The True Guru's Week 1 Review
What a week 1 and what a way to start the NFL season. So many significant injuries, none more than Tom Brady's. Also, several rookies shined in a week that changed every experts views of the 2008 NFL season. Let's get this party started.
Quarterbacks
The biggest news of the weekend was Tom Brady tearing his ACL and he is out for the year. Veteran backup Matt Cassel will take the helm for the Patriots for the rest of the season. From a fantasy and realistic perspective we know very little of what Matt Cassel brings to the table. In 4 years he has played 15 total games including last Sunday. He has 3 career TDs and a robust 405 yards. We think he will do alright in New England with a veteran team helping him out and great receivers, however he is not Tom Brady and doesn't even come close to fitting in the man's shoes. Everyone running out to get Cassel, its buyer beware. We do feel the Patriots will be absolutely forced to go to a more balanced attack and we will discuss that later in this post. This also hurts the value of Wes Welker and Randy Moss without a doubt.
Phillip Rivers shined on Sunday throwing 3 TDs and hitting a stud in the making Vincent Jackson for 1 of them.
Kurt Warner had an effective, but most would say disappointing day with 197 yards and 1 TD. Two notes to take from this game, he didn't get hurt and ZERO interceptions.
Kyle Orton still bad, despite the Bears winning. However Tavaris Jackson is upgraded as he showed precision passing in a hostile game that the Viking's could not win without help from the Gods.
His counterpart Aaron Rodgers did exactly as we expected and that was good. As an NFL quarterback he did outstanding, but fantasy wise just solid with 2 TDs and 178 yards.
Brett Farve showed he is still a quality fantasy quarterback against a weak Miami defense throwing 2 TDs and 197 yards.
The quarterback of the week has to go to Tony Romo. Is was our #2 QB on in the preseason and with Brady out he is #1 and playing like it. 320 yards and 1 TD, which should have been more, but made a first game mistake throwing an INT in the end zone. He showed in that game against Cleveland that he will be a constant producer all season.
We expect much more from David Garrard, but his first game with 215 yards and 1 TD was lower then expected. keep in mine he played a tough defense and most of his wide receivers were injured
Derek Anderson had a bad game, but looked good against a tough defense. His receivers dropped allot of passes. That won't happen all year.
McNabb and Brees also had outstanding first games with 300+ yards and 3 TDs each.
On the other hand Matt Hasselbeck reminded us of why we are so down on him this year. 190 yards and a TD and INT. Couple that in with the loss of Burelson and its bad news.
Grab Shaun Hill if you can cause J.T. O'Sullivan's days could be numbered with another poor performance. We like Hill much better anyhow.
Runningbacks
Marion Barber was outstanding against Cleveland and if it wasn't for a rib injury would have had a huge game. Barber had 80 yards and 2 TDs. Felix Jones filled in with 62 yards and a TD. His enemy counterpart in Philly Brian Westbrook did exceptional as well with 92 yards and 2 TDs.
Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears was a rookie on display. He showed that the Bears do have an offense with 123 yards and a TD.
Michael Turner found his groove in Atlanta with 220 yards and 2 TDs for the absolute performance of the week. We expected great things out of him being he was our #1 sleeper this year.
Carolina showed us the fantasy dreaded two-headed dragon of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart. Williams was 18 for 83 yards and Stewart was 10 for 53 yards. While both runningbacks had OK games running, neither got in the end zone and we think that will remain problem as long as its a two-headed dragon and not a 1 back operation. However we are still high on both runningbacks as 3rd RBs for your fantasy roster.
Ryan Grant had a solid game and except for a somewhat lucky 57 yard dash he would have ended with 35 yards on 11 carries. That's right only 12 total carries. Should we be concerned? No, it was the Vikings.
Joseph Addai was a major let down for fantasy owners compiling only 47 total yards. No need to judge this juggernaut after 1 game, he'll be fine. However, Frank Gore showed us he's back with 96 yards and a TD.
Another #1 draft pick Stephen Jackson was a huge disappointment with 74 total yards. Again, let it go since it was week 1.
Finally Thomas Jones and Reggie Bush. We liked both and if you started them you did alright. Jones had 101 yards and a TD, while Bush had 163 total yards, 8 receptions, and a TD.
Watch what happens in Tennessee with Chris Johnson and LenDale White. There could e a changing of the guard.
Wide Receivers
As expected wide receivers like Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne, Plaxico Buress, Randy Moss, and Larry Fitzgerald did will. Even Andre Johnson had a very good game in a ppr league. Marques Colston was a hug disappointment. I've written that word so much I've stopped needing the spell checker to correct it.
The great calls this week start with Jerrico Cotchery. Many of us felt he would shine with Brett Farve and he did with 80 yards and a TD. His counterpart Lavernues Coles was a huge disappointment with only 1 catch for 5 yards.
