Week 8 has come and gone in the NFL, and things finally seemed to go according to plan. The teams that were supposed to win won, and there were no upsets to speak of. There were no injuries to any of the superstars with the exception of a broken rib or two in Dallas. One undefeated and two winless remain. Will we have a season where a team goes 16-0 while another goes 0-16? I doubt it, but the prospect of such a thing to the NFL would be both GOOD and BAD.

GOOD

The NFL got what it had been hoping for when the Chargers and Saints played in Great Britain this past week, points, a total of 69 to be exact. The game was back and forth, as both quarterbacks racked up big games with the Saints eventually prevailing. It was interesting that the NFL didn’t choose the Patriots for this game, given the team’s name origins and ties to the British.

BAD

The Steelers suffered a major meltdown against the Giants this past weekend. You kind of got the sense that things were out of place when the NFL sent officials to Pittsburgh for meetings on league policy regarding several player fines that have been recently levied. Then Santonio Holmes gets suspended for su####ion of marijuana related activities deemed illegal by the long arm of the law. Willie Parker and Bryant McFadden are out for the game. Parker, not a big issue, Moore has played great in place. McFadden was a concern, as he has played the best of Pittsburgh’s secondary lately.

The Steelers defense was phenomenal, all game, holding the Giants to four field goals through most of the game while also orchestrating a goal-line stand that resulted in no points. The offense looked good early, then poor the rest of the game. They hit a long bomb to Washington to extend their lead. The Giants struggled, the Steelers had great field position. A personal foul penalty, an illegal procedure, and a terribly bad holding call left Pittsburgh punting instead of getting any points on the drive. The holding call was extremely convenient as it negated another long touchdown that would have pretty much sealed the game and the win for the Steelers. I understand that holding will be and can be called on every play. But for how many times I see James Harrison getting held without a penalty getting called, it pissed me off to no end that they threw a flag for a linemen grabbing for a second, releasing, then falling on the player as he went down. Again, I’ll pose this question. When a defensive player has moved past or around the offensive player and that offensive player does not release him, in essence, holding him back from continuing on his course, is that not holding?

Fantasy Note

I got a big win this past week over arguably the hottest and highest scoring team in the league right now. The game didn’t finish in shootout fashion as was predicted by the site. I got monster games from Drew Brees(34pts) and Brian Westbrook(35pts) on my way to racking up 124pts, third highest of the week. I was fortunate that this happened to be one of his lowest scoring games of the year. I hope to have the same luck this week as I play The Blue Devils, winners of three in a row while averaging nearly 100pts during that streak. I failed to gain any more ground this week in my division as one of the two teams also won their game, leaving them two and half back with five to play. I’m trying to trade for either Dallas Clark, Brandon Marshall, or both this week. The problem is that none of the teams are really out of it yet, therefore nobody's selling yet.

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Week 4 of the NFL is in the books and there were some great games that included a lot of great upsets.  There are three less undefeated teams this week as the Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, and Dallas Cowboys all lost. In the same light, some teams finally picked up their first win of the season.  The real set of first BYE weeks has passed and other teams BYE weeks are approaching, and are very much needed.  Some big injuries to a lot of high profile players also highlighted this past week’s games.  Winning will always be GOOD to fans and players.  While losing isn’t very much fun, the injuries sustained this week to players are most definitely BAD.

GOOD

The Steelers came out on Monday Night holding most all of the records for Monday Night wins and home records, and a whole bunch of other things that really aren’t that important.  The Ravens got the ball, and after a serious injury on the opening kickoff, went three and out. The Steelers got the ball, marched nicely down the field, stalled, and converted a 49yrd field goal.  Then things went south after Ben Roethlisberger tried to pull a pump fake down and the ball slipped from his hands, and traveled right into the hands of a defender. From that point, things seemed bleak as the Ravens rattled off 13 straight points and the Steeler offense struggled mightily.  Then things all changed on a late hit out of bounds by a Raven. The Steelers scored two TD’s in a matter of 15 seconds and the game was a game all of a sudden.

