Week 6 Thoughts

Arizona Cardinals - Business as usual for the Cardinals.  Lots of passing, some running, and standard stat lines for just about everyone.  Steve Breaston is worth mentioning as a solid WR3 not getting a lot of press.  He's kinda like Wes Welker where he catches a good amount of passes but doesn't score a lot.

Atlanta Falcons - Ryan had a low yardage game, but the Bears defense played well and kept the Falcons offense a bit out of sync.  Turner is still not consistently churning out yardage whatsoever, but his scores are keeping his value afloat.

Baltimore Ravens - The conversion to a pass-first offense is officially in full effect, and despite minimal carries, Ray Rice is killing it right now with ridiculous efficiency per touch.  Rice has moved into RB1 territory, and he stands to become even more involved as the season moves along.

Buffalo Bills - Lynch has taken over as the lead back of the committee, but Jackson is still plenty involved.  Both are hurt quite a bit by the offensive situation, but Lynch is more valuable right now.  The passing game continues to kill both Owens and Evans, although Evans showed good chemistry with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Carolina Panthers - The Panthers ran like it was 2008 thanks to the horrid Bucs rushing defense, but both RBs remain match up RB2s thanks to the putrid passing game.  Said passing game is killing Steve Smith, who's only a WR3 thanks to his situation.  Steve Smith is a reminder to never stay married to just talent...you have to analyze the team situation as it most certainly can kill elite talent (Steven Jackson and Lee Evans also come to mind).

Cincinnati Bengals - Carson Palmer continues to disappoint.  Not even a great match up against Houston allowed him to turn in a breakthrough performance.  There's no question he has the talent and also the talent around him, so I still believe that he'll come through eventually this season.  Until then, he's only a very low end QB1.

Chicago Bears - The offensive line is killing Matt Forte.  He's constantly dodging defenders in the backfield on his carries and can never seem to truly get going.  Luckily he continues to get plenty of touches, so you can continue playing him on a weekly basis.

Cleveland Browns - Complete disaster.  I believe it's only a matter of time before Brady Quinn gets his job back, but nobody on this offense is worth thinking about right now.

Dallas Cowboys - Bye week.

Denver Broncos - Monday night game.

Detroit Lions - The offense was predictably impotent without both Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson.  Kevin Smith continues to do the best he can, but he's getting no help when his surrounding talent level is this depleted due to injuries.  He's still a RB2 thanks to his workload.

Green Bay Packers - Aaron Rodgers lived off of the short passing game, and unfortunately with the re-injury of Chad Clifton, this will probably be their identity for the near future.  Given the favorable match ups against Detroit yesterday and Cleveland this upcoming Sunday, I don't know why Clifton was allowed back out there.  This will continue to hurt Greg Jennings as his specialty is getting down field.

Houston Texans - The Arizona Cardinals of the AFC.  With a horribly inefficient rushing attack, they will continue to go pass heavy, benefiting all owners of Schaub, AJ, Daniels, and Slaton (PPR leagues only).  Unfortunately for those who own Kevin Walter, we're seeing Daniels pass him as the #2 target.

Indianapolis Colts - Bye week.

Jacksonville Jaguars - MJD got what he wanted and responded in a huge way, likely winning many fantasy match ups this weekend.  Sims-Walker also got back on track with a big game.  Those are the only two guys worth mentioning on this offense.

Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs got their first win against the Redskins this week, although it wasn't pretty on offense with Cassel throwing for less than 200 yards and taking 5 sacks.  Luckily he was locked onto Dwayne Bowe, who proved he was healthy with a nice showing.

Miami Dolphins - Bye week.

Minnesota Vikings - Brett Favre continues to throw like a QB1.  Sidney Rice exploded with a week-high 176 yards, further cementing himself as one of the breakthrough WRs of 2009.  He's a weekly WR3 who's the top receiving target in an explosive offense.

New England Patriots - I think it's safe to say the passing attack rebounded yesterday.  Let's hope this jump starts them to a strong finish as the big three all had excellent games.  Laurence Maroney had his best game of the season, and there's a chance he could emerge as the primary ball carrier here thanks to Sammy Morris' injury.

New Orleans Saints - Brees rebounded in a big way, and Lance Moore finally posted a good game as well.  Thomas and Bell are officially in a committee, although Thomas is definitely the lead back as Bell got more of his carries when the game was out of hand.  However, Bell is the preferred goal line option now, and that kills Thomas' value as he'll have to score from distance.  Thomas is a solid RB2, but lacks upside with Bell taking the goal line carries.

New York Giants - This was an all-around ugly game that should be forgotten.  Luckily Bradshaw scored after Jacobs left with an injury, which allowed him to be quite useful as a RB2 this week.

New York Jets - Mark Sanchez had another meltdown, although this time it came against a mediocre Buffalo defense.  Thomas Jones and Leon Washington did their best to save him, but it was to no avail.  Take this opportunity to sell high on Thomas Jones...he's had 2 huge games sandwiched around a bunch of crap.  Washington continues to be heavily involved in this offense, and for good reason.

Oakland Raiders - Dog's ass, meet sunshine.  Justin Fargas has passed Michael Bush again, although it really doesn't matter.  Zach Miller abused Philly and remains on the fantasy radar despite the crappy situation around him.

Philadelphia Eagles - Much like the Giants, although against the most polar opposite opponent you could find.  This, too, is worth forgetting.  Keep your Eagles going next week.

Pittsburgh Steelers - Big Ben is winging it all over the field, and while Holmes and Ward put up good games, it's worth mentioning Heath Miller.  He is finally being consistently utilized in the passing game, and he's a TE1 going forward.  Mendenhall is officially the lead back of the Steelers' running committee, and while he didn't have his best game in the YPC department, he got the majority of the carries, scored, and caught a couple passes.

San Diego Chargers - Monday night game.

San Francisco 49ers - Bye week.

Seattle Seahawks - Horrible.  Seattle's decimated offensive line caved in against a tough Arizona front 7, and this is good information moving forward.  You must not only consider the secondary when deciding to use Hasselbeck, but you must also consider the pass rush he's facing.  This line can't protect him against a good front.

St. Louis Rams - The Rams looked great on the first drive, and then Donnie Avery left hurt again, and it imploded once more.  The line is actually doing a solid job of protection, but with Robinson done for the year and Avery hurt again, there is no talent left at the WR position.  Needless to say, this is killing Steven Jackson as he failed to score again, and has zero TDs on the year thus far.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Johnson took 4 more sacks and tossed another INT without managing a TD.  Tampa scored 21, but can thank their special teams and defense for 14 of that.  Caddy had a nice game, but outside of Winslow, there's no one here I'd want to start every week.

Tennessee Titans - Expect Kerry Collins to lose his job.  He's making the Titans look terrible for giving him that extension this offseason.  Chris Johnson salvaged his day with a couple long runs, but nobody else on this team did anything positive.

Washington Redskins - The Skins have hit rock bottom, even benching Jason Campbell for old man Todd Collins.  This team is doing nowhere.