Thursday games have started and last night's Oakland-San Diego tilt showcased why the Raiders gave up potentially two No. 1 picks to get Carson Palmer.
Palmer was magnificent, as were Michael Bush and Denarius Moore. Bush had 242 yards and a touchdown in the Raiders 24-17 victory. Palmer threw for 299 yards and connected with two touchdowns to Moore, who ended up with 123 yards receiving.
For the Chargers, Philip Rivers threw two touchdowns and passed for 274 yards in the losing effort. The emergence of Vincent Brown (5-97 and a TD) for the Chargers could help some team desperate at the wide receiver position as he is available in almost all leagues.
Article Photos
Rob Stewart is... The Fantasy Oracle
No player in fantasy football is as polarizing as Tim Tebow as you either love him or hate him. I am a huge Tebow fan and not afraid to admit it. He is unorthodox and he has the accuracy of me shooting a bow and an arrow, but he finds a way to get it done.
In his three starts, he has finished as a Top 10 quarterback every week (6th, 10th and 3rd). Tebow is the type of quarterback who only fantasy owners who have a sense of risk really enjoy; he could be yanked at any minute if you listen to what the coaching staff in Denver has said.
However, the Broncos are 2-1 with him starting and are suddenly back in the AFC West race as improbable as that may sound.
Fact Box
WTO Laid Back League Standings:
1. Derek Farr 7-2 945.86
2. Jason Walters 7-2 860.94
3. The Oracles 6-3 953.12
4. Josh Cotton 6-3 934.56
5. Jon Sitler 5-4 932.24
6. Brian Ferry 5-4 915.92
7. Brian Hagberg 4-5 974.08
8. Allen Seybert 3-6 919.40
9. Mitch Wilston 3-6 888.60
10. Eric Tichy 3-6 851.44
11. Tyson Himes 3-6 840.06
12.Bob Patchen 2-7 903.14
Week 9 Scores:
The Fantasy Oracle 114.10, Allen Seybert 98.94
Jon Sitler 124.30, Tyson Himes 103.96
Josh Cotton 112.00, Eric Tichy 84.72
Derek Farr 122.62, Brian Hagberg 98.28
Brian Ferry 87.80, Bob Patchen 65.26
Mitch Wilston 125.98, Jason Walters 95.32
Willis McGahee has also seen a rise in value from Tebow running the read-option offense. I am drinking the Kool Aid, while so many others are not.
Tebow led my team in the Sirius XM Fantasy Challenge to a 10th place finish against 40 fantasy football experts last week. This week I look to better that finish as I received a huge start from Michael Bush.
In the WTO Laid Back League, the Oracles (6-3) ran their winning streak to six with a hard fought 114.10-98.94 win over defending league champion Allen Seybert (3-6). This week, Cam Newton returns for the Oracles in their match-up against Eric Tichy (3-6).
I have been asked by a couple of readers to show the world what an Oracle team looks like so I have decided to list my team: at quarterback, the Oracles start Cam Newton with Matt Ryan backing him up; the running backs are strong as they go six deep with Matt Forte, Frank Gore, Chris Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, Kendall Hunter and Roy Helu; at wide receiver, my roster only includes the two starters I play every week, Marques Colston and Stevie Johnson. Filling out my roster are tight ends Jason Witten and Fred Davis, along with kicker Stephen Gostkowski and the Packers defense.
In the battle with Tichy, he will throw a collection of star players that includes Michael Vick, Wes Welker and Rob Gronkowski in his bid for the upset, and to stay alive in the hope to secure one of the six playoff seeds. This week features two games of the week as Derek Farr (league leader 7-2) battles Brian Ferry (5-4) and Jason Walters (7-2) faces surging Jon Sitler (5-4). All four of these teams appear to be legitimate playoff teams.
NO BYE WEEK BLUES: This week we all get a break for a week from those annoying bye weeks.
FREE AGENTS TO TARGET: Laurent Robinson (Miles Austin out for 2-4 weeks), Donald Brown, Denarius Moore, Vincent Brown, Mark Clayton and Jacob Tamme.
OTHER INJURY CONCERNS: Kevin Kolb, Peyton Hillis, Montario Hardesty, Felix Jones, Mark Ingram, Ahmad Bradshaw, Andre Johnson, Nate Washington, Jared Cook, Dallas Clark and Jermaine Gresham all appear to be out this weekend. Keep an eye on Hakeem Nicks, Plaxico Burress, Frank Gore, Daniel Thomas, Julio Jones and Hines Ward as they are iffy.
DEEP REACHES: Mark Clayton. Clayton was activated off the PUP list and the team philosophy of slinging the ball all over the place with Sam Bradford makes Clayton worthy of a wait and see reach. He will be teamed with PPR monster Brandon Lloyd, and I predict a couple big games down the stretch.
ULTIMATE LINEUP: Aaron Rodgers, Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy, Ray Rice (flex), Calvin Johnson, Greg Jennings (has monster games against the Vikings), Rob Gronkowski, Dan Bailey and the Eagles defense.
FANTASY BUST OF THE WEEK (6-2-1): Last week, I predicted a barely work-up-a-sweat effort for Matt Schaub and he threw for only 119 yards and no TDS. The Texans ran the Browns into submission. Schaub did have a 2-yard rushing TD but that was all as he accounted for only 8.76 points. This week, my attention turns to hobbled Frank Gore (one of the main reasons I have three teams on six-game winning streaks). I do not see a lot of work, or productive work, from Mister Gore this week. My advice is proceeding with extreme caution.
ELIMINATION PICK (9-0): My pick last week, the Atlanta Falcons, won in a 31-7 blowout over the winless Colts restoring my faith in the fact that this was a game they had to win to be considered a playoff caliber team. According to Yahoo Sports, only 11,270 teams remain from an initial pool of approximately 250,000 entrants. The teams that I have picked so far are the Texans, Jets, Steelers, Packers, Chargers, Bengals, Saints, Ravens and Falcons. This week I am going all in on the Dreamless Team, the Philadelphia Eagles, as I think they blow out Arizona in a must-win game if they have any hope of a playoff berth.