Six weeks to go, time to make your move

By John Gus
The Collegian

This is week eight and that means there are only six games left for most fantasy seasons.

If you find yourself with a losing record, you will need to get your team to six or seven wins to even have a shot at the playoffs. Six weeks sounds like a long time, but it’s not if you’re playing behind.

You need to start putting your team in a position to win each week, otherwise you’re going to have a long December watching other teams in your league compete for the championship while you are contemplating what you should have done.

There are two ways to do this. Most leagues haven’t met their trade deadline yet, so make some trades. If you have depth on your team, try to pull off a package deal where you trade some of your guys that ride pine for legit starters.

For instance, I traded Marcus Colston, Arnaz Battle and Chad Pennington for Ahman Green, it’s a bit risky, but if it pans out like I hope it will, I will have added another impact starter to go alongside Roy Williams, Tiki Barber and Marvin Harrison.

The point is to package and trade your duds for some studs. Give yourself a chance, because you don’t win the games you never play in.

QB 1. C. Palmer CIN vs. ATL – Slowly heating up. 2. D. McNabb PHI vs. JAC – Jags are banged up on D. 3. P. Manning IND at DEN – Great D to challenge #18. 4. M. Bulger STL at SD – Chargers D not as sharp lately. 5. E. Manning NYG vs. TB – It’s ugly, but he’s still getting his numbers. 6. P. Rivers SD vs. STL – Great match-up at home. 7. R. Grossman CHI vs. SF – 49ers don’t play well on the road. 8. T. Brady NE at MIN – Not the best play here, but he’ll still get it done. 9. B. Favre GB vs. ARI – Favre is running out of WRs, but it shouldn’t matter this week. 10. M. Vick ATL at CIN – We’ll see if last week’s breakout game was for real. Honorable Mentions: D. Carr HOU atTEN, D. Brees NO vs. BAL, M. Leinart ARI at GB, J. Delhomme CAR vs. DAL, D. Huard KC vs. SEA, C. Frye CLE vs. NYJ, T. Romo DAL at CAR

RB 1. L. Tomlinson SD vs. STL – Great play this week. 2. T. Barber NYG vs. TB – Let the Tiki retirement party begin! 3. L. Johnson KC vs. SEA – Quietly putting on a clinic all year. 4. B. Westbrook PHI vs. JAC – No “Kneed” to worry here. 5. T. Bell DEN vs. IND – He should see a heavy workload in the game of the week. 6. Willie Parker PIT at OAK – Oak D is better than most think. 7. R. Johnson CIN vs. ATL -- More TDs would be nice, a nice little plus! 8. S. Jackson STL at SD – Big test this week vs. a tough D. 9. T. Henry TEN vs. HOU – Really turning it on lately. 10. T. Jones CHI vs. SF – Should get a lot of carries vs. weak D. Honorable Mentions: A. Green GB vs. ARI, W. Dunn ATL at CIN, F. Gore SF at CHI, C. Taylor MIN vs. NE, R. Droughns CLE vs. NYJ

WR 1. A. Boldin ARI at GB – A lot of passing in this one. 2. C. Johnson CIN vs. ATL – 85 guaranteed a TD this week. 3. S. Smith CAR vs. DAL – Must start. 4. A. Johnson HOU at TEN – Top 5 fantasy WR this year. 5. T. Owens DAL at CAR – New QB Romo may hinder his production a bit. 6. T. Holt STL at SD – Very tough D, but never sit Holt. 7. T. Houshmandzadeh CIN vs. ATL – Steelers lit up ATL last week, expect the same from Cincy. 9. D. Driver GB vs. ARI – Should see a lot of targets.10. M. Harrison IND at DEN – He’s seen better match-ups, but he’s coming on lately. Honorable Mentions: H. Ward PIT at OAK, L. Coles NYJ at CLE, P. Burress NYG vs. TB, R. Brown PHI vs. JAC, R. Moss OAK vs. PIT

TE 1. A. Gates SD vs. STL 2. J. Witten DAL at CAR 3. A. Crumpler ATL at CIN 4. T. Heap BAL at NO 5. K. Winslow CLE vs. NYJ 6. T. Gonzalez KC vs. SEA 7. J. Shockey NYG vs. TB 8. L. Smith PHI vs. JAC 9. D. Clark CHI vs. SF 10. A. Smith TB at NYG

K 1. R. Gould CHI vs. SF 2. D. Akers vs. JAC 3. N. Kaeding SD vs. STL 4. N. Rackers ARI at GB 5. A. Vinatieri IND at DEN 6. J. Carney NO vs. BAL 7. J. Wilkins STL at SD 8. J. Kasay CAR vs. DAL 9. R. Longwell MIN vs. NE 10. S. Graham CIN vs. ATL

D/Sp 1. Chicago 2. Pittsburgh 3. Carolina 4. Kansas City 5. Baltimore 6. San Diego 7. Minnesota 8. Cincinnati 9. Philadelphia 10. Indianapolis

Show em’ what you got and there is no doubt, YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!

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