Start or Bench? (Week 10)

In this week's edition of Start or Bench, a lot of the guys from my (Greg) games (i.e. all of the 1PM games except CAR-ATL) were discussed at length in my rankings column from Wednesday. So it shouldn't come as that big a surprise to see them here as well. As usual, both of us will pick one player we like/dislike for each game, along with our projections for them....

Cleveland at Pittsburgh

Start: Ben Roethlisberger, PITT - The only way he doesn't have another huge game is if Parker gets 30 carries this week. Even still, he should be good for at least 2 TD's... Don and I both had him 4th overall for QB's, and it wouldn't surprise either one of us if he ended up at #1 at the end of the week...
Prediction: 238 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT's.

Bench: Jamal Lewis, CLE - I'm not going to spend much time regurgitating what I send in my ranking notes, but at least Lewis owners can look at the bright side; as long as he doesn't get hurt this week, he should be in your lineup through the fantasy playoffs, with a lot of strong matchups the rest of the way...
Prediction: 18 carries, 42 yards, 2 catches, 11 yards, 0 TD's.

Philadelphia at Washington

Start: Reggie Brown, PHI - Just a hunch, but if you look at his last 4 weeks, the number look like this:

6 catches for 89 yards
3 catches for 44 yards
8 catches for 105 yards
2 catches for 55 yards

Hopefully he'll continue his pattern of performing well in even weeks...
Prediction: 6 catches, 75 yards, 1 TD's.

Bench: Jason Campbell, WAS - In two games against Philly, Campbell has 391 yards, 2 TD's, & 3 INT's, which seems to be about his average for him. I know Gusto is big on him and thinks that he is ready to have a bust out week, but I just don't see it this week. Gibbs is going to run Portis into the ground yet again, and hope for another win...
Prediction: 160 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT's.

St. Louis at New Orleans

Start: Marques Colston, NO - Riding the gravy train on this one. As some of you know, I traded for him just prior to his monster game two weeks ago, and he followed it up with another huge effort last week. Against a STL pass defense that is average at best, there's no reason he can't make it 3 weeks in a row...
Prediction: 7 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD.

Bench: Isaac Bruce, STL - Take away the big game Bruce had against SF earlier in the season, and he is averaging 3 catches for 36 yards and 0 TD's per game. He has become unstartable in virtually all leagues, and even in a potential shootout, I have no confidence that he will have another vintage performance..
Prediction: 4 catches, 42 yards, 0 TD's.

Buffalo at Miami

Start: Lee Evans, BUF - Gusto and I have already discussed Evans at length, and I will admit that my ranking for him is about 7 spots too low this week. I don't think he'll see as many looks as he has been getting the past few weeks, but he's almost guaranteed to haul in another long TD...
Prediction: 4 catches, 95 yards, 1 TD.

Bench: Jesse Chatman, MIA - Are you seeing a trend here? As mentioned in "What The F*** Were You Thinking?", BUF's rush defense has been much improved the past 5 weeks, and with a blowout likely against the hapless Dolphins, I can't see Chatman getting enough touches to make a major difference for your team this week. And after looking at his ranking at other sites, it looks like I am going out on a limb with this one...
Prediction: 14 carries, 59 yards, 2 catches, 13 yards, 0 TD's.

Minnesota at Green Bay

Start: Donald Lee, GB - After signing a well-deserved new contract this week (goodbye, Bubba Franks), Lee has another excellent matchup against one of the worst fantasy teams (other than AP, of course) in the NFL this season. In my league, the 2nd highest scoring MINN player is their Defense, which is pretty pathetic... Lee may be in my top 10 for TE's for the rest of the season...
Prediction: 6 catches, 75 yards, 1 TD.

Bench: Sidney Rice, MINN - Although Rice isn't having a bad year for a rookie WR, he is ridiculously inconsistent. He is probably a free agent in most leagues, but if you have him on your team, even though he had a nice game against SD last week, he shouldn't be anywhere near your starting lineup this week...

Prediction: 3 catches, 36 yards, 0 TD's.

Jacksonville at Tennessee

Start: Bo Scaife, TEN - From my rankings: "Scaife has 14 catches in his last 3 games, and JAX is allowing a league worst 14.2 yards per catch to TE's this year." Obviously Mr. Goss didn't do his homework on Scaife (he didn't have him in his top 20), who I am expecting a big week from. If you have Watson or Daniels (or an injured TE such as Heap), Scaife is the FA you want for a one week fill-in...
Prediction: 5 catches, 55 yards, 1 TD.

Bench: Fred Taylor/MJD, JAX - TENN has been downright stingy against the run this year, allowing less than 70 yards per game on the ground. In their Week 1 meeting, Taylor/Drew combined for 48 yards rushing, with Garrard adding another 24. Potentially having Garrard back at QB this week may help a bit, but don't be surprised if the two don't have 75 yards combined...
Prediction: 75 yards rushing combined, 24 yards receiving, 0 TD's.

Denver at Kansas City

Start: Priest Holmes, KC - The Great Unknown.... As I mentioned to Don the other day, we have no idea of what to expect from a guy who averaged about 1,500 yards rushing, 650 yards receiving and 20 TD's each year between 2001-2003. On the one hand, the guy is 34 years old and and coming off a major injury. On the flip side, his legs are pretty healthy for a 34 year old, with only 1,741 career carries. In comparison, Shaun Alexander has nearly 400 more carries despite being 4 years younger. I'd temper my expectations a bit, but he should have a solid game in a great matchup against the Broncos...
Prediction: 17 carries, 85 yards, 4 catches, 33 yards, 1 TD.

