I’ve come to a conclusion when it comes to my predictions.  As Mark pointed out last week, predicting Chris Chambers and Brandon Pettigrew was fairly impressive.  And then remember a few weeks ago, when I went with Braylon Edwards two days after he got signed by the Jets on Monday night and he had the biggest game of his season?  I’m pretty sure almost all of my good picks have been receivers, or the one tight end I’ve gone with, and the vast majority of my bad picks have been running backs.  Case in point, see Chris Johnson from last week.

So, with my record currently standing at 7-11-4 after last week’s totals, this week is going to be an experiment as every prediction I make will be somebody whose main job is to catch the ball.

But first, speaking of people whose main job is to catch the ball, I’m curious what is everyone’s opinion on the recent Chad Ochocinco situation?  First off, let me say that I am actually a pretty huge fan of Chad.  This is strange for a number of reasons.  First, I know that Chad is normally pretty disliked when it comes to the media.  Second, I am diehard Pittsburgh Steelers fan and Chad does his best to ruin my weekend at least twice a year.

Really, I’ve never understood the apparent despise many people have towards Chad.  They use words like “cancer” and phrases like “not a team player” and lots of other combinations of words many of which are not suitable for this particular blog.  I can say that I have never actually seen anything like that from Chad and think it is possible he may be the most misunderstood player in the league.

I’ve never seen any celebration from Chad that is designed to humiliate the person he just to beat.  I can’t say that I recall ever seeing him hold the ball out tauntingly as he high steps his way into the end zone.  To me, it seems like everything he has done, whether it be in his post touchdown celebrations or his pregame smack talk, has been simply for fun… to make the game more entertaining without insulting another player or fan.

When Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh in the 2005 season to lock up the AFC North division championship, was it Chad who delighted in cleaning his shoes with the revered terrible towel with the sole purpose of rubbing it in the face of the Pittsburgh fans?  No, that was TJ Whoseyourmomma.

Every week I see players like Chris Johnson, Tommy Harris, Albert Haynesworth or Terrell Owens taunt other players, or fans, for the sole purpose of not making things more enjoyable, but showing up somebody on the opposition.  Or they are punching somebody in the face, stepping on somebody who has lost their helmet with the intention of scarring them with their cleats or making so much trouble in the locker room that the team disintegrates around, which doesn’t bother them at all as long as they have the spotlight.

Or, worse yet, there are players like Leonard Little, Michael Vick, Travis Henry or Ray Carruth who are getting drunk and running people over (more than once), staging gladiatorial death matches involving man’s best friend, having so many children to so many different women that despite having an NFL contract that they are going bankrupt and not paying child support or actually murdering their girlfriend.  None of these things do I see Chad doing, yet he seems to get lumped in with the bad element present in the NFL.

So, what’s your thought on this week’s situation?  If you’re not aware of what the situation is, then you were not watching much football last weekend, but here you go.  During a fairly important part of the game, Chad makes a catch alongside lines.  The official rules it a catch, but the opposing coach see something and throws the red flag to challenge the play.  Upon further review it is fairly clear that Chad does not get both feet down and the play is going to be overturned.

It is at this point that the cameras catch sight of Chad walking alongside line, a crumpled up one dollar bill in his hand.  It looks like he is going to try to go over to the referee with the one dollar bill, but the timing is wrong and he’s not able to do it.  Afterwards, when asked what he was doing, he explains what was already pretty obvious: he was going to bribe the official so that the call went in his direction.  All of the reporters laughed, Chad said it was all in fun, asked the Commissioner to please not fine him and apologized right on the spot, which resulted in more laughter.

On Friday the Commissioner fined Chad $20,000 for the stunt.

Now, I understand both sides of it.  If you don’t fine a guy for jokingly trying to bribe an official with a one dollar bill, do you fine guy for jokingly trying to bribe an official with a $10 bill?  $20?  $100?  You get the point.  So, I understand that it must be made clear that no joking of any kind can be allowed when it comes to bribing an official.

But, is $20,000 appropriate?  Could there have been a statement released along with the fine stating that “while the NFL understands Mr. Ochocinco was only joking, we feel it necessary to make it clear that bribery of any kind is not permitted in NFL”.  Could there have just been a reprimand?  Vote in the poll and give us your thoughts in the comments!

Now for my newly anointed “death from above predictions”.  For my starter who I expect to struggle, going to go with a Roddy White.  He has been having a really good season and has a nice matchup in Carolina, but he has been having a tough time in practice the past couple of weeks and I think if Atlanta gets out in front, they will take the opportunity to rest Roddy.  No touchdown and under 100 yd.

For my secondary players, since I mentioned Mr. Edwards at the top, going to go with him again here at home against Jacksonville.  Edwards has been quiet the past few weeks, but I’m thinking at least 80 yd. or a score from him this week.  And then, a guy who has been having a pretty disappointing season fantasy football wise but was drafted near the top of his position, I expect Antonio Gates to go for maybe 100 yd. and a score

Onto the power rankings! 



1.    Mopar’s Marauders (1) – they hold onto the number one spot just BARELY.  Normally it takes the number one team faltering a little bit for them to lose the number one position, and while Marauders are continuing to perform exceptionally well, they may need more of a Herculean effort to hold on to the top spot if things continue going as they have been

2.    Amateur Pharmacists (3) – normally, the power rankings are somewhat fluid in nature.  Teams move up or down the charts depending not only on how they themselves have been doing, but on how the teams around them have been performing as well.  Rarely do we see a team who literally muscles its way up the charts regardless of how anybody else is going.  The Pharmacists have found some sort of drug combination and have been able to mimic the effects of the Super Soldier Serum and are now somehow more than human.  They appear to be bending the rest of the league to their will and are in position to now forcefully take over the number one spot regardless of how well Marauders perform this coming week.  However, despite their staggering point output recently, they are still not locked into the playoffs

3.    MM of M (2) – a victim of the rampaging beast known as the Pharmacists, the Monkeys slide down another spot despite a solid performance.  They are probably already looking ahead to the playoffs, but points and power rankings are still possibilities for them.  Right now I would not want to be playing any of the top three seems

4.    Evil Midnight Bombers (5) – they climb back up one more spot and a good performance this coming week could have them challenging for a return to the top three.  The main concern right now is injuries with Clinton out and the other running backs all underperforming

5.    Dreaded Mercenaries (4) – they continue a slow slide down the power rankings, and they also continue losing games, having lost five in a row now.  It’s very possible this slide in the power rankings might just be some sort of self-correcting mechanism relating to the fluid nature of the rankings as mentioned before.  Statistically speaking, points and record wise, it doesn’t appear that the Mercenaries should be ranked this high, but no one fully understands the workings of the power rankings, so the Mercenaries remain in the top five another week

6.    Team Eagles (6) – the Eagles hold on to number six but find themselves in a death struggle for a playoff spot.  The next couple of weeks are going to go a long way in determining the overall success of this team in terms of playoffs, power rankings and overall points

7.    Mr. Al Davis (7) – last week’s game was part of an advertising project by the LiveWorld fantasy football league, the game was scheduled to take place in Iceland.  The crowd was fairly large and took place at 9 p.m. local time.  Of course, since Iceland is currently receiving less than 20 minutes of darkness each night, it was still bright and sunshiny at kickoff.  Is it a coincidence that Mr. Al Davis lost this game?  Or is this just further proof of the vampiric nature of this team?

8.    Farva’s Shovelheads (9) – they rebound from the past few weeks and get a big victory.  They also moved back into the top half of the power rankings.  This coming week will be big in showing was last week the beginning of another surge, or was it just a brief rebound amidst the struggles.

9.    Legion of Doom (10) – my own team continues slowly crawling up the power rankings and have somehow found themselves in position to make the playoffs.  Still, recent injury news may put a damper on any positive momentum

10.    The Bloodsuckers (8) – the slow slide becomes a bit more of a drop this week as they fall to number 10.  There is some reason for hope as the news hour of Carolina is that running back Williams may not be able to go, which is good news for any Jonathan Stewart owners


11.    OffInThe Shower (12) –  somehow this team as the exact same record as the Pharmacists.  They may not be able to make a run at the overall points or power rankings, but they are right in line for a playoff run

12.    Damages (11)  – they continue sliding down the charts and now the playoffs are looking to be more and more in jeopardy.  You can’t blame them for trying as they’ve made 21 free-agent moves throughout the season, they just does have not been able to find a solid running back.

13.    Heavenly Rampagers (13) – they get a nice victory, but they are going to need to string eighth few of those together in order to make the playoffs.  Barring a miracle (and given the team name I won’t rule it out) they are out of contention for overall points and most likely will not see the top 10 of the power rankings again this season

14.    Team Falk (14) – they suffer a tough loss this week, but they’re still right in the thick of things for a playoff spot.  There might be some movement in the power rankings for them, but this is another team that seems unlikely to make it into the top 10

15.    Gaul Village Asterix (15) – they have lost three in a row, but the playoffs are still a possibility for them.  Other than that, this is probably where the team will wind up in terms of power rankings at the end of the season

16.    Team S (16) – last week, repeat ad nauseam

And there we have it everybody!  Things are getting really interesting in the playoff race, and despite the larger league overall, I think that’s this might be the closest power rankings we have had in our three seasons when looking at teams 1-12.

 

(posted this Friday but apparently it didn't take)

 

Even busier this week, so this one is going to be little more than predictions and power rankings.  But vote in the poll!  It’s just over to the right, I’m very curious to see how everybody in the league thinks on this.

 

Last week was miserable for predictions, going 0-3, leaving the overall record at 5-10-4.  Hoping to start making a push towards even this week  and I stayed entirely in the AFC West for my secondary players.  Chris Chambers has been somewhat the forgotten man in San Diego this season, but now he is in KC and I think he gets on the board this week against the Jags.  Then, a slightly more obscure selection, taking a tight end, Brandon Pettigrew against Seattle.  For my guaranteed  starter that I feel might underperform I am going with Chris Johnson making the journey out West

 

Onto the power rankings! 

 

 

 

1.      Mopar’s Marauders (2) – we have a change at the top!  The Marauders have been performing very consistently week after week, and this week the Monkeys blinked.  Right now, you can’t say there is a solid number one team as there are literally six different teams who could be legitimate number ones right now

 

2.      MM of M (1) – well, I put the curse on the Monkeys I guess.  Last week I said things like “dispell any concerns over holding on to the number one spot” and” the monkeys look to be holding on to the number one spot for the foreseeable future”.  Of course, I also said, any team can follow apart any given week, and that’s what happened to the Monkeys this week.  It’s really their first truly bad performance of their season, but when you’re in the arena with gladiators, it only takes one slipup

 

3.      Amateur Pharmacists (4) – they move into the top three and warranted serious consideration for jumping all the way up to number one this week.  They have scored more points than anybody this season and I could certainly envision a leapfrog scenario that lands them in the number one spot next week

 

4.      Dreaded Mercenaries (3) – they are scoring decent points, but they keep on losing!  There are a lot of factors that go into the power rankings, and even though head to head record might involve a lot of luck, if the power of the universes against you it’s hard to keep from being pushed down the list.

 

5.      Evil Midnight Bombers (6) – they get back into the top five, just barely, mostly thanks to a great performance from Jonathan Stewart.  Still, the running backs are without question the one element that is keeping this team from regaining the number one spot

 

6.      Team Eagles (5) – the top five from last week has become the top six as Eagles slide down one spot but realistically could have been ranked as high as number three

 

7.      Mr. Al Davis (8) – Nosferatu!  They climb ever closer to the top five and I fear that only the sacrifice of a virgin will stop them.  Anybody want to volunteer?

 

8.      The Bloodsuckers (7) – the slow slide continues and it is starting to look like Mr. Al Davis may be somehow siphoning the power from the so-called blood suckers

 

 

9.      Farva’s Shovelheads (9) – they managed to hold on to number nine for another week, but they are in the same basic boat as the team directly above them.

 

10.  Legion of Doom (11) – so, this is what the top 10 looks like?  Not bad.  Not sure I will be able to hang onto it, but it’s nice to be in the running again after such a slow start

 

11.  Damages (10)  – they do indeed slip out of the top 10, but it could have been even worse if the teams directly behind them had not also struggled

 

12.  OffInThe Shower (12) –  no quarterback?  Not that it would have made much of a difference, but what was up with that?

 

13.  Heavenly Rampagers (13) – they stop the slide from last week, but there’s not enough here to move them up right now

 

14.  Team Falk (15) – OK, maybe last week was some kind of brain cramp?  They get rid of Tennessee, upgraded with Miami and score 115 points.  There still does not appear to be enough talent on the team to make a big push up the rankings, but it’s good to see that they are still trying

 

15.  Gaul Village Asterix (14) – they slide back down because overall Falk probably has more scoring power on their roster and last week’s movement was based mostly on coaching decisions

 

16.  Team S (16) – another week, another loss

 

Remember, Thursday games start after this coming week!

