Falcons (9-6)

16

Saints (12-3)

45

Godfather View:  Atlanta choked mightily here and all they could comment on after the game was how Brees should not have ran up the score on them, instead of worrying about their lack of effort to compete against a Saints team they should have been able to beat if not keep the score reasonable.  The Falcons passing game led by Matty ICE was solid as Ryan went for 373 yards but the one TD pass to Julio Jones in the first quarter was ALL they could get here!?  Ryan came out swinging with 10 pts in the first quarter then they only had 6 pts total the next 3 quarters combined.  Chalk it up to a solid Saints home defense but it was more Atlanta’s inability to execute.  The run game was snuffed out as there were 3 guys who rushed this game for Atlanta (Turner, J Rodgers and Ryan) two of them, Rodgers and Ryan BOTH ended up with negative yardage.  Only Turner had positive yards here and even he bombed with only 39 yards on 11 carries.  Turner is likely feeling the effects of all the carries and banging he has endured this season so prepare to see a decline in overall performance for Turner week 17 and beyond.  Julio Jones is fast becoming the #1 fantasy receiver in Atlanta as he has had more BIG games than White this year by far.  White only steps up in home games and Jones has been the road monster for Atlanta.  This kid along with A.J. Green will be running this league WR wise in about 3 more years.

Godfather View:  Drew Brees was on a mission and no one could stop him.  This guy is the epitome of class and sportsmanship and in no way do we fault him for running up the score here or going for any record.  Passing Dan Marino is something no one thought could be done and Brees did it in one less game, amazing.  Hats of to Drew and his lineman for a historic run we are privililedged to say we witnessed.  His 4 TDs here week 16 were a nice example of what he does week in and out.  Pierre Thomas had a solid game with Ingram out again and Thomas should be a fine week 17 play with Sproles likely to get some rest.  Chris Ivory got as many carries as Thomas but could not get a TD or nearly as many rush yards.  Lance Moore is still banged up as he showed in this game leaving hurt, and that means a bump in value for Meachem as we head into week 17 and then the playoffs.  Any Saints player is a reasonable fantasy starter at some capactity.

Steelers (10-4)

3

49ers (11-3)

20

Godfather View:  This was an odd game as two power outages delayed this game twice before halftime.  A gimpy Big Ben who was getting a cortisone shot in between delays finished with some impressive yardage totals throwing for 330 yards, he was unable to convert on a TD pass so it was a bust game for Ben owners fantasy wise.  If Ben’s not converting we know Rashard Mendenfall is doing squat so Pitt scored 1 FG all game.  Cotchery was the most active Steeler receiver finishing with 93 yards on 5 balls but the distribution of passes was pretty much split four ways evenly with Cotchery getting 5, Heath Miller 5, Wallace 5, and Brown 5.  If Ben is going to continue to feel pain and be less than 100%, these Pitt WRs are in serious value trouble.  Other than Wallace right now no one else can be relied on.  Week 16 the Steelers host the Rams which is an amazingly friendly matchup from a fantasy standpoint yet we won’t be shocked if Mendenhall chokes and goes for less than 100 yards with no TDs and if only Wallace scores and no other Pitt WR.  Ben’s status could be in jeopardy so stay tuned on more.  We may see Charlie Batch starting week 16.

Godfather View:  The 9ers bounced back here and beat the tough Pitt foe improving to 11-3.  The light power delay did not sway their offense as the scored in every quarter.  Alex Smith was far from impressive but he did not throw any interceptions, considering Ben Roethlisberger threw three piks. Gore got it done and scored leading the team with 18 carries.  Facing Seattle week 16 you will have to roll with Gore as he is consistently putting up points.  Vernon Davis defied the odds and scored on this tough Pitt D and is still holding on to top 8 tight end status heading into the final two games.  Crabtree is just not stepping up as we had hoped and we would not consider starting him week 16.  Gore or Davis is it here right now.

Rams (2-11)

13

Seahawks (6-7)

30

Godfather View:  The Rams did what we all expected week 14 and fell to 2-11.  The only two tiny surprises here were Sam Bradford making a last minute decision to start despite missing practice all week with a lingering ankle injury and the fact that Cadillac Williams looked beastly running for 49 yards on only 8 carries.  The rest of the game went entirely as predicted in our weekly LIFE or DEATH News article with SJAX going for 1 TD and about 65 yards rushing and Bradford doing nothing substantial fantasy wise.  Lloyd managed a decent game and was a TD away from an A1 performance.  Outside of SJAX and Lloyd no one else if fantasy worthy if you are in your playoffs this coming week 15 facing the BENGALS defense.

