayton - Once again on the game winning drive, Steve went to Mark and not Mason.
Todd Heap - The best pure TE in football.
Jake Plummer - Jake looked smooth as silk against the Pats and hit his stride right into the bye. He had an extra week to prepare with his coaches and Baltimore’s defense will be exposed a little this week.
Bell - Bell should have a good game. Which one you say?. The one that’s running.
Javon Walker - Welcome back Javon. Walker is the real steal of this year’s draft.
Top 10 QB’s for Week 5
1. Marc Bulger
2. Donovan McNabb
3. Peyton Manning
4. Brett Favre
5. Eli Manning
6. John Kitna
7. Tom Brady
8. Drew Bledsoe
9. Brad Johnson
10. Jake Delhomme
Top 10 RB’s for Week 5
1. Larry Johnson
2. LaDanian Tomlinson
3. Clinton Portis
4. Frank Gore
5. Thomas Jones
6. Chester Taylor
7. Steven Jackson
8. Kevin Jones
9. Julius Jones
10. Joe Addai
Top 10 WR’s for Week 5
1. Tory Holt
2. Marvin Harrison
3. Donald Driver
4. Terrell Owens
5. Steve Smith
6. Santana Moss
7. Troy Williamson
8. Plaxico Burress
9. Braylon Edwards
10. Roy Williams
Sleeper of the Week
Randy Moss – If there was ever a team to start him against, it is the 49ers. I predicted a bust out week for Lamont last week and this week it is Randy’s turn.
Bust of the Week
Tiki Barber – Barber has only totaled just over 100 yards for the last 2 games combined. This week he faces a tough Redskin run defense and should continue his mediocre play for another week.
The season has started to take shape. Certain teams have started to assert themselves and begun to achieve minor goals and create identities. It is still early, yes, but each game is a war and war takes its toll. The NFL is more wide open than it ever has in my memory, which unquestionably makes for some exciting and entertaining football to watch. As Always go with your gut and don’t look back.
Professor Ellis D Trails
No comments:
Post a Comment