Here's how it works. We throw some intriguing matchups at the FanHouse staff and ask whether each player will be over or under a certain point total. The result? Fantasy Football Over/Under. Makes sense, right?
Let's review my picks from last week and see how awful I did ...
David Garrard over Matt Schaub. I was right to doubt Schaub, but I picked the wrong guy to back as a better option, as Garrard was awful against the Titans.
Vince Young over Eli Manning. Both had similar scores, but Eli's 34 rushing yards sealed the victory. How on Earth did Eli outrush Vince?
Kevin Smith over Chris Johnson. One of these guys ran for 228 yards and two TDs. At this point, you can probably guess which one it was.
Justin Fargas over Reggie Bush. Hey, even if they were bold predictions, I couldn't get them all wrong.
Mike Sims-Walker over Larry Fitzgerald. Both suffered their worst fantasy games of the season, but while Fitzgerald's was just pedestrian, MSW's was terrible. Like Garrard, I just picked the wrong horse to back.
Needless to say, that experiment was a complete failure. Let's go back to Ol' Faithful.
Normal scoring (passing 20/4, rushing/receiving 10/6) applies. Benchmarks:
QB - 18 points (200 yards passing, 2 TDs; 220 yards passing, 2 TDs, 1 INT, etc)
RB1 - 16 points (100 yards and 1 TD)
RB2 - 10 points (100 yards, zero TDs; 40 yards, 1 TD)
WR1 - 14 points (80 yards and 1 TD)
WR2 - 10 points (100 yards, zero TDs; 40 yards, 1 TD)
WR3 - 8 points (80 yards, zero TDs; 20 yards, 1 TD)
FLEX - 6 points (60 yards or a TD)
TE - 6 points (60 yards or a TD)
| Position |
Player | Matchup | R.J. | Ryan | Matt | Knox |
Sean |
| QB |
Schaub | at IND | Over | Under | Over | Over | Over |
| QB | Ryan | vs. WAS | Under | Under | Under | Over | Under |
| QB | Cutler | vs. ARI | Under | Over | Over | Under | Under |
| QB | Warner | at CHI | Over | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| QB | Flacco | at CIN | Over | Over | Over | Under | Over |
| QB | Garrard | vs. KC | Over | Over | Over | Over | Under |
| RB1 |
Benson | vs. BAL | Over | Over | Over | Over | Under |
| RB1 | Westbrook | vs. DAL | Over | Over | Over | Under | Under |
| RB1 | Gore | vs. TEN | Under | Under | Over | Under | Over |
| RB1 | R.Brown | at NE | Under | Under | Under | Under | Over |
| RB2 |
Rice | at CIN | Over | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| RB2 | Kev.Smith | at SEA | Over | Under | Under | Under | Under |
| RB2 | Forte | vs. ARI | Under | Over | Under | Under | Under |
| RB2 | Grant | at TB | Over | Under | Over | Under | Over |
| RB2 | Barber | at PHI | Under | Over | Over | Under | Over |
| RB2 | Tomlinson | at NYG | Under | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| WR1 |
D.Jackson | vs. DAL | Over | Under | Over | Under | Over |
| WR1 |
V.Jackson | at NYG | Over | Under | Over | Under | Over |
| WR1 |
C.Johnson | at SEA | Under | Under | Under | Under | Over |
| WR1 |
A.Johnson | at IND | Over | Under | Over | Over | Over |
| WR2 |
Burleson | vs. DET | Over | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| WR2 | Mason | at CIN | Under | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| WR2 | Driver | at TB | Over | Under | Under | Over | Under |
| WR2 | Nicks | vs. SD | Under | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| WR2 | Austin | at PHI | Under | Over | Over | Under | Over |
| WR3 |
Breaston | at CHI | Under | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| WR3 | Holt | vs. KC | Over | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| WR3 | Bryant | vs. GB | Under | Under | Under | Under | Under |
| WR3 | Collie | vs. HOU | Under | Over | Over | Under | Over |
| WR3 | Walter | at IND | Over | Under | Over | Over | Under |
| WR3 | Crabtree | vs. TEN | Over | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| FLEX | Moats | at IND | Under | Under | Under | Over | Under |
| FLEX | F.Jones | at PHI | Over | Under | Over | Under | Over |
| FLEX | Charles | at JAC | Under | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| FLEX | Bradshaw | vs. SD | Over | Over | Over | Under | Under |
| FLEX | Royal | vs. PIT | Under | Under | Under | Under | Under |
| FLEX | Wallace | at DEN | Over | Over | Over | Under | Under |
| FLEX | Floyd | at NYG | Over | Under | Under | Under | Over |
| FLEX | Maclin | vs. DAL | Over | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| TE | Witten | at PHI | Over | Over | Under | Over | Over |
| TE | Carlson | vs. DET | Over | Over | Over | Over | Over |
| TE | V.Davis | vs. TEN | Over | Under | Over | Over | Over |
| TE | F.Davis | at ATL | Over | Over | Under | Over | Under |
| TE | Watson | vs. MIA | Under | Under | Over | Under | Under |
• I wasn't the only one to believe Matt Schaub's matchup isn't all it's cracked up to be. After Indy's secondary lost a few good men throughout practices, four out of five FanHouse writers think Schaub will post QB1 numbers in Week 9. Also earning props from four of the five are Kurt Warner, Joe Flacco and David Garrard. Interestingly, a different FanHouse writer picked each of those QBs to post mediocre stats, while I'm the only one that think all will do well.
• We mostly believe in Cedric Benson, even against the Ravens. Fantasy owners should ride the workhorse until the wheels fall off. Conversely, we're mostly pessimistic about Ronnie Brown this week, going up against a rested New England squad. Sean Lalley was the only dissenter in each case, predicting a less-than-stellar game from Benson and a RB1-quality game from Brown.
• We agree (for the first time today): Ray Rice will have a big game against the Bengals. He's looked unstoppable lately, so this doesn't come as a surprise. No other RB2 was given an 80% approval rating. Matt Forte and Kevin Smith earned the blessing of just one writer a piece. There's not much faith in Forte to build off last week's great game, while Smith is dealing with an injury that could limit him on Sunday.
• Four out of five like Andre Johnson against a depleted secondary, while only one out of five expect Calvin Johnson to play well enough to be a WR1. We're split on Vincent Jackson and DeSean Jackson, along the same lines in each case. At WR2, we're all liking Nate Burleson's matchup and consistent targets in the passing game. At WR3, no one trusts Antonio Bryant against the Packers, while everyone thinks Michael Crabtree is a solid starter.
• Flex options don't include Ryan Moats, whom we all see struggling despite the huge game in relief last week, or Eddie Royal, who has one good receiving game and one good return game this season (sounds an awful lot like Ted Ginn). We're unanimously in favor of rookie Jeremy Maclin, while everyone but myself expects a great flex play from Jamaal Charles against the Jaguars.
• At tight end, only John Carlson draws high marks from the entire panel. Ben Watson has a great matchup, but health issues have clouded his potential use for fantasy teams. Jason Witten and Vernon Davis both draw overs from four out of five guys, while we're split on Redskins fill-in Fred Davis. If you take anything away from this, use Fred Davis as a spot-starter over Watson this week.
