Week 7 Thoughts and Observations

[Tom Kessenich]

Here are some random thoughts and observations about Week 7 as I wonder if anyone in Jacksonville still thinks Chad Henne should be the team's starting quarterback:

There are some seriously bad defenses in the NFL but when two of them square off the fantasy fireworks can be outstanding. Yeah Tennessee and Buffalo I'm talking to you.

At this point, there is no conceivable way the Titans can start Jake Locker when he comes back. Tennessee's offense looks functional right now and Matt Hasselbeck is a big reason why. He's playing like a professional quarterback and has Tennessee on a bit of a roll. You have to stick with him until the bottom falls out.

All I can say about Chris Johnson at this point is I'm glad I told everyone on my weekly radio show and on Twitter to start him this week. I had no idea if he would take advantage of the cake matchup but he did in a big way. I'm still not convinced he's all the way back but at least there are some signs of hope now with back-to-back productive games. Given how few dependable RBs there are this season that's saying something.

Vincent Jackson has easily been one of this season's best value picks but I'm guessing he's going to lose a lot of sleep this week after he was caught at the 1 on a 95-yard reception. That should've been a touchdown, VJax.

The last time somebody had a reception that long without scoring it was Ahmad Rashad. He ended up marrying Clair Huxtable and chumming around with Michael Jordan. So things worked out OK for him in the end.

Talk about your huge swings in the game. Not only did the Bucs fail to score on that play, but thanks to four horrendous play calls (LaGarrette Blount with three straight runs? Really? LaGarrette Blount?) they didn't score at all. They ended up losing by seven. That was your ballgame folks.

The NFL has some crazy rules but saying a receiver who is pushed out of bounds cannot legally catch a pass even if he re-establishes himself in bounds because the quarterback has moved out of the pocket has to be one of the nuttiest. Tough way to end a game, Tampa Bay.

Last thought on Jackson - was there a single move in the offseason which did more to help one team and critically wound another? The Chargers' passing game misses Jackson badly. Meanwhile, Freeman and Mike Williams have new life in Tampa Bay because of Jackson.

Hey, Dallas Clark is alive. Is this 2008? What's going to happen next, a Chris Cooley sighting in Washington?

Ummm ...

Fred Davis. Ugh.

I heart Lance Moore. And so does Drew Brees.

With my Waiver Wire picked clean, I started David Thomas over the injured Jimmy Graham in my top league on Sunday. I giggled when I scored. I can't lie. I giggled.

Andy Dalton, what the hell was that?

If someone told you before this week that Justin Blackmon would catch as many passes as A.J. Green on Sunday you would've felt pretty good about Blackmon's fantasy potential for the week, wouldn't you?

Speaking of Blackmon, the Jags spent two weeks talking about how he was going to become more of a focal point in the passing game. So what happened on Sunday? They featured Cecil Shorts and ignored Blackmon. Just goes to show you that trying to read the tea leaves in the NFL can often be a frustrating exercise in futility.

My non-football related note of the week - Do not mess around with Rick Grimes. I repeat - do no mess around with Rick Grimes. That is all.

Maurice Jones-Drew. Double Ugh.

At one point late in the game, I'm pretty sure the Raiders had 11 in the box against Chad Henne. My God, was he horrific. And to think he's worse than Blaine Gabbert. That's almost ... unimaginable.

If you're still starting Darren McFadden right now you must not have anything else at RB. It's just not happening for McFadden and he belongs on fantasy benches until he shows signs of a turnaround.

I seem to recall there were some people in the preseason who thought Victor Cruz was a one-year wonder. Where are those people now?

Cam Newton can point fingers all over the place all he wants but he made some truly awful throws on Sunday. He had Jonathan Stewart wide-ass open for a TD inside the 5 and threw it about 3,000 yards past him. That should've been an easy touchdown.

I wrote in my column last week that I've lost a lot of confidence in Tony Romo and he was just a matchup play at this point. But after failing to shine in a sweet matchup against the hapless Panthers' defense, I'm not sure what to make of Romo right now. If I have a strong QB2, Romo's riding my bench for awhile.

Hey Felix Jones, if that's your idea of a contract drive you may want to come up with a Plan B.

On the bright side, all of that offensive utility in Dallas is making Dan Bailey an elite fantasy kicker again.

Speaking of kickers, looks like Greg Zeurlein's mojo is back. Two more long field goals on Sunday.

When I was covering the Packers, Terrell Buckley once told me got burned for a big play by Herman Moore because the sun got in his eyes. I called BS because TBuck was a known excuse maker. But if I was covering the Browns and Josh Gordon wanted to use the same excuse on Sunday after dropping a TD right in his hands I'd cut him some slack because the sun really did look bright.

