Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

With Week 17 of the NFL season fast approaching, it is once again time for the Bruno Boys to pick a Game of the Week, with a fantasy football twist. Each week we will choose one NFL game that we feel will have a lot of impact on the fantasy football world.

Heading into the final week of the NFL regular season, many games were up for consideration for the Bruno Boys Game of the Week. There are several games this week that have serious playoff ramifications. In the AFC, you have several teams still with a chance to get into the playoffs. In the NFC, we know who the teams are going to be in the playoffs, we are just not sure who is going to play who. With so much on the line this week, it was hard to decide which game we wanted to highlight. After making a case for several games, we decided that there is just way too much on the line in the NFC playoffs for us not to go with the Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys this week. Not only are these two teams bitter division rivals, this game will impact the entire NFC playoff picture. The winner of this game will not only win the NFC East regular season crown, they will also get a higher seed in the NFC playoffs, earn a home playoff game and will give themselves a shot at a first round bye as the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. These two teams could play each other any other week, and it would be an excellent game, but with so much on the line in this week’s match-up this game is without a doubt worthy of being the Bruno Boys final Game of the Week for the 2009 football season.

Quarterbacks - Over his last three games, Eagles’ quarterback Donovan McNabb has passed for 903 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions. He has been a more than serviceable fantasy quarterback this season, as he has passed for 3,330 yards with 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 13 starts. He has a vast array of weapons to work with in Philadelphia this season. He did have one of his worst performances of the season in Week 9 when he passed for 227 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions against the Cowboys. However, McNabb has been one of the best crunch time quarterbacks in the league in his career and with playoff positioning on the line this week, look for McNabb to have a very good performance in this game. He is ranked No. 10 in the Bruno Boys Quarterback Rankings this week and in a week when several star quarterbacks are going to be rested; he makes a very good starting option.

With his and his team’s performance over the last couple of weeks, Tony Romo has finally erased the stigma that he can’t play meaningful football after November. Not only has he played well enough down the stretch to help his team clinch a playoff berth, he has them in a position to earn a division title and a home playoff game with a win this week. Romo has broken several stereotypes with his play over the last month or so. He has passed for more than 300-yards in three of his last five games and has nine touchdowns with just one interception over that span. Many fantasy owners will still be nervous to start him this week against the Eagles, especially when you consider how poorly he played against Philadelphia at the end of the 2008 season. Romo has been one of the hotter quarterbacks in the NFL of late, and he passed for 307 yards with one touchdown and one interception against the Eagles in Week 9. Consider Romo as a low-end QB1 in this very important game this week, as he is our No. 11 ranked quarterback this week.

Running Backs - In years past, it has been Brian Westbrook and only Brian Westbrook carrying the ball at crunch time for the Philadelphia Eagles, but with Westbrook having missed several games with injuries this season, the Eagles have become more of a running back by committee type team. While Westbrook has missed seven of the team’s last nine games after suffering multiple concussions, Philadelphia has found some depth at running back with rookie LeSean McCoy and the strong running of Leonard Weaver. Westbrook is still the top option on the team, but you can’t count on him for big production this week. Last week, he played in his first game after sitting out five straight, and the Eagles will very likely run a three-headed monster at running back this week. Westbrook will start and McCoy will back him up, but they will likely split carries. Weaver will be used as a change of pace power runner in this contest, and he should see a significant amount of touches as well. With all three of these backs cutting into each others production, none of the three should be used as more than a low-end flex option this week.

It has been a fairly disappointing fantasy season for Marion Barber this year, but he is starting to play well at the right time for fantasy owners. He has rushed for 17 carries and more than 60-yards in each of his last two games, and more importantly, he has three touchdowns in the two contests, giving him seven rushing touchdowns on the season. Barber is a big strong back who likes to run between the tackles, but injuries during the early part of the season slowed him down. He had just 12 carries for 50 yards in a Week 9 meeting with the Eagles. Barber is the top-running option in Dallas, and he is ranked No. 17 in the Bruno Boys Running Back Rankings this week. He is worth using as a RB2 in this match-up as he should post double digit fantasy points in this outing. Backup, Felix Jones is an excellent change of pace back for the Cowboys. He has also dealt with his share of injuries this season that have affected his overall totals, but he is healthy now and has been playing well lately. He has at least 10 carries for more than 50 rushing yards over each of his last three games, although he has been held out of the end zone and has just two total touchdowns this season. Jones is a very explosive back, who is threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball. He does not post huge fantasy totals, but he will get enough touches in this game to have value as a RB3 or flex option.