Godfather View:  The Seahawks are on fire and it is for two reasons.  First their defense has been rock solid steady week in and out and Marshawn Lynch is on a vicious 9 consecutive game TD streak that has the fantasy world in awe. Fantasy veterans know this recent performance from Lynch is WELL ABOVE his means as this guy has barely been a RB2 over the last 4 years playing in Buffalo.  His best year ever before this one was 2008 when he had 9 TDs in 15 games played.  He is a legit #1 fantasy RB obviously but WILL have his TD streak in jeopardy playing on the road in week 15 against the solid Bears home run D.  You have to start him, we would, but be prepared for NO TD this week when you likely need it most (in your rd 1 playoff game or semi-finals).  Tarvaris Jackson is still not worth owning or starting and the only other Seahawk with any fantasy relevance is Doug Baldwin and we are not just saying that due to his TD and 93 yard, 7 catch game from week 14.  The rookie out of Stanford caught his 3rd TD of 2011 and had his best yardage game (93) since his week 5 game vs the Giants where he had 136 yards off of a season high 8 receptions.  Given this weeks match vs the Bears on the road, THEN playing the 49ers week 16, we are not starting Baldwin to close out our fantasy playoffs.  Lynch too will let you down big time the next 2 weeks, considering his recent 9 game streak. Watch.

Chargers (5-7)

38

Jaguars (3-9)

14

Godfather View:  The Chargers friggin’ finally all came together here and threw in the type of game we thought we’d be getting 4 out of 5 weeks during the year but instead barely got 1 out of every 5 good games.  Rivers amazingly threw zero interceptions and just under 300 yards and 3 scores.  He looked solid and that is in part thanks to Ryan Mathews and his 112 yards on only 13 touches.  Mathews big TD run was gravy on an already locked up win.  Malcolm Floyd could be the missing link to their success here as he returned and went for a team high 108 yards and a score. VJAX and Gates both turned in solid days, VJAX caught a BOMB 35 yarder so if he gets going owners will be pleased.  Going into the fantasy playoff we would own and start Rivers, Mathews, VJAX, Gates and even Floyd as a WR3 with upside.  Tolbert is also useful as a low end RB2 or flex guy so San Diego really provides fantasy depth.

Godfather View:  The Jags gave a noble effort overall here as we saw Maurice Jones-Drew go MADE MAN on the Chargers racking up 97 yards on the ground and then noticed the Jags receivers really truly suck and so he went for 91 yards receiving with a TD on a team high 6 grabs.  Blaine Gabbert nearly shattered his personal ceiling of 200+ yards passing in one game but fell short with 195.  Te Jags came out with 14 first half points and then fell victim to the adjustments San Diego’s D made at halftime and scored zero the 2nd half.  Cecil Shorts popped up for a score here but we wouldn’t give him a 2nd look on this offense.

Giants (6-5)

Saints (8-3)

Godfather View:  The Giants are a sad team too as they are too inconsistent to trust.  The overall team has been suffering injuries we know and things could improve once Ahmad Bradshaw returns.  Eli Manning got it done and then some, fantasy wise chucking for 400+ yards and 2 scores.  The TD to Crux was a break down in the defense, F.Y.I, not Eli threading the needle on a nice pass.  Brandon Jacobs is more useless than Rashard Mendenhall at this point and we would not want to own him, in fact we’d drop him so forget that weak 2 yard TD he was gift wrapped.  Victor Cruz is a top 5 overall best pick up of 2011 fantasy wise and we see him being a legit top 10 WR the rest of the season.  Mario Manningham missed this game as expected and has had more than one injury this year which is a major fantasy ‘red flag’.  Going ahead we would love to own Eli as our starter, Jacobs as a guy to trade or drop, Cruz as a WR2, Nicks as a WR1, Manningham as a bench guy in case Nicks gets WHACKED and Tynes as a low end kicker.  Ballard is a decent tight ned but not one you could ride week in and out.

