NFL: Week Nine Fantasy Football Tips
Week Nine of the NFL season is upon us and that means it is time to start breaking down the fantasy match ups for this weekend. The marquees showdowns this week feature Dallas traveling to Philly for the Sunday night game and the Broncos host the Steelers on Monday night. The Texans also travel to Indianapolis looking to game respect around the league but it will be tough road to hoe after losing Pro Bowl tight end Owen Daniels to a knee injury this past weekend.
Teams With Byes: Buffalo, Cleveland, Oakland, St. Louis, Minnestoa, New York Jets
Start
Maurice Jones-Drew has rushed for 310 yards and scored five touchdowns over the past two weeks. Look for another huge game from MJD as the Jags square off against a Chiefs defense that ranks 26th in the league in rushing defense.
San Diego’s Vincent Jackson is coming off back-t0-back 100-yard efforts totaling 245 receiving yards. He has also scored touchdowns in three consecutive outings. Go with Jackson against a banged up Giants secondary that has been allowing big plays of late.
The Cowboys have struggled in pass coverage this season so look for Donovan McNabb to take shots down the field to DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin. One can expect another big play touchdown for Jackson this weekend.
Barring any set backs in practice this week Brian Westbrook is expected to start for the Eagles this weekend.
The Dolphins secondary has been prone to allowing big plays this season. Look for Tom Brady to take some shots down the field to Randy Moss this weekend.
Tight end Fred Davis caught 8 passes for 78 yards in a touchdown after Chris Cooley went down with an injury in the Redskins last game. He is expected to start at TE while Cooley recovers from surgery.
After running for 126 yards and three scores and with the mediocre play of Steve Slaton of late one can expect Ryan Moats to be the primary ball carrier for the Texans this weekend.
Green Bay’s Ryan Grant averaged 112.3 yards per game against the Rams, Browns, and Lions this year. Expect a big game from him against a Bucs defense allowing 162 yards per game on the ground.
Cedric Benson ran for 120 yards and a score the last time the Bengals faced the Ravens in week five.
Chad Ochocinco caught 7 balls for 94 yards in week five against the Ravens.
Ray Rice had 69 rushing yards and 77 receiving yards and a touchdown in week five versus Cincinnati.
Joel Dressen is expected to be the starting tight end in Houston with Owen Daniels out for the remainder of the season with an ACL injury.
With Larry Johnson’s suspension Jamaal Charles is expected to be the primary ball carrier on Sunday for Kansas City.
Bench/Be Wary of
Calvin Johnson participated in practice Wednesday and even took reps with the first team offense. Johnson is still listed as questionable for this Sunday and if he does not play then do not bother playing Matthew Stafford either as he clearly showed last weekend he is useless without Johnson on the field.
Eli Manning has thrown just 3 touchdowns and 6 interceptions and is averaging just 214.3 yards per contest over the Giants last three games. He is also completing less than 50% of his passes over that time frame.
LeSean McCoy is said to have a bad case of the flu this week. It is expected that he will play but one wonders how effective he will be and how many snaps he will be able to play.
Do not be fooled by Tony Romo’s recent play. No, he is not throwing interceptions like he was a few weeks ago but he has still not corrected his accuracy issues and the Eagles are second in the league with 14 interceptions this season. The Eagles are also second in the league in sacks so look for them to pressure Romo into making some bad throws resulting in a couple of picks Sunday.
Marion Barber is averaging just 48.5 yards per carry since injuring his quad in week two. The Eagles are the sixth toughest team to run against allowing just 3.7 yards per carry and have allowed only four rushing touchdowns all season.
Anquan Boldin is still fighting an ankle injury and it is being speculated that he may be held out of this weekend’s game with Chicago in hopes he can get to 100% the following week.
Drew Brees has thrown just three touchdowns and four interceptions the past two weeks for the Saints.
Joe Flacco passed for just 186 yards and threw just one touchdown and two interceptions in week five against the Bengals.
Donald Brown sat out last week with an injured shoulder and only had ten touches in his two games prior to that.
