The DeCon’s Fantasy Football Picks – Week 8
By DeCon
Well, the Beloved are on a bye this week and generally I commit to Mrs. DeCon that I will have a bye week from watching football too, but things are heating up fantasy-wise. Lots of RBs hurt last week and still more that likely will be out this week from lingering injuries, not to mention bye weeks, so playing the waiver wire is critical. Check out my picks for this week…on the other side…
Guys I Like
- DeMarco Murray @ Philadelphia – I picked the kid last week as a guy I liked and he didn’t disappoint with 253 yards rushing and 1 TD. I know it was the Rams, but Phily’s run D, allowing better than 123 yards on the ground to RBs and 6 TDs on the season. Plug the kid in and let him ride!
- Antonio Brown vs New England – This rookie impressed the heck out of me last week with 102 yards on 7 catches. With Hines Ward a bit dinged up, he has a chance to surpass those numbers against a terrible New England pass defense.
- A.J. Green @ Seattle – Green has been solid this season, but I think he has a chance to explode this week against a week Seattle pass D. Seattle’s run D is actually very good, so the Bengals are going to have to beat them through the air.
- Tim Tebow vs Detroit – The Tebocalypse is upon us and the prodigal son returns home for his first home start of the season. Detroit is 3-0 on the road this year, but in all those games they were down by double digits in the first half and came back for the win. Seems to be the Lions are teetering on becoming the Lions this week and Tebow might just be the guy to push them over.
- Chris Johnson vs Indianapolis – If you are like me and heavily invested in CJ2K this season, you are pot committed at this point. If he doesn’t blow up this week, I am fearful he will go down as one of the biggest busts of all time. Hang in there for 1 more week and I think CJ will make us all feel better. Also, his schedule starting this week is starting lighten up and I think the future is bright.
Guys I Don’t Like
- Alphonso Smith @ Baltimore – For those of you who were happy to snatch Smith away from Beanie Wells’ owners, because of the oft injured RB, you will be happy to know that Beanie is likely out this week. The bad news is they are playing the Ravens in Baltimore and if you don’t think Ray Ray and the boys will be looking to hurt someone after last week’s loss to the Jags, you are sorely mistaken.
- Sidney Rice vs Cinncinatti – Seattle is a much better team at home, but if you saw that train wreck last week in Cleveland where the Seahawks lost 6-3 to the Browns, you will realize that Charlie Whitehurst does not have the skills to utilize Rice. Throw in that the Cincy D is ranked 5th against the pass and it could be a long day for our friends in the Pacific Northwest.
- Montario Hardesty @ San Francisco – With Hillis still on the shelf, the Browns will be looking to lean on Hardesty again this week. While Hardesty had a decent rushing total last week of 90+ yards, you have to consider he did that on 30+ carries. The San Fran rush D is allowing just over 74 yards a game on the ground, so it could be tough sledding ahead for Hardesty.
- Joe Flacco vs Arizona – On paper this looks like a juicy matchup for Flacco, but I remember thinking that last week too. I think the Ravens will be serving an extra large helping of Ray Rice this week and allow Flacco to manage the game to build some of his confidence back.
- Phillip Rivers @ Kansas City – Tough to sit Rivers, but if you have another reasonable option, it might not be a bad idea. Something is wrong with Rivers and Arrowhead is a tough place to get well. Rivers has more INTs than TDs and the Chiefs D is third in the league in INTs with 11, so they could be ball hawking him all night. Also, I expect the Chargers to try to exploit KC in the running game where the KC D is ranked 25th.
Hit me at beargoggles.decon@gmail.com or on Twitter @DeCon76
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The DeCon has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done…