I’m very disappointed in the Steeler play calling during the first three quarters, as they made no adjustments for the second week in a row and went three and out six straight drives at one point.  It took Ben Roethlisberger getting in the face of the offensive coordinator and demanding they go no huddle to change things up.  Why does the player have to come up with this idea?

NOTE:  On the opening kickoff, Andre Frazier, a Steeler backup linebacker and key special teams contributor, was injured by a blindside hit from a Ravens player.  Usually I’m for the big hits in games as long as they happen within the game. The problem I have with this hit is, when you watch the replay, the Ravens player ran backwards and towards Frazier the whole play, never taking his eye from him, and lined up a dirty hit that knocked Frazier out and out of the game on a stretcher.  I hope the league looks at this play, because a fine and suspension should definitely be in order.

BAD

I don’t think losing a game here and there is all that bad for players.  You must face these situations throughout a season to build better character and to prepare yourself for adversity so you can handle the situation better the next time it happens.  Crying and complaining about how things went down in your first loss of the season is not the way to do things.  Be a team player, take responsibility, and own up to the fact that you didn’t play your best and you lost.  It’s nearly impossible to go undefeated in this league, so wouldn’t you want to lose early in the season and get it out of the way rather than lose, let’s say, in January?  It’s inevitable, deal with it and move on.

Fantasy Note

A big win for Zombie Nation this week in fantasy: Desperation. I was a 49pt underdog according to ESPN’s projections (ha!), but managed to put up 107pts to beat my divisional rival and improve to 3-1 (2nd Overall). In my three wins this season, I’ve scored over 100pts in each game.  In my one loss, I couldn’t crack the 70pt mark.  It’s nice to see my team perform without Calvin Johnson (BYE) and Brian Westbrook (INJ). This week I play the Top team in the league.

Week 4 - Start / Sit

BYE WEEK:  Patriots, Colts, Dolphins, NY Giants, Lions, Seahawks

QB – Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tony Romo, Ben Roethlisberger, Donovan McNabb, Jay Cutler

INJURY WATCH: Ben Roethlisberger(PIT), Donovan McNabb(PHI), Matt Hasselbeck(SEA), Brett Favre(GB), Damon Huard(KC)

Start

J.T. O’Sullivan(SF) – If you followed my advice from last week, you were rewarded by O’Sullivan to a quality start of 16-23, 189yrds, 2 TD’s, and 0 Turnovers. With a shootout brewing in New Orleans this week, I expect very similar numbers. The defense will concentrate on slowing Gore, leaving a lot of single coverage on the outside. San Francisco has the receivers to take advantage of those situations.  250yrds, 2 TD’s

Trent Edwards(BUF) – Edwards and the Buffalo offense are hot right now, and there’s no reason to see that trend not continuing this week in St. Louis. The Rams are the most dysfunctional team in the league outside of Kansas City and Edwards will be able to take advantage downfield as the defense attempts to contain Marshawn ####. Though Roscoe Parrish will not play this week, Buffalo has the receivers to make the big plays.  225yrds, 2 TD’s

Sit

Marc Bulger/Trent Green(STL) – St. Louis has announced they are going with Trent Green this week. Bulger may quickly become a fantasy afterthought if Green comes out and performs. The Rams can’t do any worse at this point and it’s possible Green can spark something in this offense, relegating Bulger to the bench until Green gets hurt, which seems inevitable at this point in his career.

Aaron Rodgers(GB) – May be a reach here, but I think Rodgers and the Green Bay offense will struggle at Tampa Bay. It’s hard to sit Rodgers this week with so many high profile QB’s on BYE, but if you have two capable QB’s, I think Rodgers should be benched. Though he has the receivers to make the plays, I expect him to be under pressure all day and scrambling around in the backfield. If he continues to run as much as he has through the first three weeks, he won’t last much longer this season.  250yrds, 1 TD, 2 INT’s, 1 FUM

RB – LaDanian Tomlinson, Adrian Peterson, Brian Westbrook, Steven Jackson, Marshawn ####, Larry Johnson, Clinton Portis, Frank Gore, Marion Barber, Willie Parker, Reggie Bush, Michael Turner

