The Hive - week 6 Oct 12, 2007 | More

Welcome back to The Hive! It’s a rough week for many between injuries and 6 teams being on a bye this week. We very well could be on the cusp of another Osi Umenyiora freakout on Monday Night Football, with Osi facing an undrafted rookie free agent tackle as the Giants take on the Falcons. I can assure you, I wont make the mistake of benching him like I did versus the Eagles. Marques Douglas being on a bye helps, but I digress. There are a lot of other tasty IDP matchups this week, so without further ado let’s check out the games!

How we rank `em!

Giddyup! – YEEEHAW!!

SINS! – solid if not spectacular

Hellno! – Get it? Got it? Good.

St Louis @ Baltimore Sunday 10am PST

St Louis

Giddyup! – O.J. Atogwe, Will Witherspoon

SINS! – James Hall, Leonard Little

Hellno! – Fakhir Brown, Pino Tinoisamoa

Baltimore

Giddyup! – Bart Scott, Ray Lewis, Dawan Landry

SINS! – Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed

Hellno! – Samari Rolle

Game notes – This doesn’t look like it will be a very thrilling game on paper, but I am hoping Boller plays and it turns into a bit of a shootout. Will Witherspoon finally had a blowup game, hopefully you stuck with him. The Ravens D isn’t what it used to be, but Scott, Lewis and Landry are all producing solid numbers.

Minnesota @ Chicago Sunday 10am PST

Minnesota

Giddyup! – Antoine Winfield, Cedric Griffin, E.J. Henderson, Darren Sharper

SINS! – Chad Greenway

Hellno! – Vikings DL’s

Chicago

Giddyup! – Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Mark Anderson

SINS! – Adam Archuleta, Tommie Harris

Hellno! – Alex Brown

Game notes – This should be an exciting game for the IDP’s involved. For Minny I like all the DB’s and Henderson, and for the Bears the usual suspects should be in full effect. Don’t let Mark Anderson’s zero last week sway you from playing him, that side of the Minnesota line allowed a total of 5 sacks the 2 weeks prior to their bye. I like Anderson to bounce back big time this week.  

Miami @ Cleveland Sunday 10am PST

Miami

Giddyup! – Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor

SINS! – Renaldo Hill, Vonnie Holliday

Hellno! – Jason Allen

Cleveland

Giddyup! – D’Qwell Jackson, Sean Jones

SINS! – Eric Wright, Kamerion Wimbley, Orpheous Roye

Hellno! – Andra Davis , Leon Williams

Game notes – Thankfully this one is in Cleveland , cuz I cant stomach watching those sad Floridians with bags on their heads at Dolphins games. Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor have to be seriously questioning coming back to this mess. Taylor finally woke up last week, stick with him. For the Browns Sean Jones is pretty much everywhere all game long. He is one of the better young safeties in the game. Along with Adrian Wilson, Gibril Wilson and Antoine Winfield, Jones is one of a very few of the big names at DB who are performing as they were expected to in the preseason.

Washington @ Green Bay Sunday 10am PST

Washington

Giddyup! – Rocky McIntosh, London Fletcher, Sean Taylor, LaRon Landry

SINS! – Andre Carter, Carlos Rogers

Hellno! – Fred Smoot

Green Bay

Giddyup! – Nick Barnett, Atari Bigby, Aaron Kampman

SINS! – A.J. Hawk, Charles Woodson

Hellno! – KGB, Cullen Jenkins

Game notes –   DB’s have been scoring well against Favre and the Pack, so I like Washington ’s DB’s this week. Carter has earned his way off my dookie list, but he needs to keep it up before I will bump him further. For the Pack I like Barnett and Kampman, as well as my boy Bigby. Hawk hasn’t done much, so depending on your depth I have no problem benching him in favor of a better matchup. Gbaja-Biamilia and Jenkins are splitting time, making both unattractive starters unless in a pinch.

