NFL Week 10 Notes & Recap

Aww November, the air is turning crisp, soon we'll be gorging on a wonderful Thanksgiving feast, and more importantly, Thursday Night Football is back.

The first week of Thursday Night Football provided us with a 34-30 thriller between the Denver Broncos and Cleveland Browns. What exactly will Week Two of the NFL Network's coverage bring us? Who really cares?

All I know is that upon completion of Monday Night's game between the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals, we have to wait just three days for more football. You got to love it, and hopefully, you love the Week 10 Weekly Words.

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All Day Saves The Day

Things were looking bleak for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday against division foe, the Green Bay Packers.  Despite recording two safeties, the Vikings found themselves trailing by six with six minutes left in the game due to three costly interceptions from quarterback, Gus Frerotte, including one returned for a touchdown, and a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown by the Packers’ Will Blackmon. That’s when Adrian Peterson stepped it up to another level.

Peterson, who had urged head coach Brad Childress to go for it earlier in the game on 4th and 1, and then fumbled, redeemed himself nicely by putting the Vikings in the lead for good with two minutes and 30 seconds left in the game by breaking one off for 29 yards to find pay dirt, his longest run of the game.

The stud back finished the day just eight yards short of 200 yards rushing to go along with 33 receiving yards and his one score.

Without Peterson’s performance, the Vikings are more than likely sitting at 4-5, a full game behind the Chicago Bears and the Packers, and trailing in the tie breaker to each, but with Peterson putting them over the top, the Vikings are now in a tie for first with the Bears, while the Packers sit a game behind. Peterson will continue to motor the Vikings and fantasy teams for the rest of the season.

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Jets Got The Jones’

Brett Favre was supposed to be the veteran leading the New York Jets to victory in 2008, but talk with any of his fantasy owners, and you’ll quickly know that Favre’s not quite getting it done this season. Still, the Jets find themselves sitting at 6-3 in a tie with the New England Patriots atop the AFC East.

How are they doing it?

Well, another veteran has stepped his game up—running back, Thomas Jones. In the Jets last five games, Jones has totaled 496 rushing yards to go along with an astounding eight touchdowns. Remember, this is the same back that found pay dirt just twice in all of 2007.

Whether it’s because teams are worried about Favre or an improved offensive line is creating bigger holes, Jones is quickly developing into one of the surest backs for fantasy purposes. Over his last five games, Jones has gone for 25,15,11,15, and 32 fantasy points. With just one match-up against a top 10 rush defense, the Tennessee Titans, left on the schedule, Jones should continue his rise among fantasy backs.

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When the Saints Go Marching Home…

Oh, when the Saints, go marching home…Oh, when the Saints go marching home…how I’m glad I’m not in that number when the Saints go marching home!

The New Orleans Saints were a chic pick to be Super Bowl contenders in 2008, but after nine games, they find themselves heading home while sitting in the cellar of the NFC South, which has turned into one of the most competitive divisions in the league.

Plagued by injuries all season long, the now 4-5 Saints, following a loss to the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday, find themselves in a position where they’ll be fighting for their playoff lives each and every week.

Offense is obviously not the problem as the Saints rank first in total yards per game with an average of 416.2 and are scoring on average 26.2 points. Nope, the problem is on the defensive side of the ball. The Saints currently rank 25th in total defense in the league and are allowing opponents 25.4 points per game. Yes, the Saints’ players make for excellent fantasy plays, but if they want to get the job done in real football, they’ll need their defense to turn things around.

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The Tight Ends’ Revenge

In the NFL’s first Thursday Night Game this past week, Kellen Winslow came out and put up 21 fantasy points. Apparently, tight ends around the league were watching and taking note as Week 10 proved to be one of the best weeks for tight ends this fantasy football season, even with two of the top 10 fantasy tight ends (Jason Witten and Chris Cooley) on a bye.

Tony Gonzalez joined Kellen Winslow in surpassing the 20 point mark with 23 against the San Diego Chargers, while Antonio Gates put up 12 in that same game. However, it wasn’t only the usual suspects getting it done.

Joining the party were also rookie tight end Dustin Keller, who put up his first 100 yard receiving game of his career with 107 yards and a TD, Bo Scaife, who continued a solid 2008 season with 10 catches for 78 yards and a score, and Daniel Graham, who managed 11 fantasy points while occupying the Broncos’ second tight end spot.

But, the biggest surprise had to be Baltimore Ravens’ tight end Todd Heap. Heap had not reached double digits since Week Two of the 2007 season; however, in Week 10 of 2008, the tight end managed 17 fantasy points—a solid outing for a guy many thought was no longer fantasy relevant.

Will this solid Week 10 bring life back to a fantasy position that owners have been happy to get four points out of? Only time will tell, but it’s a step in the right direction.

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