da_kid

Does the Petrino debacle change anyone's opinion?

TB vs. ATL (HUGE week 11 and now starting Chris Redman) Gents vs. WAS (Starting Todd Collins) I think the safer play would be TB simply because you never know when Eli's going to throw 3 picks for TD's (and yes, it counts against my D), but I gotta think Collins is going to be a punching bag against that D-line. Whattya think?

I guarantee it happens in other sports leagues. Remember last year in the NBA when Dallas tanked the last game of the season to play Golden State in the first round - and promptly got rolled? Ah, good times.... sucks for Team C but as long as you can't prove that there was some sort of collusion where Team D promised some of his winnings in exchange for a shot, you have to let it ride. To Team C - be one game better. I love it when teams complain about how they got jobbed by the refs or this play or that injury. Don't be in the position, and then you don't have to worry about it.

I have the exact same dilemma - Bulger v. Pennington. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that Penny's arm isn't a hanging chad by the end of the Buffalo game - we may see the very first ever decapitation of a QB in Chicago. FWIW, the Bears have had 3 QBs go for 200 yards on them this year. Fortunately for me, I have Gore & Westy, so I'm in good shape at RB, and my opponent has Steve Smith at the lone WR spot (Delhomme out, Weinke in), so I'm liking my chances.

Okay, not really Caddy... Gore v. NO Westbrook v. CAR Addai v. TEN Usually this is a no-brainer for Gore, but I benched Addai last week like I think any other person would have last week, and left a TON of points on the bench. I could clinch the #1 seed this week with a win, so it's imparative to get this one right. Can Addai explode against TEN? Do I really bench a top 5 RB in Westy? Does Gore hit a bump in the road after 3 straight super weeks?

Bulger vs. Arizona Pennington vs. Green Bay Normally Bulger is the hands-down choice here, but his numbers are down, he admitted he's had bad ribs the last several weeks, and Pennington has rebounded, is listed by a number of services as a "must start" and is facing one of the worst passing D's in the league. Whaddya think?

C'mon, no one wants to step up and take a stab at it?!Need some help here!

Pick 2: Gore v. MIN Duece @ TB Cadillac v. NO Huddle sez: All three are S2, but sounds more optimistic in Gore/Caddy Yahoo! sez: Start Caddy CBS sez: Start Deuce SI sez: Sit Gore, with Deuce as a sleeper NFL.com sez: I like Deuce but Gore has a tough matchup (well, duh!) I'm leaning towards Gore/Deuce...Gore's yardage vs. the Bears makes me think that he can put up 70-80 + a TD vs. the Vikes, and Gruden only running Caddy 8-9 times in a tornado and a reasonably close game makes me doubt his sanity. HEEEEEELLLLLP!!!!

Crap. These decisions are not supposed to be this hard this early in the season. Ran into the high point scorer last week and looking at 0-2 if I don't get this right....HELP! Westbrook vs. Giants: Should play...I think...if he can get a bionic knee. Plus, the Giants D is supposed to be pretty good, right? Caddy vs. Falcons: Back spasms already? The Dirty Birds looked pretty stout last week, but with Abraham out and Kerney gimpy do they turn back into the Stay Puff Marshmallow Men? Gore vs. Rams: Normally I would plug this in as a must-start...but the Rams shut down a potent Broncos attack last week with Haslett as D coordinator. Is the Rams D for real? I'm pretty sure Gore is, but with Allen likely out, can he keep it up? Deuce vs. Packers: Ohhhh, how I hate my Texans for passing up on Bush. Not because he would be an electric player in a runner-friendy scheme, but because now they make me have to decide whether to play a RBBC against a soft matchup in a week like this. Buckhalter vs. Giants: Obviously, only a desperation play if Westy and Caddy are both out, and Gore blows out his knee walking down the ramp...although midway through the season he could be a savior if he stays healthy.

Driver. He doesn't get penalized for Favre's picks...

Does your league penalize for int's? If so, start Green. If not, they're both reasonable starts. KC/Cin should be a shootout, although the Bengals D has grown some teeth in the last year and have been turning the ball over, both last year and in the preseason. The Chargers secondary is weak and I'm loving Randy Moss this week, but Brooks can always go Brooks and throw 3 picks.

Gotta go with DeSoft. You may not have him after week 1 when he fractures a toenail...

JJ. He's still their #1 until Braylon proves he's healthy, and their playing the Aints.

Antonio Bryant is an interesting play against a suspect Zona secondary, but he's probably about the 45th rated receiver. Mason is probably the 15th rated receiver, and with McNair healthy you gotta love the connection that they have going on. I say Mason, and unless you have something like Randy Moss going in your other slot (or if you play a third receiver), try to work Bryant in. Doesn't matter that Heap is your TE - if that's going to keep you from playing them both, then you shouldn't have drafted one of them.

Both Caddy and Gore were keepers for me - Gore was a late season pickup at $1. I will agree that I suspect that in an open auction, Caddy would probably command more and thus be seen as the likely #1. I also recognize that the "every publication in the Western world" was a bit of hyperbole. I will say that Gore is listed as a starter on several websites' Start/Sit reports. But on a week to week basis, one could easily make the argument for a lesser player by virtue of the matchup, if the player has sufficient upside and the #1 option is facing a difficult defense.