The Texans go back on the road after getting physically whipped by the Ravens in Baltimore, and will once again go head-to-head with an extremely physical team in divisional rival Tennessee.  Matt Schaub has been missing Andre Johnson something fierce, as teams no longer have that one player they have to account for in the passing game on every play.  Now it’s looking like Johnson might be out longer than anticipated, perhaps even up to six total weeks.  Fantasy owners should have been preparing for that, no matter what the optimistic prognosis might have said; there was no way Johnson was going to realistically come back from hamstring surgery in two weeks.

In AJ’s stead, the Texans will rely more on Arian Foster, and this game will be no different.  Before their week 6 bye, the Titans were fairly effectively torn up by the Steelers’ ground attack led by Isaac Redman and Jonathan Dwyer.  If those two waiver wire pick-ups can cut through the Titans’ rush defense like warm butter, you can bet Foster will have at least as much success as long as Schaub can make enough throws to keep the Titans from loading the box every play.  Those throws will most likely go to Owen Daniels, as the middle of the field is where the Titans are most vulnerable.  On the outside, either Kevin Walter or Jacoby Jones will be covered up by Cortland Finnigan, and that’s bad juju for either player since neither is an elite enough talent to win that matchup.  That makes both players risky starts at best.

For the Titans, now’s the time the Chris Johnson breaks out the coffee, the greasy breakfast, and/or the bloody mary, because he needs to get over his holdout hangover pronto.  Johnson got his first 100 yard rushing game against the Browns in Week 4, and got his first touchdown of the season against the Steelers in Week 5.  Now, hopefully for an encore CJ2K will actually get a 100 yard rushing day AND a touchdown in Week 7.  That isn’t too much to ask for from a $53 million player, right?  In order to help Johnson out, Matt Hasselbeck will continue to work the play action pass and the timing throws.  The Texans aren’t particularly skilled in the secondary, so both Nate Washington and Damian Williams should have some success.  Williams is going for his third game in a row with a touchdown, and I think he has a good shot at it.

Good Start: RB Arian Foster, QB Matt Schaub, TE Owen Daniels, RB Chris Johnson, WR Nate Washington, QB Matt Hasselbeck.
Middle of the Road: WR Kevin Walter, TE Joel Dreessen, WR Damian Williams, TE Jared Cook.
Bad Start:  RB Ben Tate, WR Jacoby Jones
  Maybe Ben Roethlisberger should sprain his foot more often; in Week 5 against what was the #1 defense (Titans), Big Ben threw five touchdowns by wearing a special boot to protect his foot.  In Week 6, against a weaker foe (Jaguars), Roethlisberger shed the boot and went back to throwing around 200 yards and a single touchdown.  Yep… Big Ben should put the boot back on.  Of course, he doesn’t need a special boot, a rabbit’s foot, or any kind of magical talisman to be effective against the hapless Cardinals, who rank in the bottom third of the league in pass defense.  The Cardinals are susceptible to the big play, which Roethlisberger and Mike Wallace excel in.  Big Ben should have no trouble exploiting the Cardinals’ secondary and should find success on at least one or two deep plays.

To keep the Cards off balance, the Steelers will feed the rock to Rashard Mendenhall, who busted out in a big way last week, rolling up 146 yards and a touchdown against the Jaguars.  Before last week, Mendenhall managed no more than a meager 66 yards rushing in any one game; seeing that this is the Cardinals, his yardage total should more resemble last week than the previous four he played in.

Well, the Kevin Kolb era sure is off to a rocky start.  So far, the Cardinals haven’t gotten much return on their investment; the one saving grace is the Eagles haven’t either, and both are looking like they’ve come out losers in the early going.  I have to say… it’s pretty hard to come up with a trade in which both teams look like they got ripped off; in fact, I’m not sure how that’s even possible, but the Cardinals and Eagles have managed to find a way.  Even Larry Fitzgerald has been suffering for most of the season, being stuck around 5 catches and 60 yards in three out of the five games they’ve played.  For Mike Thomas owners that’s pretty decent; for Larry Fitzgerald owners, it’s a severe disappointment.

