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For the third time in seven games this season, the Miami Dolphins will be without rookie running back Daniel Thomas.

Thomas won't play Sunday against the Giants due to a hamstring injury.

In all four games that he has played, Thomas, the team's second-round pick, has at least 15 rush attempts. He has 75 carries for 302 yards and seven receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown.

With Thomas out, Reggie Bush, who has had double-digit carries in each of his past four games, should see an expanded workload although Bush had only 13 carries in the last game Thomas missed.

That said, Thomas had a total of only 100 rushing yards on 34 carries in his past two games combined. By comparison, Bush has 20 rush attempts for 113 yards in those two games.

Only five teams in the league have allowed more rushing yards per game than the Giants this season.

In their four games before the bye, the Giants allowed three 100-yard rushers: LeSean McCoy (128 yards), Beanie Wells (138), Marshawn Lynch (98) and Fred Jackson (121). Those four backs combined to score six rushing touchdowns against the Giants as well.

When we update our fantasy running back rankings, Bush will move into our top 25 this week.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Picking three NFL games against the spread (ATS) on a weekly basis, I felt pretty good going into the Monday Night Football matchup with a 2-0 record and the Ravens (-8) as my third pick last week.

Of course, that pick did not go as expected and it dropped me to 2-1 ATS for the week and 15-4-2 ATS for the season through seven weeks.

Some folks learn from their mistakes.

Perhaps, I'm not one of them as the Ravens are again one of my three picks for Week 8:

Baltimore Ravens (-12.5) over Arizona Cardinals

To say that the Ravens' offense sputtered in Week 8 would understate how badly it performed. The offensive playcalling and performance left Terrell Suggs (and everyone else) "baffled."

Not only did quarterback Joe Flacco throw for a season-low 137 yards, Ray Rice, the team's do-it-all back and most explosive offensive player, had only eight carries. The last time he had fewer carries was during his rookie season when he backed up Willis McGahee. Plus, the Ravens did not get their first first down until the third quarter.

There is no doubt that Rice will see a boost in his workload in Week 8. While the Cardinals are allowing only 3.8 yards per carry, they also have allowed eight rushing touchdowns -- only three teams have allowed more.

As far as Flacco's performance goes, he has alternated from solid to poor performances throughout the season. Here are his yardage totals from Weeks 1 to 7, respectively: 224, 197, 389, 163, (bye week), 305 and 137. Against a pass defense that ranks in the bottom five in the NFL, Flacco should bounce back this week.

From a defensive standpoint, the Ravens are as good as it gets as they rank first in defensive scoring (13.8 points allowed per game) and have created 19 turnovers (six interceptions and a league-high 13 forced fumbles).

After last week's disappointing loss in prime time, the Ravens will take out their frustrations all game long on the Cardinals and this game will turn into a laugher. When the Ravens are big home favorites (10.5 points or more), they typically take care of business: 11-4 against the spread in past 15 games.

Detroit Lions (-2.5) over the Denver Broncos

Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow led the Broncos to an amazing come-from-behind victory as he worked his magic last week on "Gator Day" in Miami.

Regardless of what tricks Tebow may have up his sleeves at home this week, a repeat performance is unlikely. While I admire his determination and will and he makes plays as a runner, there is little debate when it comes to Tebow's accuracy. Several of his throws last week weren't even close to their intended receiver.

The Lions rank ninth in the NFL in pass defense (204.6 yards allowed per game), have sacked the quarterback 17 times and are one of five teams to intercept double-digit passes.

It appears as though quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has a sprained ankle, will play on Sunday. While it would be hard to not have good chemistry with Calvin Johnson, Stafford and Megatron have connected on a league-high ten touchdowns through their first seven games. Johnson has 100-plus yards in three straight games and in four of his past five games.

The Lions are 4-0-1 ATS in their past five road games and the Broncos are 5-12-1 ATS in their last 18 games overall.

Philadelphia Eagles (-3) over Dallas Cowboys

Based on expectations entering the season, both the Cowboys and Eagles enter their Sunday Night Football matchup as two teams not living up their potential.

It would be accurate to say that the Eagles have been a bigger disappointment. Not only do they have a worse record (2-4), but the "Dream Team" entered the season as the Super Bowl pick for many. Coming into the season, expectations for the Cowboys were somewhat tempered by their less-than-inspired performance in 2010 that caused their head coach to get fired.

Coming off the bye, betting against Eagles coach Andy Reid has been a losing proposition. In the game immediately after the bye in his 12 seasons as head coach of the Eagles, Reid is 12-0.

Led by the league's top-running quarterback, the Eagles rank first in the NFL in rushing offense (170.0 YPG). Meanwhile, the Cowboys rank first in the NFL in rushing defense (69.7 rushing yards allowed per game).

That said, I expect the Eagles to use LeSean McCoy more in the passing game than they have this year. McCoy, who led running backs in receptions (78) last year, has only 21 receptions for 123 yards, but McCoy is averaging a career-high 94.8 rushing yards per game (fifth in the NFL) through six weeks.

Philadelphia, who has yet to allow a 300-yard passer this season, picked off Rex Grossman four times in their last game. For the Cowboys, Tony Romo is prone to making mistakes in key moments as evidenced by the team's historic blown leads to the Jets and Lions.

In a must-win situation (falling to 2-5 would be a nearly insurmountable hurdle), the Eagles continue their game-after-bye winning streak under Reid.

For the rest of our Week 8 picks, check out The Weekly Blitz.

If you're looking for fantasy football rankings, here are our Week 8 rankings, which will continue to be updated up until the first kickoff on Sunday.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Texans receiver Andre Johnson, who has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 4, returned to the practice field Wednesday.

Whether or not he'll play this week has yet to be determined, but "there's obviously a chance" that he plays, according to Texans coach Gary Kubiak.

Before suffering the injury, Johnson was off to a strong start. Johnson had seven receptions, 93-plus yards and double-digit fantasy points in all three of the games he finished before the injury.

Provided Johnson is active, he should be in your starting lineup. With or without Johnson back in the lineup, however, teammate Jacoby Jones should be on your bench.

In those three games that Johnson missed, Jones has finished with zero, 13 and two fantasy points, respectively.

While the knock on Jones has been -- and will continue to be -- his inconsistency, Jones was unable to take advantage of a team-high 11 targets in Week 4 when he finished with only one reception for nine yards and no fantasy points.

Here are some more wide receiver notes for Week 8:

- Panthers receiver Steve Smith has 140-plus receiving yards in four of his seven games this season. With Wes Welker (785 yards) and the Patriots on bye last week, Smith moved into the NFL lead in receiving yards (818). In twice as many games last season, Smith had only 554 receiving yards.

- Redskins receiver Santana Moss suffered a fractured hand, which will keep him out of the lineup for 5-7 weeks. Meanwhile, teammate Jabar Gaffney extended his streak of games with 50-plus receiving yards by finishing with four receptions for 68 yards last week. Gaffney has between 50-70 receiving yards in all six games this season.

- Titans receiver Nate Washington had his worst performance of the season with only one reception for 10 yards. Before Week 7, Washington had 62-plus yards in all five of his games.

- Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice had only two receptions for a team-high 38 yards as quarterback Charlie Whitehurst finished 12-of-30 for 97 yards and an interception in Week 7. After three games with 80-plus receiving yards, Doug Baldwin was held to no receptions (on three targets) this week. Tarvaris Jackson may return in Week 8. Who thought they'd look forward to the return of Tarvaris Jackson?

- Calvin Johnson scored his tenth touchdown of the season and he finished with 100-plus yards for his third consecutive game. In fact, he has 100-plus yards in four-of-five games and the exception was a 96-yard performance. Meanwhile, Nate Burleson and Titus Young combined for six targets, one reception and one yard.

- Tebow missed Eric Decker on a potentially big play when Decker was wide open in the middle of the field so Decker finished with only two receptions on three targets last week. Meanwhile, Demaryius Thomas was targeted 10 times, by far the most of any Broncos receiver. Thomas finished with three receptions for 27 yards and a score.

- In Week 7, Dolphins receiver Davone Bess had a game-high 12 targets and seven receptions for 52 yards. It was the first time in three games that Bess had at least 50 receiving yards.

- Vikings receiver Percy Harvin left last week's game early after aggravating his rib injury, but Michael Jenkins caught three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Bernard Berrian, who was inactive again, will be inactive for the Vikings for the rest of the season as the team released him this week.

- Chiefs receiver Steve Breaston finished with five receptions for 64 yards. Breaston now has 50-plus yards in four consecutive games.

- Saints receiver Marques Colston has had back-to-back strong performances. In those two games, Colston has 14 receptions for 216 yards and three touchdowns. After Drew Brees, Colston and the Saints scored 62 points on the Colts, they get the winless Rams, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers.

- In his Rams' debut, receiver Brandon Lloyd led the team in receiving with six receptions and 74 yards.

- Both Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown finished with more than 100 receiving yards this week. Wallace caught three passes including a 95-yard touchdown while Brown finished with seven receptions for 102 yards. Wallace has at least 76 receiving yards in every game this season.

Here are our top 50 fantasy wide receivers for Week 8:

1. Calvin Johnson, Lions (at DEN)
2. Mike Wallace, Steelers (vs. NE)
3. Steve Smith, Panthers (vs. MIN)
4. Wes Welker, Patriots (at PIT)
5. Hakeem Nicks, Giants (vs. MIA)
6. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs (vs. SD)
7. Andre Johnson, Texans (vs. JAX)
8. Marques Colston, Saints (at STL)
9. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals (at BAL)
10. A.J. Green, Bengals (at SEA)
11. Vincent Jackson, Chargers (at KC)
12. Brandon Lloyd, Rams (vs. NO)
13. Dez Bryant, Cowboys (at PHI)
14. Jeremy Maclin, Eagles (vs. DAL)
15. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins (at NYG)
16. Miles Austin, Cowboys (at PHI)
17. DeSean Jackson, Eagles (vs. DAL)
18. Stevie Johnson, Bills (vs. WAS)
19. Anquan Boldin, Ravens (vs. ARI)
20. Pierre Garcon, Colts (at TEN)
21. Greg Little, Browns (at SF)
22. Mario Manningham, Giants (vs. MIA)
23. Reggie Wayne, Colts (at TEN)
24. Nate Washington, Titans (vs. IND)
25. Sidney Rice, Seahawks (vs. CIN)
26. Steve Breaston, Chiefs (vs. SD)
27. Jabar Gaffney, Redskins (at BUF)
28. Deion Branch, Patriots (at PIT)
29. Victor Cruz, Giants (vs. MIA)
30. Demaryius Thomas, Broncos (vs. DET)
31. Percy Harvin, Vikings (at CAR)
32. Antonio Brown, Steelers (vs. NE)
33. Eric Decker, Broncos (vs. DET)
34. David Nelson, Bills (vs. WAS)
35. Lance Moore, Saints (at STL)
36. Jerome Simpson, Bengals (at SEA)
37. Mike Thomas, Jaguars (at HOU)
38. Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (vs. CIN)
39. Michael Crabtree, 49ers (vs. CLE)
40. Torrey Smith, Ravens (vs. ARI)
41. Malcom Floyd, Chargers (at KC)
42. Kevin Walter, Texans (vs. JAX)
43. Robert Meachem, Saints (at STL)
44. Michael Jenkins, Vikings (at CAR)
45. Nate Burleson, Lions (at DEN)
46. Davone Bess, Dolphins (at NYG)
47. Danario Alexander, Rams (vs. NO)
48. Early Doucet, Cardinals (at BAL)
49. Jason Hill, Jaguars (at HOU)
50. Jacoby Jones, Texans (vs. JAX)

More rankings: Quarterbacks | Running Backs

If interested, here is our free Week 8 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 8!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With each passing week, the Bears will need to fork over more money to their do-it-all running back Matt Forte, who is set to become a free agent in 2012, when (or if) they finally reach a deal.

Through seven games this season, Forte has rushed for 672 yards, which ranks third in the NFL, and has 38 receptions for 419 yards. Forte is averaging a league-high 155.9 yards from scrimmage per game.

In other words, Forte is on pace of nearly 2,500 yards from scrimmage (2,494 to be exact). Only two players in NFL history have finished with at least 2,400 yards from scrimmage (YFS): Chris Johnson (2,509 in 2009) and Marshall Faulk (2,429 in 1999).

Since the Bears have decided to run the ball more often four weeks ago, however, Forte's stats are even more impressive. During that four-game span, Forte has 89 rush attempts for 553 yards with 16 receptions for 132 yards. That is an average of 171.25 YFS per game.

Although Forte has a bye in Week 8, he closes out the first half of his season with a very favorable fantasy matchup against the Eagles, who have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs this season, in Week 9.

The other teams (running backs in parenthesis) on bye this week are: Atlanta (Michael Turner), Green Bay (James Starks and Ryan Grant), Oakland (Darren McFadden and Michael Bush), Jets (Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson) and Tampa Bay (LeGarrette Blount).

Here are some more running back notes for players that will play in Week 8:

- Texans running back Arian Foster became the first player since 2009 to rush for 100-plus yards and have 100-plus receiving yards in the same game. Foster finished with 234 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns. Teammate Ben Tate carried the ball 15 times for 104 yards.

- Titans running back Chris Johnson, who was the last player to finish 100-plus rushing and receiving yards in the same game, had another sub-par performance. Johnson rushed 10 times for only 18 yards and caught a game-high six passes for 27 yards. On the season, Johnson has 93 carries for only 268 yards (2.88 yards per carry). In Week 8, Johnson faces the Colts, who have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.

- Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew has 84-plus rushing yards in all seven games this season. No other running back has more than four games with 84-plus rushing yards through Week 7, according to data from Pro Football Reference.

- It's always anyone's guess when it comes to the Redskins running game (and I guessed wrong in Week 7). Until leaving the game with a torn ACL, Tim Hightower got virtually all of the work (17 carries for 88 yards) after getting no carries in Week 6. Meanwhile, Ryan Torain, who had led the team in carries for two straight weeks, had only two carries for minus five yards.

- Browns running back Montario Hardesty averaged less than three yards per carry last week, but he carried it 33 times and finished with 95 yards. Practicing fully on Wednesday, Peyton Hillis should resume his starting role on Sunday. Unfortunately for Hillis and Hardesty, the Browns face the 49ers, who are the only team to not allow a rushing touchdown this season.

- Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas rushed for 53 yards on 19 carries, both team highs, but Reggie Bush rushed ten times for 42 yards as well. Thomas missed practice on Wednesday.

- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson carried the ball 24 times for a season-high 175 yards and a touchdown in Week 7. It was Peterson's third 100-yard game and he now has a league-high eight rushing touchdowns this season.

- Rookie running back DeMarco Murray rushed for 253 yards, which sets the Cowboys franchise record for most rushing yards in a game. This week, the Cowboys have a tough real-life game (but fantasy-friendly matchup for Murray) against Philadelphia on Sunday Night Football.

- Running back Steven Jackson rushed for 70 yards and a score on 18 carries. It was the first time this season that the Cowboys allowed more than 58 rushing yards to a running back.

- Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had 13 carries for only 32 yards in Week 7. Mendenhall has only one game this season with more than 66 rushing yards.

- After getting off to a slow start in his first three games, 49ers running back Frank Gore has been a fantasy force in the past three weeks. In his most recent three games, Gore has rushed for at least 125 yards and scored a touchdown in each one. (Take our poll on how many rushing yards Gore will have in Week 8 vs. the Browns.)

- In his last game (Week 6 vs. Buffalo), Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for more than 100 yards for the first time this season. In addition, he scored three touchdowns. With Brandon Jacobs expected to return in Week 8, it's unlikely that Bradshaw gets anywhere near the workload (26 carries) he got in that game. In his first five games, he had 17 carries or less every week.

Here are our top 40 fantasy running backs for Week 8:

1. Adrian Peterson, Vikings (at CAR)
2. Arian Foster, Texans (vs. JAX)
3. Fred Jackson, Bills (vs. WAS)
4. Ray Rice, Ravens (vs. ARI)
5. Frank Gore, 49ers (vs. CLE)
6. Chris Johnson, Titans (vs. IND)
7. LeSean McCoy, Eagles (vs. DAL)
8. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants (vs. MIA)
9. Ryan Mathews, Chargers (at KC)
10. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars (at HOU)
11. DeMarco Murray, Cowboys (at PHI)
12. Steven Jackson, Rams (vs. NO)
13. Darren Sproles, Saints (at STL)
14. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (vs. NE)
15. Daniel Thomas, Dolphins (at NYG)
16. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots (at PIT)
17. Mark Ingram, Saints (at STL)
18. Ryan Torain, Redskins (at BUF)
19. Jackie Battle, Chiefs (vs. SD)
20. Mike Tolbert, Chargers (at KC)
21. Bernard Scott, Bengals (at SEA)
22. Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks (vs. CIN)
23. Peyton Hillis, Browns (at SF)
24. Knowshon Moreno, Broncos (vs. DET)
25. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers (vs. MIN)
26. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (vs. MIN)
27. Pierre Thomas, Saints (at STL)
28. Brandon Jacobs, Giants (vs. MIA)
29. Maurice Morris, Lions (at DEN)
30. Roy Helu, Redskins (at BUF)
31. Alfonso Smith, Cardinals (at BAL)
32. Delone Carter, Colts (at TEN)
33. Ben Tate, Texans (vs. JAX)
34. Joseph Addai, Colts (at TEN)
35. Reggie Bush, Dolphins (at NYG)
36. Keiland Williams, Lions (at DEN)
37. Donald Brown, Colts (at TEN)
38. Montario Hardesty, Browns (at SF)
39. Kendall Hunter, 49ers (vs. CLE)
40. Stevan Ridley, Patriots (at PIT)
41. Tashard Choice, Cowboys (at PHI)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary. In addition, our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section.

If interested, here is our free Week 8 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 8!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 08:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The only thing that can stop Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers these days is the bye week.

In fact, Rodgers is the first player in NFL history with a passer rating of 110-plus in each of his first seven games of a season. Only four quarterbacks have a passer rating of 100-plus up to this point in the season and Rodgers (125.7) has a commanding lead in the category.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is having a great season is in his own right, is second (104.8).

In those seven games, Rodgers has thrown for 300-plus yards six times. The one game in which he did not, Rodgers threw for 297 yards. He has thrown for multiple touchdowns in every game this season and has three or more (passing) touchdowns in five games.

Although Brady and Saints quarterback Drew Brees are on pace to throw for more than Rodgers (5,422-yard pace), no quarterback has a higher completion rate (71.5 percent) or more passing touchdowns (20) than Rodgers. Nearly as impressive, Rodgers has thrown only three interceptions.

Other than Rodgers, no elite fantasy quarterback has his bye this week.

The following teams (quarterbacks) have their bye in Week 8: Atlanta (Matt Ryan), Chicago (Jay Cutler), NY Jets (Mark Sanchez), Oakland (Carson Palmer) and Tampa Bay (Josh Freeman).

Here are some quarterback notes for Week 8:

- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has played in seven games. He now has seven rushing touchdowns. The only player with more rushing touchdowns than Newton is Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson (eight) and no other quarterback has more than two rushing touchdowns this season.

- After six consecutive games with multiple touchdown passes, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was held to only one touchdown pass and a season-low 183 passing yards. More importantly, however, Stafford is dealing with an ankle injury and his status is uncertain for Week 8 against the Broncos, who have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks this season.

- For 57 minutes, Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow played horribly in his first start as the team trailed 15-0. In the final three minutes, Tebow rallied the Broncos to score 18 unanswered points and an overtime victory. Although Tebow has only 17 completions (45.9 completion percentage) in a game and a half, he has 36 fantasy points during that span.

- Kevin Kolb barely completed half of his passes, but he threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers, who lead the NFL in pass defense (171.9 yards allowed per game). Before last week, no quarterback threw for more than 262 yards against the Steelers this season. This week, the Cardinals face the Ravens, who have held half of their opponents' quarterbacks to five or less fantasy points.

- Last week, Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had his worst game of the season: 104 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Before last week's four-point performance, Hasselbeck had 12-18 fantasy points in all five of his other games. This week, Hasselbeck faces the Colts, who have allowed ten passing touchdowns in their past three games.

- Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has alternated between good and bad performances all season long. He has scored the following fantasy points from Week 1 to 7: 20, 7, 27, 2, (bye), 14, 7. As badly as he and the Ravens played against the Jaguars, Flacco gets a favorable matchup in Week 8 to bounce back: Arizona. Only three teams have allowed more fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks than the Cardinals.

- In his past four games, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has thrown three touchdowns and five interceptions. That four-game span started with the Chiefs, who are also this week's opponent. In that first matchup, Rivers threw for 266 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.

- Like Rodgers, Brees has thrown for 300-plus yards in six-of-seven games played this season and has a five-game streak of 325 yards or more. This week, the Saints face the Rams, who have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.

Here are our initial top 25 fantasy quarterbacks for Week 8:

1. Drew Brees, Saints (at STL)
2. Cam Newton, Panthers (vs. MIN)
3. Michael Vick, Eagles (vs. DAL)
4. Tom Brady, Patriots (at PIT)
5. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (vs. NE)
6. Matthew Stafford, Lions (at DEN)
7. Eli Manning, Giants (vs. MIA)
8. Tony Romo, Cowboys (at PHI)
9. Philip Rivers, Chargers (at KC)
10. Tim Tebow, Broncos (vs. DET)
11. Matt Schaub, Texans (vs. JAC)
12. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills (vs. WAS)
13. Joe Flacco, Ravens (vs. ARI)
14. Colt McCoy, Browns (at SF)
15. Matt Cassel, Chiefs (vs. SD)
16. Andy Dalton, Bengals (at SEA)
17. Matt Hasselbeck, Titans (vs. IND)
18. Curtis Painter, Colts (at TEN)
19. Kevin Kolb, Cardinals (at BAL)
20. John Beck, Redskins (at BUF)
21. Sam Bradford, Rams (vs. NO)
22. Christian Ponder, Vikings (at CAR)
23. Matt Moore, Dolphins (at NYG)
24. Tarvaris Jackson, Seahawks (vs. CIN)
25. Shaun Hill, Lions (at DEN)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary.

