49ers RB Frank Gore is suffering from a high ankle strain and likely will miss at least the next two games, according to a league source. The hope is that he could return after the 49ers’ Week 6 bye. “It happened,” coach Mike Singletary said following the game. “But I had every bit of confidence in Glen Coffee going into the game and did not blink.”
UPDATE *** Chad Pennington has a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder and is awaiting a second opinion, ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reports via Twitter. Pennington is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Patriots RB Laurence Maroney left Sunday’s game against the Falcons in the second quarter with a thigh injury, finished up with four carries for 17 yards in the Patriots’ win. We’ll track Maroney’s status in the coming days.
Lions RB Kevin Smithsuffered a shoulder injury during the second half of Detroit’s win against the Redskins and did not return. The Lions wouldn’t comment on the severity of the injury, but it appeared significant.
“Yeah, Kevin’s got a shoulder and Kevin was running extremely well,” said head coach Jim Schwartz. “He was running physical and was giving hits, taking hits, and things like that. “He’s got a shoulder (injury), I don’t know where it’s going to be. We’ll have a lot of tests he’ll wind up doing tomorrow.”
Rams QB Marc Bulgerwill undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of an injury sustained to his throwing shoulder during the team’s loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Bulger said he was injured when he was hit by Aaron Kampman as he was cocking to throw then went back out on the field for the Rams’ next offensive series, but he aggravated the injury trying to recover a fumble by running back Steven Jackson.
Rams WR Laurent Robinson exited the game against Green Bay in the second quarter with a lower right leg injury.
1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota Vikings) vs. San Francisco – Peterson didn’t disappoint in week 2 after running circles around Detroit in week 1. He racked up 119 total yards and a TD in week 2. This weeks match up might be a little tougher with the 49ers defense getting better, but he is still AD. another 125 + yard day with at least a TD
2. Maurice Jones Drew (Jacksonville Jaguars) @ Houston – Last week against the Cardinals, MJD fell victim to a big defecit forcing Jacksonville to throw the ball. Houston has the weapons to run up the score, but the Jags will force feed the ball to Jones Drew. This should be a real good game for MJD. 120/1
3. Fred Jackson (Buffalo Bills) vs. New Orleans – Last game for Freddy as Marshawn Lynch returns from suspension next week. Jackson certainly earned to chance to continue starting. The Bills will do everything possible to keep Drew Brees off the field, this means mondo carries for Jackson. 120/1
4. Matt Forte (Chicago Bears) @ Seattle – Forte might be the early lead for bust of the year after an awesome rookie season. Yet to score a TD or break 100 yards or 75 yards, or 60 yards. You get the picture. But this week against Seattle he will regain his game and give fantasy owners is first double digit performance.
5. Clinton Portis (Washington Redskins) @ Detroit – Portis is off to a decent year with about 70 yards rushing a game. Still no TD. The perfect tonic for a good game with a TD…The Lions rush defense.
1-1(1). Adrian Peterson – Peterson led the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1,885, 100 yard games with 10, and is coming off of his first rushing title in 2008. He’s big, he’s fast, he’s bad to the bone. The league’s all round best back and the safest pick you will get. He played in all 17 games (including playoffs), and had 11 games with 20 or more carries. Pick him at 1 and enjoy!
1-2(2). Michael Turner – It’s hard to ignore Turner’s league high 376 carries last season, along with his 17 TDs. The Burner led the league in red-zone carries in 2008 and was near the top of the league in goal-line touches. This is only good news for fantasy owners. Some might say with the emergence of Matt Ryan he will get less carries, which in theory is true. But, defenses will have to focus on Ryan and his new toy Tony Gonzalez, which will open the field for Turner. He may not be able to catch the ball, or he just doesn’t. So don’t expect much in the reception department, but be happy with his 1600 yards and 13-15 TDs this season.
1-3(3). Maurice Jones-Drew – Little Hercules is about to blow up the game in a big way. With Fred Taylor out of Jacksonville, it is now Drew’s chance to show what he’s got. He only had 197 carries in 2008, but had 12 TDs on the ground. Add to that his 62 catches for another 2 scores, and this guy cranks out a TD every 18 touches! Being the clear number one option for the Jags you can expect more than 12 carries a game which he averaged in 2008. Give em 18 carries and that should equal about 16 TDs.