Godfather View:  The Saints did what we thought they would here and raped the Giants.  Brees is the league leader in pass yards and has a legit chance to break the single season record set by Dan Marino.  The most reliable players to own on the Saints outside of Brees is one of the 3-headed RBs (Ingram, Thomas or Sproles) as they are the only ones giving regular points.  Out of these 3 backs, in PPR Sproles is the man, but in leagues that give more weight to touchdowns, Ingram is who you want.  We’d own Pierre Thomas too but only as insurance if Ingram or Sproles get WHACKED.  Thomas scored this past week too so it’s not crazy to view him as equal value as Ingram but the franchise wants Ingram to be the future, so due to that alone, he has slightly more value than Thomas.  Jimmy Graham is clearly the best tight end in football even over Gronkowski as he went for 84 yards and 2 TDs week 12 and should have had 3 TDs but he was a foot short diving to the end zone cone.  Colston and Lance Moore are the only 2 WRs you could realistically own here and expect something when starting.  Devery Henderson put up decent numbers here too and was tied for the team high in receptions this game with “5” but his production is very unreliable.

Bears (5-3)

30

Eagles (3-5)

24

Godfather View:  Cutler came through this time and didn’t crack on the road or under the Monday Nitro spotlight.   His yardage was meager at 203 passing but the 2 TDs really was the key here as he lit it up all night to Earl Bennett who led the team with 5 grabs for 95 yards and a TD.  Roy Williams seemed to be gaining value himself after coming back healthy but his weak play week 9 reminded is that he is still that below average type WR who is over-hyped.  You must grab Bennett if you need some WR depth or a potential WR3 right now as Cutler seems to have foung his #1 guy in Bennett.  Forte is still a BEAST but we woudl be looking to move him asap, especially in keeper leagues as he is not going to get the new contract deal he is expecting this year and the Bears will end up franchising him which means he’d have to play another year without a multi-year ‘piece of mind’ deal which means he is going to be VERY disgruntled and have a CJ2K type situation entering 2012 which will translate a a huge fantasy headache for you, PLUS, Marion THE VULTURE Barber is still VULTURING TDs off of Forte which kills his value BIG TIME to close out the season.  Going forward we would love to have Cutler as our back up QB, love to rock Forte as our #1 RB but we would be trying to trade him now, we want Bennett as our WR3 with upside and in TD Heavy leagues we would want Barber or in standard or PPR leagues as a cuff to Forte.

Godfather View: The Eagles fell to 3-5 on the year and got exposed on the national Monday Night Stage by a mediocre Bears D that had been giving up big points to offenses all year.  Other than Vick who finished with 213 yards and no TDs all other players had solid fantasy numbers like Maclin (4-53) Celek (7-60) and McCoy had a nice night with a TD and (16-71) rushing.  Desean Jackson was the only other FLOP of the night other than Vick as the team could not get anything going until the 3rd quarter where they put up 14 pts but all the momentum was gained by huge defensive plays.  Vick’s old mentality to run it first is not paying off this year as often times teams are learning to cut the field in half when playing him forcing Vick into certain areas where they can provide help.  We would look to trade DJAX if we own him and we would begin planning for a solid back up to Vick on our fantasy teams as he is also very overdue for an injury and his rushing game is not trumping his passing game like it did in the days of old so he’s dropping fast in the QB ranks.  Celek has been steadily doing a 180 degree turn as he is now heavily involved as in his last 3 games he has 2 TDs and 18 receptions for 196 yards receiving and in the 5 games before that he had a combined 9 catches and 73 total yards.  We’d love to still own Vick going forward and McCoy is still a top 2 overall fantasy running back.  We would also love to use Maclin as a WR2 and DJAX as a low end WR2 or WR3 with upside.  Celek is currently overtaking Vernon Davis as a top 10 tight end and Henery is giving you pts regularly in the kicking department.

