Week 9 in fantasy football holds some tough decisions for owners. Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Frank Gore are all on bye this week which means some teams have some big holes to fill. David Garrard going up against the Bengals could be a nice fill-in for Brees owners. As for the running back situation guys like Kevin Faulk and Michael Pittman could get owners enough points to keep them in their respective games. Now onto this weeks edition of feast or famine.
Feast
Michael Turner (@ OAK): It's been a frustrating year if you have Turner on your team. The first game of the season against the Lions set the bar pretty high and he hasn't delivered in four of the Falcons seven games this season. However those four games were against three top 10 rush defenses and against another in the top 15. The games where Turner has dominated were against teams in the bottom 10. Good news, the Raiders are 26th in the league against the run. Turner should find the endzone at least once and go over the 100 yard mark for the first time since week 5.
Matt Forte (vs. DET): If you look at Matt Forte's rushing yards in his last four games you might not think he has been that productive in fantasy. Not true at all, especially if you get PPR (points per reception). He scored in each of his last three games and he is a dangerous target for Kyle Orton out of the backfield. The woeful Lions come to town and while he didn't run the ball particularly well against them in week 5, he did score twice. The rookie should primed to break out for his second 100 yard rushing performance of the season.
Tampa Bay Defense (@ KC): Normally I would stick to position players for this, but talk about a potential feast. This one could get bloody and may be the difference for owners in tight games this weekend. Despite losing to the Cowboys, the Bucs D only gave up 192 total yards and collected 3 sacks. Plus they shut down Marion Barber, as I predicted I might add. Barber averaged 2.8 yards a carry and never found the endzone. The Chiefs don't have nearly the weapons the Cowboys have. This one could be ugly.
Famine
Brett Favre (@ BUF): You would think by now I would have learned not to underestimate Brett Favre, but he's not a reliable fantasy quarterback. He's only had one game this season, his first, where he didn't throw an interception. If you take away his six touchdown game against Arizona he's been mediocre at best this season. The Jets travel to Buffalo this weekend for a big AFC East matchup and I think the Bills will cause enough trouble to cause Favre to make some costly mistakes.
Aaron Rodgers (@ TEN): And then there is Favre's replacement in Green Bay. The Packers come off their bye week and run smack-dab into the last remaining undefeated team. The Titans have only given up three passing touchdowns this season, two of which were last week by Peyton Manning. It's just an ugly matchup for Rodgers on the road and I don't see him having a good day.
Clinton Portis (vs. PIT): I may regret this one, but I'm going to go out on a limb. Just a reminder this is not me telling anyone to bench Portis. He's the leading rusher in the league by a huge margin and he has rattled off five straight 100 yard rushing performances. That being said, it's the same thing I said last week going into the Giants game. the Steelers are beasts on defense and they simply don't allow running backs to hurt them. Portis may still go over the 100 yard mark, but I don't think he scores.
Sports
