Week 9 Fantasy Football: San Diego Chargers at Houston Texans

Week 9 Matchup:  Chargers @ Texans

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San Diego @ Houston

San Diego Chargers (3-5)    Chargers Schedule 

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Houston Pass Defense—2010: Yards Allowed/Game 32nd—TDs Allowed 31st

Houston Rush Defense—2010: Yards Allowed/Game 14th—TDs Allowed T-21st

San Diego Offensive Cast

Philip Rivers (QB Week 9 Ranking: No. 1) 2010 Season: 198/306—for 2,649 Yards and 15 TDs

Rivers has now thrown for the most yards over the first eight games of the season in the history of the NFL and is on pace for 5,298 yards, which would break Dan Marino’s record by 214 yards.  Pretty disgusting considering his WR1 (Vincent Jackson) has been gone all year while his WR2 & WR3 have both been injured at least the last couple of games.  Basically, against the worst Pass D in the league, he’s a lock.

Ryan Mathews (RB Week 9 Ranking: No. 21) 2010 Season: 78 Carries for 340 Yards and two TDs || 13 Recs for 74 Yards and zero TDs

Mathews has been dinged up for most of the year and will come into this Week 9 game under those same conditions.  Still, he’ll likely see a good 18-22 touches this weekend which could amount to some decent yardage with Houston expecting Rivers to pass the ball all day long.

Mike Tolbert (RB Week 9 Ranking: No. 19) 2010 Season: 79 Carries for 363 Yards and seven TDs || 13 Recs for 97 Yards ad zero TDs

Tolberticus Touchdownimus.  The 5’9”, 243-pounder has seven TDs on the year with a running streak of five straight games crossing the goal-line.  I wouldn’t bet on that changing this week with the Texans ranking in the lower half of the league in rushing TDs allowed on the year.

Malcom Floyd (WR Week 9 Ranking: NR) 2010 Season: 24 Recs for 513 Yards and three TDs

Floyd will be sitting out again with a hamstring issue.

Legedu Naanee (WR Week 9 Ranking: No. 37) 2010 Season: 11 Recs for 181 Yards and one TD

It doesn’t look like Naanee will be back this week either.

Patrick Crayton (WR Week 9 Ranking: No. 23) 2010 Season: 22 Recs for 339 Yards and zero TDs

Once again, Patrick Crayton will be the lead dog on the field with Malcom Floyd still out, Buster Davis on IR and Legedu Naanee slow to make it back to full strength.  Of course, Antonio Gates takes precedence over any one of them, but Philip Rivers under center usually makes at least two guys fantasy-relevant each week (Rivers has done so in 6 of 8 weeks thus far).

Antonio Gates (TE Week 9 Ranking No. 1) 2010 Season: 40 Recs for 663 Yards and nine TDs

Best tight end in the game going up against the worst Pass D in the game?  He actually might outscore most quarterbacks this Sunday!

Houston Texans (4-3)    Texans Schedule

Opponent Defensive Ranks

San Diego Pass Defense—2010: Yards Allowed/Game 1st–TDs Allowed T-4th

San Diego Rush Defense—2010: Yards Allowed/Game 2nd–TDs Allowed T-16th

Houston Offensive Cast

Matt Schaub (QB Week 9 Ranking: No. 12) 2010 Season: 149/235—for 1,739 Yards & 10 TDs

Andre Johnson is banged up, Owen Daniels has sucked, and the Texans are facing the toughest Pass D in the league to this point.  If it weren’t Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson, I’d say bench him and go with your backup this week, but these two guys work together as well as anyone in the league, so have a little faith as this could end up a shootout.

Arian Foster (RB Week 9 Ranking: No. 11) 2010 Season: 130 Carries for 737 Yards and seven TDs || 28 Recs for 245 Yards and one TD

Foster is awesome, and all you have to do is watch him to figure that out.  However, the Chargers are as tough as they come against the run, so you shouldn’t expect a 100-yard rushing game this week, though 110 total yards and possibly a TD might be a reasonable expectation. 

Andre Johnson (WR Week 9 Ranking: No. 8) 2010 Season: 39 Recs for 594 Yards and three TDs

He’s a machine, of that I am sure.  To be a man, you have to at least act human, which ‘Dre clearly does not.  San Diego has one of the toughest defenses in the league, which is the only reason I mark him down this far, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to see him buck the human-thinking odds and put up numbers comparable to what Roddy White might do this weekend.

Kevin Walter (WR Week 9 Ranking: NR) 2010 Season: 22 Recs for 266 Yards and three TDs

Walter moves to the back of the line with Jacoby Jones returning to the field.

Jacoby Jones (WR Week 9 Ranking: NR) 2010 Season: 20 Recs for 196 Yards and one TD

Jacoby just isn’t involved enough yet to trust him as a starter on your team.

Owen Daniels (TE Week 9 Ranking: NR) 2010 Season: 16 Recs for 200 Yards and zero TDs

Owen is banged up and having a tough time getting his feet under him this year.  Wait awhile before thinking about throwing him in your lineup.