Fantasy Football Friday: Week 11

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Yes, it's finally here. What's that you say? We are finally into the part of the NFL schedule where there are no more bye weeks. It must feel nice to have your full compliment of players. If you're a Patriots fan, it's also time to forget about last week and move on, just as we move on to the breakdown for this week.

Week 11 Best Match Ups:

1. Steelers @ Chiefs - Guys to play: Big Ben, Mendenhall, Mike Wallace, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller, Steelers Defense, Chris Chambers

2. Saints @ Buccaneers - Guys to play: Brees, Bush, Thomas, Colston (finally come back this week), Shockey.

3. Cardinals @ Rams - Guys to play: Warner, Hightower, Boldin, Fitzgerald, Cardinals defense, Steven Jackson.

Put em' in the Lineup:

QB - Ben Roethlisburger, Brett Favre, Eli Manning

Big Ben will have a bounce back game against The Chiefs this weekend. Watch out for another 300+ yard game against the struggling secondary of the Seahawks. I really think the Giants rebound against a suspect Falcons D.

RB - Brandon Jacobs, Jason Snelling, Ladell Betts

This is a good match up for all the Giants, especially Jacobs. Despite Norwood getting the start, Snelling will get the bulk of carries. Every time I think Betts will not produce, he does. Therefore I would start him

WR - Chris Chambers, Roy Williams, Kevin Walter

Chambers is now the #1 wideout for the Chiefs. He's also the only fantasy worthy player for them this week. Look for another good game as Roy Williams has finally got things going. This is a make it or break it week for me with Kevin Walter. He will get 5 grabs in my opinion and isn't a bad start for #3.

TE - Dustin Keller, Brandon Pettigrew

Dustin Keller kills the Patriots, and I like Pettigrew against Browns.

DEF - Patriots, Lions, Jaguars

I am a firm believer the Pats defense has something to prove. They will show everyone the type of defense they can be this weekend. The Lions are playing the Browns. The Browns are the worst offensive team in the NFL. The Jags take on the Bills in the first week of an interim manager.

Make em' Ride the Bench:

QB - Kyle Orton, Matt Casell, Jay Cutler

Kyle Orton will not even play this weekend, so I wanted to make sure you realized it. I hate the match up for Cassel. I hate Jay Cutler.

RB - Justin Forsett, Jaamal Charles, Larry Johnson

While I think Forsett will be a good back, I don't like him against the Vikings. Wait until next week to start him. Same situation for Charles against the Steelers. Is LJ even playing this weekend? Even if he does, don't go near him yet.

WR - Lee Evans, Malcolm Floyd, Johnny Knox

Evans will not match the output from last week, he's just too inconsistent. Is Floyd the #2? It looks to me like my man Legedu is. After scoring 4 TD's in the first four weeks, Knox has done nothing.

TE - Sean Ryan, Fred Davis, Zach Miller

Ryan is a Chief. Plain and simple. Until Davis can show me some consistency I will find someone else to play. Despite the QB play probably getting better this week, I don't like him.

DEF - Jets, Bears, Broncos

The Pats are coming. The Pats are coming. In case you haven't noticed, the Bears defense is highly overrated. Can anyone stop the Chargers right now?

Bruins about to get their Savy back

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Fans saw the best sight they had seen in a while this week when they saw reports from Bruins practice of Marc Savard on skates.

Now, they have another reason to have hope.

Marc Savard got on the plane headed for Atlanta as the Bruins head on the road for two big road games against the Thrashers and Sabers.

Savard has not actually practiced with the team, so it's not likely he'll play in either of these games, but the fact that he's making the trip, presumably to skate with the team and get caught up, is a more than encouraging sign.

Savard is one of the most underrated playmakers in the National Hockey League and was the team leader in assists, points and power play points. The Bruins have been absolutely punchless since the injuries to Savard and fellow top liner Milan Lucic. In the month of November thus far, the Bruins have a 2-6 record, posting a paltry 1.75 goals per game average. They were shut out for back-to-back games and three times this month.

