The second half of the NFL season didn't start off with a lot of bangs, but it did have its fair share of surprises. The sure bet this week was Bears quarterback, Kyle Orton who was coming off a bye week and playing at home against the NFL practice squad. Everything was fine until Orton injured his right ankle early in the game. Fantasy owners, especially salary cappers who bought Orton for this week, found out what Tom Brady owners went through earlier this year. No word on how severe the injury is, but this just goes to show there is never a sure thing in any fantasy sport.
Stars
Kurt Warner - Some diehard football fans in St Louis were probably glad to see the Cardinals again, but won't miss them after this one. Warner sliced up his old team for 342 yards and 2 TD's. He'll look to keep it rolling at home next week against the Niners on Monday Night Football.
(Photo by Reuters Pictures)
Adrian Peterson - He didn't give his owners huge numbers, but 139 yards and a TD is more than welcome. AP has rushed for over 100 yards in his last three games. Next week, he'll get the Packers (25th against the run) at home.
Ray Rice - I believe the saying goes, "Better late than never". Rice who had been getting progressively better each week, broke out against the Browns running for 154 yards (176 total). With McGahee's ankle acting up, Rice should see more touches and you can expect to see more games like this in the future.
Chris Johnson - The speedy Titans back finally didn't have his TD stolen from him this week and helped lead the Titans to a 19-16 OT win to stay undefeated. Johnson didn't have 100 yards rushing, but he did have 161 yards total with a TD.
Owen Daniels - There isn't a lot of love for TE's on in the Stars section, but Daniels deserves mention this week. He hauled in 11 passes for 133 yards on the road against a tough Vikings defense. He's not a TD machine, but he does consistently put up good yardage numbers each week, which is fantastic for a TE.
Stumblers
Earnest Graham - When it was announced that Warrick Dunn was going to sit out and that Graham was going to get the bulk of the carries, his fantasy owners rejoiced since they would be playing a team that is giving up almost 200 yards on the ground per game. It didn't exactly work out the way most people thought it would; two fumbles and 62 yards rushing later, he became this week's top bust.
Maurice Jones-Drew - During the bye week, the Jaguars must have stood too close to Bob Barker because this once formidable playoff team appears to have been neutered. For the second straight week MJD had a cupcake matchup and walked away with 33 rushing yards. To make matters even worse, the Jags LOST to the Bengals! Is this some sort of sick joke? Next week, they'll play the Lions, hopefully their won't be an encore.
Oakland Raiders - Only scoring 10 points against the Ravens is understandable, but getting shut out by the Falcons? Justin Fargas did nothing against a soft run defense and JaMarcus Russell is exactly what I said he would be when he was drafted first overall last year, a bust. He was 6/19 passing for 31 yards and an INT. His quarterback rating was 19.0. This was against the Falcons, not the 85 Bears. The Falcons!
Marion Barber - Its not really fair to Barber for him to be in the Stumblers section, but he's just not getting it done. I'm sure it has everything to do with the fact that the Cowboys have absolutely no passing game whatsoever. Until Romo's back, Barber will be subpar.
Brett Favre - My second favorite stumbler to pick on (Carson Palmer being number one). Despite his best efforts, the Jets did still manage to win the game over the first place Bills, putting them in a three way tie for first. Favre only turned the ball over once, but it couldn't have been at a worse time in the game, plus it was easily avoidable. A future hall of fame quarterback doesn't throw picks like this (1:25) unless they're way past their prime.
Posted
Nov 03 2008, 04:22 PM
by
Nick Fruscello