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Week 6 was a wild one in the NFL with many games ending in wild fashion.   When games go into overtime and defenses and special teams start scoring TDs left and right, you know it is a weird week.   As always, we own up to our calls in the weekly bench / start wrap up.   Unfortunately for our predictions, we will be doing a little less bragging this week and a little more owning up.   While it wasn’t a terrible week for bench / start predictions, we should be back to our historical norm next week.

Nostradamus (a.k.a. psychic)
Start:
Mark Brunell – Surprise, surprise Mark Brunell is a fantasy factor again.   Until we see something different from this Redskins offense, we think that Brunell is a solid starter most weeks.   This past week, Brunell threw for 331 yards, no interceptions, and 3 TDs.   One of those TDs was a long one and netted some fantasy teams exira points in big play leagues.   We wish Brunell wouldn’t have fumbled, but it was still a solid game.

Warrick Dunn – A 100 yard rushing game and a TD helped make Dunn a great start week 6.   He also added 2 catches for 15 yards.   Despite the falcons winning this game, they didn’t look very sharp.   However, Dunn remains the motor that drives the Falcons offense.

Carson Palmer – Palmer is a machine.   He had another over 100 passer rating with solid yardage and couple of TDs.   Basically, Palmer is playing some great football and that helps the whole Bengals organization look good for the first time in a long while.   Corey Dillon once said that the Marvin Lewis is thought of like a black Jesus in Cincinnati.   While that is a blasphemous statement, there just might be a little truth to it as far as Bengals fans are concerned.

Matt Hasselbeck – This performance is much like the one Hasslebeck turned in against the Cardinals a few weeks ago.   Hasslebeck looked good and efficient with minimal mistakes and Shaun Alexander scored 4 TDs.   Apparently, Alexander scoring 4 TDs is a threat that Hasselbeck owners will have to live in fear of all season.   Hasselbeck did have some nice rushing yardage and a passing TD, so he barely makes it as a good start this past week.

Reggie Wayne – Wayne had a monster day in leagues that award points for receptions.   Wayne’s 7 recpetions for 59 yards and a TD made him a great start week 6.

Terry Glenn – If you are in a league that doesn’t award points for receptions, Glenn was only a marginal start, but his 6 receptions are nothing to scoff at in leagues that do award points for receptions.   Glenn is a must start each week thanks to his great chemistry with Drew Bledsoe.

Bench:
Antonio Bryant – Bryant was a hot commodity last week and he probably was put in the lineup week 6 for many teams as a result of his big game week 5.   If you avaoided this temptation week 6, you were rewarded.   Bryant only had 34 yards.   We warned about the “wounded animal” syndrome that the Ravens would have this week.   Well, they unleashed it on the whole, unsuspecting Browns offense.

Corey Dillon – We told you to leave Dillon on the bench and we thought that he would start.   In fact, almost everyone probably thought that Dillon was going to start this week.   He even dressed for the game and was out there on the field before the game.   However, he was a scratch at the last minute.   If you left him on the bench this week as we recommended, you weren’t hurt by his big fat zero fantasy points.

Ben Roethlisberger – We didn’t know if Roethlisberger was play week 6 or not, but we knew that you didn’t want him in your lineup.   Roethlisberger didn’t play week 6 and his replacement, Tommy Maddox, didn’t do much to warrant a start either.   Maddox had one of those days that leaves fans screaming.   Maddox threw for 154 yards and TD, but his 4 turnovers made it almost impossible for his team to win.

Hines Ward – Hines’ hammy kept him from playing this week, so you were more than happy to have him on the bench.

Kelly Holcomb – 2 INTs, 2 TDs, negative yards rushing, and low passing yardage made Holcomb an ugly start week 6.   Hopefully you didn’t start him.   But he did do better than Culpepper … Yikes!


Farmer's Almanac (a.k.a. not so bad/not so good)
Start:
Eli Manning – Eli scored a late TD to force overtime.   He had decent yardage, but he had a couple of turnovers that caused his game to be a so-so fantasy start.

Plaxico Burress –   The knee bone is connected to the leg bone … or something like that, but that is exactly why Burress had a so-so fantasy day.   Manning only found Jeremy Shockey for a TD and that left Burress out in the cold.   Burress would have been a great start in point per reception leagues if he wouldn’t have fumbled.   As it is, he was just mediocre.

Drew Brees –   Brees didn’t turn the ball over, but he lost one of his TD passes to “Mr. Everything” Tomlinson, who passed, rushed, and caught a TD.   Brees still threw a TD, but his yards weren’t enough to make him a great start.

Bench:
Gus Frerotte – No TDs and 2 fumbles worked to make Frerotte an ugly start, but he did manage 267 yards passing.

Chris Chambers – If Chambers would have caught one or two of the passes he dropped he would have been a great start, but he didn’t make the those big grabs and his team could have used them.


Weather Forecast (a.k.a. oops better luck next time)
Start:
Jamal Lewis – We are officially concerned about Jamal Lewis.   We don’t know if it is injury, his O-line, or his head, but he is in trouble.   He historically runs well against the Browns, but he let us (and his all of his fantasy owners) down in a big way.   If Chester Taylor is available, he might be a nice reserve for many fantasy teams.   Lewis managed 70 total yards, so he didn’t blank you, but he was ugly.

Cedric Benson – Hopefully, you checked the new wire, because the Bears announced that Jones would start at the last minute.   As we thought, the Bears has a solid rushing attack against the Vikings – who are “going down with the ship.”

Michael Clayton – Clayton has been a huge disappointment this season and we are completely shocked that he has been so bad.   If you own Clayton, keep your fingers crossed and hope that Simms takes over and starts feeding the ball to Clayton.

Bench:
Drew Bennett – Bennett had so-so yardage, but his 7 receptions were too much to ignore.

Michael Pittman – There is no way to sugarcoat this one.   Pittman ran right over our prediction with a huge game.   Obviously, we didn’t see that one coming.

Heath Miller – Miller has now scored a TD in 3 out of his five games.   He is a guy you need to make sure is on your roster.   We didn’t think the rookie was ready to break out just yet, but his time may have arrived as the Steelers offense has started to look for him in the red zone.

Eric Moulds – Moulds has something going with Holcomb and should now be considered a reasonable start in most leagues.   He didn’t break 70 yards, but his receptions and his TD made our prediction look bad.

Kevin Curtis – Curtis had a small window to make a big play thanks to the injury to Mark Bulger, but he hauled in a 57 yard pass after he put a move on his defender that left his jock strap somewhere 10 yards past the line of scrimmage.   After Bulger went down, Curtis only had 16 more yards.  If it weren't for that one big catch, we look great, but that's fantasy football and Curtis got himself open for a big time play.