Monday, September 15, 2008

Week 2: Reactions and Distractions

First off, let's talk distractions. Sunday turned out to be one steaming, sticky day in the state of New Jersey. Realizing this was perhaps one of my last opportunities to go to the beach, I decided to out and get a tan, get sunburned, have the sunburn ache, put aloe on my sunburn, go to a networking event with a sunburn, be embarrassed about my my sunburn...

Anyways, I didn't get to watch a whole lot of live action football. I caught the Jets/Pats game, which us Jets deserved to lose, and the the Browns/Steelers game, which further proves that owning anyone on the Browns on your fantasy team was a big mistake. Another mistake: thinking it'd be a good idea to nationally television six Browns games.

Tonight's Monday Night game (Eagles v. Cowboys)? Borderline epic. Certainly more epic then the Ohio State v. USC game. Do midwestern states have any football pride left? Honestly, it's like the South and West Coast have taken a straw and slurped up every drop of talent, enthusiasm, pride, etc. that happens to exist in that already unexciting region. So yeah, tonight's game should be a shootout.

After catching up on football matters this morning, and shedding a few tears for Lehman Brothers, I've brought to you the second annual Reactions and Distractions.

- Time to buy stock in the Arizona passing game. Kurt Warner and that quick release of his zipped it into his super-receivers all first-half, with both big boys driving for those extra yards after the catch. Three touchdown catches by Anquan Boldin should make him happier then he was a month ago, when he was demanding a trade. As one ESPN analyst has already pointed out, the Cardinals are suddenly the team to beat in the NFC West. Things should only get better, as the Cardinals played it cool and ran the ball in the second half against the outclassed Dolphins. Don't expect that in closer games. Paging Matt Lienhart... Matt... are you there... please, speak to me...

- Oh yeah, and please pick up Tim Hightower on the Cards. Edge hasn' played great, and Hightower is the future of that running game. He'll at least get TD's for the time being.

- Another rookie looking to take on a bigger load: Jonathon Stewart. He has outplayed Deangelo Williams since training camp, and busted it in for a couple TD's (and a tackle-breaking 24-yard rumble). He could turn out to be a decent RB2 for the rest of the season, but watch out: next week is against the run-stopping Vikings D.

- Aaron Rodgers looked agile and comfortable, even throwing outside the pocket. Is it too early to slot him as a top-ten quarterback for the rest of the season? I think not. He has a great sore of recievers and a solid offense line. He'll have some bumps down the road, but the Packers confidence in him during the off-season was certainly warranted.

- There's trouble brewing in Cincinnati. Bump down everyone on that team right now, including their defense.

- Brandon Marshall is the second coming of Terrell Owens (who also looked fantastic Monday night). With Jay Cutler looking like the real deal, B-Marsh could very well put up top-3 WR numbers from here on out. Shame on all those suckers who were scared away because of the suspension. I hope you're stuck with Braylon Edwards.

- Tiny little Darren Sproles looked tres speedy while LT sat on the bench. He's a must-add for any LT owners, leagues that award points for returns, or someone looking for trade bait.

- Meanwhile, husky Larry Johnson is pissed that he isn't getting carries. So are his fantasy owners. He's just not the same player anymore. Herm Edwards insists LJ will get more carries in the future, but with a 1.8 YPC, I don't see the point.

- So Matt Cassell isn't exactly the stud Tom Brady is, but he played relatively mistake-free football. He's not a great fantasy option, but don't go bumping down Moss and Welker too much. How about that badly underthrown bomb to Moss though? Hopefully he learned from it...

- I'm hungry. The only options I have are peanut butter, old grilled chicken, chips, and some soup. The soup sounds good. Cream of Broccoli... delicious

- That Seahawks tight end, John Carleson? What a beast. He'll put up good numbers as long as Seahawks have negative receivers. Poor Matt Hasselback though. This is not going to help the premature balding.

- The Mets are going to lead me to an early death.

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