Eli Manning's winning drive against the Patriots was eerily similar to his winning drive against them in Super Bowl XLII. Right down to an ill-advised pass that should have been intercepted by a Patriots' defensive back. This time the DB made the catch, but could not get down inbounds.
Does this make Eli Manning one of the luckiest quarterbacks out there or is he one of the fantasy elite? I don't know, and to be honest I don't care. I said before the season started that Eli was not 25-interception bad. This is just the luck starting to swing the other way. And you, the fantasy enthusiast, should be cashing in on this great fortune.
The schedule really gets tough in the fantasy championship round when the Giants face the Jets who have given up the fewest points to fantasy quarterbacks this season. So I will ride Eli into the fantasy playoffs but I am adding "Red" Dalton who will face the Cardinals in fantasy championship week (Week 16).
With that out of the way, here are some of the other top fantasy storylines from Week 9.
#shanahanigans
Well, he did it again. Mike Shanahan starts one guy and then pulls the fantasy rug out from underneath all of us. Shanahan said that Roy Helu is going to be his guy going forward, which means, well, nothing. I feel like Terry Benedict in "Ocean's 11" (the remake) when he tells Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner) that he can't escort his briefcase into the Bellagio vault because of policy, and most importantly, because Benedict doesn't trust him. And that is what my fantasy life has become. I now, as a policy, don't play Redskins players. Mostly because I don't trust Shanahan. This can't happen again.
You can't stop Aaron Rodgers
I am telling you, Rodgers won't get past me in the first round of my fantasy draft next year. I have had some luck with Eli this year, but there is nothing like having a guy you can count on for 20 points a week. And that's in NFL.com leagues. My most important leagues makes passing touchdowns worth six points, and it's dumb to pass on a quarterback, especially Rodgers. There is no way he slips past me. I don't even care if he's on the cover of Madden next year. Although, I am on the verge of an #occupy EA Sports movement.
DeMarco Murray is the man
I never want to see Felix Jones playing for the Cowboys again. Well, maybe that's too harsh. Jones can see some mop-up duty for the team. But his days as the starting running back for the Cowboys should be over. And I say should be over, because we are coming to the point where Jason Garrett can't be trusted to run the offense. The Cowboys had to settle for a field goal after getting down to the 1-yard line Sunday because the team ignored Murray after he got them there. How about pounding the ball to Murray repeatedly? Is that too much to ask?
You can't stop the McGahee
I really doubted that Willis McGahee was going to be able to go against the Raiders because he has a broken hand. Stupid me, I figured that having a good hand was key for a running back. This is akin to Beckham having a broken foot and still putting in a couple of goals. But McGahee was as awesome as Jackie Battle was awful. Again, teams coming off a big Monday night game tend to struggle the following week, and I ignored my own rule there, too. Watch out for the Eagles next week.
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