QB Jason Campbell, Washington Redskins
Don’t look now but Jason Campbell has actually been a very good fantasy QB as of late. He has seven passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown in the last three games. Campbell has also been racking up the passing yards.

RB Arian Foster, Houston Texans
The Texans desperately need a running back to emerge and play well. It appears as if Arian Foster may be the man. Going up against the Rams in Week 15 makes Foster even more tempting to start.

WR Joshua Cribbs, Cleveland Browns
Joshua Cribbs is an interesting case because he’s listed as a wide receiver but plays all over the field. Last week, he led the team in rushing. If he gets more rushes, Cribbs would be a sneaky play as a WR.

TE Fred Davis, Washington Redskins
If he’s available, pick up Fred Davis right now. He has four touchdowns over the last three weeks and is becoming a high quality fantasy football tight end right before our eyes.

Joshua Cribbs could become a fantasy option (Image: Zuma Press)

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By Guest Blogger, Ron Bishow

As fun as fantasy football is, and how much popularity it has brought to the NFL, its critics complain that it turns the game into just statistics. Quarterbacks that manage a game, or fullbacks that lead the way for running backs, are rendered useless. Sure the team knows they’re useful but the fans often start to forget they exist.

Well, this Sunday proved just how the actual game of football could destroy a fantasy player’s season by just being what it is, and unpredictable game with unpredictable weather conditions. And it couldn’t have come at a worst time. Playoff time.

For many parts of the country snow and high winds were a fact of life last weekend, and it played havoc with the NFL schedule. It did not snow as much as it was first suspected in New England but the freezing rain and wind did enough to destroy every player’s season that had Tom Brady.

You could almost see it as an incident of life balancing itself out since everyone who drafted Brady made the playoffs on his stats alone. His no touchdown three-fantasy point game (in regular fantasy leagues) destroyed every one of those teams, including the one I was playing in the first round of the playoffs. We are talking about a guy who was putting up 30 points regularly scoring less then some fullbacks.

This also hurt anyone who had the Patriot receivers like Randy Moss and Wes Welker, in fact the only player it helped was Laurence Maroney who had done nothing all season.

The snow was much worse in Cleveland, a blizzard so bad that the final score of the Browns game against the Bills was 8-0, rendering Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, Kellen Winslow and everyone else in the game useless. Again the running backs, namely Jamal Lewis, were the only person to be worth a damn in that game.

The biggest culprit to the crushing of the spirit of fantasy owners was not the weather, but Brian Westbrook of the Eagles. You could almost hear the collective screams of horror as Westbrook took a dive at the one-yard line at the end of the Cowboys game instead of crossing the goal line. It was a brilliant move that allowed Philly to run out the clock and win the game, and six points that cost tons of fantasy owners a chance to advance.

I was affected personally by Westbrook’s selfless act as I won my week by five points, so I would have lost if he had scored. Just another example of what I mentioned in a previous article, fantasy is just as much about luck as skill.

So as I sit in the finals of both my leagues I look forward and think what crazy events will effect this week, which players will be sat, and who will come out of nowhere. Even if I lose both games I can at least take consolation in the fact that I should have lost in both last week.

Ron Bishow has been reporting on the sports world for the past seven years for AOL, Tribune interactive and CO-ED Magazine among others. He is such a fantasy sports fanatic he plays fantasy NASCAR. He is currently a contributing writer and video producer at www.newyork.metromix.com.

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It obviously didn’t just end there. Randy Moss tallied only 79 yards and went without a touchdown. And T.O. finished Sunday’s game with just two catches and 37 yards.

Nearly every top NFL player in the league came crashing down to earth this weekend due to bad weather, bad injuries and bad play. And with that, many fantasy teams that were on top all season were knocked out of the playoffs in week 15.

Though it’s frustrating, that’s the world of fantasy football. You never know when your franchise players are going to have a poor outing. You can only hope it’s not during the playoffs. But when it happens, you can only have a beer and look to next year.

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QB Kellen Clemens, New York Jets – Clemens left the game against the New England Patriots with a rib injury. While Clemens has shown some signs of having the potential to be a good player, he isn’t a fantasy viable player at this point in his career. If he misses Week 16, Chad Pennington will get the start. With Pennington at the helm, the Jets’ offense might actually be slightly better.

QB Kyle Boller, Baltimore Ravens – Boller suffered a mild concussion and was forced to miss the end of the game against the Miami Dolphins. The Ravens ended up losing to give the Dolphins their first win of the season. Troy Smith is the backup quarterback and he’s looked good in limited snaps. Smith could be called upon to start this upcoming week.

RB Justin Fargas, Oakland Raiders – Fargas suffered a knee sprain against the Indianapolis Colts. He has been one of the real surprises this season. Coming into this year, he wasn’t much of a fantasy option but he’s proven to be able to handle the load. If he misses time expect either Dominic Rhodes or LaMont Jordan to start at running back for the Raiders.

TE Jeremy Shockey, New York Giants – Shockey fractured his fibula and is expected to miss the rest of the season. Shockey hasn’t had a very productive season in the fantasy football world. Other than one big week, Shockey has been quiet. If you have Shockey, hopefully you have a decent backup because you are going to need a new starter at this point.

