Fantasy Aftermath: MJD Has No One To Apologize To
Jim McIsaac/Getty Images
History repeated itself this past weekend as Maurice Jones-Drew helped secure Jaguars victory against The Jets by kneeling on the one-yard line with less than two minutes left in the game. Down by a point, the selfless move allowed Jacksonville to run down the clock for a game-winning field goal.
MJD recognized that his failure to score would anger many of his fantasy football fans and acknowledged it post-game:
“We knew they were pretty much going to let us score. So the coach said to just take a knee. Sorry to my fantasy owners, I apologize.”
Jones-Drew, you have nobody to apologize for.
Unlike last year when Brian Westbrook took a knee at the one against the Dallas Cowboys, MJD was just playing smart football in order to put his team in the best position to win. Something us Boston fans are arguing about this week. Westbrook’s move was a little less obvious since The Eagles would be up by 11 had he scored.
Ultimately MJD is playing to win the game (oh Herm Edwards.) He’s not playing to win your fantasy game, he’s playing for the Jaguars to win the game.
Also you have to admit he was already having a better than expected day, I own him in a league and he projected for only 13 points against a tough Jets D and already had 20 for the day. Let’s not be too greedy shall we?
Patriots Pride
Since this is a Fantasy Football post, I will try to avoid talking about Bill Belichick, clock management, and how people play Madden 2010.
Despite the heartbreaking finish, the Patriots/Colts match-up pretty much played out the way we thought it would: a high scoring tilt with plenty of points to be had. It could be argued that Tom Brady was the better passer vs. Manning:
Brady: 29/42, 375 yds, 3TD/1INT, 110.7 QB Rating
Manning: 28-44, 327 yds, 4TD/2INT, 97.4 QB Rating
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Brady had the better rating and one less pick compared to one more TD from Manning, bottom line however is that if you owned either you were very happy.
In the running game we once again saw Maroney continue to disappoint. Despite getting a TD, L-Mo’s paltry 2.4 yds/carry isn’t anything I’m excited over. Addai didn’t have a good running game either but had 2 TDs to make his owners happy. Kevin Faulk continues to drink from the fountain of youth, taking 12 carries for 79 yards- including a 29 yard scamper. You can see that the Patriots backfield is going to continue to revolve around Maroney and Faulk until Sammy Morris is healthy enough to get on the field. Also interesting to watch the Indy backfield, with Addai getting banged up and Donald Brown trying to get healthy from a shoulder injury Chad Simpson stepped up and looked ok in limited carries.
A beat up Colts secondary mean big games for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, not a surprise. What did catch me off guard was the quiet return of Julian Edelman- I didn’t even realize he was playing again until he caught the 9-yard TD pass. Again stay away from Ben Watson- even in this juicy match-up he’s worthless unless he scores.
The Patriots limited Dallas Clark to 65 yards, they appear to be good at doing that after they took Tony Gonzalez and Kellen Winslow out of their respective games. However Dustin Keller always manages to sneak in a score when The Jets play- so Keller could be a sneaky play this week.
Reading The Box Scores & Watching The Highlights
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Matt Forte got the touches but was unproductive running the ball (20 carries/2.1 avg) he’s had 4 20+ carry games and hasn’t topped a 3.5 avg in those games. At least his receiving game saved his fantasy day.
Nobody is surprised that Jay Cutler isn’t having the same success that he did last year in Denver, his problems in the Red Zone goes back to last season (has the most Red Zone interceptions of any QB since Week 13 in 2008.)
Michael Crabtree is quickly becoming the top target in San Fran, which is a testament to his potential however he’s nothing more than a WR3 in most leagues.
Matty Ice continuing to be cold as ice (I just had to make that joke), I saw him dropped in a league I play in- I don’t think it’s exactly a bad move now that the bye weeks are done. I could probably name 11-12 Quarterbacks I’d rather start than Ryan.
DeAngelo Williams looked good despite injury worries, but Jonathan Stewart has quietly started to heat up. I’ve been offered a trade where Id’ get The Daily Show and I’d think about taking it if I wasn’t already stacked at RB.
Jake Delhomme only threw two picks this week, good to know that’s one of the keys to a Panther’s victory: Delhomme INTs < 5. Also he needs to connect with Steve Smith, which he did.
Josh Freeman came back to earth with his TD totals, The Jury is still out.
Ronnie Brown isn’t expected to play this week thanks to an ankle injury so if you own Ricky Williams, you can expect a big boost in production when they take on the Panthers on Thursday.
Davone Bess has been Miami’s top target and is ranked 25 in targets in the past 5 weeks before this game. However you still don’t want him- just wanted to officially drive the stake into Ted Ginn Jr’s heart.
I you don’t have to over analyze Adrian Peterson’s and Sidney Rice’s gaudy numbers- they were playing the Detroit Lions.
Some may say that Mike Simms-Walker defied a bad match-up to have a good day. Without his TD he only has 49 yards and that means 4 points. You can’t predict TDs, but it’s still nice to see it.
Cedric Benson was another RB injury on a weekend of many, however it doesn’t look too serious. To be safe the Bengals signed Larry Johnson- a RB with a criminal record that fits right at home with Cincinnati. I hate LJ for making himself fantasy somewhat relevant again. Just pretend he’s still jobless and stay away.
I dropped Willie Parker in a league, I don’t miss him at all.
Reggie Bush this week: 83 rushing yard/1 rushing TD, 15 receiving yards/1 receiving TD. Unless you can trade him off to somebody willing to believe, continue to ignore him.
(Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
Fred Jackson finished the game against the Titans with a better passer rating than Trent Edwards, not as impressive since Vince Young did the same.
Chris Johnson is such a beast, however in the league in where I own him- I never win on weeks where he goes off.
Brandon Marshall is starting to show flashes of his old self, but keep an eye out on Orton’s health. If Orton continues to throw more down field this could mean great things for Marshall.
Once again Todd Yoder robs a TD from Red Davis. Another reason why the Redskins aren’t on my good list.
Rumors spread about Kolby Smith possibly winning the starting job in KC- I don’t think that’s happening after Jamaal Charles’ 103 yards and a TD.
A three headed monster is forming in Oakland, it looks like Fargas is the favorite to score but I really wouldn’t want any of them.
I own Julius Jones (I know I’m sorry too) in a league so I picked up Justin Forsett after I heard he got injured.
It was great to see Houshmandzadeh look like the TJ of old, but alas I can’t feel confident in playing him.
It maybe too late to buy low on Anquan Boldin, his 105 yds isn’t going to fly under the radar too long.
Thank you Tony Romo for scrambling rushing more efficiently that the entire Dallas running back roster.
Roy Williams, I hope you are happy you are getting yards and scores now- because the rest of us have already deemed you fantasy dead and left those points on our benches.
LT found out before the game he was going to have a baby, and he proceeded to turn back the clock and run for 98 yards and 2 TDs. Congrats to LaDanian and LaTorsha and I hope they this is the start of many, many more children to come. My fantasy team depends on it.
Brian Westbrook came back from his concussion… to suffer another concussion. This doesn’t look good for him, of course if he’s done for the season we all know LeSean McCoy is the top pick-up.
Just to recap, he’s my ranking of running backs that may have just lucked into a starting gig: Ricky Williams, LeSean McCoy, Jason Snelling, Bernard Scott.
I Rock At Fantasy Football
I went 3-2 this week in my leagues, which include the decisive victory between me and Craig. Criagga I’ll have to get back to you on that what kind of beer I’d like next week.
Leave a Reply
