Fantasy Pick up of the Week

Jamaal Charles RB Kansas City Chiefs (photo from nfl.com)

With the official suspension of Larry Johnson coming this week from the NFL, expect Charles to be the number one back. He's fresh of his most productive week as a pro and has a chance to improve. He's averaging a whopping 5.5 yards per carry with limited touches. I'm looking for him to have a breakout game against the Bucs. Although the Bucs are 5-3 and have looked pretty solid, they have struggled on the road. They're 1-3 on the year outside of Tampa bay. Also, their starting SS Jermaine Phillips will be out in Sunday's game with a forearm injury.

Week 8: Arnaz Battle 3 receptions 26 yards

Week 7: Kevin Walter 3 receptions 27 yards; 1 rush 7 yards
Week 6: Bye Week
Week 5: Jonathan Stewart 19 rushes 72 yards 1 fumble
Week 4: Ray Rice 1 rush 0 yards

Midway through the Season...Top 10 for MVP

10) Andre Johnson WR Houston Texans

Why not, the statistical leader in catches, yards and yards per game deserves to make the list. He’s got 56 receptions, 776 yards and averages 110.3 per game. Only problem is he doesn’t have any production beyond that, only two TD catches and his team is 3-4.

9) Adrian Peterson RB Minnesota Vikings

Through seven games he has the second most rushing yards in the league with 684, and averages the second most rushing yards per game. Although he’s a landslide behind Portis, Peterson is the reason why the Vikings have won any games this year, let alone three. So as my first player whose on a team with a losing record, this is a suitable place for Petereson.

8) Chris Johnson RB Tennessee Titans

The first and only player on the board from the undefeated Titans,rookie Chris Johnson from East Carolina will probably not win the MVP award but he’ll at least claim the rookie of the year. He has the fifth most rushing yards in the league with 626, and fourth most rushing yards per game, averaging 89.4. I would have him higher on my list but his four touchdowns is a little low, he can thank Lendale White for that.

7) Jason Campbell QB Washington Redskins

Campbell is the only quarterback in the league without a pick, and as result claims the fifth best QB rating at 100.5. He’s eight games in and has only one turnover due to a fumble. Although he has only eight TD passes he compliments Portis and is a major reason for their success. With that said, he is currently ranked seventh in passing yards and still considered a threat outside the pocket.

6) Drew Brees QB New Orleans Saints

He’s my first candidate on a last place team, although, he is playing in the very deep NFC South. The Saints at 4-4 have used Brees like no other QB in the league. He has thrown for a league high 2,563 yards, almost 500 better then second place Kurt Warner. With that, he has the most passing yards per game at 320.4 and is the only one who averages more than 300. His QB rating is fourth best in the league. Plus he’s doing this all without a receiving core, his leading receiver is Reggie Bush with 42 receptions.

5) Larry Fitzgerald WR Arizona Cardinals

Fitzgerald has the fourth most reception yards in the league with 661 and sixth best with 94.4 reception yards per game. However, he would presumably have more if he didn’t have to share with teammate Anquan Boldin, who has the eighth most reception yards per game, but none the less, this guy is one of the main contributing factors why this team is winning. He has five TD’s, enough for second best in the league behind only, you guessed it Boldin. I would put Boldin in the discussion but he was out for two weeks with injuries, and unlike Steve Smith, he didn’t make up for his lost time.

4) Kurt Warner QB Arizona Cardinals

Warner claims the third highest QB rating at 102.1, behind only Tony Romo and Phillip Rivers. For all you non QB rating believers, he has the second most amount of passing yards and he’s already has his bye week. Not only that, but he has the fourth most TD passes with 14 and only six picks. Granted, he has two of the best receivers in the league, but somebody has to get it to them. He’s getting the W’s on the field, Cardinals are 4-3 with a two game lead in the division.

3)Michael Turner RB Atlanta Falcons

I know most of the attention is going to Matt Ryan, but Turner has turned this franchise around. He has the third most rushing yards in the league with 655 yards and 6 TD’s which is tied for fourth in the league. The team is 4-3, and if their success isn’t meaningful of his importance, look at his previous team, the San Diego Chargers and LT. LT is having his worst second worst season as a professional other than his rookie season, with his first 100 yard game taking half the season. Also, the Chargers are 3-5.