Bench: Jay Cutler, DEN- KC has actually been pretty good against the pass this year, and is only allowing 15.1 fantasy points per game against QB's, which is in the top 10. With Cutler hobbled a bit and a surprisingly shaky running game, KC's defensive line will probably be blitzing a lot, causing the young QB to make a lot of questionable passes...
Prediction: 175 yards passing, 1 TD, 2 INT's.

Atlanta at Carolina

Start: DeShaun Foster, CAR
Foster is not a very good running back, plain and simple, but for whatever reason he really likes playing against Atlanta. Foster has seven 100-yard rushing games in his career with four coming against the Falcons. Foster, who has scored four of his nine career rushing touchdowns versus Atlanta, is also averaging 114.8 yards per game in his last four outings against the Dirty Birds. It all adds up to a strong game for one of the worst starting running backs in football.
Prediction: 105 yards rushing with 1 TD.

Bench: Michael Jenkins, ATL
To much surprise, Jenkins has taken a back seat to Roddy White this season in Atlanta’s passing game. Jenkins has been productive in three games, but has not had more than two catches or 31 yards in the five other contests. White is the Falcons’ playmaker and the one that Joey Harrington favors and considering Carolina has a decent passing defense, do not expect much from Jenkins.
Prediction: 3 catches for 40 yards.

Cincinnati at Baltimore

Start: Chad Johnson, CIN
Johnson is usually a must start every week so advising to play him is kind of silly. But Johnson was carted off the field last week with a neck injury so his status for this week was in doubt. He did practice on Wednesday, however, and has always played well against Baltimore with seven touchdowns in 13 career starts. Expect Johnson to start and play at a high level, scoring his first touchdown since Week 2.
Prediction: 105 yards receiving and at least 1 TD.

Bench: Steve McNair, BAL
Normally you’d want to start any quarterback that is facing the Bengals. But McNair is having a terrible season and the team doesn’t have many playmakers on offense anyway. Baltimore prefers to control the clock with the running game and there is a chance McNair won’t even make it through a whole game because of injury or poor play.
Prediction: 180 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.

Chicago at Oakland

Start: Cedric Benson, CHI
Benson has struggled all season, but maybe the bye week will have done him some good and have him ready to face an awful Raiders’ rush defense. If Benson cannot run well against Oakland, he is officially done. Expect serviceable numbers, however, from Benson.
Prediction: 20 carries for 80 yards with a TD.

Bench: LaMont Jordan, OAK
Jordan played well in the first four weeks of the season, but has lost his starting job to Justin Fargas. Chicago’s rush defense has been nothing special this season, but Jordan won’t get enough carries for it to matter. Look for Fargas to play fairly well and receive most of the carries.
Prediction: 6 carries for 20 yards.

Dallas at NY Giants

Start: Patrick Crayton, DAL
Crayton failed to catch a pass last week as Tony Romo heavily targeted Terrell Owens and Jason Witten. Crayton has either been really good or really bad in games this season. Expect the good against the Giants as their defense focuses on slowing down Marion Barber, Witten and Owens.
Prediction: 75 yards and 1 TD.

Bench: Amani Toomer, NYG
Toomer has played fairly well this season and been a main contributor in the Giants’ passing game. However, Toomer has never been a big scorer - he once went an entire season without a touchdown, and does not get as many looks as Plaxico Burress or Jeremy Shockey. Expect average numbers from an average receiver.
Prediction: 4 receptions for 45 yards.

Detroit at Arizona

Start: Kurt Warner, ARI
Warner did not play well last week, but who can really blame him, facing a tough Tampa Bay defense. Warner, who is still recovering from an elbow injury, should play much sharper at home against an average defense. The Lions do put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, but expect Warner to make a couple of big plays off the blitz.
Prediction: 240 yards and 2 TD’s.

Bench: Shaun McDonald, DET
McDonald had a productive game last week, but most of it was on a busted play that went for a 49-yard touchdown. Arizona doesn’t have a lot of strengths, but pass defense is one of them. Look for Kevin Jones to run well and Jon Kitna to put up so-so numbers, which in turn means so-so numbers for McDonald.
Prediction: 5 catches for 50 yards.

Indianapolis at San Diego

Start: Dallas Clark, IND
Clark was putting up some big games earlier in the season, but has struggled over the last two weeks. Peyton Manning has yet to really go off in a game this year so he is due. Expect Clark to make a couple of big catches and score a touchdown.
Prediction: 60 yards and 1 TD.

Bench: Philip Rivers, SD
Rivers’ play this year has been inconsistent at best and this week he faces one of the league’s top pass defenses. Rivers has quite a few weapons to work with, but he has been too inaccurate to take advantage of them. The Chargers best chance to win is to play smart football and pound the ball with L.T. Rivers may make a couple of plays, but nothing too spectacular.
Prediction: 190 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.

San Francisco at Seattle

Start: Matt Hasselbeck, SEA
Hasselbeck, who was also recommended in this column last week, has played well this season and should have all of his weapons available (D.J. Hackett returned from injury last week and Deion Branch is expected back this week). Coach Mike Holmgren said that the team was going to throw the ball even more in the future because the running game has failed all season. Expect Hasselbeck to air it out and put up strong numbers against a team he has torched in 10 career starts.
Prediction: 250 yards with 2-3 TD’s.

Bench: All San Francisco wide receivers
San Francisco’s best weapon in the passing game is TE Vernon Davis so it would be somewhat foolish to expect much from the likes of Darrell Jackson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle. The 49ers would like to rely on the running game anyway with Frank Gore, who should be able to play after sitting out last week’s game with an ankle injury. DJax might have a decent game because he is going against his former team, but in general none of the wide receivers are worth playing.
Prediction: 9 receptions for 110 yards and 0 TD’s.