FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

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Prediction: CIN 20, KC 10 (Line: CIN by 3.5)

Players to Watch: Andy Dalton, Jamaal Charles

The 4-5 Bengals hit the road where they are only 2-2 and the 1-8 Chiefs still have not won in Kansas City with an 0-4 mark. This game is really little more than Jamaal Charles vs. Andy Dalton. Anything else is just to keep the defenses honest. Sadly for the Chiefs, the Bengals are not nearly good enough to take this one lightly.

Pregame Notes: The win against the Giants ended a four game losing streak and ended the most difficult part of the season schedule until the final two weeks when they'll head to Pittsburgh and then host the Ravens. These next three weeks are all games they can win and would bring them perilously close to a .500 season by the end of the year. The reality here is that the defense remains less than stellar unless facing a struggling offense though - just like KC, OAK and SD.

Andy Dalton's passed for a score in every game since the opener and comes off a season best four touchdowns on the Giants. That gives him 18 passing scores on the year and half his efforts end in high passing yardage. Dalton has yet to produce fewer than two passing scores when not facing an elite defense. He threw eight touchdowns in just the last three road games.

The rushing effort is apparently forever stuck in second hear with BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushing for around 50 to 60 yards every week no matter how bad or good the opponent is. His yearly average is exactly 60 yards per game and he's not only scored just once in the last six games, he gets almost no work as a receiver. BGE is not only below average and of no advantage, he is still the best they have.

There is no question that A.J. Green is THE best receiver this year. He's merely scored at least once in each of the last eight games. While he commands the best coverage the defense can give, he still usually ends up with around seven catches for about 100 yards and a touchdown every week. Even if the defense tries to match a particular cornerback on him, the Bengals will move Green all over the formation to get him a better matchup.

Mohamed Sanu comes off his first touchdown but still has not caught more than his four catches for 47 yards against the Giants. He's elbowing out Armon Binns for what is essentially the #4 receiver role. Andrew Hawkins finally scored last week as well but he's been held below 50 yards every game since week three and even against the Giants only recorded three catches for 16 yards.

Jermaine Gresham's had a season worst 15 yards on three catches last week though he scored a touchdown. Gresham has been very inconsistent with two sub-20 yard games sandwiching a 108 yard effort versus the Broncos. He's there when Dalton needs him but isn't good enough to matter every week.

The Chiefs defense has to be emotionally spent losing a close one in Pittsburgh in bad weather and has a shorter week to prepare. Sadly the bigger weakness is the rushing defense which mirrors the weakness of the Cincy offense. This all comes down to what Dalton can accomplish as it always does. Fortunately it never takes many points to beat the Chiefs.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Andy Dalton, CIN	BAL	0	0	0	0	0	250	2	1
It's been a month since Dalton threw multiple touchdowns in a game, and he was blanked in the earlier meeting with Baltimore. But with a playoff spot assured it's an opportunity for Dalton to take some chances and build some confidence in front of the home crowd.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis, CIN	BAL	90	1	2	10	0	0	0	0
The 91 and 1 BJGE posted in Baltimore back in Week 1 doesn't look quite as impressive now that everybody and their brother is running on the Ravens. But that doesn't mean a similar showing this week would go unnoticed.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR A.J. Green, CIN	BAL	0	0	6	80	1	0	0	0
Green consistently gets his: 10-116 last week against Pittsburgh, 5-70 in the earlier meeting with Baltimore. No reason to think he won't be Andy Dalton's most targeted receiver as long as both are in the game.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Marvin Jones, CIN	BAL	0	0	4	60	1	0	0	0
Jones' targets have been on the rise as he settles into the WR2 role opposite A.J. Green, and his productivity has climbed as well. Secondary receivers have done much of the damage against the Ravens of late--three of the last four WR TDs against Baltimore have been scored by WR2s and Eric Decker went for 133 two weeks back--so Jones could continue to make noise this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Andrew Hawkins, CIN	BAL	0	0	3	40	0	0	0	0
Hawkins had 86 yards back in the Week 1 loss to Baltimore, but he's fading to a third target at this point and can't be trusted for consistent production.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Jermaine Gresham, CIN	BAL	0	0	5	50	0	0	0	0
Gresham's fantasy value fluctuates in direct proportion to Andy Dalton's comfort level with whomever is lining up opposite A.J. Green in any given week. Dalton is getting more comfortable with Marvin Jones as his WR2, so Gresham's numbers are subdued. Doesn't help that the Ravens haven't allowed a TE TD in more than two months.

