2008 Fantasy Football Week 14 Fantasy Update
Top 3 Performers- Week 14
1) Brian Westbrook- RB Philidelphia Eagles
Westbrook put up 32 points this week, leading all RB's. He had 131 yards on 13 carries and a rushing TD, as well as 6 catches for 72 yards and a receiving TD. He led the Eagles in both rushing and receiving.
2) Antonio Bryant- WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bryant caught 9 passes for a season-high 200 yards, as well as 2 touchdowns. Bryant had been getting good looks all year, and he and Garcia have made great chemistry. Against a tough Carolina passing defense, Antonio had a stellar game. He gave owners a happy 32 points, tying him with Westbrook at the number 1 spot for fantasy points.
3) DeAngelo Williams- RB Carolina Panthers
Against a top rushing defense, Williams posted 186 yards on 19 carries and 2 scores on the Bucs, who had only let up one rushing TD all year. His RB-mate Jonathan Stewart added 2 scores and 115 yards. DeAngelo ended with 30 fantasy points, third amongst all players. (Westbrook and Bryant- 32)
Oakland at San Diego
During Thursday night's game with the Oakland Raiders versus the San Diego Chargers, Philip Rivers suprised many with his teams 34-7 win. With only completing 10 of 22 passes, he ended the game with 214 yards and 3 touchdowns with no picks against a well-performing Oakland secondary. On the offensively-quiet Oakland side, Zach Miller put up 8 receptions with 64 yeards against the less-than-average Chargers D.
Jacksonville at Chicago
Kyle Orton showed up quite nicely against the Jags connecting on 20 of 34 passes for 219 yards. He added 2 touchdowns and an interception with the Bears win. Maurice Jones-Drew led the Jags offense with 12 touches for 55 yards, as well as 7 catches for 47 yards and a short 4-yard touchdown in the game.
Minnesota at Detroit
Detroit played well against a tough Minnesota defense, but still lost 16-20. Culpepper played well with 14 completions on 24 attempts, 220 yards, and a score. Catching his touchdown ball was no other than Calvin Johnson, who put up big numbers, again, with 3 catches and 84 yards, including a long 70-yard score. As much as Peterson was supposed to destroy this Lions' poor defense, Visanthe Shiancoe ended the game leading the fantasy board for the Vikings with 5 grabs for 65 yards and a score, which came on an 11-yard pass from Tarvaris Jackson.
Houston at Green Bay
Coming off of a nice injury break, Houston's talented quarterback Matt Schaub led his Texans to a big over a profound Packers defense. He threw the ball 42 times, completing 28 of those passes for 414 yards, 2 TD's, and a pick. For Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers continues to impress, completing 19 of 30 passes for 295 yards. He added 2 scores and a pick, as well.
Cleveland at Tennessee
Tennessee kept their wins a comin', demolishing the Browns 28-9. Excellent rookie half-back Chris Johnson ran all over Cleveland's defense, putting up 136 yards and a score on 19 touches. The Browns had no offense what-so-ever, and proof shows with their leading fantasy scorer being kicker Phil Dawson, making two 40-plus yard fieldgoals and one 39 yarder.
Cincinatti at Indianpolis
Peyton Manning torched the Bengals defense in the Colts 35-3 win over the sorry Bengals. Manning threw for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns, while completing 26 out of 32 passes. T.J. Housh had a legit game, catching 8 balls for 75 yards, and the other top Bengal receiver, Chad Ocho Cinco, had 5 catches for 79 yards.
Atlanta at New Orleans
Atlanta's young, yet high-potential offense came up just short to Drew Brees' performance in the Saints 29-25 win. Brees didn't have his best performance, but he did throw for 230 yards on only 18 completions, with two scores. Reggie Bush also came out electrifying, helping Brees' numbers. On the Falcons' side of the game, top rookie quarterback Matt Ryan showed his stuff again, completing 24 of 33 passes for 315 yards, while throwing two touchdowns and one interception. His top wideout, Roddy White, also had a huge game, catching 10 passes for 164 yards, but didn't find the endzone.
