Fantasy Football Friday: Week 6

Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Can you believe we're already 6 weeks into the NFL season? It might be hard to believe, but at least we are now entering the part of the season where teams, and players, begin to solidify what they're going to be for the year. With that being said, let's start looking at week 6, but first here are the teams on a bye this week: Colts, Cowboys, Dolphins & 49ers.

Week 6 Best Match ups:

1. Titans @ Patriots: Just like I said above, this is the week the real Patriots offense show itself. I fully expect Tom Brady, Randy Moss & Wes Welker to have big weeks. The team has made an effort to talk about not completing a single pass of 40 yards or longer, so watch out for at least two of those completed on Sunday. Ben Watson has 3 touchdowns in the past 5 games. The Titans pass defense is 31st in the league giving up an average of 287 yards per game.

2. Cardinals @ Seahawks: This is going to be a fantasy shootout in my opinion. The Seahawks pass defense may be better than you think, giving up on 208 per game, but it will not matter this weekend. The Cardinals looked much better last week, so I would suggest starting the obvious Warner, Fitzgerald & Boldin. Tim Hightower is a start as well. I fully expect Matt Hasselback to have another solid game as well making Nate Bureleson, TJ Houshmandzedah and John Carlson all fantasy starters this week. It helps that the Cardinals have the worst pass defense in the NFL.

3. Rams @ Jaguars: I am of the opinion that I would start any defense that is going up against the Rams this season. The St. Louis offense is just abysmal, with the exception of Steven Jackson. I am going to suggest starting David Garrard for the 2nd week in a row as well as Mike Sims-Walker, provided he's active. Watch out for Torry Holt this weekend. I predict he goes for 8 catches, 110 yards and a TD this weekend as he takes on his former team. The other obvious start for this game is Maurice Jones-Drew.

Make em' ride the bench:

QB - Eli Manning, Mark Sanchez & Brett Favre

Eli is going against a Saints defense that already has 13 interceptions on the season. Mark Sanchez is going against a defense that is better than you think and Brett Favre is facing the Ravens.

RB - Marshawn Lynch, Fred Jackson & LaDainian Tomlinson

The Bills offense is awful, and both Lynch and Jackson had poor games against the Browns last week. The last time I checked, the Jets defense is much better than the Browns. I just don't trust LT, especially against the Broncos defense.

WR - Calvin Johnson, Percy Harvin, Mario Manningham

Megatron is banged up, may not play, and going against the Packers. If you have another wideout to use, go with him. I like Percy Harvin, but it seems like he's not in the game any time the Vikings really need to pass the ball. Manningham has been relatively quiet lately and now he's banged up.

TE - Sean Ryan, Bo Scaife

Despite the fact Sean Ryan seems to be a favorite target of Matt Cassel, it's going to be tough for him to get the ball to Ryan against the Redskins. Same thing for Scaife against the Patriots.

DEF - Bears & Seahawks

I just don't like the Bears against a well rested Falcons offense. I know the Seahawks have played great defense at home, but I see Warner throwing the ball a lot on Sunday

Put em' in the game:

QB - Kyle Orton, Matt Hasselback, Jason Campbell

Kyle Orton has been very solid all season, and should continue that against a very suspect Chargers pass defense. Hasselback & Campbell take on the two worst pass defenses in the NFL.

RB - Cedric Benson, Sammy Morris, Cadillac Williams

Benson is now a must start every week. Sammy will get a lot of touches at the end of the game after the Pats jump out big, and Cadillac takes on a horrendous rush defense against the Panthers

WR - Torry Holt, Eddie Royal & Santana Moss

Like I mentioned above, Torry Holt will go off against his former team. Royal finally looked like he did last season as his chemistry with Orton is better, and I expect Santana Moss to get 10 catches this weekend against the Chiefs.

TE - Jeremy Shockey, JerMichael, Finley, Brandon Pettigrew

Like Holt, Shockey takes on his former team, and he hates the Giants. Expect him to be fired up and ready for a big game. Both Finely, and Pettigrew, are becoming large parts of their offense. Look for them to continue their progress and become fantasy starters as the year goes on.

DEF - Eagles, Redskins & Jaguars

All three of these teams are taking on terrible offenses.

Good luck!

Believe it or not, Saturday is a big test for USC, too

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that probably at least part of the reason Notre Dame is ranked in the Top-25 this week after being left out a week earlier is precisely to garner more excitement for this weekend's game between the Irish and USC. A lot of people at these universities, in the media and in the NCAA stand to make a lot of money from a "marquis matchup" between two Top-25 teams as opposed to a perceived powerhouse getting ready to pummel another unranked team.

That said, Notre Dame does have the potential to give USC, and most specifically its defense, its biggest test of the season.