Houston @ Jacksonville Sunday 10am PST

Houston

Giddyup! – Demeco Ryans

SINS! – Dunta Robinson, Von Hutchins, Morlon Greenwood, Mario Williams

Hellno! – Danny Clark

Jacksonville

Giddyup! – Mike Peterson

SINS! – Reggie Nelson, Marcus Stroud, Daryl Smith, Rashean Mathis

Hellno! – Reggie Hayward

Game notes – The AFC South is one of the more underrated divisions in football, and this should be a real slugfest. Both teams have improved offensive lines, so I am a little more down than usual on the DL’s for both squads. Not too excited about anyone outside of Ryans and Peterson here IDP-wise, but I think it will be a hell of a game.

Cincinnati @ Kansas City Sunday 10am PST

Cincy

Giddyup! – Madieu Williams, Landon Johnson

SINS! – Leon Hall, Robert Geathers, Justin Smith, Deltha O’Neal

Hellno! – Ahmad Brooks, Jonathan Joseph

Kansas City

Giddyup! – Derrick Johnson, Donnie Edwards, Napoleon Harris, Jared Allen

SINS! – Tamba Hali, Jarrad Page, Bernard Pollard

Hellno! – Ty Law

Game notes –  For the Bengals the hits keep on coming (literally) as corner Jonathan Joseph was suspended for one game for his 1^st violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. Now he’s a real Bengal ! Ahmad Brooks still isn’t practicing, and he shouldn’t be on anything but IDP only league rosters and dynasty league rosters at this point. For KC I like Allen against a backup tackle and I like all the LB’s.

Philadelphia @ New York Jets Sunday 10am PST

Philly

Giddyup! – Brian Dawkins (check the injury reports)

SINS! – Trent Cole, Mike Patterson, Takeo Spikes, Omar Gaither

Hellno! – Matt McCoy, Chris Gocong

New York

Giddyup! – Kerry Rhodes, David Barrett

SINS! – Jonathan Vilma, Kenyon Coleman, Andre Dyson

Hellno! – Erik Coleman

Game notes – For the Eagles it is still up in the air at press time whether Dawkins will play, if he does I love the matchup. Cole is a stud, but the Jets OL is tough, so don’t expect huge numbers. For the Jets, Kerry Rhodes finally blew up last week, and this is a matchup which should keep him going in the right direction. Vilma has been better lately, depending on who else you have he is startable.

Tennessee @ Tampa Bay Sunday 10am PST

Tennessee

Giddyup! – Keith Bulluck, Kyle Vanden Bosch

SINS! – David Thornton, Albert Haynesworth, Chris Hope, Nick Harper

Hellno! – Antwan Odom, Bryce Fisher

Tampa Bay

Giddyup! – Barrett Ruud, Derrick Brooks, Jermaine Phillips

SINS! – Ronde Barber, Tanard Jackson, Cato June

Hellno! – Gaines Adams, Greg Spires

Game notes – For the Titans I have almost given up on Hope (no pun intended), but I’m not quite to that point with the underperforming Bulluck. Vanden Bosch has been hot since switching to left defensive end, where he faces the RT instead of the traditionally more talented LT, who has to protect a right handed QB’s blind side. As far as Tampa goes all of us Barrett Ruud owners got a bit of a scare as he apparently limped off the practice field on Wednesday, but he practiced Thursday and seems good to go.

Carolina @ Arizona Sunday 1:05pm PST

Carolina

Giddyup! – Jon Beason, Chris Harris, Julius Peppers, Chris Gamble

SINS! – Thomas Davis, Richard Marshall

Hellno! – Dan “Where am I?” Morgan

Arizona

Giddyup! – Karlos Dansby, Gerald Hayes, Adrian Wilson

SINS! – Eric Green, Rod Hood

Hellno! – Bert Berry

Game notes – For Carolina , FINALLY! Jon Beason takes over at MLB. Time to get down. If Beason is on the wire in your league, he shouldn’t be. Harris is playing like a stud, ride him if you have him. I like Gamble this week too, who I expect to follow Fitz all over the field. For the Cards, I like Dansby and Hayes, and Adrian Wilson is a no brainer. Green and Hood could each blow up, depending on which one lines up on Steve Smith more often. Bert Berry is a shell of his former self, cut him if you own him.