2) Steve Smith WR Carolina Panthers

Smith is the reason why the Panthers are winning, at 6-2. He averages 102.2 yards per game, good for second best in the league. Not only that but he ranks seventh in the league for total reception yards, which is pretty impressive considered he was suspended for two games to start the year. His four TD grabs are half of the TD’s Delhomme has thrown since he’s been back.

1) Clinton Portis RB Washington Redskins

This Guy is having a career year, he leads the league in rushing with 944 yards. That's 260 yards more than the second highest rusher in the league, Adrian Peterson. Not only that, but his 5.0 yards per carry rushing average is tops in the league for starting running backs. He has the second most rushing touchdowns in the league behind only fat Lendale White. And since most MVP voting is based on the teams output, it also helps to add that the Redskins are 6-2 in arguably the toughest division in football, the NFC East.

Fantasy Pick up of the Week

Arnaz Battle WR San Francisco 49ers

With the first game in the Mike Singletary era beginning on Sunday, I look for things to get shakin up a little bit. With that said, I think Battle will claim his first touchdown reception on the year. He has the most receptions on the team and he doesn't even start. Also, they'll be playing one of the worst teams in the league, the Seattle Seahawks. They're the fourth worst in points and pass yards allowed, so look for J.T. O'Sullivan to have a field day.

Week 7: Kevin Walter 3 receptions 27 yards; 1 rush 7 yards

Week 6: Bye Week

Week 5: Jonathan Stewart 19 rushes 72 yards 1 fumble

Week 4: Ray Rice 1 rush 0 yards

Fantasy Pick up of the Week

Kevin Walter: WR Houston Texans

He's the number two receiver for the Texans only behind Andre Johnson. Now that Matt Schaub is on his second week back from injury, expect Walter's to and Schuab to start connecting a little better. In last weeks game against Miami he had his highest amount of reception yards on the year.

But honestly, the real reason you should pick up Walters is because the Texans play the Lions at home. The Lions give up the 2nd most points with 31.8, the most total yards with 421.6 and the third most most pass yards with 250.6. Expect Schaub to be lighting up the field on Sunday and Walter to be the beneficiary.

Week 5 Pick: Jonathan Stewart 19 rushes, 72 yards and 1 fumble

Week 4 Pick: Ray Rice 1 rush and 0 yards

Five Most Overrated Players

In no particular order:

Donovan McNabb
Talk about a guy who doesn't show up to play in big games. Obviously, in the his only Super Bowl appearance, where he methodically ran the two minute offense and essentially gave the game away to the Patriots. Prior to that the three consecutive years in which the Eagles went to the NFC championship game and lost. Also as recent as their games against the Cowboys on Monday Night Football and their Sunday night game against the Bears, both on the main stage. Not only that, but he hasn't played a full season since 2003, and in his tenth season he's only played in every game three times. As the face of the franchise, McNabb has continually let down this team and it is his fault the Eagles have not won a Super Bowl.

LaDainian Tomlinson
Although history has been on his side, it's the what have you done for me lately that put LT on this list. In his six games thus far, he has only 405 yards, or 67.5 ypg along with only four TD's. These numbers alone should show how poor he has played this year. Not only that, he's averaging only 3.7 yards per carry which is he worst since his rookie year. LT is on pace to get only 1080 yards on the year which would be his lowest ever. He currently has the ninth-most rushing yards in the league and is ranked 105th in yards per carry.



Chad Ocho Cinco
I think this is a consensus pick for everybody. He has been a joke this entire season and last. He is the reason why people think professional athletes play only for the money. Since "Johnson's" last Pro Bowl he has been a one man publicity stunt. As a result his productivity has suffered. To put it simply, he's a joke.

Maurice Jones-Drew/Fred Taylor
These two backs are probably the most underachieving combo in all of professional football. In their three losses they have a combined 123 yards on 50 carries and 2 TD's; compared to their three wins where they have 410 yards on 87 carries and 3 TD's. What this tells me is when these two backs are productive, the Jaguars win, and when they're not, a Super Bowl contender turns into a pretender.

