Week 9 (2009) Sunday Happenings

First Matchups of Sunday:
Washington vs. Atlanta
Arizona vs. Chicago
Baltimore vs. Cincinnati
Houston vs. Indianapolis
Kansas City vs. Jacksonville
Green Bay vs. Tampa Bay

Second Matchups of Sunday:
Carolina vs. New Orleans
Detroit vs. Seattle
San Diego vs. New York Giants
Tennessee vs. San Francisco

Final Matchup of Sunday:
Philadelphia vs. Dallas

Pre-game:

• As always, check out http://www.nfl.com/injuries for the injury listings that you may not have noticed.  Especially check out injuries on the opposing defenses for your players.
• Wondering which games will be worth watching?  Check out Indianapolis versus Houston, as the Texans look to hand a loss to the mighty Colts.  Can't watch that game?  Baltimore versus Cincinnati should be a fun showdown between two emotionally charged teams looking to seal their chances at a playoff berth.
• All you Steve Slaton owners out there should mourn together (that includes me) now that Ryan Moats has stolen his starting slot; however, you can expect Slaton to make the big plays he has before in order to win back his starting position.  I'm betting coach Gary Kubiak wants to make Slaton work harder, and the youngster is certainly going to meet the challenge.
• Anquan Boldin and Brian Westbrook are out.  Replace with Steve Breaston and LeSean McCoy respectively.
  
  
  
  
  

First Matchups:

•  Lots of scoring early on this week.
• Tony Gonzalez nabs a touchdown from Matt Ryan.
• Larry Fitzgerald and Greg Olsen have touchdowns in their game.
• Andre Caldwell has a touchdown for Cincinnati on a short pass.
• Rashad Jennings, the backup to Maurice Jones-Drew, steals a touchdown from the must-start running back.  It comes on a 28-yard run.
• Laurence Maroney, killing my predictions, has four carries for 25 yards and a touchdown.
• James Jones hauls in a pass and dashes to the end zone.  Yardage total?  74 yards on the catch.  Ryan Grant also has a touchdown on a goal line run.
• IDP Update: Ty Hill of the Falcons intercepts Jason Campbell and runs it back 62 yards for a touchdown.  No one should really be all that surprised.
• Joseph Addai has a touchdown, but not on the ground.  It comes from a Peyton Manning pass.
• Kurt Warner now has two touchdown passes in the first quarter.  He's definitely making the point that he is still a powerful quarterback.
• Clinton Portis is sitting out with a head contusion.  His return is questionable.  On another note, the Redskins' receivers can't hang on to the rock at all.
• Tampa Bay actually scores!  It's Josh Freeman to backup running back Derrick Ward for the touchdown.
• Cedric Benson scores on the one-yard run.  He's his usually firey self so far.
• If for some insane, ungodly reason you sat Larry Fitzgerald, go ahead and proceed to slamming your head on the desk.  He's go two touchdowns...so far.
• IDP Update: Ronde Barber, corner for the Bucs, returns a blocked punt 31 yards for a touchdown.  Tampa Bay has made it a game with the score timed up at 14.  No one saw this cmoing.
• Greg Jennings may have more receptions, but Donald Driver has the touchdown.
• If you doubted the power of the Indianapolis defense due to the injuries, you doubted the wrong team.  The Texans are being held to nearly nothing offensively.
• Michael Turner, though known as being a stout back, can blow past secondaries, as he did on his touchdown run against the Redskins.  Never underestimate his speed.  He's said numerous times that he prefers running to the outside.  He is showing off why.
• Evidently Kurt Warner wants to throw as many touchdowns this weeks as he had turnovers last week.  He's killing, just killing.
• Jason Campbell is getting pummeled by the Falcons defense.  Five sacks so far.  He's headed to the bench.  That puts Cooley, Campbell and Portis on the sidelines, in addition to star tackles Randy Thomas and Chris Samuels.  Heads are hung low on their sidelines.  The argument could easily be made that the Skins are the worst team in the NFL at this point.
• Ricky Williams seems to be just as, if not more, playable as Ronnie Brown in that Miami offense.
• Mike Sims-Walker hauls it for the 61-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
• Ryan Moats just fumbled it in the red zone after a pass from Matt Schaub.  Who can the Texans trust with ball safety these days?
• I feel like it's crazy that tight end Dallas Clark has 11 receptions...in the first half.

