wins or points?

Extremely busy week, so going to keep this short.  One of the comments from last week inspired me to create a poll.  I’m going to leave it live for a couple of weeks so everybody has a chance to vote.  I was very surprised when I heard that the decision to sit a quarterback on Monday night was on purpose to avoid the slim chance of that quarterback having such a horrible night that they would lose enough points to lose the game.  I’ve always viewed the head-to-head matchups as kind of secondary honestly, having always felt that overall points is actually the true measure of what team is best.  I suppose that a playoff situation where you are ahead by a couple of points, the other team is finished and you have one guy going Monday night that it might make sense to set that player to make sure he doesn’t lose points and you can advance in the playoffs.  But, it would never occur to me to not star a quarterback, or any player really, in the middle of a season on the off chance that you will lose half-dozen points and lose a game, when it’s much more likely you’re just going to miss out on the 10 plus points.  But, if your main focus is just winning the head to head matchups, it makes sense.

My secondary starters from last week were Donald Brown and Steve Smith ( Carolina edition).  Donald looked like he might be in for a big day, getting nearly 60 yd. on just 2 carries, but then he was injured, so that turns into a bad call.  Steve Smith wound up with nearly 100 yd. receiving, but no touchdowns, so that’s going to be a push.  Philadelphia should have crushed Washington on Monday night, but they really did not look all that impressive except for the two big plays from Jackson.  McNabb didn’t actually throw up, but he only managed one touchdown and barely 150 yd., so that’s a good call.  Overall, the record is 5-7-4.

For my secondary starters, going to go with two players from the same game.  Kevin Smith should do well for Detroit against St. Louis while Donnie Avery has a pretty decent shot to score against Detroit.  For my starter who I think might struggle, going to stick with quarterbacks and this week I think Aaron Rodgers might put a little too much pressure on himself in the big “return to Green Bay” game

Onto the power rankings! 

1.      MM of M (1) – Palmer, Benson and the Eagles defense combined for over 90 points and dispel any concerns over the Monkeys holding onto first place.  They seem to be past the toughest part of their season scheduling wise, and while any team can fall apart any given week, it seems that this team is secured at the number one spot for the foreseeable future

2.      Mopar’s Marauders (2) - they score over 100 points yet again, but not only is it not enough to move into the number one spot, it’s just barely enough to hang onto number two as EVERYBODY in the top five scored over 100 this week.  It’s starting to appear that the very top of the power rankings is going to be a bloody battle where only the most powerful survive

3.      Dreaded Mercenaries (3) – they lose their third straight game, even though Barber let them down a little bit this week, they still managed to score over 100 points and hold onto the number three spot.  However, there are a number of teams immediately behind them who are now making legitimate pushes to either regain a spot in the top three or get there for the first time.

4.      Amateur Pharmacists (4) – did I say the top five was going to be tough?  The Pharmacists score 118 points and LOSE.  Still, they’ve been consistent in the past several weeks and are as ready as the next team to jump into the number one spot if the Monkeys slipup

5.      Team Eagles (5) – they get back on track, scoring more points than anybody this week, but you have to be able to do that consistently in order to move up the charts.  Also, it wasn’t just the fact of how many points they scored, it’s how the points were scored.  Very evenly spread out over the entirety of the roster, with the exception of tight end.  This coming week will be very interesting to see what happens to the top five

6.      Evil Midnight Bombers (7) – they score 97 points and move-up one spot, but it was nowhere near enough to get back into the top five.  If Forte and Portis were performing as was expected at the start of the year, this team might still be ranked number one overall.  But, as it is, they’ve got mostly question marks at the running back position

7.      The Bloodsuckers (6) – only 46 points, 27 of those from Big Brother Manning.  They’re running backs have scored a total of two points in the last two weeks combined.  McNabb did not have a breakout game on Monday night, so I’m not even sure what level of running back that would be able to get in a trade for him any longer.  Still, anybody has to be better than what they have

8.      Mr. Al Davis (11) – 97 points, and a pretty decent job of spreading the amount evenly over the roster.  They climb into the top 10 and I for one would not look forward to playing this team and the Lord of Darkness which leads them

9.      Farva’s Shovelheads (8) – they have not really made many moves upward in the power rankings this season, and the descent has been pretty slow.  I think if you have to try and identify one reason, it has to be the absolute disappearance of Greg Jennings.  Only 52 points this week, and the team is on the verge of dropping out the top 10 for the first time this season

10.  Damages (9)  – the running back news keeps on getting worse for Damages.  Willie Parker is no longer the man in Pittsburgh and now Leon Washington breaks his leg.  They slide down one spot to number 10, but they may have a difficult time not dropping out this coming week

11.  Legion of Doom (12) – scoring has been coming around, 90 points isn’t bad but not enough for the victory this week.  The Donald Brown injury is somewhat bothersome, but it looks like Beanie might be taking over the starting job fairly soon in Arizona, so that would be good.  Bottom-line though, I was unable to beat OffInTheShower this week, which always leaves a guy frustrated.

12.  OffInThe Shower (14) –  Vernon Davis comes up big this week and gives the victory to his team, well, fantasy team anyway.  They get out of the bottom quarter of the league and are right on the dorsum of the top 10.  The quarterback position has been the flaw on this team all season, they can work something out and upgrade, they would be much more consistent

13.  Heavenly Rampagers (10) – they slide down three spots, but it is more a result of walking a slippery slope.  The teams immediately around them have all been performing fairly consistently, and Brady has been the only guy to really break out for this team so far. I’m not sure why they are still holding on to Joey Galloway, there has to be a better receiver out there somewhere

14.  Gaul Village Asterix (15) – they move up another spot even though they lose their game and only manage 58 points.  Still, the ownership of this team is active, and I personally appreciate that more than anything.  Sometimes it’s not easy to stick with your team when they are not scoring as you had hoped.  I’m pulling for this team to make the playoffs, as long as it is not at my own expense!

15.  Team Falk (13) – they don’t start any defense, only score 56 points, but still managed to win their game.  Still, there’s no legitimate reason somebody would want to hold onto the Tennessee defense this season, other than some sort of misguided fanship.  Even that would be hard to justify.  The combination of lack of any real scoring power on the roster and an apparent lack of commitment from the ownership has pushed this team into the next to last spot

16.  Team S (16) – another week, another loss.  Seems like a waste for AP

One more week in the books and it’s about time to start looking towards the fantasy playoffs.  It will get serious in just a couple of weeks when we’re past all of the byes