Ray Lewis
This old man needs to stick to the spirited dancing before games because he definitely does not contribute on the field. This old man averages only a little more than seven tackles per game in what is supposed to be one of the best defenses in the league. This old man has only helped the Ravens claim victories against two of the worst teams in the league in the Browns and the Bengals. This old man looked silly on Sunday against the Colts while they were moving all over supposedly the best defensive player in the NFL. Other then his loud and funny, but spiritual pre-game dances, he's nothing but and old man.

Sunday Funday!!!

Yesterday in my opinion was the best Sunday of the entire year. There were five games decided in the final two minutes or overtime, and produced some of the most exciting football of the year.

Game 1 Falcons 22 Bears 20
I saw this as a very clean game with no turnovers. Depending on how you saw the game, I felt the Bears defense played well; they only allowed one touchdown and kept the Falcons out of the end zone. However with that said, the Bears did allow six scores totaling 22 points. Not only that the Bears gave up an almost 30 yard pass to allow the Falcons get into field goal range and take the victory against the Bears in the final minutes. A positive for both teams was the play at quarterback. Both Matt Ryan and Kyle Orton showed that they are more than just game managers. Obviously with Ryan getting the win and putting the offense in a position to score seven times(including one missed field goal), he was 22-30 for 301 yards a TD and no INT's. Orton also had impressive numbers at 26-43 for 286 yards with a TD and no picks. However unlike Ryan, he did not get the win despite what should have been a game winning touchdown drive and beautiful touchdown pass to Rasheed Davis.

Game 2 Vikings 12 Lions 10
I guess this was a historical Black&Blue division game? Only the way I saw it was one really bad team against a not quite as bad team. Honestly, the Vikings got lucky to hoard off the winless Lions and claim a tie for first place in the division at 3-3. I mean who is Dan Orlovsky? Apparently the Lions got tired of hearing about the 10-win guarantee from John Kitna that they benched him for some other QB who has no right to be a starter in the NFL. The Vikings may be tied for first in an average at best division, but this is the second straight week where they've squeeked by and eventually they'll be exploited and fall off.

Game 3 Rams 19 Redskins 17
The biggest shocker of the week was this game. The depleted and winless Rams took out arguably the best team in football, the Redskins on the road. I put this loss on the entire Redskins organization, as their star RB flat out said according to NFL.com, "We hadn't thought ahead all season long until this week...The previous four games the focus was there." Although I'm not entirely sure why the Redskins would look ahead, they play the Browns next week who will be 1-4 after tonight's loss to the Giants. In any case, the Rams won on a last second field goal off the leg of Josh Brown from 49-yards out, if only it was as easy as it sounds. The Rams tried to give it away in the closing moments following a 15-yard personal foul penalty after Richie Incognito started arguing with a ref, forcing Brown to make the 49 yarder instead of what would have been a much easier 34.

Game 4 Texans 29 Dolphins 28
Another winless team gets their first victory of the year against arguably the most over-achieving team in the NFL. The Dolphins fall to the Texans despite claiming the lead in the final two minutes of the game. After a Ronnie Brown TD run for the Dolphins seconds after the two-minute warning, the Texans came down the field and put together a touchdown drive of their own, thanks to a Matt Schaub 3 yard TD run with three seconds left. Prior to the start of the season I thought the Dolphins would be bad and the Texans would be competing for a playoff spot. So to say the outcome of this game was a little shocking is ironic. However, I'll look for the Texans to turn it around after they've had the past month entirely on the road thanks to Hurricane Ike. With a second half full of home games, I'm not going to rule out the Texans.

Game 5 Cardinals 30 Cowboys 24
For all you Cowboy haters out there, this was the complete package loss for the 'Boys. The scene: 24-21 Cardinals, Cowboys ball and Romo completes a pass to David Witten at the Arizona 40 and ensues to spike the ball with 3 seconds left. Unfortunitely for the Cardinals, one of their players was offsides after getting hurt on the previous play so the ball gets moved up five yards to the Arizona 35. With only three secons remaining the Cowboys kick and it gets blocked, only Cardinals head coach calls a time out right before the kick to negate the blocked kick. Cowboys kicker Nick Folk capitolizes and makes the 52-yarder to send it to OT. With everything looking right for Dallas, they also get the ball and a chance to put it away. On the first play in OT, Tony Romo gets sacked and ends up breaking his pinkie which will sideline him for upto four weeks. He stays in the game but the 'Boys get no where. They're forced to punt, but on the punt gets blocked and returned by Monty Beisel to score and finish the game.

