The Scoop

By Dalton Del Don

The weather for Thursday’s game wasn’t conducive for passing, but clearly Pittsburgh’s problems run deeper, evidenced by Ben Roethlisberger’s eight sacks. His sack-adjusted YPA was 4.4. Hines Ward’s toughness is admirable, but sometimes it’s actually better to sit than play through injury…The Browns have won two games this season, and over those two victories, their quarterbacks have a combined eight completions for 3.1 YPA…Good thing Cleveland had such a tough matchup on paper, because if not, there would have likely been a lot of frustrated Jerome Harrison owners. Chris Jennings, who scored the first rushing touchdown by a Browns’ running back all season last week, now appears to be the lead back. Especially after what happened last week, there will be safer starts, but Jennings isn’t a bad flex play gamble this week against the Chiefs (as well as in Week 16 versus the Raiders). It’s now clear a shoulder injury limited his playing time in Week 13, not the coaches’ fondness for Harrison…Speaking of Cleveland running backs, it sure would be interesting to see how Josh Cribbs would handle the position. He’s not all speed, as he also possesses terrific tackle breaking ability and is stronger than he looks. Over 42 rushing attempts this year, he’s averaged 7.3 YPC.

Pierre Thomas owners finally got their wish Sunday (no Mike Bell) and in a plus matchup to boot, but after just 13 carries (although a solid 100 combined yards) with no touchdowns, he continues to find ways to disappoint, as Reggie Bush scored two touchdowns out of the backfield.  Despite missing essentially the first two games of the season (and starting in only five), Thomas is on pace to finish the year with 1,188 total yards and nine touchdowns, but with the fourth-best YPC mark (5.3) in the NFL and playing for the No. 1 ranked offense in football, it could have been so much more…New Orleans’ stats as a secondary remain impressive overall, but all those injuries have started to catch up to them, as they somehow allowed Chris Redman to complete 67.6 percent of his passes for 8.9 YPA last week…Roddy White has been getting targeted like crazy recently, and I’d almost never recommend benching a player of his caliber during the fantasy playoffs, but with an upcoming matchup against Darrelle Revis, it’s certainly worth considering.

Peyton Manning has thrown nine interceptions over the past five games. In fact, his current total (14) matches his highest since 2002, and there’s still three games left to play. Of course, his completion percentage (68.1) is a career-best, and he’s on pace to finish with 36 TD passes, which would be the second-highest total of his career. And it’s not like the interceptions are preventing Indy from winning, that’s for sure…Fitting that Terrell Owens’ NFL-record for catches in a game was broken by “Baby T.O.” Marshall wasn’t a bad start in PPR formats last week. But what about Eddie Royal, who hauled in one catch for three yards? I obviously had too high expectations for him personally this year, but even if you weren’t overly bullish on Royal in fantasy formats, he’s still got to be considered one of the bigger busts in 2009. He hasn’t missed a game and is the No. 2 receiver for a team that’s 8-5 yet is on pace to finish with 42 catches for 390 yards and zero receiving touchdowns, which has to be historically awful.

Fantasy owners can hardly complain, but considering Matt Schaub had 336 passing yards and Andre Johnson had 184 receiving yards at halftime, the second half of Sunday’s game was quite a letdown…It’s that time of year again, when Houston beats up inferior opponents while at home and looking exceedingly impressive while doing so, just in time to barely miss the playoffs and give incentive to predict a postseason berth in 2010…Arian Foster gained just 2.6 YPC Sunday, but he led the team in carries and also added 54 receiving yards. With Ryan Moats losing another fumble and still struggling in pass protection, Foster could be the feature back from here on out, at least if you believe Gary Kubiak’s high praise of the rookie runner. He’s certainly not without risk, but like Quinton Ganther last week, he’s an upside (albeit unknown) flex play this week against the Rams.

With 22 carries and no fumbles (Sammy Morris lost one), Laurence Maroney appears to remain the Pats’ lead back moving forward. It’s big news heading into the all-important Week 15 against the Bills, who have a fantastic secondary (6.2 YPA, 10:25 TD:INT ratio) yet are extremely vulnerable on the ground (NFL-high 5.0 YPC, 17 rushing scores are third most in league)…Randy Moss may or may not have been dogging it last week (it seemed like he was), but there’s no way he can be benched this week in fantasy leagues, even with a difficult matchup on paper…The same goes for DeAngelo Williams, who is facing a Minnesota defense that has allowed an NFL-low three rushing touchdowns in 2009. Williams hasn’t scored since Week 9, but he remains a huge threat regardless (averaging 5.5 YPC since his last score), and with Jonathan Stewart once again battling his toe injury, Williams should be looking at an increased workload Sunday.

