FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEK 13
BENCH/START WRAP-UP
December 6, 2005
Week 13 was a wild one with some unexpected finishes. The time has come for our weekly look back at the bench / start predictions. Kurt Warner was nuclear and he brought Anquan Boldin alone for the ride. The Ravens D resurfaced and Kevin Curtis fell on his face (from a fantasy perspective). We hope that you were able to take advantage of these calls and pull off a fantasy win or two. As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up. Sit back in your chair and enjoy this look back at week 13.
Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Kurt Warner – Warner had a huge day with over 350 yards passing and a very long TD pass to one of our other start recommendations, Anquan Boldin. Hopefully, Warner was able to boost your team to a win week 13 even though he did throw 2 picks. Even with those 2 picks, Warner was a solid fantasy start call week 13.
Anquan Boldin – We mentioned the fact that Boldin would have a monster game this week in our bench / start. He did just that with a whopping 11 receptions for 156 yards and a 54 yard TD reception. Boldin helped fantasy teams in just about every imaginable type of scoring system. The other thing that we mentioned in Boldin’s start recommendation was that the 49ers couldn’t tackle. The 49ers showed off this lack of tackling on Boldin’s long TD. If you haven’t seen that play, then you are missing out.
Domanick Davis – Davis didn’t find the end zone this week, but he did have a big yardage game. Davis had 155 yards rushing and another 16 yards on 3 receptions. This was a great start in most fantasy scoring systems. Hopefully you were able to fit Davis into your lineup and benefit from this resurging player.
Tony Gonzalez – Willie Roaf’s return has continued to elevate Gonzalez to the top of the TE rankings again. Gonzalez hasn’t surpassed Antonio Gates just yet, but he has started to breeze past other TE contenders. Last week, Gonzalez only had 1 catch, but it was for 25 yards and a touchdown. That is making the most of your opportunity. If you started Gonzalez, you were very pleased with the results. Hopefully, he will be able to help your team make a playoff run.
Baltimore Ravens D – The Ravens D went nuts on the Texans. The Ravens were coming off of one of their worst performances of the year and we told you to start them against the Texans. We told you that there should be at least a few sacks in the deal for you if you decided to ride with the Ravens. The Ravens come through on that end and gave you 5 sacks. However, the Ravens also added an interception, only 15 points allowed, and a 20 yard TD return. This was a great fantasy game in most scoring systems.
Rod Smith – We emphasized that Smith would be a solid start in point per reception leagues. Smith didn’t disappoint. He had 86 yards of total offense and 6 receptions. We wish that Smith would have socred, but he still made a solid start.
Bench:
Travis Henry – Henry had a solid week 12, but we told you to bench him this week. He ended up being a great bench call with only 18 yards rushing and only 18 yards receiving on 2 receptions. There aren’t many scoring systems that you would have wanted this in your lineup, so benching Henry was the right call.
Kevin Jones – We told you early in the week that you wouldn’t want to start Jones week 13 because he has become an injury risk each and every week. Luckily for the owners that wanted to go against our recommendation, Jones was declared “out” before his game started. Either way, Jones continues to disappoint. We just hope that you have other options to keep your team afloat.
Kevin Curtis – Curtis has been the type of player who just seems to find a way to score the big game. Week 12 was no exception as he hauled in a game winning TD in overtime. We told you to ignore that and put Curtis on your bench anyway week 13. If you followed our advice, you were rewarded. Curtis only had 2 receptions for 6 yards. That is the definition of a terrible game.
Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Roy Williams – Williams only makes the so-so start calls of the week because he managed a decent number of fantasy points in a point per reception league. Williams should continue to give you these types of games as a worse case scenario, but he also has the best case scenario of a big time game. Depending on your fantasy situation, Williams can be a solid contributor to your fantasy roster from here on out.
Laveranues Coles – Coles had a similar game to Williams. He had medium to low yardage numbers, but he posted a decent number of reception in a point per reception league. Frankly, Coles should have had a better game against the sad sack Pats secondary. This type of performance makes us feel like you should not start Coles the rest of the season if you have even the slightest choice of a better player.
Santana Moss – Moss is another WR who disappointed us, but still managed a mediocre game when you consider his yardage and his receptions. We are amazed that he didn’t have a better game, but the Redskins weren’t forced to throw the ball. The Rams couldn’t stop the Redskins ground game and, as a result, Moss didn’t get his numbers.
John Kasay – The Falcons couldn’t keep the Panthers out of the endzone, so some of Kasay’s field goal attempts were converted into PATs. Kasay finished with 3 PATs and a FG. That isn’t a bad game, but it could have been better.
Mark Brunell – Brunell didn’t have a bad day, but he just wasn’t forced to throw the ball. The Rams let the Redskins’ ground game march up and down the field on them. The result was just the type of game that Joe Gibbs likes to coach - lots of running and just enough passing to keep the defense honest. Brunell had no turnovers and a TD pass to Chris Cooley. His yardage wasn’t great, so that made Brunell a so-so start week 13.
L.J. Smith – 2 receptions for 46 yards is a so-so game from a TE.
Bench:
Deion Branch – Branch had the same type of game as some of our so-so start receivers listed above. He had medium to low yardage and a solid number of receptions. This made Branch a reasonable start week 13.
Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Chris Brown – Brown just let us down this week. He only had 11 carries and he only got 32 yards on those carries. He also had 1 reception for 6 yards, but he fell way short of our start recommendation. He was a busted call.
Bench:
Sam Gado – We don’t know how he did it against the Bears run defense, but Gado had a very fine game. He posted 87 total yards and a TD. That is WAY more than we expected from Gado week 13. He busted up our bench call.
Donald Driver – No TDs for Driver, but he had a ton of receptions. In a point per reception league, so he has to be called a busted call week 13.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh – We didn’t see Houshmandzadeh dropping the big time game against the Steelers coming. However, he had a big game and he was by far our worst bench call of the week. When the Bengals stood up and smacked the Steelers in the mouth, they gave us a little smack too. Ouch.
Julius Jones – Jones only had a so-so game on the ground with no TDs, but he went nuts in the air. After compiling a 7.4 yards receiving per game in his previous 5 games, Jones had 88 yards receiving week 13. WOW! We didn’t see that type of increase coming. Jones ended up with a decent game and he managed to make our busted calls.
