First of all – congratulations go to Tim Tebow, the most loved and hated player in the NFL. It’s hard to knock a QB who is winning and Tebow and the Broncos are 3-2 in games which he has started this year. More power to him, he seems like a nice guy, I wish him well. It’s hard to imagine you can be successful only having two completions in a game but they beat the Chiefs with just that. I look for Tebow to struggle against the Jets in week 11 though.
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Apparently, John Skelton may be better than Kevin Kolb. Skelton registered a 21-40, 315 yds 3 TDs, 2 INTs line on Sunday. It’s hard to imagine being non-relevant when your primary receiver is Larry Fitzgerald but that’s what QB Kolb has been. Perhaps a better QB is what the Cardinals have needed all along, of course there’s question of how good Skelton is vs. Kolb. Skelton should be considered a low end QB2 now simply because of the talent around him, it’s not for certain he will even have a job when Kolb is healthy though. Rookie Andy Dalton had his hands full with the Steelers D on Sunday, only registiner 15-30 with 2 TDs and 2 INTs, one INT was not his fault(batted ball by receiver). The Bengals’ prior week 10 record of 6-2 was deceptive because of a week schedule. They still will have 3 more tough divisional games between the Ravens and the Steelers. Dalton has some tough games ahead but has a couple soft opponents ahead, he should really only be considered an mid/upper range QB2 the rest of the way. Star rookie WR A.J. Green hyperextended his knee on a TD pass on Sunday but says he should be ready for week 11’s game. Mark Ingram was back in the lineup and registed a miserable 8-11-0 mark on the ground. Chris Ivory missed the game after being listed as questionable, Ivory looks like a good sleeper in this Saints backfield going forward but don’t get hopes up too high as they like to heavily split carries between their backs. Arian Foster and the Texans annihilated the Bucs on Sunday, 37-9. Foster and backup Ben Tate are on pace to become the 7th backfield duo to both get 1000 rushing yards in a season. Foster has already pretty much cemented his place as the #1 fantasy RB for now. What’s almost unfair is that the Texans have an extremely good schedule during normal fantasy football playoff(15+16) weeks when they play the Panthers and Colts. Good luck if you play a team with Foster in the playoffs! Houston Texans star WR Andre Johnson continues to miss games, his fantasy relevance continues to wane with each passing game. Still, he is considered a top-5 fantasy WR when he plays. He makes for an interesting gamble if you can get him for cheap from an owner. Antonio Brown continued his string of good performances with a little more modest line of 5-86-0 on Sunday. This was against a good Bengals defense though. Brown is another good player to have for the fantasy playoffs as the Steelers play the Rams(and their bad pass defense) in week 16. Chris Johnson did what he was supposed to do against the Panthers on Sunday, registering 27-130-1 with 4-44-0 in receiving. Johnson was on pace for one of the biggest fantasy bust seasons up until a couple weeks ago. Still, it’s hard to buy in to his recent success automatically means CJ2K is back. He gets a much tougher Falcons defense in week 11, he should project as a mid- to low-end RB2 against tougher teams until he can prove himself. Week 10’s performance certainly was promising though.
Cam Newton and the Panthers got destroyed 30-3 by the Titans. Newton had a terrible day by QB1 standards registering a 23-40-212-0-1 line with 7-55-0 on the ground. Newton will have his ups and downs but remains a QB1 going forward. Michael Vick and the “Dream Team” got another reality check when they lost to the Cardinals on Sunday, they are now 3-6. To the Eagles’ defense they were without Jackson(disciplined for 1 game) and Maclin(out for most of the game with a shoulder then hamstring injury). Maclin may miss some games and with DeSean Jackson going AWOL that means Jason Avant should be seeing significant targets in his future. Avant’s value is tough to evaluate right now but he should be owned in most leagues at this point. Tim Tebow had another 2 TD(1 pass and 1 run) performance but his lack of passing numbers may hurt owners significantly in some leagues. Right now there is just no way you can start anyone in the Broncos’ receiving corps until Tebow’s role in the passing game increases. Tebow has a brutal matchup in week 11 against the Jets so it may be matchup time for some fantasy managers at QB. Lance Ball got 30 carries on Sunday because both McGahee and Moreno were both out with injuries, this situation should be monitored throughout the week but it appears the Broncos’ running game will be ramped up with Tebow at the helm. Jackie Battle only registered 9 carries but made the most of his overall carries with 61 yards. It appears the Chiefs are going to ride the hot hand here and Battle was cold at the beginning of the game. Battle gets the Steelers next week. With the way Battle is trending he should be thought of as a low-end RB2/Flex at this point. QB Matt Cassel left the game with an injury, his status for week 11 is uncertain but he says he will play. It was mostly a wash for Chiefs receivers on Sunday.
