Fantasy football players should have followed Steven Jackson’s lead during his holdout this summer and just stayed away from the Rams.
Unlike Jackson, there’s hope for you if you didn’t steer clear of St. Louis. Believe it or not, somebody out there may actually be willing to trade for Jackson or receiver Torry Holt.
Unload this pair fast if you can because the Rams just can’t block, meaning few holes for Jackson and no time for Marc Bulger to find Holt. And the defense is so bad that the Rams become predictable and one-dimensional, meaning fewer runs for Jackson and less time for Bulger.
The result is an 0-2 team that’s been outscored 79-16. And the schedule doesn’t get any easier for weeks, with Seattle, Buffalo, Washington, Dallas and New England coming up.
can play up his TD catch last week. (Just hope your trade partner didn’t see the highlights that showed it was pretty much an accident.)
As you mourn the passing of the last few remnants of the Greatest Show on Turf, here’s a look at some players to start in Week 3, some to avoid, and a few long shots that just may pan out:
QUARTERBACKS:
A SAFE BET
-Peyton Manning and the rest of the Colts’ offense appear to be near collapse, but don’t bench him just yet. Jacksonville so far isn’t much on pass defense, and Manning had five touchdown passes and a TD run in two games against the Jags last year.
-After being handcuffed in the opener with a 4-yard-pass-only game plan, Washington’s Jason Campbell suddenly looks solid. He faces the unbeaten Cardinals, who haven’t allowed a TD pass, but they’ve only played the 49ers and Dolphins.
-The Panthers would clearly rather hand off every down, but that’s not going to happen against the Vikings’ run stoppers. Jake Delhomme gets Steve Smith back from suspension, so he should have no trouble sinking the Vikings in the waning seconds.
-Speaking of teams that dramatically blow last-second leads, the Jets’ Brett Favre may be up for another one against the Chargers. Only St. Louis has allowed more passing yards and touchdowns than the strangely defenseless Chargers.
to put a 21-0 lead on the Lions. His stats may get some more padding once Detroit puts together its usual third-quarter comeback attempt.
TAKE A SHOT
-Minnesota coach Brad Childress REALLY liked Tarvaris Jackson, just not enough to get fired with him as starter. New (and old) starter Gus Frerotte can surely figure out that somebody’s open when nine guys are chasing Adrian Peterson.
BACK AWAY SLOWLY AND NOBODY GETS HURT
Please, in the name of Brock Berlin, don’t start these guys:
-The Browns’ offense really was good last year, wasn’t it? If you have Derek Anderson, you’re probably 0-2, so you may want to bench him before it’s too late. He has one TD after two starts. He had six after two starts last year.
-Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger has a shoulder that’s a tiny bit sore or about to fall off, depending on who’s talking. Whatever the case, the blitz-crazy Eagles should make him feel much, much worse.
-Seattle went out and scraped up some receivers this week, but bench Matt Hasselbeck even against lowly St. Louis’ wretched defense because he’ll be mostly handing off.
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RUNNING BACKS
ALL DAY LONG
-The Oakland job share’s essentially over after Darren McFadden put up 164 yards, so keep him in the lineup no matter what. (Unless, of course, his coach gets fired and the new guy has other plans.)
aces Indianapolis with no run defense. Tie goes to the offense, so start the struggling Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor.
-Here’s the likely pattern for Atlanta’s Michael Turner this season: Start him against bad defenses (220 rushing in the opener), but not the good ones (42 last week). He faces a Kansas City team that just gave up 300 yards rushing in a game.
-The Texans need more than an unexpected week of rest to slow Titans rookie Chris Johnson, who’s starting to take over as the Titans’ featured back. (Except for when LenDale White makes appearances on the 1-yard line.)
-The 49ers can’t stop anybody from running, and Detroit would rather Jon Kitna not throw so much. That could mean a big day for Kevin Smith – if the Lions avoid that 0-21 hole.
HE COULD FIND A SEAM
-If San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson can’t go, Darren Sproles could pile up some yards against the Jets. Sproles may even do well if Tomlinson does start.
RED FLAGS
-We learned last week for certain that Arizona’s Edgerrin James pretty much has no fantasy value. The plodding 30-year-old has no chance to score because rookie Tim Hightower gets all the goal-line carries.
-With some guy named Tyler Thigpen starting at QB, the Chiefs’ Larry Johnson should get lots more than the mere 12 carries that made him so surly last week. Of course, he’ll do so against eight or nine defenders up on the line.
l Belichick is suddenly pretending to be Mike Shanahan, so you never know who’s getting the carries these days in New England.
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WIDE RECEIVERS
THROW HIM THE DARN BALL!
-Start Devery Henderson, David Patten, Robert Meacham, Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal and any other Bronco or Saint you can name for their defenseless and runless showdown.
-Now that the Chargers are out of the TD run business, Chris Chambers is a must-start. He has three scores this year, and five in his last four games.
-After getting knocked around by the Patriots last week, the Jets’ Jerricho Cotchery faces San Diego’s more gentle, laid-back defense.
-Maybe Aaron Rodgers will look for Donald Driver again against Dallas. He found Driver seven times last year, after relieving the injured Brett Favre.
-The 49ers’ Isaac Bruce may be a 35-year-old guy in a questionable offense, but he’s coming off his best game since 2004 and faces a Lions team that can’t stop anyone.
MAYBE THROW HIM THE DARN BALL?
-There’s no real reason to think the Ravens’ Mark Clayton will actually score two games in a row, but if you’re desperate remember that lots of bad things seem to happen to Cleveland.
SHOW HIM THE DARN BENCH
-This isn’t the week to think Atlanta’s Roddy White will return to 2007 form. The Chiefs are so easy to run on, he won’t see many passes at all.
xpect Ocho Cinco or other Bengals to start being decent again. The Giants defense could make them look even worse than the first two weeks, if that’s possible.
-The Vikings may actually be able to pass this year, but not enough to expect really good stats from Bernard Berrian or anybody else they’ve been ignoring lately.
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FREE AGENT SHOPPING LIST
Pick up these guys if they’re available in your league: Colts WR Anthony Gonzalez (9 catches, 137 yards), Redskins QB Jason Campbell (321 yards, TD), Chargers RB Darren Sproles (125 total yards, TD), Oakland RB Michael Bush (90 yards, TD), WR Koren Robinson (meaningful employment in Seattle).
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WHAT DO I KNOW?
Here’s the best and worst of last week’s projections:
Big Hits: I expected big things from Jay Cutler (350 yards, 4 TDs), Philip Rivers (377 yards, 3 TDs), Aaron Rodgers (328 yards, 3 TDs), Clinton Portis (96 yards, 2 TDs), Marion Barber (2 TDs) and Julius Jones (127 yards, TD). I suggested a permanent benching for Carson Palmer (134 yards, 2 INTs) and Ocho Cinco (37 yards, 0 TDs), and figured David Garrard would stink (170 yards, INT).
rds, TD) were done for. I thought Damon Huard (17 yards, INT) could stay upright.
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