Hook’s Week 11 NFL Wrap-Up

As your fantasy regular season is nearing its end, let’s take a look back on Week 11 of the NFL.  Thursday night limped out the gates with a “defensive battle” between Chicago and Miami.  Let’s be honest, the winner of this game was going to be the team that would suck the least.  Miami’s third string QB Tyler Thigpen was under center and looked all of his Madden 2011 rating of 64.  Once Brandon Marshall went down in the 2^nd quarter with a hammy injury, you’d figure the Dolphins would put some emphasis on the run…pause… (queue Borat) NOT!  Miami dug their own grave rushing the ball a paltry 7 times (I don’t count Thigpen’s 6 scampers) as opposed to 29 passing plays.  Needless to say, the Bears went on to win 16-0 while claiming the title of the worst 7-3 team of all time.  Chicago is the NFL equivalent of that guy in your fantasy league who’s in 3^rd place with the 2^nd lowest overall points total.  They’ll get to the playoffs only to be smacked in the mouth in the first round by a far more talented squad.  Bench Marshall on your fantasy team if you haven’t already.

There were a lot of crummy matchups this week but one of them ended up Hook’s Wrap-Up worthy.  Buffalo got absolutely worked in the first half by the Bengals, down 31-14 at halftime.  I stopped paying attention to the game thinking the league’s doormat was in for another blowout.  In a sense I was right, as The Bills defense tightened up and the offense turned on (particularly Ryan Fitzpatrick and the fantasy surprise of the year Stephen Johnson) for the Bills biggest comeback in 13 years.  They shut out the Bungles while dropping 35 second half points on ‘em for a 49-31 victory.  Burn of the week goes to Stephen Johnson, who scored 3 TDs and penned “Why So Serious?” on his undershirt in reference to Ochocinco and TO’s Batman and Robin moniker.  Respect.

Out of the other 14 matchups in Week 11, there were 3 must see games: The Jets vs The Texans, New England vs Indianapolis and Philly vs The Giants.  All of these games were thoroughly entertaining while showcasing some of the best teams in the NFL.  The Jets victory proved Gang-Green is battletested and ready for another deep playoff run.  Mark Sanchez provided us with a virtuoso performance highlighted by a last minute comeback drive for the win.  While starting him for your fantasy team is a risky play (Houston is the worst in the league against the pass), Santonio Holmes is now a must start.

While the Colts are injury ridden they still have a healthy Peyton Manning and at 6-4 is one of the best teams in the league.  The Patriots have Randy Moss in their rearview and came into this game coming off a huge victory against the Steelers.  While he is and forever will be a dirty, dirty cheater, Bill Belichick is one of the best football minds in the NFL and continues to bring a solid game plan with him every week.  After scoring 14 unanswered points, the Patriots utilized a balanced offense to hold off a 4^th quarter Colts rally for a 31-28 victory.

Sunday Night Football was a treat as the Eagles faced off against the NY Giants.  The balance of power in the NFC East has officially shifted as Vick is emerging as, dare I say it, an MVP candidate.  While I was well aware of Vick’s dominance several weeks ago, the NFL pundits have jumped on board giving this guy the respect he deserves.  You can’t shut Vick down; you can only hope to contain him.  While he didn’t exactly explode on the G-Men like he did on Washington (The Giants are 10x better than the Skins), he controlled the game with his speed and accuracy and a Philly victory was never really in doubt.

Week 11 featured plenty of fantasy studs as we had some high scoring affairs.  With the help of Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings put the team on his back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNEE8-1KI6M with a monster 152 yard 3 TD day.  Steve “Why So Serious” Johnson would not be outdone with 137 yards and 3 TDs of his own.  A few other wideouts grabbed 2 TDs this weekend, including Santonio Holmes, Dwayne Bowe (who’s been on fire) and Marques “peek-a-boo” Colston, the guy who will give you 2 points one week and 25 the next depending on who Brees is feeling that day.  For TD heavy leagues, Robby Meachem, Blair White and Miles Austin all grabbed 2 TDs while putting up negligible yards (especially Austin, 2 rec 7 yards, hardly a stud in most formats).  Our top running backs this week were MJD (220 total yards, 1 TD), Fred Jackson (129 total yards 2 TD), 2011 #1 overall draftpick Arian Foster (143 total yards 2 TDs), Mike Tolbert (153 total yards 1 TD) and TSB’s favorite running back Peyton Hillis (143 total yards 1 TD).  Thomas Jones rounds out the tailbacks to tally more than 1 TD with 2 scores on Sunday.  As for QBs, Big Ben Rapelisberger was busy scoring touchdowns when he wasn’t getting smacked in the mouth by Oakland defensive linemen with 275 passing yards, 3 TDs, 55 rushing 1 TD.  He was 1 of 7 QBs to tally 4 TDs on the day, with Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Jon Kitna, Ryan Fitzpatrick and P Riv all lighting up the scoreboard Week 11.  The Sanchize is our last QB stud of the week with his solid statline of 315 yards 3 TD 1 INT and 22 rushing yards.

With many of the weekly top performers at least putting up respectable numbers, there weren’t many major duds in Week 11.  TSB’s cataclysmic human existence ending atomic bomb cluster Randy Moss did not record a catch on Sunday and should be on the bench until Obama is out of office. Ahmad Bradshaw had a grenade of a game with 24 total yards and a fumble.  Eli Manning threw 3 picks to go along with a paltry 147 yard 2 TD game.  Kyle Orton choked on Monday Night Football with a mediocre 217 yard 1 TD 1 INT game (although its only fair to note that Brandon Lloyd lost a 50 yard bomb in the lights that could potentially have been a huge play).  Andre Johnson, Anquan Boldin and Brandon Marshall (my starting 3) had miserable games.  DeSean Jackson managed only 50 yards, and usually dependable Dustin Keller had 2 receptions for 7 yards.  Hook’s Must Add from Week 10 Seyi Ajirotutu was blanked, and with the return of Malcolm Floyd from injury and Vincent Jackson from utter stupidity can be now dropped in all leagues.

That’s the Wrap-Up for Week 11.  Take a look at Hook’s Must Adds, Must Drops, and other players to keep an eye on going into Week 12

Must Add: Derek Hagan (WR NYG), Vincent Jackson (WR SD), Mike Thomas (WR JAX),

Must Drop: Seyi Ajirotutu (WR SD), Clinton Portis (RB WAS), DeAngelo Williams (RB CAR season ending IR), Vince Young (QB TEN season ending IR), Steve Smith (WR CAR worthless)

Keep an Eye on: Joel Dreessen (TE HOU, worth an add if Owen Daniels is still out), Ben Obomanu (WR SEA)

Don’t be fooled by: Robert Meachem (WR NO, will not have another 2 TD game this season.  Maybe not another TD this season, period.)