The one thing that has been working for the Cardinals is the rushing attack lead by Beanie Wells.  I had to check that sentence twice, because I’m pretty sure that no one has written those particular words in that order before this season.  Just like the setting sun, the rising tide, and Steve Young rambling like a punch-drunk boxer after Monday Night Football, you could count on Beanie Wells being a disappointment.  Those days seemingly have past (for Wells, not for Steve Young’s ramblings), as Wells has scored six touchdowns in four games and has rushed for at least 90 yards in three of four.  As long as Wells stays healthy, he looks like a lock to be in the top 10 of fantasy running backs.
 
Good Start:  QB Ben Roethlisberger, RB Rashard Mendenhall, WR Mike Wallace, RB Beanie Wells, WR Larry Fitzgerald
Middle of the Road:  WR Hines Ward, WR Antonio Brown
Bad Start:  WR Emmanuel Sanders, TE Heath Miller, QB Kevin Kolb, WR Early Doucet, whoever plays TE for the Cardinals.
  These two teams have been defined this season for what they’ve lost more than their play on the field.  For the Chiefs, the loss of star running back Jamaal Charles, star safety Eric Berry, and to a lesser extent young up and coming TE Tony Moeaki, started the Chiefs off reeling, and it took them until Week 4 and 5 to right the ship and record their first two wins of the season.

The Raiders started out with key injuries as well, as both Jacoby Ford and Louis Murphy are just now getting healthy, and of course in the last two weeks the Raiders monumental loss of owner Al Davis, followed by quarterback Jason Campbell’s season ending collarbone injury shell-shocked Raider Nation.  The Raiders brass answered the bell, pushing their chips to the middle and going all in with newly traded-for quarterback Carson Palmer.  Palmer was sitting around being disgruntled at home, pushing pins into his Mike Brown voodoo doll, until the Raiders came a-calling with enough draft picks that even Mike Brown had to pull the stick out and actually doing something good for the Bengals for once… shocking.

This should have been a marquee battle between Darren McFadden and Jamaal Charles, two of the premier young runners in the league; instead, because Charles’ knee folded like an origami crane in Week 2, the Chiefs will go to battle with… well… Battle.  Jackie Battle will most likely garner the lion’s share of carries after rumbling through the Colts in Week 5 to the tune of 119 yards.  While Rosie O’Donnell might be able to push a Benjamin on the Colts’ run defense, Battle did look fairly impressive in doing so; of course, when you’re being compared to Thomas Jones, you’re bound to look good.  Luckily for Battle, the Raiders’ aren’t too scary of a run defense, but they are better than the Colts, so this will be a better indicator of what fantasy owners who plucked him off the waiver wire can expect.

In order for the running game to be effective, Matt Cassel will have to continue his current masquerade as a competent quarterback.  In the last two games, both wins, Cassel is averaging over 250 yards and two touchdowns.  In comparison, the first three games of the season, all losses, Cassel was horrific averaging around 140 yards, one touchdown, and nearly two interceptions per game.  If Cassel can continue the good play, the Chiefs have a chance to steal one from the Raiders, who are going to be breaking in a quarterback that was at home eating Cheetos on his couch until a couple of days ago.

Ok, who’s the wise guy who actually replaced Darrius Heyward-Bey with an NFL caliber starting wide receiver?  DHB has actually looked more like a 7^th overall pick should look, not just with the blinding speed that he’s always had, but also displaying soft hands and the ability to run precise routes.  Palmer should love this guy if he can keep it up, because if Palmer squints a little bit, Heyward-Bey might resemble a young Chad Johnson, minus the big mouth.  Because of DHB’s sudden emergence, it’s looking like Jacoby Ford and Denarius Moore are being pushed to the back as afterthoughts in the offense; as it was, these two were pegged as sleepers by a lot of people because Heyward-Bey was… well… Heyward-Bey.

