Fantasy Football Game of the Week–Week 8

This week’s fantasy showdown takes place in jolly old England, where the high flying Saints will take on the offensively potent Chargers, in a game where the loser is in big trouble in their quest for the playoffs.  These are two of the top ten offenses in the NFL and they will square off against two of the worst defenses in football.  Fantasy teams that have players on these two squads will likely have their matchups won or lost based on this contest.

The Chargers

Philip Rivers is coming off a decent game against the Bills, but looks to get back on his career season pace against the weak Saints’ secondary.  Rivers is blowing by his career bests in all categories (22 previous best in TDs, already has 16) as he looks like he might have taken a step towards being an elite quarterback in this league.  I say he throws a minimum of two TD passes in this game, and he has a good chance to throw three for the fifth time this season already.  LaDanian Tomlinson has been causing fantasy owners’ hair to fall out all season long, but if you have him, you have to play him.  The Chargers are still fully committed to him, as no other back got more than one carry last week besides him.   If San Diego is showing that kind of confidence, then you do to.  He is still LT and even though he is hurting, he still can have a breakout game at any time.  And against that Saints defense, the time could be now.  I would be surprised if Chris Chambers came back in this game seeing that it isn’t even in America, but Vincent Jackson and Malcolm Floyd have more than made up for his absence.  Jackson looks like he is finally living up to the expectations that fantasy players had for him for the past couple of years after he had a great end to the 2006 season.  He has nine catches and two touchdowns in the past two games.  Floyd also has two touchdowns in the last two weeks, and has made the most of the opportunity he has been given.  At 6′5″, 225 pounds, he is a great target for Rivers, especially in the red zone.  Outside of his four touchdown catches, Gates hasn’t been the guy that we have been accustomed to.  He is on pace for a season low in catches and yards.  Finally, Nate Kaeding can’t be as bad of a scoring option as he was last week, as he was only good for two PATs.  You have to figure that the Chargers offense will give him more scoring chances this week.

The Saints

New Orleans is definitely hampered by the loss of Reggie Bush, but with the return of Marques Colston and Jeremy Shockey, that should help take some of the pressure off.  The poor Saints can’t catch a break.  They lose Colston and Shockey early, and as soon as they are due to get them back, Bush goes out.  But they have an MVP candidate in Drew Brees who is certain to bounce back from last week’s game as he faces the worst pass defense in the NFL allowing over 250 yards a game and 11 passing TDs this season.  Look for Brees to have a 300 yard, 3 TD day.  Who will pick up the slack for Bush?  The most likely choice is Deuce McAllister who has been getting more carries lately.  But I don’t just assume it will be him.  Given his age and injury history I don’t like his chances to shoulder 20-25 carries.  It will most likely be a committee approach with Pierre Thomas and maybe even Aaron Stecker getting some carries.  Both have made the most of their chances when called upon in the past due to injury.  This should be a showcase for the Saints receivers.  Look for Colston to bounce back from his zero catch effort in his first game back in a big way, as I predict over 100 yards and a score.  Devery Henderson seems to have the deep balls covered and usually has a few catches for big yards.  Lance Moore and Robert Meachem will most likely have four or five catches as well.  I am not a big believer in Jeremy Shockey given his last couple seasons, but this is as good of a week as any for him.  Brees can certainly find him over the middle if his other options are covered or for a quick catch on third down.  Although wildly injury prone, Shockey has made some big catches over the year (and some big drops as well).  Taylor Mehlhaff replaced the injured Martin Gramatica, but since the Saints got waxed last week, was only good for one extra point.  He also should be good for at least one field goal and much more than one PAT.

The only way that this game isn’t a fireworks show of offense is either if the weather is bad in London (remember last year’s game over there?  It was a monsoon!) or if the players are just not physically well after making such a long trip.  I think it was a bad decision by the NFL to play this game in the middle of the season, although both teams have their bye after this week.  It is tough for teams to play a game on Sunday and then be ready in just a week to play another game across the Atlantic.  But for those of you who own Saints and Chargers, buckly your seat belts, it should be a fun ride!

As always, your comments and questions (adds/drops, trade advice, lineup questions, etc) are welcome at [e-mail].  I guarantee a response within 18 hours.  Can’t get enough Fighting Chance?  We are now joining forces with Bruno Boys Fantasy Football for a weekly article about the Winners and Losers from each week.  Check out the Week 7 version.