Week 11 Fantasy and Game Predictions

Will the Saints and Colts remain undefeated? Will the Patriots get revenge on the Jets and end the "Why did you go for it on 4th and 2" talks? Will the Chargers continue their hot streak and take the division lead? Will this playoff race get any clearer after this week? These are all questions that will be answered tomorrow. But I'll try my best to answer them now.

Here are my picks:

Colts over Ravens
The "Charm City Classic" matchup between the team that broke Baltimore's hearts against the team that has their hearts figures to be a pretty good matchup. The Ravens are better than their record says, losing by just 21 points in their four losses and winning big when they've won. It's surprising to see that the Ravens are favored in this one but I'm not buying them winning this one. Their defense is not what it used to be despite a deceiving shutout victory over Cleveland last week. Corners Fabian Washington and Domonique Foxworth have been getting burned for most of the season. Reggie Wayne is not who these guys want to see right now. Plus Peyton Manning is known to be a Raven-killer. Throw in the injury to Terrell Suggs and I just don't see the Ravens being able to stop this machine that is the Colts' offense.

Giants over Falcons
After a bye week and a lot of time to work on things and get healthy, I think the Giants will come out with a W. The Falcons are going to have to go without the heart of their offense, Michael Turner, who is out with an ankle injury. This will put even more pressure on Matt Ryan who is in a serious rut right now. On the other side of the ball, the Falcons defense isn't much  to brag about right now. I think Eli will get back on track as well.

Patriots over Jets
The Pats haven't lost two games in a row since 2006 when ironically they lost to the Colts and Jets in consecutive games. I don't see that happening again here. Tom Brady and the Pats offense have the most to prove with the way they were held in check in the last matchup between these two teams. Brady wasn't quite himself the last time they played the Jets but he is on top of his game now and will throw for over 300 yards once again.

Chargers over Broncos
Anyone that saw Chris Simms play last week knows that the Broncos are in serious trouble if he has to play in place of Kyle Orton. Orton is a gametime decision and won't be 100% if he does play. The formula to stop the Broncos in recent weeks has been stack up against the run and make Orton beat you in the passing game. (which hasn't happened). The Chargers are playing at their best right now which means even more trouble for this reeling Broncos team.

Eagles over Bears
Jay Cutler is playing in primetime football once again. You know what that means? Should be another epic choke job. In three primetime games this season, Cutler has thrown 11 picks. The Eagles will have to go a while with Lesean Mccoy as their starting running back with all the concussions to Brian Westbrook. I hope Westbrook will have a swift recovery but I'm not sure if it really matters who's in the backfield for Philly with as much as they've thrown the ball (Donovan McNabb threw it 55 times last week). For the Eagles this is almost a must-win game after losing two straight. I like them in this one, even on the road.

Fantasy Heroes
Brandon Jacobs  RB NYG
Jacobs has been disappointing fantasy owners this season, mainly because the Giants have been throwing the ball more than usual and Ahmad Bradshaw has been taking a lot of his carries. But the Falcons are ranked 25th in the NFL against the run. If the Giants were smart, they'd get back to their bread and butter and run the ball.


Beanie Wells RB ARI
Wells has started to come on lately but Cardinals fans are waiting for him to really break out. I think he'll get more carries than usual against the Rams, especially with all the garbage time. And that should mean a big day for big Beanie.

Roddy White WR ATL
I own White in both of my fantasy leagues and have been disappointed to see him not get into the end zone the past couple weeks. But he's always going to get plenty of targets. I think he'll score this week and put up big numbers because with Jason Snelling as the Falcons running back they are going to need to pass. The Giants secondary has been giving up big plays all year and might be seeing the back of White's jersey quite often.

Calvin Johnson WR DET
Calvin is back in the lineup now and has a very favorable matchup against the Browns this week. I am just waiting for the world to realize the immense talent that this kid has. I'm looking for a big game...maybe over 100 yards and a touchdown in this one.

Rashard Mendenhall RB PIT
Mendenhall has always been hit or miss in fantasy. Last week he got me 5 points. But this week is a different story when the Steelers face the Chiefs and I think Mendenhall will have an impressive performance.

Fantasy Zeroes 
Joseph Addai RB IND
The Ravens pass defense is pretty poor but their ability to stop the run is about the same as it's always been. Addai doesn't usually get more than 12 or 15 carries anyway. He may get a few catches but I don't think he will be able to continue the recent success.

Darren Sporles RB SD
We haven't seen a whole lot of Sproles in recent weeks because LT has been healthy and running well. Denver has a pretty good run defense anyway so I wouldn't expect him to touch the ball more than five times in this one.

Todd Heap TE BAL
Heap is only an average tight end at best this season. Now he faces a Colts' defense that allows the fewest fantasy points to opposing tight ends. The Ravens will probably look outside to their wideouts or to their biggest playmaker, Ray Rice.

Santana Moss WR WAS
I'm giving up on Moss now. I can't believe that he's the #1 receiver on this team with his pathetic numbers this season. The Skins need to give up on him as their big play guy and find some big receivers who can actually get open (not Malcolm Kelly or Devin Thomas).

Jay Cutler QB CHI
See above.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back to recap everything next week.