THE UNIVERSITY OF DAILY KANSAS
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2006
SPORTS
3B
Evan Hengel's
FANTASY FOOTBALL THURSDAY These free agents will help you win playoff games
These free agents will help you win playoff games
The fantasy football playoffs are either here or within spitting distance in most leagues. For those of you who didn't make the cut, I have a public service announcement: do not drop all of your players.
There are those of you out there who have too much pride to admit that you lost in something you actually cared about. So, instead of taking it like a man, they say "hey, so what if I took ninth place? I didn't even care. I hardly even checked my lineup. Look! I just dropped all my players, that's how much I don't care." It is comparable to the student in everybody's class who, after receiving a D on his test, spends the rest of the class explaining how he only studied for three minutes the night before, after he took 32 Patron shots at Quinton's.
For those of you who did make the playoffs, you still may need that one player to give you the upper
hand in your match-up. Here are a few potential difference-makers:
1) jeff Garcia, quarterback, Philadelphia Eagles. Listed at 61", he's actually barely 5'11", making him a poor man's Doug Flutie and nominating him for the token "Little Guy Who Announcers Constantly Claim is a Great Competitor" along with Flutie, Allen Iverson, and David Eckstein. Better known for being "punkd" by Dax Shepard on MTV and for being called gay by a certain receiver whose initials happen to be T.O., he could be known as a pro bowl-caliber quarterback again like he was in San Francisco if he can duplicate his three-touchdown performance against Carolina on Monday. An added bonus: Garcia holds extra value in "Midget-Only" leagues.
2) St. Louis Defense. You might ask me why I'd recommend picking up the 23rd-ranked defense in the
NFL. My answer would be because they play Chicago and Oakland in the next two weeks. So, to put things in perspective, in weeks 14 and 15 they play a team that has turned the ball over 24 times in the last seven games (Chicago), and a team that has offensive efficiency similar to the inmates in the first half of "The Longest Yard" and is easily ranked last in the league (Oakland). Something tells me St. Louis D should be just fine the next couple weeks.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3) Ciatrick Fason, running back, Minnesota Vikings. This former Florida Gator had a nice game last week with 11 carries for 75 yards and a touchdown against an tough Bears defense. This week, he's up against a weak Detroit rushing defense that's without Shaun Rogers (their best player). If the nicked up Chester Taylor is forced to sit this week, Fason could have a very big day.
Eagles quarterback Jeff Garcia filled in for injured quarterback Donovan McNabb two weeks ago. Since then, he has emerged as a solid fantasy football quarterback.
4) Terrance Coppe, wide receiver, New Orleans Saints. No, I had never heard of him until a few weeks ago after. He'll be a little hit or miss, but in weeks 10-12 he had 13 catches for 237 yards and three touchdowns, so the hits are worth the risk. Keep an eye on the health of Joe Horn and Marques Colston. If either of them sit out with their nagging injuries, Copper and Devery Henderson could put up enormous numbers. As we've learned this year, in this offense, Drew Brees could turn Dakota Fanning into a star wide receiver.
5) Cedric Houston, running back, New York Jets, Yeah, I know, another Jets running back. Between Kevan Barlow, Derrick Blaylock, Leon Washington, and Houston, fantasy owners of gone through Jets running backs like Whitney Houston through rehab clinics. Looking on the bright side, Houston did have 129 total yards and a touchdown last week, so he might be worth a shot. Plus, if you want an all-Cedric backfield, Cedric Benson has been playing well the last three weeks for Chicago.
Evan Hengel is an Overland Park senior in finance.
Edited by Natalie Johnson
Saddle up
Camels and trainers prepare before the start of the camel race in Al Shahianah, Qatar, Wednesday. While the regions' best athletes are competing in the first Asian Games ever held in an Arab nation, many Qatari are focused on what they consider to be a more serious pursuit — racing their camels around a dusty 6-kilometer (3 1/2 mile) track outside this desert village.
Eric Talmadge/ASSOCIATED PRESS
fans and broadcasters for not using at least one of his three timeouts while Cleveland was driving late in the fourth quarter Sunday for the game tying touchdown.
BY DOUG TUCKER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Why not stop the clock and give yourself more precious seconds to get downfield and maybe kick a game-winning field goal if the Browns do get the game tied?
for faulty clock management going all the way back to his days in New York, isn't sitting still for this one.
>> NFL
K ans s a
City's first
year coach
has drawn fire
from some
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In this way, the entire scene seemed disturbingly reminiscent of past seasons when the Chiefs would lead the league in offense but fail even to reach the playoffs because of their sorry defense.
HERM EDWARDS Kansas City Chiefs coach
Chiefs coach questioned Clock-management strategy may have led to a loss
But Edwards kept his timeouts in his pocket and the Chiets had less than a minute to work with after Cleveland scored the tying touchdown in a game the Browns eventually won 31-28 in overtime.
It was also another late-season failure on the road, something else that has haunted Kansas City for six years.
"We didn't make a good play (in Cleveland)
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Herm
Edwards, who has been criticized
"Why that is, I don't have any idea," Edwards said. "I really don't. It's certain players. I guess they just don't play as well on the road as they do at home, and they've got to find a way to do that. I wish I could give them a medicine, or a pill. But I can't do that. They've got to play better, and they know it.
"They have to make a decision in 30 seconds, and I'm not going to stop the clock so they can regroup and think about what they want to do," he said. "They've got to score. We're winning the game. We're not losing the game. They have to score a touchdown. So for me, I'm sitting there going. 'OK, if they do score, I'm going to have 30 seconds left, and I've got all three timeouts."
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"They have to score a touchdown. So for me, I'm sitting there going, OK, if they do score, I'm going to have 30 seconds left."
but safety Jarrad Page intercepted Oakland's pass in the end zone to preserve the win.
It's a strategy, Edwards pointed out, that worked beautifully in a 17-13 victory over Oakland on Nov. 19. The Raiders drove inside the 10 in the final seconds,
Similarly in a 30-27 victory Oct.
22 over San Diego, Lawrence Tynes
"It's not like they intentionally don't play well on the road. They want to play well. But for some reason, certain guys don't. It's not a whole team. You can look at this game and say. Well, your defense didn't play well on the road, but your offense did."
ing, running back Larry Johnson had over 100 yards rushing and Trent Green threw four touchdown passes.
"Different situations dictate maybe you use (timeouts). I thought we managed it well," he said. "I wasn't raising the white flag thinking they were going to score a touchdown. I thought we were going to stop them. I'm not going to start calling timeouts under 2 minutes, and our defense looks at me and says, 'What are you doing?'
The loss left the Chiefs (7-5)
in a five-way tie
for the two AFC
"If I'm going to do that, I'm
just going to let them score. Just let them run the ball and score a touchdown, get it over with. You don't do that. You've got to play the game."
make? So the offense ate different food than the defense? Their beds were better than the defense? No. I don't know that. There were some defensive players who played half-
when we got the ball back. That hurt us?. Edwards said.
HERM EDWARDS Kansas City Chiefs coach
"But what difference does that
wild card spots, and also with a sour taste in their mouth. The defense, which had played well for a month, failed to get the win even though tight end Tony Gonzalez had more than 100 yards receiv-
"I wish I could give them a medicine, or a pill. But I can't do that. They've got to play better, and they know it."
"I don't know. You drive yourself crazy trying to worry about that stuff."
way decent. And there were some offensive players who should have played a little bit better, but didn't.