Be careful what you wish for

by rn575 on November 13, 2009

The biggest lesson the NFL has taught us this week is this: Be careful what you wish for. We learn this lesson from the experience of former Chiefs RB Larry Johnson. As you've undoubtedly heard, LJ went on Twitter and then in front of the press and went on rants designed to get him out of Kansas City, and after losing one game check and one game, he got his wish. The team cut him. LJ undoubtedly thought he'd be snapped up, especially since he can play on a minimum salary for the rest of the season and still collect checks from the Chiefs. It seemed like a no-brainer to LJ. But now a week has gone by, and no one has claimed Johnson on waivers. He won't be on a roster for this weekend's games, and the free agent market for him has been soft to say the least. He might get a job again, but that' s far from a certainty right now. The bottom line is that Johnson has a lot of miles on his legs, and his performance lately has really fallen off. He's not the dominant back he was four or five seasons ago. Forget rushing for 2,000 yards in a season; LJ is at a stage now that he would be hard pressed to pile up 800 yards over the season. Like many older running backs, including recent cut Edgerrin James, LJ is declining so quickly that he might be done. Unfortunately, LJ doesn't seem to know it yet. (For more thoughts on this week's NFL moves, plus suicide pool suggestions and our Football Relativity comparison of all 32 teams, visit www.footballrelativity.com) So enjoy being free, Larry. We hope it's everything you thought it would be. But we believe it's probably not anything close to what you wished for.
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Fantasy Football’s Week 10 Waiver Wire pickups.

by fantasy-dr-x on November 10, 2009

Week 9 featured reliable Fantasy Football's waiver wire pickups including WR Deverey Henderson (three receptions for 93 yards) and RB Ryan Moats (16 carries for 38 yards, and three receptions for 15 yards and a touchdown). With Week 10 approaching, here are the next future stars. Quarterbacks: Josh Freeman – Tampa Bay: The rookie finally made his debut on Sunday and did far better than anyone would expect. He threw for 205 yards and had three touchdowns passes. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will travel to Miami and take on the Dolphins. The Dolphins rank 28th in pass defense and allow 247 yards per game. The Dolphins have allowed 10 touchdown passes, and are allowing 8.3 yards per pass attempt. Without No. 1 WR Antonio Bryant, Freeman still managed to do very well. With Bryant expected back this week, look for him to have another solid game.... Full article>>>
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Took long enough, didn't it? With yesterday's 38-28 win over the Green Bay Packers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers become the last of the winless teams to get their first win of the season. I really thought that either the Bucs or the St. Louis Rams were going to go 0-16, but luckily for everyone who watches the NFL that wasn't the case. No one, especially the NFL, wants to see another team go winless. It's got to be embarrassing for the league that the Detroit Lions went 0-16 last season, so having another team a year later do the same thing would terrible; however, having five 1-7 teams at Week 9 isn't much better. I would say the Cleveland Browns would have the best chance at 0-16, but they somehow beat the Buffalo Bills 6-3 despite Derek Anderson passing for a mere 23 yards on 2-17 passing. I still can't figure that one out.

The Buccaneers' first win comes at the expense of a Green Bay team that hasn't been doing well as of late. They've had two big losses to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings and this loss to the Bucs AT HOME has to compound matters. Aaron Rodgers has been sacked a league-high 37 times (after 6 more yesterday) and GM Ted Thompson is feeling heat from everyone after trading Favre two years ago only to have him join the Vikings, lead them to a 7-1 start, and trounce Green Bay twice. And those aren't the only two problems. The defense, which allowed Josh Freeman to pass for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns, hasn't been getting the job done either. Green Bay is 4-4 and there's still some football to be played, but it's not looking good.

Upon further review, the Packers-Bucs game was at Tampa Bay, not Green Bay

Coach Smith vs. DeAngelo Hall

During yesterday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and Washington Redskins, Falcons quarterback was hit by Redskins safety LaRon Landry out of bounds after a scramble for a first down. Naturally, the Falcons were not pleased with this, just as anyone other team would be in this case. On a replay, Atlanta coach Mike Smith is seen releasing a stream of profanity and throwing his headset, but that was the extent of it...until DeAngelo Hall got involved.

