Give these guys the ball
Philip Rivers (QB, San Diego Chargers): Reliable Phil, who's tossed touchdowns in eight of nine games he's played so far in 2009, has thrown for more majors against the Denver Broncos -- 13 in the eight games he's played them -- than he has against any other opponent. Add to that the Bolts are on an upswing while the Broncs are seemingly headed back to earth.
Maurice Jones-Drew (RB, Jacksonville Jaguars): The Jags stud rusher, who's been a monster his past four games including a TD and 123 yards on the ground vs. the Jets, is probably licking his chops knowing he'll line up vs. the Buffalo Bills and the NFL's worst run defence ... You should be, too, if you own this pass-run threat on your fantasy squad. The Tennessee Titans' run monster, Chris Johnson, piled up 132 yards and a pair of TDs last week against the sorry Bills.
Brandon Jacobs (RB, New York Giants): Still in the bad-run-defence vein, the G-Men's big man should look forward to gathering 100-plus yards vs. the visiting Atlanta Falcons. The Dirty Birds have been giving up an average of 130 rushing yards per game, 25th in the NFL.
Donnie Avery (WR, St. Louis Rams): The second-year Rams pass-catcher is going up against the 30th-ranked Arizona Cardinals pass defence. Avery caught two TDs vs. one of the NFL's best, the New Orleans Saints, last week.
Tread carefully
Tony Romo (QB, Dallas Cowboys): Uh oh, Romo! The Dallas hero/whipping boy -- depending on the week -- is coming off one tepid performance vs. the Green bay Packers to face the NFL's top pass defence in the Washington Redskins, who allow a stingy average of 162 yards through the air per game. If you've got an alternative signal-caller in your stable, you might want to consider throwing him in.
Darren Sproles (RB, San Diego Chargers): Seems LT is 'the man' in the San Diego backfield at this point, at least. Consider Sproles has a mere 28 touches since the Bolts' bye-week (Week 5) while LaDanian Tomlinson has carried the pigskin 102 times.
Darren McFadden (RB, Oakland Raiders): Or Justin Fargas or Michael Bush. Because no matter who touches the ball as run-committee-mad Raiders' rusher, they'll be up against the NFL's second-best run defence in the Cincinnati Bengals.
Matt Prater (K. Denver Broncos): As goes the Broncos, so goes its kicker. Prater has just two field goals and five extra points in his past three games. It ain't gonna get any better vs. the Chargers.
Sleep on it
Carson Palmer (QB, Cincinnati Bengals): Yeah, Cincinnati is hot right now, especially coming off a beating of the defending Super Bowl champs, but in six of his games this season, Palmer has tossed either one or no touchdowns. And now the Tabbies are playing the Raiders, who've allowed a mere eight passing TDs in 2009, fourth best in the league.
Neil Rackers (K, Arizona Cardinals): He's the guy splitting the uprights for the 11th-ranked offence, but Rackers has kicked two or more field-goals in just three games this year. Also consider the Cardinals are playing the Rams, who should be somewhat easy to score TDs against since they're the 28th-ranked defence.
Ryan Moats (RB, Houston Texans): A flash in the pan? Maybe. Word is the Texans will stick with Moats as their primary running back vs. the Titans this Sunday. But Moats did average just two yards per carry in the Texans' last tilt.
THIS 'N' THAT
FANTASY FACTS
- The Colts/Patriots game produced 288 FP in Week 10. The Ravens/Browns (112 FP) and Bears/49ers (142 FP) scored a total of 254 FP in two games combined.
- Peyton Manning (30.4 FP) and Tom Brady (30.1 FP), playing against each other, led all QB scoring in Week 10. With 218.4 FP, Brady now sits second overall behind GB QB Aaron Rodgers (228.1 FP). Manning is a close third with 216.4 FP.
- RBs Michael Turner, Brian Westbrook, Cedric Benson, Ronnie Brown and Julius Jones were all injured in Week 10. The Benson injury is the least serious of the five. Fantasy Owners will need to make adjustments for the other four in Week 11.
- Since returning from his Week 7 bye, Titans RB Chris Johnson has been unstoppable. Johnson has 113.1 FP in his last three tilts. That is the highest consecutive three-game run by any player in 2009. WR Miles Austin scored 100.3 FP from Week 7 through Week 9.
- Randy Moss (38.9 FP) and Reggie Wayne (34.6 FP) were the top FP producers at the WR spot playing against each other in Week 10. Wayne (203.9 FP) and Moss (191.1 FP) also sit first and second in WR overall FP scoring.
- For the first time this season, a TE did not reach the 20 FP plateau. Bucs TE Kellen Winslow led all TE scorers with 17.2 FP. Winslow has been streaky all season. He has five games where he averaged 20.1 FP per game. In his other four games, he averaged 4.3 FP.
- Making just his second start of the season, Bucs PK Conner Barth had 17.5 FP in Week 10. The Chiefs cut Barth because of a lack of accuracy but he hit on field goals from 50, 51 and 54 yards against the Dolphins.
-Stats Guru CRAIG.ELLINGSON@SUNMEDIA.CA