 

 

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

 

 

Going to jump right into some of my predictions from last week as what I want to talk about relates to one of the predictions I made.

 

Last week I thought things might be looking up, this week not so much.  Willie Parker is officially no longer the number one running back in Pittsburgh, that was a bad call.  Larry Johnson had some decent yards, but no touchdown so going with another bad call.  Ryan Grant also did not get a touchdown, but I think his performance was good enough to be considered a push.  And then Philip Rivers, only one touchdown and under 300 yd., that was a good call.  Overall record is 5-7-3.  I will get to my predictions for this coming week in a moment, but first I want to talk about how personal feelings can affect your drafting/managing strategy.

 

I think it’s pretty clear that there are some players in the NFL than I just don’t like.  In some cases, it’s a natural result of a rivalry with my Pittsburgh Steelers.  Take for example, any Baltimore Ravens.  I don’t know if it’s the influence of Ray Lewis, who I believe is a good linebacker and is also amazingly overrated, or the fact that we play them at least two times every season and they like to try and play football the same way the Steelers always have, with hard-hitting defense.  But every time I hear the Baltimore Raven talk, I inevitably come away disliking them even more.  Whether it’s the proclamations of “our dynasty starts tonight!”  which Ray Lewis and every other Raven repeated over and over again to the media in the week leading up to their first game with the Steelers last season (before losing to them three times the rest of the year) or the seemingly inexplicable comparisons that the media like to make between Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger, every time I hear something about the Baltimore Ravens it always seems to be something I disagree with.  As a result, I despised drafting any Baltimore Ravens player on any of my fantasy teams.  I remember just this past draft breathing a sigh of relief when the team just before me drafted Willis McGahee because he was still on the board, obviously the best player and I did NOT want to be forced into position where I felt I had to draft him.  But, if you’re a diehard fan of an NFL team (defined as: if you have to choose between your fantasy team succeeding or your NFL team succeeding, you will choose your NFL team) then this is perfectly logical to you

 

However, in many cases, it doesn’t have anything at all to do with whether they perform well or not or how often they play Pittsburgh, there’s just something about certain players that rubs me the wrong way.  Take for example Philip Rivers.  As I’ve said before, I understand people liking him as a fantasy player.  He usually puts up good numbers, even in losing efforts.  But, there’s just something about the guy that I don’t like, to the point that I’ve never drafted him onto any of my teams.  I really don’t like players who cry and complain any time they lose, and I know, this is becoming a larger and larger group in the NFL.

 

What made me start thinking about this was watching an interview with Philip Rivers prior to the Monday night football game this past week.  Of course, leading up to the game the analysts of ESPN could not come up with enough words to describe how marvelous Philip Rivers is or how devastating the San Diego offense can be.  At least one analyst made it clear that after Big Brother Manning and Tom Brady, Philip Rivers is obviously the third-best NFL quarterback in the league.  “Better than Drew Brees?” another one asked.  “Yes, I believe so” was the response, which was followed by a long string of supposedly convincing statistics, all designed to show the greatness of Philip Rivers.  Then, during the actual interview, Philip had the following to say “I hate to lose more than I want to win”.  It was at that point that I was able to recognize that it wasn’t anything Philip Rivers did on the field that made me dislike him so much.  It was a general, basic makeup of his character. 

 

I have no idea about the personal life of Philip Rivers outside of football.  Is he extremely active in the community?  Does he give loads of cash/time to charities?  Does he love puppy dogs and bunnies?  I have no idea.  But, the simple statement of “I hate to lose more than I want to win” makes me think the answers are no, no and only if its good for picking up girls.  Maybe I’m wrong and he’s a great guy, I just have a feeling that we would see very basic things in vastly different ways.  Regardless, with that kind of mentality, I am now more certain than ever that Philip Rivers will consistently choke in any big-time game/national televised game and will certainly never win a championship in the NFL.

 

So, I feel like that was very cathartic.  Let’s see if it helps me in my predictions this week.  But going with Donald Brown as a great second running back option this week.  Also, Steve Smith (Carolina edition) has really been struggling this season, but he spoke out about how he feels he is no longer useful to the Carolina offense.  Normally when a receiver does something like that, he winds up in the end zone the following week, so I expect him to have his best game so far this season.

 

For players that are usually guaranteed starters that I expect to struggle, it’s a tough week.  There’s a lot of lopsided matchups, so I’m going to fall back to my old failsafe choice.  Take a quarterback that everybody thinks is great but I believe always chokes under pressure.  This week, going to go with the old Super Bowl Puker himself, Donovan McNabb.  Most people expect Philadelphia to refocus after that dismal performance against Oakland last week, I expect the bright lights of Monday night football to once again the better of Donovan against a team that they should demolish

 

 

Onto the power rankings! 

 

 

 

1.      MM of M (1) – they lose their first game of the season (you’re welcome everybody) but hold on to the number one spot..  They have one of their worst weeks so far, but they had three significant performers either on their off the week or injured.  Overall, it would seem that they still have the best roster from top to bottom, but that can change on any given week and there is a team directly behind them pressing for the number one spot

 

2.      Mopar’s Marauders (3) – the meteoric rise of the Marauders continues.  If the monkeys had not been so successful earlier this season, the Marauders probably would have jumped up to the number one spot this week.  But, that’s not the way the power rankings work.  Still, it seems that no matter whom this team starts, they get points.  We’ll see what next week brings, but right now it looks like going to be very hard keeping the Marauders out of the top spot

 

3.      Dreaded Mercenaries (2) – I thought this might be a difficult week for the Mercenaries with Dallas being off, and that proved to be true.  They only manage 62 points and lose their game.  You know it’s a bad week when the score for your starting quarterback is negative four.  They only slide down one more spot, but if Dallas continues to struggle, this team may be on its way out of the top five

 

4.      Amateur Pharmacists (7) – they keep on scoring and shoot into the top five.  Right now, the Amateur Pharmacists are indeed firing on all cylinders and might be the most dangerous team in the league at this moment.  They  really don’t have an obvious weak spot and there’s no reason this team won’t be challenging for the top spot in the next couple of weeks

 

5.      Team Eagles (5) – they hold steady at number five.  The return to form of golden boy Drew had to be a welcome sight, but the absolute disappearance of Willis in Baltimore, and really the disappearance of all the running backs for this team kind of balances out that return.  If Anquan could stay healthy (anybody else find it suspicious the range of injuries he has had this season after making it clear how happy he was with his contract?)  then this team might be able to overcome the difficulties they are having at running back.  The golden boy is keeping them competitive, but will that be enough in the long run?

 

6.      The Bloodsuckers (6) – they get a bazillion points out of their wide receivers and zero, as in absolute zero, out of the running backs and it costs them the game.  They’re just has to be a trade out there for this team, but depending upon what happened this coming Monday night, they may have waited too long.  If McNabb doesn’t bounce back, then there are going to start to be questions about Philadelphia.  And if that happens, McNabb loses a lot of trading power.  This team is a decent running back away from challenging for the top spot

 

7.      Evil Midnight Bombers (4) – did the Bombers really not start a player at quarterback last week?  Or was that just some sort of software issue?  Either way, they dropped out of the top five for the first time and the team that I once had solidly in the number one spot is now struggling to stay in the top half

 

 

8.      Farva’s Shovelheads (8) – they hold steady at number eight, but Greg Jennings is killing these guys.  I mean, against Detroit, your quarterback has a big day, and none of them go to the guy you had pegged as the number one receiver.  They showed that they can still score points, but they have lost five in a row now and it seems like there may be too many questions surrounding this team for them to get into the top five

 

9.      Damages (9)  – yet another team that holds steady from last week.  The apparent end of the Willie Parker era in Pittsburgh is a huge concern for Damages.  In this point, this team barely has a legitimate number two running back, let alone a real starter.  If they can find a trade partner and get a decent running back, they can definitely move into the top half.  As it is, they may struggle to hang on to the top 10

 

10.  Heavenly Rampagers (10) – a big victory this week and Brady absolutely explodes, but even Tom can store you 51 points every week.  When one player scores more than half of the points on your team, regardless of how many points you scored overall, it’s not a good sign for the long-term successfulness of your team.  Still, Brady shows you can still score and if the rest of the team picks it up, then this team might make a push for the top half

 

11.  Mr. Al Davis (13) – another point explosion, and another week where the majority of their points come from two players.  But, it’s two completely different players than it was the week before.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a fantasy team have such a lopsided number of points scored by such a small percentage of their roster two weeks in a row and not be at least one of the same players.  It doesn’t seem to be like the sort of thing can continue, but there’s no way I can stop from moving them up a couple of spots.  They still have no quarterback, but if somebody new keeps stepping up, but I will just have to assume that Mr. Al Davis is using his psychic vampire powers and rank them accordingly

 

12.  Legion of Doom (11) – what the…?  We score over 100 points, win another game, and knock off the undefeated, number one ranked team and we drop a spot?!  Who does these rankings anyway???  Still, things are looking up a little bit, but with the performance of everybody around my team, the only logical move was dropping down one spot

 

13.  Team Falk (12) – they once again scored decent points and this time start a complete lineup!  Unfortunately, they still lose their game and dropped one spot in the rankings.  It’s good to see that they are still fighting, it’s just going to be difficult for this team seeing that they have to deal with the underperformance of both Tomlinson and Roy Williams this season.

 

14.  OffInThe Shower (14) –  they lose a game, to the team directly behind them, but they hang onto number 14.  They desperately need a quarterback if they are going to make any kind of legitimate run.  Brandon Jacobs has to find the end zone again eventually, so overall I still think this team probably has the strongest roster of the bottom three teams, but they need a little bit of help to really make a move

 

15.  Gaul Village Asterix (15) – they get back on the winning track, but I still don’t think they have enough talent on their roster to make any major news of the power rankings or as far as overall points.  However, they have shown the ability to win games head-to-head, so as long as they remain active this team has a solid shot at the playoffs

 

16.  Team S (16) – MISSING PERSON ALERT!  They have a complete starting lineup this week, but it is the exact same lineup as last week.  There’s really no way to tell, but at least up to this point it hasn’t made any difference since they haven’t won a game yet

 

And there we have it, another exciting week of football.  It’s hard to believe that we are almost halfway through the regular season of the NFL already.

 

 

There was a very interesting comment from the owner of the Mercenaries following last week’s blog that I wanted to talk about a little bit.  The gist of it was that while she had a feeling about starting one of her backup players, she was convinced by the owner of the Monkeys that you “have to go with your main guys”.  The result was that if she had started the backup, she would have won her game.  This type of situation may be the single most reason fantasy football can be as much fun, or as horribly agonizing, as it is.

Let me start out by saying in this type of situation, I am 100% behind the Monkeys theory.  Anybody who is new to fantasy football, one of the first things I tell them is you have to trust your draft.  It’s really basic, and yes, things and circumstances do change throughout the season, but at the bottom line, you drafted that guy number one and that other guy in the second round and then this other guy in the third round for a reason.  Sure, there will be unexpected injuries that force you to make a change, there will be changes in coaching or team personnel that adversely affect one of your players.  But, 99% of the time, when you can’t make up your mind which player is the best to start in a particular position, it’s the guy you drafted higher, the guy you initially drafted with every intention of being your main guy.

Ah, yes, but that tantalizing 1%.  The gut feeling.  If the whole of fantasy football consisted of drafting a specific team and then starting that exactly every week it would be outstandingly boring.  That 1% of the time when your gut says “I just think Big Brother Manning is going to struggle this week and I should start Matt Ryan instead” and Matt Ryan tosses three touchdowns while Big brother only gets one, that is a nearly euphoric sensation.

Now keep in mind, 99% of the time it’s going to be completely the opposite.  You will study all of the statistics, you will know how bad of a defense St. Louis has.  You’ll see that they are playing against Seattle, Julius Jones is bound to have a huge game!  At the same time, you studied all available information about the San Francisco opponents and see that they are playing the New York Jets.  The Jets, with their nearly impenetrable defense are almost certainly going to significantly slow down, if not completely shut out, Frank Gore.  You convince yourself that this is the smart move and by Monday morning everybody will be talking about you as the most ingenious fantasy football owner that they have ever seen.  And, you remain convinced of this right up until Frank Gore has two touchdowns at halftime and Julia Jones is busting out with 27 yd. on 13 carries.

