RaiderDamus' Friday Fantasy Foretelling Week 13: Raiders vs. Dolphins

by RDreamer on Dec 2, 2011 3:45 PM PST

SAN DIEGO, CA - NOVEMBER 10: Quarterback Carson Palmer #3 of the Oakland Raiders stands in the huddle against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium on November 10, 2011 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Ahoy, Raider fans! It is I, RaiderDamus, back again for another exciting edition of the Fantasy Foretelling. The Raiders travel to South Florida this Sunday to take on the suddenly respectable Miami Dolphins. After the break, I'll tell you what to do with the real-life players on your make-believe team.

You know, if Tony Sparano had his team this inspired all year, he might still have a job at the end of the season. He will join the ranks of the unemployed as soon as Week 17 ends, I assure you. That being said, he does have the Dolphins defense playing well, unless they are playing the Patriots, but the Raiders are the last team that should make fun of anyone for losing to the Patriots.

Here's a fun fact: of the QBs that will play this week (translation: not counting Matt Schaub) Matt Moore ranks an inexplicable tenth in overall passer rating. I am not making this up. You can go look for it yourself on nfl.com. I will even provide a link for you. Here it is.

A Raiders player is actually #1 on the list, but he does not have enough pass attempts to qualify for the title. That player? Shane Lechler. Carson Palmer is 39th. Oh well, there's always next year. On to the fantasy football!

QB Matt Moore: Start. As previously mentioned, Moore is tenth amongst active passers in passer rating. His receivers are good. His offensive line, however, stinks. If he doesn't get sacked five times he may have some success. But you don't have Matt Moore on your team, do you? Really? 230 pass yds, 2 TD, 2 INT.

RB Reggie Bush: Start. Bush is actually having a pretty good second half of the season after being abysmal in the first half. He is just the sort of blazing-fast back that gives the Raiders trouble. 80 rush yds, 50 rec yds, TD.

WR Brandon Marshall: Bench. He'll get a lot of man coverage attention from the Raiders and Moore won't have a lot of time to throw. Also, Marshall has a bad case of the dropsies. 60 rec yds.

WR Davone Bess: Start. All the attention paid to Marshall means les attention paid to Davone Bess. If I were picking those two guys in a draft, I would take Bess first. 90 rec yds, TD.

Dolphins defense: Start them if you have them. The Raiders have a LOT of injuries as we all know and even if the Raiders win, the Dolphins defense will not be embarrassed.

On to the good guys!

QB Carson Palmer: Bench. The Dolphins have a pretty good secondary featuring Vontae Davis and Yeremiah Bell. Without Moore or Ford, Palmer will be hard-pressed to find a lot of success. 175 pass yds, 2 TD, INT.

RB Michael Bush: Start. Bush will be fantasy gold this week. The Raiders are going to run a LOT and the Dolphins will not be able to stop him. Michael Bush will be the big winner of the Bush vs. Bush contest. 135 rush yds, TD, 40 rec yds, TD.

Oakland WR corps: Bench. Unless Heyward-Bey plays out of his mind they are useless this week. Most of Palmer's throws will be screens and dump-offs to backs or tight ends.

Oakland defense: Eh, start them. Miami's offense isn't that good and the Raiders should be able to harrass Matt Moore like they did to Caleb Hanie.

So what do you see happening on Sunday? Who's gonna step up big in the game? Which Bush should be rated higher?

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Comments

ahh to have the eyes of the unknown

I went and picked up carson, but i doubt ill ever use him, seeing as i have tom brady…Had DHB but dropped him due to low production, it doesnt hurt that i have Welker, and Julio Jones,

by Raider_Renagade on Dec 2, 2011 4:37 PM PST reply actions

Not that Jones has done much all year.

Except for that one game where he scored two long TDs off 3 catches. I’ve got him too, but I’m not even sure he’ll play this week. Luckily I’ve got Calvin Johnson and Stevie Johnson.

by Chris2814 on Dec 2, 2011 4:43 PM PST up reply actions

yeah im that weak at wr

I picked up desean jackson and mario manningham but yeah im still hurting, not to mention ive been winning with Mcfadden and Bradshaw on my bench hurt :/

by Raider_Renagade on Dec 2, 2011 7:06 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah, injuries have really messed me up this season.

