Game planning for favorable matchups is one of the hardest aspects of fantasy football. Making the right or wrong decision of who to start and who not to start can be a be the decisive factor, between a win or a loss.

It’s a situation that cannot possibly be predicted, as the majority of minor role players have big weeks unexpectedly. Then when you give them a chance to start they prove why you didn’t risk them in the lineup.

When Sunday is over though, it shouldn’t be over for your fantasy football team. On paper almost every team is finished, but the daunting Monday Night football game, shapes up the complete weekend.

Monday night football is one of the safest bets to keep your team in the thick of things. Prime time players and mediocre players play big under the spotlight, especially on Monday nights. Who knows why that brings the best out of an athlete, but it’s a protect your back thing for fantasy football.

It’s like Randy Moss playing against Dallas, you just do it because good things are going to happen.

When is the last time you’ve seen a low scoring Monday night game?

The whole objective of Monday Night football games is to stray away from boring games. That’s why the Cardinals, and teams with prior losing seasons don’t take center stage.

In fact last season twenty one times a team scored twenty four points or more on Monday night. Including the back to back weeks of Seattle vs. Dallas and Kansas City vs. Tennessee, in which all the teams were near or over forty points.

It’s a nail biter for a fantasy team if they’re done on Sunday. If the opposing team is down by eight points, and has a kicker left for Monday, it’s almost a guarantee the team with the kicker will come out on top. It’s just previous trends and easy mathematics that configure to that easy calculation.

Don’t be left a team that is staring at the tube angrily on Monday. Adjust your lineup accordingly. Only if your matchup is absolutely horrendous on Monday night, then you should start that athlete.

It adds some extra trash talking that can carry over an extra day as well. With the type of monster performances that have happened on Monday night, a fantasy team could be down by twenty or more and still win. That’s when praising the fantasy football gods for your “W” is worthy.

By Jason Muir

What to do with Philip Rivers? The Chargers find themselves in a hole once again, as the quarterback position proves to be a problem for them. Drew Brees proved himself as a pro bowler last year, while Philip Rivers proved was that he was capable of holding out. 2005, is going to be a big key in shaping the future of the Chargers. Who will we all be talking about next season as the Chargers quarterback?

With Rivers being drafted in the first round, Brees’s back was up against the wall. He had one choice, “get up”. Usually it takes a quarterback one to two years until he gets himself acclamaited to the NFL level. Brees proved himself beyond that point going for his fourth season as a bust. The Chargers gave Brees one year to prove himself. Which, he did with a quarterback rating of 105, along with earning himself a Pro Bowl selection.

By proving himself last year it was not a hard choice of putting a franchise tag on him for one year just to see what he’ll do. By not giving Brees a long term contract, they now have options. If Brees has another bad season they can give the bulk of the playing time to Rivers. That will essentially help him with his career as a Charger. On the other side of the spectrum, if Brees does have another pro bowl year than the chargers will have to go with their heart. Either trade Rivers and sign Brees to a long term contract, or let Brees go and take their chances with Rivers.

In years past the Chargers found themselves in tougher situations at the quarterback position. Recap, the year was 1998- Peyton Manning was the first overall selection in the draft… second to be drafted was Ryan Leaf…. by the Sandiego Chargers. After a year with a quarterback rating of 39 it was clear Ryan Leaf was a BUST. With the hype and the money Leaf was getting it was hard to give up on him so early. It took the Chargers three years to realize that Ryan was not the answer for their success, eventually letting him go to Dallas.

If Rivers ends up not getting any playing time this year, it will be his second season sitting on the bench making over five million. More importantly if the chargers expect this kid to be their future they have to share the time at the quarterback position this year. You can’t test drive a car without getting behind the wheel.

The Chargers need to see the capabilities that he has, otherwise who knows what his potential is. Rivers could have the abilities of a Ryan Leaf, or he might have the abilities of a Peyton Manning. One things for sure if Brees has another Pro Bowl year, it’s likely Rivers will be traded in the offseason.

Those who are banking on Brees to have another Cinderella season don’t count on it. This guy has a knack for making mistakes, throwing into double coverage, and trying to make off balance throws while under pressure. Not just picking on Brees but the Chargers don’t have a great offense nor defense either, plain and simple. LT and Antonio Gates is as far as it goes. The Chargers just got lucky last year and don’t expect them to have a record over .500 this year.

With a dismal record, the plan that would have happened last season will take place. That would force Marty to play Rivers the second half of the season. It’s no secret that the Chargers would have let Brees flow smoothly down the river of free agency if he didn’t have a stellar year.

