Fantasy Football: Monday Rundown

Wow, talk about some depressing stats yesterday. I don't know about some of you guys, but there are players that are now on my naughty list.

And at Christmas, that's not where you want to be.

Let's check it all out.

Walt Coleman Screwed Fantasy Owners

Look, I don't care your affiliation, but Coleman's call on the Santonio Holmes touchdown was plain wrong. The rule states you need indisputable evidence to overturn a call on the field. On the field, it wasn't a touchdown. They go to the booth and can say it is? 

I've seen the play 15 times and can't find where the ball did or did not cross the goal line. To me, that means there wasn't enough to overturn the call. If it had been ruled a touchdown, that likely wouldn't have been overturned either. 

The problem the league should have is that this was another rule that the official interpreted wrong in his explanation. I can't quote it, but you should look up a couple NFL writers (profootballtalk.com has a good piece) and read what Coleman said. 

So how does this screw fantasy owners? Well, odds are, if you started Baltimore's defense you lost points because of the touchdown scored. You likely could have received points for a turnover of some type (they still would have been in position to kick a tying field goal).

If you started Holmes or were playing against him, you felt every range of emotion there. I doubt many started Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback, but also possible to have point implications there. 

Point is, your match-up could turn because of a poorly applied rule. It's one that could be fixed just by informing officials what the word indisputable means. Mike Holmgren once said that 50 drunks in a bar need to agree to overturn a call. I'd pay to see that. 

I hate Bill Belichick, but he points out that the league should have cameras directly positioned on the goal line, the end line, and at various points on the sideline. We're talking maybe 10 cameras per stadium, 12 would make it very effective. It's likely a $1 million investment.

If it would help get a call right, shouldn't we be looking in to it? 

Steve Slaton Wasn't That Good 

Slaton busted a huge run late in the fourth quarter to ice the game for the Texans against the Titans. Up until that point, Slaton had only run for 54 yards. He shouldn't be in for a game like this the rest of the way, but it was worth noting that the difference between success and failure sometimes hinges on one run. 

This last second effort saved his game, but it continues to prove that the Titans defense is getting stronger, not wearing down.

The problem? They may now have to do it without Albert Haynesworth, as that knee injury he suffered looked pretty nasty. 

If you have to rely on the Titans going in to next week, just monitor this situation. A plug-and-play defense may help out more. 

Kurt Warner is Fading 

I should have picked up on this, but that's why you have friends. One of my good buddies was complaining about Kurt Warner, and I wondered how that could be the case. Well, let's look at his last five games. 

Warner has a quarterback rating below 80.0 in three of his last four games, and hasn't thrown for more than one touchdown in four of his last five. Worse, he's thrown at least one interception in his last five games, including a three interception stinker against Philly that was only balanced by three touchdown passes. 

Arizona's running game has been inept at best. This is a team that needs a high-impact runner in the off-season. I'm not convinced that Tim Hightower is the answer. A team that is one-dimensional will be stopped. Minnesota proved that. 

Some Teams Win in Spite of Coaching 

We've all seen it at this point, but what was Dick Jauron thinking? Second and five and he decides that he should roll his quarterback on a play-action pass? How much sense did that make when he had Marshawn Lynch, who had run for over 100 yards already in the game? 

Don't worry, Bills fans, Jauron's extension will be finalized this weekend. Pay no attention to that 0-5 division record. Or blowing a 4-0 start. 

Even Tony Sparano in Miami didn't seem to do a lot of thinking. Miami is built to run the football, yet they had hardly did that heading into the fourth. Worse, there were two series that incorporated first down passes. Didn't add up. Course, the defense couldn't get off the field on third down. 

Tashard Choice will be Felix Jones the Rest of the Way 

I said this week that the Cowboys would use Choice like they did Jones, and that's what happened. Choice had himself another solid game, scoring a touchdown in the process. He's a flex play going forward, but I would be hesitant to use him against the Ravens defense. That's just a tough match-up. 

Really, the Patriots Secondary is Awful 

People continue to question me on this, but stats are stats. New England has given up big passing days on a regular basis, and that happened again yesterday. JaMarcus Russell threw for 242 yards.

Read that sentence again.

One more time.

Look, Russell is not the second coming here, but he was able to put up numbers, regardless of the timing, against the Pats.  

New England's defense gave up 212 yards and three scores to Seneca Wallace, 180 and two touchdowns to Roethlisberger, 341 to Chad Pennington, and 260 to Brett Favre over the last five games. They get Kurt Warner next week and three really good wide receivers. 

You can argue that the Cardinals are bad away from home, but I'd counter with the fact that the Pats corners are bad anywhere they play.