Ah, Monday Night Football. Where all hopes die out. It is a truly cruel game isn’t it? You’re up by twenty points and your opponent is forced to start Darren Sproles in place of Adrian Peterson because he forgot that it is 21st century now. You go to sleep happy and comfortable, not even watching the game. Then BOOM. It hits you next morning. Your phone is filled with messages from fellow fantasy leaguers telling you that you lost. Now, you go into a denial mode. They must be messing with you, right? RIGHT?! Nope. Darren Sproles has put up twenty-three points. TWENTY-THREE. Most points by a running back last week. Sigh. Just like that another week goes astray.
Monday night games are the most exciting for few of us. While most of the games are decided by late Sunday night, few dramatic comebacks can be made in Magical Monday. So remember kids, don’t be so cocky while you’re winning. It might come to bite you. Hard.
Players I LOVE
QB Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins: Breaking news! Bobby Three Sticks is hurt again. Shocker. You can’t say you didn’t see this coming. Kudos to you if you were gutsy enough to draft the hit-or-miss Baylor product, but sadly, he struck out on two pitches. Don’t worry, Super Kirk is here to save the day! His brief NFL career has been up and down but the talent is clearly there. He lit up the weak Jacksonville defense like he should have and heads into the potential shootout against the Eagles team with question marks all over the secondary. While he might not have the potential of his teammate, all RGII owner should add him.
QB Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears: Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Jets allowed second most fantasy points against QB. However, it is quite inflated by the Aaron Rodgers show featuring Jordy Nelson. However, it does show that the Jets simply cannot cover two elite receivers at the same time. But forget about the Jets. Jay Cutler has turned in two solid, solid performances against two tough defenses. Against the massively underrated Bills, he completed nearly seventy percent of his passes. Against the scary Niners, he threw for four touchdowns, with neither of his top offensive weapons, Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, at 100%. If Matt Forte has a big game, it will just be an added bonus for the big-armed Vanderbilt product to expose the inexperienced secondary.
RB Ahmad Bradshaw, Indianapolis Colts: I hit a home run with this pick last week. Is he going to do it again? Yes, yes he is. Trent Richardson got the most of the carries again but Bradshaw was far more efficient running back again and was heavily involved in passing game as well, catching two touchdowns. Jacksonville was fourth in rushing yards allowed and does not look any better this year. Even if you’re not a Trent Richardson owner, Ahmad Bradshaw is a perplexing option. Top 20 play this week.
RB Joique Bell, Detroit Lions: It’s shame that i wasn’t here to tell you that this is the guy you want from Detroit instead of Reggie Bush. Bell is clearly the better out of the backfield as Reggie Bush continues to get the targets in the passing game. Unless you are in PPR league, much of the production will come from Bell. Also, the Lions are playing the Packers who had trouble stopping anything last year. Force feeding the ball to Megatron will be hell of a lot easier if you establish a solid ground game.
WR Kenny Stills, New Orleans Saints: He is back, and he is dangerous. Last week, he didn’t get much action as Drew Brees spreaded the ball across the field and took few shots down the field. However, they are facing the Vikings team that couldn’t stop deep bombs last year. Also, with all this talk that Drew is “struggling” and “not the same,” calm down. It’s only two games in, and if I’m correct, he is 34 years old. Old man needs his naps. Brees performed significantly better on the road and tore up the Minnesota secondary last year. Deep threat + Brees on the road + Vikings secondary = monster game. It’s simple math kids.
WR Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills: Injuries, shminjuries. Even though he had to come off twice, he produced like a fourth overall pick. Dynamic playmaker quickly became EJ Manuel’s favorite weapon and rightfully so. Participating in full practice, he seems raring to go. Even if he is not 100 percent, he proved that he can put up some beastly numbers while not fully healthy, San Diego defense is not a brick wall, and it’s definitely exploitable as they finished fifth in most points allowed vs WR and doesn’t look to hot this year either. What could be a contest of “who can throw more and farther,” the Clemson product will be target more often. While EJ Manuel is not the most reliant QB in the league, if you throw enough, some of them will connect.
