I had Antonio Brown and Julio Jones on my bench ... and won

Well, if you saw my post last week about Antonio Brown being on my bench, you might be wondering how it went.

I hate Thursday night games, so I benched Brown, believing he wouldn't go off against the Browns' top pass defense. I also thought Rashard Mendenhall would get a heavy workload, minimizing the chances for Brown.

Well, I was wrong.

Brown had a 30-plus point day, keeping the curse of Thursday night games alive, at least for me.

I still had a good team, so I wasn't completely in panic mode.

Santana Moss was on waivers, so I could have picked him up.

Instead, I was looking a Julio Jones and Mike Tolbert.

Of course, I went with Tolbert, who had a nice matchup against the Bills, instead of Jones, who scored 30-plus points himself in my league's PPR scoring.

Tolbert at least vultured a TD from Ryan Mathews and helped me win by four points.

Next week, however, I doubt Tolbert will be in my flex. His touches are down and Brown and Jones are looking good.

Antonio Brown's big game was on my bench

Up until 11 p.m. Thursday night, I was feeling OK with my decision to bench Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in the first round of my fantasy football playoffs.

Then, he clinched the game for the Steelers on a 79-yard TD reception.

Ugh.

Well, here's why I did it.

Brown would have been in my flex spot. However, I thought the matchup against the Browns, who were strong against the pass this season, favored a lot of running by Rashard Mendenhall.

That, in addition to my bad luck starting Thursday night players this season, made me gun shy.

I also had Mike Tolbert (vs. the Bills) and Julio Jones as other options as my flex.

Tolbert's there, but I don't expect 30-plus points from him. I am expecting a good game.

We'll see how it goes on Sunday.

What I'm doing for Week 5 in fantasy football

We're four weeks into the fantasy football season. There's still plenty of time to recover from a bad start, but you need to watch out for those bye-week landmines.

First off, here are the teams with the week off: Browns, Cowboys, Rams, Dolphins, Redskins and Ravens.

Make sure you're not starting anyone from those teams; there's no need to help out your opponent.

Here's where I sit with my four teams:

• Dynasty league: 3-1, 2nd overall, 1st in total points
• One-player keeper: 3-1, 2nd overall, 2nd in total points
• Re-draft league #1: 2-2, 6th overall, 3rd in total points
• Re-draft league #2: 3-1, 2nd overall, 2nd in total points

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied. In my dynasty league, I lost last week by 0.2 points, as in two-tenths of a point. In my re-draft league #1, I lost one game by one point.

Anyway, here's what I'm looking at.

I'm starting Cam Newton over Phil Rivers in one redraft league. I gotta ride the hot hand. I picked up Victor Cruz as a bye-week fill-in, and I finally dropped Hines Ward, who's been doing nothing.

In my other redraft league, I'm going to start Isaac Redman at RB2 if I hear news Rashard Mendenhall is out. If not, I have a choice between Jon Stewart and Dexter McCluster. Right now, I'm trying out McCluster for one more week. If he doesn't produce against the Colts this week, I'll likely cut him.

I've been searching for a QB in my dynasty league. I've been going with Matt Schaub and have been disappointed. I have an offer out for Newton in that league. I'm convinced he can help. I'm loaded at RB, so I have some backs in a deal. This week, I'm starting Matt Forte and Arian Foster over Peyton Hillis and MJD.

In my one-player keeper, I have Julio Jones in my flex spot. I like his matchup this week. I'm going with Jones over Mark Ingram (nice matchup) and Will McGahee (good news on getting the rock in Denver). I have Shonn Greene in my lineup, and I might pull him, but I want to see what he does this week. The Jets are supposed to go back to running the ball, so we'll see. I can't fault you for bailing on Greene at this point, however.

That's my thinking right now. Post or email your comments or questions.

You can follow me on Twitter @ green_rick.

Sorting out the top of the RB list

Chris Johnson has signed and Arian Foster has a hammy problem.

Just what you wanted to hear before you draft this weekend, right?

Don't worry, here's how you should rank the top 10 in running backs for this season.

Take Ray Rice at No. 1. Yes, do the unthinkable. Bypass Foster and his hamstring. Don't jump on the CJ2K bandwagon.

Take Rice. He's going to score. He's going the pile up the yardage running the ball. And, he's going to add yards receiving.

At No. 2, Adrian Peterson is your guy. Peterson worries me playing on the Vikes. But he's been Mr. Reliable, so I'd grab him next.

CJ2K moves up to third, followed by Foster. I'm nervous about Foster and that injury, so I'd rather not gamble any earlier than four.

As the fifth RB, I'd tab Jamaal Charles. Next, LeSean McCoy is my pick. Rashard Mendenhall's workload last season worries me, that's why I'd rank him seventh.

Maurice-Jones Drew is my eighth selection, followed by Steven Jackson and Matt Forte.