Deangelo Hall, who wasn't even involved in the play, was the one who started the scrum on the sideline. Usually, players will get in the guy's face who hit their player. Typically, no punches are thrown, just some shoving and jawing. But in this case it was a player who wasn't involved getting into a scuffle along with a head coach. And now Hall says he's going to file a complaint against Mike Smith for his involvement in the altercation. You know, since DeAngelo Hall is such an upstanding player and can't stand it when people misbehave like that. Except he's not. As such, he doesn't have a case against Smith. Watch the video; Matt Ryan and LaRon Landry are back on the field when Hall starts fighting with the Falcons' players. There's no reason for him to be over there other than to get Landry away from Atlanta's bench. The problem is that Landry wasn't over there; he stood up and walked back on the field without any problems. It looks to me like Hall went out of his way to cause trouble against a former team.

Falcons bench incident draws review

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Each week, we dive into the stat sheets to see which weekly performers fantasy owners should applaud and which fantasy owners should write off as frauds. You can read our full applaud or a fraud listing for this week at www.footballrelativity.com. In this post, we'll focus on rookies. Quarterbacks Josh Freeman, Buccaneers - In his first career start, the rookie Freeman led the Buccaneers back to a 38-28 victory over the Packers. And while he completed just 14-of-31 passes, he ended up with three touchdown passes plus a two-point conversion. That’s more than fantasy owners can expect from Freeman on a weekly basis, but the fact that he showed he can do it makes him worth a pickup in leagues where any starting quarterback has value. If you’re in a 16-team league or a league in which you can start two quarterbacks, Freeman is worth a waiver claim. But your league has to be that big for a pickup to be worth it. That’s why we’re not clapping at this point. Verdict: A fraud Matthew Stafford, Lions – Stafford threw two first-quarter touchdowns against Seattle, but he ended up with a rather pedestrian game with 203 passing yards and those two scores. Plus, he had five interceptions, which really hurts in many fantasy leagues. The best news is that Stafford is showing he is healthy. But as of now, it’s still hard to see Stafford contributing for fantasy owners unless they’re in a league in which starting two quarterbacks is a good option. Verdict: A fraud Pat White, Dolphins – You might have noticed that White had 45 rushing yards against the Patriots out of the wildcat formation. But he had just one pass attempt, which was incomplete. My guess it that White got so much use because he was drafted to take the Wildcat to the next level specifically against the Patriots, which is why he got so much work in this particular game. But that view means that White has little to no value for fantasy owners going forward, even in leagues that feature multiple quarterback starters. Verdict: A fraud For additional analysis of fantasy quarterback Matt Cassel, visit www.footballrelativity.com. Running backs Beanie Wells, Cardinals - Wells got some extended work in Arizona’s blowout win over Chicago, and he paid off with 72 rushing yards on 13 carries. But Wells is still behind Tim Hightower in the Cardinals’ pecking order, and that means that Wells remains outside the top 30 at running back. So for now, Beanie has to remain on the bench in your fantasy league. Verdict: A fraud For additional analysis of fantasy running backs Ladell Betts, Jamaal Charles, Ahman Green, Laurence Maroney, Ryan Moats, and Derrick Ward, visit www.footballrelativity.com. Wide receivers Lance Long, Chiefs – Chambers wasn’t the only Chiefs wideout to break out with a big game. Lance Long, who was with head coach Todd Haley in Arizona, had eight catches for 74 yards. Long isn’t a top-40 receiver, but in large leagues he’s worth a claim because he may be a guy the Chiefs want to take an extended look at the rest of the season. That could add to his fantasy value quite a bit. Verdict: Applaud For additional analysis of fantasy wide receivers Earl Bennett, Greg Camarillo, Chris Chambers, Jason Hill, Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, James Jones, Robert Meachem, and Mike Sims-Walker, visit www.footballrelativity.com. Tight ends Brandon Pettigrew, Lions – Pettigrew caught a touchdown in the first quarter against Seattle and finished with a supersolid seven-catch, 70-yard game. He’s moving into the top 16 to 20 tight ends, which is putting him in starting range in large leagues. There still may be better options on your league’s waiver wire, but owners no longer need to be afraid of Pettigrew’s rookie status. He can contribute to your team. Verdict: Applaud For additional analysis of fantasy tight end Greg Olsen, visit www.footballrelativity.com.
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By Fred Schawger. fire thompsonIn Week Nine of the NFL season, we saw the Colts answer a big test (at what cost?) and the inclination to refuse the Bengals' legitimacy. We can now safely say that Ted Thompson really needs to go. Can San Diego make a run at Denver still?  Finally, the NFC East becomes intriguing by the minute. Yes, the Colts are 8-0 as they answered a big test, which just about secures the division at this point. But why is Peyton Manning throwing the ball 40 times in one half? Manning, 26-of-40 for 242 yards in the first two quarters, is throwing too much. Granted, he finished the game with just 10 more (50), but Manning is 33-years-old. His career mark for pass attempts is 591, which he set back in 2002. This year, he is on pace to attempt 626 passes. That’s a high number of passes for an entire game, let alone the first half. The Colts have got to find a running game somehow, and they have got to find it quickly... Full article >>>
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Fantasy football’s week 9 start/sit

