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Week 5 was another strong week for the Docs' bench / start predictions. Some of the best starts calls of week 5 included: Steve McNair, Matt Hasselbeck, and Josh McCown.   A few of the players that you hopefully left on the bench were: Roy Williams, Vinny Testaverde, and Jimmy Smith.   We hope you were able to benefit from some of our great recommendations during week 5.   As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Ben Roethlisberger – In our prediction for Roethlisberger, we mentioned that he has scored 2 TDs per game and that we expected him to continue to perform well.   Roethlisberger didn’t let us down because he threw for a TD and ran for one in his game against the Chargers.

Domanick Davis – In our recommendation for Davis, we mentioned that he hadn’t broken 100 yards yet in 2005.   Davis racked up 130 yards on the ground and another 43 yards in the air on 8 receptions.   This was a very solid effort from Davis and his fantasy owners are starting feel a lot batter about drafting him.

Tampa Bay D – The Tampa D only allowed 14 points and they managed 3 turnovers and 2 sacks.   While the Bucs didn’t win the game, they did help a few fantasy teams win week 5 with this solid defensive performance.

Steve McNair – Through the first four weeks of the season, Steve McNair hadn’t looked that impressive, but he turned in a great performance week 5.   We recommended McNair for the start because we thought that the Texans defense would present McNair with some opportunities to make some plays.   McNair didn’t turn the ball over and he threw for 220 yards and 2 TD passes.   This would have been a good game on it’s own, but McNair tacked on a rushing TD to really bump up his fantasy stats.   McNair was a great start week 5.

Stephen Davis – In our start recommendation for Davis, we said that Davis would “punch it in for at least one score.”   Well, he did just that and managed to make his week 5 start a good one for fantasy owners.   Davis only had 46 yards rushing, but a TD can make a mediocre day look like a decent one in a hurry.

Jake Delhomme – If your league rewards for big plays, Delhomme’s 65 yard TD pass to Steve Smith was a wonderful present on Sunday afternoon.   Delhomme’s pass to Smith was only for a few yards until Smith broke it for the majority of the 65 yards.   This type of big play ability will help Delhomme maintain his status as a solid fantasy QB.   Delhomme threw another TD pass to Smith that added to his 243 yards passing.   It was a good day for Delhomme.

Ronnie Brown – The rookie gained over 100 total yards and had 6 receptions.   Brown was a solid start in most scoring systems.   His day was a little dampened by a fumble, but we still were glad to have Brown on our start list for week 5.

Matt Hasselbeck – Even without his top two receivers, Hasselbeck still managed a big fantasy game against the Rams.   Hasselbeck threw for over 300 yards and 2 TD passes.   The even more impressive stat is that Hasselbeck didn’t turn the ball over and his Hawks won the game.

Josh McCown – McCown almost threw for 400 yards on Sunday (394 yards) andhe threw 2 TD passes.   When you tack on McCown’s 29 yards rushing, it was an awesome day for McCown.   McCown did throw 3 interceptions and his team lost the game, so keep a close eye on his starter status as Warner returns to health.

Warrick Dunn – Dunn didn’t turn the ball over and he totaled over 100 yards of offense.   Dunn continues to look very impressive when he is rushing the ball.   We don’t expect much to change in the Falcons run attack in the near future.   Dunn will carry the majority of the load and TJ Duckett will continue to pickup goal line looks.

Bench:
Joey Harrington – Harrington’s team won, but you wouldn’t have guessed that they did by looking at his fantasy stats.   Harrington’s passer rating from the game was 19.7.   We could stop there, but we won’t.   Harrington didn’t even throw for 100 yards and he had two picks that cancelled out his one TD pass (A pass that he was lucky wasn’t intercepted).   If you still have Harrington on your team, we hope that you can find better options in the free agent market.   If you can’t find a better option than Harrington you should ask yourself, “When is Jeff Garcia going to be healthy?”

