Picks & Pokes: Week 2

This week’s Picks & Pokes will give you some of the top matchups to exploit and avoid, commentary on last week’s performances and what to expect this week.

This Week’s Picks – Top Matchups to Exploit
QB
Matt Hasselbeck vs. S.F.  – Nine TDs, four 220+ yard games in last five vs. San Francisco.  Week one showed that the Seattle passing game is back, with Hasselbeck healthy again.
Jake Delhomme vs. Atl – Don’t bail on him yet – he’ll bounce back this week against an Atlanta defense he’s done very well against: Five TDs in last three vs. Falcons; two 290-yard games vs. ATL in ‘08.

RB
Frank Gore vs. Seattle – Three 110+ total yard games in last five vs. Seattle (two total TDs).
Larry Johnson vs. Oakland – Five TDs, four 90+ yard rush games over last five vs. Oakland.
Darren McFadden vs. Kansas City – 164 rush yards, TD at Kansas City in 2008.
Clinton Portis vs. St. Louis – 129 rush yards, 2 TDs vs. St. Louis in 2008.
Michael Bush vs. Kansas City – Should exceed last week’s 12 carries, 55 yards, 1 TD performance against a weak Chiefs run defense. 

WR
Eddie Royal vs. Cleveland – 164 yards, TD last year vs. Browns.
Percy Harvin vs. Detroit - The Vikings dangerous rookie gave us a glimpse of his multi-dimensional talents last week with 58 yards from scrimmage and a TD.  He should get more than 5 touches against a terrible Lions defense. 
Anquan Boldin vs. Jacksonville – A tight hamstring kept him from being able to make a significant contribution in week one, but he’s said he’s better now.  With Larry Fitzgerald getting constantly double-teamed, this will be the week that Boldin shows he’s back.  
Louis Murphy vs. Kansas City – The rookie showed a nice rapport with Jamarcus Russell in his first game.  He’ll continue to be featured against a soft Chiefs secondary.
Isaac Bruce vs. Seattle – In two games against the Seahawks last season, had eight catches for 202 yards.  He was Shaun Hill’s top option in week one.

TE
Visanthe Shiancoe vs Detroit - Five catches, 65 yards, TD at Detroit last season.
Dustin Keller vs. New England – Eight catches, 87 yards in week eleven last season.

The Pokes
Wasn’t it sad, (but not unexpected), to watch both the Bills and Raiders find a way to lose in each of their games on Monday night?   Both the Patriots and Chargers loked unimpressive for a large part of their games, but found a way to win against inferior teams.  If you drafted LT, you must have been cringing while you watched him as a spectator in the fourth quarter of that game.  Who knows how long his foot injury will linger on for.   Find a buyer, if you can. 

Four quarterbacks who looked terrible in their season debuts were Jay Cutler, Matt Schaub, Jake Delhomme and Carson Palmer.  Despite the cries for Delhomme  to get benched, it’s not happening anytime soon.  There is no viable backup in Carolina.  Watch him feed Steve Smith a steady diet of short passes to get his wild arm back on track.  Schaub and Palmer have too many weapons to not succee, Cutler doesn’t have enough, so his struggles may continue.  

Could the Lions defense even put up a mild fight this season?  I guess not.  I know they were facing Drew Brees and that prolific offense, but always start even your marginal players against Detroit, until they show some form of resistance.
 
Despite considerable pre-season hype, the Jaguars Troy Williamsnon had only one catch for ten yards in the season opener.  Bench him for anybody else. 
Try and avoid starting any running backs against the Williams Wall in Minnesota, so Kevin Smith (63 yards average in two games last season) should be in store for one of his worst games of the year.  
Not surprisingly, Larry Johnson had a bad week against a stout Ravens defense, but don’t bail on him yet.  He will be relied on to carry the K.C. running game. 
If week one was any indicator of the muddled New England backfield, drop Sammy Morris and BenJarvus Green-Ellis and pick up Kevin Faulk, Fred Taylor and Laurence Maroney.  However, I wouldn’t suggest starting any of them unless you’re in a very deep league. 
Steve Slaton looked terrible against the Jets, but was excellent last season against his week two opponent, Tennessee.  
The Rams were shutout in their season debut and probably won’t do much better in Washington this week.  Bench all Rams, including Steven Jackson.  He won’t find any room to run with Albert Haynsworth in his face all day. 
Matt Forte owners will probably have to wait another week for their star player to have a big week.  He’ll struggle again against Pittsburgh’s vaunted defense. 
The Steelers’ running game was horrible against Tennessee (1.6 yards per carry), but improving it will be a point of emphasis, according to Mike Tomlin. 
I don’t expect Joe Flacco to throw 43 passes every game, but if that passing game is legit, then Derrick Mason, Michael Clayton and Todd Heap will be more valuable than their average draft position.
Except for Correll Buckhalter (46 yards on 8 carries), the rest of the Broncos offense looked terrible against Cincinnati.  If they don’t get straightened out at home this week versus the Browns, it might be time to rethink starting any of their players.
Braylon Edwards picked up where he left off last season with a scary stat line of one catch for 12 yards.  But that was one more catch than Chris Chambers had, as he went statless in his game.
The knee injury to Anthony Gonzalez has fantasy owners scrambling to grab either Pierre Garcon or Austin Collie.  Neither distinguished himself much last week after Gonzalez went down, but one or both could be sleeper contributors over the next six weeks.
The game of the week is Sunday night, Giants at Cowboys.  Always a tight battle, the Cowboys will come away with the victory here, as they have a wider array of weapons on offense.  Don’t expect to see any individuals light up the scoreboard, but Jacobs and Barber should be the top point getters.

This post was written by TFSF