1-4(4). Matt Forte – Forte had a very impressive rookie year in 2008. He led all RBs with 63 receptions, and had 1,715 total yards with 12 TDs. The addition of Jay Cutler sprung Forte up the ranks since defenses will have to pay much more attention to the passing game. Matt is the essential every down back, he can run, catch, and block, which means he will barely leave the field.
Tier Two
2-1(5). Steven Jackson – OK fine. So the guy gets hurt every year. He only played all the way through in like 10 games last year. In 2007, he missed 4 games. Whatever. He’s back. In the last 5 games of ‘08 S-Jax had 641 yard and 4 scores. He will also enjoy a whole new blocking experience with a new center in Jason Brown, number 2 pick Jason Smith, and FB Mike Karney. If it wasn’t for the misery that is the rest of the Rams, and his injury tendencies (knock on wood), he would be in the top tier. If Jackson stays healthy, he cold be the number 1 fantasy option come season end. WARNING: Not for the faint of heart! [click to continue…]
It would be easy to rank the Lions dead last in the league. Coming off a zero win season it makes sense. Believe it or not, they have made enough improvements through the draft and free agency to warrant a higher ranking. It seems Daunte Culpepper will be starting, and Matt Stafford will be learning. Daunte shed over 20 pounds and reports are that he’s looking pretty good.
Last season this defense allowed 517 points. That’s bad enough for 2nd most all time. They also only intercepted one pass in 2008. 1 pass! That’s bad. That led the team to completely overhaul the secondary. Defensive Coordinator Gunther Cunningham is scrapping the Tamp 2 and installing the 4-3. Bringing in free agent Julian Peterson will give the Lions one the quickest OLB group, along with Ernie Sims, in the NFL.
Offense
The Lions have one of the best WRs in the NFL. Calvin Johnson is sick. Culpepper will be reunited with OC Scott Linehan. Linehan was with Daunte in Minnesota when the Vikings put up stupid numbers with DC playing catch with Randy Moss. Who knows what to expect from # 2 WR Bryant Johnson. But chances are he will see lots of single coverage.
Detroit added RB Maurice Morris and FB Terrelle Smith hoping to get a power running game working. Kevin Smith should improve on his rookie year.
Defense
The defense will be going to 4-3 from the Tampa 2. This means their will be an adjustment period for players that don’t exactly fit. But the additions of LBs Larry Foote and Julian Peterson, CB Phillip Buchanon, and DT Grady Jackson will help ease that transition. Foote, Peterson, and Sims can become one of the better linebacking corps in the NFL.
Phillip Buchanon will intercept more than one pass by himself in 2009. That already is an improvement.
What does this all mean
Detroit may be able to squeeze out 5 wins this year. They have a bit of a tough start opening in New Orleans, followed by the Vikings coming to town. Hosting Washington in week 3 seems like the game Detroit should be able to win. Hope they do because up after that the team goes to Chicago, home for Pittsburgh, and then back on the road to Green Bay. The second half of the season is much softer with games against the Rams, Browns, Seahawks, Bengals, and 49ers.
You have to love Lions RB Kevin Smith’s confidence. In a recent blog post on his official site, Kevin Smith makes a bold proclomation: “I won’t make a prediction about how many games we’re going to win, but I will say this: We will definitely make the playoffs this season. Believe it or not we weren’t far off last year. Almost every game we could have won, we were one play or one player short. Except for Tennessee on Thanksgiving, they just came out and beat us to sleep. They manhandled us, but nobody else did.”
Maybe the Brett Favre saga isn’t dead, after all. ESPN is reporting this afternoon that, according to a source, Favre had X-rays of his right shoulder sent to the Vikings for evaluation.
Brandon Jacobs said today on ESPN 1050 Radio that he did not want the Giants to trade for Browns WR Braylon Edwards. “I don’t want him,” Jacobs told host Brandon Tierney. “There are great players in the league that I don’t want. I just think the chemistry between the teammates that I have now is great. We don’t need to add a new veteran to the whole group. “I’m good with where we are. I’m glad that we didn’t go forward and get him or (Cardinals WR Anquan) Boldin. Those guys are great guys [but] I’m not interested in that idea.” Jacobs hinted that rumors the Giants were interested in Edwards were far-fetched, and that Edwards would not adjust to New York. “We don’t throw the ball enough for that,” Jacobs said.
Good Luck With Steve Smith and Domenick Hixon
The Dolphins partied down with Jimmy Buffett as they announced Landshark Stadium as their homes new name. It was a great show. I watched it on NFL Network.
But I prefer this Dolphins Song
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