It’s almost a similar situation as what happened with the Phoenix Suns in the NBA. Joe Johnson outplayed anyone’s expectations and became the Suns main option when an off the dribble play was needed. When a player skies their value up in a contract year, the team with the current right’s of that player is not going to let him just walk away. There is too much value in hand, and that’s an on going battle that will never change.

Business, that’s all this is. The Chargers are doing the right thing by currently having to pay mega dollars at quarterback this season. Even though it hurt’s the overall offense, the can be revamped after they get their answer this season. They can then add a big time receiver and tweak the defense a little bit as well.

All aboard. A free boarding pass can be handed out to eighty percent of football fanatics. Once they see one glimpse of a great season, it’s a cause for a celebration. Perhaps the athlete does deserve greater attention in fantasy football drafts, but please don’t get out of hand with player projections.

We are not going to name names, but there is a particular fantasy football magazine that has some outrageous player rankings. It’s one thing to be bold, but backing that up with factual evidence would help.

Warning: The next paragraph goes into specifics of the aforementioned.

Okay, when I first saw this wide receiver posted at the numero uno position, I almost past out in laughter. I was so dumbfounded that I dropped the magazine, and paced back and forth real quick. As I rubbed my eyes and glanced down again, the previous vision was still there.

Drew Bennett…2005’s number one receiver.

Yes, yes, laugh it up. If comedy central had their own fantasy football show, then this would be a reasonable determination. Wait, take that back, it still wouldn’t.

It still has me shaking worse than Charlie Murphy’s giggling during the Prince episode on Dave Chappelle.

There are so many mind boggling factors that would ring a bell to not even consider Bennett as a top ten receiver.

Before we start on that top five list, we want to say that this has nothing negatively to do with Drew Bennett. The sole purpose of this article is to clear cobwebs out of owners that may have been brainwashed from reading that magazine.

Breathe in deeply, and arrive back to Earth.

5. Derrick Mason’s Gone
Drew Bennett has developed rapidly, but will now have the burden of leading the receiving corp. Derrick Mason had that pressure for the last several years, and helped Bennett’s growth tremendously.

4. Size
Big receivers with quickness and extreme raw ability are linked hand and hand. At 6’5, Bennett is listed in that category of rare receivers that aren’t project players melting on the sideline. Still, when is the last time a tall receiver has done well in the NFL? Uh, Uh? Plaxico Burress and Marcus Robinson are the only two to even consider. The key point with those two athletes is consistency. They’ll bounce back and forth on the radar with a few off the chart performances, but then there are the weeks when they won’t even catch the ball. It’s a problematic situation that won’t go away with tall receivers.

3. McNair’s Health
Steve McNair deserves a lot of praise for what he has endured over the last several years. If he is fully recovered there is no kind of ending script to see how he can finish out his veteran years. That has been a big if over the last few seasons, so that gap of certainty bumps Bennett down automatically. When McNair tried to play hurt last year it hurt the offenses direction. McNair also is a chain to chain quarterback, while Bennett is a big play receiver. That doesn’t mesh well, unless the Titans plan on opening up the deep pass. Figuring two to two together and banking on Bennett as the number one receiver just is out of the question.

2. Travis Henry and Chris Brown
Here are two running backs that could easily both be ranked as top fifteen in the league. There won’t be an official starter, as Jeff Fisher has stated that they will use both. Expect the Titans to be running the ball effectively with both backs like the Falcons and Rams do. That could open up the deep ball for Bennett after long drawn out drives catch the defense sleeping.

1. Where’s Volek?
Looking…looking….looking. There it is. During the three week stretch from NFL week thirteen through fifteen, Bennett produced more than half of his season totals. His yardage numbers were 517, and touchdowns was eight. Take that away and for thirteen games Bennett had 730 yards and three touchdowns. He did his damage when Billy Volek was quarterback, and when Chris Brown was banged up. Hmm, Volek isn’t projected to start, and the fact up above is a ding dinger for run-run-run.

Now that we are complete with that tirade, lets get realistic. Bennett is one of the elite emerging receivers in the league. He presents a lot of problems for defenses, but gearing to shut him down will also become easier. Especially since Tennessee has serious question marks at that position. Bennett will now face the opposing teams number one corner with Mason gone. If Bennett does create problems for the number one defensive back, than the defensive coordinator will just adjust with a crowding scheme.

The lack of Titans depth at receiver and Bennett’s barely dabbed success put him right inside the top twenty receiver rankings, on my list. He literally outperformed his previous two seasons combined with his stats from last season. Bennett’s trust from fantasy owners can’t come until after this season, when a realistic figure of a season should happen.

With Moss, Harrison, Owens, Johnson, Walker, etc, it may be awhile before Bennett even cracks the top ten.

You can breathe a sigh of relief, as your treatment has been successful. Once I snap my fingers, your memory will be erased of reading that magazine.

Snap.