Pro Football 101

For Week 14 of the Fantasy Football Season, and the beginning of the playoffs for most leagues, here is this week’s edition of fantasy booms and busts.

Booms

1. QB Matt Cassel vs. Seattle Seahawks.

What happened last week vs. Pittsburgh happens to a lot of good QBs. Don’t think that Cassel is the only good QB that has flopped when facing the Steelers tenacious’ D.

But this week things look great once again as the Patriots head west to Seattle. Romo tossed for 300+ yards and three TDs vs. the Seahawks on Thanksgiving and just about everyone that has played Seattle has gone off, so look for Cassel to once again crack the 300-yard mark and put a few into the end zone.

2. RB Chris Johnson vs. Cleveland Browns.

Johnson had over 100 yards and two TDs in the 1st half alone on Thanksgiving Day. And he has a few things going for him: The Browns are demoralized and playing out the season and with the expected lead that Tennessee should have, Johnson will have ample opportunity to get his carries and yards.

3. WR Anquan Boldin vs. St. Louis Rams.

Boldin is playing for an NFC West Championship and a new contract next year. And the Rams have nothing to play for aside from pride, and often times that doesn’t win out when a guy is trying to protect himself from injury (in a meaningless game).

Look for the Cardinals to clinch the NFC West this Sunday and for Boldin to light up the scoreboard.

Busts

1. QB Phillip Rivers vs. Oakland Raiders.

Rivers will have a less than stellar performance this week ( a few INTs) and you should make sure to keep him out of your fantasy lineup. The Raiders are less than impressive to watch but one area of strength is the team’s seconday. CB Nnamdi Asomugha is the best shut down corner in the league and the rest of the DBs are stellar.

2. RB Maurice Jones-Drew vs. Chicago Bears.

The Jags played the most disinterested game I’ve seen all season in their beating at the hands of the Texans on Monday. In this football game, Chicago should come out and play inspired football and once they get a lead, look for the warm weather team to pack it in as they’ll want nothing to do with the frigid conditions of the Windy City.

3. WR Terrell Owens vs. Pittsburgh Steelers.

If Marion Barber can’t go, or is limited, look for Pittsburgh to pounce all over Tony Romo and give this Cowboys offense fits all day. Regardless, the Steelers are great at locking down the opposing team’s best receiver (T.O.) and their pressure packages make it difficult for the QB and receiver to maintain their timing.

In Week 13 of our suicide pool pick em, we got back to what we do best: winning. The Ravens, easily the best bet on the board, crushed the shorthanded Bengals and sent them to 1-10-1. January can’t get here fast enough for the Bungles. The Ravens pretty much did as predicted by running the ball, hitting on some big plays in play action, playing stout defense and forcing turnovers with one being returned for six.

In Week 14, our suicide pool pick is the Tennessee Titans. As you’ll notice, at no point early on did we choose any of the top NFL teams because we were hoping to keep them in our back pocket until this point in the season.

Unfortunately our first favorite we chose to go with, the Denver Broncos, laid the largest egg of the season when they fell to Oakland.

This game should be a no brainer as we thinks that if Vegas predicts the Browns will put six points on the board this week we’d say take the bet that they won’t. Now there’s always room for a letdown, especially when you see a wounded opponent coming to town, but expect the Titans to keep on rolling and inch one-step closer to locking down home field advantage throughout.

Offensively, we see the Titans pounding the ball with Johnson and White and then using the play action to set up the pass for Collins to his receivers and tight ends. 20-30 points should definitely be within reach.

Defensively, look for Tennessee to completely take RB Jamal Lewis out the game plan and then bring a blitz heavy package which will lead to sacks and forces 3rd string QB Ken Dorsey into multiple turnovers. Don’t be surprised if one of Tennessee’s DB’s return one to the house.

We don’t usually say this, but go ahead and start scouring the Week 15 schedule because this game will be done at 1:01 EST, exactly one minute after kickoff.

Teams Used:

Week 13 – Baltimore Ravens

Week 12 – Denver Broncos

Week 11–Miami Dolphins

Week 10–Arizona Cardinals

Week 9–Chicago Bears

Week 8–New York Jets

Week 7–Houston Texans

Week 6–Philadelphia Eagles

Week 5–Carolina Panthers

Week 4–Buffalo Bills