Here is our Week 10 Fantasy Football Start and Bench Advice for the 2009 Fantasy Football Season. Start ‘EM & Sit ‘Em Advice was meant to be bold, yet calculated. We know that and we understand that. We also understand that fantasy owners aren’t looking for answers to the obvious questions, which is why we have addressed more dilemma-like situations entering Week 10 of the 2009 fantasy football season.
Both Matt Forte and Cedric Benson are good starts this week. Forte will be involved in the rushing and passing game this week and should be able to get some receptions out of the backfield. Six to eight targets along with 12-15 carries should produce over 100 overall yards again. Benson has punished the Raven defense twice this year. In their first meeting Benson rushed for 76 yards and a td. This time around I believe he could be the first RB to gain 100 rushing yards against the Steelers, but it won’t be enough to start him ahead of Forte, who’ll be able to add receiving yards as well.
Matt Forte was my pick at RB to be benched in week 9, and this week is no different. If you play in PPR, Forte is barely breaking even right now, otherwise he has been one of the biggest busts of 2009. Can’t think of a reason, other than blind faith, to play him against one of the better rushing defenses in the league. On the other hand Cedric Benson is someone I got completely wrong this year, and he has done nothing but impress week in, week out. Did you know he is the first running back since Jerome Bettis (in 1997!) to have two 100 yard games against the Ravens in a single season? That’s more than enough for me to give him the start here.
Marshawn Lynch gets a Tennessee team that has surrendered 158 total yards to Frank Gore, 177 rushing yards to Maurice Jones-Drew and 133 total yards to, *gulp* Laurence Maroney. San Diego has done everything it can to get LaDainian Tomlinson rolling but the best he’s done is 71 yards against the Chiefs! With a tougher run schedule coming up LT is nothing but trade bait in re-drafts. I start Lynch in this case, no hesitation.
If you simply look at the matchups, LaDainian Tomlinson clearly has the tougher task, as the Eagles are a top 10 rushing defense. LT’s best game this season was 71 yards and that was against the Chiefs. This is not really a tough call outside the fact that we are talking about benching one of the all-time great fantasy running backs. Start Marshawn Lynch.
This could be a tough matchup for both receivers. The enigma that is Greg Jennings continues to confound owners. He managed 61 yards against Tampa Bay and I don’t expect him to exceed those numbers this week. Miles Austin is the WR I’d go with in this case. The Eagles did a good job defending him last week but I expect him to get more than 4 targets and continue his td scoring streak which stands at four games.
If I told you Miles Austin leads the league in TD receptions and has more receiving yards than Roddy White, Marques Colston and Santonio Holmes does the decision become any easier? How about if I told you Greg Jennings has identical stats to Santana Moss and is being outdone by Devin Hester in all statistical receiving categories? Yes, Jennings clearly has the talent to put up good numbers in any given week, but I think Tony Romo’s new #1 WR gives your team the best chance to win. Start Miles Austin.
Carolina plays tough passing defense. In their first meeting Roddy White went for 6/53/1 and I’d expect something similar in this outing. Mike Sims-Walker has an even tougher matchup in New York as I expect Darrel Revis to cover him one-on-one for the game. White would be the WR I use in this case and if you have alternatives to Walker on your roster, I’d give serious consideration to starting them. The Jets have not surrendered more than 68 yards to a WR since week 2 of the season, have not surrendered a passing td in the last two games and only three for the year.
In week 8 I told everyone to give Mike Sims-Walker the start over some of the better players at the position. He promptly went out and put up a 1 for 14 effort, and then followed that up with 6-147 and a TD last week. That’s the way it goes sometimes, but my message on Sims-Walker has always been clear, get this guy on your team – especially in dynasty leagues. Both Walker and Roddy White face top six pass defenses, so it will boil down to a good old-fashioned gut call. I go back to the fact that the Panthers were able to effectively shut down Marques Colston last week, holding him to one catch for 45 yards. I like them to do them same with White, so I’ll give Sims-Walker the nod here even though it could easily go either way.
Here are the defensive ranks against the run through Week 9.
