Groin Shot of the Week Candidates

Emmitt Smith (127 RuYd, 1 RuTD, 1 PaTD) - The starting RB that no one wanted back on draft day. Over the hill or not, playing in a brutal offense or not, count this as the third game in four tries that "old" Emmitt has scored a TD. That is way better than a lot of RBs that fantasy owners have been frustrated and suffering with since opening kickoff back in week 1. And not only that but Emmitt also tossed a TD and topped 120 rushing yards in this game. Washed up? Not yet. Not against the 'Aints anyway. Whether by keen insight or bye week cover (i.e. dumb luck), here's hoping he was in your starting lineup this week.

Jonathan Wells (105 RuYd, 1 TD) - Who was desperate enough at RB to take a stab at Wells and insert him in the lineup? You had to be pretty desperate. Domanick Davis was questionable so still a possible start up until Friday. Highly touted Tony Hollings was lurking in the background waiting for his opportunity to start and show what he is made of. Certainly Wells, unceremoniously shoved down the depth chart last season when Davis and Hollings (and Stacey Mack) showed up, was not expected to be anything but a distant memory for fantasy owners from the Texans inaugural season. So I understand the Texans implemented a new zone blocking scheme this year. Apparently there is something to that.

Priest Holmes (125 RuYd, 2 TD) - Why is FF In The Groin late this week? Well, I had a terrible gnawing feeling in my gut yesterday that bad things were going to happen, and I was pretty sure Priest Holmes was going to be the culprit. So I left this slot "open" and ready for him to justify earning it on Monday night. Sure enough here he is. See, when I awoke Monday morning and cruised through all my fantasy scores, I had to check them 3 or 4 times. In all of my head-to-head leagues I was staring at a 9-0 record for week 4. 9-and-0! That is unprecedented!

Of course it wasn't official yet. In three leagues I was playing against Holmes. Mind you, my lead was still pretty comfortable in all of them. As long as he only had an average Holmes game of 100 yards and 1 TD, I'd be fine. He was playing the Ravens, so I couldn't really ask for better timing to face him outside of the Chiefs bye week, now could I? OMG, what the hell was that?!? Almost 40 minutes of possession for the Chiefs? Against a run first team with Jamal Lewis facing the sieve like Chiefs run D? How many long 3rd downs did the Chiefs convert with the likes of Chris Horn and Johnnie Morton at WR? Friggin' ridiculous.

Hey, I'll take the 7-2 record for the week and not complain too much, but it was still a kick in the groin. I'm sure it was for a lot of you guys too, whether you faced him or, Heaven forbid, benched him...?

FFTOC Update

This contest is not for me. Just let me draft and play the waiver wire and I'm happy. Barring a 3 TD night from Priest Holmes - hey, I'm not saying it can't happen - then I am looking at registering 9 wins and 0 losses in my head-to-head matches this week. (Wrote this prior to MNF. Turned out 2 TD and 125 yards did the trick.) A rare result for sure, but one that highlights my frustration with this FFTOC contest picking a new lineup every week. It is not my cup of tea right now. I didn't even check Waldman's and Krueger's lineups as I'm sure they topped my score.

First of all, kickers and team defense have always been the bane of my existence. I don't like them, and they don't like me. It is that simple. But, to play the game I've got to roll the dice like everyone else. For the love of all things holy, how can the Packers only score 1 TD coming off a loss, in which they scored 31 points, playing at home in a quote "must win" game to avoid falling to 1-3. Yep, that's my kicker this week, Ryan Longwell and all 1 point he brought to the table.

The defense? Well, let's just say a team that scored a grand total of 25 points in their prior 3 games dropped 34 on them all of a sudden. Why I picked up the Jets off waivers in one league, yet went with a different team here, I cannot explain.

