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If you were buying what the Docs were selling week 16, you probably won a championship or are playing for the title in week 17.   21 out of our 23 bench / start calls had big time games in week 16.   Not too shabby.  Not too shabby, particularly when recommending "marginal" players.   We always give you our best effort and treat each bench /start call like it is our own lineup, but this week was above average even for our standards.   We were able to recommend starting several career days for players.   In addition, every player (except for the one we missed) scored at least one touchdown.   Join us as we go over our bench /start calls for week 16.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Jerry Porter – Porter had 57 yards and a touchdown.   This was a solid effort from Porter despite his team losing the game.   Porter complained about playing on Christmas Day earlier in the week, but still managed to be a professional come game time as we thought he would.

Kerry Collins – Collins didn’t have as good of a game as he had been posting, but he did have a solid effort none the less.   Collins had 2 TDs and 217 yards passing.   Collins has finally turned into the fantasy player that many teams hoped he would be in Oakland.

Detroit Lions Defense – If you don’t count points allowed by your defenses’ offense, the Lions allowed even less than their 13 points.   They also tacked on 1 fumble and 2 sacks.   This is a solid fantasy effort in most defensive scoring systems.

Tony Gonzalez – Gonzalez had a few quiet weeks coming into this week, but we told you to keep your faith in Gonzo.   Gonzalez responded with a career day of receptions, 11.   He made the most of those 11 receptions with 124 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns.   If you made it to your title game with Gonzalez, you had a good chance of winning this weekend.

Larry Johnson – We knew that the Raiders would be an easy target for the Chiefs offensive players, so we recommended starting Johnson.   He responded with 79 yards rushing, 43 yards receiving, and two touchdowns.   Johnson has been great insurance for Holmes owners or a great steal for non-Holmes owners.

Donald Driver – Driver had a career day with 162 yards receiving.   Driver also had a touchdown to make the day spectacular.   Driver came up big for those teams that were able to grab him late or grab him off waivers.

Aaron Brooks – Brooks started out this game pretty rough, but he managed to pull it together for a great day with a touchdown in the air and one on the ground.   We would have liked to have seen more from this QB, but he posted a decent day none the less.

Rod Smith – Smith had a solid performance with 66 total yards and a touchdown.   We expect to see more from Smith this week, so keep him in your plans for your starting lineup.

Nate Kaeding – Kaeding has a great game in leagues that award more points for long distance field goals.   His 4 PATs and 50 YARD FG were a solid fantasy day.

Drew Brees – While Brees’ team came up on the short end of the stick, he still managed a solid day in a shoot out.   He had over 300 yards of total offense, one interception, and 3 TDs.   If your league gives bonuses for long TDs, one of Brees’ TDs was a nice surprise (74 yards).

Miami Dolphins’ Defense – The Phins came through with a solid performance.   Miami had 2 interceptions, 2 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and they only allowed 7 points.   If you started the Dolphins, you were well rewarded.

Buffalo Bills’ Defense – We said it could get nasty when the Bills matched up against the 49ers, and it did.   3 interceptions, 3 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and only 7 points allowed.   A game like this will go a long way toward helping your fantasy team succeed.

Domanick Davis – The Texans had nothing to play for but pride.   Apparently, they have lots of pride.   Davis unloaded on the stingy Jags run D with 150 yards on the ground, 39 yards in the air, and 1 TD.   This was a solid outing in almost all scoring systems.

Bench:
David Carr – 2 INT, 1 TD and only 139 yards passing were more than reason enough to leave Carr on the bench.

Chad Pennington – 3 turnovers, only 1 TD, and only 250 yards passing makes Pennington a player that you would prefer to have left on the bench.

Moe Williams – Williams was a great bench call.   He only had 16 yards of offense and no scores.   We hope that you didn’t have to resort to starting Williams week 16.

Jerry Rice – Rice had no fantasy stats week 16.   We hope you didn’t have him in your starting lineup.

Rod Gardner – Gardner is an unreliable fantasy player at best.   We told you he would have a bed week and he did.   He had only 31 yards of receiving.

Alge Crumpler – The Falcons left Crumpler on the bench.   We advised you to do the same because we suspected that he wouldn’t play.

Duce Staley – There was talk of Staley coming back this past week, but we told you to leave him on your bench either way.   Staley didn’t play so he was a good choice to leave on the bench.

Antwaan Randle El – Randle El had one of the best fantasy weeks week 15.   We told you to bench him this week and he did what we expected.   He only had 55 yards receiving and a fumble.   Most fantasy teams were more than happy to have him on the pine week 16.


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
None this week.

Bench:
None this week.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Billy Volek – We probably weren’t the only ones to get burned by the abrupt stop of this crazy train.   After several great performances in a row, Volek turned in a terrible performance.

Bench:
Houston Texans D – we thought that the Texans had hit their peak against the Bears week 15, but we were mistaken.   The Texans had another great week.