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Week 2 was another interesting week.   We saw teams like Tampa Bay and the New York Giants move to 2-0 while San Diego, Minnesota, and Green Bay fell to 0-2.   With these types of unexpected events, you can bet that several fantasy teams were surprised with both good and bad play from unusual suspects.   While this week wasn’t as successful as last week, we still managed to provide some solid fantasy advice.   As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Carson Palmer – We talked about Palmer starting to emerge last week and he has done it again.   Palmer had a fantastic game.   He passed for 337 yards and 3 TDs.   Palmer looks very good between the 20s.   When he gets close to the goal line, it looks like the offense tightens up.   However, Palmer managed two of his TDs in close range (12 and 8 yards).   Part of this red zone struggle is that Chad Johnson likes the ball out in front and it is hard to do that near the goal line.   We would have liked to have seen a TD instead of Palmer’s end zone interception, but we like what we are seeing from this second year starter.   The Bengals have plenty of solid targets for Palmer to throw to, and the Bengals’ decent running game keeps opposing defenses from keying on him.

Donovan McNabb – We listed McNabb in our start list last week because a lot of noise was starting to surface about McNabb’s chest injury and his soap opera with Terrell Owens.   We felt like McNabb was a slam dunk of a start week 2.   We don’t claim that we knew McNabb was going to throw 5 TDs, but we aren’t that surprised.   McNabb and Owens make the most dangerous combination in the league.   Owners of either of these players will just have to pray that they can stay healthy and that Owens can manage to stay out of too much trouble.

Terrell Owens – We used the phrase “hot knife through butter” to describe the assault that Owens was about to place on the 49ers.   143 yards and 2 LONG TDs is about as close to this analogy as you can get.   Owens was a beast.   Never remove him you’re your starting lineup in any league.

Larry Johnson – We stood by LJ and he delivered with another TD and solid yardage.   His streak of 2 TDs a game was broken, but you were just getting greedy if you expected that to continue.   Johnson owners were wrenching their greedy little palms when Priest Holmes was sidelined on Sunday Night Football.   It was only a stinger, but it encompasses the hope of every Johnson owner that Holmes days are numbered.   Are they?   Only time will tell if Holmes can hold up.

Kerry Collins – The Chiefs D is on the rise and had a great week 1.   We felt confident that Collins would put up a solid game against the Chiefs despite the improved D.   Collins only had 1 TD, but it was a long one.   Collins could have won the game if Jerry Porter would have held onto a late touchdown attempt.   However, it wasn’t meant to be and the Raiders drop to 0-2.

Julius Jones – Jones didn’t reach the end zone against Washington’s stout defense, but he did manage over 100 yards of total offense.   That mile stone can make a big difference in many fantasy leagues.

Bench:
Chris Brown – 58 total yards and a fumble made for a terrible day from Brown.   As far as the Tennessee running back situation goes, you should just hold onto your chips and wait for an injury to one of the backs.   Right now it is just a mess.

JP Losman – Losman had no TDs and only 113 yards passing.   Losman was even replaced by Kelly Holcomb to try and get a spark started.   The Buccaneers’ defense is looking very good against the pass, so don’t blame all this on Losman.   We aren’t optimistic about his chances of becoming a reasonable starting fantasy quarterback.


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Daunte Culpepper – We have no earthly idea what is wrong with the Vikings offense.   Culpepper looked absolutely terrible on Sunday.   He threw 5 interceptions.   Let’s repeat that … 5 interceptions!!   The Vikings aren’t going to win anything if their QB turns over the ball this much. However, Culpepper still turned out to be a decent start week 2.   This is a classic case of a terrible real life performance being a decent fantasy performance.   Culpepper grabbed some very cheap stats late (and with the game well out of hand for the Vikings) in the game.   Culpepper rushed for a TD late and threw a 2 point conversion.   Performances like this make you want to add a fantasy stat called “gave his team no chance to win” - QB’s get penalized extra points for completely handing the game to the opposition.

Warrick Dunn – The Falcons certainly force fed Dunn the ball, but the whole Falcons team looked like they were suffering from jet lag and a short week of preparation.   Dunn had OK yardage, but didn’t score.