Good Start:  RB Jackie Battle, WR Dwayne Bowe, RB Darren McFadden, WR Darrius Heyward-Bey
Middle of the Road:  QB Matt Cassel, WR Steve Breaston, RB Michael Bush
Bad Start:  RB Thomas Jones, RB Dexter McCluster, WR Jacoby Ford, WR Denarius Moore, TE Kevin Boss, QB Carson Palmer
  Oh those poor, poor Rams.  They’ve already had to play a murder’s row of teams, playing the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Redskins, and Packers in their first five, all arguably at least playoff contenders.  Now they face another tough team on the road with an explosive offense and pressuring defense, the Dallas Cowboys.  Luckily for Sam Bradford and the Rams, Tony Romo and the Cowboys tend to play to their opponents’ level; which makes for some interesting TV, especially when Romo epically implodes like he did against the Lions the last time the ‘Boys were at home.

The fact the Cowboys just plain don’t know how to blow out a team they outclass in talent bodes well for Bradford and his motley crew of receivers, as he should be able to score enough points to keep the Rams close, if for no other reason than the Cowboys are bound to allow it to happen.  Bradford will also have a new toy to play with in Brandon Lloyd, who I wouldn’t expect too much from this week, but will likely be a big part of the offense sooner rather than later.  The Cowboys are fairly stout against the run, so Steven Jackson will probably find running lanes to be tighter than usual.  Luckily for Jackson owners, he does some damage in the passing game, so he still might post good total yardage.

Surprise surprise… Felix Jones is hurt again!  The guy just can’t stay healthy; and most of the time, it isn’t even his fault.  It’s not like he’s constantly pulling muscles, which would bespeak of bad conditioning; this time, he got his ankle rolled up on and suffered a high ankle sprain, the worst kind a player can have.  Hmmm… I get the feeling that Fragile Felix is the fantasy reincarnation of players like Tim Biakabatuka, Chris Brown, Robert Smith, etc.; all players that enticed with their physical abilities, but just couldn’t stay healthy.  Regardless, Demarco Murray stands to get most of the carries, followed by Tashard Choice.  It might not matter though, as the Cowboys seem incapable of actually running the ball.  Due to injuries, the Rams sport a random collection of paperboys, grocery clerks, and Wal-Mart greeters in their secondary, so Miles Austin, Dez Bryant, and Jason Witten should all find lots of success in this game, even if the running game fails yet again.

Good Start:  QB Tony Romo, WR Miles Austin, WR Dez Bryant, TE Jason Witten, RB Steven Jackson, WR Danario Alexander
Middle of the Road:  RB Demarco Murray, QB Sam Bradford, WR Brandon Lloyd, TE Lance Kendricks
Bad Start: RB Tashard Choice, WR Brandon Gibson, WR Greg Salas
  It’s almost unfair that a week after getting to set themselves on cruise control against a winless Rams team, the Packers get to play another struggling team who’s not much better at 1-5, and is breaking in a rookie quarterback in his first game to boot.  Clay Matthews and BJ Raji have to be salivating over this one, which makes for a pretty disgusting mental image.  Because this is a game on the road and against a divisional rival, the Vikings will probably play the Packers fairly tough, as they are very familiar with the Packers’ team capabilities.  In the end though, the Vikings simply don’t have the offensive weaponry to keep up with Aaron Rodgers, and don’t have the defense to hold him back much.  While this game probably won’t quite be NFL Blitz easy for the Packers, it will probably be at least Madden easy.

If the Vikings are smart, they will limit the amount of times Christian Ponder has to drop back, both for his mental health in the face of the Packers rush, as well as for the sake of using the running game to keep Rodgers off the field.  To this end, Adrian Peterson should get at least 25 carries in this one, and the Vikings would do well to use most of the play clock whenever they can.  Ponder does have the arm to make use of some deep plays, so look for him to try to get the ball down the field on the play action pass; if Ponder can make play action work for him, the Vikings will have a chance of at least making a game of it.

The Packers will continue their Harlem Globetrotter-esque offense, as Rodgers will have no problems distributing the ball to his embarrassment of riches at receiver.  This is really the problem with the Packers, as only Greg Jennings is a guarantee to get good numbers every week, while everyone else is mostly feast or famine.  Jordy Nelson has been the closest to consistent, if only because Rodgers takes at least one or two shots down the field at Nelson, and more often than not, Nelson comes up with the ball.  The player that has been most hurt by Rodgers diming it up like a point guard is Jermichael Finley, as he simply isn’t getting the targets to be a good fantasy play.

