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Football Wed Sep 24 2008
Footballic Ramblings!
The luster of the Bears week one throttling of the Indianapolis Colts is finally beginning to wear off after two straight weeks of "come-from-ahead" losses to the Panthers and Buccaneers. And Bears fans must be asking themselves, "How can we preserve a double-digit lead in the second half?" For me the answer is simple: "Durr, play better on offense.*" Instead of running conservative plays and formations that defensive coordinators and linebackers alike get giddy at the mere sight of; mix it up a little (okay, a LOT). On Sunday's loss to Tampa there was a string of possessions at the end of the fourth quarter and in overtime where the Bears rushed 7/10 times. Granted, the team was having success with the run and Matt Forte is a beast-in development, but c'mon! the crowd I was slinging beers to all day long knew exactly what was coming and so did the defense. Meanwhile, the rote play-calling led (for the second straight week) to Chicago's aging --BUT! still talented-- defense to being on the field for far too many snaps. When Tampa went to a no-huddle in the middle of the fourth it was because the Bucs coaching staff saw exactly how winded the Bears defense was after every snap.
Hey, that's what a ton of three and outs on offense will get you. Let's hope for the Bears' fan's sake (and this writer's sanity) that the offense gets a little bit more wide-open and that NeckBear and his receiving corps can bail out the defense in the second half.
Fantasy Stuff, and I'm not talking about Her!
Who You Should've Started:
Ronnie Brown: Owned by 88% of Yahoo Fantasy owners but started by a paltry 28%. Brown decimated the Patriots for a robust 40! points. Bravo, Ronnie Brown, you've single-handedly convinced fantasy owners to start you the rest of the season, leading to cries of frustration across the Internet when you don't get 40 points the rest of the year.
Phillip Rivers: 250 yards, 3 TDs and a single pick against the Jets. Honestly, this dude is playing out-of-his-mind since the second-half of last season. Have Derek Anderson as your starting QB? Then do all you can to get Rivers**
Brandon Marshall: 155 yards, 1 TD against the Saints in a correctly-picked video game affair. Broncos are on pace to smash the single-season scoring [Hehehe, he said "score." -Ed.] record set by last year's New England team. So yeah, if you have Cutler or Marshall, congrats, you're probably already in the playoffs for your fantasy league.
(Temporary) Fantasy Poison
Terrell Owens: Dude? WTF!?! 17 yards!, you're cut (but only for this week) please, get back on it this week.
That's all I've got, I'll be back on Friday for predictions and complaining about how horrible the tv schedule is again, per usual.
*Why I get paid the BIG BUCKS. You can't find insight and analysis like that anywhere.
** Note: Not really, just see if Trent Edwards is owned by anyone in your league yet. I'll spare you the embarrassment and just tell you that he's Buffalo's QB and is pretty awesome.