In addition, all of our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section, by Wednesday.

If interested, here is our free Week 8 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 8!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Like many other sites, we listed Cowboys rookie running back DeMarco Murray on our list of waiver-wire pickups heading into Week 7.

With teammate Felix Jones out with a high-ankle sprain and a favorable matchup against the league's worst run defense, it made sense to rank Murray inside our top 20 fantasy running backs for the week. But who could have predicted last week's record-setting performance?

Murray, who rushed for a 91-yard touchdown on his first carry of the game, finished with 253 rushing yards, which breaks the single-game franchise record previously held by Emmitt Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher.

This week, Murray has another favorable matchup against the Eagles.

If Murray is available in your league(s), add him as soon as possible. As of Tuesday morning, Murray is still available in 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues.

Our goal is to bring you new names each week of possible additions to your fantasy squad. We have two criteria for a player to make the cut: (1) he was not on last week's list and (2) he is owned in 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues or less.

So players like Murray, Denver's Demaryius Thomas, etc., won't be on this week's list since they were on last week's list, but they are still worth adding.

Here are some other players worth adding (Yahoo! ownership percentage in parenthesis):

QB - Andy Dalton, Bengals (owned in 21 percent of Yahoo! leagues): With Cedric Benson out serving his one-game suspension, which was cut from three games, we suggested last week to pick up Bernard Scott. But considering the Seahawks do a solid job at stopping the run (rank first in NFL in yards per carry), the Bengals may throw it quite a bit this week. In his two games before the bye, Dalton completed more than 70 percent (46-of-65) of his passes, thrown for 221.5 yards per game, three touchdowns and one interception.

RB - Roy Helu, Redskins (17 percent): After Tim Hightower suffered a season-ending ACL injury this weekend, Helu moves up the team's depth chart and it may just be a matter of time before he takes over as the team's No. 1 option in the backfield. Not only is Helu more talented than Ryan Torain, but Torain has struggled to stay healthy for a full season himself.

RB - Knowshon Moreno and Lance Ball, Broncos (48 and zero percent, respectively): With Willis McGahee out for at least this week with a broken hand, Moreno will likely get the majority of the workload this week. That said, Moreno and Lance Ball split the carries almost evenly with seven and six carries, respectively, in Week 7. If you're in a deeper league, Ball is worth consideration as well.

RB - Keiland Williams, Lions (three percent): It is likely that Jahvid Best will miss another week with his concussion. Last week, the Lions split carries evenly between Maurice Morris and Williams as each had nine rush attempts. With Williams to get the goal-line work, he has more upside in non-PPR leagues and is available in almost all leagues.

RB - Alfonso Smith, Cardinals (two percent): While Beanie Wells won't need surgery on his knee, there is not a timetable for when he will return. Assuming that Wells is out this week (and perhaps more weeks), Smith would be the guy to benefit. The Cardinals have a tough matchup in Week 8 against the Ravens, but then they face the Rams twice and Eagles once in a four-game span.

WR - Steve Breaston, Chiefs (30 percent): Over the past four games, Breaston has contributed on a consistent basis. In each of his past four games, Breaston has 50-plus receiving yards. During that span, Breaston has 16 receptions for 260 and two touchdowns.

WR - Jabar Gaffney, Redskins (20 percent): Speaking of consistency, Gaffney has finished with more than 50 receiving yards in all six games this season. With the loss of Santana Moss for the next five-to-seven weeks, there should be a few extra opportunities in the passing game for Gaffney although he's been steady all season.

WR - Greg Little, Browns (28 percent): For three consecutive weeks, Little has five-plus receptions. (Little leads the team in receptions (25) this season.) For the first time in three weeks, however, Little finished with less than 57 receiving yards. Against the Seahawks, who lead the league in rushing yards allowed per carry (as noted above), I thought the Browns would thrown more often. Instead, they decided to give it to Montario Hardesty over and over again. This week's opponent, San Francisco, is even better against the run so maybe the thought was right but a week early.

WR - Greg Salas, Rams (one percent): Salas, the team's slot receiver, is worthy of consideration especially in deeper point-per-reception leagues. In his past three games, Salas has 14 receptions for 137 yards.

TE - Heath Miller, Steelers (32 percent): In his past three games, Miller has scored in two games and has 11 receptions for 132 yards. This week, the Steelers face the Patriots, who have allowed the most passing yards (322.2 per game) this season.

If you're looking for Week 8 rankings, our rankings will be up later Tuesday or early Wednesday.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can either (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

If interested, our free Week 8 fantasy football contest is "live."

Good luck in Week 8!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are some game-by-game notes, stats and observations through the 4 p.m. games today:

Houston Texans 41, Tennessee Titans 7

- As noted earlier on our blog, Texans running back Arian Foster became the first player since 2009 to rush for 100-plus yards and have 100-plus receiving yards in the same game. Foster finished with 234 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns.

- Teammate Ben Tate carried the ball 15 times for 104 yards.

- Texans tight end Joel Dreesen had only two receptions for 31 yards, but one of those receptions was for a touchdown. Dreesen has two touchdowns in the past three games.

- Titans running back Chris Johnson, who was the last player to finish 100-plus rushing and receiving yards in the same game, had another sub-par performance. Johnson rushed 10 times for only 18 yards and caught a game-high six passes for 27 yards. On the season, Johnson has 93 carries for only 268 yards (2.88 yards per carry).

- Receiver Nate Washington had his worst performance of the season with only one reception for 10 yards. Before Week 7, Washington had 62-plus yards in all five of his games.

Carolina Panthers 33, Washington Redskins 20

- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has played in seven games. He now has seven rushing touchdowns.

- For the fourth time this season, Panthers receiver Steve Smith finished with 140-plus yards. Smith had seven receptions for 143 yards this week. With Wes Welker (785 yards) and the Patriots are on bye, Smith now moves into the NFL lead in receiving yards (818) through seven games.

- It's always anyone's guess when it comes to the Redskins running game (and I guessed wrong). Until leaving the game with a knee injury, Tim Hightower got virtually all of the work (17 carries for 88 yards) after getting no carries last week. Meanwhile, Ryan Torain, who has led the team in carries for two straight weeks, had only two carries for minus five yards.

- Redskins receiver Santana Moss suffered a fractured hand in today's loss. Before leaving the game, Moss had two receptions for 17 yards.

- Teammate Jabar Gaffney extended his streak of games with 50-plus receiving yards by finishing with four receptions for 68 yards. Gaffney has between 50-70 receiving yards in all six games this season.

- Tight end Fred Davis finished with six receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. It was the fourth time in six games that Davis had at least 80 receiving yards.

Cleveland Browns 6, Seattle Seahawks 3

- Both of the team's starting running backs were inactive in today's game. While Peyton Hillis, who did not practice all week, was not a surprise, Marshawn Lynch had back issues in pre-game warmups.

- Browns running back Montario Hardesty averaged less than three yards per carry, but he carried it 33 times and finished with 95 yards.

- After back-to-back games with 57-plus yards, Browns receiver Greg Little finished with five receptions for only 31 yards. The only Browns players to have more receiving yards were running back Chris Ogbonnaya (43) and tight end Evan Moore (35).

- Meanwhile, Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice had only two receptions for a team-high 38 yards as quarterback Charlie Whitehurst finished 12-of-30 for 97 yards and an interception. After three games with 80-plus receiving yards, Doug Baldwin was held to no receptions (on three targets) this week.

Atlanta Falcons 23, Detroit Lions 16

- After six consecutive games with multiple touchdown passes, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was held to only one touchdown pass and a season-low 183 passing yards. Stafford suffered a leg injury at the end of the game, but the team is keeping quiet on the specifics and extent of the injury.

- Calvin Johnson scored his tenth touchdown of the season and he finished with 100-plus yards for his third consecutive game. In fact, he has 100-plus yards in four-of-five games and the exception was a 96-yard performance.

- Nate Burleson and Titus Young combined for six targets, one reception and one yard.

- With Julio Jones out for the second week in a row, Falcons receiver Harry Douglas finished with more than 50 receiving yards for the second straight game. Douglas had four receptions for 62 yards, but it was Roddy White that scored Matt Ryan's only touchdown pass.

- Speaking of Ryan, he has thrown exactly one touchdown pass in five consecutive games.

- Falcons running back Michael Turner had 27 carries for 122 yards. It was the fourth 100-yard game for Turner this season and the third time in four games that he had at least 26 rush attempts.

Denver Broncos 18, Miami Dolphins 15 (OT)

- Going into the final three minutes of the game, the Broncos trailed 15-0, but Tim Tebow threw two touchdown passes and ran in a two-point conversion. Tebow, who completed less than half of his passes, threw for only 161 yards, but he rushed for 65 yards.

- Broncos running back Willis McGahee, who left the game with a fractured hand, rushed for 18 times for 76 yards.

- Tebow missed Eric Decker on a potentially big play when Decker was wide open in the middle of the field, but Decker finished with only two receptions on three targets.

- Meanwhile, Demaryius Thomas was targeted 10 times, by far the most of any Broncos receiver. Thomas finished with three receptions for 27 yards and a score.

- Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas rushed for 53 yards on 19 carries, both team highs, but Reggie Bush rushed ten times for 42 yards as well.

- Receiver Davone Bess had a game-high 12 targets and seven receptions for 52 yards. It was the first time in three games that Bess had at least 50 receiving yards.

New York Jets 27, San Diego Chargers 21

- Playing for the first time since Week 2, Chargers tight end Antonio Gates finished with game highs in receptions (five) and receiving yards (54) in addition to scoring a touchdown.

- Speaking of receiving touchdowns, Jets receiver Plaxico Burress finished with only four receptions for 25 yards, but he scored three times.

- For the third straight game, Jets running back Shonn Greene carried the ball at least 20 times. For the first time this season, Greene broke the century mark as he finished with 112 yards.

- Neither quarterback reached 180 passing yards in the game. It was the first time that Philip Rivers had less than 250 passing yards this season. Mark Sanchez has thrown for 201 yards or less for four consecutive games although Sanchez threw those three TD passes to Burress.

Chicago Bears 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18

- Bears running back Matt Forte continues to have a great season. Forte carried the ball 25 times for 145 yards and a score today in addition to catching two passes for 38 yards. Through seven games, Forte has 672 rushing yards and 419 receiving yards.

- Roy Williams led the Bears in receiving with four receptions for a season-high 59 yards and a touchdown. It was the first touchdown of the season for Williams.

- Buccaneers running back Earnest Graham left the game and the prognosis isn't good. Graham is rumored to have torn his Achilles tendon, which would end his season.

- Three Buccaneers had double-digit targets: Kellen Winslow (12), Mike Williams (11) and Dezmon Briscoe (10). Both Winslow and Briscoe caught touchdown passes and Williams and Briscoe both finished with six receptions for 73-plus yards.

- For Williams, he had a season-high 75 receiving yards. In three of his past four games, Williams has five-plus receptions and 50-plus yards.

Green Bay Packers 33, Minnesota Vikings 27

- Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw for 335 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in today's win. Rodgers has thrown for 300-plus yards in six-of-seven games and the one game he was below 300 yards was a 297-yard performance. Rodgers has thrown 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions this season.

- Greg Jennings led the team in receiving (seven receptions for 147 yards and a score), but James Jones and Jordy Nelson both finished with more than 50 receiving yards.

- Tight end Jermichael Finley had only two receptions for 13 yards, but he scored a touchdown. While Finley now has four receiving touchdowns, all three of his previous scores came in one game (Week 3 vs. Chicago).

- In his first career start, Vikings rookie quarterback Christian Ponder threw for 219 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions although he completed only 13 of his 32 pass attempts.

- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson carried the ball 24 times for a season-high 175 yards and a touchdown. It was Peterson's third 100-yard game and he now has eight rushing touchdowns this season.

- While Percy Harvin left the game early after aggravating his rib injury, Michael Jenkins caught three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown.

Kansas City Chiefs 28, Oakland Raiders 0

- After Kyle Boller threw three interceptions, the Raiders benched him so that Carson Palmer could throw three interceptions. Both quarterbacks threw a pick-six and no touchdowns.

- Raiders running back Darren McFadden left the game with a sprained foot and finished with only two rushing attempts for four yards and one reception for three yards. With McFadden out for most of the game, Michael Bush rushed 17 times for 99 yards.

- Darrius Heyward-Bey finished with five receptions for a game-high 89 yards. It is the fourth consecutive game in which DHB has finished with at least 82 receiving yards.

- Chiefs receiver Steve Breaston finished with five receptions for 64 yards. Breaston now has 50-plus yards in four consecutive games.

Dallas Cowboys 34, St. Louis Rams 7

- Rookie running back DeMarco Murray rushed for 253 yards, which sets the Cowboys franchise record for most rushing yards in a game. Next week, the Cowboys face the Eagles, who are nearly as bad against the run as the Rams.

- With Murray rushing for so many yards, quarterback Tony Romo finished with a season-low 166 passing yards, but he did throw two touchdowns: one to Dez Bryant and the other to Jason Witten.

- In his Rams' debut, receiver Brandon Lloyd led the team in receiving with six receptions and 74 yards.

- Running back Steven Jackson rushed for 70 yards and a score on 18 carries. It was the first time this season that the Cowboys allowed more than 58 rushing yards to a running back.

Pittsburgh Steelers 32, Arizona Cardinals 20

- Both Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown finished with more than 100 receiving yards today. Wallace caught three passes including a 95-yard touchdown while Brown finished with seven receptions for 102 yards. Wallace has at least 76 receiving yards in every game this season.

- Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had 13 carries for only 32 yards. Although Mendenhall had 146 rushing yards and a touchdown last week, it was the only game in which he rushed for more than 66 yards.

- Cardinals running back Beanie Wells left the game with a knee injury after 12 carries for 42 yards. Depending on the severity of the injury, Alfonso Smith is worth picking up in fantasy leagues. In Wells' absence, Smith rushed five times for 17 yards and a touchdown.

- Kevin Kolb barely completed half of his passes, but he threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns against the Steelers, who entered the game as the league's top-ranked pass defense. Before today, no quarterback threw for more than 262 yards against the Steelers this season.

Discuss the primetime matchups in our NFL Gameday Forum: Saints-Colts | Jaguars-Ravens

Each week, we pick three games against the spread (ATS) for entertainment purposes and my three picks this week were: Chicago -1, Pittsburgh -4 and Baltimore -8.

If the Ravens cover tomorrow night, I will improve to 16-3-2 against the spread this season. Entertaining, indeed.

Finally, if interested, we have set up our free fantasy football contest for Week 8.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 08:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was limping after taking a hit at the end of today's game and in the locker room after the game.

"We're going to check him out," [coach Jim] Schwartz said, per Justin Rogers of MLive.com. "(We'll) look at his knee and his ankle. We'll see where he is this week."

For the first time this season, Stafford finished without throwing multiple touchdowns and a had a season-low 183 passing yards.

Stafford said that he "was going to give [returning to the game] a try" if the Lions got the ball back.

The Lions, who have now lost two straight games, face the Broncos next week.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With the last two rushing champions facing off in today's Texans-at-Titans game, it's not surprising that two running backs had great games. What is surprising, however, is that the two backs were on the same team.

Texans running back Arian Foster rushed for 115 yards and two touchdowns while also leading the team with five receptions for 119 yards and a touchdown.

In addition, Texans backup running back Ben Tate rushed for 104 yards on 15 carries.

Foster becomes the first player to finish with 100-plus rushing and 100-plus receiving yards in the same game since 2009 when Titans running back Chris Johnson did it.

Johnson, who was booed at home, had another sub-par performance as he rushed 10 times for only 18 yards. Through six games, Johnson has 268 rushing yards on 93 carries (2.88 yards per carry).

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With most fantasy leagues beginning their postseason in Week 14, we are at the midpoint of the regular season in most fantasy leagues.

In addition, we are at that point in the season where trends that developed early in the season have either corrected themselves (e.g., Frank Gore's slow start turned hot streak) or have become the new normal (e.g., Chris Johnson's continued slow start).

Going into the season, I expected San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers to have a huge season.

After leading the NFL in passing yards (4,710) in 2010, RIvers is averaging a career-high 307.2 passing yards per game. However, he has thrown more interceptions (seven) than touchdowns (six). Last year, he had a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 30:13.

While I still expect Rivers to turn things around, this week's matchup is one of the toughest he'll face all season.

The Jets have allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks and they have allowed only one passing touchdown -- thrown by Tom Brady (who trails only Aaron Rodgers in passing touchdowns) -- in their past five games.

Rivers is still a start (our eighth-ranked fantasy quarterback for Week 7), but he's ranked one spot lower than the guy Tim Tebow (who is listed below).

Here are some players to consider starting in Week 7:

QB - Tim Tebow, Broncos (at MIA): Tebow, who was the quarterback of the 2009 Florida Gators, will be honored along with other members of that national championship team when Tebow and the Broncos face the Dolphins. Regardless of his deficiencies as a pocket-passer, Tebow, who completed only four passes in relief of Kyle Orton last week, still finished with 16 fantasy points.

Think about it this way: Tebow will finish with 20 fantasy points if he throws for 150 yards and one touchdown while running for 40 yards and a touchdown. Considering the Dolphins have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, that seems realistic to me.

RB - Mark Ingram, Saints (vs. IND): Although Ingram has single-digit carries in three of his past four games, he has scored in each of those games. Going against one of the league's worst run defenses and worst teams in general, Ingram should get a goal-line opportunity or two (or more) in this Sunday Night Football matchup. Only the Panthers and Rams (Ingram's Week 8 matchup) have allowed more rushing yards per game than the Colts this season.

RB - Jackie Battle, Chiefs (at OAK): Before the Chiefs bye, Battle had a breakout game against the Colts. In that game, Battle had 19 carries for 119 yards and two receptions for 21 yards. Battle, who will get the majority of work out of the Chiefs' backfield again, gets another solid matchup after his bye as the Raiders have allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season.

WR - Greg Little, Browns (vs. SEA): In each of his past two games, Little has six receptions and at least 57 receiving yards. Last week, Colt McCoy targeted Little 12 times. With Peyton Hillis likely to miss this week's games and the Seahawks having a solid run defense, I expect the Browns to throw it quite a bit and Little will be the biggest beneficiary. The Seahawks have allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season.

WR - Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders (vs. KC): In the past three weeks, Heyward-Bey has 17 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown. Only seven players (six receivers) have had more receiving yards during that three-game span. Even with Kyle Boller under center this week, DHB has been consistent with 80-plus receiving yards in each of his past three games.

WR - Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (at CLE): While I have Sidney Rice ranked higher than Baldwin in my Week 7 wide receiver rankings, both wideouts are worth starting in leagues that start three receivers. With Joe Haden, the Browns top cornerback, out for this game, that is good news for both receivers. Baldwin leads the team in receptions (20), receiving yards (330) and receiving touchdowns (two) and has 80-plus yards in three of five games this season.

TE - Kellen Winslow, Buccaneers (vs. CHI): In each of his past three games, Winslow has five receptions. Through six games, Winslow has 27 receptions for 257 yards but no touchdowns. Before last week, the Bears, who have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends, had allowed tight ends to score in three consecutive games.

Here are some players to consider sitting in Week 7:

QB - Matt Ryan, Falcons (at DET): Although Julio Jones has not officially been ruled out for Week 7 yet, it is highly unlikely that he will play. In each of his past four games, Ryan has thrown only one touchdown and he has thrown for less than 200 yards per game in each of the past two weeks. The Lions, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, have allowed only one 300-yard passing game and one quarterback to throw for more than one touchdown: Tony Romo. In their five other games, they have held opposing quarterbacks to less than 300 yards and one touchdown or less.

RB - Tim Hightower, Redskins (at CAR): Collectively, the Redskins running backs have an ideal fantasy matchup as the Panthers have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. Which one of them will get the opportunity to exploit it? Of course, it's anyone's guess with coach Mike Shanahan divying up the workload, but my guess is it will be Ryan Torain that gets the most opportunities even though Hightower's shoulder appears to be healthy.

RB - DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (vs. WAS): In the past three weeks, Williams has had two solid games. In Weeks 4 and 5 combined, Williams rushed for 197 yards and a touchdown. But through six weeks, Williams has never had more than 12 carries in any one game. To make matters worse (for the fantasy value of Williams and teammate Jonathan Stewart), quarterback Cam Newton has six rushing touchdowns to one apiece for Williams and Stewart.

WR - Plaxico Burress, Jets (vs. SD): It's hard to have much confidence in the Jets passing offense, especially if they continue to run the ball more frequently as they have in the past two games. What makes the prospects even more challenging for the Jets' receivers this week is they face the Chargers, who have allowed the fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing receivers this season. In his past three games combined, Burress has only seven receptions for 91 yards and no touchdowns.

WR - Brandon Lloyd, Rams (at DAL): Based on talent alone, Lloyd should be in your starting lineup, but there are a few things going against him in Week 7. Granted, he's familiar with the offensive system run by offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who was his coach in Denver, but he has only been with the team for six days and it will be A.J. Feeley throwing him the ball as Sam Bradford has been ruled out for Week 7. If possible, I would wait a week to use Lloyd.

WR - Jacoby Jones, Texans (at TEN): Jones had a nice game in Week 6 with four receptions for 76 yards and a touchdown. Jones is inconsistent, however, as his Week 5 performance showed. Even with a lot of targets, it does not mean that Jones will capitalize. In Week 5, Jones had one reception (on 11 targets) for only 11 yards.

TE - Dustin Keller, Jets (vs. SD): With the exception of Week 2 against the Patriots, the Chargers have allowed tight ends to catch a total of nine passes for 106 yards and a touchdown in their other four games combined. In his past three games, Keller has a total of five receptions for 70 yards and no touchdowns. To look at it another way, Keller had more fantasy points in each of his first three games individually than he has had in his past three games combined.

For all of our weekly rankings, check out our fantasy section. If you have specific start-sit questions, feel free to post them in our fantasy football forum.

To keep track of our fantasy football updates, you can either: (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

If interested, our free Week 7 fantasy football contest is open to all and the entry deadline is Sunday, October 23rd at 12:59 p.m.

