Thanksgiving day Recap

The Thanksgiving Day feasts are over. The turkeys are cooked, the stuffing is gone, and you are waking up to your fourth turkey sandwich for breakfast. You are also wondering how your fantasy football teams did. More importantly, you are wondering if I know what I am talking about here. Well I've never been shy about fessing up when I put my foot in my mouth, so without hesitation, lets take a quick look back at who I told you to start, and who I told you to sit in yesterdays slate of NFL action.

Game 1: MIA @ DET.

Start:
R. Brown RB: 15att / 68yds 0TDs inj'd in the 3rdQ. I'm calling that a correct pick, only because his back up, Sammie Morris, came in and tore off 91 yards on 12 carries. That easily would have put Brown in the 150 yard area. Early reports on Brown's hand are he'll need surgery to repair the first metacarpal, and he'll miss one game. I'll have to look into Miami's next opponent to see if Morris is worth picking up or not.

R. McMichael TE: 3rec / 25yds 1TD. A TD from a TE is always a winner.

W. Welker WR: 5Rec / 42 yds / 0TD. Kinda missed this one. He was one of Harrington's favorite targets, he just didn't do much with his opportunities.

C. Chambers WR: 2rec / 23 yds / 0TD. Totally missed this one. I'm going to have a hard time trusting Chambers in the future, unless a WR gets hurt.

J. Harrington QB: 19c/29a/213yds/3TD/1INT . All in all a great game from the noodle armed QB heading back to face the team that sent him packing last off season. Harrington threw his first 3 TDs on Thanksgiving, and I'm glad to say I saw it coming. I just wish I could have seen who he was going to throw them to. Oh yeah, he did this with getting pulled halfway through the 4th quarter too.

Sit:
M. Booker WR: 7rec / 115yds / 2TD. Yup. Blew this one. This pick leads me to believe that the Dolphins may be taking a page out of Tom Brady's book and spreading the ball around to who ever can catch it. When that happens, you can never trust any receiver week in, week out. It'll be interesting heading into the fantasy playoffs to see how this develops.

D. Hagan WR: 0/0/0. Didn't catch a cold. However, I heard he did do a good Snoop Dogg impression, and dropped a few like they were hot. But, when footballs are coming off the arm of Joey Harrington, I don't think that's possible. I just think he sucks.

O. Mare K: 2/2 FG lng 42 3/3XP. 9pts Not a bad day for a kicker. Mare had about one more field goal and extra point than I was expecting.

Detroit
Start:
R. Williams WR: 6rec /126 yds /0TD. A good game from Roy. I would have liked to see him get into the end zone, but beggars can't be choosers. Roy had 110 yards in the first half, and then Miami defense decided it wanted to start it's thanksgiving feast early. It's appetizer? Jon Kitna. He was sacked 8 times all day, and constantly harrassed. This severely cut into Roy's 2nd half production. I'm still sure that the 126 yards Roy put up will help your team.

J. Kitna QB: 22c/40a/252 yds/ 1TD /1INT. Overall, not terrible numbers. Kitna's numbers will pale when compared to Romo's, but in many weeks, 250 yds and a TD is enough to keep your team respectable.

J. Hanson K: 1/1 FG lng 52 1/1XP. Sub-par day for Hanson. He obviously struggled due to the offenses inability to move the ball, and keep Kitna off the carpet. If your league gives bonus points for long field goals, you probably salvaged a decent game from him.

Sit:
K. Jones RB: DNP - I told you not to start him anyway.

M. Furrey WR: 7rec /67 yds /0TD. Mike Furrey had a decent game while the defense obviously focused on Williams. While his 67 yards isn't special, I would have taken it over Chambers' pathetic 23 yards.

Backup RBs: 10ru/21yds/0td. The Lions backup rushers COMBINED for 10 attempts and 21 yards. I hope you stayed far far away from them.


Game 2: TB @ DAL

Start:
J. Galloway, WR: 3 / 71 /0. He led his team in yardage, which when his QB only throws for 120 yards, really doesn't say much. Galloway's 70 yards aren't as bad as other number one receivers we've seen today. Yes, I'm looking at you Chris Chambers.

A. Becht, TE: 0/0/0. Okay, So I missed him. I was going off the depth chart, and assumed based on his past successes in New York, that with Alex Smith injured that Becht would be the one to step up and grab some receptions. However, we go back to Gradkowski's performance, and realize that Becht's performance isn't that surprising.

Sit:
C. 'Escort' Williams, RB: 17 / 78/ 0. Williams actually turned in a halfway respectable game today. He had 78 yards on the ground against a stiff Dallas defense. Williams showed however that his value will diminished until he can shed the shadow of Mike Alstott, who sniped the one easy shot at a touchdown the Bucs had on Thursday.

M. Clayton, WR: 2/ 12/ 0. Pure Disappointment from Clayton. While most third receivers break out of their shells and flourish, Clayton has gone into a cocoon. He shouldn't be on a roster at this point.

B. Gradkowski, QB: 10/20/ 120/ 0td/ 2int. Gradkowski had the game you expect from a rookie out of Toledo going against an aggressive defense like the Dallas Cowboys, in Dallas. He played badly, and his stats proved it. He may not deserve to be on a roster after this game, as other defense start to get more game tape on Gradkowski.

A. Smith, TE: DNP. And couldn't have helped anyway.

M. Bryant, K: 1/1 long- 41 1/1 XP. Bryant had a decent game, all things considered. If you consider his offense stunk, and his defense couldn't stop the Cowboys at all. I'm sure though fantasy teams needed more than the 4 pts. he provided. A smart player didn't start him anyway.

