Fantasy Fives: Forte Flashes, Boldin Bombs in Week 5

Fantasy Aces

1. Matt Forte – Forte wasted no time bouncing back from Sunday night’s loss to the Giants. The third-year back from Tulane scored two touchdowns and had over 100 yards rushing in the first eight minutes of the game. He ended the day with 188 yards from scrimmage and those two scores – 30 fantasy points – and the Bears handled the toothless Panthers 23-6. It’s amazing when you consider that Todd Collins got the start for the Bears and threw four picks.

2. Ray Rice – That’s more like it. Rice owners finally got the performance they’ve been waiting for ever since investing a top five pick in the Ravens’ runner: 186 total yards and two touchdowns. Heck, even Willis McGahee got in the mix with a rushing touchdown. Rice is clearly healthy and should be counted on to carry the load for Baltimore, and your fantasy team, moving forward.

3. Hakeem Nicks – Nicks continued his breakout sophomore season with yet another all-pro performance – 12 catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Nicks ran circles around the Texans’ secondary and continues to be one of fantasy’s most productive receivers. With six touchdowns through five weeks, Nicks has clearly elevated himself to WR1 status.

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Week 5 NFL Preview – Are the Chiefs ’72 Dolphins? Nah

Heading into every week of the NFL season, you always want to know what the marquee matchup is.  Well, as we look at Week 5, the slate of games resembles nothing close to the word marquee. But anyhow, it’s time to take a look at three games that could entertain you:

Kansas City @ Indianapolis

The Kansas City Chiefs take to the road and hope to keep their goal of an undefeated season going.  Yes, I realize people may laugh at that last sentence, but really isn’t it every team’s goal to go undefeated?  The Chiefs are the only team that still has that chance this year.  The young core that the Chiefs have is entertaining to watch.  So far their offense hasn’t been that crisp, but after having the bye week last week I expect things to be different.  I mean look at their offense: Chambers, Bowe, McCluster, Jones, Charles, Moeaki…how long can you hold them down?

The Colts on the other hand come into the week trying to figure out how a 59-yard field goal beat them.  It would be one thing if the loss came against a good team, but the Jaguars?  Come on Indy, get your act together and I mean that for the defense.  Manning and the offense have been great so far this season — in fact Manning at this pace could have one of the best statistical seasons of his career.  A 24^th ranked team defense is killing the Colts right now. Yes they have significant injuries and three of their games have been on the road, but they need to see a drastic improvement. Quickly.

Pick: Indianapolis 34 Kansas City 24

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BumpAndRun.com Play Sheet – Week 5

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As you prepare your fantasy line-up, finalize your weekly picks or decide which team to select in your survivor pool, BumpAndRun.com will serve as your “second opinion.” Check back this weekend as the injury status of your fantasy players may change.

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Week 6 College Football Preview

Two classic rivalries have relevance again.  The battle of Michigan and Florida headline this week’s slate of games, plus a possible upset brewing in Big 10 country.  Here we go:

Indiana @ Ohio State (Saturday, 12:00, ESPN)

The Indiana Hoosiers are relevant again in college football.  Last week at home they took Michigan down to the wire.  Now they look to take their show on the road and prove they belong in the talks with the top teams in the Big 10.  Senior quarterback Ben Chappell has completed 70% of his passes, for 1370 yards, 12 touchdowns and only one interception.  He will pose a serious threat to the Buckeyes D, as he has a great connection with his receivers.  This is the first test Ohio St. really faces as the Hoosiers are well coached and won’t make stupid plays. 

Ohio St. escaped Champagne last week with a very ugly victory.  Terrelle Pryor had a big play early but was fairly contained and injured his hamstring during the game.  If healthy he should be able to create big plays against the Hoosiers D. Expect Indiana to blitz early and often to see how mobile he is on the injured leg. 

Pick: Indiana 27 Ohio St 23

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Week 5 College Football Rewind and New Top 15

Through five weeks our record here with the games we have previewed is 12-3, add on the four games I added at the end of this week and we hit 16-3.  Yes, I am gloating. 

A few observations from this weekend’s games: Alabama is the only team worth talking about in the SEC.  Ohio St. isn’t going to go undefeated and that’s because they aren’t as good as people think, not because the Big 10 is very good.  Oregon’s offense is the most electric in the country, but their defense can be exposed.  Va. Tech is bouncing back from the early season losses, but has yet to play a complete game.  