And the logic versus gut dilemma can reach even further.  It can affect your draft or the makeup of your roster through trades and free agency.  Three years ago Tom Brady was considered a fantastic NFL quarterback, but was really only viewed as a second level option as far as fantasy quarterback.  Randy Moss was viewed as being completely washed up.  But, the two of them found themselves together in New England.  There was no guarantee they were going to break every offensive record in the book.  Some people looked at the statistics and said, big deal, Moss is a slacker and Brady plays in too conservative of an offense.  Some people just had the feeling things were going to click.  People who followed that instinct were exceptionally happy.

Last season there was a pretty popular belief that Adrian Peterson was going to suffer from a “sophomore slump”.  There were even some fantasy football magazine’s that suggested it would be a better idea to take the aging Tomlinson higher than AP.  The only reason for this would have to be a gut feeling by the person writing it.  Of course, people who followed that instinct were exceptionally sad.

But, here is the rub: even though you are only going to be ecstatic with your decision of following your gut 1% of the time, it’s that 1% that separates the successful owner from the cellar dwellers..  If your gut tells you that the early-season struggles of Michael Turner is an indication of the entire season so you had best trade him while you still can, and you are right, you’re going to be competing in your league.  However, if it turns out you are wrong and the Burner pours it on in the second half, you’re going to kick yourself for not believing in your guy and giving up on him too early.

If there was some kind of secret formula, some kind of mathematical equation you could use to decide when it was the 1% time to listen to your instincts, I would tell you.  Actually, no, that’s a lie.  I wouldn’t tell you.  I would keep it to myself and use it to dominate every league I am in.  As I am clearly not dominating this league, you can safely assume that no such formula exists.

And so, we all keep trying to figure out some way to know which cup of tea the Iocane powder is in, always hoping that we’re not facing an opponent who has spent the past several years building up an immunity to Iocane powder.

Looking back at last week, things may be picking up, or else I am just no longer trying to fight with my left hand. Braylon Edwards came through in the primetime lights with a huge game, so definitely a good call.  I was on the fence about Chad Ochocinco.  He put up over 90 yd., but didn’t get into the end zone.  Then I heard that even though Cincinnati is 4-1, they were unable to sell out there home games this coming weekend and were going to get blacked out in the local area.  That is until Chad purchased the remaining 1200 tickets, along with one of the sponsors Motorola, and will be giving those tickets away to make sure the game is not blacked out.  That’s classy.  So I’m going with two good calls.  I also went with Brady, and he had an OK game once again, not terrible, not fantastic, so going to go with a push bringing my overall season record up to 4-5-1.

This week going to try out the running backs once again.  Ryan Grant is really no longer considered a number one running back in most scoring formats, but I look for him to have a good day at home against Detroit.  On the second one, I was torn, so actually going to go with three this week.  If anybody has the motivation to get back and have a big day it is Willie Parker, I think he gets a chance against Cleveland.  Also, something is telling me Larry Johnson gets a touchdown and some decent yards against Washington.  As my guaranteed starter, going back to Monday night as I think Philip Rivers once again struggles in a big game under the bright lights

Onto the power rankings, with some significant fluctuations this week!



1.    MM of M (1) – here is what is impressive about these worshipers of Curious George, they score 97 points this past week with Frank Gore appropriately on the bench and getting zero points from their kicker.  They are still unbeaten and are ever so slightly trying to separate themselves from the pack in overall points, but as far as the power rankings go they are clearly number one

2.    Dreaded Mercenaries (4) – they move up into the number two spot, but it’s not a solid hold.  They have said that the Cowboys are not going to remain as prevalent on their roster, but how many good options are they going to have?  There are some fast risers in the rankings right now, so the Mercenaries might be in trouble this coming week with Dallas on the bye

3.    Mopar’s Marauders (8) – it was time for an adjustment in the rankings and the Marauders benefit by jumping five ranks!  This team is showing that they are more than just Chris Johnson as they score 118 points even though Johnson only got three.  Now, Miles Austin is not going to score you 37 points every week, but this team has been scoring high points fairly consistently.  The next couple of weeks will show if this jump of five spots is an over adjustment, or if the Marauders really are a top three team

4.    Evil Midnight Bombers (3) – the Bombers get past their toughest week bye wise with a victory by the skin of their teeth, thanks in large part to the apparent complete disinterest of their opponents.  They only score 64, but go down just one spot as most of their top-level players were off.  Still, the Bombers roster is not looking as formable as it once was.  They are still securely in the top five and I expect them to return to form next week

5.    Team Eagles (2) – there has to be some concern for the owner of Team Eagles.  I would imagine that they are praying that Brees returns to dominance following his off week.  They’re running backs totally disappeared last week and much of their success in the early part of the season was because of Willis McGahee.  If he pulls a disappearing stunt, which he has done before in the past, then they may find it difficulty to reclaim their spot at number one


6.    The Bloodsuckers (5) – they lose their game and drop-down one spot.  This is one of two teams in the league that I think should pay special attention to the article Mark wrote on the ESPN site.  They’ve got two top-level quarterbacks and no serious number one running back.  There are a couple of teams with serious question marks at quarterback in this league, you can’t start Big Brother Manning and McNabb in the same week, and you desperately need a running back.  There should be a blockbuster trade available if this team puts out some feelers

7.    Amateur Pharmacists (9) – they climb a couple of spots up to number seven.  With Michael Turner starting to produce and Schaub seemingly for real this season, they have the potential to beat any team.  The fact that they’ve been doing so well with such little production from Ryan Grant is really a surprise to me.  This team can certainly break into the top five if they start firing on all cylinders

8.    Farva’s Shovelheads (6) – they had their bye week this week, and by that I mean Green Bay was off.  They only managed 46 points and drop a couple of spots.  But, they are still in the top half of the league and thankfully for them Green Bay only has one off week season.  Still, there are lots of concerns at both wide receiver and running back and there are a number of teams in the bottom half of the league looking to move up

9.    Damages (10)  – they lose a hard fought game against the Monkeys, but they move up one spot in the rankings.  There’s a lot of questions about the running backs on this team but I am now convinced their best move might be to open trade talks with a team looking for a quarterback.  Damages have two quarterbacks, both of which are performing fairly well.  The quality of running back they are going to be able to pickup through free agency is rather limited at this time, but a good trade could land a solid back which is exactly what this team really needs

10.    Heavenly Rampagers (11) – does Ronnie Brown read this blog??  Ever since I said he was a great number two running back, he has been a monster in Miami!  This team moves into the top 10 on the strength of their running backs.  There are major concerns at wide receiver (it’s time to cut Galloway), but if Brady can at all begin resembling his 2007 incarnation, then anything would be possible for this team

11.    Legion of Doom (12) – my team creeps a little closer to the top 10.  Not much has changed here, there are some signs that at least one of the rookie running backs might be able to consistently performe this season.  If that happens, I predict a Solomon Grundy like rampage through the power rankings.  If it doesn’t, I predict a Solomon Grundy like report card.

12.    Team Falk (13) – they score decent points and win their game, but this is the third week in a row where they start a player who is not playing.  There’s a chance that this was a conscious decision and they just didn’t want to lose any of their other players in this situation.  But three weeks in a row is somewhat disturbing.  I have a feeling that they have NOT abandoned their team as they did set Williams who was injured, but it would be nice to see them start a complete roster at some point again

13.    Mr. Al Davis (15) – 116 points and they only move up one spot?  Well, here’s why: a staggering 54 of those 116 points came from  Roddy White and Austin Collie, which is not going to happen regularly, perhaps not again this season.  On top of that, they missed out on 32 points by starting the wrong quarterback.  Jacksonville was traveling across the country, which is hard enough for top level quarterbacks to handle, David Garrard has had a couple of good games, but is far from a top-level quarterback.  I imagine Mr. Al Davis was sick to the stomach watching his two quarterbacks play each other and knowing he started the wrong one

14.    OffInThe Shower (14) –  they win another game and hold steady at number 14, but it seems like the bottom half of the power rankings are, for the most part, showing that there may not be that much separation between number 5 and number 14.  I’m not sure they have the quarterbacks necessary to make a serious run, but Marshall and Steve Smith (New York Giants edition) make for a serious 1-2 punch out of the wide receiver position.  Word out of Houston is that they are committed to the running game, which should be good news for Slaton.  If these guys can find a legitimate quarterback, there are some real possibilities here

15.    Gaul Village Asterix (16) – they lose their second game in a row but move out of the basement based on the simple fact that they are still competing.  They are making moves trying to get as many points as possible each week, their players just are not making it easy for them.  However, they are still 3-2 and easily in the playoff chase.  I believe overall points and top 10 of the power rankings are unlikely for this team, but if they continue trying and make the playoffs, history has shown anything can happen

16.    Team S (7) – MISSING PERSON ALERT!  The Commissioner may be taking a look at this team.  This week they started two players who were off, had viable players who could have started in their place, and if even just one of them had been started instead, they would have won their game, pulling off a major upset and significantly changing the standings.  At least for the moment they drop all the way to the bottom as they have every appearance of an abandoned team

So, entering our sixth week of play and we quite possibly may have lost our first team of the season.  It’s always disappointing to me when I see a team that is struggling be abandoned so early in the season.  A fantasy football league should be fun for everybody, it should be able to engage everybody regardless of individual team performance.  People should play fantasy football because they want to have fun, not necessarily just because they want to win. 

There is a story that I’ve told before which is relevant here once again.  Other than this league I’m involved in three other long-standing leagues which are considered “professional” fantasy leagues in that there are a few thousand dollars at stake in each.  Several years ago my team was dead last in points basically the entire season.  By the seventh week it was clear, I was not going to be competing for any kind of prize as far as overall points.  However, I knew that the integrity of the season relied on me continuing to play the game as if it was the first week of the season.  I had to start viable lineups or else the teams I played later in the season would theoretically have an easy victory compared to the teams I played in the first couple of weeks.  Remarkably, while my team continued scoring in the bottom third of the league every week, my opponents consistently scored less.  By week 14 of the NFL season, my team had somehow snuck into the playoffs as a wildcard.  By the end of our fantasy season, I was still dead last in points by a wide margin.  I was also Super Bowl champion that season.  There were many games where changes I made in the lineup resulted in an extra couple of points for me that week, and while it had no effect whatsoever for the overall point standings, those extra points gained a victory here and there, and without those I would not have had one of the most memorable seasons of my fantasy football career.

One other story that comes to mind was a season where I was running away with overall points, but struggling to make the playoffs.  It came down to the last week of our regular-season and my opponent, who had no chance of winning any prizes that season, continued to make changes to their lineup.  The result was them starting the New York Jets defense against Miami on a Monday night instead of their primary defense.  With six seconds left in the game, Dan Marino throws a pass for no reason which is unbelievably intercepted.  I lose my game by one point and do not make the playoffs.  However, over 10 years later, both me and my opponent still talk about that game, which would have never happened had he abandoned his team because, from an individual perspective, he had nothing to play for.

 

 

 

If the NFL and fantasy football have anything in common, it is this: there are no guarantees.  How your favorite NFL team did last season has as much to do with this season as the effect NASA shooting the moon will have on our tides… maybe less.

 

Take a look at Tennessee this season.  Last season they had a record of 13-3, best in the NFL, the number one seed in the AFC.  Going into the playoffs, every Tennessee fan had their eyes set on the Super Bowl and most of your analysts had them as favorites.  Then, they lost in their first home playoff game.  So much for the experts.

 

Then, during the off-season, they lost the middle of their defensive line, the disruptive force of nature which goes by the name Albert Haynesworth.  They didn’t do a whole lot to replace this loss on defense, but everyone seemed quite happy with their acquisition of Nate Washington.  Which leads me to a quick tangent, ever notice how many Pittsburgh Steelers receivers move on to other teams and do absolutely nothing?  Burress might be the lone exception, and he’s in prison now.

 

Anyway, Tennessee is now off to a 0-4 start and I believe only one team has ever come back from 0-4 to make the playoffs (bonus points to the first person who posts what team that was.  Double bonus points if they can truthfully say they didn’t have to google it).

 

Does one player like Albert Haynesworth make that big of a difference to a team?  Every coach in the NFL will tell you, no, we can’t rely on one player to make that big of a difference and we can’t use the loss of that one player as an excuse.  However, in reality the loss of one real difference maker can in fact make a difference, otherwise, why call them “difference makers” in the first place?

 

And, as is the case in many situations, what happens in the NFL has a direct result on what happens to your fantasy football team.  The loss of Albert Haynesworth has a direct result on the fantasy performance of Lendale White.  Most people think, but one is on defense, the other is on offense, what possible connection could there be?

 

The loss of Haynesworth has resulted in Tennessee falling behind earlier and more frequently in games.  White is a grinding running back, normally used to wear down the opponent in the second half and close the door.  That kind of running back doesn’t fit into the game plan as easily when your team is trailing.  Now, is the loss of Haynesworth the only reason White is having a significantly less successful season this year when compared to last?  No, I wouldn’t say that, but I do believe there is a definite effect that happens team wide in the NFL with the loss of a significant player, whether on offense or defense.  Fantasy owners who can see these kinds of trends before their draft will already have a leg up on many of their opponents.

