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Each week, TSN. Buffalo Sabres Gear .ca Fantasy Editor Scott Cullen and NFL Editors Ben Fisher and Mike Hetherington discuss three hot fantasy football topics. Should Matt Ryan be benched? Cullen: Im inclined to give Ryan a little more rope, especially with Tampa Bay the Falcons first opponent coming out of this weeks bye, but Ryans mediocre play over the past three weeks has made it feasible to look at other options for your starting QB slot. Really, as long as he has Julio Jones and Roddy White healthy, Id be reluctant to take Ryan out of my lineup, but I have him hovering around the 11-13 range for quarterbacks which leaves him as a low-end starter. Fisher: It’s been a major theme for the Falcons the past couple years and while there is definitely a discrepancy in Ryan’s home and away splits (21.38 points per week to 15.66), the more concerning trend is his play of late. The seventh-year quarterback hasn’t surpassed 17 points in any of the last four weeks, and if you remove his monster Week 1 performance (when there was still hope in Atlanta) Ryan’s weekly average drops from 18.52 to 16.67, very much in the QB2 range. We’re in the thick of bye weeks (Ryan himself gets a rest this week) so he may be worth a start in the short term, but I’d be leery of starting Ryan in a playoff game. Hetherington: Absolutely not. Ryan is the franchise quarterback for the Falcons and no matter how much of a clearing house the team undergoes after the season, Ryan will remain under centre. When you look at the problems of the Falcons, Ryan is pretty low on the list. Despite the bad interception on Sunday, Ryan’s QB rating is still 93.1 on the season. The only justifiable reason I can see to bench Ryan would be to save his health instead of playing him behind the makeshift offensive line the team has been forced to assemble due to injuries. Ryan is still the future in Atlanta, TJ Yates and Sean Renfree are not. How good could Ahmad Bradshaw be if the Colts ever give up on Trent Richardson? Cullen: Bradshaw is a productive and versatile back, who can gain yards on the ground or in the passing game. While it comes as no surprise that hes more productive than Richardson, Bradshaw doesnt have a great record as a workhorse back -- only once in his career has he had more than 250 touches in a season, and that was 2010. That doesnt mean Bradshaw isnt a valuable fantasy commodity as is, because the Colts offence is giving him opportunities to score, but hes also coming off a season in which he played just three games, so Id have some concerns about whether Bradshaw could handle (ie. stay healthy with) a substantially heavier workload. Fisher: While it’s frustrating to see Bradshaw split opportunity with the far inferior Richardson – and to think what could be if he was the Colts’ workhorse in the backfield – Indianapolis’ handling of the 28-year-old back is the best case scenario for both Bradshaw and his fantasy owners. The Colts are keeping injury-prone Bradshaw fresh; there is as good a chance the answer is “on the IR” as it is “leading his position in scoring.” Should should prefer a year of Bradshaw putting up RB1 numbers over a couple weeks of league-leading numbers. Hetherington: Bradshaw could likely be a high-RB1 as a feature back on the Colts, especially given his pass catching ability. However, I think the Colts are best left using Bradshaw in tandem with Richardson and not overworking the injury-prone back. Bradshaw has only played all 16 games in a season once in his career, and is coming off a severe neck injury last season. If he could stay healthy, I believe Bradshaw would likely be putting up Matt Forte numbers as a lead back, however the risk may not be worth the reward. Will Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders finish as Peyton Manning’s best WR duo ever? Cullen: I dont think so. The 2004 Indianapolis Colts had a really productive pair -- Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne -- that combined for 2,323 yards and 27 touchdowns (and since were talking duos, Brandon Stokleys 1077 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2004 are merely a footnote) and last years Broncos had Thomas and Eric Decker putting up 2,718 yards and 25 touchdowns. Even if Thomas and Sanders can match or surpass the yardage totals, theyll need to find the end zone a whole lot in the second half of the season to rank as the most productive pair of wideouts in Mannings illustrious career. Fisher: I’m not going that far. Thomas is an absolute stud and holds up his end of the bargain as the top guy. My hesitance is with Sanders, whose 2014 stat line is heavily boosted by a huge Week 8 performance. Prior to last week Sanders was having a very Eric Decker-like year; still a great achievement, but not quite one half of Manning’s best tandem ever. With Julius Thomas still very much around to steal touchdowns away from the receivers, I can’t see Sanders doing enough to make history alongside DeMaryius. Hetherington: Thomas and Sanders have been two of the best wide receivers in the league this season working with Peyton, but best ever? I’m not sure. I believe the combination of Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne in 2006 with the Colts will go down as Peyton’s best ever duo. The two both had over 1300 receiving yards that season and at least nine touchdowns. I also see an argument being made for Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker in 2013, who both had at least 1288 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Nonetheless, I’ll stick with Harrison and Wayne. Fake Sabres Jerseys . The Raptors second-year forward has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the early-season trade, breaking out and becoming a vital part of his teams success on both ends of the floor. Around the league, teams are starting to take notice and feature Ross more predominately in their pre-game scouting reports but its not just the opposition that hes impressing. Sabres Jerseys China . -- The Oakland Athletics and free agent right-hander Bartolo Colon have agreed to terms on a US$2 million, one-year contract, bolstering their depleted starting rotation. https://www.cheapsabres.com/ . I wondered how NHL coaches would feel about a playoff schedule that allowed them to open a best-of-seven series on the road, which many claim to favour, yet still gave them the precious home-ice edge for a seventh game.ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Ducks realize theyre in for plenty of tight defensive games in the next seven weeks while the rest of the NHL attempts to catch them atop the standings. In their first game back from the Olympic break, Jonas Hiller and the Ducks handled the pressure splendidly. Hiller made 18 saves in his fifth shutout of the season, Andrew Cogliano scored in the opening minutes, and the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks returned with a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Blues on Friday night. With help from a few Blues shots off his posts, Hiller came back strong from the break after posting two shutouts for Switzerland in Sochi. Coglianos early goal off a neutral-zone turnover stood up in a hard-hitting, choppy game between two of the NHLs best teams. "We learned we can keep up with one of the toughest teams in the league," said Hiller, who matched his career high for shutouts in a season. "On a close game, everybody tries to play as tight as possible. You know you cant let up at all." The Ducks were the NHLs final team to resume play, giving extra rest to gold medallists Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry and bronze medallist Teemu Selanne. Anaheim likely needed the break after losing three of its last four before the Olympics, getting shut out twice during just its second significant skid of the entire season. Coach Bruce Boudreau earned his 300th career victory as Anaheim swept the season series with the Blues. With 89 points from 61 games, the Ducks are five points ahead of St. Louis, Chicago and Pittsburgh in the overall NHL standings. "It was a good first game for us in terms of the competition," Cogliano said. "It was really high-paced. Its good to jump into a game like that. ... To hold them to 18 shots is something were proud of." Cogliano put the Ducks ahead just 3:39 in with a breakaway goal set up by Saku Koivus pass. The speedy Coglianos goal was his 18th, matching his career high with 21 games left in the regular season. Brian Elliott stopped 18 shots for the Blues just a few hours after St. Louis acquired star goalie Ryan Miller in a five-player trade with the Buffalo Sabres that included goalie Jaroslav Halak. St. Louis stilll hasnt scored after the break, taking its first two shutout losses of the season. Buffalo Sabres Store. Vancouver also beat the Blues 1-0 on Wednesday night. "Weve just got to put a couple in the net and well get going," Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk said. "Were creating the chances. Were doing a great job of that. But theyre one of the toughest teams. Thats a team were probably going to have to compete against down the road." The Blues made a major move for their post-season stretch about three hours before the puck dropped in Anaheim, acquiring Miller and agitator Steve Ott from Buffalo in a deal for Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, two draft picks and Halak, the Slovak Olympian who has been with St. Louis since 2010. "Its tough when friends leave, when you get to know families and get in personal relationships with those guys," said St. Louis captain David Backes, Millers teammate with the U.S. Olympic team. "But from a hockey standpoint, the management and ownership is really committed to winning, and winning now, and thats partly shown in the move weve made. Ryan Miller is an all-world goalie that has shown it time and time again." Miller and Ott wont join St. Louis until this weekend in Phoenix, so the Blues backup goalie was Jeff Tyni, the Ducks locker room attendant. Both teams attempted to make up for their post-break rust with aggressive physical play. Backes and Perry fought in the first period, extending their personal feud. Adding to the Canada-U.S. rivalry vibe, Getzlaf and T.J. Oshie also nearly dropped gloves during the same prolonged scuffle. NOTES: Ducks C Mathieu Perreault left the game early in the third period with an upper-body injury after taking a big hit. ... Stewart was traded on a Blues-Ducks gameday for the second time. St. Louis acquired Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk from Colorado on Feb. 19, 2011, and Stewart made his Blues debut against Anaheim later in the day. ... The Ducks scratched F Jakob Silfverberg, who won a silver medal for Sweden last weekend. D Sami Vatanen, who won bronze with Finland and led the Olympic tournament with five assists, is back with Anaheims AHL affiliate in Norfolk. ' ' '