Kurt Warner – Warner had impressive yardage, but he didn’t throw a single TD pass.   The Cardinals’ offensive line looked terrible in this game.   They couldn’t protect Warner and they couldn’t run the ball.   The Cardinals’ defense didn’t look that bad and they kept Arizona in the game.   Expect many frustrating weeks if you are forced to watch Warner play for the Cardinals.

Ahman Green – Green almost compiled 100 total yards.   The thing that worked against and will continue to work against Green all season is the Packers’ defense.   The Packers let Cleveland get up on them and then the Packers had to ignore the run to stay in the game.   The other interesting conclusion that we draw from this game is: if Trent Dilfer can have a big game against the Packers, what is wrong with the Lions and Joey Harrington.   Harrington wasn’t able to put up very good numbers against the Packers.   We know that the Lions coaching staff wishes that Jeff Garcia was healthy.   On a side note, Harrington looked bad again this week.

Clinton Portis – Portis didn’t break 100 total yards, but he did have solid yardage in his Monday Night Effort.

Bench:
Kevan Barlow – Barlow’s game was just kind of blah.   He barely broke 60 yards of offense.   Frank Gore got 4 carries, and he had a great yards per carry of 3.8.   The Eagles scored too much too often to learn anything about the 49ers rushing attack this past weekend.

Travis Henry – Henry also had just enough yards to make our bench prediction a so-so call.   If you own a Titans’ back, you are farced to play the waiting game.   Hopefully, this situation isn’t a mess the whole season.

David Carr – Carr ran for his life just enough to give him an OK week.   He had 46 yards on the ground.   Carr’s numbers might have been OK, but the whole Texans offense looks like it is in BIG trouble.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Detroit Lions – We thought that the Bears were the little kid that the Lions D could pick on.   We were wrong.   However, we attribute much (if not most) of the Lions’ defensive woes to the terrible play of Harrington.   He turned the ball over too much and left his D on the field in bad situations.   We aren’t Bears believers yet, but we know that the entire NFC North looks so bad that anyone could win it.

Kevin Curtis – Kevin Curtis   Rec: 2/29 TD: 0 Curtis got a lot of looks from Bulger week 1.   He should continue to see plenty of balls thrown his way this week because the Rams can’t slow down opposing offenses and have to play catch-up.

Antonio Bryant – We told you to hold off on starting Frisman Jackson just yet, and we were correct – someone else did catch the balls.   Unfortunately for our pick, it wasn’t Bryant.   Braylon Edwards had 107 yards receiving and a touchdown.   It looks like this Browns’ offense may try to spread the ball around the way that Romeo Crennel’s Patriots did while he was with that team.   The Brown’s WRs will remain a form of Russian roulette until further notice is given.

Jamal Lewis – OK, we don’t have any idea what is wrong with the Ravens?   If we did, we are sure that Brian Billick would put us on his staff as “special assistants for fixing the Ravens terrible offense”.   Lewis had a terrible, terrible game.   On top of this, the Ravens’ all-world D is looking like junk thanks to the pathetic play of the offense.   As of right now, Pittsburgh looks like it is going to be fighting the Bengals for ownership of the AFC North division and the Ravens will be nothing more than an afterthought.

Bench:
Carnell Williams – Let us take this opportunity to bow down before the greatness of the Cadillac. The Cadillac is a reliable form of transportation (100+ yards and TD in his first two games), can pull a heavy load (24+ carries in his first two games), and will put you in a whole new class (Tampa Bay was the worst team in the NFC South last year with a 5-11.   They are now 2-0 sitting atop the NFC South all alone).   Cadillac, we are sorry we ever doubted you.

Domanick Davis – Davis scored a TD to redeem his game.   He is still the focus of this offense.   The problem is that this offense is now in the dumps.   Davis owners should feel very fortunate that he scored at all.   The Texans looked terrible and we didn’t think that Davis was even going to sniff the end zone.   With two sets of tough games against the impressive looking defenses of the Colts and Jaguars, Davis could struggle.