Chargers (4-3)

20

Chiefs (4-3)

23

Godfather View:  The Chargers pulled the biggest MNF choke of 2011 overtaking Ravens after they super choked last week and lost to the Jags week 7.  Rivers seemed to be wincing after every throw in the game which is not a good sign obviously.  He may be hiding some pain he has been having.  We are chalking it up to a sore shoulder but are watching his status very carefully. He did end up with 369 yards passing and an un-Rivers like zero TDs.  Not having Tolbert hurt and Mathews getting WHACKED did too as Curtis Brinkley had to come in and went for a solid 43 yards on 10 carries AND had 24 receiving yards in 3 receptions,  If you won Mathews or Tolbert or just need a one week wonder RB grab Brinkley who looks to be the man here for week 9 at home vs the Packers.  Malcolm Floyd is currently the man here as Rivers had to lock on him with VJAX doubled and not looking his usually route running self.  Gates looks 100% and Crayton even chipped in, but like Garcon overtook Wayne in Indy, Floyd may end up overtaking VJAX if he Vincent does not come alive soon. Novak is going to be a sick 2^nd half sleeper kicker as well!

Godfather View:  Another ‘how the hec?’ win for Cassel who moves the Chiefs to 4-3 now.  He threw more picks than TDs (2-1) but chucked a TD to Baldwin and got Battle to rush one in and they pulled out the upset here on the grand Monday Night Stage.  Jackie certainly BATTLED going for 70 yards on 19 carries and a score and the Chiefs starting gig is his to lose as he’s looked the best of anyone all year so far.  We also think that Jon Baldwin will end up overtaking Breaston in value as he looked to be a cross between T.O. and Boldin hauling in balls and out muscling defenders.  Things are looking up in Kansas City all of a sudden so feel free to add some Chiefs to your roster.

Ravens (4-2)

7

Jaguars (2-5)

12

Godfather View:  The Ravens choked here in massive proportions. The only Raven who salvaged a solid game here fantasy wise was Boldin who had a small score.  His 4 grabs for 40 yards was best out of the receiving corps but he was 2nd in receptions to Ray Rice who had 5 out of the back field.  Ray Rice is a beast and the whole offense looked bad here starting with Flacco, so we’ll give Rice a mulligan here and see if he can come back strong week 8 when Baltimore returns home to host the Cards.  Flacco is too risky to rely on now and outside of Boldin and Rice we aren’t touching anyone else here including Ed Dickson who is overrated with his 1 TD in 6 games.

Godfather View:  The Jags really stunned everyone hear as we had the Ravens winning by at least 10 pts here.  Gabbert did squat to win it going for a robust 93 passing yards and 0 scores.  His -1 yards rushing were also equally as gross.  We knew they’d dump 20+ carries on MJD but did not think he’d get to 30 which put him over 100 rushing yards for the day.  4 FGs by Scobee was the highlight of a snoozer for a MNF game.  Jason Hill once again proved to be the leading Jags receiver with 4 receptions for 62 yards.  Moving ahead if you do not own MJD, you don’t want any guy here.

Dolphins (0-5)

6

Jets (3-3)

24

Godfather View:  Matt Moore did much better than the 3 pts total indicates as he went for 204 yards and 2 picks against a tough Jets D on the road in his 1st start of the season.  He got Marshall involved which is all we can ask in the fantasy world.  Marshall’s 6 catches for 109 are a nice sign moving ahead that he won’t die in value.  Reggie Bush left with a neck injury and Daniel Thomas took over the full load getting 15 carries and 47 yards.  Bush was doing well before getting WHACKED with 10 carries for 71 yards.  Moving ahead all we would want to own here is Marshall or Thomas, the others are just too risky.

Godfather View:  It’s official, Mark Sanchez is not worthy of fantasy starts as he just let us down for the last time.  His 201 yards and 1 Td leave much to be desired as Mark is just not the lead QB on any roster, he is a spot start back up at best and we would not even feel great about a spot start.  While he still has some value from the first 3 games he tore it up, try to trade this guy for whoever!  Shonn Greene looked pretty solid here getting a huge 21 carries and racking up 74 yards.  Greene is a GREAT BUY LOW candidate in trades and we would try to upgrade to him, even giving Javhid Best if needed. Santonio Holmes was the offensive star  in this game going for 63 yards and a nice highlight of the night TD, aside from Revis’ pik 6.  Dustin Keller provided solid yardage with 51 but his 2 catches needs to improve.  L.T. played but him getting 25 yards on 7 carries is almost useless right now.  We would rock Greene or Holmes right now and Keller (as a back up), but that’s it.

Bears (2-3)

13