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Week 4 marked the fantasy return of Peyton Manning and the rest of the Colts offensive fire power.   We recommended Brett Favre for a start week 4 and he didn’t disappoint on Monday Night.   A few of our other highlight start recommendations included Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and the Ravens D to name a few.   We hope you were able to benefit from some of our great recommendations during week 4.   As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Brett Favre – In our start prediction for Favre, we mentioned several things that came to fruition.   We said that John Madden would talk about Brett Favre doing Brett Favre things, and Madden did just that.   We said that Favre would give Madden plenty to talk about, and he did with 303 yards passing.   Finally, we said that Favre would flash some of that Monday Night Football magic, and he did to the tune of 4 TDs to go with those 300+ yards passing.   This was a great week to have Brett Favre in your starting lineup.

Larry Fitzgerald – Warner was out, but we told you to start Fitzgerald anyway.   Fitz delivered with over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown.   If Fitzgerald and Boldin could ever get consistent play from a quarterback and their offensive line, they just might make something of themselves.

Anquan Boldin – We didn’t recommend just one Cardinal WR.   We told you to start both.   Bolding delivered with 116 yards receiving and a touchdown.   Not a bad night for the boys in white down in Mexico.

Willis McGahee – The Bills looked terrible and only scored one TD.   However, McGahee scored that TD and he managed to gain over 100 yards of total offense.   McGahee was a solid start, but we are a little surprised that he (and the Bills) couldn’t do more against the Saints.

Cincinnati Bengals D – We predicted sacks galore for the Bengals D and they delivered: 7 sacks, 1 fumble recovery, and only 10 points allowed.   That is a solid performance in most scoring formats.   It is way too early to make this comparison, but the Bengals rookie linebacker, Odell Thurman, has the look of the next defensive superstar under Marvin Lewis (Ahem – a young – Ahem – Ray Lewis).

Jake Delhomme – Delhomme didn’t have as good of a game as Favre did, but he was still a solid start.   He didn’t throw an interception and he added on 2 TDs.   Not a bad game, but we have to admit that we expected a little more.

Baltimore Ravens D – We told you it was time to get back on that Ravens bus that had been so disappointing through their first couple of games.   The Ravens didn’t disappoint by only allowing 3 points and stacking up 5 sacks.   This was an easy game for the Ravens D, but we suspect them to start to regain their swagger and start posting some solid fantasy games.

Travis Taylor – You may not have seen this game, but Taylor (and the Vikings passing attack) didn’t get anything going until late.   Taylor did bail our prediction out late with a good handful of receptions and some nice yardage.   In leagues that award points for receptions, Taylor was a very solid start.

Bench:
Joey Harrington – Harrington was terrible.   If you left his 137 yards on the bench, you must have been pleased.   The amazing thing is that Harrington didn’t give up any interceptions.   The Lions will have a new QB under center in the near future.   We doubt that he would have lasted this long if Garcia wasn’t hurt.

Joe Horn – Horn was a last minute scratch.   However, some of you might not have been able to make the roster change at the last minute.   Hopefully you took our advice in advance and put Horn on the pine long before Sunday.   If you did, you likely got better production than the zero you would have gotten with Horn.

Curtis Martin – Even your 4th grade football coach can make a game plan to stop a team that cannot throw the ball.   That is where the Jets currently are.   We hope, for the sake of Martin owners, that the Jets get another QB in there and figure out how to pass the ball.   If they don’t, Martin can expect to see 11 (or maybe even 12 if the other team gets to put the water boy on the field) in the box to stop him from running.   Martin only had 30 yards rushing and 15 yards receiving.

Any Jets QB – We didn’t know if the Jets would make a last minute switch or not, but we did know that you didn’t want anything to do with their passer.   Brooks Bollinger passed for 149 yards, but did nothing else in the Jets’ losing effort.

Charles Rogers – We knew things looked bad for the Lions, but we didn’t know that they would look this bad.   For the sake of everyone who owns a Lions player, we will be hoping for a speedy recovery of Jeff Garcia.   Rogers was a big lemon again this week with only 1 catch for 15 yards.


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
New York Jets D – The Jets D only allowed 13 points and the posted a couple of turnovers.   While this wasn’t an out of this world start, it was enough to get many teams by in week 4.

Drew Bledsoe – Bledsoe managed to post a so-so game only because he launched a 63 yard TD pass to one of his WRs.   We don’t think that Bledsoe should get much credit for this because Patrick Crayton did all of the work.   In big play bonus leagues, Bledsoe did just enough to make it out of the busted plays of the week.

Julius Jones – Jones was a so-so start this week.   The Cowboys can be very difficult to understand most of the time and this week was no exception.   The Cowboys defense needs to toughen up so that Dallas can control the clock with the ground game.   Opponents have been allowed to pile on the points causing the ground game to be eliminated from the picture.   Jones owners, keep your fingers crossed that Dallas can keep a few games close so that they can run the ball in the fourth quarter.

Rudi Johnson – Johnson was a so-so start this week.   He only had 88 yards rushing and no receptions.   It is starting to look like the Bengals don’t intend on using Johnson as a receiving threat out of the back field.   He even cost Carson Palmer a touchdown to T.J. Houshmandzadeh because he lined up in the wrong place early in the game.

Bench:
Trent Green – Green just beat out threshold for a decent game this week.   His 2 interceptions and 221 yards weren’t that impressive.   He did find the end zone, but his total fantasy score still lacks something to be desired.   If you are like us, you have to be wondering why Green doesn’t get the ball to Tony Gonzalez more often.   We still believe that there is still a fantasy quarterback somewhere inside of Green just waiting to get out, but we are starting to lose our patience.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Rian Lindell – Lindell missed a 45 yard field goal that would have helped out his cause in many scoring formats.   Lindell and the Bills just looked terrible.   On the bright side, the Bills did continue to struggle on offense, but they struggled so much that they couldn’t get into field goal range.

Bench:
Matt Hasselbeck – Hasselbeck had a decent day.   He threw for yardage in the mid 200’s again and he managed a TD pass this week.   While Hasselbeck won’t blow anyone away with these stats, he was a reasonable start week 4.   If you need a QB, think about trading for Hasselbeck before he hits the second half of the season.   If you can get him cheap, he could provide some solid games because the Seahawks have some great games on the schedule down the stretch.