 

And, speaking of somewhat hidden trends, I’m starting to think it might be wise to keep your eye on who I am taking as a potential sleeper player each week and then avoiding them!  Glen Coffee had a fairly decent game, but he couldn’t find the end zone and dropped a couple of passes which would have added to his overall total yardage.  I’m going to give myself a push on that one.  But, Darren McFadden gets injured early in the game and is now out for 2-4 weeks.  However, Brandon Jacobs did not get into the end zone against Kansas City nor did he go over 100 yd., so that has to be a pretty good pick.  So far, I am 2-5-1

 

This week for my secondary players like think should perform well, I’m going to try out the wide receivers. Braylon Edwards has been a disappointment since 2007, and he just got traded a couple of days ago.  But, he will be playing on Monday night and I just cut him from another one of my teams, so I’m expecting a big game from him.  Also, Chad Ochocinco is no longer considered a number one receiver in most fantasy football leagues, but he has been having a really decent season so far and even though they are playing a tough Baltimore defense, I think he does well and should be in your starting lineup.

 

For my guaranteed starter who I expect to struggle, I’m going to go with Tom Brady.  I know he hasn’t been scoring as expected so far this season, but everybody still views him as one of the top two fantasy quarterbacks in the game today.  But, they are going to Denver and Denver has just had a beastly defense so far.  Depending upon who your backup quarterback is, I would seriously consider setting Brady

 

Onto the power rankings!

 

1.      MM of M (2) – the Monkeys step up to the number one spot for the first time this season, and standing above all of the other teams shout out the immortal words of Denzel Washington “King Kong ain’t got (number two) on me!” even though 31 of their 108 points came from the defense, their overall roster still performed outstandingly, and that is without Frank Gore and Steve Smith (Carolina edition).  Much like Donkey Kong, the Monkeys have stolen our girlfriend and stand at the very top of the tallest skyscraper hurling barrels at all of those beneath him in an attempt to stop a simple, hard-working plumber from rescuing his true love.(extra bonus points for anybody you can tell me the name of Mario’s girlfriend, double points if you can honestly say you did not google it)

 

2.      Team Eagles (1) – the Eagles drop-down one spot, but they are still more than competitive.  Drew has had a couple of slow weeks and is off this week, but, barring injury, he’s going to start scoring again sooner rather than later.  The only real concern for this team right now is, what is the real personality of the running backs?  Is Darren going to be given the chance for more playtime after his off week?  And is Willis for real in Baltimore?

 

3.      Evil Midnight Bombers (3) – the Bombers once again score somewhere in that 80-100 range, but this week it is not enough for them to win the game as they fall to their division rival, the heartless King Donkey Monkeys.  There is a lot going on with this team.  Matt Forte is starting to come around a little in Chicago, Philip Rivers continues to score excellent fantasy points while losing every big NFL game he plays in and now there is a bit of injury concern with Felix Jones and Hester both being unavailable this coming week.  The Bombers hold on to number three, and while I still think they have the ability to get back to number one, I would know of no longer be surprised if they slip out of the top five

 

4.      Dreaded Mercenaries (4) – they get back on the winning track but hold steady at number four.  The main reason for this is all of the question marks in Dallas.  Barber is a gamer, no doubt about that.  But what is happening leading man Tony Romo?  The All-Pro quarterback (who has never won a single big game) who always collapses in December is starting to play the same way in September and October.  That’s not good news for Cowboys fans, and it’s definitely not good news for the Mercenaries

 

5.      The Bloodsuckers (6) – last week they had their eyes set on the top five, this week that move into the top five with another good overall team performance.  Big Brother Manning looks like he wants to move back into the number one fantasy quarterback spot.  They are extremely solid at quarterback and wide receiver, but they’ve got some significant problems at running back with Fred Taylor being out indefinitely.  Julius Jones is now their only remaining running back, so it will be interesting to see what kind of waiver wire moves that make.  Or, could there potentially be a trade in the works with Donovan McNabb?

 

6.      Farva’s Shovelheads (7) – they moves up to number six, but there are certainly reasons for concern.  McFadden is now out at least two weeks and didn’t guy named Greg Jennings used to play for Green Bay?  Whatever happened to that guy?  The good news is word out of Tampa Bay is that Cadillac is going to start receiving more playtime again.  The bad news is he still on Tampa Bay.  This team needs just one spot away from the top five, but that may be a difficult spot to move into

 

7.      Team S (5) – in my opinion, one of the best albums of the nineties was The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails.  However, you don’t necessarily want a statistical representation of that album to be the legacy your team leaves on the league.  Unfortunately, that appears to be exactly what is happening with Team S.  This past week they started a quarterback who wasn’t playing even though they had a quarterback that was eligible on their bench.  Sure, Jason Campbell isn’t MUCH of a quarterback, but he still got 12 points more than nobody.  Would it have made a difference in the game?  No.  But, this team has arguably the number one player in all of fantasy football with AP and they are not scoring points.  You start to see players who are not playing in the starting lineup and it brings up the question of how committed the ownership is to winning.  The lyric “I… hurt myself today” comes to mind

 

 

8.      Mopar’s Marauders (9) – the Marauders flip-flop with the Pharmacists and move right back into the top half of the league.  They remain unbeaten, thanks in huge part to the performance of the San Francisco 49ers defense this past week.  43 points?  That’s just insane.  Which brings me back to something I spoke about over a year ago, I’ve never really liked the scoring system in most fantasy football leagues.  Anytime teams are routinely scoring over 100 points, I think there are too many bonus points being given out.  I’m not sure that a 10 yd. gain is really worth one point.  Does a running back getting 60 yd. for your team honestly equal a touchdown that a running back scores?  It just doesn’t seem balanced.  But, that’s a discussion for another time.  Even with this is going system, your defense is not going to the 43 points every week.  However, this team is still looking at moving up the rankings next week

 

9.      Amateur Pharmacists (8) – the Pharmacists slide right back down into the number nine spot..  They managed to score nearly 90 points without Michael Turner, and they have one of the hottest defenses in Denver.  If Ryan Grant would get on track then this team could make some serious headway in the power rankings

 

10.  Damages (10)  – they managed to hold steady at number 10 without two of their major contributors contributing.  This team has made some great acquisitions in free agency and right now I think that they may be my frontrunner for coach of the year as they seem to be squeezing every bit of points they can out of their lineup from week to week.  It hasn’t been enough for too many victories thus far, and Baby brother Manning as a slight injury concern now.  But, could there be a trade on the horizon?  Damages currently have two decent quarterbacks, and there are plenty of teams in this league who could use one of them

 

11.  Heavenly Rampagers (11) – Ronnie Brown does his best to prove to me that he is indeed a number one guy, but even with his performance he still is not the leading running back for this team this week.  The good news for this team is the possible emergence of Rashard Mendenhall.  Willie Parker is out again this week, so that means at least one more game with Rashard being the main guy.  If he performs against Detroit anything along the lines of how he performed against San Diego, Parker may have a hard time finding his way back into the starting lineup.  It also might be the beginning of a surge up the power rankings for the Heavenly Ranpagers

 

 

12.  Legion of Doom (13) – my own team gets its first victory of the season and moves up one spot.  However, 53 points came from the tight end/Defense/kicker combination, and as I said before, that’s just not going to happen on a regular basis.  There are some signs of hope though, Donald Brown and Knowshon Moreno both seem to be getting more and more playing time every week.  It’s possible there is still a chance for this season

 

13.  Team Falk (12) – they lose their game and slide down one spot.  More disturbing than that, the warning signs from last week seemed to have carried on as this week they start another player who was not playing.  In this case, it’s even worse as it’s a kicker and it was his off week.  Add to that the injury to Roy Williams and the overall trouble in Dallas and this team may be looking at the bottom three in the not-too-distant future

 

14.  OffInThe Shower (15) –  they go over 100 points again and climb up another spot.  This might be the beginning of a climb all the way up into the top half.  Steve Slaton seems like he might be starting to get on track and there are signs that Brandon Marshall might be starting to find some chemistry with his new quarterback.  Add to that the outstanding performance of Steve Smith (New York Giants edition) recently and the consistent performance of Brandon Jacobs and this may be a team to keep an eye on.

 

15.  Mr. Al Davis (14) – you know what I just realized?  The team Mr. Al Davis doesn’t have a single Oakland Raider on his roster.  You get knocked down a spot for that if nothing else!  I think that this team is most likely going to remain in the bottom 25% of the power rankings throughout the season.  Neither other quarterbacks are going to score points consistently, and Jones-Drew is really their only serious threat.  However, they did win their game, so while I don’t see them moving too far up the power rankings or competing for overall points, the season is far from over

 

16.  Gaul Village Asterix (16) – well, so much for a new Team Voodoo.  They score more points than they have on any other week, so of course they suffer their first loss of the season.  Even though this team is 3-1, I think that has been more a result of scheduling and luck than anything else.  They are getting Westbrook back, so that’s something, but otherwise I just don’t see this team scoring more points than most of the other teams in this league on any given week

 

 

We are already 25% of the way through the NFL season.  But, what that really means is that we still have 75% of the way to go!  Are there some teams who are already dropping by the wayside?  Can any of the 0-4 teams, either here or in the NFL, still make the playoffs?  Your guess is as good as mine

 

For the NFL, the bye week is usually a welcome break. It gives teams a chance to rest their injured players, go over game plans and Scouting film and in general make whatever adjustments are necessary to either right a troubled season up to this point or continue the success. It doesn’t really matter when it happens in the season, whether you have the off week in the fourth week or the tenth, every NFL team looks forward to the break.

On the other hand, for the fantasy football player, the start of the bye weeks signals the beginning of the long road that truly determines what your season will wind up being. For the next seven weeks being aware of the schedule can be the main thing that make or break your team. Although I haven’t kept a record of it, I would be willing to wager that every year I have played fantasy football, somebody in some league at some point forgets that there is an off week coming up and starts at least one player who is not playing.

This kind of oversight can derail a previously successful season. In addition to that, there are between 4-6 teams who do not play on every off week. While it doesn’t happen nearly as frequently, I have seen many times were an owner starts multiple players who are not playing that week!

Now, I am not talking about the guy who is 0-9 after nine weeks and 300 points out of first place who has given up on the season and just isn’t playing anymore. Everybody loves those players by the way, trust me. I’m talking about the team that is 5-1 and fighting for first place in points. On more than one occasion I have seen a team in this position inadvertently start a couple of players who are not playing because of the off week, lose their game by three points and it is that extra loss that keeps them out of the playoffs.

On top of that, there is a definite psychological effect to this kind of oversight. An owner that is committed to winning in their league who makes this kind of mistake, oftentimes find themselves unable to get past those missing points, or those extra losses. In this kind of situation, there’s no one to blame but yourself. You can’t point to the unexpected injury that shut down your superstar in the second quarter and, thereby giving you less points than you expected. You can’t point to the spunky underdog team who, for no reason other than to annoy you, plays defense unlike anything they have played all season long and shut down the high scoring offense, of which you happen to have two players on. No, in this situation the points you have lost, and possibly the game that you have lost falls squarely on your own shoulders.

It’s easy to think, well, it was a mistake, nothing I can do about it now, have to move on. But believe me, if you are truly invested in playing the game, if a draft day feels to you the same way Christmas feels to a kid, then at the end of the season if you are not in the playoffs or competing for the lead in overall points, and you look back in the reason for this is that oversight you made in week five, you will curse yourself.

All that being said, there’s a remarkably easy way to avoid the situation. Check the NFL schedule! It only takes a couple of seconds and most league software even has the off weeks for all of your players right there on your team page. It’s a pretty easy way to avoid a situation that can cause the demise of your season, and in some situations, wreck the fun of the game for other players as well.

And speaking of wrecking the fun of the game, I’m starting to think the NFL, and I’m speaking of the NFL as a self-aware being here, is out just to screw with me this season. In my picks for sleepers last week, I went with Felix Jones and Chris Wells. What happens? Felix Jones looks awesome… right up to the point where he gets hurt. And, despite the fact Arizona is playing an extremely strong pass defense in Indianapolis, their main threat at running back, the explosive rookie Wells gets two carries all day long. What kind of coaching is that? In the words of the ESPN game day crew “ C’mon man!”

At the other end, I did say to expect a big drop off in the production from Chris Johnson. He still put up over 90 yd., but no touchdowns. Overall, I would say that qualifies as a significant drop.

That means that so far this season, I’m only 1-4. But, as I said before, anything over a 500 record I would be happy with, and it’s still a long season. So, what about this week?

