Week 3 Preview

Generals (1-1) at Slackers (2-0)
ESPN’s Projection: Slackers, 185-121
Series Record: Generals lead 1-0
Last Meeting: Generals won 99-75 Week 11 (2008)
Matchup Notes: OK, this is just ridiculous.

Either Parker’s brother-in-law is a genius or ESPN is just going down on Parker’s team.

Predicted to get 185 points, the Slackers should easily do away with the defending Super Bowl champions.

But I’m not buying into the hype.

I think he’ll still win, but I do not believe he’ll break, no wait, demolish the League scoring record. I think the Organ Thieves should hold that title for a little longer.

This week, Brees is projected to get 40 points, and he has four players — Willis McGahee, Steve Smith (NY), Reggie Wayne and Marques Colston — predicted to get more than 20 points. Even his kicker is predicted to get 18, which would be second all-time in League history.

Poor Generals. Looking at this matchup, everything is going wrong. Graybill is hurting with Percy Harvin and Rob Bironas injured. He, too, has Steve Smith, but the Carolina version, who is not producing as much as he used to.

DeAngelo Williams is in Dallas this week and Darren McFadden is in Denver, who should make it tough to run.

Back to the Slackers, the hype is warranted to a degree.

Brees should dismantle Buffalo’s defense — honestly, the only defense that should stop him is the BYE — and with that will make Colston a Sunday Star. Steve Smith will get some catches against Tampa Bay, but I suspect the Giants will be running more than usual against the Bucs.

McGahee is in Cleveland and that’s favorable, but still, he’s splitting with Ray Rice and he needs a lot of things to go right to get 20 points again this week.

All I all, I’m calling shenanigans on the 185 points, but I’m standing by the Slackers’ win. He’ll be 3-0 before opening up divisional play next week.

Key Player: Drew Brees. Can he continue his record pace? This will be the key for the Slackers all season. In fact, I think I’ll just leave this blank next week and write, “See last week.”
Jammers’ Prediction: Haven’t I made this clear? Slackers 135, Generals 89.


World of Noise (2-0) at Real Houserville (0-2)
ESPN’s Projection: Houserville, 117-104.
Series Record: Houserville leads 2-0.
Last Meeting: Houserville won 92-72 in Week 11 (2008).
Matchup Notes: Here’s two teams going in completely different directions.

They will continue to do so.

But, that’s not what you think.

With a 2-0 record, you might think I meant that Noise would continue to win. But not so fast. The 0-2 Villains are not done yet.

I liken the Villains to the Titans. At 0-2, their season is not over. In fact, I think the Titans make the playoffs and maybe win that division.

Likewise, I think the Villains could be up for a bit of a turnaround. I don’t believe the division is attainable, but I do believe finishing with a respectable record is possible.

And Week 3 could be Step 1 in that mission.

Noise is banged up. McNabb’s ribs will keep him out one more week. Westbrook’s ankle has now left a huge void at RB.

His other two RBs, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams have to head West on a short week to San Diego. That’s a long trip after spending 45 minutes with the ball and not winning.

Now there’s an 0-2 team that will be 0-3. The Dolphins will not win and in turn, Noise will be in trouble because he’s starting both Williams and Brown — well, he should. He has a knack for reading too much into my previews and changing his lineup.

Houserville, on the other hand, doesn’t listen to me at all. And part of his lineup that I’ve dogged since the draft could struggle this week. However, Slaton may finally have a big week because when Schaub has time, he can pass the ball. If the Jaguars do not go wild with their schemes, Slaton should be fine.

Against the Titans, a game where Slaton had just 34 yards, there was only one run play where the Texans had every defender accounted for. That play was a 12-yard run by Slaton. Every other run play saw the Titans packing the box with more defenders than blockers.

How’s that for fantasy insight, Dawson?

This week, against the Jags, they’ll account for that and Slaton will find some space.

But… That means Noise’s Andre Johnson will be open, too. Johnson will make up for any points Slaton puts up.

Outside of Slaton and Peyton Manning, I do not like the matchups for Julius Jones, Dwayne Bowe and Lee Evans.

Jones is playing a team that doesn’t dwell in the NFC West for the first time this season. That will factor in. That, and the fact that it’s the Bears on the other side.

Bowe is playing against his coach. Forget the Eagles, Bowe is still in the doghouse. His attitude is not liked by his coach. And rumors have it that if the injury he is nursing is not 100 percent, coach Todd Haley will not hesitate to scratch Bowe. So the Villains will have to pay close attention to this.

