Week 7 Observations

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Published on October 26, 2009

If you drafted upside players like Miles Austin, Michael Crabtree, Chris Wells or Shonn Greene, it was nearly impossible to keep them through the early part of the season, but now it's paying off. I dropped Austin who I drafted in three leagues, and Crabtree in one, but I did hold onto Greene in two. With Leon Washington out for the year, and the Jets likely to rein in Mark Sanchez, Greene should be one of the better timeshare backs in the league.

Crabtree is already heavily involved, and Alex Smith taking over bodes well as he has the possibility of being more than a caretaker, unlike Shaun Hill.

Speaking of Smith, his college coach Urban Meyer expected him to be terrible initially, but very good eventually. With Vernon Davis, Crabtree and Frank Gore out of the backfield, San Francisco has more passing game weapons than at any time since Terrell Owens left.

Week 7 was a terrible one for my picks, but an even worse one for Vegas. (Hat Tip DDD). Expect some very large spreads going forward as the public is killing it and will keep hammering the favorites against the Rams, Bucs, Browns, Chiefs and Raiders.

Eli Manning suddenly looks like the version from three years ago - making poor decisions and looking flustered. Hakeem Nicks scored another long touchdown on a lucky deflection, but did outrun the entire Arizona secondary to take it the distance. Steve Smith is still the team's most consistent receiver, but the Giants for God knows what reason didn't target him until the fourth quarter. Mario Manningham is alternatively brilliant and terrible from play to play. There's nothing wrong with Brandon Jacobs.

There's nothing wrong with Steve Smith (CAR) even though there's something very wrong with the team. Keep in mind Buffalo's only allowed one touchdown catch by a receiver all year (Hat tip Pianow), so Smith could fare even better at Arizona in Week 8. (Of course, that assumes Jake Delhomme doesn't get benched).

I knew DDD would jinx me with his Dolphins pick. That was a pretty bad beat though from the blown 24-3 lead, to the pick six to give the Saints the cover, to the sorry ref calling a game-ending penalty from the six yard line because a receiver didn't line up properly. Come on - the game wasn't in doubt - let them play for the cover, for God's sake!

I've defended Larry Johnson's fantasy value in the past, but he's not helping my case with this kind of stuff. Johnson strikes me as a slightly less insane version of Lawrence Phillips.

Maybe it was wrong for me to suggest (24:30 mark) that Stacy Kiebler needed to "hit the gym." Looks like she needs to take some time off from the gym, actually.

The Bears are sure glad they found a franchise back in Matt Forte. Remember the Cedric Benson years?

It couldn't look much worse for Pierre Thomas as Mike Bell took over down the stretch against the Dolphins. Now might actually be a good time to target Thomas as he'll come cheap, and he's still the best back in a high-powered offense. He might only see 10-12 carries a game for the next few weeks, but if that moves to 15-18 by the time your league's playoffs roll around, he could be a difference maker. If I have Hines Ward or the Giants Steve Smith, I'd make an offer.

The Chargers are the most annoying team in football. When you give them credit and lay the six at home against the Broncos, they lose outright. When you fade them as road favorites in Kansas City, they blow the Chiefs out. It would be tempting to say only bet the Chargers against bad teams, but they nearly lost to the Raiders in Week 1. They're 17-point favorites this week against the Raiders. Whichever side I take, you should fade with your life savings.