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- You Talkin' to Me? Sizing up the Eagles' chances
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Ed Barkowitz: Panthers' Smith must have himself on his fantasy football team
THE FANTASY spotlight last week shined brightly on Broncos wide receiver Brandon Marshall and others who have had pleasantly surprising good starts.
Now, let's turn the light on the fantasy season's dimmest bulbs.
In the spirit of Halloween, wide receiver Steve Smith is making haunting noises out of Carolina's vacant house of an offense.
"I am no longer an asset to this team," Smith fumed after registering one catch for 4 yards last week.
Know what, Stevie baby? You're not much of an asset in fantasy, either.
Smith might actually be more of disaster in fantasy because there are fewer positions available in fantasy lineups and there's almost no way to bench him. Matt Forte (see below) is another guy in that category.
Smith's lack of production is merely an indicator of how bad Jake Delhomme has been. Sure, Smith is getting double-teamed. But he's beaten doubles his entire pro career. He's averaging 51.8 yards per game, which is about half the 101.5 he had last year and Smith's next touchdown will be his first.
Perhaps the best thing he's done this year is stand by the comments he made after Sunday's game, which happened to be the Panthers' second consecutive win.
"Am I going to go back and apologize for what I said? No," Smith said Wednesday. "I want to win and I want to be involved in a win. And if a person feels like he's uninvolved, it should be taken in the manner in which it has been said."
Here are just a few others who are in the dud file for now:
* Trent Edwards, quarterback, Bills: Remember when he was a chic pick? He has one touchdown and five picks in his last four games and will be out for a while with a concussion.
* Carson Palmer, quarterback, Bengals: Has just one more touchdown pass than Kansas City's Matt Cassel's seven.
* Matt Forte, running back, Bears: Take out the Week 4 game against the Lions and Forte is averaging 2.3 yards per carry.
* Calvin Johnson, wide receiver, Lions: Knee and thigh injuries - and the fact that there is a big, blue lion on his helmet - have kept his numbers down.
* Roy Williams, wide receiver, Cowboys: As bad as Terrell Owens' numbers are (15 catches, 215 yards, 1 TD), they are worse for Williams (11-214-1).
Three up
* Laurence Maroney, running back, Patriots: Could become the most popular "Laurence" in England since Olivier if he repeats that 123 yard effort this week against the Bucs in London.
* Hines Ward, wide receiver, Steelers: On pace for a career year and has been a monster at home. The foot injury to Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield can't hurt . . . unless you're Winfield.
* Miles Austin, Cowboys, wide receiver: Can't expect 10 catches and 250 yards, but Austin has nudged ahead of Patrick Crayton as the starter.
Three down
* Chaz Schilens, wide receiver, Raiders: It's hard to recommend anybody from Oakland, but at least put him on the radar. Schilens, just now making his regular-season debut thanks to a foot injury, did have some preseason chemistry with JaMarcus Russell.
* Michael Crabtree, wide receiver, 49ers: He'd be more worthy of a pickup and roster stash, especially in keeper leagues or larger ones
* Pierre Thomas, running back, Saints: Don't like the matchup at Miami and like the timeshare with Mike Bell even less. Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey should be in all lineups, however.
AP watch
Good to see Adrian Peterson get his act together with 143 yards last week. Here's a look at how he's faring in his stated goal of rushing for 2,000 this season:
Season total. . . 618
Last week's yards. . . 143
Games played. . . 6
100-yard games. . . 2
Must average for 2,000. . . 137.6
This week's opponent. . . at Steelers
Ravens avg. rush yards allowed. . . 74.5
Stat of the week
The fantasy staff nearly pulled a Jonathan Broxton and gagged on its soup when it stumbled on this one: Tom Brady is 12-0 against NFC teams with 30 touchdown passes and five interceptions. Could be a sticky wicket for the Buccaneers.
Ed Barkowitz, who has been getting killed by Matt Forte, has been writing about fantasy football in the Daily News since 2001.
Send e-mail to barkowe@phillynews.com
