Fantasy Booms
1. QB Phillip Rivers vs. Miami Dolphins
Even before the injury to LaDainian Tomlinson, the Chargers had become a pass first team. With him out however, and after Darren Sproles was eaten up by MLB Ray Lewis to end last Sunday’s game, look for their pass to run ratio to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 70/30 this week, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Dolphins rank 7th vs. the run but only 23rd against the pass.
Expect Rivers to target Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Darren Sproles all afternoon and finish with at least 300 yards and three TDs.
2. RB Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Houston Texans
Titans RB Chris Johnson torched the Texans for nearly 300 total yards and three TDs on Sunday. This coming after the Jets ran at will on Houston in Week One. I think a trend may be forming here… Expect the Jags to get back on track and force feed the ball to Jones-Drew who will find great success throughout the afternoon. He’ll also be a factor in the passing game and will top 150 total yards and two TDs.
3. WR Steve Smith vs. Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys DBs were torched by the Giants receivers and now they face one of the premier – and fastest – receivers in the NFL in Steve Smith. Look for Delhomme to target Smith throughout the night and if they can build some momentum in the running game, the play action down the field will be open for a long TD. Expect a big fantasy football effort on Monday Night.
Fantasy Busts
1. Matt Ryan vs. New England Patriots
Although the Patriots have been rather mediocre on defense thus far, their weakness is more vs. the run than the pass. Belichick is excellent at taking away the other team’s top receiving threat and keeping everything in front of the Safeties. We expect the Falcons to pound the rock with Turner and use the short passing game to attack this defense, and while this formula can work to win games, it doesn’t add up to a great fantasy football afternoon.
2. RB Adrian Peterson vs. San Francisco 49ers
This will be the only time that Peterson ends up on this list, but predictions of a big afternoon for the premier halfback in the NFL will go unrealized on Sunday. When these two teams met in 2007, he was held to just three yards on 14 carries; Patrick Willis clogged every hole he attempted to run through. Look for another sub par effort (under 70 yards) as the Niners will load the box to take away the run and force Favre to beat them.
3. Brandon Marshall vs. Oakland Raiders
Marshall’s been a HUGE disappointment thus far (we highlighted this prior to the season) and now faces the best cover corner in football, Nnamdi Asomugha. Whether it is due to his lack of knowledge of McDaniels play book, or his dissatisfaction with his current contract, his level of play has dropped dramatically in 2009. And it’s not coming back this week. Look elsewhere if you have a viable No. three receiving option on your team.
Pro Football 101 » 2009 NFL Picks - Week 3
September 25th, 2009 at 12:12
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[...] 2-0 Niners match up very well in this one. The last time these two teams met, Adrian Peterson was held to just three yards on 14 carries; MLB Patrick Willis was a monster in that game. Expect [...]
Pro Football 101 » 2009 Fantasy Rankings - Week 4 QBs
September 30th, 2009 at 00:08
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[...] LaDainian Tomlinson, San Diego realizes it will not be able to do much on the ground. So look for Rivers to follow the blueprint which has worked thus far and use the dump offs/screens as a substitute for their running game and [...]