Pregame Notes: Tough loss in Pittsburgh in a game they nearly won and that would have been a trap game but still something to end the six game losing streak. Playing so hard and coming so close could lead to an emotional let down this week that was already short from playing on Monday night. Bottom line here - the offense has not scored more than one touchdown in any of the last five games.

Brady Quinn was cleared to play from his concussion but no early word was given by HC Romeo Crennel if he was going to make the change to Quinn over Matt Cassel and in reality - will it really matter? All Crennel wants to do is look like he is still trying. History says all that Quinn will do is make Dwayne Bowe's numbers suffer while still losing games. His lone start was in Tampa Bay where he passed for only 180 yards and two interceptions. even Christian Ponder threw for 250 yards on the Bucs who average allowing 330 pass yards per game. Quinn - just the 180. I'll assume that Cassel gets the start and adjust it later if warranted as if it matters.

In a clear sign that the Chiefs have lost all sense of what is needed to win a game, they gave Jamaal Charles only five carries when the Raiders visited, then only 12 in San Diego. In Pittsburgh against a great defense in the driving rain they finally fed it to him 23 times for 100 yards and one score. Whenever Charles is given more than 16 carries, he's been a big contributor with four scores and three games over 100 rush yards. But that has only happened four times this year. Considering the decline of the passing game, it is a shock they don't take a page from the Panthers old playbook and just run every play.

A healthy Peyton Hillis is getting 7+ carries per game now despite the fact he's no where near the runner that Charles is. Last week it was ten runs for 30 yards. In San Diego, he gained only 14 yards on seven carries. OC Brian Daboll uses Hillis like he was his brother-in-law and he just wants his wife to shut up already. Charles can handle a much heavier workload but they won't usually give it to him.

Tony Moeaki comes off a season high 68 yards on three catches in Pittsburgh and he managed 57 yards on four receptions the previous week but he's never scored and spent the rest of the year with less than 20 yards in games.

The wideouts are limited to Dwayne Bowe who has the only touchdowns by a wideout and only games with more than 65 receiving yards. Bowe caught another score last week but it was called back on an unrelated penalty. He has remained well about 60 yards in every game except when Quinn started and he was limited to just 25 yards on three catches. If the Chief switch to Quinn this week, Bowe should wear a T-shirt that reads "I am SO out of here".

Jon Baldwin not only had his traditional one catch last week, but he dropped a long pass last week and later left the game with a head/neck injury. Bottom line - only Charles really matters in this offense and only Bowe matters as a receiver unless Quinn starts. Then it is just Charles being under-used.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Jamaal Charles, KC	@DEN	60	0	3	20	0	0	0	0
The Chiefs' lone offensive weapon needs 44 yards to reach the 1,500-yard mark. He hit triple digits against a tough Broncos' run D in the earlier meeting, and you assume he'll get the carries necessary to hit his milestone. Then again, we've gone broke trying to understand what Romeo Crennel is thinking so there are no guarantees.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Dexter McCluster, KC	@DEN	0	0	5	30	0	0	0	0
McCluster is putting up numbers that make him the Chiefs' WR1. That's more an indictment of KC's passing game than an endorsement of McCluster's productivity.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Jonathan Baldwin, KC	@DEN	0	0	5	60	0	0	0	0
Baldwin has the only Chiefs WR TD in the past two months. Sorry, that's just not enough to warrant a fantasy start.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Donnie Avery, KC	@DEN	0	0	4	60	0	0	0	0
Avery has been an inconsistent wingman to Reggie Wayne, and the last time Indy faced the Texans it was TY Hilton who had the more productive game. With playoff positioning at stake expect Andrew Luck to lean heavily on Wayne once again, and the Texans have a soft spot for TEs as well. That leaves Avery and Hilton splitting scraps, making either one a tough fantasy start.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Devon Wylie, KC	@DEN	0	0	3	40	0	0	0	0
Bonus points if you were able to identify Wylie as the "other" Chiefs' WR. Sorry, those bonus points do not translate to fantasy points.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Anthony Fasano, KC	@DEN	0	0	2	20	0	0	0	0
Fasano only had one catch in the last meeting with the Pats. No fantasy value here.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Ryan Succop, KC	@DEN	2	1	1	1
The Chiefs have more games with single-digit points (five) than games with 20-plus (four). That means limited scoring opportunities for Succop.

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