Halftime

•  A HUGE pass by Joe Flacco ends up in the hands of Bengals cornerback Jonathon Joseph.
• Jason Campbell is back in the game for the Skins for the second half.
• Ronnie Brown finally has a touchdown...a passing touchdown of one-yard to tight end Joey Haynos.  It just goes to show that the Wildcat is here to stay.  The Dolphins are absolutely unpredicatable and that's their greatest strength.
• MJD is having a tough day, with 20 carries for only 57 yards.  The Chiefs aren't letting him get the big gains he had last week.
• Things have slowed down significantly in this second half.
• Bam-BOOM!  Tom Brady to Randy Moss for the huge touchdown.  It was bound to happen.
• Playing Ryan Moats paid off with his 1-yard touchdown catch.
• Andre Johnson is injured...again.  But he's already got seven catches for 63 yards, so don't fret too much AJ owners.
• Why aren't the Chiefs giving the ball to Jamaal Charles more often?  Matt Cassel doesn't look too sharp, while Charles is averaging over six yards per carry.
• The Ravens have nearly enough penalty yards to negate their offensive yards.
• Greg Olsen has two touchdowns today.
• Now both Moats and Steve Slaton have a touchdown.  Not sure what it means going forward, but many experts will discuss it this week, trying to figure it out.
• The Skins have likely lost all hope with Michael Turner's 58-yard touchdown run.  Now Jason Campbell is on the ground and will likely come off with an ankle injury, in addition to an offensive lineman for the Skins walking off with an ankle injury.  It's just a bad situation.
• Greg Olsen has three touchdowns.  This man wants it and is getting it.
• How often is Matt Cassel going to be throwing deep on a lengthy third down after a sack?  The Chiefs need to keep it on the ground.
• Why do you have to start Aaron Rodgers every week?  He gets you points on the ground.  He rushes 12 yards for the touchdown.  Even with injuries, he can scramble in the red zone.
• Philosophical question: At what point does the injury situation for the Redskins actually become comical?
• MJD has his weekly rushing touchdown.  It was bound to happen.
• Addai has a touchdown on the ground.  He is making his way back up the starting charts in fantasyland.
• It shouldn't be a surprise that rookie quarterback Josh Freeman hooked up with Kellen Winslow for a 7-yard touchdown.  Rookies will always look toward the star players to help them make big plays, this one being no exception.
• The Beanie Wells/Tim Hightower situation is going to be all the more confusing after this week.  Hightower's stock may lower while Wells' rises.
• Chris Chambers just had his "eat it" moment towards the Chargers after being released and picked up by the Chiefs.  He had a 54-yard touchdown hookup from Matt Cassel.  Is he a potential fantasy asset now that he could be a star in a weaker offense?
• Congrats Kurt Warner.  You win.  Five touchdowns, the most recent to Steve Breaston, makes up for last week and then some.
• TURN OF FATE: The Chiefs kicker, Ryan Succop, recovers a muffed recovery on his onside kick attempt.  What will the Chiefs do with under three minutes to play?
• Campbell comes back into the game.  No such thing as offensive momentum for the Skins this week.
• Lance Long of the Chiefs has eight catches for 74 yards.  He may see some adds this week for owners looking deep on the waiver wire.
• Two touchdowns for Chris Chambers!  He has got to be glowing on the inside.  Jamaal Charles gets the two-point conversion catch.
• You have to consider adding Sammie Stroughter.  He's looking to be one of the most dangerous threats on the Tampa Bay offense.  Josh Freeman may be more of a "better lucky than good" with less than a 50 percent completion rating.  Don't be too hasty on the add for him.  The question should be asked: "Can the Bucs upset the Packers?"  They do it with a 35-yard pick six.

Second Matchups:

• DeAngelo Williams has this stat line to start the game for him: 1 carry, 66 yards rushing, 1 touchdown.  Never ever sit Williams, or he will make you feel dumb.  It happend on the second play off the game.
• It wouldn't be a Lions game if there wasn't something to laugh about, such as the missed 34-yard field goal.  They almost drew first blood.  They failed.
• Matt Hasselbeck's first pass attempt is an interception that is returned to the Seahawks 2-yard line by Delmas.
• The Lions do get first blood!  It's a short touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew.
• DeAngelo Williams' stat line now: 6 carries, 83 yards rushing, 2 touchdowns.
• Stafford makes it two touchdowns, this one a 29-yard pass to Bryant Johnson.  This game is weird.  Go Lions?
• Detroit now also has a fumble recovery and stopped the Seahawks on fourth down.  I guess Seattle wants it to be a fair game and is giving the Lions unbelievably good field position on purpose?  I don't know why else this would be happening.
• Vincent Jackson has an excellent touchdown from Philip Rivers.  It should be the start of a high-scoring affair.
• Drew Brees throws a red zone interception.  The Panthers are certainly doing a great job of containing the elite quarterback.
• In other interception news, Alex Smith is intercepted by the Titans defense.
• Kevin Boss just took a huge hit.  Not sure what kind of injury, if any, or how bad.
• Julius Jones has a goal line touchdown run.  Seattle is finally back in the game.
• Any concerns about Eli Manning's mobility should be erased.  He's darting left and right to keep the play alive.
• Frank Gore pounds in the touchdown.
• Steve Smith, yes the Giants Smith, gets his first touchdown of the day.  He's looking to be in fantastic form.