
- It sounds like soap-opera drama is brewing in Detroit:
“Our boat’s not very full, I know that. We don’t have a lot of people left in our boat right now,” said [Detroit Lions QB Jon] Kitna about the sulking Lions locker room. “I’m talking about us in general. We are not heading in the same direction right now, as a football team. There’s an easy way out and a hard way out. We have to choose the hard way if we want to do it. But we have to choose it — all 53 guys. We can’t have some and not the others.”
Yep, it’s getting ugly for the Lions, whose last four games (DAL, @ SD, KC, @ GB) all look pretty unwinnable after watching the team lose four straight after starting off 6-2. The suddenly toothless Lions were trounced by the surging Vikings on Sunday, who rode a solid all-around effort by the improving Tarvaris Jackson (18-24, 204 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and a dominating run game to a big 42-10 win in front of the home crowd. The NFL’s leading rusher, Adrian Peterson, returned to action after missing a few and picked up right where he left off, bulldozing his way to 116 yards rushing and 2 TDs on just 15 carries. Chester Taylor wasn’t too shabby either, getting 14 carries for 70 yards and a score. Fantasy owners wise enough to own both of them probably need to consider starting both of these hosses; both are going to get burn and are running behind one of the league’s very best offensive lines.
As for Detroit… ugh. They lost Roy Williams to a knee injury, Kitna threw his requisite interception and took his requisite 3 sacks, Kevin Jones rushed the ball just three times, totaling 1 yard, and Calvin Johnson did not catch a pass until the fourth quarter–and that was his only catch of the day. The Lions rushed the ball just six times all day, and it’s become increasingly clear that OC Mike Martz will not be back next season. Only the Lions could turn a revelatory 6-2 start into something this ugly.
- One of the more impressive, unheralded streaks of this year’s NFL season has finally come to end. Jacksonville Jaguars QB David Garrard established a team record by going 231 consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception, and was rolling along just fine on Sunday against a very fine Colts secondary until Antoine Bethea picked him off. Garrard’s Jags lost 28-25, but anyone who started him can’t complain too much about the returns in a tough matchup: 24-29, 257 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 Fumble Lost. It’s on the Jags front office to get this man some more accomplished playmakers at wideout in the offseason.
- Oh boy, here we go again: the parade of running-back uncertainty in Denver is back with a vengeance. Rookie Selvin Young got the start (7 carries, 2 receptions, 45 combined yards), but Travis “Secondhand Smoke” Henry was the fantasy breadwinner with 2 rushing TDs. He also lost a fumble and finished with a subpar 3.3 YPC, which means projecting which RB is the one to start for the next few weeks is murky at best. The Broncos take on the Chiefs at Mile High Stadium in Week 14 in what’s an absolute must-win for a team dangerously close to falling out of the playoff picture.
- I’d rather own Justin Fargas than any Denver RB at this point. In that same game Fargas carried the ball 33 times for 146 yards and 1 TD. He’s been rock-solid for the the Raiders this year and should go over 1,000 yards rushing this week or next with a 4.8 YPC on the season. Fargas has now paired over 100 yards rushing with a TD three times in the last five weeks.
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