| Authored by Andrew Perna - 9th October, 2007 - 9:23 pm
 For the third year in a row the Indianapolis Colts have started the season with five straight victories, but they have much higher aspirations for 2007 season. The Colts are looking to repeat as Super Bowl champions, which happens to be one of the toughest feats in all of professional sports.
The Colts made short work of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, despite playing without Joseph Addai, Marvin Harrison and Bob Sanders. Indianapolis will rest during their upcoming bye week, and hope to get the trio back on the field against Jacksonville in Week Seven. People are beginning to talk about the New England Patriots running the table this season, but I think the Colts have a much better shot to do so.
Indianapolis has a much easier schedule than New England. The Colts’ November 4th game against the Patriots is the only huge threat to their nearly unstoppable offense. In addition to that Week Nine game in Indianapolis, the Pats must also play AFC heavyweights Baltimore and Pittsburgh and NFC contenders New York and Washington.
The Downs
The First Down…Winless Saints
The New Orleans Saints, who advanced to the NFC Championship game last season and were expected by many to represent the conference in the Super Bowl this year, are now in danger of missing the postseason entirely. The Saints fell to 0-4 after losing to the Panthers on John Kasay’s game-winning 52-yard field goal Sunday. New Orleans is the last-place team in the NFC South division, and their offense hasn’t lived up to lofty expectations. Drew Brees threw two interceptions against Carolina, twice the number of touchdowns he’s thrown all year.
The Second Down…Super Bowl XV Rematch
The Pittsburgh Steelers, having been upset by the Cardinals in Week Four, needed to bounce back against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday to keep their lead in the AFC North. Pittsburgh didn’t have much trouble taking care of the Seahawks, who they defeated in Super Bowl XL less than two years ago, beating Seattle 21-0 at Heinz Field this weekend. Ben Roethlisberger was incredibly accurate, connecting on eighteen of his twenty-two passes for 206 yards and a touchdown. Willie Parker recorded his fourth 100-yard performance of the young season against the Seahawks’ defense, while Najeh Davenport scored two vulture touchdowns on seven carries. They may have dominated, but the Steelers were severely undermanned. They’ll enjoy a bye in Week Six, which will allow them to heal their many wounds.
The Third Down…Lions Offense Sputters
The Detroit Lions had the NFL’s top passing offense heading into their Week Five matchup against the Washington Redskins, but you wouldn’t have known by the scene at FedEx Field. The Redskins’ defense held the Lions in check, holding Jon Kitna and his top receiving corps to just three points on their way to a 34-3 victory. The win moves Washington to 3-1, but they could very easily be undefeated had they not crumbled against the Giants in the fourth quarter two weeks ago. The NFC East is shaping up to be an extremely competitive division, with the Philadelphia Eagles the only team more than a pair of games out of first place.
The Fourth Down…Chargers Are Back
What offensive woes? Heading into their matchup against the Denver Broncos on Sunday the San Diego Chargers were labeled as one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL. Philip Rivers was playing erratic at best, and LaDainian Tomlinson was a shell of his 2006 record-breaking self. Those problems all seem to be a thing of the past now. San Diego hung 41 points on a tough Denver defense, en route to their second victory of the season. The Chargers win, coupled with the Broncos loss, moved the Oakland Raiders (2-2 and idle) into first place in the AFC West, and deadlocked the Chargers, Broncos and Chiefs at 2-3 heading into Week Six.
The ‘Who The Heck’ Statline of the Week…
The Bills defense/special teams: five interceptions, one fumble recovery and 21 points scored.
The Keyboard Prediction for Week Six
The New England Patriots will do battle with the Dallas Cowboys this week, with the right to remain undefeated on the line. The Pats are traveling to Dallas for a 4:15 EST game, in a match-up between two of the league’s best offenses. New England has yet to score fewer than 34 points in a game this season, and the Cowboys’ lowest offensive total was a surprisingly-low 25 points against the Bills Sunday night. I think this is going to be a relatively low scoring game. My prediction: Dallas 27, New England 21.
My Fantasy Diary…
In Week Five I compiled my worst overall fantasy record of the young football season. For the first time this fall I lost more games than I won, posting a dismal 5-7 record. For the season I’m still in the green, but after a 9-3 effort in Week Four I wasn’t pleased with my results.
What brightened my week was a surprising victory for The Drew Crew. At 4-1, I’m now the class of my division all alone in first place. I wasn’t expecting to win heading into the week with Joseph Addai, Javon Walker, Anquan Boldin and Santana Moss all out due to injury. I was left to start DeShaun Foster instead of Addai, something I could live with because I knew I’d have to showcase Foster in Week Six with Addai on a bye.
But having to start Dwayne Bowe and Green Bay’s James Jones really worried me especially since my opponent, The Springfield Isotopes, was starting Randy Moss and Terrell Owens.
I went into the week preparing myself for a loss, which would have been just my second of the season. What I didn’t expect was to get a huge boost from Benjamin Watson and the Tennessee Titans’ defense. Watson caught two touchdown passes from Tom Brady and tallied well over 100 yards of total offense. His 26-point performance outscored five of the Isotopes offensive skill players (Jon Kitna, Travis Henry, Marshawn Lynch, Moss andOwens).
Add in a 24-point outburst from the Titans – they compiled two sacks and picked off Atlanta twice, including one for a touchdown – and I had over 50 points from just my tight end and defense. That’s unheard of in the world of fantasy football.
Eli Manning and Willie Parker supplied the icing for my cake with strong efforts of their own, and my fourth and fifth-string wide receivers played respectively adding nine points to The Crew’s total. It’s unreal to imagine that Bowe and Jones could outscore Moss and Owens. I’m not expecting it to ever happen again.
When it was all said and done I registered a 103-58 win over the Isotopes, vaulting me into first place. At 4-1 I’ve already eclipsed my win total from the 2006 season, and seem destined for the postseason. Week Six is going to be a tough one for The Crew, but it’ll be even crueler to my opponent, The Rugrats.
Bye weeks will leave me without Addai, Parker and Walker. However, the Rugrats will be without the services of Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Adam Vinatieri and Kenton Keith. Believe it or not, he isn’t a Colts fan.
Wish me luck.
My Fantasy Football Record for the 2007 Season:
Week Five: 5-7
Week Four: 9-3
Week Three: 7-5
Week Two: 6–6
Week One: 8–4
Overall: 35 wins and 25 losses
Predictions, Fantasy Stories, or Rambles? Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