Patrick Crayton – After Crayton’s huge week 4 performance some teams might have been temped to give him the start.   Hopefully, you didn’t and you were able to avoid his 2 catches for 30 yards.   It was an ugly game for Crayton because all of the big looks went to Terry Glenn.   Is anyone else having a Patriots flashback?

Roy Williams – We predicted that Williams would have YET another disappointing week.   He didn’t let our prediction down with only 2 receptions for 24 yards.   It was an ugly display once again. Williams did get hurt during the game, so be sure to keep an eye on that developing situation.   Apparently, it doesn’t matter how many first round draft picks the Lions waste on wide receivers because they will find a way to get all of them out of the game.

Mike Williams – When looking at all of these terrible fantasy performances from the Lions star players, it is amazing that they won the game.   We think this speaks to the sad situation in Baltimore more than anything else.   Williams had 1 reception for 7 yards.   Hopefully you left this most recent monument to the failure of the Lions on your bench.

Tim Rattay (EDIT: Alex Smith) – We told you not to start Rattay when we thought that he was the starter, but then we added Smith to the list when we saw he was getting the nod.   We knew that whomever the 49ers threw back there at QB was going to be in for a long day.   Smith was sacked 5 times, gave up one fumble, and threw three interceptions.   Smith only completed 9 passes to his OWN players.   That means that the Colts accounted for 30% of the total passes that Smith completed on Sunday.   YIKES!   In almost every scoring system that allows negative points, Smith racked up a lot of points in the backwards direction.

Reche Caldwell – Caldwell had a very good game week 4, but we told you that his streak wouldn’t continue against the Steelers.   Caldwell helped bring that prediction to fruition by only having 1 catch for 7 yards.

Any Jets QB – Vinny Testaverde did win the game, but his fantasy stats were pretty ugly.   We can’t blame him since he was sitting on his couch WATCHING the Jets last weekend, but his 163 yards and 1 interception were not what you want from your fantasy QB.   Hopefully you left every Jets QB out of your starting plans week 5.

Jimmy Smith – Smith has had some big games this season, but we told you to leave him on the bench week 5.   His 3 receptions for 43 yards were a good reason for him to be on your bench.

Braylon Edwards – Edwards didn’t end up playing week 5, so we won’t take too much credit for this one.


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Chris Brown – Brown’s TD chance got Vultured and he didn’t quite make it to 100 total yards (91 yards), so we put him in the so-so start calls of week 5.

Reggie Wayne – Wayne was the leading receiver for the Colts, but he didn’t break 100 yards.   His 6 receptions for 75 were pretty solid in league that reward points for receptions, but we put him in the so-so start calls for failing to take full advantage of the 49ers defense.

Antwaan Randle El – We wish that some of those pass interference calls that Randle El drew could be added to his yardage, but that isn’t how fantasy football works.   Randle El had a solid effort, but it wasn’t enough to be considered a great start.

Bench:
Chris Chambers – Chambers managed 60 yards and wouldn’t really help or hurt your fantasy team week 5, so we placed him here.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Baltimore Ravens D – Harrington had a terrible day, but the Lions still managed to give the Ravens fits.   The Ravens lost the game and the Ravens D didn’t do much to help the situation by allowing 35 points.

Greg Lewis – 36 yards wasn’t what we were expecting from the Eagles.   In fact, the whole Cowboys/Eagles game pretty much shocked us.   You have to feel pretty good right now if you are a Dallas fan.

Bench:
Laveranues Coles – While Vinny Testaverde wasn’t that great of a fantasy start week 5, Coles did seem to be his favorite target.   6 receptions for 89 yards was a pretty decent day.   Keep an eye on this because Coles could have a few decent fantasy days in his future if Testaverde stays healthy.

Curtis Martin – 59 yards on 23 carries is pretty ugly, but the two short TD runs that Marin had help to mask that performance.   As it stands, the day ended up being a pretty good one for Martin fantasy owners.