For my secondary players, I’m sticking entirely with the State of California. Darren McFadden plays for Oakland, and that’s bad enough for most people to keep him on the bench. But, he is the one guy with any real talent on offense, and he’s going up against Houston who is dead last in the league against the run. Also, Glen Coffee looked dynamic in the preseason, and now she gets a chance to carry the load with Gore being out the next couple of weeks. I’m expecting both guys to perform well.

For my guaranteed starter who I expect to underperform, I am going with a gut feeling on this one. Brandon Jacobs has been consistent all season. And he is going up against Kansas City. Jacobs owners have every reason to expect good numbers this week. But, strange things always happen in Kansas City, I just have a feeling Brandon disappoints this week.

Not a whole lot of movement in the power rankings this week, but what there is is fairly significant!



1. Team Eagles (3) – the Eagles leapfrog into the number one spot. They have been leading the league in scoring since the start of this season, but this week they convinced me that it was time for a change at the top. They lost their first game in an upset, but what impressed me was that they still managed to score 91 points despite Drew Brees only managing four points! When you can still manage to score nearly 100 points when you’re number one guy doesn’t perform, then you have the kind of team that can win it all

2. MM of M (2) – the Monkeys stay at number two for another week, but you know, monkeys and number two have a long history. The main reason is the injury to Frank Gore. The word is that he is expected to return after their bye week. How well can the Monkeys survive without their main guy? As with the Eagles, if you are a truly powerful team, you can score even when you’re number one guy doesn’t. If the Monkeys can keep up this scoring pace without Frank, then I would expect them to be in a battle for the number one spot throughout the season

3. Evil Midnight Bombers (1) – the Bombers remained consistent in their scoring, but it’s been three weeks now and they haven’t had a real explosion. I still feel that might have the best roster from top to bottom in the league, but the question of whether or not they can actually perform or if it’s all potential is starting to creep into my mind


4. Dreaded Mercenaries (5) – they lose their first of the season in a heartbreaker, but they do enough to move up another spot. While their roster overall might not have scored points that would make you think they deserve to move up, it was some of the moves that they made that I feel warrant the move upward. Getting Choice into the lineup, knowing that they had to sit Barber shows that the ownership of the Mercenaries is on the ball and serious about winning

5. Team S (4) – they slide down another spot in the rankings and are dead last in overall points. They still have AP, and now Pierre Thomas seems to be getting back into the swing of things. But, Owens had zero catches last week, the first time in 185 games that has happened. And the quarterback issue is still looming large. They are still clinging to a top five spot, but they are building up some downward momentum that might be difficult to stop

6. The Bloodsuckers (6) – they lose their game but hold steady in the rankings. Big Brother Manning is clearly the driving force on this team. They made a couple of costly coaching decisions this past week, sitting Randy Moss and starting Maroney over Fred Taylor. That was the difference in their game. However, they still managed 92 points and have their eyes set on the top five

7. Farva’s Shovelheads (7) – they hold steady at number seven, but those chances that they took at running back which were looking so promising a couple of weeks ago are starting to become a bit of a concern. They still have one of the best fantasy quarterbacks around, but it appears that there are starting to be a number of question marks. Whether or not they are able to stay in the top half of the league is going to be decided on how well they are able to handle the off weeks


8. Amateur Pharmacists (9) – the Pharmacists climbed up one spot thanks mostly to the performances from Santana Moss and Matt Schaub. Michael Turner still is not scoring as it would be expected, and I don’t think Santana is going to score significant points on a regular basis. Still, if Schaub continues performing well, Michael Turner picks it up and Ryan Grant steps up, they have the ability to make a move towards the top five

9. Mopar’s Marauders (8) – the Marauders drop down one spot, but they are still right in the thick of things.. Chris Johnson is going to be the catalyst for this team all season long. Without Johnson, the Marauders are a team that would be in fairly big trouble. With him, they have the potential to outscore anybody.

10. Damages (11) – they climb back into the top 10, but this might be a tough week for them coming up. Fitzgerald is off and Parker is currently listed as doubtful. They have a couple of quarterbacks who are putting up consistently good, but not outstanding, numbers. But they need more support if they are going to make any kind of run this season

11. Heavenly Rampagers (10) – the Rampagers slide down another spot and they must be on the verge of pressing the panic button when it comes to Tom Brady. If Brady does not have a return to his form of two seasons ago, then I’m not sure this team is going to be able to compete.. Ronnie Brown is a very solid number two running back for your fantasy team, unfortunately he is the number one guy here. And Harvin has all sorts of potential, but there’s no guarantee how he is going to perform over the course of the entire season… Overall, I believe that as goes Brady, so goes the Rampagers


12. Team Falk (12) – they get a big victory in a tiebreaker situation, but unlike the team they beat, there are some warning signs here. It was pretty widely publicized that Tomlinson was not going to play last week, but they still had him in the starting lineup and it almost cost them. Now, this might have been a conscious decision. This is a very thin league, meaning that because of the rules and roster size, no team can have very much depth on the bench. It’s very possible that they were aware that Tomlinson was not playing, but given the choice of dropping one of their other players, and very probably losing them to another team, and starting somebody that they knew was not going to play, they went with the long-term vision. If that’s the case, then I expect this team will be able to work their way up the power rankings over the course of the season. If it was just an oversight, then they might not ever break into the top 10

13. Legion of Doom (13) – frustration, thy name is Beanie! The signs all seemed to indicate a big game for the rookie last week, and for reasons unknown to anyone, he got two carries. On top of that throw in the continuing struggles of Eddie Royal, and you have a perfect recipe for a slow start the season. It’s going to take at least one of the rookie running backs to start breaking out for this team to have any chance of making a move this season

14. Mr. Al Davis (14) – OK, who else thinks Al Davis is a vampire? An insane, blood starved vampire? I’m just throwing that out there. As far as this team goes though, there might be some hope still. They erupt for 111 points and Jones-Drew was a very big part of it. I’m still not sold on their roster, but if Jones-Drew can start scoring again and Driver can keep playing as he has been, then it is not out of the realm of possibilities for this team to make a run

15. Shelby Township (16) – they break out with 118 points this week and get out of the bottom spot. But let’s be honest, you’re not going to score 52 points out of your tight end/defensive team/kicker combination on a regular basis.. There are some reasons for hope though, Steve Slaton showed some signs of life last week, Branden Jacobs remains consistent and Branden Marshall got in the end zone, even though he was not starting it’s still a good sign. If everything falls into place, this team still might move into the top 10

16. Gaul Village Asterix (15) – do we have a new Team Voodoo?? The Asterix are next to last in overall points, and really don’t seem to have any individuals on their team who are capable of working out, and yet there are 3-0! Other than their record, there’s very little in the way of good news for this team. Word out of Philadelphia is that Westbrook is going to be splitting carries the rest of the season with McCoy, and Westbrook was their main threat. But, as is the way of fantasy football, even though they are at the bottom of the power rankings and next to last in overall points, right now their playoff hopes are much brighter than the majority of the league


And there you have it. We are now at the beginning of the real grind of the fantasy football season. How many of the currently powerful teams will not be able to maintain their current levels of performance? How many of the lower ranked teams will be able to take advantage? We will start finding out this week

OK, maybe overreact would be a better word.  It’s the second week of the season and this is where a lot of fantasy teams and NFL teams alike start to get concerned, or overjoyed, with the first two weeks of their season.  

 

In the NFL, teams like Tennessee and Carolina are starting to really worry about what this season may have in store for them (Tennessee will probably still make a run, Carolina maybe not so much).  At the other end of the spectrum, you’ve got teams like the New York Jets and 49ers who are starting to think that maybe this season won’t be like all of the other seasons recently, maybe we really are returning to our past glory.

 

The same thing can happen in fantasy football circles.  Anybody who owns Tomlinson worried right now?  The Patriots were supposed to threaten the scoring mark that they set two seasons ago. Tom Brady and Randy Moss owners, nervous at all?  Then again, how about all of you Drew Brees owners?  Making room on your shelf for your championship trophy this season?

 

Having played fantasy football for over 20 seasons now, I’ve learned the same thing many head coaches strive to drill into their players: it’s a long season, don’t panic and don’t start getting measured for ring sizes.

 

Anybody who is 0-2, the temptation is to run out and grab every hot player off of the waiver wires ASAP and cut that deadweight from your team.  Sometimes it works, but more often than not the guy you cut winds up being what you initially thought he was going to be, a decent fantasy player, and the guy who had a “breakout” game Sunday night disappears back into the shadows for the next 12 weeks.  There is nothing more important in fantasy football than your draft.  Waiver wire players can only do so much.

 

And just like in the real NFL, everybody that is 2-0 or leading their respective leagues in overall points needs to keep in mind that they are one play away from losing that stud running back, flashy wide receiver or golden armed quarterback.  In many cases, the waiver wire can be of more use to a team that is doing well.  While you might not find a dozen game changers on the waiver wire, you are going to find a couple of dozen decent backups.  Your main guys are doing well, you’re in first place after all.  But is Jemarcus Russell your backup quarterback?  Sure, you might be very happy with Aaron Rodgers, but that doesn’t mean you should count on him being your main guy all season.  This is the time to see if maybe you can grab a Sanchez or Stafford.

 

Whichever end of the spectrum you fall on, remember that it really is a long season.  Last year our eventual league champion lost Tom Brady in the first few minutes of the season.  A lot can happen, so don’t panic, don’t assume that you are set for the season, take your time when making roster moves and everything will be just fine… well, for the champion anyway, the rest of us are screwed.

 

Now, last week I went with a couple of players who are secondary type players that I thought were going to have good weeks.  Another thing I have learned is that doing this sort of thing has become increasingly difficult in the NFL today.  The Detroit Lions and St. Louis Rams?  Really??  Sure, they both still lost the game, but I don’t think anybody thought those two games were going to be as close as they were.  So, I’m starting out 0-2.  Realistically, I only hope to end up somewhere around 500 in these suggestions since every single one of them is going to be “against the grain” in one way or another.

 

So, who is going to do to be the surprise this week? I think I am going to go with a couple of night games this week.  The obvious choice is Felix Jones.  Barber has been surprising some people by still working out this week despite his leg injury.  However, odds are he is going to be limited even if he does play, so expect to see Felix Jones get some significant points Monday night.

 

And on Sunday night, I’m thinking we see Chris “Beanie” Wells get into the end zone for the first time in his NFL career.

 

As for sure fire starters who I think might have difficulty this week.  I know Chris Johnson owners are ecstatic after last week’s performance, but expect a big drop-off this week against a tough New York Jets defense at home.

 

And now for the ever popular and increasingly controversial power rankings!

 

 

 

1.      Evil Midnight Bombers (1) – another decent performance by the Bombers, but nothing too outstanding.  I’m not ready to knock them off of the number one spot though.  I think we have been seeing what will be the standard performance out of the Bombers on an average basis, in other words, I don’t expect many sub 60 point weeks.  I do however still believe that they have a roster that can and will explode from time to time.  They may be forth in overall points right now in the league, but I still believe this is the strongest roster from top to bottom

 

2.      MM of M (4) – the Monkeys campaigned for a higher ranking, I think they may have taken out some billboard space.  However, campaigning gets you nothing in the power rankings!  Performance on the other hand, does.  I still think quarterback is their weak spot even though both of them performed adequately this past week (the outstanding coaching did cost them two points though, I’m just saying).  This team will certainly be challenging for the number one spot if the quarterbacks continue performing well

 

3.      Team Eagles (3) – yes, they are number one overall in points scored so far, but they hold steady at number three in the power rankings.  There’s really not too much in the way of bad news for this team right now.  Drew is a fantasy God, Tomlinson’s decline is a bonus for Darren, they have Willis who seems to be finding his stride once again in Baltimore, and they have a good set of wide receivers provided they are able to stay healthy.  There is still a depth issue, but for this week the Eagles are solidly in the top three

 

4.      Team S (2) – they have the number one player in fantasy football at the running back position, and last week I said that their obvious weak spot was quarterback.  Well, I’m starting to wonder if maybe it isn’t a weak spot so much as a fatal flaw.  Despite what appears to be a pretty decent roster, S hasn’t really been able to score much of anything the first two weeks.  The injury to Pierre Thomas isn’t helping them either.  They slide down two spots this week, but it might be the beginning of a big fall if the rest of the team doesn’t start supporting AP

 

5.      Dreaded Mercenaries (7) – word from the West Coast is that the owner of the Mercenaries perceived their initial ranking as a bit of a slight, feeling that their debut performance warranted a higher ranking.  Well, I still don’t have any faith in Jackson and now Barber is injured, although it doesn’t appear to be anything serious.  However, even though they are remarkably thin at running back right now, they do appear to have sufficient depth then they may be able to sustain a higher level of scoring the next couple of weeks until Barber is back to 100%.  If they can, they will continue climbing the power rankings next week.