TE Mickey Shuler, Jr., Jacksonville Jaguars: Ever heard of him? Neither have I. That is the point of this article. to find you the hidden gems. This pick could very, very easily blow up in my face. Former East Pennsboro High MVP only has two receptions for 44 yards. Yup. That is it. As you can see, he has not quite had a Hall of Fame career. Throughout his colorful career, he has been cut seven times, and he finally has a chance to show what he’s got. With Marcedes Lewis and Clay Harbor both hurt, he is next in line to take over the tight end position. Colts have allowed the most points allowed to the opposing tight ends this seasons and Jaguars will throw, so that trend could continue this week. Whether it is his coming out party or another “eh” performance, he is going to be on the field.
New Orleans D/ST: The Minnesota Vikings minus Adrian Peterson equals almost equivalent to the Knights. Wumbology. This is first grade.
Players I HATE
QB Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals: Never likes him, never will. He is far too inconsistent to be a reliable fantasy option. His stat is inflated by 76 yards touchdown by Mohamed Sanu against the all out blitz. Take that away, he would’ve ended with 176 yards with one touchdown. Yikes. Need I remind you that it was against the Falcons, who allowed fourth most points against opposing quarterback? The biggest issue is the injury of A.J. Green. Even though his MRI came back as negative, he is more than likely to be held out Sunday. Also, the Titans are no walkover either. They allowed sixth least points against QB last year and third least last year. With their star receiver injured and Titans rush defense questionable, look for the Bengals to run the ball much more.
WR Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers are in trouble. They could not exploit the banged up Ravens secondary and it’s only getting worse with the Panthers defense staring them down. In this offensive shamble, one of very few bright spots is Le’Veon Bell, who is doing a fantastic job rushing and getting involved in the passing game as well. Carolina would put a lot of pressure on Big Ben and he is going to be a temporary mayor of the check-down city. With Markus Wheaton not being able to shake off 3rd string corner and SS playing corner, double coverage on Antonio Brown is obvious. It doesn’t mean bench your star receiver. It means do not expect monstrous production this game.
WR Wes Welker, Denver Broncos: Welcome back, Wes. We really haven’t missed you at all this season. Julius Thomas is absolutely fantastic again, Demaryius Thomas is still Demaryius Thomas, Montee Ball has really stepped up as a go-to man, consistently producing, and the newcomer Emmanuel Sanders looks very, very dangerous. Oh how about that? The Seahawks are throwing a welcome party for you! Do you remember what happened last year? Don’t. Just don’t. Far, far away from this one.
RB Frank Gore, San Francisco 49ers: The old, grizzled veteran is still running ball well and keeping touches from Carlos Hyde. However, he still hasn’t topped 70 yards this season yet. While he is a solid back, his touches are still somewhat of a concern, as the likes of Colin Kaepernick and Hyde are very involved in the ground game. Especially against the strong Cardinals team which allowed fourth least points against opposing running back and completely ate them up last year, this isn’t going to be pretty. It’s going to be a low scoring game and not much Frank Gore can do in this game.
RB Terrance West, Cleveland Browns: As you noticed, the Ravens play a pretty good defense. Haloti Ngata-led front line is doing better than I’ve expected and look to shut down the running game against Ben Tate-less Browns. West has been great this season, but nothing spectacular. And if you are solid, middle-round running back, it is all about the matchup. Even though the Steelers couldn’t exploit the banged up secondary, who knows, maybe Brian Hoyer will figure them out. Browns will opt to throw as they will likely be down, and not many chances will be given to the feature back. Also Isaiah Crowell also looked very good, could be taking away some touches.
TE Martellus Bennett, Chicago Bears: His eight targets could be accounted for the injuries of Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. He is a solid tight end but anyone not named Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas, Rob Gronkowski, or Greg Olson is purely matchup based. Even though Jets defense has been very weak in secondary, they have shut down the opposing tight ends, allowing the least points against opposing TEs. Don’t bench him over Orange Julius. You reading this Inki?!
Broncos D/ST: Denver defense actually looks pretty solid thanks to key additions on that side of the ball, and it’s already translating on fantasy, as they are currently ranked as second best defense according to ESPN. However, look who they are playing this week. Remember the Super Bowl? Yeah. And it’s at Seattle. I don’t know about you, but playing in Seattle with Russell Wilson having another solid, consistent year after just thrashing the same Broncos team last year is not a fun time.