Predicting how long players will go in week 17 is starting to give me a twitch. Listening to coaches and players talk about playing time is about as productive as watching Jersey Shore for moral guidance.
Here are some noteworthy happenings in the NFL:
Tom Brady: He says he will play the whole game, but Peyton Manning hinted at similar things last week and was yanked and not in the way he would prefer. The Vegas line still favors the Texans by 8 so I don’t think everybody is buying that they’ll play the whole game. I believe they’ll play most of the game, but I just don’t feel 100% confident in that. If your backups are scrubtastic I’d go with Brady, Moss, and Welker without too many qualms.
DeAngelo Williams: He didn’t practice on Thursday and is looking less likely to go on Sunday. The Daily Show should go prime time again, well, not prime time, but whatever you call Sunday afternoon time.
Brandon Marshall: All reports point to Marshall playing against the Chiefs, but you have to worry about the hammy acting up on him during the game. If he doesn’t practice today I would take some Xanax before starting him.
Hines Ward: He has a problem that can best be described by a Denny’s special called Moons Over My Hammy. Well, maybe not best described, but he has a hamstring problem and the Steelers are playing in Miami, so there’s that. I’m starting to feel better and better about throwing Mike Wallace out there. I did notice that CBS took my 60 Minutes Mike Wallace comparison and ran with it. I am the only one who ever noticed they had the same name!!!
Julius Jones: He didn’t practice once again on Thursday and there really is no need to throw him out there for the last game of the season. Right now it looks like Justin Forsett will get the start and should be a good flex play against the Titans and will be auditioning for 2010 and possibly Cats, meow.
Correll Buckhalter: He was injured early last week and left the game, but has practiced this week and gets a favorable matchup with the Chiefs who he and Knowshon Moreno ran over earlier in the season, oh and Jerome Harrison and some others as well.
Ricky Williams: He has been limited in practice and split work with Lex Hilliard. He will probably get the start against the Steelers, but Hilliard could see an increased role. This makes Ricky a bit risky and you don’t want any of that business.
Tony Gonzalez: He didn’t practice on Thursday and doesn’t look like he’ll go on Sunday. I like Matt Ryan this week, but without Gonzo you have to downgrade him a little.
Ahmad Bradshaw: He will sit out most of this week’s practice as usual and he gets a tough matchup with Minnesota, but he will also be the main back and worth a flex play.
Donald Brown: His heavy workload in relief of Joe Addai last week, coupled with his lack of yardage, should get him a goodly amount of carries so he can get back into a rhythm of sorts. And as long as he gets starlight, sweet dreams and music, who could ask for anything more?
