Week 9 All-Start Team
? QB: Carson Palmer, Bengals. Expect big numbers from Palmer this week going up against a Ravens secondary that has gotten burned more often than Conan O’Brien on a trip to Rio. Add this to the fact that Chad Johnson has been waiting to break out all year and will have his regular season totals in the end one way or another, you can bet on big things from the Bengal’s passing offense.
? RB: Laurence Mauroney, Patriots. With Dillon’s declining carries (ignore the two fluke TDs against Buffalo), Mauroney should see the bulk of the action against the Colts. The Colts run defense this year has been deplorable, and I’m not sold on the trade deadline move of picking up Anthony “Booger” MacFarland. Well a pretty good run-stopper who has declined in recent years, he doesn’t fit the Colts scheme and will not be able to make that big of an impact. Mauroney is primed to take over the feature back duties before the end of the season and a statement game against the Colts will only solidify his standing.
? WR: Marques Colston, Saints. Even though he has dramatically underperformed compared to his rookie counterpart, Joe Horn is still the number one receiver for this team. His reward? A one-on-one match-up with lockdown corner Donnie Abraham who earlier this season made mid-season MVP Donovan McNabb look like Billy Donovan (I don’t mean to pick on Billy, but you try to find someone else with Donovan in their name). This should leave Colston matched up against journeyman corner Juran Bolden, which is more than a mismatch considering that Colston is putting up primetime receiver numbers with 414 yards, 4 TDs and 6 receptions for 20-plus yards in the five games he has started.
? TE: Jermaine Wiggins, Vikings. A lot of fans may have forgotten about Jermaine Wiggins since he left New England, but Wiggins has been quietly productive and has become one of the more reliable pass catching tight ends in the NFL. The Niners do not have the LBs capable of covering Wiggins, and unless one of the Vikings receivers step into the number one role, look for Wiggins to see a lot of action. He hasn’t been as much of a red zone threat as was expected this season, but he will be in a great position to score this week and should continue to put up good numbers in receiving yards and receptions.
? Defense/ Special Teams, New York Giants. The Giants two pro-bowl ends, Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora, will be running through the woeful Texans offensive line and be in David Carr’s face all day. Carr himself has fallen back to earth with meteoric speed, his once league-leasing passer rating having been destroyed in recent weeks, and should be expecting to hit the turf more often than Bill Cowher’s headset. The G-Men also have nothing to fear in the running game of the Texans, a unit that is last in the league in rushing and has been led in rushing by Carr, by no means a scrambling quarterback, in recent weeks. Expect the Giants to shut down this anemic Houston offense and rack up the sacks and interceptions, as they will be on the field for most of the game; The Texans defense is almost as bad as their offense and Eli Manning will not wait to take advantage.