Another group hurt by the Packers’ propensity to pass is the running backs.  Both James Starks and Ryan Grant are physical backs that require carries to get into the groove of the game, and Mike McCarthy ruins it by putting in the other guy right as the first guy starts finding a rhythm.  It’s like taking a date back to your pad, putting that sock on the door, and just when you start getting warmed up, your idiot roommate forgets what the sock means and busts in.  Every time McCarthy pulls Starks out and puts Grant in, he’s just plain killing the mood.

Good Start:  QB Aaron Rodgers, WR Greg Jennings, WR Jordy Nelson, RB Adrian Peterson
Middle of the Road:  RB James Starks, WR James Jones, TE Jermichael Finley, WR Percy Harvin
Bad Start:  RB Ryan Grant, WR Donald Driver, QB Christian Ponder, WR Michael Jenkins
  Curtis Painter is doing a very good job of keeping the Colts competitive; so much so that even though they’re now 0-6, they have the look of a team that won’t be winless for much longer.  Unfortunately for them, this is probably not the week they make that turnaround, as they go on the road to face an angry Saints team that comes off a tough loss to divisional rival Tampa Bay.  

While Drew Brees had an uncharacteristic three interceptions against the Bucs, he is unlikely to make those same types of mistakes at home against a lesser foe.  Unlike Tony Romo and the Cowboys, the Saints don’t have a reputation of playing down to their competition, and do know how to dust a team by two or three scores, which is what should be expected here.

Saints TE Jimmy Graham has strung together four 100 yard receiving games in a row, and the Colts aren’t really equipped to stop him from collecting his fifth, which will break the record for tight ends held by Tony Gonzalez.  That’s right folks; in just his first season as a full time starter, Graham is already challenging records held by arguably the best modern tight end the league has seen.  Graham is just tapping into his immense potential, and he will most likely own several records before he’s done.

While Graham is having a ton of success, he’s like a target vacuum, as Brees’ other receiving weapons are starting to get lost in the shuffle.  Marques Colston got his last week, but Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson, and Lance Moore are now just a bunch of guys who run around to draw the defense enough for Graham, Colston, and Darren Sproles to catch passes.

Just like the passing game, the Saints running game is very diluted, with Sproles taking up most of the receiving targets as well as the most snaps in the game.  Mark Ingram has the most carries, including all the goal line and short yardage carries, while Pierre Thomas plays an undefined role, kind of like the Saints version of Tom Smykowski in Office Space; at some point, somebody is going to ask him “What is it, you do here?”

The Colts running game is just as undefined with Delone Carter and Donald Brown taking the place of the injured Joseph Addai; they just don’t have a Sproles or Ingram to make worthy fantasy plays out of their mess.  While the running game isn’t very enticing, fantasy owners that need a QB this week could do worse than Painter, who will probably get a couple of scores trying to keep up with the Saints.  Painter seems to really like to throw to guys with French names, so Pierre Garcon looks like a good play here.  Seriously, I don’t know why else Painter would not look at Reggie Wayne as much as Garcon, so it has to be that his name is just way too boring.  Maybe Pierre Thomas should request a trade to the Colts?

Good Start:  QB Drew Brees, RB Darren Sproles, WR Marques Colston, TE Jimmy Graham, WR Pierre Garcon.
Middle of the Road:  RB Mark Ingram, WR Robert Meachem, QB Curtis Painter, WR Reggie Wayne, TE Dallas Clark
Bad Start:  RB Pierre Thomas, WR Lance Moore, WR Devery Henderson, RB Delone Carter, RB Donald Brown, WR Austin Collie
 

The Chargers fit in a little golf on a bye week while the Jets had a relatively uninspired win over the Dolphins.
 
Mike Tolbert is set to return for San Diego, which may eat into Ryan Mathews touches, especially around the goal line. Vincent Jackson is dealing with a hamstring, so the bye could not have come at a better time for him – especially considering the fact that he has a confirmed reservation for Revis Island. There is hope that Antonio Gates will finally be able to give it a go, but as of this writing that’s all it was – hope. Keep a close eye on developments during the week, because if Gates does play he’ll obviously be worth serious starting consideration, even if he hasn’t made a contribution since Week 1.
 