Evans and T.O. and the rest of the Buffalo offense will be playing catchup against the Saints all game. That has been the reason why the Saints defense has picked six passes this season so far (they had 13 all of last season). They’re like a spider watching a fly get caught in the web.

Evans will witness his quarterback trying to get out of this web.

Now, the only question is, can the Villains get out of Noise’s web.

Key Player: Slaton. A big day from Slaton can tilt things the Villains way. Another sub-par performance will make Julius Jones look good — and Noise 3-0.
Jammers’ Prediction: Can I go CNN on election night and say “Too Close to Call?” I really think this game can go either way, that’s how tight some of these matchups are. But, I’m going to side with the healthy team that has Manning and Slaton in favorable matchups. Villains 105, Noise 99.


News Team (1-1) at Organ Thieves (1-1)
ESPN’s Projection: News Team, 110-103.
Series Record: Tied, 3-3.
Last Meeting: News Team won 113-75.
Matchup Notes: Essentially, this division opener is for the division lead. With the Generals looking to climb Mt. Slackers, which is a bit Breesy nowadays, it’s likely that the victor in this matchup will have a nice headstart on the division.

And after this division came down to the final week last season, any team that grabs a lead is going to be happy.

This matchup features both the QBs that the Jammers gave up on (Aaron Rodgers, via trade; and Phillip Rivers, via draft).

The News Team swayed away from Rodgers last week for Favre, but has returned and no one can blame him. With the St. Louis Lambs on tap, Rodgers and the rest of the Pack are licking the chops — lamb chops, if you will.

RB Matt Forte also has a favorable matchup against a Seattle defense that allowed Frank Gore go for 207, and that should work out well for News Team.

He also has Cadillac Williams going against New York, which last week, I might have said was crazy, but not so much anymore. The Giants defense is dropping faster than my Houserville’s League Manager approval rating.

But, as much as I like News Team’s backs, one must like the prospect of starting Adrian Peterson and Reggie Bush.

Peterson was held to 3 yards on 14 carries the last time he played the 49ers, but that was as a rookie. This veteran will defend his turf in the home opener.

Bush should also have a great day with the Saints running out of backs. Bush will see more touches, and think about what Kevin Faulk did against the Bills Week 1. He caught six passes for 51 yards. Bush is a better receiver and runner than Faulk and you should expect him to do more.

News Team has a good matchup with DeSean Jackson against KC, if he’s healthy, but this matchup may come down to what happens in the Thieves’ flex position. As of right now, it’s empty. That’s probably because Marion Barber is highly questionable. But, that’s OK, because the Thieves picked up Tashard Choice, who went absolutely nuts last season in replacement of an injured Barber.

The Cowboys play Monday night, so this slot might remain empty until just before kickoff, when the News Team will find out which player will start the comeback — or pile on the points.

I think it will be a little of both.

Key Player: Just mentioned. The Thieves’ flex. If Barber is cleared to play, then the Thieves are forced to start him, and if that’s the case, I don’t like it at all, because it’s said that his injury is pretty bad. If Choice goes, the Thieves might be able to take the lead and pile on the points.
Jammers’ Prediction: Thieves 111, News Team 101.


Jammers (1-1) at Gangstas (0-2)
ESPN’s Projection: Gangstas 126-91.
Series Record: Jammers leads 3-0.
Last Meeting: Jammers won 103-93 in conference finals (2008).
Matchup Notes: Stank has never beaten the Jammers. He had three cracks at it in 2008 and lost all three.

Revenge may come from Maurice Jones-Drew.

Jones-Drew, who was a key player on Jammers’ 2006 Super Bowl title, has been itching all week for this matchup.

Surely he saw what Chris Johnson did to the Houston defense last week and is anxious to duplicate his success. So is Stank.

But I think this matchup will come down to what the quarterbacks do.

Stank has Matt Ryan traveling home to Boston to face the Patriots. It’s a very interesting matchup because one would think that the Falcons would be favored, but when you look at it, the Pats haven’t lost back-to-back games in a long, long, long time.

Still, if the Falcons are losing, that means Ryan will be playing in comeback mode, which is great for an owner of a quarterback. The worst thing that could happen for Stank is a quick lead fueled by a great day from Michael Turner.

That would lead to more runs and less pass plays from Ryan.

