The worst thing happened to Steve Slaton owners on Sunday. The Texans running back fumbled early in the first quarter and was benched for the remainder of the game. Slaton has had a difficult time holding onto the ball the past three weeks fumbling twice in weeks six and seven. Slaton was told in practice that if he couldn’t hold onto the ball he would be benched, and so he was. What made matters even worse is that his replacement, Ryan Moats, had 126 yards on 23 carries and three touchdowns. Who starts next week for the Texans? The Texans play the Indianapolis Colts in what may be the biggest game in the Texans short lived history. They will surely want their most explosive offensive weapons on the field, especially with the loss of tight end Owen Daniels for the season with a torn ACL. Best guess is Slaton gets the start, but if he puts the ball on the ground once again, it could be a very quick hook. Slaton owners may want to claim Moats off waivers so they can handcuff the two. As for the Daniels, his loss will most certainly be felt by the Texans as he was having a fantastic season to date. They will not be able to replace his production from the tight end spot so they may have to back to wide receiver Kevin Walter as an effective weapon. They have not used Walter as much this season as he has seemed to be no better than the fourth of fifth read on most routes. Perhaps he can regain his status in the lineup. Both Walter and Jacoby Jones will need to pick up their play in order to keep the Texans offense on a roll.
The magical ride that Bills backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had been on the past few weeks came crashing down on Sunday. Fitzpatrick finished Sunday 15-23 for a wimpy 117 yards. Trent Edwards is sure to start in Week 9 if he has recovered from his concussion.
The mess that is the Cleveland Browns quarterback situation didn’t get any cleaner on Sunday. Derek Anderson finished the game 6-17 for 76 yards. He was replaced by Brady Quinn late in the game and he finished 1-3 for nine yards. Ugly and uglier. The Browns certainly didn’t do their quarterbacks any favors by trading away their two best receivers. Tight end Kellen Winslow was traded in the offseason to Tampa Bay, and Braylon Edwards was traded to the Jets before the trading deadline this season. They just don’t have anyone to throw to, certainly not anyone who is close to a number one receiver. Why has head coach Eric Mangini stayed with Anderson? He’s been terrible for weeks now, yet gets the start week in and week out. Does Mangini have no faith in Quinn, or is it because if Quinn plays a certain amount of plays he gets a fat bonus?
Let’s hear it for the St. Louis Rams as they finally snapped their 17 game losing streak with a win over the Lions on Sunday. The Rams are still a terrible team, but at least they won’t go winless. Fantasy owners have been complaining about Rams running back Steven Jackson having a terrible fantasy season for a few weeks now, but the problem hasn’t been the rushing yardage, but rather the lack of touchdowns. Well Jackson finally scored his first TD of the season on Sunday, and added 149 yards on the ground. The touchdowns are going to be hard to come by, but the yardage will be there. He’s still a RB2 in most leagues.
The Indianapolis Colts managed the beat the 49ers on Sunday without the benefit of a touchdown pass from quarterback Peyton Manning. The 49ers played a bend but don’t break kind of defense, allowing Manning and the Colts to march up and down the field inside the 20s, but holding strong in the red zone. The Colts had to settle for four field goals until running back Joseph Addai on a halfback option found wide receiver Reggie Wayne in the end zone. For a guy who was questionable going into the game with a groin injury, Wayne was targeted 20 times, catching 12 balls for 147 yards. Imagine what he could’ve done had he been healthy.
For those of you who have Dolphins receiver Ted Ginn in your fantasy league and are hoping that his two kickoff returns for touchdowns on Sunday will get him back in the starting lineup, I have bad news for you. The Dolphins are leaning towards keeping Ginn as their primary returner and only using him on certain deep routes as a receiver for the time being. Ginn has certainly been a big disappointment for Miami but they will still try and find away to get some production from him. His two returns along with Jason Taylor returning a fumble for a touchdown won the game for the Dolphins on Sunday, a game in which the Dolphins only had 164 yards of total offense.
What is wrong the New York Giants? Quarterback Eli Manning has looked terrible the past three weeks, constantly missing open receivers and throwing the ball to the wrong colored jersey too often. The Giants are denying that there is an injury to be concerned about, but it seems that Manning hasn’t been the same since injuring his heel against the Raiders. Perhaps he can’t step into throws or it is bothering him to push off. The next question is where has their vaunted pass rush been? Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb seemed to have all the time he needed to find receivers open all over the field against the G-men. The tough part of the Giants schedule starts now, and if they don’t figure things out soon, they may be on the outside looking in come playoff time.
The Titans started Vince Young at quarterback on Sunday, and it paid instant dividends as they won their first game of the season. Young’s numbers were nothing to get excited about, 15-18 125 yards, one touchdown, but he didn’t make any mistakes, was able to pick up some key first downs, and more importantly handed the ball off to running back Chris Johnson who had a huge game with 24 carries for 228 yards including touchdown runs of 52 and 89 yards. The Titans need to know what they have in Young. Is he their quarterback of the future? Let him play, and let’s find out.
In the Carolina/Arizona game on Sunday, if I told you one quarterback was going to finish the game with five interceptions and a fumble, who would, you think it was? Well it wasn’t Jake Delhomme, but rather Kurt Warner. Delhomme led the Panthers to victory and will live to start another week.
In case you didn’t know, Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre went back to Green Bay on Sunday. You could tell from his final numbers that he was a nervous wreck during the game as he was 17-28 for 244 yards and four touchdowns. Are you kidding me? Favre looked great; it was the Packers who looked nervous, especially quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the first half as he was flat out awful. He took to many sacks, missed open receivers; he was the one playing with butterflies in his stomach, not Favre.