The Detroit Lions came out to play and burned us. Calvin Johnson had a solid game with 7 catches for 107 yards. We recommended benching Roy WIlliams and he had a solid game catching a TD and 47 yards.
The twin towers in Arizona had nice games. Anquan Boldin had 8 catches in the second half for 82 yards, but Fitzgerald got the lone touchdown.
In Seattle things got worse. Nate Burelson injured his knee and is out for the year.
Gregg Jenning's looked solid connecting with Rodgers on a 56 yard bomb and finished with 5 catches for 91 yards. Driver did poorly with only 38 yards, but did lose a TD to a ridiculous penalty.
In San Diego Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers both caught TD's in a loss.
Hines Ward shocked us and probably many in the fantasy world catching 6 passes for 76 yards and 2 TDs, while his counterpart Santonio Holmes was a massive loss with only 19 yards. That is n anomaly of a game.
Here's a note, Ike Hillard with 45 yards and a TD outperformed all the Rams receivers including Torry Holt and Drew Bennett. Ouch. Double ouch for Bennett as he is out for at least 1 month with a injured foot.
The surprises this week were a bunch.
DeSean Jackson was fabulous. W expected big things from him this season and he didn't disappoint with 6 catches for 106 yards. Hank Basket added in a 90 yard reception, so not bad.
Rookie Eddie Royal one-upped him with a huge game against the Oakland Raiders. Royal had 9 catches, 146 yards, and a TD. Absolutely brilliant. His namesake Robert Royal didn't do as well, but chipped in 52 yards and a TD for Buffalo.
Sidney Rice also made an appearance in the end zone with 31 yards and a TD. We wouldn't get excited too much about Michael Jenkins 62 yard TD catch. It was his only catch of the day and the first pass overall.
All San Francisco receivers were let downs. We expected more out of that offense, and got little.
Other Notables
Antonio Gates proved injury conspiracy theorists wrong with a big game, 4 catches, 61 yards and a TD. His counterpart in that game Dante Rosario had a breakout performance with 7 catches for 96 yards and a game winning touchdown.
The Minnesota Vikings defense let down allot of people this week including me, but the Bears defense showed why they are still the real deal and why we still believed in them. One of our sleeper defenses the Tennessee Titans had a great game and the surprise Philadelphia Eagles hammered and humbled the Rams on heir home turf.
Dallas and Buffalo showed there reasons for why they are emerging defenses in fantasy football, while the Chargers were a huge let down. Shawn Merriman will have to have surgery as he was ineffective.
Quarterbacks
The biggest news of the weekend was Tom Brady tearing his ACL and he is out for the year. Veteran backup Matt Cassel will take the helm for the Patriots for the rest of the season. From a fantasy and realistic perspective we know very little of what Matt Cassel brings to the table. In 4 years he has played 15 total games including last Sunday. He has 3 career TDs and a robust 405 yards. We think he will do alright in New England with a veteran team helping him out and great receivers, however he is not Tom Brady and doesn't even come close to fitting in the man's shoes. Everyone running out to get Cassel, its buyer beware. We do feel the Patriots will be absolutely forced to go to a more balanced attack and we will discuss that later in this post. This also hurts the value of Wes Welker and Randy Moss without a doubt.
Phillip Rivers shined on Sunday throwing 3 TDs and hitting a stud in the making Vincent Jackson for 1 of them.
Kurt Warner had an effective, but most would say disappointing day with 197 yards and 1 TD. Two notes to take from this game, he didn't get hurt and ZERO interceptions.
Kyle Orton still bad, despite the Bears winning. However Tavaris Jackson is upgraded as he showed precision passing in a hostile game that the Viking's could not win without help from the Gods.
His counterpart Aaron Rodgers did exactly as we expected and that was good. As an NFL quarterback he did outstanding, but fantasy wise just solid with 2 TDs and 178 yards.
Brett Farve showed he is still a quality fantasy quarterback against a weak Miami defense throwing 2 TDs and 197 yards.
The quarterback of the week has to go to Tony Romo. Is was our #2 QB on in the preseason and with Brady out he is #1 and playing like it. 320 yards and 1 TD, which should have been more, but made a first game mistake throwing an INT in the end zone. He showed in that game against Cleveland that he will be a constant producer all season.
We expect much more from David Garrard, but his first game with 215 yards and 1 TD was lower then expected. keep in mine he played a tough defense and most of his wide receivers were injured
Derek Anderson had a bad game, but looked good against a tough defense. His receivers dropped allot of passes. That won't happen all year.
McNabb and Brees also had outstanding first games with 300+ yards and 3 TDs each.
On the other hand Matt Hasselbeck reminded us of why we are so down on him this year. 190 yards and a TD and INT. Couple that in with the loss of Burelson and its bad news.
Grab Shaun Hill if you can cause J.T. O'Sullivan's days could be numbered with another poor performance. We like Hill much better anyhow.
