Tuesday Morning QB, Week 5

Tuesday Morning QB is weekly feature on The Full Court Press, reacting to the past week’s happenings in NFL Football.

Pink Out

Week 5 marked the first week of October games in this NFL season, or more commonly referred to in recent seasons as "Pinktober," in honor of breast cancer awareness month.  But there was a noticeable decline in the volume of pink items at games this past weekend compared to other Pinktober games in recent years, which apparently was planned.  There has been much speculation over the reason for the decline - some think the league's recent mishandling of domestic violence cases makes the Pinktober promo look hypocritical, others think it stems from criticism that only a small percentage of pink gear revenue actually goes towards breast cancer research.  Regardless, this weekend was a more modest showing of pink goal post covers, wristbands and shoelaces.  Despite the decline of on-field products, that didn't stop the NFL from sending me this email at the beginning of last week:

In other news, if for no other reason that to satisfy my own amusement, Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams caught his first career touchdown on Thursday, and it looks like someone at Lambeau Field forgot to put the "Caution: Wet Floor" sign in the end zone:

In case you're wondering, yes, I did stop my DVR and rewind so I could film that, and no, I did not have anything better to do on Thursday.  I laughed out loud, and I make no apologies.  If you would like to see a sharper picture though, click here.

Impish or Admirable?

This is a recap of teams that are either looking good, or need help.  This is not a playoff projection. I call it impish or admirable.  

 Impish - New York Jets.  The annual drama in New York started heating up in a loss to the Lions last week.  I think we all knew it would only be a matter of time before the traditionally impatient New York fan base started calling for Geno Smith's job, and let's just say, he did not react well when it finally happened.  I talked to a Jets fan this week that actually said he thought if anything, it was encouraging to see Geno get a little fired up and show that he cares.  If you're the Jets, you know the state of your franchise is desperate when your players can curse your fans out, and they see it as an improvement.  Well, fans got their wish on Sunday, as Geno was benched in the middle of a 31-0 thrashing from the San Diego Chargers.  Michael Vick was 9-20 for 47 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.  We learned on Monday that Geno Smith missed a team meeting on Saturday.  He claims he was at the movies because he miscalculated the time change (they were the visiting team on the west coast).  My wife's response:

 Impish - Tennessee Titans.  Wow.  It's one thing to lose to the Browns.  It's another thing to give up a 25-point lead en route to Cleveland setting a record for largest comeback in a road game.  Charlie Whitehurst threw 2 touchdowns after subbing for an injured Jake Locker.  With a 14-3 lead, I'd bet the coaching staff would have been happy as long as he just didn't put his helmet on backwards.  Defying all odds, he somehow threw 2 more touchdowns. TWO! And they still LOST!  That week 1 win over Kansas City seems like a long time ago, in a football league far, far away.

 Admirable - Indianapolis Colts.  It was a rough first two weeks for the Colts - falling short in a week 1 comeback bid to the Broncos followed by blowing a week 2 fourth quarter lead to the Eagles.  So what's the best antidote for a losing record?  Some AFC South divisional contests to the above-mentioned Titans and hapless Jaguars.  On Sunday, they had a stiffer test to break .500 against the Ravens, and they passed exceptionally.  Andrew Luck is continuing to work his way into the conversation of elite NFL QB's.  The committee backfield of Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw is working surprising well, as they both average over 4 yards per carry.  And after a rough first half and disappointing second half against Denver and Philadelphia respectively, the defense is making big stops.

 Admirable - Dallas Cowboys.  If you've been reading the Tuesday Morning QB segments, or just know me a little bit personally, you know I'm eating a huge slice of humble pie on this one (which I've happily washed down with 4 consecutive "Cowboys Win, You Win" free coffees at Dunkin Donuts!).  Who would have thought that giving Tony Romo Wednesday practices off would result in a more reliable Sunday QB (you know Allen Iverson is freaking out somewhere)?  Dez Bryant is a stud.  And I don't know what's a bigger surprise - DeMarco Murray leading the league in rushing, or the defense not folding like a cheap card table.  Either way, this team is playing great ball right now, and they're fun to watch.  My only red flag is Tony Romo's press conference after the Houston game.  In case you didn't see it, here's a brief transcript: I was a little surprised at the number of Houston fans in attendance... It was the first time I needed to go to a silent count for an entire home game... I think we need to do a better job as a team and a fan base to understand the importance of home field advantage.  Tony, a little advice - don't throw your fans under the bus after a win... but no hurt feelings on my end - I started you on one of my fantasy teams this weekend!

Fantasy Watch

A look at players worth having on your fantasy football roster, who needs to be cut, and who has deceptive stats.

Like - Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers TE.   What an addition for the Carolina Panthers!  Sometimes, a change of scenery breathes a little extra energy into players, and that is the case with Greg Olsen. Only a quarter of the way into the season, and he has already accumulated half of his fantasy point total from last season.  With 40 targets through 5 games, it's a safe bet that Cam Newton will continue to go to him often as the season progresses, especially in the red zone.

Dislike - LaShean McCoy, RB Philadelphia Eagles.  Yeah, I'm not really sure what happened either.  The first two weeks we might have attributed to Darren Sproles going off.  "Surely," we thought, "LeSean will eventually start to see the majority of touches and claim some of those big plays."  But Sproles has been quiet the last three weeks, meanwhile McCoy still has yet to find the end zone.  I wouldn't encourage dropping him.  You might try to trade him, but I doubt there are many interested buyers in your league, and you're only likely to get a player who has hit his ceiling in return (see Zac Stacy).  Stick with him, but consider benching him if he goes against a top-10 rushing defense.

Pyrite - Andre Ellington, Arizona Cardinals RB.  I hope this is a temporary label, because I really like Ellington.  I had him on my wish list in every league, but he got snatched up before I could claim him.  While he had a monster week last week, if you remove his two touchdowns, he gained less than 30 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving - good for 7 points in standard scoring leagues.  Now that the QB situation in Arizona has become even muddier, there's a chance that opposing defenses may stack 8 in the box and either force Ellington to try to run through them, or challenge rookie QB Logan Thompson to beat the secondary in one-on-one match-ups (ironically, his only completion was a touchdown to Ellington on a pass that should have never been thrown).  Couple that with his nagging foot injury, and it might be a long couple of weeks for Ellington.

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