Analyze This ~ Week 6

Week 6 brought us a lot of action. Offenses everywhere exploded like 4th of July fireworks. It seemed like no NFL team knew how to play good defense except the Packers, the Patriots, the Cardinals, and....the Raiders???...against the Eagles?!?! Maybe that pigeon really helped the Raiders out much more than we know. Just to give you an idea of how anomalous this week was, sixteen of the twenty-eight teams playing had over 300 yards of total offense and nine of those teams went over 400 yards. The biggest explosion of the weekend belonged to the New England Bradys. Do you remember that phenominal year of 2007 when the Patriots went undefeated in the regular season, broke all sorts of single season team and player records for scoring and TDs?...When they ran up the score, attempted to convert 4th downs instead of kicking field goals even when they were up by like 30 TDs? In this last Sunday's game versus the Titans, they set a club record for their highest yardage output in a single game (619). That's right, they're still setting offensive records.

As with every season, there have been nice surprises, and terrible disappointments by now. Some of this year's sleepers have risen to the level of stud, where you can't really bench them even against tough matchups. On the other hand, you have your classic case of the busts, but there are a few colossal busts this year where some of the biggest names have been plagued with atrocious performances all year and should no longer be started just because of their namesake and potential.

You Can No Longer Bench Me...

Here are some backup QBs and flex, third, or fourth RBs and WRs that....were still finding their way to your bench for bad matchups. Not any more. These players have risen into fantasy stardom and have proven to all their owners that they cannot be benched all season, even against tough matchups.

If you drafted Matt Schaub, Ben Roethlisberger, or Joe Flacco as your backup to the usual suspects (Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady) you are headed down a path to blockbuster trade glory. Since the former backup QBs are now proving to be studs, I would suggest trading the big name QB because they will get you much more in return, but still put up similar numbers to Schaub, Big Ben, or Flacco.

Mike Sims-Walker is by far the most pleasant surprise because I doubt he was drafted in any redraft/keeper league with an 18-man roster or less. In fact, he was relegated behind Troy Williamson to start the season, until Williamson immediately found his way to the IR after week 1.

Matt Schaub @ CIN ~ 28/40 completions, 392 yards, 4 TDs, 1 int
Ray Rice @ MIN ~ 10 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TDs; 10 catches (11 targets), 117 yards
Mike Sims-Walker v STL ~ 9 catches (11 targets), 120 yards
Ben Roethlisberger v CLE ~ 23/35 completions, 417 yards, 2 TDs, 1 int, 1 FL
Hines Ward v CLE ~ 8 catches (12 targets), 159 yards, 1 TD
Joe Flacco @ MIN ~ 28/43 completions, 385 yards, 2 TDs
Jay Cutler @ ATL ~ 27/43 completions, 300 yards, 2 TDs, 2 ints
Cedric Benson v HOU ~ 16 rushes, 44 yards, 1 TD; 2 catches (2 targets), 1 yard

...And I Need to Sit Until I Prove My Worth

The two big ones here are Steve Smith (CAR) and Terrell Owens. Smith was drafted by many as their top WR and TO was a standard WR2 choice. Unfortunately, they are relying on Jake Delhomme and Trent Edwards to get the roc in their hands. Smith's situation is the worst one because he still has all the talent and ability, but no other WR or TE on the Panthers' roster poses any receiving threat whatsoever. It also hasn't helped that the running game struggled to start the season. Basically, he currently draws more attention to himself than any other single offensive skill player not a QB and it's not like he has Peyton Manning to thread the needle constantly. However, even though Smith had a dismal performance versus the lowly Buccaneers, the running game took off and carried the team. That is a wonderful sign for Smith owners because that is a sign of future successful play-actions plays to make the safties bite. For now, Smith has to ride your bench until he can prove he can have two consecutive solid performances....then sell him before his tough schedule down the stretch.

One of the bigger surprises, to me at least, is Kevin Walter. Sure he was not drafted to be anything more than a flex player, but Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson, and Owen Daniels are all cashing in stud performances and even Jacoby Jones is getting some love. This leads me to believe that Walter's hamstring is tweeked a bit more than he is letting on.

Larry Johnson is still getting a workhorse load, but he is keeping his yards per carry average well below 3.0, 2.7 to be exact, and he has 0 TDs on the year. Many people still believe that because he is getting so many touches he will eventually have a big game when he finds the endzone. I will suggest that you keep him on your bench until that big game, and then still keep him on your bench afterwards, or better yet, trade him if he does achieve a bit more value. Currently, his value is no more than a trade deal sweetener to help push a trade through involving other players.

Anyways, here they are...

Steve Smith (CAR) @ TB ~ 1 catch (5 targets), 4 yards
Terrell Owens @ NYJ ~ 3 catches (8 targets), 13 yards; 1 run, 9 yards
Dustin Keller v BUF ~ 2 catches (10 targets), 16 yards
Willis McGahee @ MIN ~ 7 rushes, 3 yards
Kevin Walter @ CIN ~ 3 catches (4 targets), 29 yards
Julius Jones v ARI ~ 5 rushes, 5 yards
Matt Hasselbeck v ARI ~ 10/29 completions, 112 yards, 1 int, 1 FL
Larry Johnson @ WAS ~ 23 rushes, 83 yards; 3 catches (4 targets), 12 yards

Perfectly Bad Shout Outs

The Titans are better off going for a top 5 draft pick than trying to regain some dignity by winning multiple games. The Patriots unceremoniously took any remaining dignity away from them, and Jeff Fisher certainly didn't help by donning the Peyton Manning jersey at a charity function. They are certainly in need of a QB (not Vince Young), so why not get one of the top QBs out of the draft?

The Rams are officially on their way to joining the ranks of 16-game perfection with the 2008 Lions, and looking even worse offensively...I'm sorry Steven Jackson.

As the last shout out, the Buccaneers' (understand the heading of this section now?) ownership have got to be regretting firing John Gruden by now. At least they aren't as bad as the Rams. The Rams have basically one offensive player...a studly one...while the Bucs have Antonio Bryant, Kellen Winslow, Cadillac Williams, and Derrick Ward, who they apparently don't care how much money he is worth to them. They have just enough talent to squeak out a win or two, as long as their nameless defense can step it up for a game. By the way, I dare you to try and name one defensive player from the Bucs outside of Aqib Talib, old man Ronde Barber, and for you IDP fantasy footballaholics, Barrett Ruud. Just try it...no peeking.