FANTASY FOCUS: Bad gets worse in Week 5
By ANDY HAMPTON
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sports@daily-chronicle.com
You pick which is worse; Browns' quarterback Derek Anderson going 2-for-17 for 23 yards with one interception and zero touchdowns, or how about the Raiders racking up a total of 124 yards of offense? Mind you, somehow the Browns beat the Bills – with a little help from Bills return man Roscoe Parrish – 6-3, while the Raiders got crushed by the Giants, 44-7.
Raise your hand if you knew that Sunday's top two rushers were the Bengals running back Cedric Benson and the Browns' Jamal Lewis.
Each week, the Redskins' opponents had zero wins before playing the 'Skins. This past week, Carolina picked up its first win. Guess who the Redskins have this week? The answer is the 0-5 Kansas City Chiefs.
Eight different Vikings caught passes on Sunday. That includes Brett Favre catching a pass from ... Brett Favre.
Rams wide receiver Donnie Avery catches a touchdown pass with less than seven minutes remaining in the game against the Vikings and proceeds to do some type of River Dance tribute. I'm not anti-celebration, but the Rams were down 31-9 after the score. "Let's dance because we're getting our heads kicked in!"
You have to see the Dre' Bly interception return for the 49ers to believe it.
Enough of the Drew Brees-Tom Brady best quarterback debate. Peyton Manning is on another planet.
Can the Broncos now be included as one of the best teams in the AFC?
Week 5 report Card:
Starts:
Rashard Mendenhall (RB/Pitt.): 15 carries for 77 yards and 1 TD. Kicked in two receptions for 16 yards.
Jake Delhomme (QB/Car.): 16-of-24 for 181 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Nothing special, but he gets the winless Buccaneers this week.
LeSean McCoy (RB/Phil.): 6 carries for 14 yards. There will come a time and place for him to win the full-time job. Apparently, Sunday was not it.
Sits:
Eli Manning (QB/NYG): 8-of-10 for 173 yards and 2 TDs. I knew he'd be out early as the game was a blowout. Just didn't know he'd post a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3.
Steven Jackson (RB/STL): 21 rushes for 84 yards and two receptions for 25 yards. He also lost a red-zone fumble. Still remains the ONLY weapon for an awful team.
Patriots running backs: Laurence Maroney had five carries for 21 yards, while Kevin Faulk went 4-for-8 and caught 3 passes for 26 yards. Sammy Morris was the featured back of the week with 17 carries for 68 yards. Coach Bill Belichik drives fantasy owners crazy.
Week 6 Starts/Sits:
Starts:
Johnathon Stewart (RB/Car.): at Tampa Bay. Remember my rule against the Buccaneers?
Chris Johnson (RB/Ten.): at New England. The Patriots seem lost and confused. Tennessee, this is their Super Bowl.
Matt Ryan (QB/Atl.): Home against the Bears. "Matty Ice" shredded the 49ers' defense and will do so against the Bears on primetime TV.
Sits:
Phillip Rivers (QB/SD): Hosting Denver. I'm through messing around with this Broncos defense. They want to hurt people.
Brandon Jacobs (RB/NYG): At New Orleans. The battle of unbeatens. Ahmad Bradshaw continues to get plenty of carries which diminishes Jacobs' value.
Matt Schaub (QB/Hou.): At Cincinnati. Schaub is throwing the ball all over the field. They've yet to get Steve Slaton on track running the ball. You know with the "Kardiac Kids," this game will go down to the final minute.
Finally, we officially are on "Coach Watch." Somewhere between Jim Zorn, Dick Jauron and Tom Cable there will be a job opening within the next two weeks.
Better update my resumé ...
• Andy Hampton writes a weekly fantasy football column, "Fantasy Focus," for the Daily Chronicle. Write to him at sports@daily-chronicle.com.