Good luck in Week 7!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When the Rams face the Cowboys on Sunday, quarterback Sam Bradford won't be under center for St. Louis.

Bradford, who has a high-ankle sprain, has been ruled out for Sunday's game, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Through five games, Bradford has thrown only three touchdowns and has had two 300-yard games with three games with less than 200 yards.

With Bradford out, the Rams quarterback A.J. Feeley will start for the first time since 2007. Feeley, who filled in for an injured Bradford in Week 1, has completed one-of-five passes for 20 yards this season.

One benefit Feeley will have is that team traded for receiver Brandon Lloyd earlier in the week. Lloyd had a breakout season last year for Josh McDaniels, who was the Broncos head coach and is now the Rams offensive coordinator.

In our updated quarterback rankings, Feeley is our No. 23 fantasy quarterback this week.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every week, I make three NFL picks against the spread (ATS) for entertainment purposes and last week was another "entertaining" week.

After my only losing week (1-2 in Week 5) of the season, I got back on track with a 2-0 performance (and a push) in Week 6. Through the first six weeks of the 2011 NFL season, I am now 13-3-2 (81.3 percent) ATS.

Here are my three picks for Week 7:

Pittsburgh Steelers (-4) over Arizona Cardinals

With an upgrade at quarterback, things were going to be like "night and day" for the Cardinals' offense. Instead, it has felt like more of the same.

Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb, who was acquired in the offseason via trade, has thrown only one touchdown and five interceptions in his last three games. And it won't get any easier this week.

Pittsburgh's rush defense hasn't been up to its own standards, but their pass defense currently ranks first in the NFL as they have allowed 157.7 passing yards per game. One of the things that has surprised me about the Steelers defense is they have created a league-low three turnovers (one interception and two forced fumbles) this season. That could change this week, however, as Kolb has thrown only one touchdown and five interceptions in his last three games.

The Steelers may have found some offensive balance with Rashard Mendenhall having his 146-yard performance last week. Currently the team ranks in the top 12 in both rushing and passing offense.

Baltimore Ravens (-8) over Jacksonville Jaguars

The Ravens, who have won three straight, have outscored their opponents by a combined score of 100-38 during that span.

Meanwhile, the Jaguars will look to end their losing streak at five games. They haven't lost six straight games since 1995, their first season in the league.

Maurice Jones-Drew has been one of the few bright spots for the Jaguars as he ranks third in the NFL in rushing (572 yards). MJD has been consistent -- no fewer than 84 rushing yards in any of his first six games. However, only two teams in the league allow fewer rushing yards per game than the Ravens (76.6 YPG allowed).

In addition, the Ravens have scored four defensive touchdowns in five games while creating 16 turnovers (six interceptions and a league-best 10 forced fumbles).

While the Jaguars have run the ball well, they rank last in the NFL in passing offense and total offense. Perhaps it's a good thing that the local blackout has not yet been lifted for Monday Night Football.

(Note: Deadline to avoid blackout is Saturday at 8:30 p.m.)

Chicago Bears (-1) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are the "home team," but the game is in London. With the Bears having a larger national (and global) fan base than the Bucs, it wouldn't surprise me if the crowd is pro-Chicago.

While he played his best game of the season last week, Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman has been inconsistent all season. Through six games, Freeman has thrown more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (five). In fact, he has thrown as many interceptions already this season as he threw in all of 2010.

Although Bears quarterback Jay Cutler can be inconsistent as well, I expect the Bears to give the ball to running back Matt Forte early and often. As great of a rookie season as Forte had, he's having his best season as pro and it's not even close. Forte has 527 rushing yards and 381 receiving yards through six games, which means he is on pace for more than 2,400 yards from scrimmage.

Cutler has completed more than 71 percent of passes (49-of-69), has averaged 258 yards and thrown three touchdowns and no interceptions in his past two games.

For the rest of our picks for Week 7, check out our weekly picks page.

If you're looking for Week 7 fantasy football rankings, our rankings are currently available although we will continue to update them until 1 p.m. kickoffs on Sunday morning.

In addition, here is our free Week 7 fantasy football contest, if interested.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In his first two seasons in the NFL, Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey had 80-plus receiving yards in only two games.

Hitting his stride in his third season, Heyward-Bey has an active streak of three straight games with 80-plus receiving yards. Only three other players (Detroit's Calvin Johnson, Green Bay's Greg Jennings and New Orleans' Jimmy Graham) have done the same thing from Weeks 4 to 6.

Granted, some players did not have the opportunity to do so since they were on bye in one of those weeks, but receivers like Wes Welker, Roddy White, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, etc. have played in all three of those weeks.

During that span, DHB has 17 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown.

Meanwhile, rookie Denarius Moore, who had five receptions for 146 yards in Week 2, has only eight receptions for 62 yards and a score in the past four weeks.

For Heyward-Bey to continue his hot streak and for Moore to get back on track, they will need to rely on new quarterback Carson Palmer, who is expected to start with Jason Campbell out with a broken collarbone.

Here are some more wide receiver notes for Week 7:

- Before last week's bye, Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe finished with season highs in receptions (seven), yards (128) and touchdowns (two) in Week 5. Bowe has had 100-plus receiving yards in back-to-back games and has scored in three consecutive games.

- Colts receiver Pierre Garcon finished last week's game with eight receptions for 52 yards and no touchdowns plus he lost a fumble. In the previous two games, Painter and Garcon connected on two touchdowns per game.

- Jordy Nelson led the Packers in receiving in Week 6 with 104 yards, but he had only two receptions including a 93-yard touchdown. Nelson has scored in four of six games this season. Teammate James Jones had only one reception but it was a 35-yard touchdown. Jones has now scored in three consecutive games.

- Rams receivers Danario Alexander and Greg Salas finished with 91 and 77 yards, respectively, and combined for 14 receptions. In four games this season, Alexander has 14 receptions for 287 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Salas set career highs in both receptions (eight) and receiving yards. Earlier in the week, the Rams traded for Brandon Lloyd and cut Mike Sims-Walker, who re-signed with the Jaguars.

- Lions receiver Calvin Johnson finished with seven receptions for 113 yards this week, but he failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season. (Take our poll on whether Megatron will break the single-season receiving touchdown record.)

- Steelers receiver Mike Wallace has had at least 76 yards in all six games this season. Wallace is dealing with a hamstring injury, but he was a limited participant at practice on Thursday, according to the team's website.

- Last week, Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin finished with a season-high 132 yards, which is the second-most Boldin has had since he became a Raven.

- After last week's pathetic performance (one catch for 11 yards on 11 targets), Texans receiver Jacoby Jones had four receptions for a team-high 76 yards and a touchdown in Week 6.

- Rookie receiver Greg Little, who started opposite Mohammed Massaquoi, finished with team highs in receptions (six), yards (72) and targets (12). It was the second straight game that Little finished with six receptions and 50-plus yards.

- Redskins receiver Jabar Gaffney has had 50-plus receiving yards in all five of his games this season.

Here are our top 50 fantasy wide receivers for Week 7:

1. Calvin Johnson, Lions (vs. ATL)
2. Greg Jennings, Packers (at MIN)
3. Mike Wallace, Steelers (at ARI)
4. Miles Austin, Cowboys (vs. STL)
5. Steve Smith, Panthers (vs. WAS)
6. Dez Bryant, Cowboys (vs. STL)
7. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals (vs. PIT)
8. Roddy White, Falcons (at DET)
9. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs (at OAK)
10. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins (vs. DEN)
11. Marques Colston, Saints (vs. IND)
12. Vincent Jackson, Chargers (at NYJ)
13. Santana Moss, Redskins (at CAR)
14. Anquan Boldin, Ravens (at JAC)
15. Pierre Garcon, Colts (at NO)
16. Jordy Nelson, Packers (at MIN)
17. Santonio Holmes, Jets (vs. SD)
18. Reggie Wayne, Colts (at NO)
19. Eric Decker, Broncos (at MIA)
20. James Jones, Packers (at MIN)
21. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders (vs. KC)
22. Percy Harvin, Vikings (vs. GB)
23. Greg Little, Browns (vs. SEA)
24. Sidney Rice, Seahawks (at CLE)
25. Mike Williams, Bucs (vs. CHI)
26. Nate Washington, Titans (vs. HOU)
27. Lance Moore, Saints (vs. IND)
28. Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (at CLE)
29. Mike Thomas, Jaguars (vs. BAL)
30. Brandon Lloyd, Rams (at DAL)
31. Kevin Walter, Texans (at TEN)
32. Julio Jones, Falcons (at DET)
33. Malcom Floyd, Chargers (at NYJ)
34. Hines Ward, Steelers (at ARI)
35. Danario Alexander, Rams (at DAL)
36. Jacoby Jones, Texans (at TEN)
37. Mohamed Massaquoi, Browns (vs. SEA)
38. Antonio Brown, Steelers (at ARI)
39. Robert Meachem, Saints (vs. IND)
40. Steve Breaston, Chiefs (at OAK)
41. Torrey Smith, Ravens (at JAC)
42. Jabar Gaffney, Redskins (at CAR)
43. Denarius Moore, Raiders (vs. KC)
44. Johnny Knox, Bears (at TB)
45. Nate Burleson, Lions (vs. ATL)
46. Plaxico Burress, Jets (vs. SD)
47. Devin Hester, Bears (at TB)
48. Jacoby Ford, Raiders (vs. KC)
49. Davone Bess, Dolphins (vs. DEN)
50. Titus Young, Lions (vs. ATL)

More Week 7 rankings: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Tight Ends

If interested, here is our free Week 7 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 7!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After suffering a high-ankle sprain last week, Cowboys running back Felix Jones will miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of back-to-back favorable matchups.

In the next two weeks, the Cowboys face the Rams and Eagles, who have allowed the third-most and second-most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season, respectively.

With Jones out, rookie DeMarco Murray, who was on our waiver-wire pickups list this week, will likely get more of the workload than Tashard Choice.

Last week against the Patriots, Murray had twice as many carries (10) as Choice had although neither back looked great. Murray finished with 32 yards and Choice had 14.

Here are some more running back notes for Week 7:

- For the third time this season, Falcons running back Michael Turner rushed for more than 100 yards. Turner finished with season highs in carries (27) and yards (139) and tied his season in high in touchdowns (two). Turner has scored in each of his past three games and has a total of five touchdowns during that span.

- Against San Francisco's tough run defense, Lions running back Jahvid Best rushed for only 37 yards, but he also had six receptions for 73 yards. It was his second straight game with 100-plus yards from scrimmage, but his status for Week 7 is in doubt due to a concussion. With Jerome Harrison failing his physical with the Eagles, the Lions attempted trade for Ronnie Brown was voided.

- Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 96 yards on 22 attempts in Sunday's loss. While MJD has only one 100-yard game this season, he has at least 84 rushing yards in all six games this season.

- Going into Week 6, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had only 173 yards on 58 carries. In Week 6, Mendenhall nearly equaled that output by rushing for 146 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries against the Jaguars.

- The Redskins running backs failed to take advantage of a fantasy-friendly matchup against the Eagles last week and another great matchup this week against the Panthers, who have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season. While Tim Hightower had no carries, Ryan Torain rushed for only 22 yards on 10 carries and rookie Roy Helu rushed for six yards on two carries last week.

- Ravens running back Ray Rice, who rushed for 101 yards and had 60 receiving yards last week, now has 700 yards from scrimmage this season through five games. In addition, Rice has scored four touchdowns (two rushing and two receiving).

- Texans running back Arian Foster, who had a team-high 11 targets last week, has had more receiving yards than rushing yards in each of his past two games. Despite rushing for a total of only 117 yards in the past two games, he has 11 receptions for 168 yards as well.

- Browns running back Peyton Hillis has a strained hamstring and his status for Week 7 is in doubt. If Hillis can't go, Montario Hardesty would get the majority of the work, but they have a tough matchup against the Seahawks, who have allowed the seventh-fewest rushing yards per game this season.

- Running back Earnest Graham rushed for 109 yards and caught two passes for 22 yards with LeGarrette Blount out with a knee sprain last week. Although Blount traveled with the team to London for their game against the Bears, it's unlikely that he will play.

- Saints running back Mark Ingram had only nine carries and 22 yards in Week 6, but he rushed for another touchdown. Ingram has a touchdown in three of his past four games. Interestingly enough, the only game during that span in which he did not score was the only game in which he had double-digit carries.

Here are our top 40 fantasy running backs for Week 7:

1. Ray Rice, Ravens (at JAC)
2. Darren McFadden, Raiders (vs. KC)
3. Adrian Peterson, Vikings (vs. GB)
4. Arian Foster, Texans (at TEN)
5. Matt Forte, Bears (at TB)
6. Ryan Mathews, Chargers (at NYJ)
7. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (at ARI)
8. Michael Turner, Falcons (at DET)
9. Chris Johnson, Titans (vs. HOU)
10. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars (vs. BAL)
11. Beanie Wells, Cardinals (vs. PIT)
12. Steven Jackson, Rams (at DAL)
13. Earnest Graham, Buccaneers (vs. CHI)
14. Darren Sproles, Saints (vs. IND)
15. Daniel Thomas, Dolphins (vs. DEN)
16. Willis McGahee, Broncos (at MIA)
17. Mark Ingram, Saints (vs. IND)
18. Ryan Torain, Redskins (at CAR)
19. DeMarco Murray, Cowboys (vs. STL)
20. Shonn Greene, Jets (vs. SD)
21. Jackie Battle, Chiefs (at OAK)
22. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (vs. WAS)
23. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers (vs. WAS)
24. Mike Tolbert, Chargers (at NYJ)
25. Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks (at CLE)
26. James Starks, Packers (at MIN)
27. Montario Hardesty, Browns (vs. SEA)
28. Delone Carter, Colts (at NO)
29. Jahvid Best, Lions (vs. ATL)
30. Maurice Morris, Lions (vs. ATL)
31. Peyton Hillis, Browns (vs. SEA)
32. Michael Bush, Raiders (vs. KC)
33. Ryan Grant, Packers (at MIN)
34. Ben Tate, Texans (at TEN)
35. Tashard Choice, Cowboys (vs. STL)
36. Pierre Thomas, Saints (vs. IND)
37. LaDainian Tomlinson, Jets (vs. SD)
38. Roy Helu, Redskins (at CAR)
39. Knowshon Moreno, Broncos (at MIA)
40. Tim Hightower, Redskins (at CAR)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary. In addition, our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section.

If interested, here is our free Week 7 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 7!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In their first home game after the passing of long-time owner Al Davis, the Raiders got a victory over the Cleveland Browns last week, but they also lost their starting quarterback to a broken collarbone in the process.

To fill the void, the Raiders traded their first-round pick in 2012 and second-round pick, which can turn into a first-rounder, in 2013 for Carson Palmer.

In relief of Campbell last week, Kyle Boller completed 8-of-14 passes for 100 yards, but it's likely that Boller will be backing up Palmer on Sunday. Head coach Hue Jackson has not announced his decision on which quarterback will start, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Palmer is expected to start this week.

If Palmer starts this week as Schefter expects, it would not be a surprise to see Palmer struggle with his timing after throwing mostly to high school receivers.

Here are some more quarterback notes for Week 7:

- From a passing standpoint, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton had his worst performance of the season in Week 6 as he tied his season high in interceptions (three) and threw no touchdowns for the first time in his career. On the season, he has a 7:9 touchdown-to-interception ratio, however, he has rushed for six touchdowns as well. Only Minnesota's Adrian Peterson has rushed for more (seven).

- For the second consecutive game and the third time this season, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw for less than 200 yards as he completed a season-low 14 passes on Sunday. Ryan, who threw only one touchdown, has only one multi-touchdown performance this season.

- Going into last week's game, Colts quarterback Curtis Painter had thrown 68 pass attempts without an interception. Last week, Painter threw his first interception on the season and he now has one pick in 102 pass attempts.

- In five games this season, the Cardinals defense has only slowed down to bad passing offenses (Seattle and Minnesota). Against the Panthers, Redskins and Giants, they have allowed 291-plus passing yards and two passing touchdowns in each game. Provided Mike Wallace, who missed Wednesday's practice due to his hamstring, plays on Sunday, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger should be in for a big game.

- Rams quarterback Sam Bradford threw another 44 pass attempts but no touchdowns on Sunday. Through five games, Bradford has 195 pass attempts and only three touchdowns. Bradford, who has a high-ankle sprain, is expected to play on Sunday at Dallas.

- Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman threw four interceptions and was benched in favor of John Beck in Week 6. Coach Mike Shanahan has announced that he will go with Beck as his starting quarterback going into Week 7 against the Panthers.

- Since Week 1, the New York Jets have allowed only one passing touchdown and one quarterback to throw for more than 204 yards: New England's Tom Brady. In other words, this may not be the week that San Diego's Philip Rivers gets it going.

- Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman had his best game of the season. Freeman threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns, both of which are season highs, and no interceptions. Freeman improved his touchdown-to-interception ratio to 5:6 after throwing 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2010.

- When the Broncos head to Miami for their Week 7 matchup against the Dolphins, quarterback Tim Tebow will be honored on "Gator Day." While Tebow is not a polished NFL quarterback, he is a solid fantasy option, especially considering his ability to run. The only quarterback to rush for more touchdowns since Tebow has been in the league is Michael Vick, who has nine rushing touchdowns since last year.

- Four of the top eight quarterbacks in fantasy scoring are on bye this week: New England's Tom Brady, Philadelphia's Michael Vick, Giants' Eli Manning and Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick. In addition, Cincinnati (Andy Dalton) and San Francisco (Alex Smith) are on bye.

Here are our top 25 fantasy quarterbacks for Week 7:

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (at MIN)
2. Drew Brees, Saints (vs. IND)
3. Tony Romo, Cowboys (vs. STL)
4. Cam Newton, Panthers (vs. WAS)
5. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (at ARI)
6. Matthew Stafford, Lions (vs. ATL)
7. Tim Tebow, Broncos (at MIA)
8. Philip Rivers, Chargers (at NYJ)
9. Matt Schaub, Texans (at TEN)
10. Matt Ryan, Falcons (at DET)
11. Joe Flacco, Ravens (at JAX)
12. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers (vs. CHI)
13. Jay Cutler, Bears (at TB)
14. Colt McCoy, Browns (vs. SEA)
15. Matt Cassel, Chiefs (at OAK)
16. Matt Hasselbeck, Titans (vs. HOU)
17. Curtis Painter, Colts (at NO)
18. Mark Sanchez, Jets (vs. SD)
19. Sam Bradford, Rams (at DAL)
20. Kevin Kolb, Cardinals (vs. PIT)
21. John Beck, Redskins (at CAR)
22. Matt Moore, Dolphins (vs. DEN)
23. Carson Palmer, Raiders (vs. KC)
24. Charlie Whitehurst, Seahawks (at CLE)
25. Christian Ponder, Vikings (vs. GB)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary. In addition, our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section.

If interested, here is our free Week 7 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 7!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Some of the names on our waiver-wire list from last week were on bye. Coming off byes, however, they have favorable matchups and, if still available in your league, are worth picking up in your fantasy league(s).

For example, quarterback Tim Tebow faces the Miami Dolphins, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, on "Gator Day." Interestingly enough, Tebow will make his first start of the season on the road, but he'll be one of the members of the 2009 Florida BCS Championship team that will be honored that night.

Meanwhile, Chiefs running back Jackie Battle, who is coming off a 119-yard rushing performance against the Colts, gets another favorable matchup against the Raiders. Going into Week 6, the Raiders had allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs.

That said, neither Tebow, Battle or other guys like Darrius Heyward-Bey, Greg Little, Doug Baldwin, etc. will appear on this week's list despite being good options, because they appeared on last week's list.

We have two criteria for a player to be eligible for the list: (1) they are available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues and (2) they weren't mentioned in the previous week's list. And, of course, we must believe that they offer value to fantasy owners.

Here are some players to consider as waiver-wire pickups heading into Week 7:

QB - Matt Cassel, Chiefs (owned in 33 percent of Yahoo! leagues): Cassel has three straight games with a passer rating of 100-plus and a 7:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio during that span. In Cassel's first game after the bye, he faces the Raiders, who have allowed a league-high 12 passing touchdowns this season. In addition, Cassel will have an additional weapon in the passing game as Jonathan Baldwin, the team's first-round pick, is expected to make his debut this weekend.

RB - DeMarco Murray, Cowboys (10 percent): Cowboys running back Felix Jones, who already had a shoulder injury, suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday's loss to the Patriots, which means he will miss the next several weeks. Murray had twice as many carries (10) than Tashard Choice (five) in the game so he should be in line for the larger share of work between the two backs. Although Murray had only 32 rushing yards, a team high, on Sunday, he has two favorable matchups in the next two weeks against the Rams and Eagles.

RB - Montario Hardesty, Browns (18 percent): If Peyton Hillis misses time due to a hamstring injury, Hardesty will see a significant boost in his workload. While Murray has great fantasy matchups in back-to-back games, the Browns have back-to-back tough matchups for running backs against the Seahawks and 49ers. Both teams rank in the top seven in fewest rushing yards allowed per game and the 49ers are the only team in the league to not have allowed any rushing touchdowns this season. With six teams on bye, however, Hardesty could still be a solid flex option in both weeks if Hillis is out.

RB - Bernard Scott, Bengals (10 percent): If/when Cedric Benson serves his three-game suspension for violating the league's personal conduct policy, Scott will likely be the guy to get the majority of the work. Against the Colts this week, Scott had a season-high 11 carries, perhaps in preparation for that expanded role. Unfortunately, Scott's performance was less than mediocre (29 yards). In six games this season, Scott has 30 carries for 85 yards (2.8 yards per carry), but a couple 20-carry games might be in Scott's near future.

WR - James Jones, Packers (48 percent): Jones had only one reception in Week 6, but he finished with just shy of double-digit fantasy points (9.5 in standard-scoring leagues) since his one catch was a 35-yard touchdown. Although there are plenty of viable options in the Packers' passing attack, Jones has now scored in three consecutive games.

