Going into last night's first game of the 2010 NFL season, expectations were pretty high for the fantasy football GM's who owned either Minnesota Vikings or New Orleans Saints players. Both teams have some good prospects for scoring fantasy points, especially the high-flying Saints offense which was a juggernaut last year. But, as usual in sports, things never go the way people expect. Initially, it looked like we were on our way to a shoot-out, the Saints took the opening kickoff and Drew Brees confidently, and skillfully, led his team right down the field and closed the drive with a 29-yard TD strike to Devery Henderson. Fantasy points nirvana was on its way. Not so fast.
Vikings Vs. Saints: Fantasy Points Hard To Come By
Owners of Saints and Vikings players probably didn’t get what they wanted out of the Thursday night game.
After that fun-filled first drive, the game ground to a halt. A final score of 14-9 is more indicative of a defensive struggle. That’s not to say that you can’t grab some points out of the game. If you had the Saints defense, you’re probably pretty happy today. Even the Vikings defense held up well in the face of the Brees and Co. offensive machine. Still, those looking for fantasy production out of major stars on offense were most likely disappointed.
Some stat lines:
Minnesota
Brett Favre - 15/27 171 yds. 1 TD 1 INT
Adrian Peterson - 19 carries 87 yards / 3 rec. 14 yds.
Visanthe Shiancoe - 4 rec. 1 TD
Percy Harvin - 1 rec. 12 yds.
Bernard Berrian - 1 rec. 3 yds.
About the only one you can be truly happy with out of that bunch is TE Visanthe Shiancoe. Anytime your tight end scores a TD in fantasy, that’s a good day. But the rest of the skill players? Not so much. Adrian Peterson’s inability to hit paydirt puts a damper on his day. Favre’s low yardage total and low passes completed numbers means a poor day for any fantasy GM who started the old man.
But it really doesn’t get much better with the Saints.
New Orleans
Drew Brees - 27/36 237 yds. 1 TD
Pierre Thomas - 19 carries 71 yds. 1 TD / 3 rec. 15 yds.
Reggie Bush - 2 carries 14 yds. / 5 rec., 33 yds.
Marques Colston - 5 rec. 62 yds
Devery Henderson - 2 rec. 38 yds. 1 TD
Jeremy Shockey - 3 rec. 23 yds.
That’s a pretty low yardage total and TD total for Brees. Certainly not what we’ve come to expect from the Saints signal-caller. Pierre Thomas made his owner’s happy with his TD in the second half, and Devery Henderson’s early TD gave his owners (at least those who decided to play him) a nice boost. Otherwise, the Saints power-packed offense was kind of a dud.
At least the defenses produced as long as you get points for low point totals from the opposing offense. The Saints defense actually had a good evening - 9 points allowed, 5 sacks, and 1 INT. Even the kickers had problems in this game. Ryan Longwell did connect on a 41-yd FG, but then had an extra-point blocked. That was a good evening compared to Saints kicker Garrett Hartley who missed both his FG attempts.
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