And now onto the new BumpAndRun.com Top 15 as there has been some movement:

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Fantasy Fives: L.T. Runs Wild, Eagles’ Receivers Grounded

Fantasy Aces

1. LaDainian Tomlinson – Enjoying a bit of a renaissance with the Jets, Tomlinson ran for 133 yards and two touchdowns against the hapless Bills. L.T. has emerged as NYJ’s lead back and will continue to benefit from the much improved play of quarterback Mark Sanchez. He remains a must-start until further notice.

2. Terrell Owens – The T.O. Show made an appearance in Cleveland Sunday afternoon, albeit in a losing effort. Owens brought some life to the Bengal offense, exploding for 222 receiving yards and a touchdown, but the Browns still held on to win 23-20. A nice surprise for Owens owners, but don’t get used to it every week – there’s two diva wide receivers to satisfy in Cincy, remember?

3. Kyle Orton – The NFL’s top ranked passing offense (yes, you read correctly) put up another gem in a come-from-behind victory in Tennessee. Kyle Orton finished the day with 341 passing yards and two touchdowns, including the 6-yard game winner to Correll Buckhalter. Orton has been sneaky good this season and should be considered a fringe QB1 moving forward.

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Early Ins/Outs

RB Pierre Thomas, New Orleans Saints - OUT

Expect Ladell Betts to start and Chris Ivory to get carries against the Panthers this afternoon.

RB Steven Jackson, St. Louis Rams - IN

Looks like he’s going to give it a go but don’t be surprised if Kenneth Darby takes on some of the load if the groin tightens up.

RB Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens - IN

It was going to be tough sledding against the Steelers, even if healthy – still a must-start.

RB Jahvid Best, Detroit Lions - IN

Turf toe injury won’t keep him out against the Pack. Not sure what to expect but Best is worth the risk.

Week 4 NFL Preview – McNabb Returns to Philly

We enter this week with some key early season divisional battles that could go a long way in determining what teams are fighting for playoff berths at the end of the season. Let’s take a look at three divisional games in Week 4:

Seattle Seahawks @ St. Louis Rams

The Seahawks head into St. Louis looking to create some early separation in the NFC West and make it essentially a two team race for the division.  Seattle has been great in their two games at home this season but when they went on the road to Denver it seemed like a different team was playing.  That has basically been a theme over the last few seasons for Seattle; however they have dominated the matchup with the Rams both home and away.  Look for Matt Hasselbeck to have a big day connecting with his young wide receivers Golden Tate and Mike Williams and tight end John Carlson.

The Rams enter the game after easily handling the Redskins for their first win of the season.   They did it mostly without Steven Jackson who left the game in the first half.  Jackson remains questionable for this week’s contest.  Sam Bradford settled into his job last week. He made throws when he needed to and seems to be building a good connection with Mark Clayton.  If Bradford can continue to slow the game down in his head he could be a very special quarterback.

Pick: Seattle 27 St. Louis 24

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Week 5 College Football Preview

Conference play begins in full force this weekend with many critical matchups.  The top teams around the country will begin to suffer defeats and the chase for the BCS title game will become clearer as each week passes.  Let’s take a look at three of the top games in Week 5:

Texas A&M @ Oklahoma St. (Thursday, ESPN, 7:30)

Two of the top 12 scoring teams in the nation will do battle Thursday night in Stillwater.  While neither team has faced stiff competition in their first three games this season, they have both moved the ball at will.  A&M is led by senior quarterback Jerrod Johnson, who was excellent in the first two games of the season but struggled mightily against Florida International, throwing 4 INT’s.  For the Aggies to hang with the Cowboys, Johnson needs to play how he did in the first two games. 

The Cowboys come in putting up points at ease so far this season. They are averaging close to 600 yards of offense per game and are second in the nation in points per game.  Quarterback Brandon Weeden has been very impressive.  More importantly however is they have a healthy Kendall Hunter at running back.  Hunter is averaging almost 8 yards per carry, over 150 yards per game and has 6 touchdowns thru 3 games.  The winner of this game could challenge for the conference crown. 

Pick: Oklahoma St. 45 Texas A&M 35

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Week 4 College Football Rewind and New Top 15

Arkansas pushed Alabama on Saturday afternoon but when the Tide had to make plays they got the job done and left with the victory.  Boise St. went on national television and again proved it did belong in the national title discussion.  They will have a few tough contests within the WAC, but ultimately could face an undefeated Nevada team on Thanksgiving weekend.

Two teams in our top 15 suffered defeat for the first time. Texas got blasted on their home field by UCLA and will drop out of the rankings, but will Arkansas?  Here’s the new BumpAndRun.com Top 15, which remains the same 1 through 8:

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