Oh hello, and welcome to a morning in which you will discover that hard decisions are hard. The list of questionable players facing game-time decisions is a lengthy one, and we’ll dive further into that shortly when we explore the actives and inactives. But one name is inducing a particularly unique throb in the collective heads of his fantasy owners.
Reggie Bush — or rather, his knee — is your kryptonite today.
Matt Forte was a limited participant in practice today, which means he’s about to become a full participant in your week of hurt. Deep, burning hurt.
Since at some point you were cursed by the universe and now your mere presence causes planes and ships to crash on remote islands, you’re now suffering from a far more haunting fate. The Monday night injury decision.
Forte’s bad ankle that definitely isn’t a high ankle sprain — and don’t ever say that it is or you’ll be deported — has healed much quicker than expected, so there’s now a chance he could only miss one game. He sat out Week 3, and in his absence Michael Bush was mediocre, rushing for 55 yards on 13 carries (3.1 yards per carry) and scoring a touchdown during Chicago’s easy 23-6 win over St. Louis. Forte practiced on a limited basis for the second straight day today, which is definitely encouraging, but yesterday Bears head coach Lovie Smith cautioned that he “still has a long way to go.”
Evidently he may have covered that long, winding journey in just 24 hours, because now after Forte practiced again today Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune told NFL Network that barring a setback, he’ll play Monday night against the Cowboys. That sounds both great and horrifying.
Having a dominating running back in your fantasy league can transform your mediocre team into an offensive juggernaut. This fact is actually quite devastating for me, as my team is stocked with little-used backups and a rag-tag collection of the walking wounded. Quite simply, my team is the anti-Parker Lewis, it can’t win (I’m about to go 0-3, and my team should be renamed “the 2008 Lions”).
On Saturday, I would have been so desperate to have Reggie Bush on my team that I would have eaten the dirt under the bleachers at Sun Life Stadium.
But then this happened…
Bush took a helmet to his knee with just 36 seconds left in the first half as the Dolphins tried to run out the clock. He tested his knee on the sideline after emerging late from the halftime locker room, working feverishly with a trainer and on a stationary bike, but the medical staff determined that he couldn’t play in the second half.
Bush has an injury history in his left knee — a torn posterior cruciate ligament in 2007 and a sprained medial collateral ligament and torn meniscus in 2008.
1. Reggie Bush: 10 car, 61 yds
Bush continued his torrid pace in 2012 by going for over 60 yards on just 10 carries in the first half against the Jets. This season he has continued his ascension into the elite running backs of the NFL. Bush has transformed from a 3rd-down back/return man into a featured back by adding weight and strength. Early in his career he didn’t have the ability to run between the tackles and he was prone to fluky injuries. The added strength has allowed him to break tackles and become the all-purpose back New Orleans thought they drafted him in 2006.
The price on Bush is likely too steep to consider trading for him right now. However it is worth your time to put out some feelers for him, because the improvements he has made are long-term and there is no reason to believe he won’t continue to improve as he runs behind a fantastic offensive line in Miami.
A reaching, overly cautionary connection? Nope.
Bear in mind that Reggie Bush’s 172-yard outburst last week on 6.6 yards per carry came against an Oakland run defense that can still be penetrated by a fat kid chasing a cake in the opposing end zone. And while the Jets’ run defense is good but not great after ranking 13th overall last year while allowing 111.1 yards per game, their yards per carry number was significantly better at just 3.9.
So how the hell does this relate to Revis? Welp, he’s been cleared for contact now after he sat out with a concussion in Week 2. Although nothing is official yet and we’re still a long way from Sunday, he’ll likely play against the Dolphins, thereby shutting down half the field. When you’re a running back and your quarterback is a rookie (Ryan Tannehill, duh) starting his third game against the combination of Revis and Antonio Cromartie, and he’s only one game removed from throwing three interceptions against another team with high-end corners, that’s bad.
Some vintage Reggie Bush, some Michael Vick regret with the usual dose of teasing, and Mike Goodson? Your early game observations complete with crow eating and shame.
Oh hello again, 2011 Reggie Bush
Last week, Bush was just good, and sort of OK with his 69 yards on 14 carries. Yes, that’s nearly five yards per carry, and yes, he added 46 more yards through the air against a strong Texans rush defense. All solid, all terrific, all wonderful, but yet he still left us wanting. Maybe that was a reflection of inflated, unsustainable expectations after he averaged 129 yards per game over his final four games last year. Or maybe instead that was a true reflection of what Bush can do when he’s given a high volume of carries and the majority of a backfield workload.
Today, the answer was definitely the latter.