I don’t see that happening, though.

The Jammers has Jay Cutler going in Seattle, where a depleted secondary allow for a big day in the passing game. Then again, Cutler could have his Grossmanitis, which he caught Week 1, flare up again.

I don’t see that happening, either.

So it may come down to who has the bigger day, which is fantasy cliché, I know.

The Jammers also has some game-time decisions to make with Steve Breaston questionable. The loss of L.T. also has made for a tough decision at RB. Leon Washington is starting now, but newly acquired Michael Bush is a possibility.

Key Player: Darren Sproles. Someone has to keep up with Jones-Drew to keep this matchup close. The Jammers will be relying on Sproles for that.
Jammers’ Prediction: It’s hard to keep beating the same team over and over again. Maybe I’ll say that when these two teams meet again later this season. Jammers 115, Gangstas 107.


T-Money (1-1) at Fear and Loathing (1-1)
ESPN’s Projection: Fear wins 140-110.
Series Record: Tied at 2-2.
Last Meeting: T-Money won 93-78 in Week 11 (2008).
Matchup Notes: If Fred Jackson was the player ESPN projects him to be, he’d be as valuable as Drew Brees.

For some reason, over the first two weeks, Jackson was projected to have two touchdowns each week. This week, he’s projected to have three!? That’s seven total.

How many does he have right now? One. Just one. Maybe he’ll get his season total up to three this season after this week, but certainly not three in one week.

Not against the Saints defense. Besides, Buffalo will be trailing and there will not be any chance for him to get to 100 yards rushing.

I let Dawson write previews for a week if Jackson gets a 100 yards and 3 TDs.

Outside of the crazy projection, Fear is struggling with injuries. Randy Moss is very questionable this week and his starting QB, Kurt Warner, is hurting too. Warner is one big hit away from watching Matt Leinart take over.

T-Money’s QB situation is good from a health standpoint, however, I’m not sure it is from a playing standpoint. Romo struggled last week against the Giants and he should struggle again against the Panthers in another night game at home in the new stadium.

I talked about pressure last week; imagine what it is like now. Jones is fuming after the stadium opened with a loss to the G-Men, and now he wants a win. That and the Cowboys need a win. The Giants will likely beat the Bucs and a loss for the ‘Boys would give New York a two-game lead. They also could be in last place after the Redskins beat the Lions and the Eagles beat the Chiefs (They seem to be locks).

So with all that weighing over him like a 1.2-million pound scoreboard, T-Money might be saying Oh No about Romo.

Key Player: Randy Moss. Fear needs Moss to come back and be healthy and contribute 15 fantasy points.
Jammers’ Prediction: My prediction isn’t going to include a score. It’s going to be based on the key above. If Moss plays a full game, Fear wins. If Moss sits, Fear loses.

Toasters (2-0) at Boyer (0-2)
ESPN’s Projection: Toasters 126-96.
Series Record: Boyer leads 4-3.
Last Meeting: Toasters won 116-106 Week 11 (2008).
Matchup Notes: The Toasters have won the last three regular-season matchups against Boyer.

Make it four after this week.

The Toasters has too much going for him, while Boyer has a lot of problems.

He has a shaky quarterback in New England. He has RB Clinton Portis and WR Wes Welker who both will likely sit out with injuries. He has Michael Turner going up against the Patriots.

There’s just so much that doesn’t look good.

Whereas the Toasters have a few players with favorable matchups. Trent Edwards is against New Orleans, and even though the Saints will run up the score and control the game, when Buffalo has the ball, they’ll be passing. It’s not unreasonable to expect 20 points of dump-off passes from Edwards.

Chris Johnson had a great week last week, and he and the Titans are still upset about having their undefeated recorded blemished by the Jets last season. Now the undefeated Jets should have the favor returned.

I like Johnson in this matchup.

The Toasters also have Ray Rice vs. Cleveland. I like anyone vs. Cleveland — even Houserville’s Julius Jones.

Moving to the wideouts, Greg Jennings had zero points last week for the Toasters. He’ll have just a big more. Against the Rams, give him 15-20 points easily.

And back to Cleveland, Toasters has the Ravens defense.

I think that’s all I have to say about this until I write the recap, which should start something like this:

The Toasters are 3-0!

Key Player: Chris Johnson. While 50-plus points in not expected again, it’s not unreasonable to expect 20 or more.
Jammers’ Prediction: Toasters 124-100.

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