INJURY WATCH:  Adrian Peterson(MIN), Brian Westbrook(PHI), Steven Jackson(STL), Willie Parker(PIT), Willis Mcgahee(BAL), Darren McFadden(OAK), Justin Fargas(OAK), Ahman Green(HOU), Deuce McAllister(NO), Laurence Maroney(NEP), Lamont Jordan(NEP), Maurice Morris(SEA)

Start

Jonathan Stewart(CAR) – I can’t see why Stewart won’t receive the bulk of the carries this week against Atlanta. It’s obvious he’s a much better back than Williams, and there has to be something with his blocking that is keeping him from being an every down back. I expect Carolina to continue to be a run first team and pick their spots to go downfield. That means a lot of touches for Stewart and a lot of opportunity to score.  100yrds, 2 TD’s

Jamal Lewis(CLE) – This is the week that Lewis finally gets it going. The Browns are desperate for a win and they can’t afford to fall to last place in the AFC North. They know that if they lose this game, they’re all but eliminated from playoff contention. With Anderson struggling, I expect to see a lot of Lewis to alleviate the pressure on the offense.  100yrds, 2 TD’s

Sit

Philadelphia RB’s – Brian Westbrook might play this week, but I highly doubt it. Even if he does play, given his condition, it will be a time-split and that spells trouble, especially against the Chicago defense. This could end up like last week’s game against Pittsburgh; very low scoring, with defenses dominating.  30-40yrds each, 3 for 15-20yrds each, 0.33 TD each

Edgerrin James(ARI) – I think it’s only a matter of time before James rides the pine or comes off the bench in a relief role. He just doesn’t have it anymore, and the other RB in Arizona seems to be taking more and more away from him with each passing week. Speaking of passing, there’s also going to be a lot of that from Arizona this week. Couple that with the fact that James doesn’t get the goal-line carries and that equals a Fantasy Benching.  50-60yrds, 2 for 15yrds

WR – Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Brandon Marshall, Calvin Johnson, Plaxico Burress, Greg Jennings, Anquan Boldin (removed: Randy Moss, Braylon Edwards)

INJURY WATCH: Chad Johnson(CIN), Marques Colston(NO), Javon Walker(OAK), Reggie Brown(PHI), Kevin Curtis(PHI), Jerry Porter(JAC), Joey Galloway(TBB), Sidney Rice(MIN), Bernard Berrian(MIN), Deion Branch(SEA), Bobby Engram(SEA), Donte Stallworth(CLE), Devin Hester(CHI), Roscoe Parrish(BUF), David Patten(NO)

Start

Dwayne Bowe(KC) – You wouldn’t know it by his numbers, but Bowe actually leads the league in targets so far this season. Damon Huard is expected to start this week, and that gives Bowe the best chance to succeed in this offense. The Chiefs will have to abandon the run early in this one to keep pace with Denver and that means lots of opportunity for Bowe. This is his week to shine.  7 for 125yrds, 1 TD

Hines Ward/Santonio Holmes(PIT) – The Steelers were embarrassed last week at Philly, surrendering nine sacks and managing zero touchdowns. I don’t see that happening again this week. This is a Monday Night game at home where there’s nobody better than the Steelers. Think back to last year’s first meeting between these teams. Everyone’s going to overrate Baltimore based on their record against two very bad teams. A rookie RB starting will lead to many passing opportunities.  6 for 80-90yrds each, 1 TD each

Sit

Braylon Edwards(CLE) – Again, very difficult to sit such an explosive receiver, but Edwards is at the bottom of the barrel right now in Fantasy points through the first three weeks. Cincinnati did an excellent job of shutting down Plaxico Burress last week and I expect them to do the same to Edwards this week. Until you see something from Anderson, like a good game or him on the bench, I’d wait on Edwards unless the BYE week has made you desperate.  4 for 30-40yrds

TE – Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, Tony Gonzalez, Kellen Winslow, Chris Cooley

INJURY WATCH: Jeremy Shockey(NO), L.J. Smith(PHI), Ben Watson(NEP)