Wide Receivers - Even after posting a very solid rookie season not many people were giving DeSean Jackson very much respect as a top-fantasy option at wide receiver, but after a stellar sophomore season in the NFL, he is officially an elite fantasy receiving option. He has 60 receptions for 1,120 yards with nine touchdowns on the year and has added 10 carries for 131 yards with another touchdown. He has tied a NFL record with eight touchdowns of 50-yards or more this season, and he should be used as a must-start fantasy wide receiver this week. He is also an excellent return man on special teams, and if your league rewards wide receivers for return yardage, he is indeed an elite fantasy receiver. With Jackson garnering so much attention in the passing game, he allows other Eagle receivers to draw single coverage, making the team deep at wide receiver. Rookie Jeremy Maclin is having an excellent season as the No. 2 receiving option in Philadelphia. After missing one game with an injured foot, the rookie returned last week and had a team-high six receptions for 92 yards. Consider Maclin a low-end starting option against the Cowboys, as he is ranked No. 30 in the Bruno Boys Wide Receiver Rankings this week. Jason Avant has been a nice surprise as the third receiving option in Philly this year, but he does not post consistent numbers and is not worth using as a fantasy option this week.

When the season started, it was expected that Roy Williams would be the No. 1 receiving option for Tony Romo in Dallas this season, but that has not been the case. After not doing much over the first month of the season, Miles Austin had 10 catches for 250 yards with two touchdowns in Week 5 and has been the Cowboys top receiving option since. He has 74 receptions this season for 1,230 yards with 11 touchdowns. He has recorded at least six catches in each of his last five games and has gained 100 or more yards in three of the games. Austin has also recorded four touchdowns during that five game span. He is the No. 4 ranked wide receiver by the Bruno Boys this week, and he should be used as a high-end WR1 this week. Williams and Patrick Crayton will also see passes coming their way from Romo in this match-up, but neither of them post consistent enough totals to be used as a fantasy starter in this game.

Tight Ends -  Brent Celek started the season as a pretty much unknown sleeper pick at tight end for fantasy owners, but as it turns out any owner who took a late round flier on him in his first year as the Eagles’ starting tight end ended up getting themselves a true No. 1 fantasy tight end. Celek has 69 receptions for 875 yards with eight touchdowns this year as he has made many fantasy owners smile during the year. He is ranked No. 3 in the Bruno Boys Tight End Rankings this week, and he should be starting in all fantasy football formats.

Things haven’t gone so well for owners who drafted the Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten this year. Unlike Celek, Witten was a well known commodity heading into the year. He was the first tight end off the board in many fantasy football drafts this past summer and was drafted as early as a third or fourth round pick by a good majority of owners. From a fantasy standpoint, it has been a disappointing season for Witten. Sure he has managed 88 receptions for 954 yards, but anyone who drafted him was expecting more than the one touchdown he has produced in 15 games. He has been very hot of late, as he had six catches for 117 yards last week, his third 100-yard game over his last five games played. The Eagles give up more receptions and receiving yards to tight ends than any other team this season, making Witten a must-start fantasy tight end this week. Your top tight-end picked this year should actually pay off for you in Week 17.

Kickers - There is a huge disparity at the kicking position in this match-up. For Philadelphia, you have David Akers who has been one of the best and most consistent fantasy options during this entire season. He has been ranked in the top-five among fantasy kickers most of the year and that continues this week as he sits at No. 4 in the Bruno Boys Kicker Rankings for this match-up, and he is a must-start kicking option every week.

It has been a different story for Dallas this year. Just two short seasons ago, they had what appeared to be one of the better young kickers in all of football in Nick Folk, but after struggling over the last two years, he was released a week ago and has been replaced by Shaun Suisham. Suisham is a former Cowboy who was released by the Washington Redskins earlier this year after three seasons with the team. He hit all of his kicks in his first game back with Dallas last week, but he still should not be considered a worthy starting option in a big game for the Cowboys this week.

Defenses - These are actually two solid fantasy D/ST units. They have both offered fantasy owners some very solid weeks this season, but neither are highly rated fantasy options in this match-up. This is truly a throw all stats and records out the window type of game. Both teams have extremely solid offenses, and this could turn into a high scoring affair. We have the Eagles and Cowboys D/ST units ranked No. 10 and No. 16 respectively this week. They should both be considered three-star options and either unit could be used as a low-end fantasy starter.

Week 17 Rankings:  QB  |  RB  |  WR  |  TE  |  K  | DEF    (click to read)

Week 17 Start & Sit:  START ‘EM  |  SIT ‘EM    (click to read)

Week 17 Waiver Wire Advice:  PICK THEM UP  |  CUT THEM LOOSE    (click to read)

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