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K Martin Gramatica, New Orleans Saints – With Olindo Mare out for the season with a dislocated hip, the Saints signed Gramatica to handle their kicking duties for the rest of the season. And honestly, this move is a big improvement for the Saints. Mare was only 10-for-17 on field goals this year and was virtually unstartable in the fantasy world. Gramatica, on the other hand, can’t be any worse and could flourish in an offense that is moving the ball rather well right now.

D New Orleans Saints – The Saints D has been playing better as of late. They still aren’t great at stopping other teams, but they are capable of making a big play at any moment. Against the Arizona Cardinals this weekend, they’ll have a couple shots to get a big play. While the Cardinals are decent offensively, they’re banged up and not firing on all cylinders. The Saints may be able to take advantage.

D Miami Dolphins - If you want a high risk, high reward defense this week, look at the Dolphins. Sure, they are winless. Sure, they are horrible. However, this week they are taking on the Ravens. No team has ever gone 0-16 and this looks to be the Dolphins best shot to win a game. Cleo Lemon is back at quarterback, which will help the offense. The defense is going up against a very average offense that due for a major letdown.

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RB Kenton Keith, Indianapolis Colts - The Colts are taking on the Raiders this week and that means there will be plenty of rushing yards to go around. While Joseph Addai will get most of those yards, there should be plenty left over for Keith. Keith also has a better than average shot of finding his way into the end zone if this game gets lopsided. Keith is a really good yet really sneaky play this week.

WR Arnaz Battle, San Francisco 49ers - With new quarterback Shaun Hill at the reins, Battle might actually be worth starting now. Hill showed a pretty good ability to pass the ball and run the Niners’ offense in his stint against the Vikings last week. Since Battle is the leading receiver on the Niners, he is in line to produce the most if San Francisco can ever start rolling offensively. This week against the Cincinnati Bengals might be their last chance to show some life.

TE Greg Olsen, Chicago Bears – Olsen has been quiet as of late after having a string of productive games. The problem mostly was Rex Grossman preferred Desmond Clark. Now that Kyle Orton is starting for the Bears, there’s a chance that Olsen could become a favored target. While it’s a risky start because Orton hasn’t done anything this year and Olsen has been cold, it’s worth the risk if your options are limited.

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RB Darius Walker, Houston Texans – With Ron Dayne injured, the running back job for the Texans looks like it could be Walker’s. Walker, who was recently on the Texans’ practice squad, got some work last week and played decently well. With Dayne out, expect Walker to be featured this week against the Denver Broncos.

WR Michael Jenkins, Atlanta Falcons – Jenkins has had a quiet year this season, but things are looking better for him. With Chris Redman at quarterback for the Falcons, he seems to look Jenkins’ way a lot of the time. In Week 14, Jenkins finished with 9 catches and a touchdown. This week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Jenkins should be good for a good amount of receptions.

TE Alex Smith, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – If you need a tight end, look at Smith. With Jeff Garcia expected back at quarterback for the Bucs and matchup against the Atlanta Falcons looming, Smith is a very nice start this week. While he’s not a threat to get a lot of receptions, he’s a very nice red zone threat for Tampa Bay. There’s a better than decent shot of Smith ending up with a touchdown this week.

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QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots – While Brady has had an unbelievable season, this is the game when he might set all types of records. Facing the New York Jets, the Patriots have a lot of reasons to be angry. The Jets are the team that started camera-gate, which caused the Patriots to lose a first round draft pick and incur fines. Expect the Patriots to try to demolish the Jets. Brady along with wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker could very well explode this week.

RB Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts – Addai had three touchdowns against the Baltimore Ravens, arguably the best defense in the league against the run. This week, Addai goes against the worst run defense in the league when the Colts face the Oakland Raiders. Expect Addai to run early and often. Kenton Keith, Addai’s backup, should also be able to get into the action and pick up a lot of yardage himself.

WR Terrell Owens, Dallas Cowboys – Owens is taking on his former team when the Cowboys go up against the Philadelphia Eagles. Undoubtedly Owens is more than willing to have a huge game against his former team. While he was quiet in Week 14, don’t expect the same quiet play out of him in Week 15. With Tony Romo on fire and Jason Witten commanding attention, Owens should be free to do a ton of damage for the Cowboys.

TE Kellen Winslow II, Cleveland Browns – Winslow has been held in check the last couple of weeks but Week 15 he should do well against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills defense isn’t too poor but it simply isn’t talented enough to shut down the Browns offense. Expect Winslow to have a big game as the Browns are able to score over 25 points on the Bills.

K Rob Bironas, Tennessee Titans – Bironas has already had a couple of huge games this year, including a record setting performance of eight field goals. This week, he has a very nice matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs are good enough to keep the Titans from scoring a lot of touchdowns, but their defense isn’t good enough to keep them out of field goal range.

D Baltimore - While the Ravens haven’t been as powerful defensively as they’ve been in the past, they still have a lot of talent. Against the winless Miami Dolphins, the Ravens are a great start this week. The Dolphins struggle to do much of anything and the Ravens have shown some fight in recent weeks. Start the Ravens D with confidence.

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