USC is ranked fourth in the nation with an mere 8.6 points allowed per game. They're among the leaders in sacks. They haven't allowed a passing touchdown all season. Of course, those numbers have come against San Jose State (115th in scoring offense), Ohio State (46th), Washington (64th), Washington State (117th), California (41st) and Arizona (58th). This is not to take anything away from USC. Defensively, they are still one of the most talented groups in college football and despite their youth at several positions after graduating pretty much their entire front seven, the Trojans have been as good as advertised.

It all starts with the most veteran part of the defense, which is the secondary and it all starts in the secondary with safety Taylor Mays. At at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Mays is a beast with future NFL superstar written all over him. Both physically and emotionally, he is the catalyst.
But you can't dismiss the fact that if you look at the teams USC has faced, the Irish offense is by far the most explosive and they may be the most explosive the Trojans face until bowl season. The Irish rank 10th in total offense and 27th in scoring offense. The passing game averages 322 yards per game, good for eighth nationally, despite being without their primary deep threat. Jimmy Clausen has had just one game where he passed for less than 300 yards - the one against Purdue where he sat most of the second half until leading the team to a last-minute comback victory. Golden Tate is fourth in the nation in receiving. With all this being said, it looks as if Notre Dame's offensive strengths play right into the Trojans' strengths defensively. And if the Irish featured the same running game they did last year, that probably would be the case.

But the Irish, thanks in part to a much-improved offensive line and in part to the running backs' commitment in the offseason to get better at not going down after the first hit, are more multi-faceted on offense than they have been in years. Not since Darius Walker graduated has Notre Dame had a really potent running game. This season the Irish don't have a dynamic running attack, but it is something defenses need to think about. They improved from a paltry 3.3 yards per carry last season to a more respectable 4.1 yards per carry as a team this year. And that came with starting tailback Armando Allen being hurt for the equivilent of two games. Allen and his 5.1 yards per carry will be completely recovered from an ankle injury. Robert Hughes is a bruising backup and Jonas Gray provides big play ability both with his speed and his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. On top of that, lead blocker James Aldridge, who has been out since injuring his shoulder against Nevada, will be back. Long story short, the Trojans can't just sit back and wait for Jimmy Clausen. There is the very real possibility that Notre Dame will try to attack the young and banged up USC front four. It will keep the Trojans linebackers from focusing on blitzing and quarterback pursuit and could require the Trojans to pull their safeties closer to the line of scrimmage.

Still, as good as the offense may be, the real x-factor is the Irish defense and to this point it has not been outstanding. Three goal-line stands against Washington aside, the team has been pretty mediocre against everyone it has faced. Joe McKnight, not Matt Barkley will be called upon to carry the Trojans to a win. He's averaging 7.1 yards per carry and has by far been the most potent part of the Trojans' offense this season. There's little reason to think he can't have a big game against the Irish. The Irish do have the advantage of not having to worry about the kind of running threat at quarterback that guys like Jake Locker, Tate Forcier and Colin Kaepernick pose and those are the teams that have provided the most difficulty for the defense, but the bottom line is the Irish rank 68th in rushing defense.

Prediction: It will be an entertaining game, but USC just has a higher level of talent, especially defensively. USC 38, Notre Dame 29

Dodgers better equiped for NLCS rematch

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Tonight marks game 1 of the National League Championship Series, and brings us a rematch from last season. Last year, the Phillies easily took care of the Dodgers in 5 games on their way to a World Series title. The 2009 NLCS should have a much better feel for the Dodgers than last year. Why is that you ask? Well, let me run through my reasons:

1. The Dodgers are simply a better offensive team this year than last. I know Manny Ramirez has struggled, except for game three of the division series, but the lineup is has more balance, and is not nearly as dependent on Manny. Andre Ethier has been clutch all season, and continued that with a solid performance against the Cardinals in the division series.

2. The Dodgers starting rotation. The front end of this rotation is better suited to go against the left handed heavy Phillies lineup. Clayton Kershaw and Randy Wolf will start games 1 & 2 to go against the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Raul Ibanez.

3. Cliff Lee will be making his first start in this series in game 3. As you'll see in my prediction at the end of this article, Cliff Lee will only pitch once in this series. Just that alone is a huge boost for the Dodgers.

4. The Dodgers bullpen. I'll take Hong-Chih Kuo, George Sherrill & Jonathon Broxton over anyone the Phillies can put up against them. the lefty duo of Kuo & Sherrill go back to my argument the starting rotation is better suited to handling to big, left handed bats of the Phillies.

Now don't get me wrong. The Phillies are still a very good baseball team. In fact, I think their lineup and rotation is better this season than last. I just think the Dodgers are a much improved team over last year as well. They have good enough pitching, solid defense up the middle, and have had timely hitting all season.

My prediction: Dodgers over Phillies in 6 games