ROUGH RYDERS: Week Four

The New England Patriots held Chad Johnson in check last night, which isn't such a big suprise, because like any great defensive unit, you focus your game plan to neutralize your opponent's biggest threat, and "Ocho-Cinco" is one of the biggest threats in the entire NFL.


This whole scenario might have worried me, if our beloved Rough Ryders hadn't absolutely CRUSHED Team Excelsior (managed by Moe Train) this weekend, making Chad Johnson inconsequential to the outcome. It took some of the excitement out of following the game via Yahoo! Fantasy's Stat-Tracker while I watched Arrested Development on DVD...


Having learned my mistake from last week, Tony Romo was back in my lineup this weekend, and yes, he continues to be the hottest QB in the NFL and an absolute fantasy football stud. He, and the rest of the Cowboys' offense, destroyed St. Louis, which really isn't saying much, but hey, I can say this - "The Rough Ryders got 'El Matador'."


And speaking of nicknames, we've also got "Megatron" (Calvin Johnson), even though Megatron didn't play this weekend because of a vague back injury. In his place, Bernard Berrian stepped into my #2 WR spot, and had his best game of the season. It would appear the benching of Sex Cannon Grossman won't have any sort of impact on Berrian's fantasy value, nevermind that Chicago's offense was as ineffective as usual with Brian Griese at the helm.


Likewise, Hines Ward is out with a sprained knee, so recent acquisition Kevin Curtis earned the #3 WR spot in my lineup. Unfortunately, Donovan McNabb was sacked a dozen times by the Giants' defense, meaning that Philadelphia's entire offense, especially the passing game, was lame beyond belief. Curtis' fantasy numbers reflect that.


Meanwhile, another acquisition this past week, Lee Evans, sat on my bench, but finally showed some signs of fantasy life. I picked up Evans off the free agency wire, which is utterly ridiculous at this point in the season. Sure, he was useless in the first three weeks, but you don't drop a #1 WR like Evans unless he's injured. No, you sit him on the bench, and wait for Buffalo's offense to get their shit together, which they are starting to do, now that Losman is out with a blown knee. If nothing else, it's better to have Evans on yr bench than on somebody else's team. Now, the beloved Rough Ryders have a strong receiving corps, and it's possible that I might not even use Evans every week, but on the other hand...Bottom line is that Evans had a better fantasy weekend than Chad Johnson and Kevin Curtis, and that's not a fluke. Evans has great hands, and is one of the better deep threats in the NFL. Plus, he played college ball for Wisconsin. Go Badgers!


LaDainian Tomlinson was back in LT form this week. Finally. Even though he had a really good game, he was still my #3 fantasy scorer this week, behind the aforementioned Tony Romo, and the Chicago Bears team defense.


Ahhh, the Chicago Bears defense. Despite the fact that 5 of their starters were out with injuries this week (including Rough Ryder Lance Briggs), they still managed to put together their best fantasy performance of the season thus far. The biggest thing I've got to mention is that they blocked two more kicks this weekend. In four games thus far this season, they've blocked FIVE kicks. FIVE! There are teams that don't block five kicks in a season, or even five seasons.


Plus, Devin Hester ran back a kickoff for a touchdown, which scores fantasy points for me. He already ran back a punt return in week two, a game in which he ran back another kickoff which was unfortunately called back on a holding penalty. Hester is a return demon, and I'm glad I get the fantasy points for it.


Speaking of defensive play, Asante Samuel is starting to shake off the rust of his pre-season contract hold-out and play Pro-Bowl calibre football. He had his second interception of the season, as well a handful of tackles and a couple of pass defenses. Can't ask for much more from a DB. On the other side, Bob Sanders got hurt at some point during the Colts-Bronco game, and only came up with 3 fantasy points. I've already dropped him in favor of the Steelers' Ike Taylor. Yeah, I could have re-signed my guy, Troy Polamalu, but Polamalu injured his abdomen on a fumble recovery, and I'm not sure of his status...


At DL, I swapped AJ Hawk for another Packer linebacker, Nick Barnett, who had another solid, dependable game. Meanwhile, James Farrior did not. I have dropped him, and am anticipating that Lance Briggs will be back on the field this weekend.


Oh yeah, my TE, Tony Gonzalez, has been playing well the past two weeks, and I'm glad because TE in such a tough position, fantasy-wise.


Anyways, it was a fairly boring fantasy week this week, as Team Excelsior didn't pose much of a threat, and winning a matchup by 80+ points is anti-climatic. Our beloved Rough Ryders, however, were the highest scoring team in the APFL this week, which means I get to see the team's name in "lights" in this banner ad for Viagra, which is ever-present on our league's home page.

Erectile dysfunction and the men who play fantasy football. Yeah, it makes sense.

Hotcha! Hank