That said, if I accused Gordon of borrowing Greg Little's hands on that play I don't think anyone would say I was out of line.

However, there's no denying Gordon's legit. He's a No. 1 WR and he's elevated the Browns' passing game immensely. Gordon and Brandon Weeden could be big for fantasy owners the rest of the way.

Trent Richardson's soft? Should be a fun week in Cleveland.

Joe Flacco. The last three games are why I tell everyone I don't trust you.

Andrew Luck - 0 TD passes, 2 TD runs. Just like everyone predicted.

For one day at least, Randall Cobb did the Percy Harvin thing better than Percy Harvin.

Aaron Rodgers threw 3 TDs in his first three games. He's thrown 16 in his last four. Yeah, he's kinda good.

Steven Jackson still runs HARD.

Carson Palmer was the definition of shaky on Sunday and yet ended up with a quality fantasy day. Crazy game we play, isn't it?

Sure looks like Dustin Keller's back.

I know the Patriots won but they can't be feeling good about themselves right now. Their secondary's a sieve again. Seriously guys, that was Mark Sanchez tearing you up yesterday. Mark Sanchez. Not Drew Brees.

Christian Ponder threw for 58 yards and won. Josh Freeman threw for 420 and lost. That's just not right, people. It just isn't.

Speaking of which, how do you throw for 58 yards when you have Percy Harvin at wide receiver, Kyle Rudolph at tight end and Adrian Peterson drawing defenders into the box? I watched the game and I still can't figure out how that happened.

And if you're the Cardinals, you just lost on a day when the opposing QB threw for under 60 yards and both LaRod Stephens-Howling and Andre Roberts topped 100 yards of production. Good luck getting all of that to happen again in our lifetime.

I caught as many passes on Sunday as Kyle Rudolph. Did anyone start me?

If you're the Jets and have the ball at the 1-yard line and you don't have Tim Tebow on the field why did you even trade for him in the first place? If there's one spot on the field where you always want Tebow in the game it's at the 1, isn't it?

The Chargers are being accused of using a Stick-Em type substance in their Week 6 loss to Denver. Clearly, Philip Rivers was not one of the culprits.

And finally, if you started Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jonathan Dwyer, Jeremy Kerley, Dustin Keller and the Bills defense drinks are on you tonight.

[Sack]

TK: Finally talked myself into starting Andy Dalton over Cam Newton this week. Yup, got just what I deserved. Now, I need to express my frustration as ( you are well aware of this ) a lifelong Bengals fan.

Is it me? Why in God's name is that idiot Marvin Lewis challenging a two yard completion in the third quarter of a tied game? Please.............explain ANY logic to this? I mean, it is going to be 3rd and 6 with the momentum of the play clearly on the Bengals side OR you can make it 3rd and 8 with the risk of a Timeout that clearly could be important later in the game.
Is it me? This man is an idiot. Plain and simple. No chance it was a fumble................I just don't get it. Then.......sure enough - with his team DOWN by 7 points in the 4th Quarter and the Bengals in desperate need of those timeouts a similiar play takes place. This one needed to be challenged because it resulted in a first down. Of course, the Refs didn't see significant
evidence to overturn this call either and Marvin left the Bengals in a spot in which they couldn't get the ball back. It amazes me that this guy still has a coaching job in the NFL. I realize nobody cares because it is the Bengals...........but it amazes me.


Signed, you totally frustrated Bengals fan

[Tom Kessenich]

Ken, in the magazine league I have Rivers and Dalton as my QBs. I've started Rivers every single week only to see Dalton outperform him consistently. So this week, with Rivers on a bye, I finally start Dalton and he puts up his worst game of the season. Fortunately, I'm still going to win convincingly but I was shocked at how badly he played. The Steelers have been having major issues in the secondary, especially Ike Taylor, so I thought Dalton and Green would pick them apart. I didn't think the Bengals were going to win but I thought they'd have more success throwing the ball then they did.

I'm really confused as to why they don't use Hawkins more. I don't own him in a single league but he has some juice. If teams are taking Green away why not try to get Hawkins more involved?

[got heeem]

Are you joking about Hasselbeck starting over Locker . this must have been a miss print Hasselbeck is washed up . Locker is the man he can throw deep can Hass ? Anyone could look good vs buff def . I hope the Tenn upper GM and coaches please don't think like you .

[Tom Kessenich]

Are you joking about Hasselbeck starting over Locker . this must have been a miss print Hasselbeck is washed up . Locker is the man he can throw deep can Hass ? Anyone could look good vs buff def . I hope the Tenn upper GM and coaches please don't think like you .