WR - Danario Alexander, Rams (12 percent): In four games played this season, Alexander has 14 receptions for 287 yards and a touchdown after he had six receptions for a team-high 91 yards Sunday. One concern for Alexander is his continued ability to stay healthy. Alexander, who led all of college football with 1,781 receiving yards in 2009, was undrafted in 2010 because of multiple knee surgeries.

WR - Demaryius Thomas, Broncos (one percent): With the trade of Lloyd to St. Louis, Demaryius Thomas should get a fair amount of targets assuming he returns to the field in Week 7, as expected. Unfortunately for Thomas, one of Denver's two first-round picks last year, the team's other first-round pick last year will be throwing those passes. While Eric Decker is the receiver that benefits the most with Lloyd's departure, Thomas is a big (6-foot-3, 235 pounds) and athletic receiver with plenty of upside.

TE - Fred Davis, Redskins (44 percent): With fellow tight end Chris Cooley scheduled for surgery on his broken finger this week, the opportunities for Davis should continue to be plentiful. Davis, who had six receptions for 95 yards in Week 6, now has three games with five-plus receptions and 86-plus yards.

If you're looking for Week 7 rankings, our rankings will be updated by Wednesday at The Tip Drill, our fantasy section.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can either (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

If interested, our free Week 7 fantasy football contest is "live."

Good luck in Week 7!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The St. Louis Rams traded a sixth-round pick for receiver Brandon Lloyd, who had his breakout season last year in Denver under Rams offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

If Lloyd, who is in the final year of his contract, finishes with 30 receptions with the Rams, the sixth-rounder becomes a fifth-round pick.

Last year, Lloyd finished with 77 receptions for a league-high 1,448 yards and 11 touchdowns. In four games this season, Lloyd has 19 receptions for 283 yards.

In order to make room for Lloyd, the Rams have released Mike Sims-Walker. It can't bode well for MSW to not be wanted by the Jaguars (at end of last season) and Rams now. Both are two of only four teams that have four (or less) passing touchdowns.

Who will be throwing to Lloyd?

Long-term, of course, the answer is Sam Bradford. But Bradford has a high-ankle sprain, but the team is describing Bradford as "day-to-day."

The Rams play the Cowboys in Dallas in Week 7.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Per Mike Klis of the Denver Post, the San Francisco 49ers "appear to be showing the strongest interest in" Broncos receiver Brandon Lloyd.

Lloyd, who was the 49ers' fourth-round pick in 2003, is on the trade block and the team is hoping to get a deal done before practice on Monday.

The trade deadline is Tuesday and Klis notes that the Rams and Patriots are also interested in Lloyd.

Last year, Lloyd had a breakout season with a league-high 1,448 receiving yards. However, Lloyd is in his final season with Denver, the team is off to a 1-4 start and has made a quarterback change to Tim Tebow.

In four games this season, Lloyd has 19 receptions for 283 yards and no touchdowns.

From a fantasy perspective, Lloyd would have the most value in St. Louis with Sam Bradford at quarterback, his former coach in Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator and he would be the team's top receiver.

San Francisco would be slightly better from a fantasy perspective than New England considering the number of options in New England, but the Patriots obviously have a better quarterback and overall passing game led by Tom Brady.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cowboys running back Felix Jones suffered a high-ankle sprain in yesterday's loss to the Patriots.

With a high-ankle sprain, Jones is likely to miss several weeks.

Rookie DeMarco Murray, the team's third-round pick, led the team in rushing with 10 carries for 32 yards and Tashard Choice had five carries for 14 yards.

Although it was reported that owner Jerry Jones had "taken some calls" on trade offers for Choice, it's unlikely that the team moves him before Tuesday's trade deadline now that Jones has a high-ankle sprain.

Of these two backs, Murray is likely the better option in fantasy football.

Fortunately for those who pick up Murray, the Cowboys have two favorable matchups coming up in the next two weeks.

Next week, the Cowboys face the Rams, who have allowed the most rushing yards per game this season. In the following week, the Cowboys face the Eagles, who have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are some game-by-game notes, stats and observations through the 4 p.m. games today:

Atlanta Falcons 31, Carolina Panthers 17

- From a passing standpoint, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton had his worst performance of the season as he tied his season high in interceptions (three) and threw no touchdowns for the first time in his career. That said, Newton rushed for his sixth touchdown of the season through six games.

- Panthers tight ends Jeremy Shockey and Greg Olsen combined for nine receptions on 17 targets for 102 yards. Shockey had four receptions for 60 yards, both season highs, and Olsen had five receptions for 42 yards on a team-high ten targets. It was the first time in four games that Olsen did not catch a touchdown pass.

- For the third time this season, Falcons running back Michael Turner rushed for more than 100 yards. Turner finished with season highs in carries (27) and yards (139) and tied his season high in touchdowns (two). Turner has scored in each of his past three games and has a total of five touchdowns during that span.

- For the second consecutive game and the third time this season, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw for less than 200 yards as he completed a season-low 14 passes Sunday. In addition, Ryan threw only one touchdown, which means he still has only one multi-touchdown game through six games this season.

Cincinnati Bengals 27, Indianapolis Colts 17

- Bengals receiver Jerome Simpson had a game-high 101 receiving yards and six receptions in today's win over the Colts. It was the second 100-yard game of the season for Simpson, who has 44 yards or less in his other four games.

- Rookie receiver A.J. Green, the top receiver selected in this year's draft, had another strong performance: five receptions for 51 yards and a score. Green has scored in four of six games and is averaging more than 75 receiving yards per game.

- Going into today's game, Colts quarterback Curtis Painter had thrown 68 pass attempts without an interception. In today's game, however, Painter threw his first interception on the season and now has one pick in 102 pass attempts.

- Colts receiver Pierre Garcon finished the game with eight receptions for 52 yards but no touchdowns and he lost a fumble. In the previous two games, Painter and Garcon connected on two touchdowns per game.

Green Bay Packers 24, St. Louis Rams 3

- With the Lions losing today, the Packers are the only remaining unbeaten team in the NFL. Per the team's Twitter account, it is the first time since 1965 that the Packers have been the last unbeaten team in the NFL.

- Jordy Nelson led the Packers in receiving with 104 yards, but he had only two receptions including a 93-yard touchdown. Nelson has scored in four of six games this season.

- Teammate James Jones had only one reception but finished with double-digit fantasy points for those of you in point-per-reception (PPR) leagues. His only catch was a 35-yard touchdown. Jones has now scored in three consecutive games.

- Rams quarterback Sam Bradford threw another 44 pass attempts but no touchdowns today. Through five games, Bradford has 195 pass attempts and only three touchdowns. Bradford sprained his ankle on the last play of the game.

- Rookie tight end Lance Kendricks had four receptions for a career-high 71 yards. It was the first time in his career that he had more than 33 receiving yards.

- Rams receivers Danario Alexander and Greg Salas finished with 91 and 77 yards, respectively, and combined for 14 receptions. In four games this season, Alexander has 14 receptions for 287 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Salas set career highs in both receptions (eight) and receiving yards.

San Francisco 49ers 25, Detroit Lions 19

- Obviously the big news from this game was the exchange at the end of the game between coaches Jim Schwartz and Jim Harbaugh (see video).

- 49ers running back Frank Gore ran for 141 yards and a score on 15 carries. It was the third consecutive game in which Gore rushed for 125 yards. Although the Niners have their bye in Week 7, we've set up a poll on how many rushing yards Gore will have in Week 8 against the Browns.

- Quarterback Alex Smith threw 32 passes in today's win and receiver Michael Crabtree had almost half of the targets (15). Crabtree finished with nine receptions for 77 yards, both of which are season highs.

- Lions receiver Calvin Johnson finished with seven receptions for 113 yards, but he failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season. (Take our poll on whether Megatron will break the single-season receiving touchdown record.)

- Running back Jahvid Best rushed for only 37 yards and the 49ers still have not allowed a rushing touchdown this season. That said, Best also had six receptions for 73 yards and therefore finished with more than 100 yards from scrimmage for the second straight game.

New York Giants 27, Buffalo Bills 24

- Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw had 26 carries for 104 yards and a career-high three touchdowns against the Bills. It was the first 100-yard game of the season for Bradshaw, who had two receptions for 26 yards as well.

- Tight end Jake Ballard continues to play well. Ballard caught all five of his targets and finished with a career-high 81 yards. It was the third time in six weeks that Ballard had at least 50 receiving yards.

- Bills running back Fred Jackson rushed for 121 yards and a touchdown and had five receptions for 47 yards. Jackson has scored in five consecutive games, has five-plus receptions in four consecutive games and had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season. Jackson has had at least 98 yards from scrimmage in all six games this season.

- Bills receiver Naaman Roosevelt had only one reception today, but it was a 60-yard touchdown. Roosevelt had five receptions for 41 yards last week against the Eagles.

Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Jacksonville Jaguars 13

- Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 96 yards on 22 attempts in today's loss. While MJD has only one 100-yard game this season, he has at least 84 rushing yards in all six games this season.

- Going into today's game, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall had only 173 yards on 58 carries. Today Mendenhall nearly equaled that output by rushing for 146 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries against the Jaguars.

- Steelers receiver Mike Wallace had only two receptions today, but he finished with 76 yards and a touchdown. Wallace, who has scored in four games, has at least 76 yards in all six games this season.

Philadelphia Eagles 20, Washington Redskins 13

- Eagles running back LeSean McCoy, who led all running backs in receptions (78) last year, continues to be much more involved in the running game than the passing game this year. McCoy rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown and he had two receptions for 13 yards in today's win. McCoy has six rushing touchdowns and three 100-yard (rushing) games this season, but he has yet to have more than 34 receiving yards in a game.

- Eagles tight end Brent Celek had single-digit receiving yards in each of the past three games entering today's game. However, Celek had a team-high nine targets and finished with four receptions for 42 yards and a touchdown today.

- Redskins quarterback Rex Grossman threw four interceptions and was benched in favor of John Beck in today's game. Coach Mike Shanahan says that he will make a quarterback decision for Week 7 on Wednesday.

- Running back Ryan Torain had 10 carries for only 22 yards to lead the 'Skins in rushing today. Rookie Roy Helu had two carries for six yards and Tim Hightower had no rush attempts.

Baltimore Ravens 29, Houston Texans 14

- Ravens running back Ray Rice had another 161 yards from scrimmage (101 rushing and 60 receiving) today. In five games this season, Rice has 398 rushing yards and 302 receiving yards.

- Teammate Anquan Boldin finished with a season-high 132 yards. It was his second-highest output in his tenure with the Ravens.

- Texans running back Arian Foster rushed for only 49 yards on 15 carries (3.3 yards per carry), but he finished with over 100 yards from scrimmage as well. Foster was targeted a team-high 11 times and had six receptions for 52 yards.

- After last week's pathetic performance (one catch for 11 yards on 11 targets), Texans receiver Jacoby Jones had four receptions for a team-high 76 yards and a touchdown.

Oakland Raiders 24, Cleveland Browns 17

- Browns running back Peyton Hillis left today's game after tweaking his hamstring. He and Montario Hardesty combined for 17 rushes for only 49 yards.

- Rookie receiver Greg Little, who started opposite Mohammed Massaquoi, finished with team highs in receptions (six), yards (72) and targets (12). It was the second straight game that Little finished with six receptions and 50-plus yards.

- Raiders quarterback Jason Campbell left the game with a broken collarbone and he'll miss the remainder of the season. In relief of Campbell, Kyle Boller completed 8-of-14 passes for 100 yards.

- Darrius Heyward-Bey led the team in receiving for the third consecutive game as he finished with team highs in receptions (six), receiving yards (82) and targets (nine). DHB has 17 receptions for 296 yards and a touchdown in his past three games.

New England Patriots 20, Dallas Cowboys 16

- Patriots receiver Wes Welker scored a touchdown, but he finished with six receptions and a season-low 45 yards. Through six games, Welker has 51 receptions for 785 yards and six touchdowns.

- For a second straight game, tight end Aaron Hernandez led the Patriots in targets (14). Hernandez finished with eight receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown and fellow tight end Rob Gronkowski led the team in receiving yards (74).

- DeMarco Murray led the Cowboys in rushing (10 carries for 32 yards) although Felix Jones (eight carries for 14 yards) left the game with an ankle injury. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has reportedly taken some calls on Tashard Choice and is considering dealing him.

- Receivers Dez Bryant and Miles Austin played in the same game for the first time since Week 1. Bryant had more yards (78) and Austin had more receptions (seven) and targets (10), but neither scored.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26, New Orleans Saints 20

- Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman had his best game of the season. Freeman threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns, both of which are season highs, and no interceptions.

- Running back Earnest Graham rushed for 109 yards and caught two passes for 22 yards with LeGarrette Blount out with a knee sprain. Going into today's game, Graham had only 18 carries for 84 yards.

- Saints tight end Jimmy Graham extended his 100-yard game streak to four games, which ties a tight end record set by Tony Gonzalez. Graham had seven receptions for 124 yards and was one of three Saints' players to get 11 targets. The other two were receiver Marques Colston and running back Darren Sproles.

- Saints running back Mark Ingram had only nine carries and 22 yards, but he rushed for another touchdown. Ingram has a touchdown in three of his past four games. Interestingly enough, the only game during that span in which he did not score was the only game in which he had double-digit carries.

Discuss this week's remaining two games in our NFL Gameday Forum: Bears vs. Vikings | Jets vs. Dolphins

Although there our two games remaining in Week 6, our free Week 7 fantasy football contest is now "live."

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Fantasy football rosters are like snowflakes; no two are the same.

As we write our weekly column and suggest some players that you might start (or sit), it should go without saying that who you start (or sit) depends on the composition of your roster. But we'll say it anyways.

For example, if you have Vincent Jackson, Larry Fitzgerald and Brandon Lloyd, all of whom have their bye in Week 6, a receiver like Robert Meachem, who is outside our top 30 receivers, might need to be in your starting lineup this week.

If you have Calvin Johnson, Roddy White and Hakeem Nicks, like I do on one of my keeper teams, I would not start A.J. Green, even though he is ranked in my top 15 receivers for the week.

Up until kickoff on Sunday, we will continue to update our fantasy rankings by position.

Based on accuracy scores from FantasyPros of fantasy football "experts," we are currently ranked as the sixth-most accurate out of the approximately 60 rankers they track, which includes all of the rankers from ESPN, CBS Sports, NFL.com, Yahoo!, etc.

Here are some players to consider starting for Week 6:

QB - Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills (at NYG): You might be tempted to sit the Amish Rifle after back-to-back weak performances. Both the Bengals and Eagles have held Fitzgerald to under 200 yards passing and he has only one passing touchdown in those two games combined. While the Bengals have the league's top-ranked defense through Week 5 and the Eagles have great cover corners, the Giants defense has been decimated by injuries and have allowed more than 300 passing yards in three games against Washington, St. Louis and Seattle.

RB - Daniel Thomas, Dolphins (at NYJ): In the two games that Thomas has played this season, he has rushed for an average of 101 yards per game. The Jets have struggled to stop the run and have allowed a league-high eight rushing touchdowns this year. Last year, they allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs; this year, they have allowed the fifth most.

RB - Ryan Torain, Redskins (vs. PHI): After no carries in Weeks 1, 2 or 3, Torain surprisingly had 19 carries for 135 yards in Week 4 against the Rams. Meanwhile, Tim Hightower, who is listed as questionable for this week, had a season-low eight carries last week. Although coach Mike Shanahan has said that he will go with the "hot hand," Torain is coming off the team's only 100-yard rushing performance this season. In addition, the Eagles have allowed the most fantasy points to opposing running backs this season.

RB - Cedric Benson, Bengals (vs. IND): Only the Rams have allowed more rushing yards than the Colts (145.2 yards allowed per game). Benson, who is one of two backs with more than 100 carries this season, will undoubtedly get the ball early and often. Although Benson has only one rushing touchdown, he ranks eighth in the league with 401 rushing yards.

WR - James Jones, Packers (vs. STL): As with the Saints, there is always some risk with the weapons in the Packers offense as there seem to be an unlimited number of viable options. In addition to Greg Jennings and Jordy Nelson, James Jones is worthy of a start this week as well. Jones, who has had double-digit fantasy points in back-to-back games, had five receptions for 140 yards and a touchdown in Week 5.

WR - Victor Cruz, Giants (vs. BUF): Only one player has more receiving yards than Cruz in the past three weeks: New England's Wes Welker (499). During that span, Cruz has caught 17 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns. In each of those games, Cruz has at least 98 receiving yards. Although the team says that Mario Manningham is still the starter, Cruz will be used in the slot in three-receiver sets and will certainly continue to get his share of targets as well as he has been playing.

WR - Mario Manningham, Giants (vs. BUF): As noted with Cruz, Manningham is still the team's starter opposite Hakeem Nicks. That said, both Cruz and Manningham have the potential to put up solid performances along with Nicks in Week 6. The Bills defense has been great at creating turnovers, which could mean trouble for Eli Manning, but they have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season. And only the Patriots have allowed more receiving yards to the wide receiver position than Buffalo.

WR - Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders (vs. CLE): In the past two games, Heyward-Bey has 11 receptions for 214 yards and a score. While the Browns have allowed the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers, they will be without Joe Haden, their best cornerback. DHB is just inside my top 30 wide receivers for Week 6.

TE - Owen Daniels, Texans (at BAL): Three of the top four leaders on the Texans in receiving yards are tight ends (or eligible to play tight end). With James Casey doubtful for Week 6, Joel Dreesen, who had 112 yards last week, is worth a look in deeper leagues. For the first time in four weeks, Daniels failed to score a touchdown, but he had a season-high 89 yards. It was the third straight week that Daniels had at least five receptions and 69 yards.

Here are some players to consider sitting for Week 6:

QB - Josh Freeman, Buccaneers (vs. NO): Through five games, Freeman has thrown twice as many interceptions (six) as he has thrown touchdowns (three). Last year, Freeman had a 25:6 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Freeman, who is ninth in pass attempts (178), is averaging one touchdown pass per every 59.3 pass attempts. Until he turns things around, it's better to be one week late than (possibly) several weeks early.

RB - Delone Carter, Colts (at CIN): Carter, who was on my list of free-agent pickups this week, should get the larger share of carries and goal-line work out of the Colts running backs this week. With Joseph Addai leaving last week's game with a hamstring injury, Carter and Donald Brown shared the workload. Against the league's top-ranked defense, there might not be a lot of goal-line opportunities this week.

RB - Earnest Graham, Buccaneers (vs. NO): With LeGarrette Blount out for this week (and perhaps a few more) with a Grade II MCL tear, the Bucs will rely on Graham to carry the load. Over the past three seasons, Graham has only 52 rush attempts in 30 games. Graham, who has a team-high 23 receptions, is a solid flex option, but he is outside my top 25 running backs for Week 6.

WR - Brandon Marshall, Dolphins (at NYJ): Based on talent, Marshall would obviously be much higher than where he is currently ranked in my Week 6 rankings (No. 26 receiver). To be fair, he is actually ranked a little higher than James Jones and Heyward-Bey, who I've ranked 28th and 29th, respectively. That said, Marshall has a tough matchup against Darrelle Revis, who held him to two receptions for 16 yards in their last matchup although Marshall did catch a touchdown. Depending on your roster and league's format (number of starting receivers), Marshall could be on your bench.

WR - Jacoby Jones, Texans (at BAL): With Andre Johnson out another week, Jones continues to start for the Texans, but he shouldn't start for you. Despite getting a team-high 11 targets last week, Jones finished the game with only one reception. Although Jones has talent and could have a strong performance if he gets 11 targets again, he is too inconsistent to warrant a spot in your starting lineup this week.

WR - Mike Thomas, Jaguars (at PIT): Based on analysis from Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, who has never gone to a Pro Bowl, has held all receivers he's covered to no more than 23 yards (Andre Johnson) this season. With Thomas likely to be covered by Taylor, it could be a long day for Thomas.

WR - Lance Moore, Saints (at TB): The worry for Moore and Robert Meachem, for that matter, is that the Saints have too many weapons in their passing game. Tight end Jimmy Graham has a three-game streak of 100-plus yards, Marques Colston is back to full strength and Darren Sproles leads all running backs in receptions (31). Moore (and Meachem) are just outside my top 30 receivers for Week 6.

TE - Dallas Clark, Colts (at CIN): Clark is becoming a fixture in this spot. Through five games, Clark has 14 receptions for 136 yards and a touchdown. He has yet to reach 50 yards or five receptions in any game this season. And last week Clark did not help his own cause by dropping a few passes. Until Clark's fortunes turn around, he should remain on your bench.

To keep track of our fantasy football updates, follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball.

If interested, our free Week 6 fantasy football contest is open to all and the entry deadline is Sunday, October 16th at 12:59 p.m.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Every week, I pick three NFL games against the spread (ATS) for entertainment purposes. As I sometimes joke (although it's true), winning is more "entertaining" than losing.

Last week was my least "entertaining" of the year.

After last week's 1-2 ATS performance, my overall record this season fell to 11-3-1 (78.6 percent) ATS.

Two of my three losses this year were by the Falcons in back-to-back weeks. As a six-point underdog and with a 14-0 lead against the Packers at home, the Falcons allowed the Packers to score 25 unanswered points. In the previous week, the Falcons nearly blew a 20-point second-half lead in Seattle but escaped with a two-point win and failed to cover.

The Falcons, who will be without rookie receiver Julio Jones, aren't one of our three picks in Week 6. Their opponent last week is, however.

Here are my three picks for Week 6:

Green Bay Packers (-14) over St. Louis Rams

If you're a Rams fan and a glass-half-full guy, here's a stat for you: St. Louis is tied for the NFL lead in fewest interceptions thrown (one) this season. OK, you should probably stop reading now.

For the rest of us, the Rams are bad. Really bad. Not only have they scored the fewest points (11.5 per game), they have allowed the second most (28.3 points per game) in the NFL. On a per-game basis, no quarterback has been sacked more than Sam Bradford. I could go on, but you get the point.

On the other hand, the Packers' offense is firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers became only the fifth quarterback since 1970 to start the season with five consecutive games with a passer rating of 100 or more and no team has scored more than Green Bay (34.6 per game).

It's going to be a long day for Bradford and the Rams.

