Before we get to what you’re here for (the MNF game), let’s take a look a quick look at what happened in Sunday’s games around the league. The big news of the day had the 49ers going in Motown and taking down the undefeated Lions, but that wasn’t the only shake-up we saw yesterday. The Buccaneers scored a big win against New Orleans, the Giants rebounded from an ugly loss to Seattle by knocking-off the Bills, and the NFC East-leading Redskins were handed a home loss by the Eagles (I didn’t want to offend a certain Philadelphia quarterback by calling them the “dream team”). The Bears were able to keep Jay Cutler’s jersey relatively clean en route to victory, the Raiders picked-up the "W" despite losing Jason Campbell to a broken collarbone, and the Bengals moved to a surprising 4-2 on the year. And on the more mundane side of things, the following favorites held-serve and continued their seemingly inevitable march towards the playoffs: New England, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and Green Bay. Look at that…I managed to get through that without referencing the Jim Schwartz/Jim Harbaugh hand-shake incident! (oh wait…I blew it)

The New York/New Jersey Jets have been skating on thin-ice for the past year in terms of  discipline and chemistry. They’ve managed to stay above-the-fray despite cheeseburger incidents, “foot” scandals, hardly being able to “wait”, and even criticism from Broadway Joe, himself. However, with Santonio Holmes’ proclivity for mouthing-off about his teammates’ (and offensive coordinator’s) shortcomings over their current 3-game losing streak…the Jets might finally be on the verge of coming apart at the seams. They’ve thrived off of Rex Ryan’s bravado for the past 2 seasons, but it’s very possible that Rex miscalculated this season by abandoning “Ground and Pound” and trying to turn Mark Sanchez into Tom Brady overnight (it also didn’t help that the aforementioned Holmes is the only returning wide receiver for the so-far wrongly-named “Sanchize”). 

Fantasy-wise, I’m looking for the Jets to get Shonn Greene involved early and often as they return to their “Ground and Pound” roots. There’s supposed to be light rain tonight, so I’m thinking the Jets will put Sanchez into Trent Dilfer-mode – taking only a few down-field shots to Holmes and Burress to appease the fan-base. Sitting at 2-3, this should serve as a bell-weather game for the Jets, and there’s no better medicine for a losing streak than a QB starting his first game of the season in Week 6…

…which bring us to the Jets opponent for Monday Night: the Miami Dolphins. Much like Donovan McNabb unsuccessfully did last night, Tony Sparano’s team is likely playing for his job. After losing starting QB, Chad Henne, for the season (this might be a good thing, Dolphins fans), the Dolphins turn to the illustrious Matt Moore in search of their first victory. Their defense has been typically solid this season in not allowing more than 26 points since the opening-week debacle against New England. 

However, Miami’s running-game has been pretty non-existent this year (fantasy-owners are looking at you, Reggie Bush). The good news for Miami is that they’ll be bolstered by a return from rookie, Daniel Thomas, as they try to take advantage of a weaker-than-normal Jets run defense. I’m also expecting Lex Hilliard to get a decent amount of carries this week – especially if Thomas’ hamstring injury flares-up again. Matt Moore will be a fantasy football difference-maker this week, as I know there are a lot of owners whose match-ups are hinging on what Brandon Marshall does tonight (and no, Brandon, getting ejected in the 2nd-quarter doesn’t help anyone).

So there you have it…will the Dolphins steal a road-win as they work Matt Moore into the offense? Will the Jets self-implode and miss the playoffs for the first time in the Rex Ryan-era? Or will they back-up their coach’s bluster by once-again overcoming a 3-game losing streak en route to a deep playoff run?

Before I hand things back over to Chris for next week, here’s a few quick-hit fantasy-worthy nuggets from today:

Brandon Lloyd has been traded to the St. Louis Rams. This definitely increases his value, as he reunites with the man who made him fantasy football’s surprise #1 receiver last year (Josh McDaniels). The other thing to take note of here, is that Eric Decker probably becomes the new #1 in Denver (which obviously increases his value).

Jahvid Best’s status for this week is in-doubt with a concussion, and Jerome Harrison and Maurice Morris (in that order) look like the pick-ups this week.

Peyton Hillis is definitely out to prove “the Madden Curse” is real as he continued his disappointing season yesterday, and even added a hamstring injury to his repertoire (MRI results pending, but Montario Hardesty looks like a good pick-up).

Reports have Felix Jones missing 3-6 weeks for the Cowboys, and while DeMarco Murray looks like the best pick-up here, I’m still not counting-out Tashard Choice (who had me questioning whether offensive players can be flagged for helmet-to-helmet for the first time yesterday by head-butting every would-be Patriot tackler in sight!)

Thanks for your attention in Chris’ absence, and good luck to all of you whose fantasy football match-ups are hanging in the balance tonight!

Written by Trader X exclusively for www.thefantasyfix.com. Trader X is a top-50 gamer on a major fantasy sports website, and is the founder of  www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and/or ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411

(October 8, 2011 – Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images North America)

Tags: The Fantasy Fix, 2011 Fantasy Football Advice, Monday Night Football, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, Brandon Lloyd, Jahvid Best, Peyton Hillis, Felix Jones, DeMarco Murray, Montario Hardesty, Rex, Ryan, Shonn Greene, Santonio Holmes, Brandon Marshall, Daniel Thomas, Matt Moore