Fantasy Football Challenge - Football Fanatics Articles Archive

Enclosed in this archive is every bit of the action and updates that occurred in October 2003 within the world of fantasy football. You may want to read these articles for research on players in the coming year, or just check to see if we were way off base with our reporting. Whatever the reason, it's all here for your enjoyment.

Fantasy Football Challenge - October 2003 Fantasy Football Articles

Fantasy Football Challenge - October 2003 Articles Archives

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of what we do is try to create an advantage before the snap of the ball," Saunders told PFW about his approach to churning out yards. "We shift and move almost every play to try to get the matchups that we would like to get and try to put a little doubt in the defense in relationship to where were going to line up."

Saunders said the large volume of plays and the willingness to constantly alter game plans based on mismatches make it fun for players to come to practice, and it also keeps them mentally focused from week to week. "We try not to repeat a lot of things," Saunders said. "Usually itll be three or four weeks before we would even come back and run the same play again against an opponent."

SportsLine.com insider Pete Prisco also praised Saunders, reminding readers on Thursday that even though he has Priest Holmes, arguably the best runner in the game, the coach doesn''t get caught up in pounding the football. He isn''t about to load up with extra tight ends and a fullback just for the sake of playing it the conventional way.

"Those guys who just hope to get 3 yards on first down running the ball are on the other side of things," Saunders said. "To succeed on first down, you have to be willing to throw it and be creative. Those guys who want to bunch up and play power football are in for failure. It''s just not that way anymore."

So the Chiefs get creative. They spread teams out on run downs and then run Holmes, the idea being to create room for him to hit the cracks and rip off big gains. They use a variety of sets, leaving one man unblocked and then have Holmes beat him in the hole.

And as Prisco pointed out, it''s a system that has helped Holmes put up huge numbers the past 2 and a half seasons, and kept the Chiefs'' opponents off-balance. In 2001, Holmes rushed for 1,555 yards and then followed that up with 1,615 yards last season. In seven games, he has rushed for 687, third best in the league.

His 4.6 yards per rush this season is the lowest of the three seasons, a compliment to the way the

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