Dallas destroyed Buffalo on Sunday 44-7 making Bills players’ fantasy owners wonder what’s going on. Ryan Fitzpatrick has just not been the QB he was earlier in the year, throwing 3 INTs on Sunday. He is a very tough player to field on a fantasy team right now unless you have bad other options. Fitz gets a surging Miami team in week 11, he should rank as a 14-20 rank QB for the time being. Laurent Robinson exploded for a 3-73-2 line, replacing Miles Austin and his role on Sunday. He should be good again as the Cowboys draw the Redskins in week 11. DeMarco Murray continues to impress as he has become one of the biggest fantasy football surprises thus far in 2011. The Rams and Browns played in a 13-12 snooze-fest in a game between 2 teams going nowhere. Both teams have some decent possibility to improve but they both have a long ways to go. Chris Ogbonnaya put up a good day with a 19-90-0 line on the day. One has to wonder what Peyton Hillis‘ role, if any, will be going forward. Hillis appears to be on his way out, we will see. Greg Little continues to stay fantasy relevant with a 6-84-0 line, it will be important to see him put up good consistent lines like that against good teams though. Little has a real test with the Bengals next week. If he were to be successful against them then we can think of Little as a reliable starting WR in most leagues with upside. Reggie Bush is quickly making his way up the fantasy rankings. The most important part of his week 10 performance is he got the goal-line carries, scoring 2 TDs, this is huge for Bush. A change of scenery has done him good. He is a solid RB2 right now and quickly making the case to be an RB1. The one thing that people should be aware of is Bush’s career of battling injuries, he comes with more risk than the average player because of it. Just when you think Mike Shanahan is settling in on a RB he pulls his shenanigans again. Shanahan pulled Roy Helu in favor of Ryan Torain. Good luck if you have either one of these players. Knowing Shanahan he could flip flop every game between his starting RB. Marshawn Lynch had a good game against a very good run defense in the Ravens. Now he did only average 3.4 YPC but he made up for that by getting over 100 rushing yards, a TD and going 5-58 in the receiving game. Lynch is inching his way up the fantasy RB rankings and should be considered a top-20 RB now. LaGarrette Blount is a RB I liked before the season started but it has become clear that the Bucs’ team in general have taken a step backwards. This problem hits Blount even harder because of the fact he almost never plays in the passing game, he has only 7 catches for the year. With the Bucs playing a lot more catchup than people thought this really puts a damper on Blount’s value. Blount should be considered a RB2 at this point, ranking in the 18-27 area for the time being based on matchups. One of the biggest things to take out of the Seahawks upset over Ravens game is that Joe Flacco and the Ravens are throwing the ball a lot and by a lot I mean A LOT! Flacco threw for a career game high of 52 attempts against the Seahawks. In the last three weeks Flacco has thrown for 51, 47 and 52 attempts. The sheer volume is something that fantasy owners like seeing he does only have 2 passing TDs in that span though. Torrey Smith should be the key to whether or not the Ravens passing game succeeds, he was only 3-28-0 on Sunday. The Ravens get a tough matchup against the Bengals in week 11, Flacco should be able to register a QB2 day but a QB1 day would definitely be pushing it. Kendall Hunter may be seeing a substantial increase in workload with Frank Gore continuing to have hampering injury problems. He is in a great offense to be a RB and therefore makes a great speculative pickup if nothing else. He is almost a must have handcuff if you are a Frank Gore owner. The Bears annihilated the Lions in week 10 with a score of 37-13. Matt Stafford broke his finger and threw 4 INTs, there should definitely be some concern if you are a Stafford owner. Maurice Morris continues to be the guy to own in Jahvid Best‘s absence, going 10-44-0 on Sunday. Morris’ fantasy value is as a RB3/flex if he continues to only get around 10 carries a game though. Tom Brady got the best of the Jets’ defense in week 10, this time. Wes Welker had a modest day as Darrelle Revis held him in check. The Patriots get a weak Chiefs team next week. Brady, Welker and the rest of the Patriots should have good days. Chad Ochocinco could be a sleeper candidate in the second half of the season if you are looking for WR help, he’s only owned in 25% of leagues. Ochocinco has been slow to pickup the offense but as the season goes on he should be able to produce more and more.
Monday Night – Minnesota @ Green Bay
Christian Ponder is the most interesting player to watch in this game. He projects well in this game and should give us a good idea of what to expect from him the rest of the way. Percy Harvin has been battling injuries and has really dropped off fantasy radars as a result. It’s hard to really say how healthy Harvin is at this point but if he is then he should benefit the most with Ponder at QB. Adrian Peterson’s value should also increase with Ponder in the lineup as teams will have to respect the pass more. Jordy Nelson continues to produce even if he can be streaky at times. Greg Jennings is still clearly the #1 guy in Green Bay but Nelson is firmly the #2 WR in Green Bay right now after some debate. Jermichael Finley hasn’t lived up to his #1 fantasy TE billing this year but has had some tough competition, he’s still clearly a top 5 option. Enjoy the game!
Quick fantasy football pickups for this week –> 1 Denarius Moore 2 Laurent Robinson 3 Kendall Hunter 4 Carson Palmer 5 Lance Ball
Good luck this week fantasy leaguers!