 

6.      The Bloodsuckers (5) – a slight drop in the rankings this week.  Big Brother Manning showed that he doesn’t really need to have the ball for any length of time in order to score decent points.  However, there is still no solid option at running back and they have to be getting a little nervous about Randy Moss.

 

7.      Farva’s Shovelheads (6) – dropping down one spot this week is more of a result of the teams around them.  Nothing has really changed, the chances that they took at running back still seem on course to pay off and they have a top-of-the-line quarterback, as starter anyway.  I’m not sure if they have the roster to challenge the top three right now, but if the running backs continue to advance throughout the season, they might be able to take down anybody by the end of the season

 

 

8.      Mopar’s Marauders (12) – Matt Ryan could wind up being the savior for this team! So far they have been able to alternate between the two main running backs having huge performances.  Chris Johnson should wind up being more reliable than Thomas Jones, and they are playing against one another this week, so that’s going to be a big game for the Marauders.  They have major problems at wide receiver, but if Ryan can be the number one guy, Cutler can be a decent backup and as long as the running backs can keep it up, this team has a chance to make some moves

 

9.      Amateur Pharmacists (9) – the Pharmacists hold steady at number nine.  Right now Michael Turner needs to pick it up.  He was a top three pick in almost every league I was in this season, and with some more points out of him the Pharmacists would easily be a little higher on the rankings.  They still have the potential to explode, but this isn’t the “potential rankings” it’s the power rankings, so until they show that they have not acquired a bunch of players who are going to have off years, they will continue hanging around the middle of the pack

 

10.  Heavenly Rampagers (11) – a decent performance out of the Rampagers this week moves them up one spot.  But, the main concern right now has to be Tom Brady.  The owner of the Rampagers was looking for a big game out of Brady last week against the Jets.  Instead, what everybody saw was at Patriot offensive line that continues having trouble giving Brady time and a quarterback that is clearly doing his best to put the knowledge of the damage that was done to his leg last season out of his head

 

 

11.  Damages (8) – they dropped three spots, but that’s once again as much a result of the teams around them as their own performance.  Very little has changed here as there are still significant questions at running back and the potential for the wide receivers to explode on any given week.  Right now everybody from number 6 All The Way down to number 13 is relatively close in terms of their ability to compete.  What the Damages need more than anything right now is to see Willie Parker return to his form of two seasons ago.  Being a Steelers fan myself, I have to say I’m kind of pulling for that as well

 

12.  Team Falk (13) – two weeks in and it’s looking more and more like Tomlinson might be the deciding factor for this team.  They still have very explosive wide receivers, Brett is still going to get consistent points in Minnesota, but if Tomlinson can’t return to at least get the goal line carries then there could be trouble in this team competing down the stretch

 

13.  Legion of Doom (10) – my own team is clearly out to drive me crazy this season.  Warner bounced back last week, so if he continues to throw the ball that effectively and stay healthy, that’s one less concern.  Wayne is going to get his points, and Williams has been consistent so far.  However, no secondary receiver has stepped up and so far none of the rookie running backs have broken out.  If both of these problems persist, it’s going to be a very difficult time. 

 

14.  Mr. Al Davis (14) – they holds steady at number 14 this week, but there are major concerns throughout the roster for this team, and after last week there might be some question about ownership as well seeing as how they started Welker when it was known before the game that he would not be playing..  Driver showed that he still has some gas left in the tank, and Jones-Drew is a legitimate threat, but overall this team has a long way to go

 

15.  Gaul Village Asterix (16) – oh, the wonders of fantasy football.  The Asterix remain unbeaten even though they have scored the third fewest points in the league.  There are still loads of questions, but there is some potential.  Westbrook has always been a solid fantasy performer, and even though I’m not sold on him this season, I could be wrong.  Kevin Smith would be a great addition, if he played for anybody except Detroit… and maybe St. Louis.  This team might wind up being a perfect example of why people love, and hate, fantasy football.  Right now, this team is in the running for the Super Bowl even though, according to the points, they shouldn’t be competing with anybody

 

16.  Shelby Township (15) – ew.  Steve Slaton cannot be high on a list of favorite people in Shelby Township right now.  This team is 0-2 and they have major dilemmas at every position.  Is Cassel really a franchise quarterback?  Will Brandon Jacobs stay healthy?  Was Slaton a flash in the pan last season?  Is there any legitimate wide receiver on this team?  As I said earlier, it’s a long season and a lot can happen, but if I was going to bet on one team not being able to compete this season, right now it would be this one

 

 

So, two weeks in and I’m sure there is a good mix of panic and confidence throughout the league.  But there are another 15 weeks to score points and we are still 10 weeks away from the playoffs.  Regardless what your emotional state is this week, keep on playing and have fun!

 

 

so, I go away on vacation for a couple of weeks and suddenly the NFL season starts??? Who planned that out?

Anyway, I've been preoccupied catching up on work related stuff (I know, ridiculous, right?) But I am indeed going to be doing the power rankings once again this season. This one is going to be a little more streamlined and to the point for this first week since it is already Saturday night, but the rest of the way through the season I plan on having these done sometime from Tuesday through Thursday.

I'm hoping we're able to get more discussion going this season. This area is open for anybody to respond to, post your own thoughts, your thoughts or comments about whatever I have to say, or why you disagree with something I might be thinking, or a prediction.

Last season I made predictions based on who would be the best and worst players in each position every week.. This season I think I'm going to do something a little different and try to pick a player or two each week who would normally not be your number one starter, but who I think might be in for a decent performance.

I haven't really had the time to study the schedule the first two weeks like I normally would, so these are going to be directly off the top of my head.

For running back, I think if you have Chester Taylor this would be a great chance to start him. There is every indication Minnesota will blow out Detroit. And that's the case, AP is going to get a break in the second half and Chester Taylor might be in for a higher than normal number of carries and a trip to the end zone.

Wide receiver: I know that everybody in Washington gave no reason to believe the wide receivers will be producing any numbers of consequence of this season, and while St. Louis might be able to shut down... well, OK, they probably can't shut down anybody, but I think Washington will try to get on top quick so Santana Moss should be a good start as a second wide receiver or flex position.

In future weeks I will probably also look for a standard starter on most teams who I think might be in for an off week, but for this time let's just start slow.

I also normally throw in a general comment about the NFL. Here it is this week: what is up with everybody's infatuation with Philip Rivers?? I mean, I'm slightly more impressed with him that I have been with Jay Cutler, and everybody knows how he performed last week. Sure, he had a decent season last year, but Phyllis has never really done anything, never really had a breakout year, and people are crazy about him. I somewhat understand the attraction from fantasy owners, he puts up decent numbers and is a young guy, and everybody loves "potential". What I don't understand is the everyday media who seems ready to appoint him the second coming of Joe Montana. The kid has never won anything of consequence and his first reaction to a bad performance or any kind of criticism by the media is to cry like a gigantic, hungry baby.

Anyway, onto the power rankings. Normally these will be more detailed than what follows. Remember, these have very little to do with your actual record or overall point total in our league. These are nothing more than my own personal opinion as to how "powerful" your team is, where your strengths may lie and what the weaknesses on your team are



1. Evil Midnight Bombers (1) – this was the only team I graded as A after our initial draft, and I still think they have the most powerful team in the league. They are strong at every position, maybe a little weak with their second wide receiver, but all of their players have the potential to score on any given week. Right now I think they will be the team that has the chance to separate themselves from the rest of the league

2. Team S (2) – they may not have performed particularly well in the first week, but they have AP and barring injury the guy might break a whole bunch of single-season records this year. If Pierre Thomas can get and stay healthy, they might wind up with the best running back duo in the league. Throw in Owens who has to score a fair number of points soon or later (barring the mental breakdown was usually doesn’t happen until his second season), Antonio Gates and the Steelers defense, and you have the potential for a lot of points. Obvious weak spot is the quarterback position

3. Team Eagles (3) – this one is a result of the performance one Mr. Drew Brees gave in the first week of the season combined with his overall schedule this year. Just like AP on the ground in Minnesota, Drew has the potential to break a lot of single-season records this year. Add to that the possibility of Darren Sproles becoming more or less of a starter in San Diego, and you already have a decent 1-2 punch. If Boldin can get his head on straight and stop talking about whatever “injury” he has from one week to the next, this team can certainly compete. Main weakness would be no solid second starter at either wide receiver or running back at this point in the season, although they do have a number of players who could emerge

4. MM of M (4) – the monkeys title is just too long for comfort, so they get an abbreviation. Despite that, they have what could turn out to be five of the strongest starters in the league with Gore, Addai, Benson, Calvin and Jason Witten. Right now the major flaw appears to be having banked on Carson Palmer being your main quarterback and now being stuck with Byron.

5. The Bloodsuckers (5) – big Brother Manning may not be the dominant force he once was in fantasy circles, but there are still not many quarterbacks who are going to outscore him this season. Plus, anytime you can put Randy Moss on the same team as big Brother Manning, you have the potential for a lot of points. Throw in Tony Gonzalez at tight end, and things are not looking too bad. Obviously points would be the running back where they don’t really have a legitimate number one starter.

6. Farva’s Shovelheads (6) – Rodgers to Jennings could be the battle cry for this team all season long. They also took a couple of risks at running back that might be paying off with Darren McFadden and Cadillac Williams. Their main weakness would be no solid option as a second wide receiver, and I’m not sure there is anyone ready to emerge into that role on their team right now.

7. Dreaded Mercenaries (7) – the success of this team might depend on the success of the Dallas Cowboys. Tony and Marion should be able to keep them in the hunt all season long. They have decent possibilities at wide receiver and my sleeper hit of the week in Chester Taylor, but St. Louis might compete with Detroit for worst team in the league this season, that’s not going to help Steven Jackson. They also have little to nothing in the Way of depth right now

8. Damages (8) – they have what could turn out to be the most dynamic wide receiving corps in the league with Fitzgerald, TJ Whoseyourmomma and Crayton. They have the consistent is not outstanding baby brother Manning at quarterback and a solid tight end and defense. The main question mark is running back. The potential is there, but a lot of things have to follow the place. This is a team I would my eye on.

9. Amateur Pharmacists (9) – this team has the possibility to explode on any given week. With Michael Turner, Ryan Grant, Colston and McClain threatening from the goal line, they are bound to have a couple of huge weeks. Main weakness is the quarterback position.

10. Legion of Doom (10) – a decent tandem with DeAngelo Williams at running back and Reggie Wayne at wide receiver. The main concerns for this team will be can Kurt Warner stay healthy and Will any of their rookie running backs emerge early enough to make a difference

11. Heavenly Rampagers (11) – there is the potential for this team to skyrocket up the charts. Ronnie Brown has shown the ability to score touchdowns and over 1000 yd., Will Miami allow that to happen? Everybody knows what Tom Brady can do, but his knee appears to still be bothering him. And, Percy Harvin could turn into a decent producer in his first year. White can certainly knock in touchdowns and Hightower is, for the time being, still the main guy in Arizona. If everything clicks, this team will be able to compete with anybody. If it doesn’t, they might wind up right around the spot in the power rankings at the end of the season

12. Mopar’s Marauders (12) – Thomas Jones is not going to score like he did last week every week, but then again Chris Johnson probably won’t be shut down every week like he was last week. The running backs will have to carry this team as there are significant questions at both quarterback and wide receiver

13. Team Falk (13) – this team is probably ranked too low as I look everything over, but it always takes a couple of weeks for everybody to fall into their proper place. Brett is going to get points in Minnesota, Roy Williams and Andre Johnson are great wide receivers, the question here is, is Tomlinson going to destroy this team?

14. Mr. Al Davis (14) – MoJo is going to score points, and Donald driver isn’t bad, but he’s hardly a number one receiver. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lewis winds up losing his job sometime this season, and while the rest of the receivers are decent, none of them are going to have huge seasons.the quarterback position should be consistent, but overall I think this team has some troubles ahead of them

15. Shelby Township (15) – Brandon Jacobs and Steve Slaton should manage to score some points, but after that there are huge questions at quarterback and wide receiver. The fate of this team might rest in the hands of the mentally unstable Branden Marshall

16. Gaul Village Asterix (16) – I know this team won their first game, and I may be completely wrong on this, but I think this team is in for trouble all season. I’m not sold on Philadelphia as a whole and I’m not sure Westbrook is going to be able to remain healthy. Kevin Smith might get points here and there, but he is on Detroit. And Edwards seems like he is trying to show that last year was for real and two years ago was the fluke, and not vice versa. I mean, Kyle Orton is the only quarterback on this team right now. That alone says trouble to me.

And there we have it, the first power rankings of the season! Overall, even though we have more teams this season, I think there is better balance overall from top to bottom and right now there isn’t anybody I would rule completely out. Good luck everybody!

