FANTASY FOOTBALL WEEKLY FEATURES

PIT (12-1) vs NYG (5-9)

Game Prediction: PIT 24, NYG 3

Here is the start of a weekend of visitors beating up the home team. Steelers bring in one of the very best defenses to throw at Eli Manning whose first name is actually an acronym for "Everybody Loves Interceptions".

Update: Duce Staley has not been practicing and he looks likely to be scratched this week. Should not be a big need for him anyway and it's better to let him rest up.

Jamaar Taylor is out this week and may miss the rest of the year with a badly sprained ankle. This is not what Manning needed when facing the #1 defense in the NFL.

Pre-Game Notes - PIT

The Steelers are trying to find the manual to see how the cruise control works. No one has seen it since the Bus was new.

Running Backs: Since Duce Staley returned from his hamstring strain, he has two games with exactly 51 yards rushing on either 16 or 17 carries. His hamstring continues to bother him some and likely will for a while so Staley remains the starter but will continue to seek relief from Jerome Bettis who is thoroughly enjoying this season. If Bettis looked any happier he'd be subject to constant drug testing.

Wide Receivers: Plaxico Burress missed his second game with a bad hamstring and is no lock for this week. With Burress out of the lineup, the passing game just stalls. Antwaan Randle El's version of filling in has been two straight games with exactly 11 yards on one catch. Even Hines Ward fell back to only 39 yards on two catches last week. Ward has gone from a top #1 wideout in the NFL to being little more than the equivalent of a #3 wide receiver on most teams.

I assume Burress will miss another week though he may be back. Updates as warranted.

Tight Ends: As the final insult to Steeler wideouts, Jerame Tuman had one catch last week for the only passing touchdown in the game.

Match Against the Defense: Going against the Giants means picking how you want to win. Score at least two times and the game is won. Expect that they defense has fun against Manning and results in good field position, more rushing by Staley and Bettis and a continued need to not throw much. Roethlisberger could throw for multiple scores here if he wanted to, he just won't likely need to bother. The Giants pass rush has gone downhill and Ward desperately needs to catch a touchdown - this is the best chance he will have for the rest of the season with BAL and BUF yet to play.

Pre-Game Notes - NYG

The Giants have lost their last six games and finally pulled Manning from the Ravens matchup last week before he made a mockery of the QB rating system that stops when a QB reaches "0" (which he did have). The Giants have not only lost all offensive scoring ability, they have also lost the ability to stop opponents from scoring which is why they have lost the last three games by 20+ points.

Running Backs: Tiki Barber finally scored a touchdown after a three game drought. He only had 55 yards on 19 carries and most of those came after Warner entered the game and made the defense back off. Barber gets to face the #1 defense against running backs this week and with Manning again the starter, the outlook is not good.

Wide Receivers: I said Manning was starting. Move along.

Tight Ends: Jeremy Shockey comes off his best game of the season when he gained 83 yards on five catches last week. Only one catch for six yards came from Manning.

Match Against the Defense: The only thing that the Giants can hope for here is that the Steelers are not as prepared or motivated to win the game as they would normally be. But it still would not matter. Expect that this is a standard Steelers win with great defense that will delight in chasing Manning.

Bettis and Staley should share about the same yardage and moderate numbers from the major players will be enough to win. There is no reason to run up the score here.