Strikes & Gutters: Week 11 Fantasy Football Advice

If you kept the faith, remained patient, and stuck it out with this advice column, you were rewarded with a solid performance. Considering we are all Dolphin fans, we have plenty of experience with waiting for things to turn around. Unfortunately, the more things change the more things stay the same in some cases. Miami lost another heart breaker at Detroit last Sunday. It was a hard fought game between two very good teams. Watching the Dolphins fail to execute with the game on the line has become an unwelcome, but all too familiar sight for over a decade now. A chance at redemption is already at hand tonight against a scrappy Buffalo Bills squad who handled us earlier in the season. That was then and this is now, and I for one am remaining optimistic. It's not all doom and gloom from my perspective anymore.

A quick recap of my predictions reveals that Denard Robinson, Mike Evans, MARK SANCHEZ and Juice Landry all produced decent to great fantasy results. The one I missed was Jeremy Hill, as I forgot that under no circumstances should you ever bank on the Bengals producing in prime time. 4 out of 5 on the Strikes!

My Gutter calls were all solid as well. Terrance Williams put up 0 stats against Jax. The Panthers RBs and Tre Mason were ineffective and Ben Tate did find the end zone, but was really quiet otherwise. Unfortunately, I was also correct on Lamar Miller, as he was clearly hampered by the shoulder injury he suffered against San Diego. I love Lamar Miller, but he has some durability issues. I'll take a 4.5 out of 5 on the Gutters, bringing me to 85% on my calls for last week. Just what the doctor ordered. On to the Strikes!

STRIKES:

Jordan Matthews: The Eagles offense torched the Panthers on Monday Night. Sanchez clearly has a rapport with Matthews. Look for a decent outing against the Packers in a game that should showcase a LOT of offense.

DeSean Jackson: The Bucs Defense really struggles to cover deep passes. Or short passes. Or intermediate passes. It is also magnified by the fact that they get no pressure on the Quarterback. Ever. God the Bucs are terrible.

Mark Ingram: Finally living up to that high draft pick status, and all the expectations everyone had for him years ago. Also, I traded him from my fantasy team. Never Forget.

Odell Beckham Jr.: I've been meaning to get this kid into the column for the past three weeks, for no real reason other than I wanted to say I like ODB this week.

Never Forget. Side note: these rookie wide receivers from LSU have awesome nick names.

Courtesy Dolphin Start of the Week, Charles Clay: Look for Ryan Tannehill to get re-acquainted with his security blanket in a big way tonight. I think we see the type of game from big play clay that we grew accustomed to last year. And we will need it. Going to be a hard fought game. I think we have a great shot at winning though.

GUTTERS:

Branden Oliver: I absolutely loved this guy a few weeks ago, but the Chargers are sputtering on offense and even though the match up is favorable, Ryan Matthews comes back this week. I see him handling much of the load.

Larry Fitzgerald: Detroit is very tough on defense as we all saw last week. Also, I don't care what the coach says, Drew Stanton is a big drop off from Carson Palmer. The Cardinals will be coming back to earth this week.

Bobby Rainey: My feelings on the Bucs are well-documented. Some of you may be tempted to start Rainey as a bye week fill in. This will not be a good choice. I see the Bucs falling behind and spending a good deal of time getting Charles Simms some playing time. I know what you are thinking: "Who?". Exactly.

Trent Richardson: I think the Colts play the Patriots very tough at home on Sunday. In order to do this they will need to keep Trent Richardson off the field as much as possible because he is not very good. For more on this, I'd like to welcome Jon Gruden back to the column. Jon, what do you think of Trent Richardson this week?

"I tell you what man, this Trent Richardson, I like to call him Bernie Madoff because he's tricked people into giving him millions of dollars multiple times."

Thanks Jon. Hard hitting analysis as always.

Courtesy Dolphin Sit of the week, Lamar Miller: Two tough match ups in a row and he's banged up. Once again, I hope I'm wrong and the Dolphins are able to sustain a running game. But unfortunately, i see this aspect of the game playing out much the same as last week, that being a committee situation where the Dolphins try and ride the hot hand. I'm anxious to see what LaMichael James can do tonight. Sit Miller if you can.

To the twelve of you that still show up every week and read this stuff; Thank you. I hope I reward you with some good picks this week. If you have survived your league long enough to be in the play-off hunt, congrats. What's that like, by the way? Hopefully, the Dolphins are able to make me forget all about my fantasy woes for another week. Going to be a huge game tonight in Miami. It's great to have them playing in such big games week after week, but man, my heart can't take any more drama. Another huge win at home would be just what the doctor ordered. Go Phins!

Well, dude, sometimes you eat the bear, sometimes the bear eats you...