This is for those of you who are still playing out your fantasy leagues in Week 17. It definitely gets a little interesting with a lot of fantasy studs taking a seat because of meaningless matchups. Your NO-BRAINERS to sit this week include all of the Colts studs… Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark & Jospeh Addai. There’s mixed reports on the Saints… Coach Sean Payton says they will play to win, but that might be tough to do with Drew Brees being designated as the #3 QB this week on the depth chart.

The Chargers have the #2 AFC spot locked up & an automatic bye so look for limited action from Philip Rivers, LaDanian Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson & Antonio Gates. Be very careful with the New England Patriots & Cincinnati Bengals studs. Belichick & Brady both say they’re going to play to win but a Boston Herald report says they’ll possibly sit Welker & Moss. It might be tough to win without those two running routes. Just proceed with caution with those two teams. OK… on to the guys that will be definitely playing this week!

START ‘EM

QB
1.) Donovan McNabb @ Cowboys – The Eagles will do what they do best… throw early & often. Both teams need this victory & the Eagles control their own destiny in pursuit of the NFC”s #2 seed. Watch McNabb Shine.
2.) Matt Schaub – He’s going to air it out at home vs. New England. The Pats pass rush is getting a little better but still suspect. Given time in the pocket, I expect Schaub to find Fantasy Football’s #1 WR Andre Johnson quite often.
3.) Brett Favre vs. Giants – Favre likes being the HERO and this is a crucial game for the Vikings. If he can keep his head on straight and not get carried away with himself (that means not forcing the ball into tight coverage) then he should walk away the victor. That means a steady dose of Adrian Peterson and picking his spots to heave the ball up there.

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START ‘EMS I NAILED

1.) Tom Brady – 23 for 26 for 267 yds., 4TDs & 0 INTs. He had a QB rating of 149.0 and 34 fantasy points. The real Tom Brady showed up when his team needed a division clinching game.
2.) Kurt Warner – 313 yds. with 2 TDs & 0 INTs. 23 points. Another solid performance from old faithful.
3.) Jerome Harrison – 39 rushes for 148 yards & 1TD. 18 points. He set a Browns record for carries so it seems like they’ll run him until his wheels fall off with one game remaining.

START ‘EMS I SCREWED

1.) Ricky Williams – 10 carries for 35 yds. & 5 receptions for another 26 yds. 10 points. Could have done a little better if he didn’t get banged up.
2.) Maurice Jones-Drew – 18 carries for 63 yards & 3 receptions for 35 yds. for 12 points. This wasn’t horrible for a regular RB, but for MJD it was.

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START ‘EM

QBs
1.) Aaron Rodgers vs. Seahawks – A must start against Seattle’s #29 ranked pass defense. Not a bad matchup for FFs #1 ranked QB at home.
2.) Tom Brady vs. Jaguars – His spot here used to be a given…but have you seen him play this past month? The Jags pass defense has been a cure for struggling QBs all year. A 100% chance of rain at Foxboro could actually help Brady because the Jags DBs struggle with backpeddling.
3.) Kurt Warner vs Rams – The Rams #22 ranked pass defense has little chance of slowing Warner. Many fantasy owners have stockpiled Cardinals players for this juicy title week matchup.

RBs
1.) Ricky Williams vs. Texans – The Dolphins have the #4 ranked rushing offense. Williams has got 10 TDs in his last 9 games & at least 20 touches in 6 straight games.
2.) Jerome Harrison vs. Raiders – He’s coming off a monster game and at
least 20 touches are expected. With Brady Quinn on IR and Derek
Anderson starting at QB wouldn’t you run the ball? Especially against
the Raiders’ #28 ranked rush defense.
3.) Maurice Jones-Drew @ Patriots – He’s still showing plenty of burst
as his first season as the lone RB draw to a close. The Patriots are
not very strong in run defense especially with 2 of their studs (Ty
Warren & Vince Wilfork) still on the mend.

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START ‘EMS I NAILED
1.) Philip Rivers – 308 yards, 3TDs & 2 INTs for 26 fantasy points. He’s quietly becoming a MVP candidate.
2.) Fred Jackson – 80 yards rushing & 4 receptions for 32 yards for 15 points. Not great, but not bad for an avg. Running Back on a terrible team.
3.) Anquan Boldin – 72 yards on 6 receptions that got reversed to 67 yards on 5 receptions midway through the week. This stat (2 point reduction) gave me a fantasy win (against Big Ed) instead of a loss. 17 points

START ‘EMS I SCREWED
1.) Robert Meachem – 5 receptions for a measly 43 yards. 9 points. Not
what his owners were hoping for in the FF playoffs.
2.) Dwayne Bowe – 4 receptions for 56 yards. 9 points. He’s obviously
is still shaking the rust off from the 4 game suspension after dropping
a sure TD.

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START ‘EM

QBs
1.) Philip Rivers vs. Bengals – Rivers has guided the Chargers to 8
victories in a row and they’re once again one of the favorites to make
a Superbowl run. Rivers has passed for 22 TDs vs. 7 INTs with a 104 QB rating. He quietly goes about his business while Manning, Brady & Brees get all the press. This match up has implications with possibly the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs on the line. Add this to the fact that the
Bengals have had a rough week with the death of Chris Henry & may not be focused like the should be.
2.) Kurt Warner @ Lions – Here’s his bounce-back game after last week’s debacle.
3.) Matt Schaub @ Rams – The Texans are shooting for their best record in franchise history and won’t let the 1-12 Rams get in their way. All he has to do is throw it to Andre Johnson 10 times & he’ll post
excellent numbers.