The Jets were barely average across the board in putting up only 17 offensive points in the win over Miami. This was a must-win for that team, and they seemed to basically sleepwalk through the game. Mark Sanchez could manage only 201 yards and a passing TD, but he did add a rushing score. Shonn Greene is rapidly slipping toward Fantasy irrelevance, if he isn’t already. He had 74 yards but it took him 21 carries to get there – and, of course, he did not find the end zone. And the Chargers have about the same quality of run defense as Miami.
 
Maybe Jackson took some notes while watching Brandon Marshall deal with Darrell Revis. Marshall did not score, but he still caught 6 passes for 109 yards. Even if Tolbert plays, Mathews should still be a good Fantasy start, since the Jets have allowed an average of 132 yards a game on the ground, and are tied for the most rushing TDs allowed in the league (8). However, the Jet pass D has only given up 3 TDs through the air – the fewest in the league. You’ll obviously start Philip Rivers but you should probably temper your expectations. If Sanchez and the Jet offense were that moribund against Miami, it’s hard to see that group doing much more against San Diego. The Chargers have allowed 113 YPG and 3 run TDs, and only 179 YPG passing and 7 TDs – that passing TD total is tied for the fourth-fewest in the league.
 
 
GOOD STARTS: QB Philip Rivers, RB Ryan Mathews, WR Vincent Jackson, TE Antonio Gates
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS: QB Mark Sanchez, RB Mike Tolbert, WR Santonio Holmes, RB Shonn Greene, TE Dustin Keller
BAD STARTS: WR Plaxico Burress
  Both teams head to London off of huge wins. The Bucs rebounded from a 49er beatdown to beat the Saints, while the Bears throttled Minnesota at home in a must win. There is an interesting aspect to the two team’s different preparations for this one. The Bucs made this trip before in 2009 and they decided to follow their normal routine the last time they went to London, leaving on Friday, as they do for every Sunday road game. They were not only wiped out from a physical standpoint, they were also wiped out on the field by New England, 35-7. Granted, the result could have been the same even if they had been playing at home this week, but several players said they could have benefitted greatly from an earlier departure to allow them more time to deal with jet lag. This time, they left Monday to spend nearly the entire week, which will give them plenty of time to be fresh for kickoff.
 
The Bears, on the other hand, are going with the Bucs’ philosophy of 2009. They planned to treat this just like any other road game, like Tampa Bay did two seasons ago. Maybe this will mean something, maybe it won’t. But you have to like the fresher team’s chances, and in this case that advantage should clearly go to the Buccaneers.
 
Going back to on-the-field developments, the Bucs were without LeGarrette Blount but still pulled off the huge win over New Orleans. Josh Freeman had his first 300-yard game of the season and added 2 TDs, and Earnest Graham did a great job of filling in for Blount, carrying 17 times for 109 yards. Arrelious Benn had 83 yards and a TD on 3 catches.
 
The Bears put up 39 points against the Vikings and Devin Hester was a huge reason. He not only had his obligatory kickoff return for a TD, he even had 91 yards and his first receiving score of the season. Matt Forte again carried the rushing load (17 carries, 87 yards) but he also had the most receptions (6) even though he only had 36 yards. Marion Barber toted the rock 11 times and scored, so that’s probably a good cause for Forte owners to at least be a bit concerned. Barber could very well poach quite a few goal line TDs from Forte as the Bears get more confident that he is healthy.
 
Chicago has actually given up more passing YPG than New Orleans (275 vs. 256), but they’ve given up 3 fewer passing TDs. If they have problems getting their game legs due to their choice of travel schedule, though, Freeman could put up big numbers. Graham could be a good play as well. The Bears have only allowed 4 rushing TDs but allow an average of 122 YPG. Tampa Bay has been pretty generous against the pass (276 YPG/10TDs) and has fairly similar run D numbers as the Bears (115 YPG, 5 TDs)
 
GOOD STARTS: QB Josh Freeman, RB Earnest Graham, RB Matt Forte, WR Mike Williams, WR Devin Hester
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS:QB Jay Cutler, RB Marion Barber
BAD STARTS: WR Roy Williams
  The Redskins lost a game but found a new quarterback, while the Panthers followed the frustrating pattern against the Falcons they’ve established nearly all season – play competitively only to lose.
 
