For the second week in a row the Tampa Bay Buccaneers put up a strong showing against a solid opponent. In the end, the Dolphins marched down the field with little time left and won the game on a field goal.

Kellen Winslow has 100 Yard Day

Buccaneers star tight end Kellen Winslow finally showed life this weekend as he caught seven passes for 102 yards. Winslow hasn’t been fantasy worthy for most of the season, but he may be a reasonable option from here on out.

I base this on the fact that young quarterbacks like Josh Freeman tend to lock onto their tight end. If Winslow continues to get the looks from his quarterback, he can be effective.

This team is starting to turn its season around, and it looks like they aren’t a great play if you’re looking for an easy fantasy matchup for defensive points.

Dolphins Run Well

This week was another strong effort from the Dolphins running game. Before Ronnie Brown left the game he had twelve carries for 82 yards and a touchdown run.

Ricky Williams put the game away with twenty carries for 102 yards.

For the Dolphins to win football games, they need performances like this one from their running backs. Next week they play the Panthers on Thursday night, and it will be interesting to see if Brown can play in the game.

Kicker Dan Carpenter also had a very good game as he was four of four on field goal attempts. Carpenter is having a good year in 2009 and he looks like a kicker that could have some value in fantasy football in the coming weeks and years. Only in his second season, if Carpenter continues to kick well he will gain the confidence of his coaching staff to let him kick the long field goals more of the time.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

This game had blowout written all over it as the Packers took on the win less Tampa Bay Buccaneers. By the end of the game, it would be the Buccaneers that had the last laugh as they defeated the Packers and scored 38 points.

Hey…What Happen?

This was supposed to be an easy win for the Packers and their defense was supposed to have one of the top scoring days (for fantasy football) on the week. Unfortunately, the Packers’ defense can’t control bad special teams play and poor decisions by quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

All too often the Packers’ defense was stuck in bad situations against the Buccaneers offense and rookie quarterback Josh Freeman.

As far as the Packers’ offense is concerned, they really need to look at the game film and start getting on Rodgers for his wild play.

Josh Freeman Not So Bad

I suggested that fantasy owners go out and get the Packers’ defense and start them this week. We all needed to see if Freeman was ready to play at a steady level for his team, and today he proved that.

I still believe this team will make for good matchups as we move along. One thing is for sure if you come into Tampa Bay just expecting that you will win the game, you’re in trouble.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com

For better or worse the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have decided to go with their talented rookie quarterback Josh Freeman. Freeman will now inherit one of the worst offenses in football and hopefully grow in experience.

Down With the Flu

One would have thought that this particular week would be a good time for the youngsters’ career to start as he’s had two weeks to prepare because of the bye week.

Unfortunately, a bunch of the Buccaneer players came down with the flu on the way back from their loss in England to the Patriots. Because of this the team had only practiced for a total of 2 1/2 hours (by the end of Tuesday) in their entire time off.

A young quarterback needs to get as much time and reps in as possible to get ready to play at this level and lack of preparation won’t help his chances for success.

Beyond his lack of reps and possible health, he has to play against the Packers secondary this weekend. The Packers secondary hasn’t fared well against quarterbacks like Brett Favre, but they have dominated against lower end quarterbacks.

While Freeman may end up being a pro bowl caliber player at some point in his career, he is definitely not at the playing level of Favre this season.

Fantasy Football Strategy

From a fantasy football perspective, I would highly recommend you find defenses off the waiver wire that are playing the Buccaneers moving forward. This team was already a good team to get defensive points against, and now they are just that more attractive.

Freeman has a major learning curve to deal with and in his growing pains fantasy owners can capitalize from his mistakes.

Below I have the Buccaneers remaining schedule up to week 16 when most fantasy leagues complete their season. Keep an eye out for these teams on your waiver wire and consider picking them up a week in advance so that other owners won’t get them.

• Wk. 9- Packers
• Wk.10- @ Dolphins
• Wk. 11- Saints
• Wk. 12- @ Falcons
• Wk. 13- @ Panthers
• Wk. 14- Jets
• Wk. 15- @ Seahawks
• Wk. 16- @ Saints

Until Freeman shows that he is capable of playing at a respectable level the Buccaneers will continue to be a team worth playing defenses against.

As far as Freeman’s fantasy football value I wouldn’t pick him up off the waiver wire until he starts showing he can play at this level.

NFL Fantasy Football Player Rankings writer Sean E. Douglas: fantasy-info.com