The Hive week 14 edition

Fantasy Sharks December 6, 2007

The Hive – Week 14 edition

Welcome back to The Hive!! Un-flippin-believable. Week 14 already! Some leagues have already started their playoffs, and for most this is the final week to secure a spot in the dance. I have nailed down playoff spots in 4 of my 5 leagues, and I am in a win and I am in situation in the 5^th league, so no complaints here. Time to bring home the bacon!

How we rank `em!

Giddyup! – YEEEHAW!!

SINS! – solid if not spectacular

Hellno! – Get it? Got it? Good.

Chicago

Washington

Thursday

5:15pm PST

Chicago

Giddyup! – Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman

SINS! – Brian Urlacher, Adewale Ogunleye, Brandon McGowan, Danieal Manning

Hellno! – Alex Brown

Washington

Giddyup! –

London

Fletcher, LaRon Landry

SINS! – Rocky McIntosh, Andre Carter,

Shawn

Springs

Hellno! – Fred Smoot

Game notes: I really don’t know what to make of this one, as neither team has shown any consistency this season. For the Bears I would start Briggs with the utmost confidence this week. And now that Ced Benson is gone and the Bears actually have a running game I would think Fletcher and Landry, and to a lesser extent McIntosh would be the IDP stars for the home team.

Miami

Buffalo

Sunday 10am PST

Miami

Giddyup! – Jason Allen, Jason Taylor

SINS! –

Channing Crowder, Michael Lehan

Hellno! – Zach Thomas, Cameron Worrell

Buffalo

Giddyup! – Angelo Crowell, Terrance McGee

SINS! – John Digiorgio, Jim Leonhard, Aaron Schobel

Hellno! – Keith Ellison

Game notes: Dear Lord, I beg of you please deliver me from having to even see the highlights of this game. May you bless me with some sort of brain ailment that will allow me to forget the existence of this game, and this game only, forever and ever amen.

St Louis

Cincinnati

Sunday 10am PST

St Louis

Giddyup! – Will Witherspoon, OJ Atogwe

SINS! –

Ronald Bartell, Corey Chaveous

Hellno! – Tye Hill

Cincy

Giddyup! – Landon Johnson,

Madieu Williams

Leon

Hall

SINS! – Jonathan Joseph, Justin Smith

Hellno! – Deltha O’Neal

Game notes: This game could actually be quite entertaining. Not a lot to see here on the IDP side of things, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the recent progress of Bengals rookie CB Leon Hall. If you are in a CB required league he should not be on your wire, and you will see another example of why this weekend. Kid is a player. Also the Bengals give it up like a chubby girl at prom in the department of DB scoring, so OJ Atogwe is a fantastic start this week.

Dallas

Detroit

Sunday 10am PST

Dallas

Giddyup! –

Demarcus Ware, Terrance Newman

SINS! – Bradie James, Roy Williams, Jacques Reeves, Greg Ellis

Hellno! –

Anthony Henry

Detroit

Giddyup! –

Ernie Sims, Fernando Bryant

SINS! –

Paris

Lenon, Gerald Alexander, Kenoy Kennedy

Hellno! – Boss Bailey

Game notes: Play Terrance Newman this week. That is all.

Oakland

Green Bay

Sunday 10am PST

Oakland

Giddyup! – Kirk Morrison, Michael Huff

SINS! – Thomas Howard, Hiram Eugene, Derrick Burgess

Hellno! – Stu Schweigart

Giddyup! – Nick Barnett, Atari Bigby (play him while you can!), Aaron Kampman

SINS! – KGB, AJ Hawk

Hellno! – Nick Collins

Game notes: For the Raiders I have a hard time recommending the slumping Thomas Howard, though his ability against the pass makes him a sensible start unless you have superior options. I really like Huff this week though, he should be on Donald Lee as well as having to make many clean up tackles down the field as Favre will likely shred my boys like he usually does. If I seem unusually chipper about my team going on the road for a certain defeat, it just might be because my Raiders defecated all over the playoff hopes of the Chiefs and the Broncos in the last two weeks. Eat it Chefs and Donkeys! As for the Packers there are rumors flying that a starting safety spot is about to be given to rookie Aaron Rouse, and that would likely come at the expense of Hive favorite Atari Bigby. Bigby is terrible in coverage and Nick Collins is a better real life football player than he is an IDP. If you have Bigby in a league where you only start one DB and you are playoff bound, I would advise having a solid backup in place. Word to the wise.

