Its Week Five in the NFL and hopefully its time to get back to normal. Many fantasy teams took a HUGE hit last week. Fortunately for you, though, I can offer you a bailout and it won't cost the taxpayers a single penny. Here is the Fantasy Factors' Week Five Preview:
Tennessee Titans vs Baltimore Ravens
Titans: Taking their unbeaten streak to Baltimore, the Titans offense will have yet another tough test against a purple defense. Chris Johnson ended up with a pretty solid fantasy performance last week, but it'll be tough to duplicate against the AFC's best run defense. With Flacco at the helm and McGahee on the sidelines, I like the Titans defense this week.
Ravens: With McGahee questionable for this game, the offense will fall almost entirely on rookie QB Joe Flacco. Did I mention that the Titans' defense is tied for first in INT's? The Ravens defense looks to be the only part of the Ravens worth owning this Sunday.
Fantasy Factors: Titans D/ST (8), Ravens D/ST (7)
Kansas City Chiefs vs Carolina Panthers
Chiefs: Two great performances in a row and everyone is back on the LJ express. Sorry, but I'll wait here for the next one. I'm not sold on LJ yet. We already knew the Broncos had a lousy run defense, so its really not that surprising that they got lit up. The Panthers are a much tougher, much more physical defense. LJ remains the best fantasy option, but don't expect big numbers.
Panthers: The only worry for the Panthers here is the status of Delhomme's bruised leg. He's been practicing all week, so he should be fine, which is great news for his owners and for Steve Smith and the rejuvenated Muhsin Muhammad. I don't see the Chiefs stopping or even slowing down any of them.
Fantasy Factors: Larry Johnson (7), Jake Delhomme (9)
Chicago Bears vs Detroit Lions
Bears: After beating the Eagles last week, the Bears look to stay on track against the NFL's practice squad. The Lions have had a horrible time trying to slow down opposing RB's making Matt Forte a must start for the week.
Lions: Now that Matt Millen's reign of terror is over, things can only get better. They actually have a chance this week. The Bears are allowing an average of 246 yards through the air and that's the Lions bread and butter. If your league doesn't punish INT's too severely, Kitna would be a nice player to own.
Fantasy Factors: Matt Forte (9), Calvin Johnson (8)
Atlanta Falcons vs Green Bay Packers
Falcons: Michael Turner may surprise some people this week. The Packers are perceived as having a great defense, which on paper they do, but they're currently surrendering a whopping 157 yards per game on the ground. I don't see a 200 yard game, but I think Turner could get around 100 total yards and at least one TD.
Packers: The wheels are falling off the Packers real fast. Ryan Grant can't get it going and A-Rod 2 is questionable to play with a separated shoulder. Not a lot of options here. Fortunately, the Falcons defense isn't very good and this could be exactly what Grant and his owners need.
Fantasy Factors: Michael Turner (8), Ryan Grant (7)
Indianapolis Colts vs Houston Texans
Colts: Hopefully the bye week helped the Colts find their offense. Peyton Manning currently has 3 TD passes and 4 INT (how often do you see that?) and Joseph Addai has yet to reach 100 yards rushing. To help ease them back into the NFL, the Colts get the Houston Texans. Peyton and the gang should get back into the swing of things this week and look more like themselves.
Texans: No, this isn't a mirage. The Texans are playing at home! After having to deal with a nasty hurricane, the people of Houston finally get to see their team in a big matchup against the Colts. The Texans offense looked much better in a tough loss to the Jaguars last week. If the Texans can play like that against the Colts, they could pull the upset. Steve Slaton keeps getting better each week and Matt Schaub is starting to use all of this weapons and not just Andre Johnson.
Fantasy Factors: Peyton Manning (9), Steve Slaton (8)
San Diego Chargers vs Miami Dolphins
Chargers: After a scare from the Raiders, the Super Chargers head to south Florida to show the NFL that the Dolphins win over the Patriots was a fluke. The only competition in this game will be which player, Philip Rivers or LT, will score more fantasy points? The Dolphins are awful against both run and pass. Take your pick, you won't be sorry either way.
Dolphins: The Dolphins are looking to do something they haven't done in a couple years and that's win two games in a row. It'll be a tough task against the Chargers, even at home. The Chargers are pretty good against the run, but dead last in pass defense, so Chad Pennington looks to be the man this week. Then again, Ronnie Brown could step in and throw a few passes this week too.
Fantasy Factors: LaDainian Tomlinson (9), Chad Pennington (7)
Seattle Seahawks vs New York Giants
Seahawks: The good news is that Matt Hasselbeck will finally have someone to throw to with Deion Branch and Bobby Engram returning to the lineup. The bad news, they're going on the road to play the defending champs.
Giants: Coming off a bye, the G-Men are looking to continue their unbeaten streak, which extends all the way from Dec 29th when they lost to the Patriots. The Seahawks pass defense has been pretty soft this year and Eli should be able to pick them apart.
