Week 9 Fantasy Football: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons

Week 9 Match-up:  Bucs @ Falcons

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Tampa Bay @ Atlanta 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-2)    Buccaneers Schedule 

Opponent's Defensive Ranks

Atlanta Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed 27th - TDs Allowed T-18th

Atlanta Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed 6th – TDs Allowed T-5th

Tampa Bay Offensive Cast

Josh Freeman (QB Week 9 Ranking #NR) 2010 Season: 135/224 for 1,533 Yards & 8 TDs

Freeman still doesn’t quite break into the rankings, but don’t be surprised to see some nice stats against a weak Falcons secondary this week.

LeGarrette Blount (RB Week 9 Ranking #16) 2010 Season: 43 Carries for 222 Yards & 3 TDs || 2 Recs for 9 Yards & 0 TDs

Blount took the starting RB job last week and will run with it until he either gets hurt or proves to have a serious fumbling problem.  Atlanta is pretty darned good against the run, so I’m not expecting the world out of the rook this week, but he should be able to garner 70-80 yards with a good chance of a TD as the goal-line back.

Cadillac Williams (RB Week 9 Ranking #NR) 2010 Season: 84 Carries for 212 Yards & 0 TDs || 26 Recs for 187 Yards & 1 TD

Caddy’s stock has fallen completely off the charts.

Mike Williams (WR Week 9 Ranking #12) 2010 Season: 32 Recs for 470 Yards & 4 TDs

I’m sold!  In fact, I just started looking for houses down in Tampa so I can go watch this kid live every week.  He’s awesome, simply awesome.  And if he stays healthy and out of trouble throughout his career, he’ll be a fantasy WR1 for years to come.  This week, against a poor Atlanta Pass D, I expect him to excel, especially since his numbers on the road this year far outdo his numbers at home (19 catches, 212 yards, one TD in four games at home; 13 catches, 258 yards, three TDs in three games on the road).

Sammie Stroughter (WR Week 9 Ranking #NR) 2010 Season: 15 Recs for 177 Yards & 0 TDs

Arrelious Benn (WR Week 9 Ranking #NR) 2010 Season: 8 Recs for 129 Yards & 0 TDs

Kellen Winslow Jr. (TE Week 9 Ranking #15) 2010 Season: 30 Recs for 306 Yards & 0 TDs

One of these days Winslow is going to break out of his slump, as he’s simply too talented of a player not to.  He’s never been a TD machine, but you’ve got to expect at least ONE this year.  Maybe this is the week?

Atlanta Falcons (5-2)    Falcons Schedule 

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Tampa Bay Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 13th - TDs Allowed T-26th

Tampa Bay Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 30th – TDs Allowed T-16th

Atlanta Offensive Cast

Matt Ryan (QB Week 9 Ranking #11) 2010 Season: 156/252 for 1,714 Yards & 12 TDs

Ryan has been far better at home over the course of his career than on the road, so a game against a Buccaneers team that is in the bottom quarter of the league in passing TDs allowed shouldn’t hurt that trend.  He also happens to have the best wide receiver in the game in Roddy White.

Michael Turner (RB Week 9 Ranking #2) 2010 Season: 131 Carries for 587 Yards & 3 TDs || 9 Recs for 73 Yards & 0 TDs

Turner got the rest he needed over the bye, so now it’s time to turn The Centaur loose against the league’s 30^th-ranked Rush D.  These inner-division match-ups always get Turner revved-up, and the fact that they’re both 5-2 atop the division doesn’t hurt.

Roddy White (WR Week 9 Ranking #1) 2010 Season: 54 Recs for 747 Yards & 5 TDs

Roddy White is a machine that has only gotten better with time.  He scored in each game last year against the Bucs and I highly doubt that trend ends in this game.  Oh, and by the way, his average game coming out of the bye the last two years is 161.5 yards and two TDs.  ‘Nuff said.

Michael Jenkins (WR Week 9 Ranking #44) 2010 Season: 8 Recs for 124 Yards & 0 TDs

Jenkins has 17 targets, eight catches and 124 yards in his first two games since he came back from injury this season.  I could certainly see right around that average against the Bucs this weekend (8-9 targets, 4 catches, 62 yards).

Harry Douglas (WR Week 9 Ranking #NR) 2010 Season: 15 Recs for 179 Yards & 1 TD

For as much talent as this kid has, it looks like the Falcons will continue to start Michael Jenkins over him.

Tony Gonzalez (TE Week 9 Ranking #4) 2010 Season: 29 Recs for 292 Yards & 3 TDs

Tony G might not be the player he used to be, but he’s still good enough to start on your fantasy team during a week with six teams on their bye.  Last year at home against Tampa Bay, he had nine catches for 83 yards.  A repeat of those numbers sure would be nice this weekend.