The Titans also beat Pittsburgh last week. Locker was struggling mightily before he got hurt. Hasselbeck has been a huge help to the offense in my opinion. I don't think it's a coincidence that Johnson has played better the last two games either. Locker may be the long-term answer for Tennessee but he looked to be in way over his head before his injury. Hasselbeck absolutely should remain the starter in my opinion as long as he continues to play well and especially if the team continues winning.

[Captain Hook]

Ken, in the magazine league I have Rivers and Dalton as my QBs. I've started Rivers every single week only to see Dalton outperform him consistently. So this week, with Rivers on a bye, I finally start Dalton and he puts up his worst game of the season. Fortunately, I'm still going to win convincingly but I was shocked at how badly he played. The Steelers have been having major issues in the secondary, especially Ike Taylor, so I thought Dalton and Green would pick them apart. I didn't think the Bengals were going to win but I thought they'd have more success throwing the ball then they did.

I'm really confused as to why they don't use Hawkins more. I don't own him in a single league but he has some juice. If teams are taking Green away why not try to get Hawkins more involved?

Tom not only is the Bengals coach staff failing the eye test with Hawkins they must have blown smoke at Collingsworth as well - he kept saying during the game that the team needs to get a receiver to play opposite Green that will make the defense more honest in their coverage ..... Maybe he can't see Hawkins either

[Tom Kessenich]

Ken, in the magazine league I have Rivers and Dalton as my QBs. I've started Rivers every single week only to see Dalton outperform him consistently. So this week, with Rivers on a bye, I finally start Dalton and he puts up his worst game of the season. Fortunately, I'm still going to win convincingly but I was shocked at how badly he played. The Steelers have been having major issues in the secondary, especially Ike Taylor, so I thought Dalton and Green would pick them apart. I didn't think the Bengals were going to win but I thought they'd have more success throwing the ball then they did.

I'm really confused as to why they don't use Hawkins more. I don't own him in a single league but he has some juice. If teams are taking Green away why not try to get Hawkins more involved?

Tom not only is the Bengals coach staff failing the eye test with Hawkins they must have blown smoke at Collingsworth as well - he kept saying during the game that the team needs to get a receiver to play opposite Green that will make the defense more honest in their coverage ..... Maybe he can't see Hawkins either

I heard the same thing and thought the same thing. They have someone who's providing some spark but they don't play him enough. Not sure what the issue is there. Obvious answer is bad coaching.

[boli34]

Are you joking about Hasselbeck starting over Locker . this must have been a miss print Hasselbeck is washed up . Locker is the man he can throw deep can Hass ? Anyone could look good vs buff def . I hope the Tenn upper GM and coaches please don't think like you .

The Titans also beat Pittsburgh last week. Locker was struggling mightily before he got hurt. Hasselbeck has been a huge help to the offense in my opinion. I don't think it's a coincidence that Johnson has played better the last two games either. Locker may be the long-term answer for Tennessee but he looked to be in way over his head before his injury. Hasselbeck absolutely should remain the starter in my opinion as long as he continues to play well and especially if the team continues winning.

Why do you think CJ2K looks pretty solid the past 2 game? Teams respect their pass now so they can't stack the box.

[Tom Kessenich]

Are you joking about Hasselbeck starting over Locker . this must have been a miss print Hasselbeck is washed up . Locker is the man he can throw deep can Hass ? Anyone could look good vs buff def . I hope the Tenn upper GM and coaches please don't think like you .

The Titans also beat Pittsburgh last week. Locker was struggling mightily before he got hurt. Hasselbeck has been a huge help to the offense in my opinion. I don't think it's a coincidence that Johnson has played better the last two games either. Locker may be the long-term answer for Tennessee but he looked to be in way over his head before his injury. Hasselbeck absolutely should remain the starter in my opinion as long as he continues to play well and especially if the team continues winning.

Why do you think CJ2K looks pretty solid the past 2 game? Teams respect their pass now so they can't stack the box.

I agree that's a factor. Hasselbeck is playing well and providing a passing game element that teams now have to be conscious of. I don't think you can blame all of CJ's issues onto Locker because Johnson was flat-out awful but I think it's certainly helped Johnson to have the threat of the passing game now in place.

[bald is beautiful]

I want to ask MJD why he wasn't tough enough to go back into the game. Why? Because MJD was the "tough guy" who spouted off against Cutler when Cutler hurt his knee and couldn't return to the NFC Championship game. Be a man and lead by example, Maurice.