Runningbacks
Marion Barber was outstanding against Cleveland and if it wasn't for a rib injury would have had a huge game. Barber had 80 yards and 2 TDs. Felix Jones filled in with 62 yards and a TD. His enemy counterpart in Philly Brian Westbrook did exceptional as well with 92 yards and 2 TDs.
Matt Forte of the Chicago Bears was a rookie on display. He showed that the Bears do have an offense with 123 yards and a TD.
Michael Turner found his groove in Atlanta with 220 yards and 2 TDs for the absolute performance of the week. We expected great things out of him being he was our #1 sleeper this year.
Carolina showed us the fantasy dreaded two-headed dragon of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart. Williams was 18 for 83 yards and Stewart was 10 for 53 yards. While both runningbacks had OK games running, neither got in the end zone and we think that will remain problem as long as its a two-headed dragon and not a 1 back operation. However we are still high on both runningbacks as 3rd RBs for your fantasy roster.
Ryan Grant had a solid game and except for a somewhat lucky 57 yard dash he would have ended with 35 yards on 11 carries. That's right only 12 total carries. Should we be concerned? No, it was the Vikings.
Joseph Addai was a major let down for fantasy owners compiling only 47 total yards. No need to judge this juggernaut after 1 game, he'll be fine. However, Frank Gore showed us he's back with 96 yards and a TD.
Another #1 draft pick Stephen Jackson was a huge disappointment with 74 total yards. Again, let it go since it was week 1.
Finally Thomas Jones and Reggie Bush. We liked both and if you started them you did alright. Jones had 101 yards and a TD, while Bush had 163 total yards, 8 receptions, and a TD.
Watch what happens in Tennessee with Chris Johnson and LenDale White. There could e a changing of the guard.
Wide Receivers
As expected wide receivers like Terrell Owens, Reggie Wayne, Plaxico Buress, Randy Moss, and Larry Fitzgerald did will. Even Andre Johnson had a very good game in a ppr league. Marques Colston was a hug disappointment. I've written that word so much I've stopped needing the spell checker to correct it.
The great calls this week start with Jerrico Cotchery. Many of us felt he would shine with Brett Farve and he did with 80 yards and a TD. His counterpart Lavernues Coles was a huge disappointment with only 1 catch for 5 yards.
The Detroit Lions came out to play and burned us. Calvin Johnson had a solid game with 7 catches for 107 yards. We recommended benching Roy WIlliams and he had a solid game catching a TD and 47 yards.
The twin towers in Arizona had nice games. Anquan Boldin had 8 catches in the second half for 82 yards, but Fitzgerald got the lone touchdown.
In Seattle things got worse. Nate Burelson injured his knee and is out for the year.
Gregg Jenning's looked solid connecting with Rodgers on a 56 yard bomb and finished with 5 catches for 91 yards. Driver did poorly with only 38 yards, but did lose a TD to a ridiculous penalty.
In San Diego Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers both caught TD's in a loss.
Hines Ward shocked us and probably many in the fantasy world catching 6 passes for 76 yards and 2 TDs, while his counterpart Santonio Holmes was a massive loss with only 19 yards. That is n anomaly of a game.
Here's a note, Ike Hillard with 45 yards and a TD outperformed all the Rams receivers including Torry Holt and Drew Bennett. Ouch. Double ouch for Bennett as he is out for at least 1 month with a injured foot.
The surprises this week were a bunch.
DeSean Jackson was fabulous. W expected big things from him this season and he didn't disappoint with 6 catches for 106 yards. Hank Basket added in a 90 yard reception, so not bad.
Rookie Eddie Royal one-upped him with a huge game against the Oakland Raiders. Royal had 9 catches, 146 yards, and a TD. Absolutely brilliant. His namesake Robert Royal didn't do as well, but chipped in 52 yards and a TD for Buffalo.
Sidney Rice also made an appearance in the end zone with 31 yards and a TD. We wouldn't get excited too much about Michael Jenkins 62 yard TD catch. It was his only catch of the day and the first pass overall.
All San Francisco receivers were let downs. We expected more out of that offense, and got little.
Other Notables
Antonio Gates proved injury conspiracy theorists wrong with a big game, 4 catches, 61 yards and a TD. His counterpart in that game Dante Rosario had a breakout performance with 7 catches for 96 yards and a game winning touchdown.
The Minnesota Vikings defense let down allot of people this week including me, but the Bears defense showed why they are still the real deal and why we still believed in them. One of our sleeper defenses the Tennessee Titans had a great game and the surprise Philadelphia Eagles hammered and humbled the Rams on heir home turf.
Dallas and Buffalo showed there reasons for why they are emerging defenses in fantasy football, while the Chargers were a huge let down. Shawn Merriman will have to have surgery as he was ineffective.
posted by The True GURU at
11:30 AM
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