Tyrese, Liz Pray For McNabb/T.O. Magic: Fantasy Football Week Five Preview
With the first quarter of the NFL season in the books, fantasy football folks generally know their strategies by now.
Expose a weak defensive line with a running-back stud. Attack an inexperienced quarterback with a vicious defense. Shoot, even make sure you have a clutch kicker if the going gets tough.
But the best strategy of all, perhaps, is to make sure your guys are actually playing this week. That last one seems to have slipped the minds of a few of our managers heading into week five.
Division 1 leader Yung Joc, as well as Lil Wayne, Method Man, Uncle Luke and MTV's own Liz Hernandez, all forget that one crucial element: Look at the schedule! So with top-notch position players rendered scoreless, we're sure to have a shakeup in the standings by next week.
Method Man will no doubt suffer as QB Carson Palmer -- tied for fourth in the NFL in touchdown passes -- will be sitting on the couch watching games from home just like the Wu-Tang rapper. As for Luke and Liz? Well, with his starting running back and wide receiver off, and her signal caller and halfback taking a break, they might as well look forward to next week. Thankfully the managers have a couple of days to get their lineups worked out, so they might have a whole new team on the field come Sunday.
Here's how this week's matchups break down -- and don't forget to check back on Tuesday, after the dust has settled from all of this weekend's games, to check out the winners, losers and latest standings:
In the marquee matchup of the week, second-place Lil Wayne looks to ride back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances from Larry Johnson and get numbers from his deep receiving corps. First-place Tyrese is also in good shape with starting quarterback Donovan McNabb, who had a strong second half last week versus Green Bay and will undoubtedly be pumped for his showdown with former battery mate Terrell Owens on Sunday. Will Wayne's defensive selection mishap cost him? Atlanta is off this week.
After reigning supreme through week three, it might really be goin' down for Yung Joc now (he tasted defeat for the first time last week). The Bad Boy rapper's consistent point-producing roster has two holes this weekend with Warrick Dunn and Chad Johnson, who both have byes, penciled in to start. Peyton Manning leads the way for Miami production duo Cool & Dre, however, a number of starters, including Ahman Green and their starting wideouts, are all listed as probable.
Hello? Anybody there? In this matchup of basement dwellers -- both suffering through three-game losing streaks -- Liz and Luke will trudge through the battle with a number of key starters MIA. While Edgerrin James and Byron Leftwich offer steady output for Luke, look for Liz to emerge from her funk with Terrell Owens leading the way. T.O. back in Philly for the first time since being booted from the team last year? Look for some TDs from him.
In a matchup between the league's two hottest players -- both on two-game winning streaks -- Paul Wall is hoping to capitalize on Meth's miscue (he selected Carson Palmer, who's sitting this week out). Watch for big numbers from Wall's backfield as workhorses Corey Dillon and Fred Taylor are expected to have big weekends. As for Meth? It doesn't look good with a sluggish Jamal Lewis facing a tenacious D in the Broncos.
