Happy Thanksgiving! Personally, I have much to be thankful for this year: my health, my family, my friends (two of whom we'll be celebrating with later today), food on the table and a roof over my head. And not least, the opportunity to blog here at Fake Teams. I hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
And of course, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without football! Unfortunately, the NFL has served up three great big turkeys for us today -- Tennessee vs Detroit, Philly vs Arizona and Dallas vs Seattle. This looks to be the football equivalent of that video where Sarah Palin is talking in front of a turkey slaughter. You betcha!
Tennessee vs Detroit -- Let's see, the Titans are 10-1, having lost to arguably the best team in the AFC. The Lions are 0-11 and are a complete train wreck offensively. This should be a blast! But not for Kerry Collins. The Lions are a not-too-terrible 19th in pass defense, but that's really only because nobody bothers throwing against them. Not when they're dead last in rushing defense, allowing almost 167 rushing yards per game. They've also allowed 18 rushing TDs (3rd worst in the league) and 100 rushing first downs (2nd worst). The Titans will run Chris Johnson and LenDale White at the Lions all. day. long. It should be a good day for any Detroit IDPs you might have though, they'll be on the field a lot. Lions' WR Calvin Johnson can't be stopped by anybody, but he can be contained -- the Titans have only allowed seven passing TDs all year.
Dallas vs Seattle -- The return of Tony Romo (341 pass yds, 3 TD) and Terrell Owens (213 rec yd, 1 TD) last week was much appreciated by fantasy owners. It had been far, FAR too long since those two guys contributed. Everybody realized it was against the Forty Niners though, a team so bad they're ranked 29th against the pass. Well, you have one more reason to give thanks today as the Seahawks are ranked 31st against the pass! Yes, even considering the beating the Niners had last week, the Seahawks are still worse, giving up a whopping 259 pass yards per game and 1.45 passing touchdowns per game. Even better for Romo owners, the 'Hawks only have five interceptions all season. Start all your Cowboys, loosen your belt a few notches and sit back to enjoy the fireworks.
Philadelphia vs Arizona -- The Eagles have recently been crushed by the "powerhouse" Baltimore offense and before that could only tie the miserable Bengals. QB Donovan McNabb can't stop throwing interceptions and the rumors are already swirling that he's done in Philadelphia after this season. Talk about pressure. Meanwhile the Cardinals have an MVP candidate at QB and they can smell the playoffs. This could be a very ugly matchup for the Eagles offense, including (and especially) Brian Westbrook. Nobody fears the Eagles right now.