Week 12 Thoughts

I'm sorry for the week off there.  Between enjoying my last week of freedom before I start my new job and the Thanksgiving weekend, I wasn't able to get anything written.  Back to the grind!


Arizona Cardinals - Despite all the offseason talk about Matt Leinart finally getting it and his monster preseason performance, he looked like the same old Leinart, struggling to move the Cardinals offense.  If Warner has to sit out again, hopefully Leinart can finally show some promise, but you'll have to temper expectations for Fitz and Boldin, while Breaston isn't worth starting.  The rushing attack is still a straight split of carries, neither of which are using as a RB2.

Atlanta Falcons - Matt Ryan hurt his toe and Michael Turner re-aggravated his ankle sprain, proving once again that teams can't rush players back that are coming off of high ankle sprains.  This offense figures to struggle moving forward without it's too most important components, so White and Gonzalez owners will also have to temper expectations.

Baltimore Ravens - Flacco bounced back in a mild fashion against a tough Pittsburgh defense, but we need to see more after such a long slump.  Mason is the only part of the passing attack worth using each week, but Clayton had another big game, and Baltimore desperately needs someone other than Mason to make plays.  Keep an eye on him.  Despite the one week flirt that Ray Rice had with the goal line, Baltimore is stubbornly using McGahee at the goal line again.  At least Rice is dominating touches and racking up the yardage both rushing and receiving.

Buffalo Bills - Ryan Fitzpatrick continues to prove interim coach Perry Fewell correct by helping the Bills move the ball far more effectively, and most importantly to fantasy owners, it's clear that Fred Jackson does as well.  It's clear that Jackson has earned a big role in this backfield.  Lynch simply has not done well for the Bills after being given the starting role back after his suspension, so expect Jackson to at least split carries again, if not dominate them.  Owens has been re-born the last two weeks, so try to ride out the hot streak, but it would not surprise if he falls on his face again.  Evans has again disappeared, making him a very risky start.

Carolina Panthers - Back to this again?  Delhomme fell apart yet again and might have started the last game of his career.  Thanks to a broken finger, the Panthers have a great excuse to bench him, if his performance wasn't enough.  It's hard to get excited about Matt Moore, but it couldn't possibly get any worse.  I think the value of all Panthers stays the same with the QB switch.

Cincinnati Bengals - Palmer continues to disappoint, posting back-to-back horrible passing performances in good match-ups versus Oakland and Cleveland.  Despite not putting many points on the board, the coaching staff remains stubbornly against passing down the field.  The Bengals are now clearly a run-first team, and they haven't missed a beat with Cedric Benson out thanks to Bernard Scott and Larry Johnson.

Chicago Bears - Continued stench.  The offense has completely fallen apart, although Forte, Hester, and Olsen remain solid fantasy starters.

Cleveland Browns - Garbage.

Dallas Cowboys - After a couple off-weeks, Miles Austin has re-emerged, and so has the offense.  Romo looked great again, and Jason Witten even put together his best game of the season.  Despite a bad season so far, hopefully Witten can build off of this game and turn it on for his owners moving forward.  The rushing attack is still a complete mess, although Barber continues to get most of the carries.  I'm stubborn, so I'd stick with Barber.

Denver Broncos - Business as usual, although the offense has rebounded after a couple off-weeks.  The most important thing to note is that Moreno continues to be more effective with his touches, and that Buckhalter isn't nearly as effective as he was early-on in the season.  Moreno should continue to dominate the backfield work as their skills are best utilized with Moreno as the workhorse and Buckhalter as the change-of-pace.  Marshall remains the only pass catcher worth starting as McDaniels seems to have to no idea how to use Royal and Scheffler properly.  Despite the praise heaped on him this year, he obviously hasn't been able to adapt his offense to two of his best talents.

Detroit Lions - Stafford continues to start through his knee and shoulder problems, which is good news for Calvin Johnson as Culpepper just isn't very effective anymore.  Johnson also is playing through his troublesome knee, so hopefully this long break will allow him to get close to 100%.  Kevin Smith continues to crank out total yardage, but his YPC simply isn't there.  I think this is more of the fact that Smith doesn't make enough happen on his own to make up for the poor offensive line.

Green Bay Packers - Rodgers continues to post monster games, and Greg Jennings continues to disappoint.  Nothing much to note here.

Houston Texans - Schaub has certainly lived up to his billing so far this year, as has AJ.  Walter is definitely getting more looks with Daniels out, and he's a solid WR3 moving foward.  Slaton and Brown are in a full time-share with Slaton catching passes and Brown getting more carries, including the goal-line work.

Indianapolis Colts - The Colts offense keeps humming along, with Garcon stepping up again after hitting somewhat of a wall in the middle of the season.  Addai is picking up more carries, and he looks as good as he has since 2007.  He's not getting enough touches to be a RB1, but thanks to his scoring potential, he has re-emerged as a solid RB2.

Jacksonville Jaguars - Collapse.  MJD did what he could, but Jacksonville just couldn't get anything going on offense.  Hopefully better things are in store against Houston, but given their defense is likely to get torn apart, it should be interesting.

