Week Eleven

The Time is NOW!
By the Grazianimal


All season we wait. We search and search and we haggle and conspire. Then it Happens! Every year a featured back spits the bit or in this case busts his paw and we can pounce. Clinton Portis has stunk all season and made many a Skin fan wince with his mediocre production, but the light has shone down on young Ladell Betts and he is available. This guy has been picking up the slack for Portis all season and to be honest Ladell has looked better then his more bally-hooed compatriot. Now here is the really good news, the Redskins still have to play all the games on their schedule, so Ladell is gonna see some work.
Washington came into the season riding high after a playoff win last year. An aging QB, Clinton Portis slowed and now out for the year with injury and a defense that regressed considerably all combined to put the season in the crap heap. Joe Gibbs has made the decision to go with Jason Campbell. Lets hope the kid is at least good enough to win the job from 55 year-old Mark Brunell. I think that Betts will show enough down the stretch that Clinton will be splitting carries next year at best. Now if my Fantasy team did not crap the bed worse then the Skins this year…
I gotta talk to you about the New Orleans Saints. How important is a QB that does not stink? Aaron Brooks for Drew Brees. It takes Reggie Bush 10 weeks to find the endzone and the Used to be ’Aints are 6 and 3. ’Nuff said.
Tom Brady has been a cornerstone QB for a while. A lot of teams depend on him without a second thought. Well it is time to put your thinking caps on. The dude has lost two in a row for the first time in forever. He is nursing a severe injury. If he wasn’t do you think that The Sweatshirt would have dusted off Vinny for this week’s rumble on the tundra. Brady is a higher risk then he first appears. He could see the pine in a blow out or get knocked out if a hit aggravates his injury. The Pack is a much better team at home in Lambeau. Sit Brady if a decent option is on your roster.
The best game of the week will be in Dallas. The Colts are rollin’ again and The Cowpokes are a whole different set of rootin’ tootin’ hombre’s with Romo at the reins. Jason Witten has returned as a must start TE with Romo passing. Mike Francessa said Witten was seeing the ball not because Romo loved him, but because the TE was actually out in passing routes instead of blocking for Bledsoe. Makes sense to me. This game is gonna be fun. You know that nobody can stop Peyton until the playoffs loom. T.O. will be present. The Colts are so bad against the run that either Dallas RB looks like a good #2 start. Pigskins will fly.
Trent Green is back in the saddle again. He took off 2 and a half months with tweety birds circling the old noggin. If he was not a superior passer then Herm would have stuck with Huard like he wanted to. This is good news for all KC offensive options. Trent gets the Raiders at home for his return. A better QB will make the field open up for LJ and LJ makes all defenses ignore the passing game. Some points should be up for grabs. Kris Wilson will be subing for Tony Gonzalez if you need a flyer TE and Samie Parker is a good option at WR if you need a WR on short notice.
Condolences to the family Schembechler.

Grazianimal@columnist.com

For ESPN.com

New York is #1
By Bob Graziano
When it comes to football New York is number 1. More footballs get tossed, caught spiked and fumbled in New York then all the other states combined. More NFL licensed jerseys, coffee mugs, linens and baby rattles are tossed in the back of closets in New York then in all the closets west of the Mississippi. In New York football, dare I say Football, is King.
Pro Football is the capo di tuti capi of Football. The NFL is the gold standard for Football excellence. In New York we have not one, not two, but three professional Football teams playing on any given NFL Sunday. In New York more people enjoy Pro Football than in the rest of the world. It takes a whole region to support the Patriots. The Denver Bronco‘s are the only team for 600 miles. You can‘t get on the subway and not meet a New York Jet.
“The Greatest Game Ever Played” went down in Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York. That game made the NFL. New York built the National Football League. The Giants beat the Colts. Mark Gastineau invented the sack dance. No Football game is played today without sack dances. Marv Levy goes to every Super Bowl. They give him tickets. Frank Gifford invented the forward pass, and that landed him Kathy Lee. Va Va Voom.
College Football is all about New York. Rutgers plays underneath the Empire State Building. Just ask ESPN. Ever hear of the Army-Navy game? That goes down in West Point, New York. The Army-Navy game is what built College Football. And without the Army-Navy there is no America. All thanks to New York.
And we play just as much High School Football as any place else in the grand old U.S. of A. It is just not the only thing going on Friday night, but hey, when was the last time Billy Joel played the Texarkana Garden?
In summation, New York is Number 1 in Football. Rutgers is in New York. Mark Gastineau will defeat Emmitt Smith on Dancing with the Stars, and you can’t beat NY Football. Unless you play the Bills in the Super Bowl, then you have a pretty good shot.
Grazanimal@columnist.com

