Fool's Gold - Week 13
Posted 11/28 by Marc Faletti, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
What an unusual weekend of football. In particular, the Cardinals and Broncos have to be tortured by their unfathomable defeats after they clearly had victories in hand. I think it's safe to say we won't see two crazier losses this year, though we should never underestimate the Bears' ability to beat people in unforeseeable ways.
Speaking of unforeseeable, don't expect to see these players repeat their performances of last week:
A.J. Feeley, QB, PHI
Fool's Gold: 27 of 42 for 345 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
Feeley now has 3 total 300 yard games in his 7 year career, and 2 of those were accompanied by at least 3 INTs. His passer rating is 72.2. Yeah, he shocked the world on Sunday night, but this was not the emergence of a future star (though the Dolphins thought so years ago when they dumped a second round pick for him). Even if McNabb weren't coming back, this would be an impossible feat for Feeley to top, but McNabb looks like he's returning, so don't sweat Mr. Feeley.
Andre Johnson, WR, HOU
Fool's Gold: 5 catches for 37 yards
The Texans have to be kicking themselves for not feeding Johnson against a weak Cleveland secondary. Schaub had Johnson open on at least 2 big plays and didn't look his way; instead, Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels got the love. Is it any wonder they wound up losing the game? Expect the Texans to correct any errors in game-planning and remind Matt Schaub that Johnson's merely the best player on the team.
Greg Lewis, WR, PHI
Fool's Gold: 4 catches for 88 yards, 2 TD
He's a back-up. He was part of an unusual game plan to attack NE's nickel backs. And he's an inconsistent wideout who's never been able to hold down a starting gig. Nothing to see here.
Eli Manning, QB, NYG
Fool's Gold: 4 INTs, 3 returned for TDs
It was an abominable game, no doubt, but even a general Eli-doubter like me knows a fluke game when he sees one. Like his brother's INT meltdown in San Diego (and Romo's in Buffalo before that), we just need to chalk this one up to the stars aligning against the kid. He's not going to set the fantasy world on fire, but his completion percentage is up this year and he's showed more resiliency than usual (until last week, anyway). Expect him to be back to his normal, adequate self next week.
Randy Moss, WR, NE
Fool's Gold: 5 catches for 43 yards
If his TD isn't called back on a touchy offensive pass interference call, he puts up another huge day. Still the top dog among wide receivers by a wide margin.
Anthony Thomas, RB, BUF
Fool's Gold: 91 total yards, 1 TD
Thomas did his job -- he filled in admirably while Lynch was out with injury, and he even did it against a tough run D. But Lynch is due back soon (and in fact was chomping at the bit to play last week), and Thomas did much of his damage on his catches in trash time. He's not worthy of a fantasy roster spot unless Lynch is out for the year.