by fantasy-dr-x on November 5, 2009

By Chad Samuels. Those that follow the NFL draft realized that this year would be the year of the rookie Wide Receivers. In fact, several rookies have already made themselves known this season such as Percy Harvin, Jeremy Maclin and Johnny Knox.

Start of the Week

One player that received the hype, but not the production, is 49ers WR Michael Crabtree. This is mostly due to a lengthy holdout that kept him away from the team for the first five weeks of the season. Since then Crabtree has worked out with the team, has been named the starter and has been learning more packages to play in weekly. Two weeks ago, Crabtree had five receptions for 56 yards, and last week he had six receptions for 81 yards. Even in seasonal leagues, Crabtree has fantasy value and this week he is going to deliver it. Crabtree is the best wide receiver on the 49ers team who will play the Tennessee Titans at home. Whether you look at the last three weeks, five weeks or entire season, the Titans have been the worst team in allowing fantasy points to wide receivers. Crabtree is very likely to put up 100 yards receiving and a touchdown. Start him this week. If he is still a free agent in your fantasy league, then snatch him up.... Full article >>>
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Fantasy Football’s Week 9 waiver wire pickups

by fantasy-dr-x on November 3, 2009

By John Arias.

Week 8 featured outstanding waiver wire pickups including WR Michael Crabtree ( six receptions for 86 yards) and WR Hakeem Nicks ( four receptions for 53 yards ), with Week 9 approaching, here are the next future stars.

Quarterbacks:

Vince Young - Titans: Did you know that he has a record of 19-11 as a starting quarterback? Well, on Sunday he proved he still has game. He threw for 125 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 30 yards on 12 carries.

The Tennessee Titans will travel to San Francisco who has the 26th worst pass defense and it was learned today that starting cornerback Nate Clements will be out up to six weeks. The 49ers have surrendered nine touchdowns through the air, so look for Young to capitalize on Sunday...

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Each week, we dive into the stat sheets to see which weekly performers fantasy owners should applaud and which fantasy owners should write off as frauds. You can read our full applaud or a fraud listing for this week at www.footballrelativity.com. In this post, we'll focus on high picks from this season's fantasy drafts.

Running Backs

Matt Forte, Bears – Forte has been the most disappointing fantasy first-round pick this season, but he came back with a big game against the Browns this week. But don’t let that performance of two touchdowns and 121 yards from scrimmage serve as a panacea. Forte’s two best games of the season have happened against the Browns and Lions, which is not a good sign against real-live NFL teams. Forte is not worth dropping (as one person in a small league I play in did), but be careful about starting him on a weekly basis. And because he’s not a shoo-in starter, we have to give him a thumbs-down right now. Verdict: A fraud

Jonathan Stewart, Panthers - Stewart has had a good season from a yards-per-carry basis this year, but he has rarely found the end zone. That changed at Arizona this week as he had two touchdowns along with his 87 yards on 17 carries. While you can’t count on Stewart scoring twice every week, Sunday’s line is a reminder that Stewart is still a pretty good flex option most weeks. Verdict: Applaud

You can read more about running backs Jamal Lewis, Leonard Weaver, and Ryan Moats at www.footballrelativity.com.