Week 9 2006

Number 9

By The 52X


Week nine is here and it is now or never for 3 and 5 suckers like me. Here is some hot info for the Fantasy Football owner with his ear to the ground. Reggie Bush will explode and Mike Vick is likely to be out for the season. Why? Because I just traded Bush for Vick. That’s why.

I am betting that history is no indicator of future performance. I think my crap team can turn it around. That is why I am still trying to win this season and that is why I traded away RB depth for a red-hot QB right now. Now is the time to spend any roster depth you have for guys that can help you this week. If you are on the outside looking in the Playoffs start today.

Let’s look at some guys you should target to turn it around or get over the hump:

Brian Westbrook has been unreal this season for the Eagles. His injury history and the fact that he is on a bye week 9 could combine to make Westbrook owners skittish on keeping him and that means that you could add him to your line-up with the right package. Westbrook’s schedule is sweet with the Deadskins twice, Tennessee and no tackling Indy coming up. This trade will take a lot of sweet talking, but the payoff could be a playoff berth.

If you need QB help like I did then Trent Green is a big wild card. He has been out since the middle of the first game, but he was a highly regarded passer on draft day. His coach has assured him that he will start. He has LJ keeping teams in 8 and 9 man boxes. This guy is on the waiver wire in many leagues. If you have been looking at crap QB totals then starting week 10 Green could be your answer.

Hines Ward is a notorious slow starter and the Steelers have fallen out of the sky this season. That means that he could be had at this time. Hines is a solid vet and the Steelers are a better team then they have shown so far this season. His numbers should improve with New Orleans and Cleveland coming up, but with the Broncos this week Ward owners might be convinced to part ways with the smiling wideout.

This week Football Fans get a marquee match-up to seek their teeth into. The Colts, who are in the middle of their early season unbeatable streak, face their arch nemesis when they travel to Foxboro, home of the 6 and 1 Patriots. The game will be a showcase of this generation’s finest Quarterbacks as Brady and Peyton face off. There is a big difference this year. The secret weapon that New England used to such stunning effect for 3 Super Bowl wins is now calling Indy home. That’s right, Adam Vinatieri is over his early season injury bug and kicking for the Colts. The Pats replaced him with a rookie, Steve Goskowski, and he has done a good job. But does he have the ice water circulatory system that Vinatieri exhibited so many times? More importantly can Adam rub some of those steel nerves off on Peyton? If this game was in 5 or 6 weeks with New England looking to put away another division championship then I would have to reconsider. This Sunday I see Peyton keeping it close enough to let Adam get some payback on the cheapskate Pats.

If you are a betting man then Week 9 offers a rare treat. 2 and 5 Pitt greets 5 and 2 Denver and Denver is getting the points. This game is sure to be a good one. The reigning reeling champs face the Broncos that they put away back in January. It has been a long 10 months for the Steelers and specifically Big Ben Rothlisberger. If this guy walked in front of a train this week I would believe it. Of course he would be up and about in 3 or 2 days. It is not everyday that a 5 and 2 team is an underdog, forget about facing a 2 and 5 club. The bookies are begging you to take the favorite. Take them up on it.

The time is now to sell the farm and put all your chips in the pot. If you need wins then any players not in your starting line-up are expendable. Make a savvy trade and you could be sitting pretty, but there is no use praying for better returns from the guys that have you scrambling as the trading deadline approaches.

Write the Grazianimal at grazianimal@columnist.com and tell him what ya think.