Oakland Raiders (-7) over Cleveland Browns

Playing with a heavy heart the day after the death of long-time owner Al Davis, the Raiders pulled off an "upset" on the road against the Texans last week. The Raiders will now play their first home game since his passing.

Both teams should be able to run the ball well. Oakland has the league's leading rusher in Darren McFadden, who is averaging 103.8 yards per game and 5.7 yards per carry this season.

The Raiders passing game gets a boost from the absence of cornerback Joe Haden, who has been ruled out and is one of the league's top up-and-coming cornerbacks. That bodes well for Denarius Moore, who was held reception-less in last week's game facing the Texans top cornerback Jonathan Joseph.

The Browns are 1-6-1 in their past eight games against the spread while the Raiders are 5-1 ATS in their past six games.

New York Jets (-7) over Miami Dolphins

For both of these teams, there is a ton of pressure as the 'Fins have lost all four of their games this year and the Jets are on a three-game losing streak. Meanwhile, there are rifts from within the Jets' locker room that have gone public and no coach's hot seat is hotter than Tony Sparano's.

Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall has joked, I think, that his plan is to play so emotionally that he gets tossed from the game in the middle of the second quarter. For that quarter and a half that he's on the field, he says he will be a "monster." Facing the league's top shutdown corner in Darrelle Revis, no wonder Marshall wants to leave Revis Island early.

The Jets will need to do a better job stopping the run, however, as the Dolphins will have rookie Daniel Thomas back in the lineup. Thomas, who has missed two games due to his hamstring, has 202 rushing yards in the two games he has played.

With both teams' backs against the proverbial wall, the Jets find themselves in virtually a must-win situation as a loss drops them to 2-4 and they would otherwise need an 8-2 or 9-1 run to make the postseason.

For more of our picks, check out The Weekly Blitz.

While I have had success in picking game against the spread this season, I have perhaps have had greater success with my fantasy football rankings.

Based on accuracy tracking of "fantasy football experts" at FantasyPros, I'm currently the sixth overall most-accurate ranker. Although I will continue to update my rankings through Sunday morning, you can find my Week 6 rankings here.

If interested, our free fantasy football contest for Week 6 is open to all and the deadline to enter is Sunday, October 16th at 12:59 p.m. ET.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 05:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Giants have ruled out running back Brandon Jacobs for this week's game against Buffalo, per Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star-Ledger.

The announcement comes as little surprise considering Jacobs did not practice all week.

Jacobs, who is dealing with a sprained MCL, missed last week's game when his knee was the "size of a volleyball," according to teammate Antrel Rolle.

In four games this season, Jacobs has 38 carries for only 116 yards (3.1 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. However, the Giants have a favorable matchup against the Bills.

The Bills have allowed the fourth-most rushing yards (138.4 per game) and the second-most yards per carry (5.5).

Although Ahmad Bradshaw has had less than 60 rushing yards in four of five games, Bradshaw is in my top ten fantasy running backs for Week 6.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As expected, Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall, who was active last week but only as an "emergency" back, will start against the Jaguars on Sunday.

It sounds as though Mendenhall will have a lighter workload than he otherwise would with a fully clean bill of health.

"Oh, Rashard. Rashard's the man," said offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. He's ready to go and everything will be back to normal except for Mewelde, he'll probably still not be able to make it but we'll wait and see until game time..."

Arians also said, "We don't want to get him reinjured so it won't be an overload situation."

Mendenhall was my 21st-ranked running back in my initial Week 6 running back rankings, but I will move him up a few spots when I make my next update tonight.

Through four games, Mendenhall has 58 carries for only 178 yards (3.0 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.

The Jaguars rank tenth in the NFL against the run (101.0 yards per game) and have allowed only one running back to rush for more than 59 yards in a game: Darren Sproles, who had 75 yards on seven carries.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For a third consecutive week, Saints tight end Jimmy Graham finished with 100-plus receiving yards.

Graham, who finished with eight receptions (on 12 targets) for 129 yards last week, has 361 receiving yards during that three-game span. Last year, Graham had 356 receiving yards over 15 games.

On the season, Graham now has 32 receptions, which is one more than he had in 2010.

Provided that Graham stays healthy and plays in all 16 games, he is on pace for 102 receptions for 1,587 yards and ten touchdowns. Of course, he is unlikely to reach those levels, but it illustrates how well he is playing.

Here are some tight end notes for Week 6:

- Without Andre Johnson, the Texans still had two 100-yard receivers last week, but they weren't wide receivers. Running back Arian Foster and tight end Joel Dreessen had 116 yards and 112 yards, respectively. Tight end Owen Daniels finished third on the team in receiving with 89 yards.

- 49ers tight ends Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker had only five receptions for 76 yards combined last week. However, three of the duo's five receptions went for scores.

- Not only did Aaron Hernandez play last week, but he had a game-high nine targets. Hernandez had five receptions for 56 yards.

- Colts tight end Dallas Clark ranks 27th among tight ends in receiving yards per game (27.2). He has failed to reach five receptions or 50 receiving yards in any game this season.

- Bills tight end Scott Chandler caught four touchdowns in the first three games of the season. Since then, he has caught only three passes for 12 yards and no touchdowns.

- Through five weeks, the Bears have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends. The Rams have allowed the fewest. This week, the Rams face the Packers and Jermichael Finley has had only one monster performance this season (Week 3 vs. the Bears).

Here are our top 20 fantasy tight end for Week 6:

1. Jason Witten, Cowboys (at NE)
2. Jimmy Graham, Saints (at TB)
3. Jermichael Finley, Packers (vs STL)
4. Vernon Davis, 49ers (at DET)
5. Owen Daniels, Texans (at BAL)
6. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots (vs DAL)
7. Aaron Hernandez, Patriots (vs DAL)
8. Tony Gonzalez, Falcons (vs CAR)
9. Brandon Pettigrew, Lions (vs SF)
10. Dustin Keller, Jets (vs MIA)
11. Greg Olsen, Panthers (at ATL)
12. Jermaine Gresham, Bengals (vs IND)
13. Fred Davis, Redskins (vs PHI)
14. Ed Dickson, Ravens (vs HOU)
15. Kellen Winslow, Buccaneers (vs NO)
16. Benjamin Watson, Browns (at OAK)
17. Jake Ballard, Giants (vs BUF)
18. Dallas Clark, Colts (at CIN)
19. Heath Miller, Steelers (vs JAC)
20. Lance Kendricks, Rams (at GB)

Please note that these are our initial rankings for the week. We will update our rankings, as necessary, throughout the week.

To get the most up-to-date rankings and see rankings for other positions, visit our fantasy section here.

If interested, here is our free Week 6 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through the first five weeks of the season, rookie receivers A.J. Green and Julio Jones are on pace for 1,286 and 1,146 yards, respectively.

Only three rookie receivers had more yards than Green's pace (1,286) in NFL history: Bill Groman (1,473 yards in 1960), Anquan Boldin (1,377 in 2003) and Randy Moss (1,313 in 1998).

While both receivers have two 100-yard games each and have been playing extremely well, Jones, who left last week's game with a hamstring injury, will miss his Week 6 matchup against the Panthers.

Falcons coach Mike Smith said that he is "hoping" to have Jones back in Week 7. With the Falcons having their bye in Week 8, however, I wouldn't be surprised if the Falcons sit him in Week 7 if he's not 100 percent to be cautious.

Here are some more wide receiver notes for Week 6:

- Giants receiver Victor Cruz led the team in targets (11), receptions (eight) and yards (161) and scored a touchdown last week. In his past three games, Cruz has 17 receptions for 369 yards and three touchdowns. The only player with more receiving yards than Cruz during that span is Wes Welker (499 yards).

- For the fourth time in five games, Patriots receiver Wes Welker finished with more than 100 receiving yards. Welker had a season-low five receptions for 124 yards and it feels like a small disappointment even though shutdown corner Darrelle Revis was on him for part of the game.

- For a second straight game, Pierre Garcon finished with two touchdowns. In his past three games, Garcon has 13 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns. Along with Cruz and Welker, Garcon is one of four players to have 350-plus receiving yards in the past three weeks. Saints tight end Jimmy Graham is the other.

[Related: Take our poll on which receiver will have more fantasy production in Week 6: Cruz or Garcon?]

- While Denarius Moore had no receptions on six targets, Darius Heyward-Bey led the Raiders in receiving with seven receptions for 99 yards. In his past two games, Heyward-Bey, who was on our list of waiver-wire pickups this week, has 11 receptions for 214 yards and a touchdown.

- The Eagles held Stevie Johnson to four receptions for 29 yards and David Nelson to one reception for six yards (although it was a touchdown). Through five games, only one receiver has had at least 70 yards against the Eagles: Victor Cruz in Week 3.

- Receiver Jason Avant led the way for the Eagles in receptions (nine), receiving yards (139) and targets (10). In his past two games, Avant has 15 receptions on 18 targets for 208 yards.

- Vikings receiver Percy Harvin had only one reception for 11 yards in Week 5. On the season, Harvin has 13 rush attempts for 153 yards. As disappointing as he's been from a receiving standpoint (only one game with more than 50 receiving yards), he is averaging 30.6 rushing yards per game, which puts him on pace for nearly 500 rushing yards (489.6 yards).

- Hines Ward, who had no touchdowns in the first four games, caught two of Roethlisberger's five touchdown passes in Week 5.

- Santonio Holmes finished with four receptions for 60 yards and a score. It was only the second time this season that Holmes had double-digit fantasy points. Plaxico Burress had a team-high eight targets, but he and Mark Sanchez connected on only three passes for 42 yards.

- Jaguars receiver Jason Hill, perhaps most famous for calling Darrelle Revis "overhyped," had more receiving yards today (118) than he the other three games he played this season (92).

- Kevin Walter had a productive Week 5 (five receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown), however, Jacoby Jones finished with only one reception for nine yards despite tying tight end Owen Daniels for the team high in targets (11).

- Lions receiver Calvin Johnson scored a touchdown in his fifth consecutive game, but he had only one touchdown for the first time this season. Through five games, Johnson has nine receiving touchdowns. No receiver before Johnson had more than eight during his team's first five games.

Here are our top 50 fantasy wide receivers for Week 6:

1. Calvin Johnson, Lions (vs SF)
2. Wes Welker, Patriots (vs DAL)
3. Greg Jennings, Packers (vs STL)
4. Steve Smith, Panthers (at ATL)
5. Hakeem Nicks, Giants (vs BUF)
6. Mike Wallace, Steelers (vs JAC)
7. Roddy White, Falcons (vs CAR)
8. Miles Austin, Cowboys (at NE)
9. Steve Johnson, Bills (at NYG)
10. Dez Bryant, Cowboys (at NE)
11. DeSean Jackson, Eagles (at WAS)
12. Jeremy Maclin, Eagles (at WAS)
13. A.J. Green, Bengals (vs IND)
14. Santonio Holmes, Jets (vs MIA)
15. Jordy Nelson, Packers (vs STL)
16. Victor Cruz, Giants (vs BUF)
17. Pierre Garcon, Colts (at CIN)
18. Marques Colston, Saints (at TB)
19. Anquan Boldin, Ravens (vs HOU)
20. Reggie Wayne, Colts (at CIN)
21. Santana Moss, Redskins (vs PHI)
22. Deion Branch, Patriots (vs DAL)
23. Mario Manningham, Giants (vs BUF)
24. Mike Williams, Bucs (vs NO)
25. Percy Harvin, Vikings (at CHI)
26. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins (at NYJ)
27. David Nelson, Bills (at NYG)
28. James Jones, Packers (vs STL)
29. Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders (vs CLE)
30. Plaxico Burress, Jets (vs MIA)
31. Lance Moore, Saints (at TB)
32. Michael Crabtree, 49ers (at DET)
33. Jabar Gaffney, Redskins (vs PHI)
34. Greg Little, Browns (at OAK)
35. Denarius Moore, Raiders (vs CLE)
36. Mike Thomas, Jaguars (at PIT)
37. Kevin Walter, Texans (at BAL)
38. Johnny Knox, Bears (vs MIN)
39. Hines Ward, Steelers (vs JAC)
40. Robert Meachem, Saints (at TB)
41. Antonio Brown, Steelers (vs JAC)
42. Jason Avant, Eagles (at WAS)
43. Jacoby Jones, Texans (at BAL)
44. Davone Bess, Dolphins (at NYJ)
45. Danario Alexander, Rams (at GB)
46. Mike Sims-Walker, Rams (at GB)
47. Titus Young, Lions (vs SF)
48. Nate Burleson, Lions (vs SF)
49. Brandon Gibson, Rams (at GB)
50. Torrey Smith, Ravens (vs HOU)

Please note that these are our initial rankings for the week. We will update our rankings, as necessary, throughout the week.

To get the most up-to-date rankings and see rankings for other positions, visit our fantasy section here.

If interested, here is our free Week 6 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through five weeks of the season, one of the things we all know we should do is start our running backs against the Philadelphia Eagles.

No team has allowed more fantasy points to opposing running backs than the Eagles, who have allowed 25-plus fantasy points to running backs in all five games this season. In addition, they have allowed a running back to rush for 86 yards or more every week and three of them have gone over 100 rushing yards.

This week, the Eagles head to the nation's capital to take on their NFC East-rival Redskins.

Will Mike Shanahan ruin this opportunity for fantasy owners?

After all, Redskins running back Tim Hightower had 20-plus carries in Weeks 1 and 2 after a strong preseason and then saw his workload drop to 15 carries (Week 3) and eight carries (Week 4).

In Week 4, Ryan Torain, who had no rush attempts in the first three weeks of the season, carried the ball 19 times for 135 yards and a touchdown against the Rams in Week 4.

While Shanahan has said that he would go with the "hot hand" and it's difficult to predict who will get the most work for the Redskins later in the season, it would seem logical that Torain has the "hot hand" going into this week's game after last week's 7.1-yard-per-carry performance.

Here are some more running back notes for Week 6:

- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was a true workhorse in Week 5. All Day carried it 29 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns. He is currently tied with Beanie Wells for the NFL lead in rushing touchdowns (six), leads the NFL in carries (110) and is second in rushing (498 yards).

- Assuming Colts running back Joseph Addai, who left last week's game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, won't play, the workload will likely be split between Donald Brown and Delone Carter. The duo combined for only 60 yards on 20 carries last week. Carter had more carries (12) and scored a touchdown, but Brown had more yardage (38).

- DeAngelo Williams followed up last week's strong performance with another one. He rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries. He has 197 rushing yards (but only 19 carries) in his past two games.

- Bills running back Fred Jackson rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. He also led the team in receiving with six receptions and 85 yards. Meanwhile, teammate C.J. Spiller had two carries for 13 yards and two receptions for three yards.

- After two strong performances by rookie Stevan Ridley, it was The Law Firm's turn to shine. BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the ball 27 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns in Week 5. BJGE now has five touchdowns in five games.

- Jets running back Shonn Greene carried it 21 times for 83 yards and a touchdown last week. It was the first time this season that Greene reached at least 60 rushing yards.

- 49ers running back Frank Gore had 20 carries for 125 yards and a touchdown in Week 5. After three disappointing performances against the Seahawks, Cowboys and Bengals, Gore now has 125-plus yards in back-to-back games. Backup running back Kendall Hunter, who had nine carries for 65 yards, had a solid game as well.

- The Giants continue to struggle running the ball as they ran it 25 times for 69 yards (2.8 yards per carry) last week. Ahmad Bradshaw had 58 yards and no touchdowns on 17 carries. Safety Antrel Rolle described the knee of Brandon Jacobs, who missed last week's game, as the "size of a volleyball."

- Running back Darren Sproles finished with 91 yards from scrimmage and led the team in carries (11). Going into this game, Sproles had 15 carries in four games. Teammate Mark Ingram had only nine carries but he scored for the second time in three games.

- After carrying the ball 49 times in two games, as one would expect in a blowout loss, Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount only carried the ball 10 times for 34 yards. But Blount suffered a knee injury in the third quarter and his status for Week 6 is in jeopardy.

- Raiders running back Darren McFadden finished with a season low in rushing yards (51) and yards from scrimmage (68). On the season, McFadden has a league-high 519 rushing yards, 17 receptions for 149 yards and four total touchdowns.

- Falcons running back Michael Turner has three straight games with 70 rushing yards or less after having back-to-back 100-yard games to open the season. During that three-game span, Turner is averaging only 2.75 yards per carry. That said, Turner has three rushing touchdowns in the past two weeks and has a favorable matchup against the Panthers, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points in 2011.

- Even though the Chiefs are on a bye in Week 6, the guy at the top of most (if not all) waiver wire lists is Chiefs running back Jackie Battle. (He was on ours.) Not only did he have sleeper written all over him going into this game, he delivered with a 19-carry, 119-yard performance against the Colts. He also caught two passes for 21 yards.

- The Chiefs are one of six teams on bye this week. The other teams (running backs) on bye are: Denver (Willis McGahee and Knowshon Moreno), Tennessee (Chris Johnson), Arizona (Beanie Wells), San Diego (Ryan Mathews and Mike Tolbert) and Seattle (Marshawn Lynch).

Here are our top 40 fantasy running backs for Week 6:

1. Adrian Peterson, Vikings (at CHI)
2. Ray Rice, Ravens (vs HOU)
3. Darren McFadden, Raiders (vs CLE)
4. Arian Foster, Texans (at BAL)
5. Fred Jackson, Bills (at NYG)
6. Matt Forte, Bears (vs MIN)
7. LeSean McCoy, Eagles (at WAS)
8. Michael Turner, Falcons (vs CAR)
9. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars (at PIT)
10. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants (vs BUF)
11. Frank Gore, 49ers (at DET)
12. Cedric Benson, Bengals (vs IND)
13. Peyton Hillis, Browns (at OAK)
14. Ryan Torain, Redskins (vs PHI)
15. Steven Jackson, Rams (at GB)
16. Jahvid Best, Lions (vs SF)
17. Felix Jones, Cowboys (at NE)
18. Darren Sproles, Saints (at TB)
19. Shonn Greene, Jets (vs MIA)
20. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots (vs DAL)
21. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (vs JAC)
22. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (at ATL)
23. Daniel Thomas, Dolphins (at NYJ)
24. Mark Ingram, Saints (at TB)
25. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers (at ATL)
26. LeGarrette Blount, Buccaneers (vs NO)
27. James Starks, Packers (vs STL)
28. Tim Hightower, Redskins (vs PHI)
29. Ryan Grant, Packers (vs STL)
30. Earnest Graham, Buccaneers (vs NO)
31. Delone Carter, Colts (at CIN)
32. LaDainian Tomlinson, Jets (vs MIA)
33. Michael Bush, Raiders (vs CLE)
34. Stevan Ridley, Patriots (vs DAL)
35. Brandon Jacobs, Giants (vs BUF)
36. Pierre Thomas, Saints (at TB)
37. Montario Hardesty, Browns (at OAK)
38. Isaac Redman, Steelers (vs JAC)
39. Jonathan Dwyer, Steelers (vs JAC)
40. Ben Tate, Texans (at BAL)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary. In addition, our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section, later today.

If interested, here is our free Week 6 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As expected, the Broncos announced today that Tim Tebow will be their starting quarterback after the team's bye.

Interestingly enough, that game will be played at Sun Life Stadium, the home of the Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes. The Dolphins have dubbed the day "Gator Day," as they honor the 2009 Florida team that Tebow led to a BCS Championship.

Tebow, who was on our pickups list this morning, completed only four passes in relief of Kyle Orton, but he threw a touchdown pass to running back Knowshon Moreno and ran for a touchdown as well.

While Tebow may leave some (or a lot) to be desired when it comes to his ability as a pocket passer, Tebow has seven rushing touchdowns in 50 career rushing attempts. Last year, he ranked second among quarterbacks in rushing touchdowns (six) despite playing in only nine games and having 43 rushes.

In his three starts at the end of the 2010 season, Tebow completed less than half of his passes (40-of-81), but he threw for 651 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 199 yards and three scores. In those games, he scored more than 23 fantasy points every week and averaged more than 28 fantasy points per game.

But you'll have to wait for Gator Day to see his next start.

In addition to Denver (and Tebow), five other teams are on bye in Week 6: Tennessee (Matt Hasselbeck), Kansas City (Matt Cassel), Arizona (Kevin Kolb), San Diego (Philip Rivers) and Seattle (Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst).

Here are some more quarterback notes for Week 6:

- Speaking of goal-line quarterbacks, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton now has five rushing touchdowns. Only Minnesota's Adrian Peterson and Arizona's Beanie Wells have more rushing touchdowns (six). But Newton also ranks fourth in the NFL in passing yards (1,610).

- Eagles quarterback Michael Vick had more than 400 yards of offense (315 passing and 90 rushing) last week and became the NFL recordholder for career rushing yards by a quarterback surpassing former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham. However, Vick also threw four interceptions, one of which was returned by Nick Barnett for a touchdown. Through five games, Vick has more interceptions (seven) than he had in all of (or 12 games in Vick's case) last year (six).

- Curtis Painter has thrown 68 passes in three games this season and has no interceptions. He also has four touchdown passes, all of them caught by Pierre Garcon.

- Rams quarterback Sam Bradford has a passer rating of 70.8, second-lowest among all qualified leaders ahead of only Kerry Collins. Bradford has thrown only one interception in 151 pass attempts, but he has also thrown only three touchdowns and has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes. The Packers, who have the second-most interceptions (10), have allowed the third-most passing yards (299.8) this season.

- Playing with a sprained foot and a bad offensive line facing the league's top-ranked scoring defense going into last week was far from ideal. If you played Roethlisberger, however, you enjoyed his five-touchdown performance, which ties a career high set back in 2007 against the Ravens.

- Tampa quarterback Josh Freeman continues to struggle. Freeman threw no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 45-point blowout loss on Sunday. Through five games, Freeman has thrown twice as many interceptions (six) as he's thrown touchdowns (three). That's only three touchdowns in 178 pass attempts.

- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 321 yards, but had only one touchdown. The last regular-season game in which Brady threw for less than two touchdowns was in Week 7 last year. He also threw his first-ever redzone interception at home.

