ESPN The TRUM Blog

Posted by Matthew Berry

Thoughts, Ramblings, Useless information and Musing for Sunday

The answer: Right now.

The question?

Eric S. (Boston): "What excuse are you going to use about LJ this week? 'Other than that 60-yard run to start the game, he had had only 130 yards and 2 touchdowns. He is still slow and terrible.' Is that it? Do yourself a favor, be a big man and admit you were wrong on this one instead of continuing to hold a grudge that makes you look ignorant.

TMR: I'm admitting it right now. I was wrong, dude. No doubt. I made some amazing calls this week and a couple of really horrific ones, and Larry Johnson's big day was definitely on the brutal list.

I watched the game, and to be honest, I thought Denver looked terrible on defense. They gave up 352 yards of offense to a Chiefs team that came into the week ranked 28th in the NFL in yards per game.

But there's no question the Chiefs' offense looked better with Damon Huard, and Johnson ran better than he has in quite some time. It was his first two-touchdown game since December 2006!

But Eric S., before you dance the Lambada -- that's right, I assume you do an out-of-date dance that is slightly erotic because you are so excited and not that hip -- on my fantasy grave, I want you to consider a few things. Larry averaged an amazing 7.1 yards per carry. But the leading rusher in three previous games against the Broncos (Justin Fargas, Darren Sproles and Reggie Bush) averaged 5.4, 7.6 and 4.1, respectively (Bush did his damage through the air). So it's not like this hasn't happened before to the Broncos.

Secondly, I still say you should dangle LJ and deal him for another running back, pronto. His value won't be higher this year, and look at the Chiefs' upcoming schedule: at Carolina, bye, versus Tennessee, at the tough-against-the-run Jets, versus Tampa Bay, at San Diego ... New Orleans in Week 11 is a nice matchup, but then the Chiefs host Buffalo and play at Oakland prior to the fantasy playoffs. I like his playoff schedule -- Denver (again), San Diego, Miami and Cincinnati, respectively -- but I hate it up until then.

In fact, here's a list of guys I would rather have than Johnson the rest of the way (and I'm not including obvious guys like LaDainian Tomlinson or Adrian Peterson): Steven Jackson, Brian Westbrook (if you can find a guy frustrated with his "injury proneness"), Marshawn Lynch, Ryan Grant, Frank Gore, Matt Forte, Clinton Portis, Earnest Graham, Maurice Jones-Drew, Michael Turner (more on him in a bit), Jamal Lewis and Bush.

Oh, and by the way, I continue to trust no Denver running back.

So yes, I called that one wrong. I caught that. Here are 10 more things I noticed today:

1. S! I! X! Six! Six! Six!

As long as I am throwing myself on the fantasy sword, I might as well go ahead and take back my statement that Brett Favre looks like he is having trouble picking up the Jets' offense. He apparently learned a lot in a short week off following "Monday Night Football," the most important of which is that the Cardinals' defense is terrible.

That Cards-Jets game was crazy, but I was actually cursing Jerricho Cotchery in the first half because he couldn't get a sniff of the crazy scoring. The fantasy takeaways from this one are that it's Laveranues Coles, not Cotchery, who is the no-brainer always-start guy from the Jets' receiving corps. He is clearly the guy Favre is looking for on most plays, especially in the red zone.

Second straight game with a touchdown for rookie tight end Dustin Keller in that same game. I'm dumping Edgerrin James as soon as I can, by the way. You see two touchdowns and get all excited. I saw a guy who ran just nine times for 29 yards and got two goal-line carries. But they want Tim Hightower, who also scored, to have that job, and clearly the Cardinals are not going to be in a lot of low-scoring games.

Oh, and I am ignoring Steve Breaston and his huge game. You aren't seeing that again. Unless they give up 56 points again.

2. The "O" in Ohio is actually a zero.

So much for another shootout between the Bengals and Browns. Jamal Lewis is the only guy I trust on either team. Both teams looked lost on offense, and while Braylon Edwards and Chad Ocho Cinco got into the end zone, neither player was a large part of the offense. Chris Perry remains a flex-play option at running back, and Carson Palmer's season continues to get worse -- he missed this game because of an elbow injury. That said, I'd hang on to guys like Palmer, Edwards and Ocho Cinco. There's nothing you can do at this point but ride it out. The upside of those players is greater than anything you could get for them on the trade market.

3. I hate Casey Rabach.

The Redskins' center was responsible for penalties calling back two touchdowns (one from Clinton Portis and the other on a pass to Antwaan Randle El). Sigh.

4. Michael Turner is a pitcher.

For those of you who don't play fantasy baseball, we often talk about pitchers with differing home/road splits. As in, they play well at one, but not the other. Well, in two games at home (and on the turf) this year, Michael Turner has 324 rushing yards and five touchdowns. In two games on the road (and the grass) this year, Turner has 98 total yards and no touchdowns. Just sayin'.

