This week’s bye teams: Baltimore, Kansas City and Tampa
Bay.AFC EAST
Buffalo — Look for the Bills to continue to use both Jonathan Linton and Antowain
Smith in the dreaded RB-by-committee system. Smith is expected to start and should get
more carries, but head coach Wade Phillips could turn to Linton again if Smith
struggles. … QB Doug Flutie and WR Eric Moulds rediscovered their
chemistry at the end of the Miami game in Week Four, and it carried over into Week Five.
Indianapolis — RB Edgerrin James didn’t do as well the last two weeks
as he did the first two, but that was more a product of the opposition than anything.
James was stymied by the Chargers and Dolphins, two of the better teams in the league at
stopping the run. … WR E.G. Green (knee) is unlikely to play this week, so
look for up-and-comer Terrence Wilkins and TE Marcus Pollard to continue to
catch more passes.
Miami — Based on their success of last week, look for QB Dan Marino to
continue to utilize WRs Tony Martin and Oronde Gadsden in the deep-passing
game. The Dolphins are moving Martin around to free him up.
New England — With WR Troy Brown out with an ankle injury, TE Ben Coates
should become a bigger part of the offense, especially in third-down situations. Tony
Simmons will also see more playing time, and he really took advantage of it last week
with a 100-yard receiving effort. Vincent Brisby will be activated but
shouldn’t be viewed as much of a fantasy threat.
N.Y. Jets — WR Wayne Chrebet is expected to return from his broken foot,
but we don’t recommend starting him just yet. Give Chrebet a week or two to get his
legs under him. Bear in mind that he has never worked with Rick Mirer in game
action.
AFC CENTRAL
Baltimore — It’s hard to place WR Jermaine Lewis as a starter because
QB Stoney Case hasn’t shown much consistency as a passer yet.
Cincinnati — QB Akili Smith says he thinks the Bengals can throw the
ball deep vs. the Steelers this week, but that may be a case of youthful exuberance. Count
on the Steelers throwing a lot of different looks at the rookie Smith, who sometimes holds
on to the ball too long and therefore gives up sacks.
Jacksonville — Be wary of playing RB Fred Taylor this week vs. the Browns.
He is still listed as questionable because of that nagging hamstring injury. His backup, James
Stewart, also has a hamstring, but he is listed as probable. The Jaguars are intent
upon remaining very cautious with Taylor. … Another note on the Jaguars’
offense: Because the defense has been playing so well, the Jaguars have become a little
more conservative on offense.
AFC WEST
Denver — Injuries abound in Denver. QB Bubby Brister didn’t practice
Wednesday or Thursday because of the hip injury that sidelined him for last week’s
game. Still, if he practices Friday and gets through it OK, he should start. Mike
Shanahan has said Brister, not Brian Griese, is Denver’s No. 1 QB.
… Our best guess is that Derek Loville (hamstring) will not play this
week. He has not had any kind of burst in practice this week, and he doesn’t feel he
can be productive. That means rookie Olandis Gary, who impressed with his hard,
heavy running vs. Oakland, will get the nod again. Gary will probably continue to get some
carries after Loville returns and may even be able to hold on to the starting job if he
has another good outing. … WR Rod Smith (groin) had a bit of a setback
Thursday and is very questionable this week. Start someone else if you can.
… With Shannon Sharpe (broken collarbone) out for 7-9 weeks, Byron
Chamberlain becomes the top pass-catching tight end in Denver. Dwayne Carswell
is more of a blocker, and rookie Desmond Clark is a converted wide receiver who
probably isn’t ready to contribute regularly yet. Chamberlain becomes a passable
option in larger fantasy leagues that require a tight end in the lineup each week. As for
Sharpe, note that he has not yet been placed on injured reserve, which means he could
return late this season.
Oakland — Rich Gannon could be in for a long afternoon vs. the Bills this
week. OLT Mo Collins (knee) probably won’t play, so first-year man Barry
Sims will have to line up across from Bruce Smith. Sims, who gave up two sacks
to Alfred Williams last week, will likely get help from a tight end and maybe a
running back. Here’s the fantasy fallout of that situation: The Raiders will have to
use more two-TE sets, so no Raiders receivers aside from Tim Brown and James
Jett are worth starting. Rickey Dudley will likely have a few extra blocking
responsibilities as well. One of the knocks on RB Tyrone Wheatley is that he
isn’t good at the blitz pickup, so the Sims-Smith matchup may cost Wheatley a few
snaps.
San Diego — While Mike Riley says Jim Harbaugh is still the
Chargers’ No. 1 QB when healthy, Erik Kramer will start this week. …
Natrone Means, who sat out last week, will play. The Chargers decided to rest Means
for a week in an effort to get him healthy for the rest of the season, and early returns
on that move are encouraging. Means has felt much better in practice this week than he did
last week.