- For only the second time this season, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo should have a healthy (or healthier) Miles Austin and Dez Bryant at receiver in the same game. Romo, who ranks fifth in the NFL in passing yards per game (318.3), faces the Patriots, who have allowed a league-worst 326.6 passing yards per game.

Here are our top 25 fantasy quarterbacks for Week 6:

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (vs STL)
2. Tom Brady, Patriots (vs DAL)
3. Drew Brees, Saints (at TB)
4. Michael Vick, Eagles (at WAS)
5. Cam Newton, Panthers (at ATL)
6. Tony Romo, Cowboys (at NE)
7. Matthew Stafford, Lions (vs SF)
8. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (vs JAC)
9. Eli Manning, Giants (vs BUF)
10. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills (at NYG)
11. Matt Ryan, Falcons (vs CAR)
12. Matt Schaub, Texans (at BAL)
13. Joe Flacco, Ravens (vs HOU)
14. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers (vs NO)
15. Colt McCoy, Browns (at OAK)
16. Mark Sanchez, Jets (vs MIA)
17. Alex Smith, 49ers (at DET)
18. Jay Cutler, Bears (vs MIN)
19. Sam Bradford, Rams (at GB)
20. Rex Grossman, Redskins (vs PHI)
21. Jason Campbell, Raiders (vs CLE)
22. Andy Dalton, Bengals (vs IND)
23. Donovan McNabb, Vikings (at CHI)
24. Curtis Painter, Colts (at CIN)
25. Matt Moore, Dolphins (at NYJ)

Throughout the week, we will update our rankings, as necessary. In addition, our rankings for other positions will be available at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section, on Wednesday.

If interested, here is our free Week 6 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates throughout the week, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In our waiver-wire list last week, we, like most sites, recommended picking up Redskins running back Ryan Torain.

While Mike Shanahan has been non-committal in naming a "starting" running back instead saying he'll go with the "hot hand," Torain was the team's surprise workhorse in Week 4 before the team's bye.

In the first three games, Torain had no carries. In Week 4, Torain had 19 carries for 135 yards.

Meanwhile, Tim Hightower's carries have declined every week: 25 (Week 1), 20 (Week 2), 14 (Week 3) and eight (Week 4).

If Torain gets a similar workload in Week 6, he should be in for a monster game against a bad Eagles' run defense. No team has allowed more fantasy points to opposing running backs than the Eagles. Philadelphia has allowed three 100-yard rushers and have allowed a running back to gain at least 86 yards in all five games this season.

Every week when we list our waiver-wire pickups, we have two criteria for a player to be eligible for the list: (1) they are available in at least 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues and (2) they weren't mentioned in the previous week's list. And, of course, we must believe that they offer value to fantasy owners.

Torain, who is available in exactly 50 percent of Yahoo! leagues as of Tuesday morning, meets the ownership criteria, but since he was mentioned on last week's list, we won't include him below. That said, he is worthy of a pickup if he's available in your league, especially for his Week 6 matchup.

Here are some waiver-wire options heading into Week 6:

QB - Tim Tebow, Broncos (owned in 12 percent of Yahoo! leagues): As a fantasy football owner, you are less concerned with throwing mechanics, quick releases, etc. than you are with fantasy points. While Tebow is one of the league's worst pocket passers including other team's second- and third-stringers, Tebow has the ability to make plays, especially running the ball. In relief of Kyle Orton, Tebow completed only four-of-10 passes, but he threw a touchdown (albeit on a checkdown to Knowshon Moreno) and ran one in. While coach John Fox has said that he hasn't picked a post-bye starting quarterback, it's hard to imagine him not going with Tebow at this point.

RB - Delone Carter, Colts (12 percent): Colts running back Joseph Addai, who left last week's game with a hamstring injury, is likely out this week and perhaps an additional week or two as well. That means, that Carter and Donald Brown should split the workload again. Even though Brown had more yards (38), Carter had more carries (12) and a touchdown last week. Even when Addai comes back, Carter will get the short-yardage and goal-line work.

RB - Jackie Battle, Chiefs (12 percent): If you need a running back for Week 6, Battle is not the guy as the team is on bye in Week 6. With Thomas Jones and Dexter McCluster relatively ineffective since the team lost Jamaal Charles for the season, Battle had a career day against the Colts with 19 carries for 119 yards and two receptions for 21 yards. While the Colts have a bad run defense, Battle should get the most carries going forward out of Kansas City's running backs.

WR - Darrius Heyward-Bey, Raiders (10 percent): For two consecutive weeks, Heyward-Bey has had strong performances. In those two games, DHB has 11 receptions for 214 yards and a score. Assuming that other teams will defend the Raiders like the Texans did last week, opposing defenses will focus their overall effort on stopping or slowing down Darren McFadden and the opponent's top cornerback will be on Denarius Moore. With other receivers, such as Jacoby Ford, Chaz Schilens, and Louis Murphy, on the roster, Heyward-Bey may not always get targeted as much as he has in the past two games, but there is some upside here.

WR - Michael Crabtree, 49ers (40 percent): Crabtree, the second receiver selected in 2009 (after DHB), is more talented than Heyward-Bey. As Crabtree, who has been dealing with an ailing foot, continues to get healthier, his production should continue to increase. Although he had only two receptions for 36 yards last week, Crabtree had more than a quarter of the targets (five) out of Alex Smith's 19 pass attempts in their 45-point blowout of the Bucs. Speaking of Smith, his numbers have been solid across the board this season: 65.9 completion percentage, 7:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and passer rating of 104.1.

WR - Greg Little, Browns (eight percent): Little will be one of the team's two starting receivers in Week 6, per head coach Pat Shurmur. Before their bye, Little, the Browns' second-round pick, had the best game of his rookie season in Week 4 with six receptions for 57 yards. While he's an even better option in dynasty leagues, Little should continue to become more involved in the team's offensive gameplan.

WR - Doug Baldwin, Seahawks (seven percent): Baldwin, an undrafted rookie free agent, had a career-high eight receptions and 136 yards in the Seahawks' upset win over the Giants last week. Through five games, Baldwin has three games with 80-plus yards and leads the team in receptions (20), receiving yards (330) and is tied for the lead in touchdowns (two).

TE - Jake Ballard, Giants (three percent): If you're in a deeper league or need a bye-week replacement, Ballard is someone worth considering. In each of his past two games, Ballard has three receptions and a score. This week, the Giants face the Bills, who allowed a league-high fantasy points to opposing tight ends in 2010 and have allowed double-digit fantasy points to tight ends in two of their past three games.

If you're looking for Week 6 rankings, our rankings will be updated by Wednesday at The Tip Drill, our fantasy section.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can either (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

If interested, our free Week 6 fantasy football contest is "live."

Good luck in Week 6!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are some game-by-game notes, stats and observations from Sunday's games excluding the Sunday Night Football matchup:

Buffalo Bills 31, Philadelphia Eagles 24

- Eagles quarterback Michael Vick had more than 400 yards of offense (315 passing and 90 rushing) and became the NFL record-holder for career rushing yards by a quarterback surpassing former Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham. However, Vick also threw four interceptions, one of which was returned by Nick Barnett for a touchdown.

- Receiver Jason Avant led the way for the Eagles in receptions (nine), receiving yards (139) and targets (10). In his past two games, Avant has 15 receptions on 18 targets for 208 yards.

- Bills running back Fred Jackson rushed for 111 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. He also led the team in receiving with six receptions and 85 yards. Meanwhile, teammate C.J. Spiller had two carries for 13 yards and two receptions for three yards.

- The Eagles held Stevie Johnson to four receptions for 29 yards and David Nelson to one reception for six yards (although it was a touchdown). Through five games, only one receiver has had at least 70 yards against the Eagles: Victor Cruz in Week 3.

Kansas City Chiefs 28, Indianapolis Colts 24

- Even though the Chiefs are on a bye in Week 6, the guy at the top of most (if not all) waiver wire lists will be Chiefs running back Jackie Battle. Not only did he have sleeper written all over him going into this game, he delivered with a 19-carry, 119-yard performance against the Colts. He also caught two passes for 21 yards.

- Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe finished with season highs in receptions (seven), yards (128) and touchdowns (two). Bowe has had 100-plus yards receiving in back-to-back games and has scored in three consecutive games.

- Colts running back Joseph Addai left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. Neither of his replacements -- Donald Brown or Delone Carter -- played great. They combined for only 60 yards on 20 carries. Carter led the duo in carries (12) and scored a touchdown, but Brown had more yardage (38).

- For a second straight game, Pierre Garcon finished with two touchdowns. In his past three games, Garcon has 13 receptions for 353 yards and four touchdowns.

- Curtis Painter has thrown 68 passes in three games and has no interceptions. He also has four touchdown passes, all of them caught by Garcon (as noted above).

Minnesota Vikings 34, Arizona Cardinals 10

- Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was a true workhorse today. All Day carried it 29 times for 122 yards and three touchdowns.

- Bernard Berrian was a healthy scratch and Devin Aromashodu led the team in receiving (60 yards on two receptions). Percy Harvin had only one reception for 11 yards.

- On the season, Harvin has 13 rush attempts for 153 yards. As disappointing as he's been from a receiving standpoint (only one game with more than 50 receiving yards), he is averaging 30.6 rushing yards per game, which puts him on pace for nearly 500 rushing yards (489.6 yards).

- Cardinals receiver Early Doucet was targeted a game-high 16 times and finished with eight receptions for 92 yards.

- Kevin Kolb, who was replaced by Richard Bartel on the final drive, only completed half of his passes (21-of-42) and threw two more interceptions. On the season, Kolb has thrown more interceptions (six) than touchdowns (five).

- Beanie Wells had a season-low 60 rushing yards, but he scored his sixth rushing touchdown of the season. It was the Cardinals' only touchdown of the game.

Seattle Seahawks 36, New York Giants 25

- Giants receiver Victor Cruz led the team in targets (11), receptions (eight) and yards (161) and scored a touchdown. In his past three games, Cruz has 17 receptions for 369 yards and three touchdowns.

- Teammate Mario Manningham had a mediocre performance (five receptions for 56 yards and no touchdowns), but he was second on the team in targets (nine).

- The Giants continued to struggle running the ball. The Giants ran it 25 times for 69 yards (2.8 yards per carry). Ahmad Bradshaw had 58 yards and no touchdowns on 17 carries.

- Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson left the game with a pectoral injury. As his replacement, Charlie Whitehurst completed 11-of-19 passes for 149 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions.

- After two games with double-digit fantasy points, Seahawks receiver Sidney Rice had only four receptions for 38 yards and no touchdowns. The team was led in receiving by Doug Baldwin (8-136-1), who now has 80-plus yards in three of five games. In addition, Ben Obamanu had a team-high ten targets and finished with six receptions for 51 yards and a touchdown.

- Marshawn Lynch rushed for a season-high 98 yards and scored for the second straight game.

Pittsburgh Steelers 38, Tennessee Titans 17

- Playing with a sprained foot and a bad offensive line facing the league's top-ranked scoring defense was far from ideal. If you played Roethlisberger, however, you enjoyed his five-touchdown performance. It ties a career-high set back in 2007 against the Ravens.

- Hines Ward, who had no touchdowns in the first four games, caught two of Roethlisberger's five touchdown passes.

- Titans receiver Damian Williams finished with a team-high 11 targets and six receptions for 66 yards. Williams has now scored in back-to-back games.

- Jonathan Dwyer, who rushed for 76 yards on his first carry of the season, finished the game with a team-high 107 yards on 11 carries. Dwyer had more rushing yards than Chris Johnson (51) and Isaac Redman (49) combined.

New Orleans Saints 30, Carolina Panthers 27

- Saints tight end Jimmy Graham finished with eight receptions (on 12 targets) for 129 yards, all of which were game highs. Graham has finished with 100-plus yards in three consecutive games. On the season, Graham has 32 receptions for 496 yards and three touchdowns.

- Running back Darren Sproles finished with 91 yards from scrimmage and led the team in carries (11). Going into this game, Sproles had only 15 carries in four games.

- Mark Ingram had only nine carries but he scored for the second time in three games.

- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw two touchdowns, but he rushed for another. On the season, Newton has five rushing touchdowns through five games.

- Going into today's game, Legedu Naanee had 75 receiving yards. Today he was second on the team with 63 yards on four receptions.

- DeAngelo Williams followed up last week's strong performance with another one. He rushed for 115 yards and a touchdown on only nine carries.

Cincinnati Bengals 30, Jacksonville Jaguars 20

- Jaguars receiver Jason Hill, perhaps most famous for calling Darrelle Revis "over-hyped," had more receiving yards today (118) than he had in the other three games he played this season (92).

- Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green finished with five receptions for 90 yards and a touchdown. He has scored in three games and finished with at least 90 receiving yards in three games.

Oakland Raiders 25, Houston Texans 20

- Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski tied an NFL record with three 50-yard field goals in today's win.

- Without Andre Johnson, the Texans still had two 100-yard receivers, but they weren't wide receivers. Running back Arian Foster and tight end Joel Dreessen had 116 yards and 112 yards, respectively. Tight end Owen Daniels finished third on the team in receiving with 89 yards.

- Kevin Walter had a productive game (five receptions for 81 yards and a touchdown), however, Jacoby Jones finished with only one reception for nine yards despite tying Daniels for the team high in targets (11).

- Raiders running back Darren McFadden finished with a season low in rushing yards (51) and yards from scrimmage (68).

- While Denarius Moore had no receptions on six targets, Darius Heyward-Bey led the Raiders in receiving with seven receptions for 99 yards. In his past two games, DHB has 11 receptions for 214 yards and a touchdown.

San Francisco 49ers 48, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3

- If someone offered you the Bucs and 44.5 points, I'm guessing you would have accepted the bet (for entertainment purposes, of course). You would have lost.

- 49ers running back Frank Gore had 20 carries for 125 yards and a touchdown. He now has 125-plus yards in back-to-back games. Backup running back Kendall Hunter had a solid game running the ball as well. Hunter finished with nine carries for 65 yards.

- 49ers tight ends Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker had only five receptions for 76 yards combined. However, three of their five receptions went for scores.

- After carrying the ball 49 times in two games, as one would expect in a blowout loss, Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount only carried the ball 10 times for 34 yards.

- Tampa quarterback Josh Freeman continues to struggle. Freeman threw no touchdowns (which is obvious by the score above) and two interceptions. Through five games, Freeman has thrown twice as many interceptions (six) as he's thrown touchdowns (three). That's only three touchdowns in 178 pass attempts.

San Diego Chargers 29, Denver Broncos 24

- The obvious big news from Denver is the "Tebow thing." After Kyle Orton completed only six-of-13 passes for 34 yards and an interception, Tim Tebow came in to complete four-of-10 pass attempts.

- As you would expect, the duo of Brandon Lloyd and Eric Decker did not have great games. In fact, they did not have good games. Or even mediocre games. Lloyd had one reception for 20 yards and Decker had two receptions for minus four yards.

- Meanwhile, Broncos tight end Daniel Fells had a season-high 47 yards.

- Chargers running back Ryan Mathews had 24 rush attempts for 125 yards, but Mike Tolbert left the game with a concussion. Tolbert had 49 yards from scrimmage (25 rushing and 24 receiving). Jakob Hester also had 11 carries for 47 yards.

- Not only did Mathews rush for 125 yards, so did Willis McGahee. McGahee now has three 100-yard games in the past four weeks.

New England Patriots 30, New York Jets 21

- The Jets have now lost three straight games and host the winless Dolphins on Monday Night Football in Week 6. The Patriots have scored 30-plus points in 13 consecutive games.

- Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw for 321 yards, but had only one touchdown. The last regular-season game in which Brady threw for less than two touchdowns was in Week 7 last year. He also threw his first-ever redzone interception at home.

- For the fourth time in five games, Patriots receiver Wes Welker finished with more than 100 receiving yards. Welker had a season-low five receptions for 124 yards yet it sort-of feels like a disappointment.

- Not only did Aaron Hernandez play, but he had a game-high nine targets. Hernandez, who played his high school football (Bristol, CT) about 10 miles from EDSFootball.com headquarters, had five receptions for 56 yards.

- After two strong performances by rookie Stevan Ridley, it was The Law Firm's turn to shine. BenJarvus Green-Ellis carried the ball 27 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns. BJGE now has five touchdowns in five games.

- Jets running back Shonn Greene carries it 21 times for 83 yards and a touchdown. It was the first time this season that Greene reached at least 60 rushing yards.

- Santonio Holmes finished with four receptions for 60 yards and a score. It was only the second time this season that Holmes had double-digit fantasy points. Plaxico Burress had a team-high eight targets, but he and Mark Sanchez connected on only three passes for 42 yards.

The Packers currently trail the Falcons in the second quarter on Sunday Night Football by a score of 14-0.

At The Weekly Blitz, where I pick three games against the spread each week, I have the Falcons +6 in my final game of the week. If the Falcons cover, I will finish the first five weeks with a cumulative record of 12-2-1.

If interested, check out our free Week 6 fantasy football contest to win an EDSFootball.com t-shirt and a chance to advance to the playoffs for a chance to win the top prize of $100.

Make your prediction for the Monday Night Football matchup between the Bears and Lions in our NFL Gameday Forum.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Colts running back Joseph Addai left today's game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury.

Before Addai left the game, he had six carries for 19 yards and one reception for six yards.

In his absence, Donald Brown and Delone Carter combined for 60 rushing yards on 20 carries. Carter had more carries (12) and a touchdown, but Brown had more yardage (38).

The Colts face the Bengals next week and Addai's status for the game at this point is unknown.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the past two weeks, Giants receiver Victor Cruz has been a popular pickup in fantasy football leagues.

With Mario Manningham out in Week 3, Cruz took advantage of the opportunity to start by scoring two touchdowns on his three receptions for 110 yards. Granted, the 74-yard score had as much to do with the poor tackling by Eagles defenders as it had to do with his ability to run after the catch.

As a fantasy owner, however, you'll take 110 yards and two touchdowns any way you can get them.

In Week 4, Manningham returned from a concussion, but he struggled with a 10-yard performance on one reception. Meanwhile, Cruz had another solid game: six receptions for 98 yards.

It appeared to the outside world that quarterback Eli Manning and Manningham were not on the same page as it was Cruz that was on the field in most of the second-half two-receiver sets instead of Manningham. However, the team's offensive coordinator praised Manningham.

Giants offfensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride said of Manningham (via ESPN New York), "Yeah, [Manningham's still the starter]. He had a good game. That was really his best game. He had nothing to show for it production-wise, but he ran a lot of good routes, got himself open. Just because of the coverage or what have you, the ball went the other way. But really that was his best game."

Really?

If the Giants, who are nearly double-digit favorites against the Seahawks, establish an early lead, they may run the ball much more than they throw it, but if I had to start Manningham or Cruz, I'd still go with Manningham this week.

Depending on what happens today, that may change. But, for now, I'd stick with Manningham, who is inside my top 25 fantasy wide receivers this week.

That said, Cruz still has fantasy value and the team had three productive receivers in Hakeem Nicks, Steve Smith and Manningham when Smith was on the team and healthy. I can see a similar situation with Cruz, Nicks and Manningham.

Here are some of the players worth starting in fantasy leagues in Week 5:

QB - Matt Ryan, Falcons (vs. GB): In three of his four games this season, Ryan has thrown for 291 yards or more. Ryan, who has played much better at home (21-2 career record) than on the road, gets a Packers defense that has allowed the second-most passing yards this season. Ryan has thrown 42 pass attempts in three of four games and tonight's game is likely to be a shootout as we know the Packers can score points in bunches.

RB - Darren Sproles, Saints (at CAR): Sproles is averaging less than four carries per game (15 carries in four weeks), but he has developed into a must-start in both point-per-reception (PPR) and standard scoring formats. Sproles, who is on pace for 100 receptions this season, has 358 yards from scrimmage and has scored three touchdowns (one rushing, one receiving and one return).

RB - Shonn Greene, Jets (at NE): Once bitten, twice shy? Greene has appeared on this side of the list before only to disappoint. Greene has yet to rush for 60 yards in any game and is averaging only 3.1 yards per carry this season. While the Patriots are much worse against the pass than the run, the Patriots have allowed 4.8 yards per carry and the Jets say they will be more committed to the run this week. Greene is just inside my top 20 running backs for Week 5.

WR - Julio Jones, Falcons (vs. GB): As teams focus on stopping Roddy White, it is impossible for opponents to double both White and Jones and Jones is taking advantage. Not only is Julio Jones leading the Falcons in receiving yards, he is on pace for 96 receptions and 1,368 yards. Jones has back-to-back 100-yard games and has at least five receptions and 70 yards in all games except against the Eagles.

WR - Eric Decker, Broncos (vs. SD): Although the Chargers rank fifth in the NFL against the pass, Decker has 20 receptions for 270 yards and four touchdowns in four games. He has had 48 yards or more every game and has two multi-touchdown games. Only nine receivers (ten players) have more targets than Decker (37).

WR - Jordy Nelson, Packers (at ATL): The one obvious drawback is the number of talented pass-catchers in the Packers offense that can take targets away from Nelson, the team's No. 2 receiver (or third-best option if you include tight end Jermichael Finley). That said, Nelson has more than 75 receiving yards and a touchdown in three of four games. On a fast track against the 24th-ranked pass defense, Nelson should have another strong performance.

TE - Jermaine Gresham, Bengals (at JAX): Gresham has quietly put up three solid performances (50-plus yards) in four games. This week, Gresham has a favorable matchup against the Jaguars, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season and have allowed two tight ends to finish with 100-plus receiving yards.

Here are some of the players worth sitting in fantasy leagues in Week 5:

QB - Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (vs. TEN): While Big Ben is expected to play, he is dealing with a sprained foot, which will limit his mobility. In addition, his offensive line is one of the worst in the league. To make matters worse, the Titans rank first in the NFL in scoring defense (14.0 points per game allowed). The stars are not exactly aligned for Roethlisberger to have a big performance this week.