Washington will roll with John Beck behind center after Rex Grossman had a horrible outing against Philadelphia, throwing for no TDs, only 143 yards, and 4 interceptions. Beck didn’t exactly light it up himself (117 yards, no TDs) but at least he didn’t heave up a pick. He even had a TD run. Ryan Torain may have failed in his effort to wrest the No. 1 RB slot from an injured Tim Hightower by managing only 22 yards on 10 carries against a run D that had been pathetic for most of the season. He may get another chance against an equally bad Carolina run D (see below), but who knows who will get the rock more this week? It could be Torain, it could be Hightower, it could be Roy Helu. Chalk it up to Mike Shanahan – the bane of Fantasy Football players everywhere. Fred Davis, on the other hand, seized the opportunity presented by (another) injury to Chris Cooley, as the tight end had 95 yards on 6 receptions. There is a very good chance that he will be the No. 1 TE the rest of the season.
 
Cam Newton showed the rookie inconsistency we thought he would have displayed since Week 1, throwing 3 picks to go along with 237 yards and no TDs. But he still managed to turn in a decent Fantasy day thanks to 50 yards and a rushing TD. It’s anybody’s guess whether Jonathan Stewart or DeAngelo Williams will have the better day running, or if either will be a Fantasy contributor from week to week. Against Atlanta it was Stewart who had a TD along with 48 yards. Williams only had 44 yards on 12 totes.
 
The Redskins have been extremely tough against the pass, allowing only 215 yards and 4 TDs. They are tied with the Ravens for the second-fewest passing TDs surrendered. Carolina has a middle-of-the-road pass D (215 YPG/8TDs) but the Panthers have been gashed in the run game (140 YPG/8TDs (tied for most in the league)).
 
 
GOOD STARTS: QB Cam Newton,  TE Fred Davis, WR Steve Smith
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS:QB John Beck, RB Jonathan Stewart, RB DeAngelo Williams, RB Ryan Torain, RB Roy Helu, WR Santana Moss
BAD STARTS: WR Jabar Gaffney, WR Brandon LaFell
 
  The Falcons took care of Carolina while the Lions suffered their first loss of the season.
 
Atlanta QB Matt Ryan had a rushing TD to salvage what would have been a mediocre-at-best Fantasy outing, since he only threw for 163 yards and 1 TD. The day belonged to Michael Turner, who scored twice and gained 139 yards. Roddy White probably helped a lot of Fantasy owners to a loss last week by managing only 21 yards on 2 receptions.
 
Matthew Stafford had another solid Fantasy outing with 293 yards and 2 TDs, but for the first time this season Calvin Johnson did not have one of them. He finished with 113 yards on 7 receptions, but Nate Burleson and Brandon Pettigrew had the TDs. The Detroit running game was once again a non-factor as Jahvid Best came back down to earth with only 37 yards on 12 carries. To make matters worse, he suffered a concussion during the game – his second of the season – and those close to him are reportedly urging him to sit out the rest of 2011. Whether he plays or not against Atlanta was anyone’s guess at press time. It’s definitely not a good sign that the Lions tried to trade for Ronnie Brown, only to see the trade fall through when the guy they were trying to send to Philly, Jerome Harrison, failed a physical.
 
Atlanta has been picked apart much of the season through the air, giving up 9 TDs and 283 yards per game. Their biggest problem has been a lack of a consistent pass rush; if that trend holds in Detroit this week, Stafford could be huge. The Falcons haven’t been that great against the run either, allowing 97 YPG and 9 TDs. Maurice Morris will probably shoulder the rushing load if Best can’t give it a go. If you’re strapped at RB, pick him up immediately. Detroit has been pretty good against the pass, allowing only 205 YPG and 7 TDs. While they have been susceptible against the run (129 YPG) they have only allowed 2 TDs. Michael Turner should be able to accumulate a good yardage total, but don’t be surprised if he has a tough time finding paydirt.
 
