Fantasy Matchups for Week 10
by The Stat Guy, Scott Lange
A strong week for The Stat Guy, considering Week 8's debacle. Let's see if I can keep this rolling downhill, shall we?
Last Week's Record: 6-3
Season Record: 17-10
AUSTIN at PHILADELPHIA
Talk about two teams hard to figure out? The Soul has been one of the most inconsistent teams all season long. One week after posting a 20-point effort in a loss against the Brigade, the Soul bounced back on the road to defeat arguably the hottest team in the league, the Dallas Desperados. Tony Graziani, newly acquired OS Steve Smith, and Mike Brown provided enough spark to upset Dallas at home. Meanwhile the Austin Wranglers came out flat in the second half against Orlando, getting outscored 31-13. The Wranglers are a much better team than the one that showed up in that second half. (At least I think they are.) Graziani had an easy time picking apart the temporarily vulnerable Dallas defense. Things will change this week in a tight game and the Wranglers prevail on the road, but not by much. My fantasy pick this week will be Austin DS Damon Mason who disappointed me last week, but will rebound with several tackles, one interception, and a possible TD.
Austin 50 Philly 48
GRAND RAPIDS at NEW YORK
These two teams are playing some good football. The Rampage lost a 21-point lead last week to the Rush, as their defense let them down in the second half. The Dragons offense is starting to get on a roll behind third string QB Nick Browder. Browder has brought back new life to the Dragons offense as he thrown for 17 TDs in the past 3 weeks. Dragons WR/LB Mike "The Horror" Horacek reeked havoc last week in KC to the tune of 14 catches for 174 yards and four TDs. The Rampage don't have enough defensively to stop Browder, Swayne, and Horacek, but The Dragons have no clue how to play defense when in comes to Arena Football. Their powerful offense more than makes up for it though, and I expect this to be a high scoring affair as the Dragons continue their roll. Expect more "Horror" this week from Mike Horacek (my fantasy pick here) against the Rampage as he busts out with another 100+ yard game and multiple TDs! Feel free to play Anthony Hines and Timon Marshall, as the Rampage offense easily moves the ball down the field. The Dragons will play well at home and, in the end, score more points than their opponent.
NY 62 GRR 58
UTAH at TAMPA BAY
It's hard to figure out what is going on in Tampa Bay. They are currently in a dog fight to keep second place in their division, and have cut their leading TD producer, WR/DB Bobby Sippio? Coach Marcum must re-focus the troops this week for a dangerous Utah Blaze team who play well on the road. One thing going well for the Storm is the play of QB "Sugar Shane" Stafford. He still has some serious talent at his disposal to throw to in the form of OS Freddy Soloman and WR/LB Lawrence Samuels. That being said, I'm getting a bad vibe out of Tampa. They have lost two of three and are running into QB Jason Gesser and OS Siaha Burley, both of whom have a bad taste in their mouths from last week's loss. Tampa Bay is ripe for the picking, so I'm going bold this week and predicting an upset special. My fantasy player is OS Siaha Burley, who is due for another breakout game. Expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 100+ yards and three TDs.
Utah 54 Tampa Bay 50
COLUMBUS at DALLAS
The Desperados cooled off last week in what has to be considered an upset at home against the Philadelphia Soul. At 5-4, I have to wonder if the Columbus Destoyers are for real? They have won two straight games, and in impressive fashion. They allowed 20 points to the Soul in the week 8 win, and then traveled on the road to stun the Crush, holding Colorado to 21 points! Obviously, the Destroyer defense has keyed the past two wins and will get tested again this week against the highest scoring offense in the league. Dallas QB Clint Dolezel seems to have the easiest job in the world tossing bombs to OS Terrill Shaw, WR/DB Will Pettis, and WR/LB Diallo Burks. The Desperados let the game get away from them last week but that won’t happen again. Being a divisional game, the score will be much tighter than people would think. Dallas will need more offense than defense to win this game. My fantasy player for this week is QB Clint Dolezel who will put up his usual 300 plus yards and six TDs.
Dallas 52 Columbus 45
GEORGIA at KANSAS CITY
Last week, the Georgia Force got a well-deserved victory at home against Tampa Bay. It will get a little easier this week on the road in KC. Georgia QB Matt Nagy and OS Chris Jackson had some serious chemistry going on last week as 6 of Nagy's 8 TDs went to C-Jax. The Brigade is the AFL's worst team at 1-8 but surprised by playing solid ball last week in New York. The Brigade is dead last in scoring but do have hope in the form of second string QB Chris Sanders. Sanders had seven TDs (five passing, two rushing) in his second game as a starter. But the combination of Nagy and C-Jax will be too much for the Brigade to handle. You could expect that after a six TD performance last week from C-Jax, I would pick him as my fantasy star this week. Well, I'm throwing a curve ball and going with GA WR/LB Derrick "Baby Moss" Lee. He can't possibly be kept out of the end zone two weeks in a row, right?
GA 58 KC 50
NASHVILLE at COLORADO
This should shape up to be the best game of the week. Colorado has lost two straight games while the Kats have won two straight games to gain a share of first place within the Central Division. Crush QB John Dutton struggled mightily last week, throwing only two TDs and being picked off three times. The Crush defense during this two-game skid is surrendering 62.5 points per game. The Crush is too good of a team to let this slide continue and I see them getting back on track and enacting some revenge for a week 4 loss. OS Damian Harrell will be my fantasy player this week, so expect the usual 100+ yards and at least two TDs. I also like Nashville's OS TT Tolliver to visit paydirt twice.
Crush 50 Nashville 42
CHICAGO at ORLANDO
Orlando is coming off an impressive road victory at Austin one week after getting dismantled at home against Dallas. Predator's OS Jimmy Fryzel returned from a two week absence to post 6 catches for 72 yards and three TD's. The Rush broke a three game losing streak by coming back from 21 points down to defeat Grand Rapids. Chicago does not play well on the road, and Orlando is tough to beat at home sporting a 3-1 record. Orlando has their "Fryzel" back, and is peaking at the right time. The addition of DS Kahlil Carter has been a major upgrade to the pass defense. Orlando is a team to watch coming down the stretch. My fantasy player this week will be DS Kahlil Carter who should get plenty of tackles and a possible interception.
Orlando 52 Chicago 47
LOS ANGELES at LAS VEGAS
Avengers QB Sonnie Cumbie leads his team into Las Vegas this week with one goal in mind... Win Baby Win! The Avengers are hot team right now as they have won two out of their last three mainly because of the offense. The Gladiators have won three of four and are only one game out of first place. It's a division game and the Glads must keep pace with the Arizona Rattlers who are currently on a four game win streak. I like the Gladiators to prevail simply because of the home field advantage. I think the Avengers come back down to earth this week, with the Glads winnning by double digits. My fantasy player this week will be Las Vegas QB Jason Fife.
Las Vegas 54 LA Avengers 44
ARIZONA at SAN JOSE
These two teams just plain don't like each other. The Arizona Rattlers come into this game the hottest team in the league having won four straight. It has been hard to figure out which San Jose team takes the field each week. One week the team looks unstoppable and the next they come out flat. This game is hard to call in that San Jose has only won one game at home this year, while Arizona has only one road win. It's hard to tell which team will show up this week for San Jose. However, I do know which team shows up for Arizona: The team that has won four straight and is currently in first place in the division. My fantasy player this week will be WR/LB Randy Gatewood, last week's Iron Man of the Week.
Arizona 52 San Jose 50
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