RB - DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (vs. NO): Williams had the best game of his season last week when he rushed for 82 yards on 10 carries. As badly as Williams has struggled in the first three games of the season, I'm not sure I'm ready to buy into Williams yet. Against the Saints, who are one of the best teams in the NFL, it wouldn't be surprising if the Panthers fall behind early and rely on their passing game more. If that's the case, Jonathan Stewart, who already has 17 receptions, would be on the field more on passing downs than Williams.

RB - Isaac Redman/Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (vs. TEN): As mentioned above, the Titans have the league's top-ranked scoring defense so the matchup is not ideal for any part of the Steelers' offense. That said, Mendenhall, who was listed as "questionable" on the injury report, is a game-time decision. If he does play, it takes carries away from Redman, who would otherwise be in line for a big workload if Mendenhall can't go. While Mendenhall has traditionally been the team's workhorse, one would expect that the workload is split more evenly if he plays due to the health of his hamstring.

[Update: ESPN is reporting that Mendenhall has been ruled out, which makes Redman a decent RB2 option this week despite the tough matchup.]

WR - Robert Meachem, Saints (at CAR): Meachem, who scored a touchdown in the first three games, is off to a solid start: 18 receptions for 190 yards and three touchdowns. With Marques Colston and Lance Moore healthy again and Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles getting a lot of targets as well, Meachem's targets will likely diminish. Or at least the consistency of the targets will diminish as Drew Brees throws to the open guy regardless of who that is.

WR - Mike Thomas, Jaguars (vs CIN): Thomas is an underrated receiver in the league and it's good to see that he got a three-year extension with the Jaguars. That said, he has a tough matchup against Bengals cornerback Leon Hall in Week 5. The Bengals actually have the league's top-ranked defense (275.5 yards per game allowed).

WR - Nate Burleson, Lions (vs CHI): Over the past three games, rookie Titus Young has been more productive than Burleson. During that span, Young (20) has more targets than Burleson (15). Burleson has only four receptions for 28 yards in the last two games combined. This week, I have Young ranked ahead of Burleson in my receiver rankings.

TE - Dallas Clark, Colts (vs KC): Perhaps the guy that misses Peyton Manning more than anyone else is Clark. Through four games, Clark has yet to have five receptions or 50 yards in a game. Even when he scored a touchdown in Week 2, he failed to reach double-digit fantasy points.

Last night, we updated our Week 5 fantasy football rankings at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section. In addition, our free fantasy football contest for Week 5 is open to all, but registration will close at 12:59 p.m. ET today.

To keep track of our updates, you can either: (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in your Week 5 matchup(s)!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Like the Buffalo Bills, I got my first loss of the season last week.

Every week at The Weekly Blitz, we pick three NFL games against the spread (ATS) and one of my three picks last week was the Atlanta Falcons, who beat the Seahawks but did not cover the spread.

Through the first four weeks of the year, my record is now 10-1 ATS (90.9 percent) with a push.

While my picks are for entertainment purposes only, of course, winning is certainly more "entertaining" than losing.

Here are my three picks for Week 5:

Oakland Raiders +5 (over Houston Texans)

The Texans will be without wide receiver Andre Johnson for the next three weeks or so and will lean on their ground attack led by a healthy-again Arian Foster. In fact, this game features two of the league's top rushers in Oakland's Darren McFadden and Foster.

In four games this season, McFadden has exactly 600 yards from scrimmage and he leads the NFL in rushing (468 yards). The last time these two teams played, McFadden was held to only 47 rushing yards, but he also had six receptions for 82 yards.

Under new head coach Hue Jackson, the Raiders are a confident bunch. Jackson has predicted an AFC West title and has this team believing in themselves. I think the Raiders are better than their 2-2 record indicates and both of their losses are to 3-1 teams. In addition, the Raiders will be playing with a heavy heart with the passing of their legendary owner, Al Davis, on Saturday morning.

While I wouldn't be surprised if the Raiders pull off the upset, I expect them to keep this game close.

Atlanta Falcons +6 (over Green Bay Packers)

The general rule of thumb is that the portion of the point spread attributed to home-field advantage is three points. Based on that assumption, the spread in this game implies that the Falcons would be close to a double-digit underdog on a neutral field.

To be clear, the Falcons have their share of problems. The Falcons are 2-2 and nearly blew a 20-point second-half to the Seahawks, one of the league's worst teams. Atlanta hasn't protected quarterback Matt Ryan as well as they should have and their defense ranks 27th in scoring (26.3 points per game allowed) this season. Only the Bills have fewer sacks this season than the Falcons.

Facing the high-powered Packers offense and Aaron Rodgers, who is coming off a six-touchdown performance (four passing and two rushing), it could be a long day for Atlanta's defense. That said, the Packers defense has struggled as well.

Green Bay has allowed the fifth-most yards (406.8 per game) and only New England has allowed more passing yards. While the Falcons need to protect their quarterback better, Matt Ryan has a 21-2 record at home during the regular season and better ratios across the board.

While I think the Packers will win this game outright, I also think it will be a shootout with both teams putting up a lot of points. I wouldn't be surprised to see the final score be something like 35-31 and the Falcons covering the spread.

Indianapolis Colts -2 (over Kansas City Chiefs)

Through four weeks, these two teams have a combined 1-7 record. In other words, both teams have been huge disappointments. To be fair, both sides have suffered significant injuries to their best players.

While Kansas City got their first win of the season against the winless Vikings last week, the Colts have played their opponents reasonably tough in their past two matchups. It's likely that Curtis Painter will be the team's starting quarterback again this week. Although he didn't play great in his first career start last week, Painter did throw for 281 yards, two touchdowns and, most importantly, no interceptions.

Both of these teams rank in the bottom four in the league in offense and both teams have been bad against the run (allowing 130-plus rushing yards per game). With Jamaal Charles out for the season, the Chiefs will rely heavily on receiver Dwayne Bowe for their offensive output. On the other hand, the Colts have a better balance than the Chiefs when it comes to running the ball and skill players on offense.

After this weekend, there will be (at least) one less winless team tied for the lead in the "Suck for [Andrew] Luck" sweepstakes.

For more picks, check out all three handicappers' picks at The Weekly Blitz.

Speaking of the "Suck for Luck" sweepstakes, we have updated our 2012 NFL Mock Draft Database, which is full of links to various mock drafts on the web.

For those of you interested in fantasy football, you can find our Week 5 fantasy rankings at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section, and our free Week 5 fantasy football contest in our forums.

Good luck to all in Week 5!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As we begin the part of the season with bye weeks, this is the first of four straight weeks with six teams on a bye.

The top receivers on bye this week are Dez Bryant, Brandon Marshall, Santana Moss and Anquan Boldin. Of course, Miles Austin is on bye as well, but he hasn't played since Week 2.

Unfortunately for the Texans, this is not their bye week. In fact, they don't have their bye until Week 11. So, in other words, they are expecting to be without stud receiver Andre Johnson, who had surgery on his hamstring, for the next three games.

If you don't own Johnson and have one (or more) of the top receivers on bye this week, Johnson's absence from the lineup may have provided an additional option to you on the waiver wire with someone like Jacoby Jones or Kevin Walter, who should expect to see more targets with Johnson out.

That said, the Texans will likely run the ball and rely on Owen Daniels and Jacob Casey more than usual.

Here are some more notes on wide receivers that will play in Week 5:

- For a fourth straight game, Detroit's Calvin Johnson has scored two touchdowns in a game. With eight scores on the season, one-third of his receptions (24) have been for touchdowns. Only three teams have allowed fewer touchdowns to a wide receiver than the Bears, who have allowed only two scores to wideouts and both of those scores were in Week 2 against the Saints.

- Teammate Titus Young, who was on this week's waiver-wire pickups list, has averaged over 60 yards in his past three games and has more targets (20) than Nate Burleson (15) during that span.

- For the second time this season, Bengals rookie receiver A.J. Green has 100-plus yards in a game with his 118-yard performance against the Bills. On the season, Green has 19 receptions for 312 yards and two touchdowns.

- As amazing as Green has been this season, fellow rookie Julio Jones performed as well or better. Jones finished with 127 yards against the Seahawks and has back-to-back 100-yard performances. Jones is on pace for a full season of 96 receptions for 1,368 yards.

- New England's Wes Welker leads the NFL in receptions (40), receiving yards (616) and trails only MegaTron in touchdowns with five. Based on data from Pro Football Reference, no player has ever had more receiving yards in his team's first four games of the season and only 13 players have had 500-plus receiving yards in his team's first four games.

- Although he had only two receptions last week, Tennessee's Nate Washington had 62 receiving yards last week against the Cleveland. The only other wide receivers to have 60-plus receiving yards in four games this season are Welker, Mike Wallace and Larry Fitzgerald. This week, Washington draws a tough matchup against the Steelers, who have allowed the fewest fantasy points to opposing wide receivers this season.

- Denver's Eric Decker has had at least 48 receiving yards in each game this season and had his second two-touchdown performance of the season last week. On the season, Decker leads the team in receptions (20), receiving yards (270) and touchdowns (four). Teammate Brandon Lloyd, who missed Week 2's game, had a season-high 136 yards last week.

- Giants receiver Mario Manningham returned from concussion in Week 4, but he was on the sidelines in the second half in two-receiver sets inlieu of Victor Cruz, another one of the receivers on our list of pickups this week, due to sloppy route-running. Manningham finished the game with only one reception for 10 yards.

Here are my top 50 receivers for Week 5:

1. Calvin Johnson, Lions (vs CHI)
2. Wes Welker, Patriots (vs NYJ)
3. Greg Jennings, Packers (at ATL)
4. Hakeem Nicks, Giants (vs SEA)
5. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals (at MIN)
6. Roddy White, Falcons (vs GB)
7. Steve Smith, Panthers (vs NO)
8. Vincent Jackson, Chargers (at DEN)
9. Mike Wallace, Steelers (vs TEN)
10. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs (at IND)
11. DeSean Jackson, Eagles (at BUF)
12. Santonio Holmes, Jets (at NE)
13. Julio Jones, Falcons (vs GB)
14. Steve Johnson, Bills (vs PHI)
15. Jeremy Maclin, Eagles (at BUF)
16. Brandon Lloyd, Broncos (vs SD)
17. Reggie Wayne, Colts (vs KC)
18. A.J. Green, Bengals (at JAC)
19. Mike Williams, Buccaneers (at SF)
20. Percy Harvin, Vikings (vs ARI)
21. Eric Decker, Broncos (vs SD)
22. Jordy Nelson, Packers (at ATL)
23. Sidney Rice, Seahawks (at NYG)
24. Lance Moore, Saints (at CAR)
25. Mike Thomas, Jaguars (vs CIN)
26. Denarius Moore, Raiders (at HOU)
27. Mario Manningham, Giants (vs SEA)
28. David Nelson, Bills (vs PHI)
29. Plaxico Burress, Jets (at NE)
30. Marques Colston, Saints (at CAR)
31. Nate Washington, Titans (at PIT)
32. Robert Meachem, Saints (at CAR)
33. Pierre Garcon, Colts (vs KC)
34. Deion Branch, Patriots (vs NYJ)
35. Johnny Knox, Bears (at DET)
36. Antonio Brown, Steelers (vs TEN)
37. Jacoby Jones, Texans (vs OAK)
38. Victor Cruz, Giants (vs SEA)
39. Nate Burleson, Lions (vs CHI)
40. Kevin Walter, Texans (vs OAK)
41. Titus Young, Lions (vs CHI)
42. Michael Crabtree, 49ers (vs TB)
43. Jacoby Ford, Raiders (at HOU)
44. Malcom Floyd, Chargers (at DEN)
45. Jerome Simpson, Bengals (at JAC)
46. Austin Collie, Colts (vs KC)
47. Devery Henderson, Saints (at CAR)
48. Early Doucet, Cardinals (at MIN)
49. Steve Breaston, Chiefs (at IND)
50. Michael Jenkins, Vikings (vs ARI)

Please note that these are our initial rankings for the week. We will update our rankings, as necessary, throughout the week. To get the most up-to-date rankings and see rankings for other positions, visit our fantasy section here.

If interested, here is our free Week 5 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 5!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We are one-quarter of the way through the NFL regular-season and are now entering the part of the season with bye weeks.

Did you notice that there is a 16-game week within that period of bye weeks?

In other words, there are six teams on bye for the next four weeks. After those 24 teams have their bye, there are four teams on bye in Week 9, no teams with a week off in Week 10 and then the final four teams have their bye in Week 11.

All six teams with a bye this week have running backs that could be in the top 20 running backs in any given week with Baltimore's Ray Rice being the best of the group.

Other running backs on bye this week include Cleveland's Peyton Hillis, Dallas' Felix Jones, St. Louis' Steven Jackson, Washington's Ryan Torain, Tim Hightower and Roy Helu (who knows which will get the opportunity with Mike Shanahan running the show?) and Miami's Daniel Thomas.

Here are some notes on running backs that will play in Week 5:

- Titans running back Chris Johnson eclipsed the 100-yard mark for the first time this season. In fact, it was the first time in six games that Johnson exceeded 60 rushing yards. Considering his slow start (98 rushing yards in first three games), Johnson is averaging only 2.88 yards per carry through the first quarter of the season. In Week 5, Johnson faces the Steelers, who have allowed the most rushing yards (478) in the first four games of the season since 1994.

- Of those 478 yards, the Steelers allowed Houston's Arian Foster to gain 155 of them last week. Foster, who missed two games and left a third early, really tested his hamstring with 30 carries. Going forward, Foster should continue to see heavy workloads and it's comforting to know that his hamstring can handle them.

- Cardinals running back Beanie Wells had said that he sat last week to "be safe" for this week. Not only was he "safe," but Wells set career highs in rushing yards (138) and rushing touchdowns (three) in his return from injury. It was only the second time in his career that he has rushed for 100-plus yards, but he has 90-plus yards and a score in all three games he has played this season.

- Against the Bears Sunday, Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams rushed for more yards (82) on 10 carries than he had in his previous three games (61) on 27 carries.

- Chicago's Matt Forte rushed for a career-high 205 yards against the Panthers last week. Coincidentally, his previous career high was set against the Panthers. Forte is on pace for more than 2,500 yards from scrimmage this season.

- Ten players are on pace for 100-plus receptions this season and three of them are running backs: Forte, Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert. In addition, Earnest Graham has 23 receptions, which is a 92-reception pace. Both Forte, and Tolbert's teammate, Ryan Mathews, are on pace for more than 1,000 receiving yards.

- After three games with 95 yards rushing or more and a score or two, Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy rushed for only 18 yards on nine carries against the 49ers. Against the Bills this week, McCoy should get the 15-plus carries he got in the first three games. While the Bills are better against the run this year, they are still allowing 4.9 yards per carry.

- San Francisco's Frank Gore had a great matchup against the Eagles rush defense, but it appeared as though his ankle would keep him from exploiting it. After all, there was a Sunday morning change to start Kendall Hunter after warmups. Then Gore rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown. Is this the catalyst that gets Gore out of his funk? This week, the Niners face the Bucs, who held the Colts running backs to only 62 rushing yards on 18 carries in Week 4.

- It's Fred Jackson's turn to exploit the Eagles run defense, who have allowed a running back to rush for 85 yards or more in all four games this season. Jackson ranks fourth in the NFL in rushing (369 yards) in addition to hauling in 13 receptions for 147 yards. In his past three games, Jackson has four touchdowns.

Here are my top 40 running backs for Week 5:

1. Darren McFadden, Raiders (at HOU)
2. Arian Foster, Texans (vs OAK)
3. Adrian Peterson, Vikings (vs ARI)
4. Matt Forte, Bears (at DET)
5. LeSean McCoy, Eagles (at BUF)
6. Fred Jackson, Bills (vs PHI)
7. Ryan Mathews, Chargers (at DEN)
8. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jaguars (vs CIN)
9. Ahmad Bradshaw, Giants (vs SEA)
10. Chris Johnson, Titans (at PIT)
11. Michael Turner, Falcons (vs GB)
12. Beanie Wells, Cardinals (at MIN)
13. Frank Gore, 49ers (vs TB)
14. LeGarrette Blount, Buccaneers (at SF)
15. Cedric Benson, Bengals (at JAC)
16. Jahvid Best, Lions (vs CHI)
17. Joseph Addai, Colts (vs KC)
18. Mike Tolbert, Chargers (at DEN)
19. Willis McGahee, Broncos (vs SD)
20. Darren Sproles, Saints (at CAR)
21. Isaac Redman, Steelers (vs TEN)
22. Mark Ingram, Saints (at CAR)
23. BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots (vs NYJ)
24. Shonn Greene, Jets (at NE)
25. Jonathan Stewart, Panthers (vs NO)
26. James Starks, Packers (at ATL)
27. DeAngelo Williams, Panthers (vs NO)
28. Brandon Jacobs, Giants (vs SEA)
29. Stevan Ridley, Patriots (vs NYJ)
30. LaDainian Tomlinson, Jets (at NE)
31. Marshawn Lynch, Seahawks (at NYG)
32. Ryan Grant, Packers (at ATL)
33. Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers (vs TEN)
34. Dexter McCluster, Chiefs (at IND)
35. Pierre Thomas, Saints (at CAR)
36. Michael Bush, Raiders (at HOU)
37. Kendall Hunter, 49ers (vs TB)
38. Knowshon Moreno, Broncos (vs SD)
39. Ben Tate, Texans (vs OAK)
40. C.J. Spiller, Bills (vs PHI)

Please note that these are our initial rankings for the week. We will update our rankings, as necessary, throughout the week. To get the most up-to-date rankings and see rankings for other positions, visit our fantasy section here.

If interested, here is our free Week 5 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 5!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Going into the season, I expected big things from San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers including a record-setting performance.

Specifically, I wrote in my Week 1 quarterback rankings, "Rivers threw for a league-high 4,710 yards with a bunch of waiver-wire guys plus Antonio Gates last year. With Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd all in the lineup, the sky's the limit. In fact, my bold prediction for 2011 is that Rivers breaks Dan Marino's single-season passing yardage record."

While Rivers is on pace to throw for more than Marino's record of 5,084 yards (see below), the health of Jackson, Gates and Floyd has been less than ideal. It's uncertain when Gates will return, Jackson was on and off the field in the second half last week due to a "leg sprain" and Floyd has been playing through injuries.

In addition to the injuries, Rivers has not been sharp.

Before 2011, Rivers threw 136 career touchdowns and 58 interceptions or roughly 2.3 touchdowns for every interception thrown. So far this year, Rivers has only five touchdowns and has thrown six interceptions.

This week, the Chargers face the Broncos. Only two teams have allowed more passing touchdowns and only two teams have intercepted fewer passes than Denver. Perhaps this is the week that Rivers breaks out of his slump.

Here are more notes on quarterbacks for Week 5:

- Through the first four games, six quarterbacks are on pace to throw for at least 5,000 yards this season. Here are their paces: Tom Brady (6,212), Drew Brees (5,640), Cam Newton (5,544), Aaron Rodgers (5,300), Philip Rivers (5,144) and Tony Romo (5,092).

- Although Brady threw for only 226 yards, by far his season low, against the Raiders, he threw another two touchdowns. On the season, he has 13 total touchdowns and has thrown at least two in every game this season. Counting last season's playoff loss to the Jets, this week's opponent, Brady has thrown two or more touchdowns in 14 straight games.

- With the exception of Romo, there are no other elite fantasy quarterbacks on bye this week. The other teams (and quarterbacks) on bye are: Baltimore (Joe Flacco), St. Louis (Sam Bradford), Miami (Matt Moore/Chad Henne), Cleveland (Colt McCoy) and Washington (Rex Grossman).

- Carolina's Cam Newton threw for 374 yards in last week's loss to Chicago and now has thrown for 374 yards or more in three out of his four NFL games. As impressively, Newton has rushed for four touchdowns in four games. In fact, those are the Panthers' only four rushing touchdowns this season. (Only Cardinals running back Beanie Wells has rushed for more touchdowns (five) than Newton.)

- Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is dealing with a foot sprain, is expected to play in Week 5 against the Titans. But how effective will he be? Tennessee ranks first in scoring defense and has not allowed an opponent to score more than 16 points this season.

- Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has never thrown for 4,000 yards in his NFL career. Based on his performance in the first four games of the season, Hasselbeck is on pace for more than 4,600 yards and 32 touchdowns. This week, the Titans face the Steelers, who rank No. 1 in pass defense (157.5 yards allowed per game).

- Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez completed only 31.4 percent of his passes against the Ravens on Sunday Night Football. In that game, Sanchez set the low for any Jet quarterback ever. Sanchez also threw for a season-low 119 yards and no touchdowns. In four games this season, Sanchez has throw for 335 yards (or more) twice and for 182 yards (or less) twice. Fortunately for Sanchez, the Patriots have only allowed 300-yard passers this season.

Here are my top 25 fantasy quarterbacks for Week 5:

1. Aaron Rodgers, Packers (at ATL)
2. Drew Brees, Saints (at CAR)
3. Michael Vick, Eagles (at BUF)
4. Philip Rivers, Chargers (at DEN)
5. Tom Brady, Patriots (vs NYJ)
6. Matthew Stafford, Lions (vs CHI)
7. Cam Newton, Panthers (vs NO)
8. Matt Ryan, Falcons (vs GB)
9. Eli Manning, Giants (vs SEA)
10. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bills (vs PHI)
11. Josh Freeman, Buccaneers (at SF)
12. Matt Schaub, Texans (vs OAK)
13. Mark Sanchez, Jets (at NE)
14. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (vs TEN)
15. Kevin Kolb, Cardinals (at MIN)
16. Jay Cutler, Bears (at DET)
17. Matt Hasselbeck, Titans (at PIT)
18. Jason Campbell, Raiders (at HOU)
19. Kyle Orton, Broncos (vs SD)
20. Donovan McNabb, Vikings (vs ARI)
21. Alex Smith, 49ers (vs TB)
22. Andy Dalton, Bengals (at JAC)
23. Matt Cassel, Chiefs (at IND)
24. Tarvaris Jackson, Seahawks (at NYG)
25. Curtis Painter, Colts (vs KC)

Please note that these are our initial rankings for the week. We will update our rankings, as necessary, throughout the week. To get the most up-to-date rankings and see rankings for other positions, visit our fantasy section here.