Seattle — Mike Holmgren has been talking about getting Ahman Green
more involved in the offense, but don’t count on it. Holmgren still is a little wary
of using Green because of the running back’s fumbling problems in the preseason. For
now, Green isn’t much of a threat to Ricky Watters’ playing time.
NFC EAST
Arizona — You need to be wary of a couple of Cardinals players this week. WR Rob
Moore has missed the past couple of weeks with a hamstring injury but said he could
play this week. Watch the pregame shows carefully, though, because if he isn’t
feeling 100 percent, the Cardinals will sit him until after their Week Seven bye.
… As for Jake Plummer, he has really been bothered by a hip pointer all
week. He will play, though, but only after taking a painkiller. … This is not the
week to start Michael Pittman. Yes, Adrian Murrell has struggled, but the
Cardinals’ coaches are loyal and don’t want to give up on him yet.
Dallas — With Michael Irvin out indefinitely, the Cowboys will look more to
Ernie Mills and rookie Wane McGarity. Irvin’s absence could adversely
affect Rocket Ismail, as teams will concentrate on him more intensely. As for
Irvin’s future, all the talk of retirement was very premature and overblown. We hear
that the Cowboys’ coaches are planning on him missing 6-8 weeks, which would put his
return between Week 11 and Week 13. Also, the team has signed Alvin Harper, but he
isn’t expected to play a role for at least a couple of weeks. … C Mark
Stepnoski (back) is listed as questionable for this week’s game vs. the Giants.
He is vital to the offense and is the leader of the line. After he left last week’s
game vs. the Eagles, the Cowboys failed to score.
N.Y. Giants — Kent Graham gets the start over Kerry Collins at
quarterback this week.
Washington — Head coach Norv Turner used the bye week to introduce even
more of the offense to QB Brad Johnson, so that offense could become even more
diverse. Also, Turner wants WR Irving Fryar to become more involved in the game
plan, as he now has had enough time to become familiar with the offensive system.
NFC CENTRAL
Chicago — It may not be a bad idea to play rookie QB Cade McNown this week
vs. Philadelphia. The Eagles’ eighth-ranked pass defense should have an asterisk next
to it because of the offenses it’s faced. Arizona’s passing game is currently
ranked 26th, Tampa Bay’s is 29th and the Giants’ is 18th.
In the Eagles’ win over Dallas last week, the Cowboys lost Michael Irvin in
the first half. So there is hope that McNown’s first NFL start won’t go as badly
as it could. (See Jeff Agrest’s Oct. 12 "In Our Opinion" fantasy column for
more on McNown.)
Green Bay - Don’t worry about WR Bill Schroeder (sprained ankle) and QB Brett
Favre (thumb). Both will play Sunday vs. Denver. As for Favre, while his bruised thumb
still doesn’t look pretty, he said, "It feels better than I thought it
would," after throwing some in practice this week. "I threw the ball OK,"
Favre said. "I just didn’t want to overdo it. I could have easily gotten the day
off, but it was just too important for me to practice."
Detroit - Welcome back, Herman Moore. The Lions’ top receiver will return
to game action Sunday vs. the Vikings after missing the last three games with a sprained
knee. Moore will have the pleasure of facing a Vikings defense that ranks 29th
against the pass and will start a rookie at cornerback. Fourth-round pick Kenny Wright
could see a lot of Moore, who has a size advantage of three inches and about 10 pounds.
Moore has yet to catch a pass this season, and he’s itching to make a play.
Minnesota - RB Robert Smith may be listed as probable for this week’s
matchup with the Lions, but his hip injury may be worse than the team is letting on. Smith
would not answer questions this week about the injury, which might have been bothering him
long before last week’s game. Keep an eye on the Sunday pregame shows to learn more.
NFC WEST
New Orleans — Don’t give up on RB Ricky Williams yet. He’s listed
as questionable again (which could become a weekly event throughout the year), but
Williams should play, and Tennessee is 20th in the league vs. the run. …
If you need a third or fourth receiver, Keith Poole could be a viable option.
He’s becoming more of a threat within the offense and is a big-play threat.
San Francisco — Get RB Charlie Garner in your lineup because the Panthers
are next to last in run defense. … While QB Jeff Garcia hasn’t been
bad as a backup to Steve Young, the 49ers haven’t had the big passing plays
with him in there. That could change this week, as the Panthers’ secondary has
struggled mightily the past few weeks.
Carolina — George Seifert clams that he will stick with RB Tshimanga
Biakabutuka longer than he normally does this week because of the overwhelming success
he’s had early on. … WR Muhsin Muhammad has quietly put together three
consecutive 100-yard receiving games.
St. Louis — If you don’t have a better option, start RB Marshall Faulk.
But if you’ve got someone waiting in the wings, then you may want to hold off. Faulk
is scheduled to go but has been hampered this week by a hip injury, and Amp Lee has
been getting a lot of reps with the first team. |
