It’s the second half of the fantasy football season and it’s getting a little stressful for a lot of owners. There are so many questions at this point in the year. Do you have the weapons to go deep into the playoffs? Will you even make the playoffs? Can you or should you trade off you’re productive third running back to fill a hole? Well these are the things that make fantasy both exhilarating and infuriating simultaneously. The toughest thing, though, is making sure you have your best lineup on the field from week to week. For the rest of season and the playoffs I’ll give my thoughts on who has the best and worst matchups for the upcoming week. My only qualifications are that I’m in three leagues and spend far too much of my time evaluating my lineups.
Feast
Trent Edwards (@ MIA): The Bills are the surprise of the NFL this season and Edwards has been a big part of it. He’s had a touchdown pass in all the games he’s finished, (he was knocked out early in week 5). The Dolphins are pretty soft against the pass and Edwards should have a productive day behind center. He’s a good bye week replacement for owners this week.
Dominic Rhodes (@ TEN): Since coming in for the injured Joseph Addai, Rhodes has filled in nicely. He’s scored three times, racked up some decent yards, and even caught a few balls out of the backfield. He has a tough matchup against the undefeated Titans, and while I don’t think Indy will win the game, I think Rhodes will score enough points to make owners happy they picked him off the waiver wire a couple weeks ago.
DeSean Jackson (vs. ATL): Jackson has been huge this season for the receiver starved Eagles. He’s only scored once, thanks to his bone-headed move in the Cowboys game. However, he usually gets 5-6 catches and has the speed and breakaway ability to rack up the yards. The Falcons rank 26th against the pass and Donovan McNabb should pick them apart. Jackson will be the main beneficiary of that. Plus it looks like Brian Westbrook might be back this week which means Atlanta has another weapon to distract them while Jackson quietly slips behind the coverage.
Famine
Sports
Eli Manning and Giants running backs( @ PIT): It’s going to be a rough afternoon for the defending Super Bowl champs. Let’s start with Eli Manning. The Steelers lead the league in sacks with 25 and have the top pass defense in the league, giving up only five touchdowns in six games. This doesn’t bode well for Eli.
Then we have the Steelers rush defense which hasn’t allowed a 100 yard rusher yet this year. Brandon Jacobs isn’t going to get many yards and he won’t be getting many catches that means you’re relying on him scoring. Well, sorry. Three touchdowns given up all year, and with Eli spending a good portion of the day in the turf any goal line opportunities are going to be few and far between.
Marion Barber (vs. TB): The Cowboys offense is a mess right now with Romo out and Brad Johnson in. Marion Barber is a stud fantasy back so I’m not telling anyone to bench him, that would be pretty bold, but I wouldn’t rely on Barber to carry your team this week. The Buccaneers defense hasn’t allowed a rushing touchdown all year and with Brad Johnson leading the offense down the field, trips to the red zone are going to be at a minimum.
Roddy White (@ PHI): White has been a nice sleeper this year for fantasy owners, and much like Marion Barber, is a tough sit. However the Eagles blitz is going to test rookie Matt Ryan and if he can’t handle it White, and his owners, are going to suffer.