I know. It can be hard to believe, but as there are fewer and fewer football games, there is less and less pertinent news. Make no mistake, there is still some awesome football to be played. Philadelphia versus Arizona is a game between two teams that NOBODY expected to be here, and one of them will be going to the Super Bowl. And the Baltimore versus Pittsburgh game... well, it's always a hard-hitting contest, but to determine who goes to the Super Bowl? Expect a war.

And, there is still some pertinent news. St. Louis fired their entire coaching staff and Tampa Bay got rid of "Chucky" and their general manager. There's a lot of Premier coaching positions open right now, and whoever fills them could affect your fantasy football next season.

But, if you're not in a playoff fantasy football league, or a fan of one of the four remaining teams (which thank the gods I am) then you are probably not paying very close attention to football. So, for those of you looking for other things to occupy your time, there's a quick movie review coming up.

First, a very fast once over of my predictions from last week. McNabb threw for over 200 yd., one touchdown and ran for another touchdown, so that's a good call. However, Williams was exactly like Michael Turner and could not get the job done against Arizona and while Hines led Pittsburgh in receiving, he did not get to 100 yd. or score a touchdown, so both of those are bad calls. That gives me a 3-2-1 postseason record.

I also predicted the upsets with Baltimore and Philadelphia, but Arizona surprised. This week, I once again deferon the Pittsburgh game, however I do predict at least one Pennsylvania team in the Super Bowl as I think Philadelphia will defeat Arizona.

As far as players, you almost have to go completely with the Philadelphia/Arizona game. Baltimore in Pittsburgh is going to be a bloodbath. They are going to try and kill one another. If you don't really have any major football rivalries, and want to get an idea of what they can be like, watch the Pittsburgh/Baltimore game.

My players this week would be McNabb, Hightower and Fitzgerald.

Now, for a brief movie review. You'll probably see more of these during the off-season as I usually try to see at least one movie a week in the theaters during the spring and summer.

Seven pounds

Wow. Remember when Will Smith was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air? I always had a somewhat soft spot in my heart for that show. It was goofy, had its funny moments and was some innocent fun. Much like his rap music, it is something you could smile at while partaking in it.

So, I have always kind of liked Will Smith. Every actor makes some bad decisions here and there (wild wild West?) But even his bad decisions somehow wind up being fun. He has done comedy, action, and even his fair share of drama such as Ali. I figured Will Smith had settled into that big drawing kind of star who can put his name on an action film, make lots of money, and occasionally appear in a comedy or drama and surprise some people.

Well, as far as I am concerned, his performance in seven pounds marks another stage in his evolution as an actor. I'm not sure I can remember the last time in a movie that anybody was able to make me cry without saying a word. His ability to express an motion through the look in his eyes, the appearance of his face was all something I had not expected and I have to say it kind of blew me away. I haven't heard very much Academy award talk about this performance, but if Will Smith is not at least nominated then the category is a joke this year.

On top of that, Rosario Dawson is extremely impressive in the supporting role. I've never been much of a fan, I've always felt she seems to be reading her lines rather than actually feeling them, but that was not the case in this movie.

The movie itself is about a fairly controversial subject, which I won't go into so as not to ruin the experience for anybody else. But overall, I think this is definitely one that is worth the big-screen and if you can find it in a theater somewhere at this point, go see it.

That's about it for this week. Once again, let's hope that I am still a happy person in approximately 32 hours from now

I don't feel like rushing before game time tomorrow, and it's already almost midnight my time today. So here's a off the top of my head entry.

There are only eight NFL teams still playing football, and all but one of them have had some sort of to those given to their defense. OK, maybe two since San Diego has such a week pass defense, would really the only defensive unit left that got zero credit all season is Arizona. And why do you care? Because if you are still in any kind of playoff fantasy football, that means the pickings are now getting tough. Everybody is facing a tough defense.

So, a quick review of last week shows I was right on Warner and Fitzgerald, but only average with Turner who did score a touchdown but it was terrible with yardage, so let's start out my postseason predictions with a 2-0-1 record

Predictions this week go as follows. Quarterback, Donovan McNabb as he upsets the Giants, running back is DeAngelo Williams doing what Michael Turner could not do last week and Hines Ward, a longtime bad weather performer.

My predictions for the games? Well, I never predict Pittsburgh games, so I'll skip that. Philadelphia and Baltimore pull off the upsets, Carolina wins at home.

Here's to hoping I am still in a good mood Sunday night around 9 PM Eastern time!

OK folks, I’m starting this article with about 45 minutes to go before kickoff of the first playoff game. It’s wild-card weekend, so it’s only appropriate that I attempt to pull off some sort of Artemis Gordon style gadgetry to make this useful, brief and still relevant.

First, a recap of last week. The choke fest continued with Denver and Dallas looking nothing short of ridiculous. There were at least 2 ½ dozen people in Pittsburgh who had heart attacks while Big Ben was carted off the field on a stretcher. Owners took no time at all in making some coaching changes: no surprise in Detroit and Cleveland, a little bit of a surprise with the Jets, fairly large surprise in Denver. Some fantasy football players don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what happens to the coaches, and that can be a mistake. Anybody who thinks San Francisco is not going to feature the running game next season under Mike Singletary might wind up getting left out in the cold.

Now we are moving into the playoffs. Fantasy games are much harder to come across in this part of the NFL season, but if you are just a football fan in general, there is nothing better than having your NFL team in the playoffs. The knowledge that every single week, if you lose there are no more games to play until the start of the following season adds an excitement to everything that is rarely found in the regular-season.

So, let’s look over the predictions from last week real quickly before I figure out what I will be doing for my predictions through the postseason.

Well, I pretty much nailed that whole San Diego/Denver thing. Have to go with double good calls on Philip Rivers, Vincent Jackson and L. T. as well as double good calls for warning against Marshall and Cutler, but there was a good running back for Denver, so a double bad call on that. That finishes it off at 10-2, making the regular season total 98-70-28.

Since there are only a limited number of games each week during the playoffs, I’m only going to take three players, one quarterback, one running back and one wide receiver who I think will be the best performers each week. We will stick with the same scoring criteria, and if any of the players I take are the overall best performer at their position then that will be a bonus. If somebody does terrible, like getting shutout with virtually no yardage, then we will double up on that bad call.

As your quarterback, I think you have to look at Kurt Warner. I actually think Arizona is going to lose this game, but I also believe it’s going to be a crazy shoot out so I think Kurt Warner is your agent Jim West in this wildcard weekend.

As your running back, well, if I think Arizona is going to lose the game, then somebody on Atlanta has to do a lot of the scoring and I can’t see anybody stopping Michael Turner, so Mr. Turner is your Artemis Gordon.

And if there is one position that can wreak havoc on defenses and fantasy lineups in general, it is wide receiver. This week, Dr. Lovelace will be played by Larry Fitzgerald. That’s right, I am so certain that Atlanta versus Arizona is going to be high-scoring that all three of my suggestions are coming from that one-game.

Now, for some awards! First off, these awards do not include winning the Super Bowl as that achievement already has its own award.

The award for most overall points scored goes to size 7 poopShooters. In recognition of their achievements, this award shall forever be known as the Commander Riker award. Yeah, yeah, I know, Captain Picard called him number one, but it sounds good for an award name and really, there’s only so much you can do with poopShooters

The team that won the Super Bowl also wins the award for best coaching/general management throughout the season, the Cowering Code Monkeys win the first ever Golden Monkey award.

The Maverick/Goose award for biggest crash and burn goes out to Damaged Denial for the spectacular fall from grace during the last third of the season.

The Detroit Lions Memorial award goes to Pavlov’s Altoids for giving virtually everybody else in the league one guaranteed victory.

The Rock’em Sock’em Robot award for never giving up despite not having a lot to fight for goes to the Bloodsuckers.

The award for most improved returning team or best rookie team will from this time forward be known as the Fenix award in recognition of the fine rookie performance from team Fenix.

And finally, the One Ring award for most powerful team in the league goes to the Twittering Witty Wombats!

Congratulations to everybody on a great season, I’m already looking forward to next year!

Let’s jump right into things. First off, how about that monumental choke- fest that was on display in the NFL last weekend? Denver, along with Pro bowl quarterback, that’s right, Pro bowl quarterback Jay Cutler have essentially handed the division to San Diego. This has to be one of the worst Pro bowl selections in the history of the Pro bowl. The Hall of Famer Favre could not lock up the division against Seattle, SEATTLE, and now they need plenty of help to even get into the playoffs. Dallas looks ridiculous on Saturday night, giving up back-to-back 70 + yard runs in the fourth quarter when they are trying to make a comeback and everybody KNOWS Baltimore is going to run it. Miraculously, Dallas still controls their own destiny. Arizona looks like they locked up their division, then just called it a season. I guess when you are used to going home at the end of the regular season it becomes a habit.

Also, I realize we’re coming up on the last week of the NFL regular-season, but I was just struck with an idea. Next season I will do this every week, but I’d like to start a question of the week which I will put up as a poll. During the NFL season I am pretty sure that every one will be football related, but I will work on putting up a different one every week of the year on different subjects during the off-season.

As for fantasy football, it looks like our LiveWorld league is basically over. There is nothing scheduled for this last week, so I’m not sure if the web site will even keep track of points. Mental note, next season just schedule 17 regular-season weeks, no playoffs.

As I have said, there are playoff fantasy football games. It looks like most of the sites set their own criteria, so you play by whatever their scoring rules are I don’t particularly like the way the ESPN one is set up, so here’s a link to the one that NFL.com is running.

http://www.nfl.com/fantasy/playoffchallenge?icampaign=TR_PlayChallenge2

I think we will be able to form our own league after the playoff teams are finalized, but basically it would just be keeping track of our individual teams. Still, might be fun. I’m definitely going to play, so if you join in, let me know your team name and I will see if I can get all of us together. Or, you can just let me know you are interested and what e-mail address you want to use, then I can invite you through the NFL.com web site.

So, let’s take a look back at my predictions from last week, one more set of regular-season predictions and this will be our final power rankings of the season.



Quarterbacks who I favored

Brett Favre, that may have been the most disappointing performance of his career. This was exactly the situation he came back for and exactly the situation the New York Jets signed him and it did not work out the way either had intended. Definitely a bad call. On the other hand Cassle threw for three touchdowns, no interceptions and had over 350 yd. of total offense. That’s a good call.

Quarterbacks who I suggested not going with

Jason Campbell. Under 175 total yards and no touchdowns, that’s a good call

Tony Romo. This is a tricky one. Just over 250 total yards and two touchdowns, but also two interceptions. I could probably go with a push, but going with a bad call on this one

Running backs who I liked

How does Miami score 38 points without Ronnie Brown scoring a touchdown or getting anywhere near 100 total yards? Chad Pennington, who should be in the Pro bowl this year, has a fantastic game, that’s how. That’s a bad call

Matt Forte managed just over 100 total yards. and scored a touchdown, so that’s a good call

Running backs who I said would not perform well

Marion Barber. Pretty much exactly as I predicted, he gave it a shot, he didn’t make it, two carries for no yards. Good call

Anybody on Oakland. Well, they did way better than I think anybody expected, but none of the running backs could go over 100 total yards or scored a touchdown, so this wind up being a good call

Wide receivers who I suggested starting

These pretty much summed up the NFL season in terms of predictability. Andre Johnson, a monster almost every week of the year no matter his competition is held to a couple of catches and under 20 yd. of offense against Oakland while Calvin Johnson, also a monster almost every week of the year no matter his competition, doesn’t get anywhere near 100 yd. or the end zone against New Orleans. Both of them bad calls

Wide receivers who I suggested not starting

Green Bay receivers did manage one touchdown, but nobody came anywhere near 100 yd.. This was a double bet, so we will go with a good call/push combination

For the week I am a marginal 6-5-1, making the season total 88-68-28.

And now, the final regular-season predictions. If you are in a league that scores points all 17 weeks, then this week can make you a lot of money. I mean, if this fantasy football thing was ever played for money, which is ridiculous, of course it’s all just for entertainment!

Quarterbacks.

Three touchdowns or a 300 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 200 yd. is a bad call

Running backs

Two touchdowns or a 150 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call

Wide receivers

Two touchdowns or a 100 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call.

After my exhaustive calculations for this week, comparing various levels of defense against various levels of offense, here’s what I have come up with.

Good quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers: Philip Rivers Tomlinson, Vincent Jackson

Bad quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers: Cutler, any running back on Denver, Brandon Marshall

Double bets on all of them!

Now, for the final power rankings of the season!

