Fantasy Football Week 5 Start 'em Sit 'em
by Al Simmons
Brett Favre returns in week 5 with another favorable matchup. Minnesota travels to St. Louis on Sunday to face a team that has been outscored by an average of 21 points per game. As we learned on Monday night, if you can't pressure Favre or refuse to do so then he'll dissect your defense.
With that said, if you have Brett Favre in your lineup this is the week to start him. Favre has won the last 2 games with his arm and is gaining the respect of ALL of his teammates.
Quarterbacks
Peyton Manning vs. Tennessee: I know Peyton Manning is a must start every single game of the season, but this week I expect him to put on huge numbers as he faces the worst passing defense in the league.
Tony Romo vs. Kansas City: Romo hasn’t thrown a TD since a couple of weeks ago but the Chiefs defense had allowed 8 passing TDs and their defense won’t be able to pressure Romo into any mistakes.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Detroit: The Lions love to blitz but if Big Ben has as much protection as he did last week he will be able to put some great numbers. Detroit has allowed 12 TD thru the air so far this season.
Running backs
Tim Hightower vs. Houston: he had nine carries for 22 yards and five catches for 39 yards and lost a fumble a couple a weeks ago against the Colts, but now he faces the 30th ranked run defense. This will be a nice matchup for Hightower, especially if the Cardinals want to open some room for the passing game later in the game.
Rashard Mendenhall vs. Detroit: Mendenhall ran for 165 yards and two touchdowns against San Diego last Sunday night. Now the Steelers face a mediocre running defense in Detroit.
Adrian Peterson: Same logic as with Peyton above. You won’t sit Peterson any week in the season but in this one you can expect huge numbers from the best RB in the game.
Wide Receivers
Pierre Garcon /Austin Collie vs. Tennessee: As you have already read, the Titans pass defense is the worst in the league and they will be spread out against the Colts. The Titans D will have to focus coverage on Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark first, that will be Garcon and Collie open.
Patrick Crayton vs. Kansas City: Roy Williams is questionable with a rib injury, Crayton will be the go to guy for Tony Romo this week as they face the 29th rank passing defense.
Sit em
QB
Matt Ryan vs. San Francisco: Ryan is the kind of QB that is going to put 20 or more points when he is not being blitz all the time. The 49ers defense loves to blitz as they have recorded 11 sacks so far this season. If you have another option for your starting QB then sit Ryan this week.
Jake Delhomme vs. Washington: you probably don’t even have Delhomme on your roster but if you’re thinking of using him as a bye week plug-in, think twice. He is a turnover machine this season and he faces the 5th rank pass defense in the NFL.
RB
Steve Slaton vs. Arizona: the Cardinals have the second best rush defense in the league and Slaton has only had one big week.
Tomas Jones vs. Miami: Jones got back into the end zone vs New Orleans in week 4 for the first time since week 1. He ran 13 times for 48 yards, scoring on a 15-yard scamper in the third quarter. Miami has the 3rd ranked rush defense. You do the math.
WR
Chansi Stuckey vs. Buffalo: despite Stuckey being reunited with former head coach Eric Mangini in Cleveland, he is not a good start this week. The Browns offense has struggled all year long and Stuckey may not even get any playing time.
Braylon Edwards vs. Miami: he is joining a pass happy offense but he hasn’t had enough time to get to know Mark Sanchez, there are better options than Edwards for this week.