Dallas:

Start:
T. Owens, WR: 8/107/1 . The Player did quite well on Turkey Day. He grabbed quite a few of Tony Romo's wide open passes, as the Buccaneers decided not to cover anyone all day. Owens did drop a couple of easy ones early, but with 100 yards on the day, we can forgive him.

T. Glenn, WR: 4/89/2. I was hesitant to include Glenn in the 'Start' section of the day. I'm glad I did, after seeing him grab those two first half TDs, and the second half yards. Glenn turned in a very nice day, after being questionable with injuries and a challenged relationship with Romo.

J. Witten, TE: 3/30/0. Witten seemed to be the only one left out of the Thanksgiving day celebrations in Dallas on Thursday. While Owens was catching 8 balls, Glenn grabbing two touchdowns, and the running backs running wild, seems like Romo forgot to spread some love to ole Jason Witten. No matter, Witten is still a must start in Tight End mandatory leagues.

T. Romo, QB: 22/29/306/5tds/0int. Tony Romo had an absolutely fabulous day. There really isn't much more that needs to be said. The real surprising thing is that he chose to throw on third down inside the 5 to Marion Barber, instead of handing off to him. Either way, the job got done, and Romo tied a Dallas Cowboys franchise record of 5 tds in a game. He was well above the 275 and 2tds that I had predicted heading into the game.

J. Jones, RB: 11/40/0.
M. Barber, RB: 16/83/0 - 2/3/2 receiving. The RB situation in Dallas is definitely one of the more frustrating in fantasy football. However, I hate to be the one to say I told you so, but I told you so. Barber was the better start, and his hard nose approach is more enduring to Parcells' style. Jones is the speedier, more talented runner, which makes him impossible to cut loose. I feel this situation will continue this way throughout the year. Barber will get more of the TD opportunities.

Sit:
P. Crayton, WR: 4/68/0: The soft Tampa secondary led to the Cowboys receivers and Tony Romo to put up some good numbers. Crayton's 68 yards are testament to this. I wouldn't expect him to continue to warrant fantasy consideration until either Owens or Glenn gets injured.

M. Vanderjagt, K: 1/1 22 lng, 5/5XP. 8pts. The only shot Vandershank had a field goal was from 22 yards out. I'd hope he could make that one. his job in Dallas is safe for one week. Eight points is decent for a fantasy kicker, however, it's nothing to write home to mom about.

Game 3: DEN @ KC

Denver:
Start:

J. Walker, WR: 6/55/0. Walker was the focal point of the Broncos passing game. It was quite evident though that Jake Plummer sucks, and needs to be replaced. Especially when he throws 39 passes, and can only manage to get 6 of them into the hands of the talented Walker. Look for vastly improved numbers with Jay Cutler under center next week.

J. Elam, K: 1/1 lng -31. 1/1 xp. 4pts. This was the prototypical game exhibiting why I hate kickers. Elam has all the talent in the world, and can hit treys from anywhere on the field, and he rots on the sideline due to a completely inept Jake Plummer. Don't give up on Elam, he should do better next week, with an offensive makeover.

Sit:
J. Plummer, QB: 25/39/ 216/1/1. Thankfully... This should be the last time in the foreseeable future that we see Jake 'the snake' Plummer. All I know, is that is what I was thankful for yesterday.

Denver RBs: 14/28/0. Shanahan was at it again. This time he did the sane thing. He deactivated Tatum Bell, and started Mike Bell. However, in last nights game, he forgot to run to stupid ball. Shanahan called Bell's name 10 times for 28 yards, and something called 'Nash' four times, and he was lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage. I warned you! Stay away from the Denver Running Backs. If it is the last thing you do. Let someone else in your league have these headaches. Friends don't let friends drive drunk, but friends do let friends have Denver Running Backs.

R. Smith, WR: 4/ 39/ 0. For being old and injured, Smith turned in a game. Yup, that's it. A game. I told you not to start him, so his 30+ yards shouldn't be that much of a shock.

Kansas City:
Start:
L. Johnson, RB: 34/ 159/ 1. Johnson proved why he's a beast. The offense in Kansas City begins and ends with Larry Johnson. He leads the league in rushing, and if it wouldn't be for that running back in San Diego he would be on pace for League MVP. Count on him to lead your team to the playoffs, and to the championship.

S. Parker, WR: 3/71/ 0. Parker didn't put up fantastic numbers in this contest. However, he did lead his team in receiving, which I can hang my hat on in pegging. Again, 71 yards isn't special, but I would rather have had Parker's 71 yards, than Chambers feeble yardage.

L. Tynes, K: 4/4 lg-34, 1/1XP 13pts. Fabulous game for a kicker. The Denver defense really came through for me on this pick. Even though I would like to see one less field goal from Tynes, and a TD to Johnson or Parker, but oh well, such is life.

Sit:
T. Green, QB: 13/22/161/0td/1int. Trent Green should have knocked the rest of rust of his joints, and the cobwebs out of his head with this game. He's had two sub-par performances in a row now. Last week against Oakland I chalked it up to coming back off the injury, and this week I'll call it a combination of the last bit of the injury, and a really good Denver pass defense, along with Gonzo being hurt as well. Next week, everyone should be 100%, and ready to rock and roll.

T. Gonzalez, TE: 4/ 35/ 0. Going in, we knee Gonzo was still a little sore, and not quite 100%. Plus his track record against Denver wasn't the greatest, so these numbers aren't surprising. I'm just glad he didn't reinjure the shoulder in the game with Denver. Expect bigger and better things out of him next week.

E. Kennison, WR: 1/16/0. Plain and simple. Champ Bailey shut Kennison down. Nothing else to see. I'm struggling to decide if Kennison even belongs on a fantasy roster at this point, but I'll give him another week or two. I definitely won't be able to trust him in the playoffs.