5. Well, well, well. Look who showed up.

Deuce McAllister, left for dead by many fantasy owners, including me, showed up Sunday, looking healthy and saying au revoir to Pierre Thomas. Available in 46 percent of ESPN.com leagues, the Deuce was once again loose. OK, so it was against the 49ers, who failed to be competitive, but still, 21 touches for 83 yards and a score is not to be dismissed.

Nice to see Justin Gage back on the field. We've been talking for a few weeks now about his connection with Kerry Collins, and it was evident again today, with five receptions for 92 yards. And Kevin Walter and Owen Daniels of the Texans had nice games and should be paid attention to. Matt Schaub needed to have a good game to keep his job, and he had it. He'll continue to look for those guys.

6. One of those weeks ...

Big-name guys that did not show up this week that I am not worried about: Bush, Grant, Lynch, Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor, Donald Driver (although another bad call from me this week), Tony Scheffler, Andre Johnson, Marion Barber and J.T. O'Sullivan.

Oh, then you have Darren McFadden. Clearly he's not 100 percent healthy, but Oakland has a bye week, and that should help a great deal. I still maintain he has the best numbers of any running back in Oakland by the end of the year.

7. What's a Montell Owens?

He's a running back, and he scored a touchdown for the Jaguars. That's not important, but what is is the fact that he scored on a play in which they hiked the ball directly to him. I saw that a few times today. There's no real fantasy impact here because there's nothing you can do about it, but I found it interesting that the week after Miami used that offensive approach in beating the Pats, a few teams used single-wing plays.

8. You want to see an awesome Web site for an athlete?

Isaac Bruce, one of my top sleeper picks, solidified himself as the San Francisco wideout you can trust with five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown Sunday. And while I like Arnaz Battle, I don't believe you'll see seven receptions for 120 yards in a game from him again. But I bring it up just so I can let you check out "www.arnazbattle.com." Once you enter "The Battle Zone," you'll realize there is no greater site for a professional athlete -- especially one with as few professional accomplishments as Arnaz. Seriously, it's just awesome.

9. Uh, this is why we said to buy low on Steven Jackson.

And to not freak out, for that matter. Great game from him today, and it wasn't a fluke. Remember, he didn't score his first touchdown last season until Week 4. Trent Green was not great, but he was efficient, and more importantly, he got the ball to Jackson, just like an Al Saunders offense is supposed to. Torry Holt is your next buy-low in St. Louis.

10. As long as I'm falling on the sword ...

OK, I copped to my wrong calls on Driver and Larry Johnson, and underestimating Favre (but come on, no one could predict six touchdowns). On the other hand, here are good calls I made this week that have fantasy meaning going forward:

• Good games today from Jake Delhomme and Muhsin Muhammad. Yes, Atlanta is bad, but Muhsin continues to get more targets than anyone else on the Panthers. And with him, plus Steve Smith back, plus a strong run game, Delhomme is a solid starting fantasy quarterback.

• David Garrard needed patience from his owners, and Matt Jones was a good start today. Two scores for Garrard, including one on the ground, and Jones is the leading receiver for the Jaguars after five catches for 71 yards and a score today.

• I've been saying all along: Chris Johnson over LenDale White this season. Look, LenDale will get the majority of goal-line carries, but Johnson got one today as well. And forget the touchdowns for a second. The stat you must look at is 11 carries for 13 yards for White today, while Johnson had 20 touches for 75 yards, and against a very good Vikings defense.

• Steve Slaton should be started on the road at Jacksonville. In fact, he's an automatic start going forward.

• Santana Moss and the Redskins' offense is legit. Another automatic start. And Jason Campbell continues to put up great fantasy numbers. And he's still available in a handful of leagues.

• Zach Miller would be a good start. I mentioned this on Friday's Fantasy Focus videocast and this morning on Fantasy Football Now. Going into Sunday's game, the Chargers had given up a touchdown to a tight end three straight weeks. Now it's four straight as Miller had five receptions for 95 yards and a score. In case you were wondering, San Diego plays Miami next week. Anthony Fasano looks good, and don't forget about David Martin if you are in a pinch.

Matthew Berry -- The Talented Mr. Roto -- is looking forward to all the angry mail from Chiefs fans and Larry Johnson owners. He is a four-time award winner from the Fantasy Sports Writers Association, including a Writer of the Year award. He is also the creator of RotoPass.com, a Web site that combines a bunch of well known fantasy sites, including ESPN Insider, for one low price. Use promo code ESPN for 10 percent off. Cyberstalk the TMR | Be his Cyberfriend