# |
Team |
G |
Yds |
Avg |
Yds/G |
TD |
1 |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
8 |
563 |
3.7 |
70.4 |
2 |
2 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
8 |
671 |
3.8 |
83.9 |
4 |
3 |
Arizona Cardinals |
8 |
745 |
3.9 |
93.1 |
5 |
4 |
San Francisco 49ers |
8 |
746 |
3.4 |
93.2 |
8 |
5 |
Miami Dolphins |
8 |
756 |
3.7 |
94.5 |
9 |
6 |
Minnesota Vikings |
8 |
758 |
4.1 |
94.8 |
2 |
7 |
Baltimore Ravens |
8 |
759 |
3.5 |
94.9 |
5 |
8 |
Denver Broncos |
8 |
776 |
3.7 |
97 |
3 |
9 |
Green Bay Packers |
8 |
777 |
3.5 |
97.1 |
3 |
10 |
Philadelphia Eagles |
8 |
798 |
3.6 |
99.8 |
5 |
11 |
Seattle Seahawks |
8 |
823 |
4.4 |
102.9 |
6 |
12 |
Dallas Cowboys |
8 |
824 |
4.2 |
103 |
3 |
13 |
New York Giants |
9 |
939 |
4.5 |
104.3 |
12 |
14 |
Indianapolis Colts |
8 |
865 |
4.3 |
108.1 |
6 |
14 |
New York Jets |
8 |
865 |
4 |
108.1 |
4 |
16 |
Houston Texans |
9 |
978 |
4.7 |
108.7 |
12 |
17 |
Detroit Lions |
8 |
879 |
4.7 |
109.9 |
7 |
18 |
Tennessee Titans |
8 |
895 |
4.4 |
111.9 |
8 |
19 |
New Orleans Saints |
8 |
897 |
4.4 |
112.1 |
11 |
20 |
New England Patriots |
8 |
899 |
4.5 |
112.4 |
2 |
21 |
Chicago Bears |
8 |
956 |
4.2 |
119.5 |
7 |
22 |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
8 |
958 |
4.3 |
119.8 |
5 |
23 |
Carolina Panthers |
8 |
977 |
4.4 |
122.1 |
8 |
24 |
Atlanta Falcons |
8 |
988 |
4.5 |
123.5 |
6 |
25 |
Washington Redskins |
8 |
1,011 |
4.2 |
126.4 |
5 |
26 |
San Diego Chargers |
8 |
1,041 |
4.2 |
130.1 |
7 |
27 |
St. Louis Rams |
8 |
1,078 |
4.2 |
134.8 |
12 |
28 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
8 |
1,090 |
4.4 |
136.2 |
8 |
29 |
Oakland Raiders |
8 |
1,288 |
4.5 |
161 |
13 |
30 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
8 |
1,307 |
4.8 |
163.4 |
9 |
31 |
Cleveland Browns |
8 |
1,364 |
4.9 |
170.5 |
12 |
32 |
Buffalo Bills |
8 |
1,389 |
5.1 |
173.6 |
12 |
Here are the defensive ranks against the pass through Week 9.
# |
Team |
G |
Yds |
Avg |
Yds/G |
TD |
1 |
Washington Redskins |
8 |
1,391 |
10.4 |
173.9 |
7 |
2 |
New York Jets |
8 |
1,433 |
10.2 |
179.1 |
5 |
3 |
New York Giants |
9 |
1,672 |
11.1 |
185.8 |
15 |
4 |
New England Patriots |
8 |
1,553 |
11 |
194.1 |
9 |
4 |
San Diego Chargers |
8 |
1,553 |
10.6 |
194.1 |
11 |
6 |
Carolina Panthers |
8 |
1,564 |
10.4 |
195.5 |
10 |
7 |
Green Bay Packers |
8 |
1,573 |
12.2 |
196.6 |
16 |
8 |
Denver Broncos |
8 |
1,621 |
10.4 |
202.6 |
7 |
9 |
Buffalo Bills |
8 |
1,696 |
10.7 |
212 |
6 |
10 |
Indianapolis Colts |
8 |
1,714 |
9.3 |
214.2 |
4 |
11 |
Chicago Bears |
8 |
1,780 |
10.9 |
222.5 |
16 |
12 |
Oakland Raiders |
8 |
1,798 |
13.2 |
224.8 |
8 |
13 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
8 |
1,828 |
14 |
228.5 |
18 |
14 |
Philadelphia Eagles |
8 |
1,842 |
11 |
230.2 |
12 |
15 |
Houston Texans |
9 |
2,077 |
11 |
230.8 |
10 |
16 |
New Orleans Saints |
8 |
1,866 |
12.1 |
233.2 |
6 |
17 |
Pittsburgh Steelers |
8 |
1,876 |
10.5 |
234.5 |
9 |
17 |
Seattle Seahawks |
8 |
1,876 |
10.2 |
234.5 |
12 |
19 |
Baltimore Ravens |
8 |
1,922 |
11.9 |
240.2 |
10 |
20 |
St. Louis Rams |
8 |
1,980 |
12.1 |
247.5 |
11 |
21 |
Jacksonville Jaguars |
8 |
1,991 |
10.6 |
248.9 |
15 |
22 |
Dallas Cowboys |
8 |
1,996 |
11.6 |
249.5 |
13 |
23 |
Cleveland Browns |
8 |
2,001 |
13 |
250.1 |
10 |
24 |
San Francisco 49ers |
8 |
2,055 |
11.8 |
256.9 |
9 |
25 |
Cincinnati Bengals |
8 |
2,076 |
11.5 |
259.5 |
10 |
26 |
Kansas City Chiefs |
8 |
2,082 |
14.1 |
260.2 |
14 |
27 |
Minnesota Vikings |
8 |
2,083 |
11.8 |
260.4 |
13 |
28 |
Atlanta Falcons |
8 |
2,086 |
11.7 |
260.8 |
11 |
29 |
Miami Dolphins |
8 |
2,094 |
14.2 |
261.8 |
10 |
30 |
Arizona Cardinals |
8 |
2,097 |
12.6 |
262.1 |
14 |
31 |
Detroit Lions |
8 |
2,199 |
10.7 |
274.9 |
19 |
32 |
Tennessee Titans |
8 |
2,380 |
10.9 |
297.5 |
21 |
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Hey X,
The Steelers may be their usual selves, but LT is going up against the Eagles. Somehow, I think the same opinion applies.
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