Wide Receivers

Greg Jennings, Packers – Jennings has been a big-time fantasy disappointment this year, but he did bounce back against his former teammate Brett Favre’s Vikings Sunday with eight catches for 88 yards and a touchdown. Jennings isn’t the top-8 fantasy wideout that he was drafted to be, but he is a top 20 wideout still, and that makes him a weekly starter. For that, we’ll clap. Verdict: Applaud

Terrell Owens, Bills - Owens scored just his second touchdown of the season Sunday on a 29-yard run. That’s a boon to anyone who is still starting Owens, but the bottom line is that no one should still be putting T.O. in their lineup on a weekly basis. If this blip on the scoring radar helps you get a little more in a deal for Owens, do it, because he’s not a starter moving forward. Verdict: A fraud

You can read more about wide receivers Percy Harvin, Keenan Burton, and Mike Thomas at www.footballrelativity.com

Tight Ends

Dustin Keller, Jets – Keller has had a bit of a disappointing season, but he broke out against the Dolphins with eight catches for 76 yards and a touchdown this Sunday. Keller is on bye this weekend, and he’s still going to be up and down, but this game gives hope that he has some more fantasy production left in his season. Verdict: Applaud

You can read more about tight ends Spencer Havner and Kevin Boss at www.footballrelativity.com

You can read more about quarterbacks Marc Bulger, Matthew Stafford, and Vince Young at www.footballrelativity.com.

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The Week 8 weekend.

by squingy on November 2, 2009

Broncos vs. Ravens

The Denver Broncos exceeded expectations this year by starting the season 6-0 coming into the game against the Baltimore Ravens. They began by beating the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, and the Oakland Raiders, though everyone was skeptical at the time because these three teams are consistently at the bottom of the league. But then Denver continued the streak against the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, and San Diego Chargers. At that point, and especially after the win over New England, it became evident that Denver wasn't a fluke.

But how did they fare against the always great Baltimore defense? Not well. Baltimore put up 13 unanswered points over the first three quarters and then another 17 after the Broncos scored their only touchdown of the game close to halfway through the third. Kyle Orton had a solid game, passing for 152 yards on 23-37 passing and didn't turn it over, but the problem was the receivers' inability to get yards after the catch; the longest completion was 23 yards by Daniel Graham. Knowshon Moreno ran for a touchdown, but only had 39 yards rushing. In all, the Ravens defense gave up only 200 yards. On offense, Joe Flacco passed for 175 yards and a touchdown while Ray Rice rushed for 84 yards and another score in the 30-7 win.

The Big Game- Vikings vs. Packers 2

As was the case with their Week 4 game, a 30-23 win for Minnesota, the Vikings-Packers game was the main attraction of the weekend. This was Brett Favre's first visit to Lambeau Field, his home for 16 years. This was such a big deal that Fox had a "Brett Favre Cam" online. No, it wasn't as exciting as it sounds.

This game was very similar to the Week 4 prequel. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was again harassed by the Vikings defensive line-Jared Allen, Pat and Kevin Williams, and Ray Edwards-and was sacked 6 more times, which was frustrating to watch. All the sacks aren't his fault, but Rodgers tends to hold onto the ball too long even when his offensive line does give him time. After a slow start, he passed for 3 touchdowns (287 yards total) in the second half to make the game interesting, but it ultimately wasn't enough to overcome Minnesota's defense, Adrian Peterson's touchdown on 97 yards rushing, and Brett Favre's 4 touchdowns and 244 yards. The Vikings demonstrated once again that they are a complete team when it comes to passing, rushing, and defense, and came away with a big 38-26 win on the road.