I say this is the complete package loss for the Cowboy haters because, 1) they lose. 2) the only reason they go to OT is because everything was in their favor, but... Tony Romo goes down and will the next four weeks.

***All images from nfl.com***

Why I love the NFL

Following yesterday's loss of the White Sox to the Rays and ending their post season dreams, I had no desire to continue watching baseball. So I flipped on the Saints/Vikings game on ESPN and swallowed my pain by enjoying one of the most fun football games I've seen in a long time.

And now that baseball season is over, at least for the team I have immediate interest in, it's time shift my focus to watching meaningless but exciting games of football.

If you watched last nights game, you'll know why I'm this excited. At no point was the game ever secure, and it had the most twists I've seen since a deformed Stretch Armstrong. OK, corny, but I was feeling it.

So especially since today's only sporting event was Troy vs. Fla Atl, I feel it's perfect timing to re-look the best football game of the year.

The Saints look unstoppable to start the game, as they scored a quick touchdown followed by another promising scoring drive.

Twist #1

A 46-yard field goal was blocked by Minnesota and returned to the house by Antoine Winfield 59 yards after the ball just fell into his hands. (photo from startribune.com).

Following the return, the Saints went down and scored a field goal rather easily.

Twist #2

On the ensuing kick off, New Orleans attempted an onside kick but was recovered by the Vikings.

The Vikings got almost no yards and escaped with a Ryan Longwell 53-yard field goal

End of 1st quarter 10-10.

The Saints still had the momentum but was quickly taken away following another huge play by Antoine Winfield.

Twist #3

Winfield sacked Drew Brees and recovered the fumble on the Saints 5 yard line which led to another Vikings touchdown.

The Saints lost any momentum they may have had in the first quarter and it turned into a 20-10 Vikings lead at halftime.

Twist #4

With the momentum gone, and the offense struggling, Reggie Bush returned a 71 yard punt return for a touchdown to bring the Saints within three.

The Vikings punted on their next possession to Reggie Bush who tripped over himself with seemingly a clear path into the end zone. The good field position led to a field goal and a tied game at 20-20 early in the fourth.

Twist #5

He did it again, Reggie Bush returned his second punt Return for a touchdown minutes after he helped set up the tying touchdown. Saints lead 27-20.

On the very next drive the Vikings answered with a touchdown drive of their own and tied the game at 27.

Twist #6

With less than two minutes remaining, the Saints put themselves in a position to take the lead with a field goal. But kicker Martin Gramatica hooked it right and gave the Vikings another chance. (photo from nola.com)

Twist #7

The Vikings capitalized on the Saints' missed opportunity and won the game on a 30 yard chip shot.

Final Score 30-27.

So I know this was quick, but I just really wanted to give props to the best game of the year.

Fantasy pick up of the week

Despite last weeks horendous pick in Ray Rice, I am here to show my worth this week.

Jonathan Stewart: RB Carolina Panthers

(photo from cache.daylife.com).

He's really starting to come into his own, the rookie out of Oregon has been solid thus far in the first four weeks. He has 197 yards with four rushing TD's. He has been splitting time with DeAngelo Williams but has been receiving the bulk of the carries while inside the opponents red zone - Stewart has 18 rushes and four TD's compared to Williams who has two rushes and zero TD's.

Another reason to start him is he has been lighting up the scoreboard in the last three weeks. I already mentioned his four TD's, but each has come in the past three games.

If the previous reasons weren't enough to consider picking up Stewart, consider this, the Panthers play the Chiefs. The Chiefs are arguably one of the worst teams in the league, especially on defense. Its defense has given up an average of 176.5 rushing yards, third worst in the league and is ranked 20th in points allowed and 29th in total defense. To put it simply, Stewart should run all over the Chiefs.

Week Four Pick: Ray Rice 1 carry for 0 yards