Fantasy Football Failure: Week 9

I should know better by now. Really. I mean, with the track record of this blog, why would I ever assume anything is a given? Take Week 8- I was up against Team Williams and his mere 4 starting players. Sure, those players were LT, Isaac Bruce, Larry Fitzgerald, and the Raven's D, but that's only 4 guys; how can I not beat 4 guys? Well, I almost found out.

Chaz's 4-man team put up 49 points, which, while fairly impressive for only 4 players, should be easily beatable with a full team. Or so you'd think. At days end Sunday, with 2 players going on Monday night, I was down 42-49. I needed Reggie Wayne and Chris Johnson to combine for at least 8 points in order to win the week. Easy, right? No so much. Reggie Wayne didn't get me jack, and until Chris Johnson's TD at the end of the game, he was barely at 6 or 7 fantasy points. But in the end, I managed to eke out a 58-49 win, and, with my boy E taking out Down The Drain, I'm tied for first at 6-2 (first based on total points scored, where I lead Down The Drain 639 to 638).

Riding a 4 game winning streak, I now face off against Team Louie, the only girl in our league. And despite what you may think about chicks playing fantasy football, Rebec's got a decent team. And luckly for me, a number of her better players are on a bye this week.

QB: David Garrard vs. Matt Schaub
RB: Marion Barber vs. Kevin Jones
RB: Earnest Graham vs. Dominic Rhodes
RB/WR: Chris Johnson vs. Hank Baskett
WR: Reggie Wayne vs. Chad Johnson
WR: Laveranues Coles vs. Santana Moss
TE: Zach Miller vs. Heath Miller
D/ST: Patriots vs. Cowboys
K: Matt Prater vs. Jeff Reed

QB: Now that Mike Singletary's running the show in San Francisco, it means that J.T. O'Sullivan's going to be seeing a lot of the bench (and the 49er's are on the bye this week). Thankfully, David Garrard is finally starting to play like David Garrard. And going up against my hapless Bengals this week, I expet a big game out of him. On the flip side, Matt Schaub has been on fire recently. Sure, he padded his stats by playing the aforementioned hapless Bengals last week, but big numbers are big numbers. With Andre Johnson showing that he's one of the top 5 recievers in the league (possibly higher than that), I also expect Schaub to score big this week. My hope is that Garrard can sneak in a rushing TD or two and give himself an edge that way (though you never underestimate Matt "The White Michael Vick" Schaub near the goalline; man, I wish I still had that button).

RB: I don't expect too much out of Barber this week going against the Giants, but with Brad Johnson's total fail at QB right now, the Cowboys don't have many options. Barber should at least get a TD somewhere in there. Same goes for Chris Johnson. LenDale White still gets the goalline carries, but Johnson gets the yards and will also get a TD at some point during the game. I am hoping for a big game from Earnest Graham simply because he's playing Kansas City, and opportunities like that don't come along often. Rebec's got Kevin Jones and Dominic Rhodes in because Frank Gore and DeAngelo Williams are both on byes. While I expect Rhodes to be okay (even if Joseph Addai is back in there), I expect nothing from Kevin Jones. So I feel pretty good in the RB department.

WR/TE: Reggie Wayne's been sucking it up recently, so he might get benched on Sunday in favor of Dwayne Bowe. He's listes as "questionable" right now anyway, but I suspect he'll find a way to play against the Patriots. Coles is listed a "probable", but I'm sure he'll play. If Favre can find a way to throw the ball to guys in Jets jerseys as opposed to the other team's, Coles should have an okay day. Santana Moss should have an okay day, too, but I don't expect Chad Johnson/Ocho Cinco to do anything because Ryan Fitzpatrick has been as much of a fail as Brad Johnson's been.
The battle of the Miller TE's should be a push, though I'd give Heath the edge because he's playing with a better QB on a better team.

DEF/K: The Pats are playing at Indy and the Cowboys are playing at the Giants; there shouldn't be a lot of points scored in the defensive side of the ball. And kickers are kickers, so, whatever. As long as I don't get negative points here, I'll be happy.

I feel pretty good about a geting fifth straight win this week. Down The Drain is looking pretty good this week too, so I need to keep pace. Onward to 7-2!