ARI @ NO (-7) – Arizona’s win over Green Bay was the misfire that bothered me the least. It was a back and forth affair; had Aaron Rodgers connected with Greg Jennings on that long pass in OT, GB most likely would’ve won. I’m going to pick the Cards here, as I don’t like the way the Saints ended their season and am concerned about the rust factor.
BAL @ IND (-6.5) – Baltimore’s thrashing of the Pats bothered me a lot, relatively speaking, mainly b/c it seemed like the Pats didn’t even bother to show up! I’d like to think Peyton and Company show up, but Baltimore always plays them tough. I like the Ravens to beat the spread here.
DAL @ MIN (-3) – Dallas’ win also irked me b/c the Eagles failed to show up, as well. Now we’ve got Wade Phillips against Brad Childress. Ugh. Dallas is playing some inspired ball right now and the ‘vaunted’ MIN D hasn’t been the same since EJ Henderson got injured and Antoine ‘Toast’ Winfield got ‘healthy’. This game has ‘push’ written all over it, but just in case it doesn’t turn out that way, I’ll take the ’boys.
NYJ @ SD (-7) – everyone loves the Chargers this year. That means this is the year Norv screws the proverbial pooch. If they don’t lose outright this week, they probably will next week. So let’s spend another week on the Jets bandwagon, since a good running game and a great D travel well, even with a rookie QB.
Last week: 1-3
Overall playoffs: 1-3
Regular season: 124-129-3
Tight End rankings
What? You thought I was gonna give up the good stuff (RBs and WRs) prior to the Super Bowl? Oh no. I whetted your appetites last week with QBs, but you’ll have to keep reading for a couple of weeks more to get the ‘good stuff’. That said, TEs are important to me, as in my money league they are the only ones who get a PPR bonus. So, without further ado…
1) Dallas Clark – wrests the top spot away from such luminaries as Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates. Never stays in to block, gets the looks at the goal line, has a stud QB. Quite frankly, that’s all you need!
2) Antonio Gates – kept out of the top spot b/c Rivers never looks his way at the goal line and will disappear in games where Vincent Jackson can beat his man.
3) Tony Gonzalez – his QB is young and still learning and he also looks towards Roddy White a little too much.
4) Jermichael Finley – if he keeps this up next year, he’ll crack the top 3.
4a) Vernon Davis
5) Owen Daniels – but watch him in preseason to see if he’s lost anything.
6) Brett Celek – I often wonder how my one team would’ve been different had I taken Colston, not Gates, in round 3 and slept on Celek. Ah well. If, heaven forbid, the Birds trade away McNabb, Celek gets a bump b/c Kolb LOVES him.
7) Chris Cooley – another to watch in the preseason; I’ll have to research how Shanahan feels about sending TEs out to catch passes these days. He hasn’t had a great one since Shannon Sharpe.
8) Jason Witten – gets the catches but not the TDs.
9) Greg Olsen – new offensive coordinator in Chi-town may lead to Cutler looking his way more often early in the season as he learns the system.
10) Heath Miller – consistently inconsistent. One week he’ll go for 80 yds and a TD; the next, he’ll stay in and block all game.
11) Vicente Schianco – good for a TD every game and not much else. Hey, that’s still 7 points in PPR leagues!
12) Zach Miller – still manages to get his no matter who’s QBing the team.
13) Kevin Boss - hometown discount.
14) Dustin Keller / Kevin Winslow / John Carlson / Jeremy Shockey – bye week fill-ins.
15) Todd Heap – buyer beware. No way he’s as healthy next year as he was this year.
16) No other TEs are worth writing about.