Did Anyone Really Start These Guys?, Groin Shot of the Week Candidates

Nick Goings (22-121, 3 TD) - Okay, maybe IF you were completely desperate for a RB AND you were sitting around just before kickoff to learn Brad Hoover was out and Goings was getting the start PLUS your league has really deep rosters AND you could decipher the Panthers depth chart after all of their injuries OR your league has first-come, first-serve waivers so you could pick him up. Overall likelihood of starting, 7%.

Joe Jurevicius (5-82, 2 TD) - Thought Goings was an unlikely start? How about only IF you were completely and utterly desperate for a WR AND you exhausted the entire waiver wire to find Jurevicius ranked 117th (tied) for receptions, 123rd in yards and 0 TD for the season amongst WR AND realize he has missed more games the past two seasons than he has scored TDs in his 7 year career AND... you are a die-hard Bucs fan. Overall likelihood of starting, 2%.

Mark Campbell (4-37, 3 TD) - Oh brother... NO way, NO how. A guy who hasn't caught a single pass in 3 straight games AND whose season TD totals in his 6 year career looked like this: 0, 1, 0, 3, 1, 2 AND relying on a QB coming off one of the worst starts of his career. The die-hardest of Bills fans in a 24 team, start 2 TE league probably doesn't start Campbell. Overall likelihood of starting, 0.25% (there's always someone who emails me some crazy "started him" story...)

Some Semblance of Normalcy, Groin Shot of the Week Candidates

Reggie Wayne (6-106, 2 TD) - This is more like it. The Colts apparently can play on grass against the lowly Bears, Peyton Manning throws 4 TD and yada, yada, yada, Reggie Wayne finishes with half the receiving totals this week.

Edgerrin James (23-204, 1 TD) - Was your patience running a bit thin with James not finding the end zone in over a month? Believe me you weren't alone, as witnessed by one of the best FF Today Forums posts of the week, "I'm officially benching The Edge this week; Who's with me?" started by St. Louis Fanatic. (I'm assuming SLF is a Rams fan - talk about a double groin shot this week.) Those who started Michael Pittman instead aren't too disappointed. Reuben Droughns was fine. Willis McGahee made some sense but unfortunately he had a beautiful TD run called back. Curtis Martin, Clinton Portis, Jamal Lewis... More than words can say:

I'm officially benching Edge this week...

Green-Lewis-Portis (buptkus) - What a week to put an exclamation point on the difficulty getting value out of your first round selection. Pick your poison: Priest Holmes and Randy Moss already out heading into week 11, at least their owners could try to find an adequate replacement. Ahman Green, Jamal Lewis and Clinton Portis owners didn't have that luxury

Comments From The Couch

• For those still unsure who the primary backup to Jamal Lewis is, let's just say Musa Smith is going to be out for a little while clearing the way for Chester Taylor. Ouch. I don't wish that on anyone.

• Talk about it being obscure TE score a TD week. Not only Mark Campbell for the Bills, but Stephen Alexander (DET), Jeff Robinson (DAL), Darnell Dinkins (BAL) and Dustin Lyman (CHI) all scored. Ah heck, let's give Teyo Johnson (OAK), Chad Lewis (PHI) and even Dan Kreider (PIT; even though he is a FB) some mention too. Speaking as a fantasy player, here's hoping none of these players find their way into this column ever again!

• Lions up 19-15, offensive pass interference penalty called against the Vikings on a 3rd down and 2 from the Lions 5 yard line. The choice by coach Steve Mariucci is take the play and force 4th down, or give them 2 chances from the 15 yard line. Sorry coach, wrong choice.

• Want an argument against conferences and divisions in fantasy football? In one of my dynasty leagues, it is a 12 team setup with an AFC and NFC conference, 2 divisions each (3 teams per division). There is such an imbalance between the conferences, check out the current playoff picture: AFC sends 8-2 and 3-7(!) division champs plus a 3-7(!) wildcard. NFC sends 8-2 and 6-4 division champs plus an 8-2 wildcard with a 7-3 team kept out of the playoffs. Hopefully this situation improves itself naturally the last few weeks of the fantasy season, but no matter what two of the AFC representatives will be below .500.

• My thoughts above on unbalanced divisions sending inferior teams to the playoffs, check out the NFC West. Does any team want to win this thing? Seattle should have lost to the 'Phins of all teams, at home, but lucked out. The Rams and Cards are still in the race but were both humiliated by two teams already well into planning ahead for next season. The NFC Central is only marginally better. What a horrible conference. Let's just forego the formalities and pit the Eagles versus Falcons in the NFC title game right now.
  
  
• Thinking of the Dolphins for a second, what exactly is the record for interceptions thrown and returned for TDs? They have to be at least within striking distance now.
  
  
• Let's hear it for the hottest receiver in the league right now, Muhsin Muhammad. Moose! Moose! Moose! Hey, don't be so surprised. He does have a season with 1,200 yards and 8 TD to his credit...5 years ago...
  
  
• Eli Manning's first game. I didn't see a lot of it, but when I did breeze past it looked like Amani Toomer and Jeremy Shockey were dropping passes left and right, a far cry from older brother Peyton's reliable Marvin Harrison when he was first earning his stripes in the NFL. Or perhaps Toomer and Shockey were just in awe from watching Michael Vick zip up and down the field all day. That was a spectacle to behold.

• ESPN's new Pass Tracker feature: Except for the biggest geometry geeks amongst us, do we really give a crap about what the exact "arc" of the ball is?
  
  
• Ahman Green essentially pulled what I like to call a "Thomas Jones", referring to Jones back in week 8 starting and getting injured on the first play, and therefore doing what amounted to a hill of beans the rest of the night. For the love of God, keep my guys off Sunday Night Football! And then I'd have even less incentive (as if that was possible) to listen to the Sunday night commentating crew...

• Bills over Rams! Can't say I'm too surprised since I did pick the Bills in the straight up office pool. Yeah baby! It was the perfect matchup for the Bills against the Rams sieve offensive line and horrible special teams. Although the Bills have 4 road games and only 2 at home the rest of the way, I'm going to take an optimistic stab here and predict a 4-2 run to give us an 8-8 finish. Come on, I need to get a little more wear out of this Drew Bledsoe jersey.

And The Winner Is…

We've got to give it to Goings from the first group. As for the second group, Edgerrin James gets the award. A lot of people benched him this week for other options and got burned. Never again, right? Always start your studs, right? Check out the Colts schedule in weeks 15 and 16 - versus the Ravens (ranked 7th against the run) and versus the Chargers (ranked 1st against the run). There's something for you to stew about for the next month. Sorry, I know that was evil...