Probably the worst part of the Bruins' game has been the power play. They rank dead last in the league in goals on the man advantage, despite being in the top 5 in the league in shots taken on the power play. At no time was did the unit look more disfunctional than when it failed to convert a 5-on-3 advantage that they held for almost a full two minutes against the Islanders on Monday.

Savard has been the quarterback of that unit and his uncanny abilities on the man advantage helped lead the Bruins to the fourth-best power play in the league, which makes the struggles this year look that much worse.

To have the biggest catalyst the team has return later this month will be a huge boost. But it's not all roses for the Bruins. Lucic was actually expected to return from his finger injury and play either Thursday or Friday, but he didn't even make the trip.

The loss of Lucic put a major hurting on the Bruins' style of hockey, which is to put a hurting on it's opponents. His return is also vital to the success of the Bruins, but not to the same extent that Savard's is. He's skating, he's traveling, he's probably going to practice. So when exactly can we expect to see Savard playing savior? Hopefully soon.

Time to lower standards? No way

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's been said many times over the past few years.

"Notre Dame should lower its expectations."

It's a notion that has gained steam and has reached its pinnacle given the recent struggles of the Irish. We could go through all of the trials and tribulations over the last couple of decades, but they have been pretty well documented. In a nutshell, Notre Dame is 91-66 since Lou Holtz retired. The Irish had lost nine-straight bowl games before winning the Hawaii Bowl after last year's 6-6 regular-season finish. 2007 was the worst year in Notre Dame football history. Etc, etc, etc.

Now another chapter in the story of Notre Dame football appears to be very close to the end. Going into the 2009 season, a veteran team with a vaunted offense and a reasonable schedule was expected by many Irish fans and outsiders alike to be a major part of the BCS conversation. In fact, the general consensus was that nothing short of a BCS berth would save Charlie Weis' job. And even after a heart-wrenching loss to USC, Notre Dame still looked pretty good in that regard. But after getting out-played in back-to-back weeks by Navy and Pittsburgh, it looks as if the ride only has three more stops before Weis gets off.l

After a third-straight disappointing season, the echoes that once seemed to have been awoken have been drowned out by that chant once again: "Notre Dame should lower its standards."

The basic premise of the argument is that the landscape of college football and the sociology of America itself has changed in such a way that Notre Dame can never regain the prominence and dominance it once had over the sport and that based on this, the university and its fans should not expect so much out of its program.

The argument used to be that Notre Dame should lower its academic standards in order to attract a larger number of top-notch prospects. Now the argument has turned to Notre Dame should just give up on being a premier program.

There's only one way to describe this line of thinking, whether you are a fan or the biggest Notre Dame hater on the planet. That kind of talk is excrement from a bovine that happens to be male. Forget politics, forget sociology, forget the landscape of modern college football. Any program, regardless of size, success (both recent and historical), or affluence is striving towards the same goal - excellence. If you are in charge of a sports team and you are not, you don't deserve to keep your job.

You can hate the attention that the Fighting Irish get from the press. You can hate their exclusive contract with NBC. You can hate Lou Holtz and his senile, lisp-ridden ramblings. You can hate the (false) perception that Notre Dame gets preferential treatment by the BCS. You can hate the fact that they remain an independent. Don't hate Notre Dame for continuing to want to be the best and don't blame them for continuing to try. That's the business they are in.

Billy No Goat

By Rick Eggleston
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It seems the only thing that can redeem Bill Belichick for Sunday night’s supposed gaffe is a fourth Super Bowl title three months from now in Miami.

Get another shot at the Colts in the AFC Championship game in Indy and win, and temporary amnesia will set in. Go on to win the Big Game two weeks later, and all will be forgotten and forgiven — Sunday’s heartbreaking, mind-numbing, earth-shattering fourth-and-2 decision and impending defeat never happened.

