Big Week For Bowe

Dwayne Bowe has been an enigma if nothing else. He’s feuded with coaches, referred to his owner’s (Clark Hunt) family as “the Clarks”, been one of the best wide receivers in the league, looked completely disinterested in football, been one of the best wide receivers in the league again, and as of late, been made nearly irrelevant by a man named Palko. Even within 2011 he’s been maddening:
- In week 1 against a suspect Bills’ secondary Bowe caught two passes for 17 yards in a blowout loss
- Over the next 4 weeks he averaged 101 yards per game and scored 4 TDs
- Since then he’s not scored a touchdown, not topped 100 yards in a game, and only topped 80 yards twice
So if you’re like me and you have D-Bowe on your fantasy team, you’ve probably had him on your bench for the last three weeks. You can’t be blamed for completely falling asleep on Bowe, or the miserable Chiefs offense. However, if you’re still in the playoffs, it’s time to wake up. Bowe may be poised to have his biggest game of the season in Week 15 against the Packers. Why?
- If you believe the rumors coming out of KC, the last straw for HC Todd Haley came when he mocked Bowe for reporting some terrible things Haley had said to him to GM Scott Pioli. Bowe’s success has always been predicated on his level of buy-in. A week after Haley’s been fired, how hard do you think he’s going to play?
- The Chiefs and Bowe have been discussing extensions, and if he doesn’t get one Bowe knows he’s likely looking at the franchise tag next season. Think there’s any motivation there?
- The Packers pass defense has surrendered huge fantasy numbers this season, everybody knows that. Theirs is a risk/reward approach, and with all the passing the Chiefs will be doing on Sunday they will get burnt a couple of times, like they always do.
- Kyle Orton is starting. Orton threw for 273 yard and 3 TDs against this same defense in Week 4 this year. Sure he also threw three picks, but that’s irrelevant to Bowe’s performance. If there’s one thing we’ve seen from both Orton and Bowe it’s that they’re both willing to pad their stats in a blowout loss. They should have a full half of stat padding against the juggernaut Packers.
That’s 4 solid reasons to get Bowe off your bench and into your starting line up, you won’t regret it. Don’t have Bowe? Scrambling for a risk/reward play at WR? Here’ 4 more I think that could far outplay their rankings in Week 15(all rankings courtesy of footballguys.com):
Jabar Gaffney (ranked 31st on FBG) – Santana Moss has not been the same since returning from injury and the Giants pass defense has been terrible this season.
Eric Decker (ranked 50th)- Everyone should get in on the party in what should be a high scoring game vs the Pats. Decker is definitely high risk, but have you seen the Pats secondary?
Malcolm Floyd (ranked 53rd)- The only guy on this list with a bad match up, but Floyd can get behind the defense at any point for a score. You know the Ravens are going to focus heavily on Antonio Gates and Vincent Jackson.
Early Doucet (ranked 66th)- Joe Haden is going to be all over Larry Fitzgerald and Doucet has quietly put together a decent season.