Tampa

Bay

Houston

Sunday

10am PST

Giddyup! – Jermaine Phillips

SINS! –

Derrick Brooks, Barrett Ruud

Hellno! – Gaines Adams

Houston

Giddyup! – Demeco Ryans

SINS! – Mario Williams, Morlon Greenwood, Von Hutchins

Hellno! – no one you would normally consider

Game notes: For the Bucs I don’t know what to make of Barrett Ruud falling off like this, but I certainly don’t trust him right now. He is on my bench in favor of Shaun Phillips in one league and some tard in my work league cut Michael Boley, so I have replaced Ruud with Boley in that league. Most of you are not lucky enough to find a Boley on your wire, but if you are sick of Ruud sucking and you can go nab say Justin Durant I would go do it now. This is the home stretch, don’t become attached to a player in a redraft league just because of what he did earlier in the year. Of course now that I said that he will tackle Ron Dayne 22 times on Sunday. Haha! For the Texans it’s all about Demeco, though Mario Williams is finally coming around. Bravo!

Carolina

Jacksonville

Sunday 10am PST

Carolina

Giddyup! – Jon Beason

SINS! – Panthers DB’s

Hellno! – Julius Peppers

JAX

Giddyup! – Justin Durant, Daryl Smith

SINS! – Jags DB’s

Hellno! – Reggie Hayward

Game notes: Jags will roll here, and I would not bother yourself with the disappointment that is Julius Peppers this week. He wont get to Garrard. I love the 2 rookie LB’s in this game, Beason for

Carolina

and Durant for the Jags. Those of you who followed my preseason rookie commentary know that these are two of my favorite IDP’s from the 2007 class, and the world is seeing why. Neither should not be on your wire. Period.

Pittsburgh

New England

Sunday

1:15pm PST

Pitt

Giddyup! – James Harrison, James Farrior

SINS! – Ike Taylor, Anthony Smith

Hellno! – Lamarr Woodley

Giddyup! – none

SINS! – Ellis Hobbs,

Asante

Samuel, Mike Vrabel, Adalius Thomas, Ty Warren

Hellno! – Junior Seau

Game notes: Anthony Smith actually guaranteed a Steelers win here. Ballsy. Stupid, but ballsy. I think

New England

will come out on fire after two close calls and a lot of negativity about the team in regards to last week. Outside of Farrior and Harrison there isnt much I like here in the way of IDP’s.

New York

Giants @ Philadelphia Sunday 10am PST

Giddyup! – Antonio Pierce, Osi Umenyiora, Michael Strahan

SINS! –

Justin Tuck

Hellno! – Gibril Wilson

Philly

Giddyup! – Omar Gaither, Trent Cole

SINS! –

Eagles DB’s, Takeo Spikes

Hellno! – Jevon Kearse

Game notes: Osi had 6 sacks last time these two teams met, and you have to think the Eagles will make it a priority to stop him. I don’t think it will work, but they will try! Gibril

Wilson

isn’t looking good fir this week, make other plans at DB. For the Eagles I think Cole will get to Eli, and Reuben Droughns makes an easy target to tackle for Gaither and the rest of the LB crew.

San Diego

Tennessee

Sunday 10am PST

Giddyup! – Shaun Phillips, Antonio Cromartie

SINS! –

Shawne Merriman, McCree/Hart

Hellno! – Drayton

Florence

Tennessee

Giddyup! – Kyle Vanden Bosch, David Thornton

SINS! – Keith Bulluck, Nick Harper

Hellno! – Ryan Fowler

Game notes: For the Bolts it looks like Cromartie and Jammer will start at corner, and

Florence

hits the bench. Cromartie is a high risk/high reward kind of an IDP, and I like him this week. Phillips has been on a tear, I expect that to continue. For the Titans Big Albert Haynesworth is back, which statistically this season means its great news for Kyle Vanden Bosch and terrible news for Keith Bulluck. Plan accordingly.

Minnesota

San Francisco

Sunday

1:05pm PST

Minny

Giddyup! – EJ Henderson

SINS! –

Ced Griffin

Chad

Greenway

Hellno! – Ray Edwards, Antoine Winfield

Giddyup! – Pat Willis, Michael Lewis, Nate Clements

SINS! – Derek Smith, Marques Douglas, Walt Harris

Hellno! – Brandon Moore, Keith Lewis

Game notes: Pat Willis and EJ Henderson will both need a vacation after this one. Two teams that run, and run, and run, and that means mad tackle opportunities for the LB’s here. The recently red hot Michael Lewis should stay that way for the Niners as well. Interesting to see that Vikings DE Ray Edwards was suspended for steroid use this week. You’d think he could have mustered up some better numbers considering he was on the juice! Apparently he and Merriman have a different dealer. And I would think twice about using Winfield even if he plays. I’d make him show you he can make it through a game before I put him in my lineup at such a crucial time of the season.