With a 1:8 TD:turnover ratio over the past three games, Matt Cassel is really struggling and making all Chiefs fans regret the big contract. The return of Dwayne Bowe should help, and his recent schedule hasn’t been easy, but with 41 sacks over 12 games, Cassel has been a bust thus far…Speaking of struggling quarterbacks, Ryan Fitzpatrick has posted a 1:4 TD:turnover ratio over the past two games, with a 4.3 YPA mark. Buffalo simply must address its QB situation in the draft…Jamaal Charles really isn’t built to be a workhorse, but there’s absolutely no denying how electric he is when given the opportunity. Since taking over full RB duties five games ago, he’s totaled 570 yards with five touchdowns. Consider him a top-10 fantasy back Sunday at home against the Browns.

I’ve compared Kevin Smith to Kevin Jones a few times this year, and it really is unfortunate just how apt that’s come to be…What a TD catch by Derrick Mason last week; one of the better plays of the 2009 season…Ray Rice’s day was one of the rare examples of having too good of a matchup. He had a legitimate chance of totaling 400 yards if not for the lopsided score…Willis McGahee has had a truly weird season, as he’s scored 11 touchdowns yet is on pace to finish with just 521 combined yards, rendering him unusable in fantasy leagues.

Carson Palmer and the Cincy passing attack was worrisome before last week, but now, it’s officially time to panic. Palmer has just three touchdown tosses over the past five games with a 6.2 YPA mark over that span. The loss of Chris Henry has hurt, and Palmer swears he’s fully healthy, but whatever the reason, the Bengals’ passing attack is the team’s anchor, which is pretty ironic…The loss of Domata Peko has certainly been a blow to the Bengals’ run defense, but Adrian Peterson was still held to just 3.7 YPC last week (although with two touchdowns). Peterson has averaged just 3.2 YPC over the past four games (three of them at home), but his improvement as a receiver has really helped…Brett Favre has a 17:2 TD:INT ratio at home this season.

The Jets’ gameplan was about as conservative as it gets Sunday. With Kellen Clemens at QB and a dominant defense, the strategy certainly made sense. If Mark Sanchez returns in Week 15, facing an Atlanta secondary that has allowed 7.9 YPA and a 23:8 TD:INT ratio (and doesn’t have Aqib Talib like the Bucs did last week), Braylon Edwards isn’t necessarily a bad start….With yet another lost fumble, Shonn Greene’s fantasy value is all but gone this year, even in deep leagues as a flex on a run-heavy team. Thomas Jones just continues to get it done…Josh Freeman has a 3:11 TD:INT ratio over the past four games, but he’s faced three elite secondaries over that span and has gotten 7.6 YPA away from home this year, so don’t be shocked if he’s able to move the ball in Seattle this week.

Ricky Williams took a beating in a physical game last week and was fortunate to lose just one of his three fumbles. Still, he’s been able to withstand a full workload and continues to act like an RB1 since Ronnie Brown went down…Whether it’s Davone Bess, Greg Camarillo, Ted Ginn or even Brian Hartline, trying to predict who will be Miami’s No. 1 receiver in a given week is a fool’s errand…Mike Sims-Walker is clearly playing hurt. He’s been a great story in 2009, but he’s a risky fantasy start Thursday against the Colts.

Aaron Rodgers didn’t exactly pick an ideal time to have his worst fantasy game of the season, although Ryan Grant’s best fantasy performance of 2009 had a lot to do with it. Rodgers should bounce back in Week 15 against a Steelers’ secondary that badly misses Troy Polamalu…Matt Forte has reached 100 yards rushing in just one game this season, and his current 3.4 YPC mark is the second lowest among RBs with at least 150 rushing attempts (LaDainian Tomlinson is last with 3.2 YPC). Forte’s activity as a receiver has prevented him from being a complete bust this year, but with just four touchdowns, his ADP will take a major dive in 2010.