Fantasy Factors: Matt Hasselbeck (7), Eli Manning (9)
Washington Redskins vs Philadelphia Eagles
Redskins: Oh good, an NFC East battle, which is so so so interesting. The Skins have won their last three and Jason Campbell has looked great in those wins. He'll need to keep it going if the Skins have a chance of winning this one. Don't expect much from Portis, the Eagles have the best run defense in the NFL.
Eagles: Brian Westbrook owners can breath a sigh of relief as he should be back in the lineup this Sunday. He's probably the only one I would feel comfortable with going into this matchup. See comments of this post for Westbrook update
Fantasy Factors: Jason Campbell (8), Brian Westbrook (8)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Denver Broncos
Buccaneers: Brian Griese will finally get a shot at his old team this Sunday. Despite having two great cover corners, the Broncos have been really bad against the pass this year. Griese will try to stick it to them, while Earnest Graham will try to duplicate Larry Johnson's 198 yard performance.
Broncos: Yes, Cutler threw for well over 300 yards last week, but there's no excuse for not ripping the Chiefs secondary apart. This week, he'll get a tough test against the Bucs who are tied for the league lead in INTs.
Fantasy Factors: Earnest Graham (8), Brandon Marshall (7)
Buffalo Bills vs Arizona Cardinals
Bills: The first place Bills will look to remain unbeaten in the desert this Sunday. Marshawn Lynch fell flat on his face and owners last week only piling up 57 rushing yards and zero TD's against the Rams. For those of you that still own him in salary cap leagues, the Cards aren't pushovers in the run department. It will be another tough battle for Lynch this week.
Cardinals: Right now its highly unlikely that Anaquan Boldin will be playing, making Larry Fitzgerald even more valuable, if that's possible. Third string receiver Steve Breaston is also a solid pickup for this week. He caught nine passes for 122 yards last week and will most likely fill in for Boldin this week.
Fantasy Factors: Marshawn Lynch (8), Larry Fitzgerald (9)
Cincinnati Bengals vs Dallas Cowboys
Bengals: They're 0-4 and headed to Dallas to play an angry Cowboys team that suffered their first loss of the season last week. Oh and Carson Palmer might wuss out of this one too with a sore elbow. Is there a good fantasy option for the Bengals this week?
Cowboys: This almost isn't fair. The Cowboys are mad and looking take out their frustration on the Pittsburgh Pirates of the NFL. Marion Barber only had 8 carries last week, I expect to see a lot more this week and at least 2 TD's. Terrell Owens is unhappy he isn't getting the ball enough, so Romo will probably kill him with passes this week. This one has blowout written all over it.
Fantasy Factors: TJ Houshmandzadeh (6), Marion Barber (10)
New England Patriots vs San Francisco 49ers
Patriots: Speaking of teams that are mad, the Patriots have had two weeks to think about their embarrassing blowout home loss to the Dolphins. Not good for the 49ers. Matt Cassel isn't great, but neither is the Niners defense. They're giving up and average of 24 points per game and over 200 yards through the air.
49ers: When the Dolphins used Ronnie Brown in every way possible and beat the Patriots, it may have given the rest of the NFL a blueprint on how to beat them. Even when they're not playing the Patriots, Frank Gore is pretty much used in every way imaginable. If Gore can have a big day, another upset could be looming.
Fantasy Factors: Randy Moss (8), Frank Gore (7)
Pittsburgh Steelers vs Jacksonville Jaguars
Steelers: After last Monday night's game, the Steelers are scraping the bottom of the barrel for RBs. Temp starter, Mewelde Moore, actually looked pretty impressive in his limited playing time, keeping the Steelers running game, somewhat respectable. The loss of Kendall Simmons though, will affect their offense. If Ben thought the pressure was bad before... The Steelers once again will attack through the air making Ward, Holmes, Miller and even Moore, decent fantasy starts.
Jaguars: Just when we thought the Jags two headed monster of Jones-Drew and Taylor were back, they looked terrible against the Texans. They shouldn't run much better against the Steelers this week either. Jones-Drew is still a good start though. Pittsburgh didn't really have an answer for him in both meetings last year when he was catching passes out of the backfield. He could be deadly again.
Fantasy Factors: Santonio Holmes (7), Maurice Jones-Drew (7)
Minnesota Vikings vs New Orleans Saints
Vikings: The Saints are giving up an average of 122 yards on the ground and Adrian Peterson is coming to town. The Saints are typically a better team at home than on the road, but they'll really need to kick it up a notch to stop AP.
Saints: Deuce is back, but he won't be running loose. Not against the new Purple People Eaters. Reggie Bush seriously disappointed everyone last week, this week we'll be able to tell if that was a fluke or the start of a trend.
Fantasy Factors: Adrian Peterson (9), Drew Brees (7)
Posted
Oct 03 2008, 07:00 AM
by
Nick Fruscello