Arizona

Seattle

Sunday

1:05pm PST

Giddyup! – Antrel Rolle, Karlos Dansby, Darnell Dockett

SINS! – Gerald Hayes, Rod Hood, Oliver Celestin

Hellno! – Cards DE’s

Seattle

Giddyup! – Lofa Tatupu, Julian Peterson

SINS! – Darryl Tapp, Marcus Trufant, Pat Kerney

Hellno! – Brian Russell

Game notes: Matt Hasselback is Antrel Rolle’s daddy. He will pick on Rolle all day long as he has done in the past, and Rolle should have a great tackle day because of it. Dansby is playing great, and you have to wonder if the Cards are kicking themselves for not making a move to get Pat Willis in the 07 draft. The combo of Dansby and Willis would have been absolutely ridiculous, but I digress. For the Hawks keep on riding Lofa until the wheels fall off, and I like Julian Peterson to cause some havoc this week as well.

Kansas City

Denver

Sunday

1:15pm PST

Giddyup! – Jared Allen

SINS! – Napoleon Harris, Pollard/Page

Hellno! – Derrick Johnson, Donnie Edwards

DEN

Giddyup! – DJ Williams

SINS! – Champ Bailey, Hamza Abdullah, Ian Gold, Nate Webster

Hellno! –

John Lynch

Game notes: As of press time Derrick Johnson intends on being out for personal reasons, and Donnie Edwards is questionable at best with a bad hammy. I’d stay away from both players. And if I here one more “He went to Jared!” joke on ESPN or any other sports network I will shoot my TV, Elvis style. Great TD catch and all, but enough already! For the Broncos keep on rolling with DJ Williams, and I don’t really see anyone else as a must start.

Cleveland

@ New York Jets Sunday

1:15pm PST

Cleveland

Giddyup! – D’Qwell Jackson, Sean Jones, Leigh Bodden

SINS! – Leon Williams, Brodney Pool

Hellno! – Orpheous Roye, Eric Wright

Giddyup! – David Harris, Kerry Rhodes

SINS! –

Eric Barton, Darrelle Revis, Andre Dyson

Hellno! – Shaun Ellis

Game notes: For

Cleveland

D’Qwell

Jackson

has been playing like a man possessed since he came back from injury, and I expect that to continue. Still no Eric Wright for the Browns either, but lucky for them they face an inept Jets passing attack that will be without the guy that Wright would normally have to cover, Jerricho Cotchery. I would still play Bodden, as it looks like Coles is a go and that will be Bodden’s guy on Sunday. For the Jets, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, which means you keep starting David Harris for the rest of the season. And with DA’s recent interception party I really like Kerry Rhodes this week as well.

Indianapolis

Baltimore

Sunday

5:15pm PST

Indy

Giddyup! – Bob Sanders, Gary Brackett

SINS! – Marlin Jackson, Robert Mathis

Hellno! – no one you would normally consider

Baltimore

Giddyup! – Ray Lewis

SINS! – Ed Reed, Dawan Landry, Bart Scott

Hellno! – Terrell Suggs

Game notes:

The Ravens were jobbed on MNF. Other than that they are doing great! All I know is that I would like to spend my Sunday evening watching someone other than

New England

, Indy or

Dallas . This game really doesn’t do anything for me. In fact I am far more excited about the Monday Night game, which is far more interesting to me from a fantasy perspective. As far as the IDP’s in this one, be wary of Bart Scott, who will be playing with a broken hand (and likely a lighter wallet). This could limit his effectiveness.

New Orleans

Atlanta

Monday

5:30pm PST

Giddyup! – Josh Bullucks, Will Smith

SINS! – Scott Fujita

Hellno! – Brian Simmons

ATL

Giddyup! – Michael Boley

SINS! – John Abraham, Deangelo Hall, Keith Brooking, Chris Houston, Lawyer Milloy

Hellno! – Jamaal Anderson

Game notes:

This game will surprisingly have a ton of fantasy impact for a lot of you out there, and on both sides of the ball. I think Bulluck has another solid week, and this is the week to bust out your Falcons DB’s, as the Saints will be passing more often than not in my opinion. If you were wanting to dust off John Abraham, this would be the week to do it, as the Saints OL is ungood.