Philadelphia at New York G
This week's top performer, Brian Westbrook, carried the Philidelphia Eagles over the tough New York Giants in their 20-14 win. Westbrook led the high-powered offense both rushing and receiving, carrying the ball 13 times for 131 yards and catching 6 passes for 72 yards. He also had a score both rushing and receiving, as well. On the other hand, Brandon Jacobs and the Giants couldn't do anything against the 22nd-ranked Eagles run-D. Eli Manning stayed on top of the fantasy spotlight for the Giants, only throwing for 123 yards on 13 completions and a touchdown.
Kansas City at Denver
Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall finally made music with their win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Cutler went 32 of 40 for 286 yards, and threw two TD's (both to Marshall) and one pick. Marshall went second this week in catches with 11, and also had 91 yards and two scores. Tyler Thigpen is becoming a great quarterback with even better targets to throw to. Even though the Chiefs came up short, Thigpen threw the ball well to his two main targets, Dwayne Bowe and Tony Gonzalez (12 catches for 169 yards and one TD between the two). He completed 17 of 32 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown. He also added 6 runs for 34 yards.
Miami at Buffalo
In this low scoring game, Miami came out on top of the Bills 16-3. Chad Pennington played well against a pretty tough D, and completed 23 of 29 throws for 181 yards and score to his tightend Anthony Fasano. Miami's defense played extremely well, forcing the Bills to put up poor fantasy numbers, with their top fantasy performer being wideout Josh Reed, grabbing 5 passes for just 58 yards.
New England at Seattle
During New England's 24-21 comeback win in Seattle, Matt Cassel threw 44 passes, completing 26 of them for 268 yards and a TD. He added 7 rushes for 14 yards. Seneca Wallace showed up against an injured Patriots defense, throwing three touchdowns, two to Deion Branch, and completing 20 of 28 passes for 212 yards. He did cough up the ball once though.
New York J at San Francisco
The New York Jets under-performed against a normally faint 49ers team. Shaun Hill had another great game completing 28 of 39 passes for 285 yards and 2 scores, as well as one interception. Thomas Jones added another touchdown to bring his season total to 12, as he had 10 carries 56 yards, as well as 3 receptions for 12 yards in the loss.
St. Louis at Arizona
Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals beat up on Marc Bulger and the fragile St. Louis Rams, 34-10. Warner didn't throw for 400 yards like he could have, but he did complete 24 passes for 279 yards. He also threw a touchdown and an interception each. Marc Bulger came out on top of the poor Rams offense, with 22 of 37 completions for 228 yards, a score, and an interception.
Dallas at Pittsburgh
Young running back Tashard Choice put up bigger numbers than Tony Romo did this week against Pittsburgh, the league's best defense. Despite losing, Choice ran the ball 23 times for 88 yards, and also caught 5 balls for 78 yards. On the winning Pittsburgh Steelers team, "Big Ben" Roethlisberger threw for 204 yards on 17 completions, and added a TD in the 20-13 home win.
Washington at Baltimore
With a beat up Clinton Portis, the Washington Redskins came up short against a hot Baltimore Ravens in a 10-24 loss. Jason Campbell put up the best numbers for the 'Skins, completing 21 of 37 passes for 218 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also had 2 rushes for 11 yards. The Ravens' offense looked proficient, with LeRon McClain and Derrick Mason leading the way. McClain had 20 rushes for 61 yards and a score, and Mason caught just 3 balls, but for 60 yards and one catch went for a touchdown.
Tampa Bay at Carolina
Wow, what a great MNF game this was!! Some of the best performances of the week came out of this game. DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Bryant had breakout performances, and Jeff Garcia, Jonathan Stewart, and Steve Smith also had great games. DeAngelo finished with 19 carries for 186 yards and 2 touchdowns. Williams now has over 700 yards (706) and 11 TD's in the last 6 games. Antonio Bryant bursted out this game with 9 receptions for a whopping 200 yards and 2 TD's (one came off of an outstanding diving, one-handed catch). Jeff Garcia had a reputable game, completing 24 of 38 passes for 321 yards and 2 scores against a rugged Carolina pass-D. Jonathan Stewart rushed for 115 yards on 15 carries and scored twice. Steve Smith also had his typical 100+ yard game by catching 9 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.
By Tony Falcioni
ProFootball-fans.com Fantasy Football correspondant
Fans can contact Brian via email at bchmfantasybaseball @ yahoo.com