If interested, here is our free Week 5 fantasy football contest.

To keep track of our fantasy updates, you can (1) follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball or (2) "like" us on Facebook or both.

Good luck in Week 5!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Over the next three weeks, the Texans, who are 3-1, play three teams that either 3-1 or 2-2: Oakland, Baltimore and Tennessee.

It is likely that the Texans will be without their star receiver Andre Johnson for those games after having surgery on his hamstring, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.

As McClain tweeted, the purpose of having the surgery was "to prevent scar tissue and speed the recovery."

Before suffering the injury in Week 4, Johnson had 21 receptions for 316 yards and two touchdowns in the first three games of the season.

While Jacoby Jones will now start opposite Kevin Walter for the Texans, Jones is inconsistent and has only one reception (on three targets) for no yards in the past two games.

The player to benefit the most from a fantasy standpoint will be tight end Owen Daniels. Daniels, who has scored in three consecutive games, has back-to-back games with five receptions and 69 yards or more.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Man, that was quick. One-quarter of the NFL regular-season is already over.

While a team that is 0-4 or 1-3 is unlikely to make the (real) postseason, it's not as dire of a situation for fantasy owners that find themselves in a similar situation in their league(s).

Perhaps all you need is a little bit of luck and a tweak to the roster to turn things around.

Every week, we run through a list of potential additions to your fantasy roster. We have a couple of rules for a player to appear on this list: (1) they are owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues and (2) they weren't on this list last week.

The idea is that these guys are actually available, or there is a reasonable chance that they are available, in your league and we don't want to give you the same recycled names from the previous week.

If it weren't for the rules, one name that would definitely appear on this list (again) is Patriots running back Stevan Ridley, who is owned in only 17 percent of Yahoo! leagues as of Tuesday morning. The LSU product made a name for himself early in the preseason and now he's doing the same in the regular season.

The worry with Ridley is the number of opportunities he may get with BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead also in the backfield and Bill Belichick, a slightly-less-frustrating version of Mike Shanahan, running things in New England.

That said, Ridley is certainly making the most of the opportunities (snaps) that he is getting. For a second week in a row, he led the Pats in rushing and this week he finished with 100 yards from scrimmage (97 rushing on ten carries and three receiving on one reception) with a score.

Here are some potential additions this week with their Yahoo! league ownership percentage in parenthesis:

QB - Matt Hasselbeck, Titans (owned in 40 percent of Yahoo! leagues): With the loss of Kenny Britt for the season, I listed Nate Washington and Jared Cook as options to add last week as I expected both of those guys to see more opportunities in the passing game. While Hasselbeck threw for a season-low 220 yards on a season low ten completions, he threw a season-high three touchdowns in Week 4. Hasselbeck, who has never thrown for 4,000 yards in a season, is on pace for 4,608 yards and 32 touchdowns this season. Next week's matchup is a little tougher as the Titans face the Steelers, who despite their unexpected inability to stop the run have allowed a league-low 157.5 passing yards per game.

RB - Ryan Torain, Redskins (22 percent): The Redskins have their bye in Week 5 and it's anyone's guess what coach Mike Shanahan will do as it relates to workloads for his running backs going forward. That said, there were rumblings that Shanahan was considering a switch from Tim Hightower to Torain and that's what happened this week. Assuming that Torain is the guy, at least for their next game, he has an extremely favorable matchup against the Eagles, who have allowed the third-most rushing yards and 5.3 yards per carry this season.

RB - Isaac Redman, Steelers (eight percent): Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall left Sunday's game with a hamstring injury and his status for Week 5 is unknown. If Mendenhall misses time, Redman is likely to get more work than Mewelde Moore.

WR - Antonio Brown, Steelers (27 percent): Brown, who led the NFL in receiving (230 yards) in the preseason, had some buzz going into the season. After an unproductive Week 1, Brown has strung together three solid performances. In those three games, Brown has at least four receptions and 67 yards each week. In addition, he has scored twice.

WR - Titus Young, Lions (seven percent): With Calvin Johnson facing double teams (which hasn't slowed him down), there are plenty of opportunities for the Lions' other receivers to make plays in the team's pass-happy offense. In his past three games, Titus Young has averaged more than 60 yards per game and has more targets (20) than Nate Burleson (15). As a high draft pick, Young has plenty of upside and may potentially serve as a solid bye-week replacement.

[Related: As one of the "featured pros" this week at FantasyPros.com, I was asked to participate in a ranking of waiver-wire options. For some consensus rankings on options, click here.]

WR - Laurent Robinson, Cowboys (two percent): After having three receptions for 49 yards in his debut with the Cowboys on Monday night, Robinson exploded for seven catches and 116 yards only six days later. The Cowboys have a bye this week and will likely get back star receiver Miles Austin in Week 6. That said, Robinson is worth a look in deeper leagues and if (or when) either Austin or Bryant gets hurt again, Robinson will be the guy to take advantage.

WR - Victor Cruz, Giants (35 percent): Not only did he have the most controversial play of the weekend, Cruz has back-to-back strong games. In those two games, Cruz has nine receptions for 208 yards and two scores. With Mario Manningham back in the lineup, it was Cruz that was on the field in two-receiver sets (with Manningham on the bench) in the second half of Sunday's game. It's not necessarily a permanent move, but one thing seems certain -- Cruz will continue to be more involved in the Giants offense.

WR - Jabar Gaffney, Redskins (20 percent): While he hasn't been spectacular, he has certainly been steady. Gaffney is one of only seven receivers (ten players) to have finished with at least 50 receiving yards in every game this season. The Redskins have a bye in Week 5, but he's someone that could provide solid production as a bye-week replacement.

TE - Jermaine Gresham, Bengals (28 percent): In two leagues, I have Jason Witten, who is on bye this week. My plan for the league in which I don't have Rob Gronkowski as his backup is to add Gresham, who is currently available. Gresham had four catches for 70 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals' "upset" win over the Bills. For Gresham, it was his third 50-yard performance in three weeks.

If you're looking for Week 5 rankings, our rankings will be updated on Wednesday at The Tip Drill, our fantasy section.

Feel free to post questions on players not on this list in our free fantasy football forum and, if interested, our free Week 5 fantasy football contest is "live."

Good luck in Week 5!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Since losing to the Jaguars by two points in Week 1, the Titans have won three straight games and share the division lead with the Houston Texans, who beat the Steelers with the 155-yard rushing performance of Arian Foster.

It look a little longer than a week for running back Chris Johnson to turn things around.

After rushing for only 98 yards on 46 carries in his first three games, Johnson had 101 yards on 23 carries in today's convincing win over the Browns.

Counting last year, Johnson had five consecutive games with less than 60 rushing yards.

On the season, Johnson only has 199 yards on 69 carries (2.88 yards per carry) in four games. With two more receptions today, Johnson has 15 receptions for 102 yards on the season as well.

Although the Titans face the Steelers next week, the Steelers aren't as tough against the run as they once were. As pointed out by Stats NFL, the Steelers have allowed more rushing yards (478) through four games than they have in any season since 1994.

Does Every Coach's Dream extend his 100-yard game streak to two games?

[Take our poll on how many rushing yards Johnson will have in Week 5 in our Titans forum.]

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 10:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cardinals running back Beanie Wells, who missed last week's game with a hamstring injury, said earlier this week: "I sat out last week so I could be safe this week."

Boy, was he "safe."

For only the second time in his career, Wells rushed for more than 100 yards and he set career highs with 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

In all three of his games, Wells has rushed for at least 90 yards and scored in each game.

Wells, the team's first-round pick in 2009, has 59 carries for 321 yards (5.44 yards per carry) and five touchdowns this season.

The Cardinals, who have lost three straight, face the Vikings, who have lost all four of their games, next week.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 09:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For a fourth straight week, Lions receiver Calvin Johnson has scored two touchdowns.

And for a second straight week in a row, the Lions have overcome a large 20-point deficit to keep their winning streak alive at eight games (going back into the 2010 season).

Johnson was already the first player to score two receiving touchdowns in the first three games of a season, which means he becomes the first to do it the first four games of a season.

In his career, Johnson has eight multi-touchdown games, half of which have occurred during this streak.

The only other player in NFL history to record four straight games with two receiving touchdowns per game is former Vikings receiver Cris Carter.

Through the first quarter of the season, MegaTron has 24 receptions for 321 yards and eight touchdowns.

Next week, the Lions, who have won their past eight games, face the Bears on Monday Night Football in Week 5.

How many more touchdowns will Johnson have in Week 5?

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Earlier in the week, Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson stated the heirarchy of his priorities: (1) "staying healthy" and then (2) winning.

While the Eagles did not win today, Jackson achieved his No. 1 priority (he stayed healthy).

To be fair, however, the Eagles did not lose because of Jackson's play.

Jackson, the Eagles' second-round pick in 2008, had ten receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown in his first three games of the season. Today Jackson finished with six receptions for 171 yards.

From a fantasy perspective, that's the drawback of owning Jackson.

Through one-quarter of the season, Jackson finished with 100 or more yards twice. He also finished with 30 yards or less twice.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, who did not finish the previous two games due to injury, finished today's game and had nearly 500 yards of offense. Vick completed 30 of 46 passes for 416 yards and led the team in rushing with 75 yards on eight carries.

That said, the Eagles blew a 24-3 lead to lose by one point to the Niners.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Panthers receiver Steve Smith, who had 132 receiving yards in the first half, finished today's game with eight receptions for a season-high 181 yards.

Smith now has more than 150 yards for the third time in four games. In the other game, however, he had only two receptions for 15 yards.

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw for another 374 yards today and has thrown for 1,386 yards in four games.

On the season, Smith, who had 554 yards in all of 2010, has 24 receptions for 530 yards and two touchdowns. That puts him on pace to finish the season with 96 receptions for 2,120 yards and eight touchdowns.

Next week, the Panthers, who are now 1-3, host the Saints.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Last week, Bears running back Matt Forte rushed for two yards on nine attempts. In fact, Forte had only 119 rushing yards through the first three games of the season.

This week was quite a bit different.

Against the Panthers, Forte had 25 carries for a career-high 205 yards and a touchdown. Forte had an additional 23 receiving yards on four receptions.

Forte's previous career high was against the Panthers when he ran for 166 yards on 22 attempts on 10/10/10.

In his career, Forte has nine 100-yard games (including today's 200-yard performance) and three 100-yard receiving games.

On the season, Forte now has 634 yards from scrimmage (324 rushing yards and 310 receiving yards) in four games. That puts Forte on pace for more than 2,500 yards from scrimmage for the season.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Through the first three games of the season, Texans running back Arian Foster, last year's rushing champion, missed two games and left the other due to his "anti-awesome" hamstring.

Returning this week, Foster, who was on the "start'em" side of my Start'em, Sit'em this week, has run all over the Steelers defense.

On 30 carries, Foster finished the day with 155 yards and a touchdown. In addition, Foster had three receptions for 11 yards.

Not only did receiver Andre Johnson leave today's game with a hamstring injury, but backup running back Ben Tate, who was fifth in the NFL in rushing (301 yards) heading into today's game, left the game with a groin injury. The status for Johnson and Tate are unknown at this point for next week's game.

The Texans host the Raiders next week and Foster will be in my top fantasy running backs for Week 5.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 04:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The news could have been much worse for Texans receiver Andre Johnson, who left today's game after going to the ground without contact.

Fortunately for the Johnson, the Texans and his fantasy owners, Johnson has a hamstring injury and not something more severe like a torn ACL.

Johnson finished the game with four receptions for 36 yards and no scores.

Next week, the Texans host the Raiders.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 03:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Once Week 4 ends, we will be one-quarter of the way through the 2011 NFL regular season. For fantasy leaguers, the percentage will be even greater than that.

It's the only thing I don't like about football -- the season goes by way too fast. It seems as though the season just started.

To help you set your fantasy lineups this week, we prepare a sample list of players that you should continue starting or sitting. If you have any questions on specific players not on this list, feel free to submit your start/sit questions in our free fantasy football forum, post them below or send me a tweet.

Players to Start in Week 4

QB - Eli Manning, Giants (at ARI): After a rough preseason and season opener, Manning seems to have righted the ship. After a solid game in Week 2, Manning threw four touchdowns and no interceptions against the secondary for the "Dream Team." And that was without the team's second-best receiver, Mario Manningham, who was out with a concussion. With Manningham back and against an ineffective Cardinals pass defense this week, Manning should continue to roll.

RB - Arian Foster, Texans (vs PIT): On the surface, there are a number of reasons why Foster may seem more like a "sit'em" than a "start'em." Through three games, he has missed two of them. In the one he didn't miss, he didn't complete. Talk about "anti-awesomeness." While Foster was out or not completing games, Ben Tate was racking up yardage as one of five running backs to accumulate 300-plus yards in the first three weeks of the season. Oh, and there's the fact that the Texans face the Steelers, who have ranked in the top three against the run every year from 2003 to 2010. With all that said, last year's rushing champion was a full participant at practice this week and he is going to be put "back to work full-time," according to coach Gary Kubiak.

RB - James Starks, Packers (vs DEN): Packers running backs Ryan Grant and James Starks have split carries evenly (32 each) this year. While Grant played much better than Starks last week, Grant is out with a bruised kidney, which should mean a full workload for Starks. As the biggest favorites (in terms of point spreads) this week, the Packers may establish an early lead and rely more on the ground game (i.e., Starks).

WR - Mario Manningham, Giants (at ARI): Manningham closed the 2010 season on a tear. In his final three games, Manningham had 100-plus yards and a score (or two) in every game. This year, Manningham's start has been slower. He has seven receptions for 105 yards and a missed game (concussion) through three weeks. With his talent and the Cardinals poor secondary play this year, Manningham should be poised for a big week.

WR - Denarius Moore, Raiders (vs NE): Moore had a monster game in Week 2 with five receptions, 146 yards and a touchdown. While he was held in check by one of the league's best secondaries last week, Moore and the Raiders get the Patriots, who have allowed a league-high 377 passing yards this season, in Week 3. Although Jacoby Ford is expected to return to the lineup this week, Moore is the better option and just inside our top 30 fantasy receivers this week.

WR - David Nelson, Bills (at CIN): Like Moore, Nelson was a waiver-wire gem in fantasy football this season. Nelson is one of only nine receivers to have 60-plus receiving yards in every game this season. Three tight ends (Rob Gronkowski, Dustin Keller and Jason Witten) and a running back (Matt Forte) have also done that. On the season, Nelson has 20 receptions for 233 yards and a score.

TE - Greg Olsen, Panthers (at CHI): On a yards-per-game basis, Olsen had his worst season last year under new offensive coordinator Mike Martz. After spending his first four seasons in Chicago, the transition to Carolina has helped his fantasy production. Through three games, Olsen is averaging 56.3 yards per game, which is almost 20 yards per game higher than his previous career best set in 2009. Even better, Olsen faces his former team, who has allowed the third-most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season.

Players to Sit in Week 4

QB - Joe Flacco, Ravens (vs NYJ): In the first three games of the season, Flacco has alternated from great to poor performances. In Weeks 1 and 3, Flacco has thrown three touchdowns and no interceptions in each game. In Week 2, Flacco had less than 200 yards, only one touchdown and two interceptions. He may be in for a performance similar to that one against the Jets, who have one of the league's best pass defenses.

RB - BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Patriots (at OAK): The Law Firm, who has scored two touchdowns this season, hasn't been terribly productive otherwise. On the season, Green-Ellis has only 34 carries for 122 yards. Last week, Stevan Ridley ran the ball well and more effectively than Green-Ellis. With Green-Ellis, Ridley and Danny Woodhead all sharing the workload, it's probably best to keep them all on your bench.

RB - Reggie Bush, Dolphins (at SD): The only game in which Bush had a productive fantasy day was when Daniel Thomas was out of the lineup. In his return home to San Diego, Bush, who has 305 career receptions, faces the Chargers without Thomas in the lineup. That said, Bush has 16 carries for 31 yards and two receptions for 15 yards combined in the past two games. For what it's worth, the Chargers have allowed running backs to catch the fewest passes (12 counting Dexter McCluster as a running back) for less than 50 yards this season.

RB - Willis McGahee, Broncos (at GB): With Knowshon Moreno out of the lineup the past two weeks, McGahee has carried the ball 50 times, which is the most in the NFL during that span. After going over 100 yards in Week 2, McGahee was less productive against Tennessee (22 carries for 52 yards) last week. This week, the Broncos face another tough run defense in Green Bay, Moreno should be active (although his exact playing time is unknown) and the Broncos could fall behind early and need to pass.

WR - Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith, Ravens (vs NYJ): Despite Smith's three-touchdown performance in the first quarter last week, Boldin is the team's clear-cut top option. That means, he will find himself on Revis Island. With his ability to take top receivers out of the game, you likely have better options elsewhere on your roster for this week. Smith, on the other hand, will draw Antonio Cromartie. In the past two weeks, the Jets have not allowed a receiver to go over 34 yards and all Ravens receivers should be considering a "sit'em" this week.

WR - Nate Washington, Titans (at CLE): Speaking of talented cornerbacks, Cleveland's Joe Haden is someone who may not get the publicity and attention he deserves. The young corner held Brandon Marshall to only 43 yards last week and will likely spend the day covering Washington. Over the course of the season, Washington, who is tied for third in the NFL in receptions (21), will benefit from Britt being out of the lineup by getting more overall targets. In some weeks (like this one), Britt's absence will hurt as he draws top corners.

WR - Sidney Rice, Seahawks (vs ATL): After missing the first two games of the season, Rice made his season debut with an eight-catch, 109-yard performance in the team's win over the Cardinals. Before we get too giddy about Rice's performance, let's remember he'll be playing the season with a torn labrum and it's Tarvaris Jackson that is throwing him the ball. If you're in a 12-team league that starts three receivers, Rice is a low-end WR3 but you should not expect similar production to last week's.

TE - Kellen Winslow, Buccaneers (vs IND): Heath Miller had a solid game against the Colts last week, but he was the only tight end to have more than 29 yards against the Colts this season. Winslow, who has yet to score a touchdown, is averaging four fantasy points per game in standard-scoring leagues.

We have updated our Week 4 fantasy football rankings at TheTipDrill.com, our fantasy section. In addition, our free fantasy football contest for Week 4 is open to all, but registration will close at 12:59 p.m. ET today.

Good luck in your Week 4 matchup(s)!

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

With everything, good timing and a little bit of luck can go a long way. Last week, I had a little of both.

Every week, I (and the other members of The Weekly Blitz team) pick three NFL games against the spread.

Last Saturday, the Dolphins were two-point underdogs against the Browns since running back Peyton Hillis was expected to play despite dealing with strep throat. Last Saturday, the Dolphins were one of my three picks against the spread. Despite losing the game by one point, the Dolphins covered the spread.

When Hillis was ruled out Sunday morning, however, the roles were reversed and the Dolphins became the favorites by two points. So, in other words, if you made the selection on Sunday and gave two points, you would have lost.

In either case, I am 8-0 with one push in my nine picks against the spread this season.

Here are my three picks for Week 4:

Atlanta Falcons (-4.5) over Seattle Seahawks

In their first win of the season last week, the Seahawks offense got a boost from receiver Sidney Rice, who had eight receptions for 109 yards in his season debut. That said, neither the win nor Rice's performance change what this team is, one of the league's worst (see our power rankings). It also does not change the fact that Tarvaris Jackson, who was booed at home, is one of the league's worst starting quarterbacks.

Seattle, one of three NFL teams to average 10 points or less per game, ranks second-to-last in total offense (214.7 yards per game).

For both of these teams, one of the keys will be keeping their quarterback upright. Jackson is tied with Chicago's Jay Cutler for most times being sacked (14) and Atlanta's Matt Ryan (13) is right behind them. That said, neither team has yet to get their pass rush going this season.

Although they have had a disappointing start, there is no doubt that the Falcons, who lost only three games in 2010, are a much more talented team the Seahawks. With their backs against the proverbial wall, I expect them to come out swinging and take care of business in the Emerald City and win this game big. When these two teams met last December, the Falcons won the game by a score of 34-18.

That sounds about right.

New England Patriots (-5.5) over Oakland Raiders

Raiders running back Darren McFadden has become one of the NFL's elite running backs. Over his past 16 games played, McFadden has 2,141 yards from scrimmage and 14 total touchdowns.

While the Patriots pass (and overall) defense has not done much to inspire confidence, they have been much better at stopping the run. Certainly, they will be keying on slowing down Run DMC as much as possible this week.

Despite last week's four interceptions, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has been airing it out in record-setting fashion. No quarterback has thrown for more yards than Brady (1,327) during a three-game span in NFL history.

Since 2003, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has lost back-to-back regular-season games only twice: Weeks 8 and 9 in 2006 and Weeks 11 and 12 in 2009. It was the sixth time in Brady's career that he threw four interceptions, his total for all of 2010, in a regular-season game. In the immediate game after the previous five times he has thrown that many picks, however, Brady has thrown a total of nine touchdowns and only one interception.

I expect the Patriots to bounce back big as they typically do after a defeat.

New Orleans Saints (-7) over Jacksonville Jaguars

Through three games, only the Chiefs have scored fewer points than the Jaguars, who are averaging less than 10 points per game. Rookie Blaine Gabbert replaced Luke McCown, who replaced David Garrard, as the starting quarterback last week. While Gabbert will have a solid career, look for the Gregg Williams-coached defense to throw the kitchen sink at Gabbert.

Meanwhile, the Saints, who are averaging nearly 35 points per game, have one of the league's most high-powered offenses and they get one of their best playmakers, Marques Colston, back from a broken collarbone this week. While I don't expect Colston to be a huge factor in his first game back from the injury, he has said he could play the full game, if necessary. Drew Brees, who has thrown for three touchdowns in three straight games, simply finds the open man, whether that's Colston, Lance Moore, Jimmy Graham, Darren Sproles, etc.

If there is one thing that scares me about this pick (and the others), it's that I'm taking three road favorites.

For more picks, check out the picks by our other two "handicappers."

If you are looking for fantasy football rankings, here are my Week 4 rankings. In addition, here is our free fantasy football contest for Week 4.

Posted by Kevin Hanson at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)