Last week's Carolina-Tampa game had some individual fantasy performances that stood out. As you're crafting your fantasy postseason lineup, there are some clues for this week as well.
Tampa - QB Jeff Garcia had a very good day with 321 passing yards, 2 TD and no interceptions, but the big news is Antonio Bryant's 9 catch, 200 receiving yard, 2 touchdown day. It wasn't that Garcia was throwing the ball all over the field -- he was pretty much only throwing the ball to Bryant. Bryant had nine receptions, the other WRs had a total of three. Garcia did throw to his three tight ends a lot, but they weren't streaking down the field. Didn't the Carolina secondary realize they needed to cover Bryant? Apparently not. And we're not talking about Lynn Swann, this is Antonio Freaking Bryant. The Buccaneers couldn't run the ball at all against the Panthers (22 combined carries for 80 yards) but chucking the ball to Bryant seemed to work out fine. By the way, Bryant now has more receiving yards than either Reggie Wayne, Randy Moss, Terrell Owens or TJ Houshmandzadeh. Which makes me feel dumb because back in October I described Bryant as "not that good".
Next up for the Tampa Offense: The Atlanta Falcons, who are giving up more passing yards and more passing touchdowns than Carolina. The Falcons rush defense isn't as good as Carolina either, so the Bucs may have more offensive balance this week. Still, it has to look good for Antonio "He's Gotten Better" Bryant.
Next up for the Carolina Defense: The Denver Broncos, who are starting a cell phone salesman at RB and have a QB who doesn't know how to do much other than throw the ball. They also have a 1000 yard receiver (already) in Brandon Marshall. Good news for Marshall owners.
Carolina - It's not 200 yards and 2 TDs, but Steve Smith's 9 catch, 117 yard, 1 touchdown performance was pretty good for fantasy players too. It's even more impressive when you consider that Smith had 68% of his team's receiving yards. The Panthers don't throw much, but when they do, it goes to Smith. Smith wasn't even the best part, the best part was DeAngelo Williams (186 yards, 2 TD) and Jonathan Stewart (115 yards, 2 TDs) grinding the Bucs up into hamburger. It's becoming more and more apparent that Williams is having a Pro Bowl season, but when Stewart is healthy he can't be stopped either.
Next up for the Carolina Offense: Denver, who ranks 26th in the league in rushing defense and have given up a disturbing 17 runs of 20+ yards this season - more than Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Baltimore and San Diego COMBINED.
Next up for the Tampa Defense: Atlanta, who don't have any good running backs. No, wait, they have Michael Turner who leads the league in rushing touchdowns and is second in rushing yards. Well, at least they don't have a Steve Smith-type of WR. Oops again, they have the league's leading WR in Roddy White. And the Falcons are playing at home, in the weatherless Georgia Dome. Hmm.
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