Win it all in February, and Belichick, the Patriots and their faction of fickle fans will finally be able to get a decent night’s sleep. Until then, the tossing, turning and living nightmare that is Peyton Manning and Colts getting the last laugh despite trailing by 13 points with a measly 4:12 left to play continues.

All this, due to one man’s decision to go for it on fourth down deep in his team’s end. Fortunately, it was a regular-season contest. Belichick and the Pats indeed live to play another day, 4:15 p.m. this Sunday in Foxboro against the struggling Jets to be exact.

And it’s a good thing, too. Imagine the hand wringing, grab-the-pitchforks and fire him mentality that would’ve ensued had Belichick’s gutsy decision ended the team’s season? It very well could’ve spelled the end of his coaching career in New England.

Fortunately, that is not and will not be the case, unless of course, the same thing happens again and costs the Pats another game. Chances are pretty good it won’t, but then I wouldn’t put anything past the Great One. After all, he shocked much of the NFL world with Sunday’s decision to go for it.

But not me.

If Kevin Faulk converts the first down — I think the ref blew the call and Faulk made it: (http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8143b069/Colts-4th-down-stop) — the Pats win and Belichick maintains his genius status. Instead, the unthinkable happens and Belichick is crucified.

I liked the decision. In fact, I turned to the person with whom I was watching the game and said they should go for it. “Not way,” he said. “Yes,” I said, “they’ll get it.”

So what if they punted it instead? Manning and company would’ve promptly marched downfield and scored anyway. Either way, it was in the cards for the Colts to win the game. Either way, Belichick would’ve been roundly criticized. A punt followed by 60-, 70- or 80-yard strike by the Colts would’ve had the same nitwits calling for Belichick’s committal today, saying he should’ve went for it.

You can’t have it both ways, people. Nobody understands that better than Belichick. You know, the guy with three Super Bowl rings this decade to your zero.

Matty Ice or Matty Light?

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

It's time for people to realize that Matt Ryan is not a superstar quarterback. He never has been.

With the Falcons' 28-19 loss at the hands of the Panthers, Atlanta dropped to 5-4 after going 11-5 and making the playoffs a year ago. Matt Ryan was credited with turning the program around, even though he ranked 16th in the league in touchdowns behind Chad Pennington, Tyler Thigpen and Kyle Orton, 13th in yards behind big names like David Garrard and 17th in completion percentage while the passing offense was a mediocre 14th in the league. But I suppose when Joey Harrington, Chris Redman and Byron Leftwich were your quarterbacks the year before, Matt Ryan would look like a savior.

This season, Ryan has taken a step back from mediocrity. Ryan is completing less than 60 percent of his passes (59.8 percent, good for 20th in the league), for 2,008 yards (good for 17th), Ryan is tied for 10th in touchdown passes, but has already thrown more interceptions in nine games this year than he did in 16 games last season. Ryan has thrown at least one interception in his last six games, has thrown multiple interceptions in four of those games. In those multi-INT games, he's thrown as many or more INT's than TD's.

Ryan has not done anything to deserve superstar status in the NFL and really did little to deserve as much credit as he did in college. In his college career, Ryan had 56 touchdowns, but 37 interceptions. In his senior season, he did throw 31 touchdowns, good for 10th in the nation and tops all-time for a BC quarterback (but come on, Doug Flutie was No. 1 before him. Not saying a lot), but he tossed 17 interceptions, which was the second most by a college quarterback that year. His passer rating was 61st in the nation. The fact that he never should have been considered for the Heisman never became more clear than when he choked in back-to-back weeks against Florida State and Maryland, then was further confirmed in the ACC championship against a team he had already beaten, throwing two picks, one that killed a potential scoring drive and the other a pick-six, and no touchdowns.

Now he's taken his mediocre show to the professional ranks.

It's time for the media to get off Matt Ryan's junk until he actually does something to deserve it.

If you don't trust Bill Belichick now, then go cheer for another team

By Chad Garner

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Well, well, well.