I draft a really strong team, but only a couple of games have I been able to use my intended starting line up (which was to be Stafford at QB, Arian Foster and McFadden at RB, Calvin Johnson and Miles Austin at WR with either Stevie Johnson or Ryan Matthews in the flex). For a while I was blowing the rest of the league away, but Austin and McFadden got injured at the same time that the Bills and Calvin Johnson got cold. I’m still first in the league, but it’s much closer now.

by Chris2814 on Dec 2, 2011 7:14 PM PST up reply actions

As a matter of fact

Matt Moore IS my starting QB, thanks to Mike Vick and J Cutler, but he has me sneaking into the playoffs after not sucking for a couple weeks in a row and getting the numbers he’s supposed to. I also have both Michael Bush AND Reggie Bush, so I’ve got a bit invested in this game. Here’s to a shootout, won in the last few minutes on a 50+ yarder from The Man, The Mule, The Legend – Janikowski (also on my roster =)
Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs!!!!!!!!!!

...Watching DeMarcus Cousins’ transformation from large human to immortal kill beast...

by Sacto_J on Dec 2, 2011 4:43 PM PST reply actions

Actually I am in a 2 QB league & have Matt Moore as my 2nd starter.

I recently dropped Ryan Fitzpatrick after 4 straight shit performances and didn’t anticipate Matt Schaub being lost for the season. I think Moore is a safer bet rather than Mark Sanchez who will have a decent performance sandwiched between 2 shitty ones every week.

Trust No One
Studies show stress can kill you, but don't worry about it.

by TAW on Dec 2, 2011 5:43 PM PST up reply actions

Oh yeah a HUGE THANK YOU to Michael Bush for being the key to me getting the top seed in my league w/ a semifinal appearance locked up!

Trust No One
Studies show stress can kill you, but don't worry about it.

by TAW on Dec 2, 2011 5:46 PM PST up reply actions

Matt Moore is gonna have guys in his face for the entire game. I’m starting the Raiders D.

by TrashyRambo on Dec 2, 2011 4:55 PM PST reply actions

So

Moss is out, and Trevor Scott is playing injured. Wth? We’re running out of DEs.

by rightnasty on Dec 2, 2011 5:06 PM PST reply actions

I subbed in Bush for Addai, whom I picked up as a decent late season prospect, at my flex spot

Ray Rice and DeMarco Murray as my 1 and 2 backs for this one. Was thinking Addai would blow up the porous NE rush D, but came to think big Mike would be a better go at the last minute, and was glad to see you agree. Fabiano answered an caller’s question about who to start with Blount, C. Johnson, or Bush, and he believed since Miami has only given up two TDs to fantasy RBs on defense this year he’d be the one of the three to sit.

I think someone will forget to tell Mike Bush that Miami is stout against the run and blow them the fuck up for a shit ton of yards and a couple of TDs on the ground and maybe even another through the air.

""The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled."--Hunter S. Thompson
"In football, I root for the Oakland Raiders because they hire castoffs, outlaws, malcontents, and fuck -ups, they have lots of penalties, fights, and paybacks, and because Al Davis told the rest of the pig NFL owners to go get fucked. Someday, the Raiders will be strong again, and they will dip the ball in shit and shove it down the throats of the wholesome, white, heartland teams that pray together and don't deliver late hits." - George Carlin.