Start

Billy Miller(NO) – With Shockey, Colston, and potentially Patten on the sidelines for a while, Miller becomes a strong option this week with six teams on their BYE. This would be a great opportunity for a Shockey, Dallas Clark, or Anthony Fasano owner to make up those lost points. San Francisco has been generous in its defense this season and Brees is going to be slinging the ball all over the place.  6 for 40-50yrds, 1 TD

K – Nick Folk, Mason Crosby, Stephen Gostkowski, Adam Vinatieri, Rob Bironas, Nate Kaeding, Robbie Gould

Start

Phil Dawson(CLE) – I think the Browns get back on track this week because they need to. That still doesn’t mean they’re going to score a lot of touchdowns, but I do think they’ll score a lot of points. Cincinnati did a good job of slowing down the Giants last week, stalling many drives in field goal range.  3 FG’s, 2 XP’s

DEF – Vikings, Bears, Ravens, Cowboys, Steelers, Titans, Eagles (removed: Patriots)

INJURY WATCH: Indianapolis(Bob Sanders-SS), Pittsburgh(Casey Hampton-NT), Green Bay(Al Harris-CB), Washington(Jason Taylor-DE), Buffalo(Roscoe Parrish-PR), Arizona(Bertrand Berry-DE)

Start

Carolina Panthers – Though the Panthers are a little ####ed up, I expect their game-plan this week will be to control the ball and keep Michael Turner off the field. Their secondary will limit Roddy White and pressure Matt Ryan into making rookie mistakes. By shortening the game and scoring, they should force Atlanta into throwing late and taking advantage of the situation. This figures to be one of the lower scoring games this week and if you’re in a pinch for a defense, Carolina could pay good dividends.  <300 YA, <17 PA, 4 sacks, 2 INT’s, 1 FUM

Week 3 of the NFL is in the books, and it will be a forgettable one for a lot of teams, I’m sure.  There are still six undefeated teams to go along with the six winless teams.  Things are starting to shake out like many thought they would with some glaring exceptions in the AFC South and East.  Things in that conference are pretty much up in the air right now, with some very unexpected front runners heading up their respective divisions.  And in the era of the salary cap and the infamous parity that exists; the NFL surely considers all of this good and bad.

GOOD

The New England Patriots lost, excuse me, got pounded at home by the hapless Miami Dolphins.  Note to the league, the Patriots are a shell of their former selves without Tom Brady at QB.  It also didn’t help that Maroney and Jordan both missed this game with some kind of injury.  Why this is in the good column, because everyone outside of Boston and its surrounding areas was cheering when they saw what was happening in Foxboro.  People love to hate Bill Belichick and the Pats, and this season is shaping up to be one big love-fest.

The Browns and Bengals both lost their games this past week, leaving them scraping at the bottom of the AFC North and winless at 0-3. This is shaping up to be a one and a half pony race for this division. Oh yeah, they play each other this week, so someone's gonna be 0-4, ouch.

BAD

The Steelers lost their first game of the season this past Sunday in ugly fashion, getting outscored and out-coached by the Philly Eagles. It’s no new news that Pittsburgh hasn’t won in Philly in quite some time. This was a very winnable game in my mind, but the Steeler coaching staff made no attempt to adjust to the all-out blitz Philly ran on EVERY play. There were no draws, no screens, and only the occasional quick hitter to a wide receiver that produced results.  The one deep ball that was thrown was intercepted, albeit early in the game, but there wasn’t another ball thrown deep again.  It was a hard fought game, and one that was totally winnable.  I’m not sure why Max Starks did not make an appearance at RT or another position.  In that situation, what’s the worst that could happen; he’d give up a sack?

Fantasy Note

I got crushed in my Fantasy Game this past week, against what I believe is the best team in our league.  I managed a measly one touchdown from my players, that coming from Drew Brees.  The yardage was okay, but when you only get 4 total points from Brian Westbrook, Earnest Graham, and Andre Johnson, you’re going to be in trouble.  Yes, Westbrook was injured in that game, but the production still needs to come from the other players and needs to be more than that.  My bench almost outscored my starters, scary.  So this was my worst game of the year, I expect to bounce back next week.  I’ll be without Calvin Johnson this week as the Lions go on their BYE, but I believe I will be able to find a suitable replacement for him. You can keep track of me this season at the below link.

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