It looks like all the know-it-alls are coming out of the woodwork today to blast Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who decided to go for the win last night on fourth-and-2 from the Pats' own 28-yard-line late in the fourth quarter.

Sorry, he's not conservative, so the Pats went for it and they got burned (well, say what you want, but Kevin Faulk bobbled the catch but appeared to still have enough for the first down before the refs spotted the ball where he fell and landed which was obviously a very poor spot).

But now all the haters are coming out and blasting Belichick for going for it, including some Fan Fanatic Sports staff.

I can see fans getting upset for now beating the Colts -- remember they had a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter and you should never blow that big of a lead -- but to only focus on one play is downright wrong.

The Pats went for the win, is that a bad thing?

As far as I'm concerned, they had the play they wanted and went for it. Actually, the DID get the first and you can debate that all you want.

The conservative crew inside Patriots Nation wanted to see a punt. They think a tired and worn down defense would have stopped the Colts and Peyton Manning? No way. As much as you want to hang your hat on that, you know deep down it wasn't going to happen. They couldn't stop the Colts from scoring the go-ahead TD when the Pats turned the ball over, so why do you think they would have done it from say 50-70 yards out with about 2 minutes left?

What really burns me is that if the Pats did make the first down to seal the win, everyone would have loved the call to seal the win. They would have cited how gusty Belichick was for going for it and that the Pats' defense wouldn't have stopped them if they punted the ball back, but it's real easy to second-guess a coach when the result has already happened.

I loved the call, personally. They went for the win and there's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather that than being conservative and punting the ball away because I know the Colts would have easily marched down the field and scored.

Look at it this way: Belichick showed confidence in his offense to pick up the first down and his defense to stop the Colts if the offense didn't make the first down. Unfortunately neither group executed with the game on the line. And when you don't execute in the NFL, you don't win.

Don't pin this loss on Belichick, there's plenty of blame to go around.

But the Pats win and lose as a team. You'll never read me blasting Uncle Bill for being aggressive and trying to win.

There's no doubt I still Trust in Bill. If you don't, then trade in your Patriots gear for another team. We don't want you cheering for Pats. Find a conservative-coached team and start rooting for them. How about Cleveland? You can question everything Eric Mangini does!

In Bill We Trust? Not Anymore

By Jim Ingram

Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

Last night marked a water shed event for me as a Patriots and Bill Belichick fan. Belichick's decision to go for it on 4th and 2 on their own 28 yard line was the WORST coaching decision I have ever seen. There isn't an argument you can make to convince me they should have gone for it. Punt the ball. That's what you need to do. Punt the ball! I don't care if the defense was gassed last night. I would feel much better giving Peyton Manning the ball with 65+ yards to go for a touchdown than 30. Belichick also should have instructed his defense to let Joseph Addai score when they got down to the 1 yard line. If they did, the Pats would have had another thirty seconds on the clock to get into position for a field goal.

Ever since the Pats won their first Super Bowl I've been a devoted follower in the philosophy of "In Bill We Trust". I accepted when he released Lawyer Milloy just prior to the first game of the season. I accepted trading Deion Branch to the Seahawks and going with the likes of Reche Caldwell and Doug Gabriel in 2006. No more. They should have resigned Asante Samuel prior to last year and not allow their defense to be so terrible in 2008. They should do the right thing and pay Vince Wilfork now so he won't cost more when he hits free agency.

BB is not infallible, and it's time that Patriots fans realize it. I listen to sports talk radio on the ride into work every morning. It disgusts me how ridiculous some of the excuses Pats fans are using to justify Belichick's decision. Kevin Faulk didn't have the yardage for the first down. He bobbled the ball and was pushed back. Wake up people. Bill Belichick made a critical mistake with the game on the line. He didn't make that decision to go for the win. He made that decision not to lose the game. Of course, that wasn't the only mistake that lead to the loss last night. I'll let someone else break down the rest of the game.