Steve Slaton got just one carry and caught two passes before being benched in favor of Ryan Moats. Given how well Moats played Sunday and that Slaton has lost fumbles in three straight games do not expect a lot out of Slaton for the time being.
Ronnie Brown has rushed for just 75 yards the last two weeks for the Dolphins.
The Giants’ Ahmad Bradshaw is playing with a cracked bone in his foot and likely will not be 100% until he has surgery in the off season. He has, however, managed to score in three of the Giants last four games totaling four touchdowns.
Ted Ginn, Jr. saw only 16 snaps on offense last weekend and did not catch any passes. He did, however, return a pair of kicks for touchdowns.
Jermichael Finley missed last weekend’s game with a knee injury and his status is up in the air for this weekend’s game with the Bucs.
Do not expect a lot from Josh Freeman, making his first start for Tampa, going against a Packers’ defense that is 4th in the league in interceptions and rates 9th in passing yards allowed this season.
Larry Johnson has been suspended and will not play this Sunday for the Chiefs.
Hot Hands/Players on the Rise
Chris Johnson has rushed for 356 yards and two scores over the Titans last two games.
DeSean Jackson is averaging 88 yards of offense and has scored six touchdowns in seven games for the Eagles this year. All six of his touchdowns have gone for 50 yards or more.
Baltimore’s Ray Rice is averaging 149.25 yards of total offense and has scored four times over the Ravens last four games.
DeAngelo Williams is averaging 133 yards per game over the last three weeks, including two games of 150 or more, in addition to finding the end zone three times.
Johnathan Stewart is averaging 74 yards per game over the last three weeks as well as scoring three touchdowns for the Panthers.
Reggie Wayne has scored in five straight games and has only failed to score once in seven games. He is also coming off a career high 12 catches last weekend.
Marques Colston is averaging 107.7 yards per game over the past three weeks and has caught a touchdown pass in each of those three contests as well.
Tom Brady has thrown 11 touchdowns and just two interceptions over the Patriots last three games.
Aaron Rodgers has thrown at least two touchdowns in five straight games and has thrown 12 scores and only 2 interceptions over that span. He is also averaging 318.75 passing yards per game over his last four starts.
Michael Turner has scored in six straight games and is third in the league with 8 touchdowns overall. He is also coming off a season best 150 rushing yard performance on Monday night.
Vernon Davis has scored in four of the Niners’ last five games totaling seven touchdowns altogether and four over the last two weeks.
Roddy White has scored in four straight games and has six touchdowns total on the year.
Derrick Mason has scored in four of the Ravens’ last five contests.
Reggie Bush may not be putting up much by way of yards, but, he has scored in each of the Saints last three games.
Wes Welker is averaging 9.3 catches and 109.67 yards per game over the past three weeks for the Patriots. He has also scored four touchdowns in those games.
Ochocinco is averaging 7.3 catches and 105 yards over the Bengals last three games.
Devin Hester is averaging 7 catches and 88.3 receiving yards over the last three games for Chicago.
Players Who Are Slipping
Matt Ryan has completed just 51.8% of his passes and thrown five touchdowns and seven interceptions in his last three games for Atlanta. He is averaging just 224 yards in those three games.
Jay Cutler has thrown just 3 touchdowns and six interceptions over the last three weeks for the Bears.
Kellen Winslow has caught just 5 passes for 38 yards in the Buccaneers last two games.
Matt Cassel has completed 46.4% of his passes and thrown just one touchdown and three interceptions in the Chiefs last two games. He also only averaging 141.5 yards in those games.
Jacksonville’s David Garrard has thrown zero touchdowns and four interceptions over the Jaguars last three games.
Seattle’s T. J. Houshmandzadeh has caught just 8 passes for 58 yards and no touchdowns the last two games.
Titans’ leading receiver Kenny Britt has just 3 catches for 25 yards over his last three games.
Brandon Marshall has caught 9 passes for just 73 yards and no touchdowns over his last two contests.