Follow @brhynno

by brhynno on Dec 2, 2011 5:11 PM PST reply actions

You know i had Mcfadden and Bush

Ended up trading bush the week in Kansas city, for Aj Green and Julio Jones, and then traded Green for Moore…it went all down hill from their, though i am 10-2, and number fucking 1 with that RAIDERS decale for my avatar

by Raider_Renagade on Dec 2, 2011 7:10 PM PST up reply actions

Love this sentence and love Bush whose heroically carrying us on his back

I think someone will forget to tell Mike Bush that Miami is stout against the run and blow them the fuck up

S-O-B: ITS HOW I ROLL, DEAL WITH IT.
"I love to win, even against my daughters, I want to win" Hue Jackson 8/19/11
"If this team ever becomes elegant, we won’t know what to do with ourselves. rightnasty on Nov 28, 2011
Scourge the Raiderphobes!

by Sons-of-Blanda on Dec 2, 2011 8:03 PM PST up reply actions

i frieken love McFadden, And I hope he can fully recover and continue contributing

to the New Oakland Raiders, but, Bush has got to stay in Oakland as the reality of the mcfadden trend is, he plays at such an intensity level that his body can’t keep up with his drive. Almost like a Bo Jackson type runner, and I hope this organization is already working up the contract and mortgaging everything necessary to keep the workhorse Bush here in oakland, because it, atleast at the moment, seems that we only are allowed to have the best RB in football play for about 1/2 to 1/3 of a 16 game season. Every time I watch BUSH play i think to myself, Damn, he could be a #1 back on several franchises right now. NO i want him on this team. Reece too for that matter. I think it was week one against DEN that the announcer said Reece was the X factor on our offense, and I couldn’t agree more. What a damn badass, he is phenomenal.

by Toolshed1485 on Dec 2, 2011 9:41 PM PST up reply actions

Do we have a sports doc in the house?

I’d love to see an article on exactly why this team is so busted up this year. The lockout seems the likely reason, and yet other teams barely have any injuries.

http://www.nfl.com/injuries

by rightnasty on Dec 2, 2011 6:08 PM PST reply actions

probably their hyper aggressive play

Mixed with a dash of bad luck.

These are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others. -Groucho Marx

by RDreamer on Dec 2, 2011 7:06 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

yeah balls to the walls intensity is our signature, but also our achilles heel

We are a physical aggressive football team that pushes things to the absolute breaking point (key #1 position in penalty rankings), and while this does make us unpredictable, it also makes us susceptible to injury. Look at tyvon branch, wimbley, or curry play defense, watch the speed, all out assault, and tenacity. Long story short, that level of play involves sacrifice. I think our injuries also seem like a bigger deal to us because, at least on defense, we are not deep. Mcclain goes out, we have to depend on Black"highly volitale"stock , CJ or Huff goes down, key the green horns DVD and Chekwa (well not anymore). Offensively our depth is less of an issue, although in the back of my mind I think Carson might have hooked up with with Hagan nicely, (where the hell has Housh and his supposed innate palmer chemistry been the past few weeks>)

by Toolshed1485 on Dec 2, 2011 9:33 PM PST up reply actions

The Hagan move still has me wondering why. Anyway, I loved the D's intensity against Chicago and the week before

against SD. They still give up the big plays which make there stats look bad but take out those 7 or 8 plays a game and they are as Baltimore or Pittsburgh.

by Sons-of-Blanda on Dec 2, 2011 9:53 PM PST up reply actions

yep

We have to get the whole QB scrambling for 30+ yards issue under control, you take those stats away and this defense starts to not look so bad against the run.

by Toolshed1485 on Dec 3, 2011 6:01 AM PST via iPhone app up reply actions

I think there might have been a

Personality clash between hue and hagan, there seemed to be a sting of animosity in hues voice when asked earlier in the year about why he wasn’t activated

by Toolshed1485 on Dec 3, 2011 6:04 AM PST via iPhone app up reply actions

That's the only explanaition. Hue didn't like him for some reason that may or may not ever come to light.

by Sons-of-Blanda on Dec 3, 2011 6:15 AM PST up reply actions

Mcfadden and moore have gotta be playin by the greenbay game.

Theres no reason to keep them on the sideline. If DMAC s injury is what they said it was he should have been playin already, at least for a few plays in the chicago game. Hue s just babying them. He believes if their not 100% the Raiders would be better off with whoevers on the bench. That might be true , but you at least need the other team to game plan as if guys who are questionable might play and then throw them in there for a few plays even if you go to reece or bush. I dont know , guess im just pissed with all the injurys

by Sonoma County Raider fan on Dec 3, 2011 9:12 AM PST reply actions