Bye Week For...NY Giants. Houston Texans.
Hits and Misses
It was a good week for prognostication in week 9 as I came as close to perfection as you can get without being perfect. Let's hope this trend continues into week 10.
Starters
QB Aaron Rogers: 22 pts 266 yds, 2 tds, 3 ints passing. 26 yds, 1 td rushing HIT
RB Ray Rice: 18 pts 135 total yards, 1 td HIT
WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh: 9 pts 6 rec. 34 yds, 1 td WASH
Bench Material
QB Kyle Orton: 1 pt 221 yds, 3 int HIT
RB Marion Barber: 7 pts 70 total yds HIT
WR Santanna Moss: 4 pts 5 rec. 47 yds HIT
Starts of the Week!
QB Brett Favre (vs. DET): Favre seems to save his best for divisional foes and even though Detroit would be hard pressed to beat a high school team, they are still an NFL team in the same division as Minnesota. This easy matchup is tempered a bit by a nagging groin injury for Favre but should still see him tossing at least two tds.
RB Rashard Mendenhall (vs CIN): Let Rashard Mendenhall be an example to both young players and coaches alike for the way he took being sat earlier in the season against the Bengals. No complaints, no crying, he just took it to heart and came back with a vengeance. Expect Rashard to run a little harder this week against the Bengals.
WR Derrick Mason (at CLE): It's been a season of ups and downs for the Baltimore Ravens and in contrast, the same can be said for Derrick Mason. A Monday Night affair against the woeful Browns should be enough to wake up the Ravens O and get Mason back to his old form.
Other Notable Starts: QB Jay Cutler (at SF), RB Michael Turner (at CAR), WR Steve Breaston (vs SEA)
Bench Material of the Week!
QB Brady Quinn (vs BAL): The Cleveland Browns are a mess. Not a news flash, but I just thought I'd point that out as Quinn steps back into the starters roll against an embarrassed Baltimore team playing them on Monday night.
RB Kevin Smith (at MIN): It's hard enough to expect good things from the Lions running game in the best of situations, let alone when they are facing perhaps the most complete team in the NFC, the Minnesota Vikings. Smith has been a bust this season. He's passed the century mark once this season and hasn't scored a td since week 4. Bury him deep on your bench!
WR Steve Smith (vs ATL): Carolina's Steve Smith isn't the wideout he once was and a lot of that goes on the more run-oriented direction that Carolina's O is heading to. Though he has put up some decent stats the past three weeks, don't expect much out of his this Sunday against a good Atlanta squad.
Other Notable Benches: QB Carson Palmer (at PIT), RB Joseph Addai (vs NE), WR Calvin Johnson (at MIN)
CraveOnline Yohoo's 8-1
The Yohoo's keep on rolling towards the playoffs and the best record in the league after an inspiring team effort this weekend. Despite a pedestrian start by Peyton Manning, the Yohoo's managed to show they are a team in every sense of the word as players such as Michael Turner, Hines Ward, and Vernon Davis stepped up to the plate and delivered quality performances.
For references sake, here's what my starting line-up is going to look like the rest of the season barring injuries. QB Peyton Manning. RB's Michael Turner, Thomas Jones/Brandon Jacobs. WR Reggie Wayne, Hines Ward, Derrick Mason. TE Vernon Davis. K Stephen Gostowski. D Bears.
Parting Shots...
Don't forget that Thursday night football returns this week starting with the San Francisco 49ers vs the Chicago Bears, so plan accordingly.