New England @ Dallas Sunday 1:15pm PST

New England

Giddyup! – Adalius Thomas, Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson

SINS! – Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Mike Vrabel

Hellno! – Junior Seau

Dallas

Giddyup! – Roy Williams, Ken Hamlin

SINS! – Bradie James, Demarcus Ware, Terrance Newman

Hellno! – Anthony Henry, Bobby Carpenter

Game notes – For the Pats, if you don’t already know that what Seau did last week was a fluke, learn it, live it, know it. That wont happen again, and you don’t want that fossil on your roster. As far as Dallas goes I like the safeties chasing Moss, Stallworth, Welker and Watson all over the field. Not so hot on their pass rush specialists, as the Pats line doesn’t usually allow people to get to Brady.

Oakland @ San Diego Sunday 1:15pm PST

Oakland

Giddyup! – Kirk Morrison, Thomas Howard

SINS! – Stuart Schweigart, Michael Huff, Gerard Warren, Warren Sapp

Hellno! – Derrick Burgess

San Diego

Giddyup! – Marlon McCree, Stephen Cooper

SINS! – Matt Wilhelm, Clinton Hart, Shawne Merriman, Shaun Phillips, Luis Castillo

Hellno! – Igor Olshansky, Antonio Cromartie

Game notes – I am pretty excited to start Morrison and Howard together in a couple of leagues against LT, but other than that I am not looking forward to my Raiders facing an angry Chargers team. Thankfully our pass protection is a lot better than the last time we played these guys, so don’t listen to those who are predicting ridiculous sack numbers for the Chargers. Cooper and McCree should be solid.

New Orleans @ Seattle Sunday 5:15pm PST

New Orleans

Giddyup! – none

SINS! – Scott Fujita, Will Smith, Charles Grant, Roman Harper

Hellno! – Scott Shanle, Mike McKenzie

Seattle

Giddyup! – Lofa Tatupu, Julian Peterson, Deon Grant

SINS! – Marcus Trufant, Leroy Hill, Pat Kerney, Rocky Bernard

Hellno! – Jason Babin, Kelly Jennings

Game notes –The Saints really have no one that excites me this week. The Hawks’ OL gives Smith and Grant a rough matchup, and Fujita has never been a real favorite of mine. For Seattle , I like Lofa and Julian to wreck shop on the dink and dunk offense that the Saints have been sporting lately.

New York Giants @ Atlanta Monday 5:30pm PST

New York

Giddyup! – OSI OSI OSI!!, Jason Tuck, Antonio Pierce, Gibril Wilson

SINS! – Derrick Ross, Kawicka Mitchell, Matthias Kiwanuka

Hellno! – Michael Strahan

Atlanta

Giddyup! – Keith Brooking, Demorrio Williams

SINS! – Deangelo Hall, Lawyer Milloy, John Abraham

Hellno! – Jamaal Anderson

Game notes – Oh man is this a tasty matchup for Osi and Tuck or what? As I stated at the beginning of the article, Osi faces a undrafted rookie scrub on MNF. On SNF vs the Eagles he faces the highly touted former 2^nd round pick Winston Justice. Imagine what he will do to poor Renardo Foster. Ouch. Tuck gets backup OL Tyson Clabo, who is a guard forced to play tackle due to an injury to Todd Weiner. This is going to be brutal for Falcons fans and those facing Osi and Tuck’s IDP owners. For Atlanta , the injury to rookie Stephen Nicholas opens things back up for Demorrio Williams to take control of the WILL spot in that defense. Hopefully he takes advantage of it.

Well that about wraps it up for week 6! Tune in next week for the final installment of my IDP surprises and disappointments, where we will discuss linebackers. Thanks for stopping by, and good luck this week!