Fighting Chance Fantasy's Start/Sit Week 6

Quarterbacks

Start: Matt Cassel, New England Patriots vs. San Diego Chargers. Shockingly, no one has been worst against the pass than the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers are allowing over 250 yards per game through the air and have also allowed 10 passing touchdowns in the first five games. The Patriots offense also got going for the first time this season against the 49ers. Cassel seemed to show more confidence, and even hit Randy Moss on a long bomb of a touchdown. He obviously isn’t Brady, but Cassel should continue to improve as the season goes on.

Start: Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals vs. New York Jets. At the beginning of the season, I would have thought it to be a no brainer to start Palmer every week, but given the performance of the Cincy offense this week, I’m sure some of his owners have sat him at least once. The Bengals are still winless, and the offense has been surprisingly bad. However, in the last couple of games they are starting to get it going a little bit through the air now that it seems that Palmer is OK. Chad Johnson has been a colossal disappointment, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh has turned it around. The running game has been nonexistant, which means they will probably be throwing a lot again this week. The Jets are also giving up 265 yards per game, and even though they had a week off, I expect the Bengals to give them a hell of a game this weekend.

Sit: Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons vs. Chicago Bears. Ryan has been one of the more impressive rookie QBs to come down the pike in recent history, as he has given some respectability back to the Falcons franchise. however, he will get his toughest test to date. Although by yardage the Bears defense hasn’t been great against the pass, they have allowed only four touchdowns through the air so far this season, and I can see Ryan throwing for under 200 yards and a max of one score.

Sit: Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals vs. Dallas Cowboys. The Cardinals’ pass attack has been very potent this week, even with the loss of Anquan Boldin they didn’t do bad against Buffalo. I just think the Cowboys are due for a dominant performance, and it might come at the Cardinals expense. This is more of a gut call than going with statistics, as the Cowboys are really just middle of the road in terms of pass defense. Warner is on pace to throw a crazy number of touchdown passes, and he has to slow down one of these weeks, I’m just figuring it will be this one.

Running Backs

Start: Ronnie Brown, Miami Dolphins vs. Houston Texans. Whether he is lined up in the backfield, or actually behind center, Ronnie Brown is turning into one of the more explosive players in football. The Dolphins have found ways to use his skills to get him in positions to be successful and it is working beautifully. I’m not sure why teams haven’t figured out that when he lines up behind center, chances are he’s still going to run the ball. Regardless of that the Dolphins are on a roll, and they play the winless Texans, who just had their guts ripped out by Peyton Manning and the Colts. The boys from Houston are allowing over 130 yards per game on the ground, and I can see Brown having another great game for your fantasy team.

Start: Matt Forte, Chicago Bears vs. Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons allowed Ryan Grant, who hadn’t shown a thing in three weeks, to almost run for 100 yards against them. They have been in the bottom third of the league in rush defense with over 120 yards per game on the ground. And with every solid game that Kyle Orton has, the better and better it gets for Forte. Not only is he good catching balls out of the backfield, but if defenses actually have to respect the passing game of the Bears (something you haven’t had to do in many years), the running lanes should open up wider for Forte who has already had a great rookie season. I look for another 100 yard game and a touchdown for Forte.

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