John and I have amazing games. This week, the defending champ was missing his #1 draft pick, as Joseph Addai was declared out early in the week. John had Dominick Rhodes thanks to some clever drafting, so he slid the Indy backup tailback into his RB3 slot. Edgerrin James was on the bye. Lendale White slid into the RB2 slot, with a delicious matchup against hapless Kansas City.
I had everyone going and healthy except Michael Turner. I picked up Warrick Dunn on waivers hoping his freaky 22 carries and 115 yards in week 6, which happened only because Earnest Graham was forced into the fullback slot by an injury, would hold for one more week. Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall were going against a horrid New England secondary. I was banking on big numbers there.
John started fast. Lendale White scored two lightening quick touchdowns, and Dominick Rhodes punched one in. Reggie Bush ripped off 55 yards on 9 carries. Then, I caught a break. Reggie Bush blew a meniscus, and he was shelved for the rest of the day – and for the next three weeks. Meanwhile, my only 1:00 player, Mr. Stephen Jackson, was showing why my very savvy son wanted so badly for me to draft him. Jackson ran over, around and through the flailing Dallas defense. He finished the day with 26 gigantic points.
Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Lendale White that he was a backup. White matched Jackson’s heroic effort with 25 points of his own, including an unlikely 80 yard rumble that probably took five minutes to complete. Indianapolis played like a Pop Warner team against Green Bay, but the ole’ Nelson magic was in full bloom. Rhodes scored both Indianapolis touchdowns, including a 3-yard dive in garbage time. So, Rhodes and White combined for 42 points, and I spent the rest of the weekend playing catch up.
The biggest play of the weekend came when I rolled out to get some Kung Pau Chicken from my favorite Chinese joint. Just as I was about to get out of the car, the report came through that Calvin Johnson had scored a 96-yard touchdown. This was a huge play. I was now at 50 points, 18 points back heading into Monday.
I had 3 players in the Monday night game – Cutler, Brandon Marshall and Stephen Gostkowski. The kicker got me seven quick points in the first quarter, but Cutler whacked his throwing hand on an onrushing lineman and was on the sidelines in a stocking cap wrapping his throwing hand in an ice bag. I was going nuts. My wife, looking at the scoreboard where the Pats were cruising, thought I had lost my mind when Cutler threw a second half interception that caused the biggest snap of my fantasy season. The yards were piling up, though, and Gostkoski delivered 12 clutch points. Finally, Cutler heaved a touchdown pass to former Patriot Daniel Graham for the score that pushed me over 70 points, and gathered me an exhausting fifth win of this season.
This week’s Rankings…
1. Dangerous Minds – Mike dodged a bullet as his team’s collective vacation came in a week that he was facing Tony with the Eagles on the bye. Still leading the league in practically everything – I use five different metrics to generate the ratings and Mike is #1 in all of them. The commish has already spent some time looking at weeks 15 and 16, I guarantee it.
2. Northboro Steroids – With Stephen Jackson running wild and Calvin Johnson averaging 77 yards per catch last week, the Steroids have proven themselves to be tough when they’re right. The week 8 bye takes away Jay Cutler, and they have no backup quarterback, so it’s pretty obvious where the waiver pick is going this week. Stephen Gostkowski has won two games for this team this season.
3. Georgia Satellites – There isn’t a dime of difference between Georgia and Northboro statistically right now, but John has injury issues after last week’s bruising loss. Reggie Bush is out, and he joins Joseph Addai on the pine for the next few weeks. John gets Edgerrin James back, though. Tony will be playing with his whole team intact. Westbrook may return.
4. Rocky Brook – They set the league high with 88 points against Rich Garvey last week, who seems to be the cure for every fantasy football problem. Tom now owns both the highest point total and the lowest point total (21) for this season.
5. Phight-in Camels – Tony ran out of guys to play last week, but he’s getting healthier. He faces a Satellites club that is banged up and unlikely to get another 25 points out of Lendale White. John’s loss (Reggie Bush) is Tony’s gain – he has Deuce McCallister.
6. Garvey’s Gangsters – Rich is favored against the Spies, but he’s been playing well all season to no avail. Perhaps this will all turn around in the second half, but a 2-5 record at this point means the Garv is positioning himself to be a spoiler. This week, Michael Pittman is on the bye and Willie Parker is banged up, but Rich will run out Portis, Gore and Steve Slaton. How many teams have that kind of depth?
7. Northern Spies – They avoid the basement only because Midwest has had such a rotten year. Last week’s 29-point stinker had only one silver lining – Ryan Grant finally had a good week. With Romo out, they may shuffle in Matt Schaub in the QB slot, since Favre looks awful.
8. Midwest Marauders – They almost hammer their way out of the basement with a nice win against the Spies, but they are last in Game Points, and last in points over the last three weeks. Tomlinson’s inability to break long runs is killing this club.
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