Week 4 in the NFL was definitely a Sunday full of surprises. After stating last week how I thought week 3 is a good barometer to know how good or bad a team may be, week 4 showed me that I still have much to learn about the Not For Long League (N.F.L.). It was a Sunday where survival pools began to thin down considerably (glad that, unlike Matt from Stats, I took Dallas this week) and one in which we could officially say goodbye to some teams playoffs chances until next year (like my beloved Dolphins). As I sit here still scratching my head trying to figure this week out, I give you my studs and duds of the week…..STUDS
1. Daunte Culpepper – The expression “revenge is sweet” may have never been truer Sunday at Dolphin Stadium. Mr. Culpepper, after being cut from the Dolphins before training camp due to Coach Cam Cameron’s alleged concerns about his knee, went out and completely TORCHED his former mates for 5 TD’s, including three on the ground (read: what knee injury). While Culpepper’s passing numbers may not have been stellar in terms of yardage, it seemed that Daunte always found a way to deliver when his Oakland Raiders needed him the most.
2. Dwayne Bowe – After a fairly long holdout in training camp in which he missed a lot of preseason reps, I’m sure few could envision an 8 catch, 164 yard day this soon out of the former LSU rookie. With a touchdown catch to go along with those impressive numbers, Bowe was the only Chiefs wide receiver to make a catch on the day and looks like an early favorite target of quarterback Damon Huard.
3. Brett Favre – Move over Dan Marino, Brett Favre is now the all time leader in career touchdown passes. After hooking up with Greg Jennings on a first quarter slant for a TD. Favre went ahead of the Hall of Fame Marino with his 421st career TD pass. On the day, Brett finished 32-45 for 344 yards and two touchdowns. After post-game celebrations in the 4-0 Packers locker room acknowledged the record, the always classy Favre responded by saying “I’d much rather have this victory.”
4. Patrick Crayton – While many would of thought the loss of Terry Glenn in the Cowboy offense would of created a major void, those individuals must of overlooked Patrick Crayton. In front of his home town fans, Crayton hooked up with Tony Romo on 7 catches for 184 yards and two scores. With this Dallas offense clicking on cylinders, this may not be the last time we mention Crayton’s name this season.
5. Giants Defense – Plain and simple. 12 sacks and 3 points allowed against a team that dropped 56 points only last week against Detroit. This much maligned unit deserves a lot of credit, especially defensive end Osi Umenyiora and his personal best 6 sacks on the night in front of a national audience.
Duds
1. Marc Bulger – Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the St. Louis Rams, it did. Marc Bulger, a model of consistency and accuracy so far in his fairly young career, had an awful day Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. His 11-24, 114 yard and 1 INT performance not only put his team in the cellar of the division but actually got him benched for the latter portion of the game. Things do not look good at all in the “Show-Me” State right about now.
2. Philip Rivers – I think you would have to be a lunatic to think that after week 4, the San Diego Chargers would be in the AFC East cellar. After another sub par performance vs. a less talented team, quarterback Philip Rivers and his 44.8 passer rating on Sunday just won’t cut it. He completed only 50% of his passes and threw two picks, causing the boo birds to come up and creating chants of “MAR-TY” all around Qualcomm Stadium late in the second half.
3. David Carr - After years of getting pummeled in the backfield from a poor offensive line and a lot of losses for the Texans, Sunday’s start for David Carr vs. the Bucs was a chance to show the country that a change of scenery would do him good in Carolina. Unfortunately, all the squeaky Carr showed was a need to visit Jiffy Lube. As the stand-in quarterback, Carr went an ugly 19-41 for 155 yards with 1 score and 1 interception, leading his team to only one late scoring drive and failing to get his all world receiver Steve Smith involved.
4. Willie Parker – Despite looking very impressive in their wins during the first three weeks of the season, Sunday’s game vs. the Cardinals was definitely a trap game for the men from the Steel City. With a marquee matchup looming next week vs. Seattle, it really seemed as if the offense had ZERO rhythm for the majority of the game against a hungry Arizona team. Willie Parker, one of the league’s leading rushers through the first three weeks, did absolutely nothing against a mediocre Arizona defense. Parker had 19 carries for 37 carries on the day, equating to 1.9 YPC. To make matters even uglier, if you remove Parker’s long 20 yard burst, his numbers would read a miserable 18 carries for 17 yards. Ouch.
5. Cam Cameron – I know there on no coaches in fantasy sports. But after making such a big stink about wanting Trent Green as his starter and Daunte Culpepper away from the field, Cameron’s Dolphins were torched by his cast-away quarterback to a tune of FIVE touchdowns, including three running. After this showing, I wouldn’t even hire Cameron (0-4) to run one of my free fantasy football teams. You know, to be frank, the SportsJudge.com team wouldn’t even trust Cameron to roll their dice in Strat-O-Matic.
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John O'Malley is a Fantasy Football Expert at SportsJudge.com. His column, O'Malley's Tallies, appears on Tuesdays at SportsJudge Blog.
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2 comments:
Great post. So, are you recommending Daunte as a pick-up? I'm in a 12-team league right now and not carrying a backup quarterback. My starter is M. Hasselback.
Roger,
Despite his great game, his passing numbers were nothing special. With such a great running game and a great defense, the Raiders are not the type of team to air it out all day long. In my opinion, I would stick with Hasselback (he is my QB also!) and ride his hot wave as long as possible. During his bye week, I'm sure there can be a QB on the waiver wire that can do the trick for one week..
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