Chargers Claim Bennett Off Waivers

The San Diego Chargers claimed ex-Tampa Bay running back Michael Bennett off waivers. Bennett was released by the Buccaneers yesterday, to clear a roster spot for Cadillac Williams.

The biggest killer is that the Chargers stole Bennett right from under the desperate, division leading Denver Broncos nose. Denver - who has had to place their top 4 running backs on IR - was the only other team to put in a claim for the back.

L.T. has been unimpressive this season, but I didn't think the Chargers were in need of help. I'm wondering if they didn't claim Bennett just to spit their AFC West rivals.

My Apologies to Tyler Thigpen

I recently wrote an article ranking the Kansas City Chief's QBs as the worst in the league halfway through the season.

I wasn't overly critical of Thigpen, although I did say that he wasn't a long term solution in Kansas City, but after watching his performance against San Diego I'm rethinking the situation. I think Tyler Thigpen could be the answer in Kansas City.

Let's get a few things out of the way first. San Diego is ranked last in the league in pass defense. It's not rare for a quarterback to have a career game against this team. But Thigpen also managed to post a QB rating of 89.4 against Tampa Bay's 5th-ranked pass defense.

Thigpen had one of the best games of his short pro career, passing for 266 yards and 3 TDs, but his performance went beyond his stat line. He was tough all game long. He stood strong in the pocket and delivered the ball with accuracy. He identified his top targets and hit them often. He seems to be developing a very good rapport with Gonzalez, Bradley and Bowe. Some offenses thrive on spreading the ball around, but Kansas City can win feeding it to these three guys and supplementing it with some hard running from whoever happens to line up in the backfield each week.

I'm not climbing aboard the Thigpen bandwagon just yet. He still has a long way to go and is sure to have his ups and downs, but with only 2 teams ranked in the top half in pass defense remaining on the schedule he does have the chance to post some strong numbers.

Fantasy owners should consider targeting him for a playoff run. KC fans can console themselves a little knowing that Thigpen is showing promise. And I will absolutely eat crow and admit that Kansas City does not have the worst QBs in the league.

State of the Late Games at Halftime

How is each team faring at Halftime for the Week 10 late games?

Carolina 14, Oakland 0: JaMarcus Russell is inactive for this week's game. Not that it would have mattered. Carolina is rolling behind DeAngelo Williams' 93 yards on 10 carries. The only thing keeping the margin from being any higher are Delhomme's 2 picks. Oakland looks lost, but what do you expect from a team that fires it's head coach and one of it's prized offseason aquisitions before midseason?

Indy 14, Pittsburgh 17: The Colts scored just before halftime to close the gap a bit, but they're not playing terribly well. Manning has only 9 completions on 23 attempts! The Colts aren't out of it, but they need to play better offensively and defensively if they want to get past this tough Steelers team.

Kansas City 13, San Diego 6: Tyler Thigpen is playing excellent football in this game. He is nearly perfect so far. Phillip Rivers isn't playing that poorly, but a costly interception in the end zone ruined almost sure points. I knew San Diego was playing terrible football, but I didn't think they were bad enough to lose to the Chiefs. They haven't really gotten their running game on track yet and for some reason I don't see it happening in the second half. I'm seeing an upset in the making.