Fantasy Football: Monday News and Notes

It's always interesting to see what we can learn about a team or a player at this point in the season.

Yesterday, we learned that football is screwed up. All but two road teams pulled out wins on Sunday. Sure, you can argue that the schedule lined up for better teams to be playing on the road this week, but it was more than just good teams that pulled out wins. Many beat teams that were considered on par with them. 

Let's get to it. 

You Can Throw on the Patriots 

No, really, YOU can throw on the Patriots secondary. I don't care if the stats say that Roethlisberger only threw for 180 yards, it looked much worse for several reason.

First, Deltha O'Neal was ABUSED all afternoon. It didn't matter the receiver, they all made catches against him. In fact, there would have been one or two more big plays, but Pittsburgh receivers dropped easy completions. 

The defensive line is getting little or no pressure. Chad Pennington and Roethlisberger have both come back with very clean jerseys the last two weeks. There is just no pass rush of which to speak. None. Any professional quarterback will complete passes if they are given that kind of time.

The problem is, going forward, the Seahawks and Raiders aren't likely to take advantage of the situation. I'd push Darren McFadden, John Carlson, Bobby Engram, Ashley Lelie, and Deion Branch up slightly in rankings, but I wouldn't exactly expect the world. That's more a reflection on the opponent than on thinking the Patriots defense is very good.

Eli Manning is the Jekyll and Hyde of Quarterbacks

Do you know which one is going to show up each week? Manning didn't crack 200 yards for over a month, but has now posted two of his best games of the season in back-to-back weeks.

Last week, there was no Brandon Jacobs. You'd then expect them to throw the football, which they did very effectively. That said, thinking Manning could produce to that level on the road against Arizona likely didn't cross anyone's mind.

This past week, the Giants end up without Plaxico Burress. Yet, Manning posts over 300 yards for the first time in a long time. He may not have thrown the touchdown passes, but he certainly didn't hurt you as a starting quarterback.

I'm not convinced he can make it three in a row, but the Redskins pass defense has been very tough at home, and Manning had no problems beating it.

DeAngelo Williams is the RB to own in Carolina

This isn't just about Williams putting up four touchdowns yesterday. That stat was impressive. What I'm more referring to is the fact that Jonathan Stewart is more hurt than anyone had previously let on.

One highlight summed it up. Stewart broke through the line, and looked to be on his way to a 70-yard touchdown run. That didn't quite happen. About 40 yards into the run, Stewart began to slow up. He was caught from behind before he found paydirt.

I think Stewart has had a fine rookie campaign, but this one play told me all I need to know as a fantasy owner. Williams is the guy you want to own, and I'm downgrading Stewart until I see that he's fully healthy. Even if he breaks a run, his heel problems are rendering his speed and toughness moot.

All that said, the Packers are going to be undone by their run defense. Just a feeling. Common sense feeling, but a feeling.

Eric Mangini Can't Read Scouting Reports

How many times do we have to go through the way you beat the AFC West?

The Broncos can't stop the run. CAN'T STOP IT! Thomas Jones had cracked 100 yards before half time, yet the Jets decided that they would only run the ball 19 times on the day, while dropping back to pass 43 times. How does this make sense? In what world was this a good idea?

The Jets averaged 7.5 yards per carry on the day, while Favre only completed 23 of his 43 attempts. Even if you back out the 60-yard touchdown run Jones had, they still had 18 carries for 82 yards, which is still better than 4.0 yards per carry. This should have been a three-foot putt for Mangini, yet he managed to blow it.

Leon Washington was hardly involved in the offense at all, and Jones wasn't involved enough.

Whatever the score was, there are some teams that make you trust the numbers. The Broncos numbers against the run represented one of those times. It should make you sick as a fantasy owner or fan of the team.

LDT Done?

I think every owner has given LaDainian Tomlinson the benefit of the doubt because of his prior success. You could even argue that maybe the first quarter of the season was bad because of injuries. That doesn't excuse a run of mediocre performances from the consensus top draft pick.

If I'm looking to next season, he's not sitting in my top-three at this point. I would certainly rather have AP and Brian Westbrook at a minimum. There seem to be fewer sure things available, and we can now add LDT at the top of the draft board as one of them.

Imagine the heat that San Diego would have taken for keeping Michael Turner over Tomlinson, but think about the potential reward they could have garnered.

Back tomorrow with leftovers from the week that was.