When an already bad team is relegated to its third string QB, the result is an unsurprising 47-7 blowout. Keith Null, by the way, had Ryan Leaf as his quarterback coach while playing at West Texas A&M…Not much more can be said about Chris Johnson at this point, but how about his performance at home this season? He’s averaged 7.1 YPC with 11 touchdowns over six games. Good thing he has two more over Weeks 15 and 16 for his already spoiled fantasy owners. To me, it looks like there will be a clear tier 1 in 2010 fantasy drafts: 1) Chris Johnson 2) Adrian Peterson 3) Maurice Jones-Drew 4) Ray Rice. After that, it gets murky.

Darren McFadden isn’t likely to go down as big of a bust as Darrius Heyward-Bey or JaMarcus Russell, as he’s got good speed and is dangerous in open space, but he’s clearly a limited player, lacking vision and incapable of running between the tackles and too often going down at first contact. His 84 yards receiving on just three catches were impressive last week, but only Glen Coffee (2.6) has a worse YPC mark among qualified rushers this year than McFadden (3.1)…I personally rolled the dice with Quinton Ganther in two of my fantasy leagues last week, which says two things: 1) I didn’t have a solid flex play despite making the playoffs and 2) the NFL changes so much on a weekly basis, while preaching “start the studs who brought you to the dance” usually makes sense, it’s also OK to reevaluate things based on matchups and variables, even if it involves an unknown commodity. Roles play such a big part in fantasy football…I’m beginning to think JaMarcus Russell might not have been worth the No. 1 pick…Don’t look now, but Jason Campbell has totaled eight touchdowns over the past three weeks. With a 65.2 completion percentage and a 7.4 YPA, he’s actually played pretty well this season. No playoff contender should welcome a matchup with the Redskins right now.

The Chargers have by far the worst rushing offense in the NFL (3.2 YPC) and a middling defense yet currently look like the AFC’s second best team, and Philip Rivers is mostly to blame. Over the past five games, Rivers has posted an 8:1 TD:INT ratio with a whopping 10.1 YPA mark…Nice to see Vincent Jackson back on the scene, but don’t discount what Malcom Floyd did last week either. His final stats were misleading, as he also drew multiple pass interference calls on deep balls…Over his career, Tony Romo’s numbers have really decreased in December, but over two games in the month this year, he’s recorded a 5:0 TD:INT ratio with a 111.9 QB rating, so he’s hardly to blame for the team’s back-to-back losses. And with upcoming games in New Orleans and Washington, the schedule certainly hasn’t been friendly…Marion Barber hasn’t eclipsed 100 yards rushing since Week 2, but it’s been his lack of touchdowns that’s truly been puzzling (he hasn’t scored since Week 8). He remains a punishing goal-line back on a potent offense, so consider it an aberration when evaluating Barber moving forward.

On a per play basis, the Eagles rank in the top-10 in all four phases of football this year (YPA, YPC, YPA against, YPC against). Donovan McNabb is playing at an elite level and might have his best complement of receivers ever. This is a dangerous team…If I’m an opposing defensive coordinator, I’m paying attention to DeSean Jackson. What an explosive player…What a great sequence of events on one specific drive for Hakeem Nicks, who dropped a sure long touchdown and then had another deep ball fall through his hands later, only to follow that with a terrific 68-yard TD reception. The physical tools are there for him to be a true No. 1 wide receiver eventually…LeSean McCoy, who has four capital letters in his name, has seen his fantasy value really take a hit recently, with Leonard Weaver’s emergence and the possible return of Brian Westbrook as well.

The Cardinals have been hit-or-miss all season, but a flat performance from a team that has all but locked up its division coming off an impressive win against the Vikings wasn’t exactly shocking, and seven fumbles further illustrate the flukiness of the loss. That said, the 49ers are better than their record indicates…Alex Smith continues to be something of an enigma, but his underwhelming numbers Monday would have looked a whole lot better if not for multiple drops by Vernon Davis. Of course, Davis remained productive nevertheless, and when talking about fantasy steals of 2009, he’s got to be toward the top of the list…After Tim Hightower lost a fumble on his second rushing attempt, he didn’t receive a single carry the rest of the game. His thumb injury may have contributed, but with eight rushing attempts versus 28 from Beanie Wells over the past two games, it appears there has been a passing of the torch. A late fumble by Wells on Monday makes the situation less certain, but Wells really impressed beforehand against a stout 49ers’ front seven, so he’s a solid flex play in Week 15 against a Detroit defense that has allowed 4.5 YPC and 14 rushing scores on the year.