Dolphins vs. Jets 2

This weekend featured another grudge match from an earlier game. In Week 5, the Miami Dolphins beat the New York Jets 31-27 after a lot of chatter between players and coaches alike in the off-season, the topic of which ranged from Rex Ryan's confident talk to Miami's Wildcat offense. In fact, the two teams continued to snipe at one another an entire week after their first game.

New York lost again, but the game played out a lot differently. This time, the defense was able to contain the rushing attack of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, allowing only 54 yards combined from the duo. QB Chad Henne had a touchdown pass, but threw for only 112 yards. For the Jets, Mark Sanchez shook off the effects from a couple of bad weeks and passed for 265 yards and 2 touchdowns (one to Dustin Keller and another to Braylon Edwards) and got help from Thomas Jones, who ran for 102 yards. So how did they lose? They got beat on special teams. Ted Ginn Jr. had 299 yards in kick returns and 2 touchdowns. If it wasn't for that pair of scores, New York wins this game. It also didn't Jason Taylor had a fumble recovery for a touchdown on defense in the 30-25 win.

Titans vs. Jaguars

This game was talked about a lot because it was Vince Young's first start of the season, taking over for Kerry Collins. To this point, the Titans were 0-6 and an embarrassment on every level. Yesterday they looked a lot more like the Titans we're used to.

Vince Young passed for 125 yards and a touchdown and NO INTERCEPTIONS. This was the first game of the season where the Titans didn't throw at least 1 interception. Chris Johnson continued his strong season with 228 rushing yards and 2 more touchdowns. The defense also intercepted David Garrard twice, but did allow Maurice Jones-Drew to run for 177 yards and 2 scores.

The other games
  • Colts 18, 49ers 14
  • Panthers 34, Cardinals 21
  • Chargers 24, Raiders 16
  • Eagles 40, Giants 17
  • Rams 17, Lions 10
  • Cowboys 38, Seahawks 17
  • Bears 30, Browns 6
  • Houston 31, Buffalo 10
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Can the Broncos push to 7-0?

by Nathan on October 31, 2009

The Denver Broncos, for the third straight week, will be facing off against a tough AFC opponent that will be pushing for a playoff spot at the end of the season. In their last two contests, the Broncos have shut down both the Patriots (scoreless) and the Chargers (field goal) in the second half. To add to that, in all but the opening game, they have not allowed opposing teams a third-down conversion in the second half. The reason for this success is that the Broncos gameplan changes from week-to-week, based on the opponent. Head coach Josh McDaniels brings his team in every Wednesday to go over film and form a gameplan based on his opponents' tendencies. If the opponent still manages to put up points, McDaniels has been a master, so far this season, at noticing what opponents are doing to score points and, in response, makes every adjustment needed to make sure it doesn't happen again in the second half. Through six games, the Broncos have only given up an astonishing 10 points total in the second half, so unless Baltimore rips them up in the first two quarters, which is unlikely, they're going to be in trouble. On offense, Denver just needs Kyle Orton to keep managing the game and throwing those short, safe passes to keep Ed Reed out of the picture. The man already has over 1400 yards passing this season and only one meaningless interception (I mean, c'mon, it was Randy Moss for goodness sake). While Baltimore has a surprisingly strong offensive unit, the Broncos have already proven they can shut down some of the best (Patriots, ranked No. 1 in offensive yards, No. 3 in points scored; Dallas, No. 6 in yardage; Cincinatti, No. 8 in yardage). Joe Flacco won't like seeing a healthy dose of Elvis Dumervil (10 sacks already on the season) or Vonnie Holliday in his face all day, nor will he like Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins in the secondary. D.J. Williams should continue to be effective against the run. Each of Baltimore's last two losses came within the final minute of play and while there are those who say the Ravens will come out with more fire in their eyes, the Broncos will at the very least, equal that intensity because they've had their fair share of problems against the Ravens in recent years. Josh McDaniels should join Jim Caldwell (rookie head coach of the Colts) as the only rookie head coaches in NFL history to start their first season 7-0.
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