Further more, it's not like I didn't know there was some risk with the lineup, because I have approached this thing with the idea of saving some players for later, but the guys I've gone with just have not capitalized on their opportunities. There should have been 2 more TD for me that I know about. I wasn't even watching much of the Giants-Packers or Saints-Cards games, but by sheer coincidence I flipped channels just in time to watch Kurt Warner throw a poor fade pass to Amani Toomer in the end zone. That was one lost TD. Then I amazingly watched Aaron Brooks throw the exact same, poor, fade pass to Aaron Stecker. That was another lost TD. Is someone laughing at me up there? It sure seems like it.

Anyway, only a quarter of the way through the season in this contest and I'm not giving up. My optimism is waning however.

· If Lee Suggs has to prove himself to win the starting job back from William Green, he isn't wasting any time doing so. 82 yards and 1 TD on 22 carries is pretty impressive for his first game action in over a month.

· There's a reason Jonathan Quinn, now in his 7th year in the NFL, had less than 130 pass attempts in his entire career prior to making his first start since 2001 Sunday against the Eagles. That was Ugly with a capital "U".

· If this keeps up then heads will roll in Green Bay. The Giants did what they could to lose the game and the Pack still couldn't take advantage. Memo to Kurt Warner: There is a time and place for a hook slide, but inside a yard from the end zone, isn't it!

· How would you like to be the pint size trainer guy for the Jags asked to smack big 6'7" 325+ lb. DT John Henderson across the face before the game? I would take the upstart Jags more seriously except I can't get out of my head that some of them, as pointed out by my wife, made a guest appearance on TLC's While You Were Out. Married guys should know what this is. Single guys who don't know, keep it that way. (Yes, I'm being intentionally vague on whether I mean stay single or not knowing what that TV show is.)

· Only 2 catches for Jerry Porter and 3 interceptions plus 2 fumbles later, that was a very short ride on the Kerry Collins bandwagon.

· What do you mean why isn't Amos Zereoue a Groin candidate this week? No one in their right mind actually started him this week, right? Note I thought you guys were desperate who used Jonathan Wells. Geez...

· Byron Leftwich more than doubled his high passing yards for the season with 318 and 1 TD. The new rule is, start any QB facing the Colts. Not only does the Colts D blow, but just seeing Peyton Manning chuck the ball everywhere around the field seems to inspire some confidence that these opposing QB can actually do what they are paid for - throw the damn ball - instead of playing so close to the vest all the time.

· And the rule of defense is, start any team against the Dolphins no matter what QB they decide to throw in there. Oh wait, we've been on this one since week 1. Fantasy owners are getting so tuned into this rule, the Jets were probably a high waiver pick 2 weeks ago, heading into their bye.

· From the "no one saw this coming" file, the Chargers have scored the 3rd most points in the league.

· One of the more interesting games of the day for me was watching 2nd year QB Ben Roethlisberger and 1st year QB Carson Palmer meet in a key division game. Ha ha ha. I said that wrong, didn't I? Well, Ben Roe did look more poised of the two. Bengals fans are calling for Palmer to get the hook but both these guys are going to be quality players for years to come.

· Kevan Barlow owners, I now give you the official go ahead to PANIC!

· Much to my surprise, the Bucs Michael Pittman looked invigorated returning to his first action off a suspension. The Bucs offense is so dismal though, I'm sure that extra enthusiasm will wear off soon enough.

· I would be remiss if I failed to mention that awesome one handed grab by the Chargers Reche Caldwell over the head of Samari Rolle, turned into a 58 yard TD. That was sweet. Think Caldwell wants to see Drew Brees head to the bench in favor of Philip Rivers? I think not.

· Things were looking okay heading into the 4th quarter, but other than that I'm not even going to mention the Bills debacle this week.

And The Winner Is…

While Priest Holmes was my personal winner this week (and please, feel free to choose your own as I'm sure Barlow owners have already done 3 of 4 weeks so far this season), he seems too obvious a choice for the big award. Using a complicated formula combining unexpected fantasy production and the probability of being in fantasy starting lineups this week, our winner is Emmitt Smith.