RBs
1.) Laurence Maroney @ Bills – Larry Mo has become New England’s
workhorse RB and had quietly hit paydirt 8 times this year. He’s facing
the worst run defense in the AFC in a game that looks like both teams
will grind it out because of the weather.
2.) Fred Jackson vs. Patriots – Jackson has done well in the past vs.
the Patriots and had a pretty good game against them to start the
season. Plus New England has two of their best run stuffers (Ty Warren
& Vince Wilfork) banged up & not at full strength.
3.) Ray Rice vs. Bears – Rice has given new life to the Ravens offense
this year & if Fantasy Drafts were held again right now he’d probably
come off the board in the top half of the 1st round. Chicago is ranked
25th against the run. Say no more.

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OK this is more like it. The new crystal ball is working well…I had a
pretty good week.

START ‘EMS I NAILED

1.) Ryan Grant – He had 144 total yards and 2 TDs for 27 fantasy
points. The main man for the Green & Gold.
2.) DeSean Jackson – He had 6 receptions for 178 years and 1TD plus he returned a punt for 72yds and another TD. 35 points
3.) Wes Welker – I thought he might grab 15 receptions (he was targeted 14 times) but ended up with 10 rec. for 105 yds. The go-to guy once again with Moss sulking.

START ‘EMS I SCREWED

Aaron Rodgers – His first stinker in a long time. 180 yds passing with
NO TDs & 0 picks for 7 fantasy points. Not the best time for that as
the FF playoffs start.

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START ‘EM

QBs
1.) Alex Smith vs. Cardinals – He’s had 40+ attempts in each of the
last 2 games & this one looks like it could be a shootout.
2.) Aaron Rodgers @ Bears – He’s quietly put up the the most points in
FF this year. He doesn’t make many mistakes even in a hostile
environment… full of underachievers!
3.) Chad Henne @ Jaguars – He’s going to the air more (52 attempts vs
Pats) now that Ronnie Brown is out of the picture. Plus the Dolphins
smell blood with New England’s slide.

RBs
1.) Pierre Thomas @ Cardinals – Mike Bell has knee issues & probably
won’t see much action. This means Thomas should be a #1 back against a
poor Falcons defense.
2.) Fred Jackson @ Chiefs – KC’s defense has given up 8TDs to RBs &
have allowed the 5th most fantasy points to RBs this season. Jackson is
still the starter so he looks to get the bulk of the carries.
3.) Ryan Grant @ Bears – He’s scored in 4 straight games against
Chicago & the Packers will likely rely heavily on the run once they get
the lead.

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Start ‘Ems I NAILED

Let me start by saying that I had a fairly rough week & didn’t
particularly nail anything…but here goes:

1.) Tom Brady -  OK so he threw a pick in the endzone that would have
sealed a victory. That’s just -2 points in fantasy. He also threw for
352 yards with 2 TDs & 2 INTs for 22 fantasy points. Nothing stellar -
but like I said, I had a rough week.
2.) Rashard Mendenhall – He rushed for 103 yards and scored 1TD for 16
points. Middle of the road, but I’ll take it.
3.) Hines Ward – He tallied 6 receptions for 77 yards and a TD for 19
points. Pretty solid for a receiver.

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Start Em

QB
1.) Tom Brady @ Dolphins – Even against a tough division rival it’s
very rare for Brady to put up 2 stinkers in a row. Look for him to
prove why he’s still one of the best.
2.) Vince Young @ Colts – His game winning drive last week just made him more confident than ever & he’s gonna need every bit of that magic to upset the Colts. Watch Indy concentrate on Chris Johnson and force Young to beat them.
3.) Ben Roethlisberger vs. Raiders – The Raiders All-Pro defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha can only play on one side. Other than him their pass defense is suspect (just like the rest of their team.) Watch Big Ben come out of the concussion controversy slinging the ball.

RB
1.) Rashard Mendenhall vs. Raiders – Once the Steelers have a
comfortable lead watch Mendenhall carry the load the rest of the day.
2.) Cedric Benson vs. Lions – A healthy, well-rested Benson is not what
the Lions defense wants to see barreling through them.
3.) Jamaal Charles vs. Broncos – He’s a duel threat running and
receiving the ball and in a short amount of time has made KC fans
forget about the mercurial Larry Johnson altogether.

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Start Ems that made me look good
1.) Alex Smith – He threw for 232 yards with no picks (21 fantasy points) He’s getting very consistent.
2.) Ricky Williams – 115 yds rushing and 1 TD (15 points) Not huge numbers but very respectable.
3.) Chris Chambers – 8 receptions for 70 yds. and 1TD (20 points) He’s making the Chargers look silly for releasing him.

Start Ems that made me look bad
1.) Matt Ryan – he was lost on the first series with a sprained toe (0 points) You can’t predict that.
2.) D’Angelo Williams – 40 yds rushing a a few receptions (9 points) When Cadillac Williams outperforms you, you’re in trouble.
3.) Vincent Jackson – 39 receiving yards (5 points) I guess all the love went to Gates.

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