Oakland is almost back to where they were last season - no one is an attractive fantasy option.

Houston's defense has fell off after a slow start, but the Raiders are still iffy plays in this game. Ronald Curry is a decent WR3, but isn't fully healthy for this game. Plus he'll draw Dunta Robinson. Jerry Porter is too inconsistent, and the passing game is among the league's worst with Daunte Culpepper at the helm.

I still have hope for LaMont Jordan, but he's certainly at the point where he can be benched in most leagues. LaMont Jordan and Justin Fargas will probably split carries, making them decent flex plays than RB2s. Jordan needs to show something this week with the schedule easing up or the coaching staff will lose confidence.

Update: Right as I was posting this, Josh McCown was announced as the team's new starter. He'll make mistakes, but this definitely should help Curry and Porter over the course of the season.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

With the exception of Matt Schaub, The Texans are getting healthy in a big way this week.

Ahman Green, Andre Johnson, and Owen Daniels all practice Thursday, and Gary Kubiak was optimistic following the practice. It looks like AJ and Daniels will play, although Kubiak wanted to see how Johnson looks tomorrow. He was even more cautious regarding Green, wanting to see him practice two straight days without knee swelling getting in the way.

Continue reading "Texans getting healthy" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

Rudi Johnson returns this week, but I wouldn't immediately slot him into your RB2 spot. The Bengals will split carries between him and Kenny Watson and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Watson get more carries and receptions.

Rudi tried to play a few weeks ago, and his hamstring didn't allow him to finish the game. That's typical of hamstring injuries. Watson has earned a large role moving forward with his excellent play, and I'd start him over Johnson this week if I had to choose.

Don't assume this is a cake matchup for Carson Palmer and company. The Bills' pass defense have been playing lights out recently despite all their injuries. They picked off Tony Romo like crazy, stopped Baltimore cold, and got Chad Pennington benched. Look for them to play off the line of scrimmage, just like Pittsburgh did last year, allowing Watson and Rudi big openings.

If I was still a betting man, the Bills +1 is one of the worst lines I've seen all season. The Bengals are a weak-willed team who crumble when they are pushed. Buffalo has been an exceptionally tough team despite a host of possible excuses. The line doesn't shock me, but based on their play Buffalo should be 5 point favorites.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watch enough Bill Belichick press conferences and you might learn something if you wade beyond the bland.

1. Get him talking about NFL history, and he lights up like a Christmas Tree.
2. Ask him a well-researched question and he may give you a decent answer.
3. He's a lot funnier and sarcastic than he's given credit for.

From yesterday's press conference ...

Continue reading "Belichick, the comedian" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 01:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)