Kansas City Chiefs - Cassel is lost without Bowe, although Chris Chambers has been more than admirable since stepping in and has been surprisingly productive.  Jamaal Charles continues to turn heads with his performances, and his 4 yard TD shows that KC is willing to use him around the goal line.  He's a RB2 until he proves otherwise.

Miami Dolphins - The only thing worth talking about here is Ricky Williams, who has capitalized on back-to-back juicy match-ups.  He would have even had a better game had Miami not called a horrible pass play out of the Wildcat at the goal line.  Unfortunately the sledding gets tougher moving forward.

Minnesota Vikings - Favre continues to tear it up, and Peterson seems to be along for the ride crazily enough.  Now let's not get confused here as the reason why Favre is experiencing such success is because Peterson is still what defenses game-plan for, but the Vikings are willing to take what is given to them.

New England Patriots - Brady simply bombed in one of the biggest games of the year.  His teammates didn't help, but he didn't look sharp either.  It's like the Patriots were, well, over-matched.  Maroney put up another very good game despite fumbling again.  He really needs to hang onto the ball with Sammy Morris healthy again, but it's clear that the Patriots are going to let Maroney play his way out of the primary ball carrier position, and he's a RB2 until that happens.

New Orleans Saints - Brees and Manning are the two best QBs in football, period.  His first pass of the day was an amazing strike down the field, and he pretty much played as perfect as you can play.  Colston dominated again while Meachem and Henderson play their roles perfectly.  Mike Bell continues to close and be mostly used at the goal line, but Pierre Thomas looks better with the football.  They provide 2 different skill sets and Payton utilizes them well.  Bush continues to live up to his last name and miss games with another knee injury.

New York Giants - Eli went right back to struggling again, and it's pretty apparent that his foot injury is to blame.  This team is a mess right now.  Eli is off, Jacobs simply isn't putting it together, and Bradshaw isn't going to be productive the rest of the season.  Manningham and Nicks continue to split snaps, so there isn't a whole lot to get excited about.  Jacobs can still be used as a RB2, and Smith is a solid WR3, but that's about it.

New York Jets - Sanchez continues to go through the rookie pains, and Thomas Jones has become the center of the offense, much like Ricky Williams in Miami.  He's a borderline RB1 as he'll get plenty of carries as the centerpiece with Leon Washington done and Shonn Greene more of a backup than a complement.  Cotchery and Edwards will struggle moving forward with the scaled-down passing attack.

Oakland Raiders - Blah.  Miller, and that's it.

Philadelphia Eagles - McNabb posted an average game against a tough Redskins secondary, and it was actually the normally reliable Brent Celek whose drops hurt several drives.  Given he was playing with torn hand ligaments, I think we can look past that.  DeSean Jackson suffered a concussion, so that'll obviously hurt the offense moving forward if he misses time.  McCoy, while not a workhorse, continues to do well when he gets the ball.  Keep him going as a RB2, although his TD potential is limited as some weirdo I've never heard of took the goal line carry last week.

Pittsburgh Steelers - The Steelers passing game obviously wasn't nearly as effective with Dennis Dixon starting, but that was to be expected.  Holmes had a big first half when Dixon was throwing well, surprising most everyone with his production with a little-used QB.  The passing game fell apart in the 2nd half, and the  offense ran through Mendenhall for most of the game, who didn't disappoint despite facing a tough Baltimore run D.

San Diego Chargers - Rivers keeps rolling along, and Gates posted his biggest game of the season while dominated the middle of the field.  I'm sure Vincent Jackson owners are getting annoyed after 3 straight blah games, but Rivers has been missing long TDs with Jackson via bad throws.  Expect them to reconnect soon.  Tomlinson continues scoring to keep his value alive.

San Francisco 49ers - Alex Smith simply can't get it done unless he's in the shotgun, and the 49ers are trying their best to accommodate him.  This obviously isn't a recipe for long-term success, but it'll probably stay effective for the most part over the rest of the year.  Gore has run effectively out of the shotgun and adds value in the passing game, so his value will remain unchanged.  Davis continues to dominate, and Crabtree has emerged as a weekly option.

Seattle Seahawks - Hasselbeck fell on his face despite a great match-up, but Justin Forsett continues to tear it up.  Unfortunately, the stubborn Seattle coaching staff has already stated that Julius Jones will return as the starter despite the fact he's given no reason for them to do it, and Forsett has exceeded expectations.  Burleson and Housh remain WR3 options moving forward.

St. Louis Rams - Kyle Boller surprised again with another good outing, but as we've seen plenty of times before, it won't last.  Steven Jackson continues to amaze, now playing with an injury, but still racking up 100 total yard games, and yet another score.  With Boller at the helm, only Jackson should be used.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Josh Freeman continues to surprise, posting yet another good game and utilizing his top targets in Bryant, who looks healthy again, and Winslow.  The rushing attack continues to look bad and is not worth using.

Tennessee Titans - Wow.  Vince Young is killing it right now, posting the best passing game of his career.  Kenny Britt has emerged in the absence of Justin Gage, and for once Young really utilized his WRs.  Hopefully it's something he continues to do moving forward.  Chris Johnson has been ridiculous and is the fantasy player to own heading into the playoffs.  He's dominating all carries, including the goal line.

Washington Redskins - Fantasy football's newest wasteland.