GOOD STARTS: QB Matthew Stafford, RB Michael Turner, WR Calvin Johnson, TE Brandon Pettigrew, WR Roddy White
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS:QB Matt Ryan, RB Maurice Morris, WR Nate Burleson, TE Tony Gonzalez
BAD STARTS: RB Jahvid Best (doubtful to play)
 
  The Seahawks took the week off while the Browns lost a tough one at Oakland.
 
Tarvaris Jackson (please, people, lose the “*-Jax” nickname for any guy who has the last name of Jackson) hurt a pec in Week 5 and is still a question mark even after a bye week, so it’s looking like Charlie Whitehurst will get the starting nod. You won’t have to stumble over anyone in a rush to get Whitehurst off of the waiver wire. Marshawn Lynch hasn’t done a whole lot this season, but he has scored in two straight. There are a lot worse options if you’re hurting at running back this week. Sidney Rice could be worth some starting consideration if you have WR bye week issues, because there’s a chance Cleveland CB Joe Haden will be out or limited due to a left knee sprain.
 
Cleveland is just one of those teams that sort of keeps plodding along, with no one who truly stands out from a Fantasy perspective. They’re not awful or anything like that they’re just… kind of there, if you know what we mean. Colt McCoy is a solid QB, but unless you’re in a 12- or 16-team league you really don’t have a reason to start him. Peyton Hillis has “Madden cover curse” written all over him, and while Greg Little shows some promise at WR, does he strike you as a standout?
 
Seattle has allowed 268 YPG passing but only 6 TDs, and 98 YPG and 5 TDs on the ground. The Browns have been solid against the pass (192 YPG/8TDs), but 130 YPG on the ground, even though they’ve given up only 2 run TDs. This is a game featuring middle-of-the-road offenses and middle-of-the-road defenses. At least on paper. Watch this one wind up being the best game of the day with a final score of 38-35 or something like that.

GOOD STARTS:  WR Greg Little, RB Marshawn Lynch
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS: QB Colt McCoy, WR Sidney Rice, RB Montario Hardesty, TE Ben Watson, WR Doug Baldwin, WR Mohammed Massaquoi
BAD STARTS:  RB Peyton Hillis (Questionable to play), QB Charlie Whitehurst
 
  The Broncos were on bye, giving them the chance to break in some guy named Tebow at quarterback, while the Dolphin offense was basically offensive in a loss to the Jets.
 
This isn’t any ordinary game despite the fact that the combined won-loss record of the two teams is 1-10. Tebow is not only getting the starting nod, he will be honored at halftime with the rest of the 2008 national champion Florida Gators. On the other side, Brandon Marshall gets to go up against his former team and will be matched up against Champ Bailey. For a game pitting two lousy teams, this one has more than its share of intrigue.
 
Tebow will go against a Miami defense that really limited Jet QB Mark Sanchez, who had only 201 yards passing and a TD. The Dolphins also stuffed the Jet run game, limiting Shonn Greene to 74 yards on 21 carries. Tebow will be throwing mainly to Eric Decker, since Brandon Lloyd has been traded and Eddie Royal is still iffy with a groin problem.
 
Miami was simply a mess offensively against New York, with Matt Moore throwing for only 204 yards, no TDs and 3 INTs. Daniel Thomas was limited to 47 yards rushing on 25 carries, but Reggie Bush had 71 yards on 10 attempts. So much for having a clear idea of who’s going to tote the rock for the Dolphins. The only bright spot was Brandon Marshall. He actually had a fairly pleasurable stay on Revis Island, as stated above (6 rec./109 yards). If he was fired up before that game, he should be foaming at the mouth at the chance to take on the Broncos and his old friend Champ Bailey. He did tweak a quad, however, so that obviously bears watching leading up to game time.
 
The Broncos have been putrid against the pass (262 YPG/10 TDs) and not a lot better against the run (123 YPG/4TDs). The Dolphins are also bad against the pass (284 YPG/10 TDs) but OK against the run (107 YPG/3 TDs). If Tebow can find someone to throw to consistently, he might actually be a strong play this week.
 
GOOD STARTS: QB Tim Tebow, WR Eric Decker, WR Brandon Marshall
MIDDLE OF THE ROAD STARTS:RB Willis McGahee, RB Reggie Bush, RB Daniel Thomas, RB Knowshon Moreno
BAD STARTS: QB Matt Moore
 

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