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/standings?leagueId=293451

1. Twittering Witty Wombats. (2) there you have it folks, in the last week of the season where any points are being tabulated the Wombats claim the number one spot as most powerful team of the season! If overall points were still being scored, they would only be about 16 points behind the Shooters for most points scored and outscored the Shooters four out of the last five weeks. With those kinds of numbers, it’s hard to argue against the Wombats being the most powerful team in the league at the end of the season. They might have even been able to take the overall points total if there was scoring in the final week of the season. Congratulations Mark!



2. size7 poopShooters. (1) they wind up at number two for the season, which is disturbingly fitting given the name of the team. They really struggled down the stretch in the playoffs and wound up losing in the Super Bowl. However, since there will be no points scored next week, they do take the overall points title. At least, I am 99% sure they take the overall points title. I did not add up everybody’s overall scores, but I am pretty sure they finished just ahead of the Mercenaries, who I think would have been in third place. If I’m incorrect on the overall points, somebody let me know, but until then, congratulations Jeff!


3. Cowering Code Monkeys.(5) well, what a Cinderella finish. The team that could have given up 15 minutes into the season comes on extremely strong and wins the Super Bowl. They jump up to the number three spot because they have scored almost 400 points in just the last three weeks. They were in too big of a hole to take over the number one point scoring spot or the number one power ranking, but they take the Super Bowl. Congratulations Adam!

4. Dreaded Mercenaries. (3) they finish near the top in overall points scored. I have no idea who exactly was the winner or loser in the toilet bowl, but they would be right in the thick of things if there was another week of scoring. Even though they don’t take any of the major titles, except maybe the toilet bowl, and they really struggled in the second half of the season, I think you would have to say that overall the Mercenaries had a decent year

5. Evil Midnight Bombers.(4) they finish in the number five spot overall. They had a shot in the playoffs, but in the end the yo-yo scoring that defined this team at the start of the season ultimately ended it for them



6. Team Fenix. (6) they wind up in sixth place, virtually tied with the Flood and from what I hear are looking forward to next season!

7. The Flood. (7) they sweep through the losers bracket of the playoffs and essentially make it into the top half of the power rankings. Next season comes about quickly, so everybody should start working on their ark


8. Damaged Denial.(8) too many injuries, suspensions and locker room arguments wound up spelling the demise of Damaged Denial. But, for the majority of the season, they were nearly unbeatable.

9. The Bloodsuckers. (10) it doesn’t mean too much, but the Bloodsuckers do indeed manage to climb up one more rank finishing at number nine for the season.


10. San Hosers. (9) the Hosers slip down to number 10, but the top 10 teams in the power rankings were all ridiculously competitive this season



11. Team Jackie. (11) they wind up losing their final game of the season to the Altoids, and fall into what is basically a tie at the bottom of the barrel

12. Pavlov’s Altoids. (12) same as above, because if any team could have found a way to lose to itself, it would have been the Altoids.


And those are your final power rankings of the season. Next week, in place of the power rankings I’ll hand out my end of the year awards.

It happens every year. Or at least it seems like happens. Every season one of your workhorse players, one of the guys you have relied on all year long disappears during your fantasy playoffs.

This season Clinton Portis ended the season for many a fantasy football team by not being able to do anything against the exceptionally week Cincinnati defense. Kurt Warner didn’t exactly have a cakewalk against Minnesota, but the performance was certainly disappointing when compared to the rest of his season and made the difference in a lot of games. There’s always a few of them, and somehow it seems like they are always on one of your teams.

Of course, there are the occasional well timed break out games. Anybody who had Andre Johnson for their playoff game this past week was extremely happy. And everybody that picked up Dominic Rhodes as a handcuff to Joseph Addai(or stole him to prevent somebody from using him as a handcuff) looks like a genius if they started him this past week. Again, there’s always a few of these players, oddly though it somehow seems that they are never on one of your teams.

Regardless of which side of that fence you fell on, you have to take some enjoyment out of it. You are still playing fantasy football! and there is only two weeks to go in the NFL regular-season.

Speaking of which, is anybody interested in getting a playoff league going? I haven’t checked out the ESPN site, but I’m betting that they offer some sort of postseason leagues. We can probably have as many or as few people as we want, there is not really any head to head schedule in most postseason games. Most of them even allow multiple teams to have the same players, it’s all about who can pick the best 17 overall (or whatever number the specific league is set up for). Anyway, if anybody is interested, let me know, I will certainly play.

Now, let’s see what happened with the predictions from last week

Quarterbacks who I said would lead your team towards your league championship.

I wouldn’t exactly call the game Manning had against Detroit massive, but he did go over 300 yd. with a touchdown which qualifies as a good call. McNabb got 290 yd. and added two touchdowns, so that’s another good call

Quarterbacks who I said would lead your team out of the playoffs.

Houston surprised a lot of people this past week and Schaub definitely surprised me. Now, he didn’t have a great game, under 300 yd. and only 1 touchdown, but it certainly wasn’t bad. I went with a double bet, so let’s go bad call/push on this one

Running backs who I said would get you the tough yards when it matters most.

Well, that was a miserable performance. When your stud running back cannot produce against Cincinnati, especially in your fantasy playoff game, it’s bad news for you. Double bad call

Running backs who I said would get stopped on fourth and short

Did you watch that Baltimore versus Pittsburgh game? Now that is some good football! No running back was able to get to 100 yd., and no touchdowns on the ground either. That’s a couple of good calls

Wide receivers who I said would welcome the spotlight of the playoffs

Only 67 yd., but two touchdowns, which is always good for a wide receiver, that’s a double good call

Wide receivers who who I said would drop the ball under pressure

The only touchdown came from Holmes, but he only had 21 total yards. Ward was not just the only receiver to go over 100 yd., he was the only one to even get close, but I did say he was the exception to the prediction, so that’s another double good call


For the week I am a very good 8-3-1, making the season total 82-63-27.

Now, onto what is the Super Bowl week for most fantasy football leagues. Once again we will keep all of the criteria the same.

Quarterbacks.

Three touchdowns or a 300 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 200 yd. is a bad call

Running backs

Two touchdowns or a 150 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call

Wide receivers

Two touchdowns or a 100 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call.

Quarterbacks who will perform like Joe Montana (winner of four Super Bowls and the only three-time Super Bowl MVP)

This is the week where you really want your players to be on teams that are still trying to qualify for the playoffs. Two quarterbacks who I don’t expect will be pulling any punches this week are Brett Favre against one of his old head coaches in Seattle and Matt Cassle at home against Arizona. It would be easy to go with Drew Brees, but it’s no fun just taking whoever is playing Detroit every week

Quarterbacks who will perform like Jim Kelly (great quarterback, but loser of four super Bowls)

Jason Campbell. The kid had a hell of a first half of the season, but it has really fallen apart in the last six games. It looks like his confidence is shaken and I’m not sure he will be able to recover it against a tough Philadelphia defense

Tony Romo. I’ve been pretty accurate when it comes to Tony predictions this season, and even though it’s a risk I’m saying Tony has a bad game this week. Baltimore has a tough defense, and they are a bunch of thugs… thugs who feel like they were cheated last week against Pittsburgh. Tony seems like the kind of guy who cracks easily, and I don’t see him holding up this week.

Running backs who will perform like Emmitt Smith (winner of three super Bowls and one Super Bowl MVP)

You just have to like what is going on in Miami. 1-15 last season, fighting for a division championship and a playoff spot in week 16 this year. Ronnie Brown against Kansas City seems like a good match up to me, even if it is in Kansas City

I also really like Matt Forte going against Green Bay on Monday night

Running backs who will perform like Thurman Thomas (great running back, but loser of four Super Bowls, sorry Buffalo)

Marion Barber. He is already banged up, and while I think he will give it a shot, he is once again going against the thugs of Baltimore. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t finish the game.

Anybody on Oakland. You’re probably not starting anybody that runs the ball for Oakland anyway, but last week they became the first team in the history of the NFL to have six straight seasons with 11 + losses, so I had to work them in here somewhere.

Wide receivers who will perform like Lynn Swann (winner of four super Bowls and the first of only five wide receivers to be Super Bowl MVP)

After the way Oakland performed last week and what Andre Johnson did to Tennessee, how could you not go with Andre Johnson? Houston looks like a team that wants to close out the season strong and build momentum for next year. Oakland looks like a team who desperately wants a new owner.

And let’s go with another Johnson, Calvin. Everybody knows Detroit is horrible. Horrible as in Friday the 13th part 8 horrible (trust me, part 8 is the worst). That only makes it that much more remarkable how well Calvin Johnson is doing this season. On a team with any kind of talent whatsoever, this kid would be devastating. As it is, he is only nearly unstoppable. This week, at home against New Orleans, might be the best shot Detroit has to win a game, if they do it’s probably going to be shoot out and Calvin will play a big part in it

Wide receivers who will perform like Andre Reed (great receiver, but loser of four Super Bowls. Seriously, really, really sorry Buffalo)

Green Bay has to be questioning the decision to not welcome back Brett. They were 13-3 last season, and really the only person that they did not get back or improve upon position wise was their quarterback… the Hall of Fame quarterback. Now, I am not saying that Aaron Rodgers will never lead them to the promised land. I’m not even saying he isn’t a good quarterback. But, this season went down the drain in a hurry and they have to play Chicago in Chicago on Monday night while Chicago still fights for a playoff spot. I will put a double bet on any wide receiver for Green Bay

Now, we press on with the power rankings!

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/standings?leagueId=293451



1. size7 poopShooters. (1) they hold onto the number one spot and move into the Super Bowl even though they have an extremely subpar performance, being outscored by nine of the other 11 teams in the league this week. I believe they would still hold the overall points lead right now. If I have time, I will try to tally up all of the points at the end of the season to determine who is the overall points winner as well as Super Bowl and power rankings champion

2. Twittering Witty Wombats. (2) I am not sure exactly how the consolation bracket is working, but they lose the showdown with the Flood. But, if anything they moved closer to the number one power rankings spot with a solid performance in point scoring. The number one spot is definitely still a possibility for them, and while I’m not sure how far behind they are, I think they would still theoretically have a shot at overall points


3. Dreaded Mercenaries. (4) another team that did not make the main playoff this season but is among the most powerful teams in the league. They moved back up into the number three spot after an impressive performance

4. Evil Midnight Bombers.(3) they slide down one spot, but that’s more from the Mercenaries moving up than it is the Bombers faltering. The number one spot in the power rankings is definitely still a possibility for them



5. Cowering Code Monkeys.(7) my favorite team to watch for most of the season makes it into the Super Bowl. All the credit in the world goes to owner Adam Greuling for not giving up on his team after a devastating injury. There was certainly some luck involved: they were eighth overall in scoring during the regular season but had more points scored against them than any other team. That alone seems to make it a mathematical impossibility that this team would make the playoffs let alone the Super Bowl. Nevertheless, here they are, and nobody can question that they are the most durable of the teams in the league, and as of right now among the most powerful

6. Team Fenix. (6) they are eliminated from the playoffs but hold on to the number six spot in the power rankings. I have to say, looking back over the season I am pretty impressed by the ownership of Team Fenix. Rookie owners usually have a very difficult time in their first season, but Kathy turned an average draft into a decent team and made the playoffs in her very first season. Hopefully she has enjoyed the experience and the world of fantasy football has a new convert

7. The Flood. (8) they move up one more spot and win another game in the consolation bracket. They might be able to break into the top five once again before the end of the season, and it would appear that they will be playing for the Toilet bowl championship.


8. Damaged Denial.(5) the crash happened hard and it happened fast. Just like that, the once unstoppable Denial are out of the playoffs, and they lose by being the lowest scoring team in the league in the biggest week of the season for them. The ending of the year has to be a disappointment, but they had one heck of a run that was a lot of fun to watch as week after week logic was defied. I am sure that next season will see Denial be just as competitive, and maybe more so as there is a decent chance they will stay away from those “locker room cancer” players like Burress

9. San Hosers. (9) I’m thinking the bottom third of the power rankings is almost finalized. I don’t think it is very likely that anybody will be of able to climb into the number 8 spot. The only possible change would be a swapping between 9th and 10th place, but right now things are looking about set

10. The Bloodsuckers. (10) another first-time owner, although overall this team did not fare as well as Fenix. Still, they stuck with their franchise throughout the season and it didn’t take long for them to solidify themselves as members of the top 10 rather than members of the bottom 3. Hopefully they take what they have learned from their experiences during this first season and return for a second



11. Team Jackie. (11) another week, another loss

12. Pavlov’s Altoids. (12) I honestly can’t think of anything else to say here


So, most fantasy leagues wrap up their playoffs this coming week while the excitement of the NFL regular-season builds to a crescendo. It’s been an exciting season all the way around, and in the words of the immortal Willy Wonka “the suspense is terrible… I hope it’ll last”

We are in the homestretch of the NFL season, and for a lucky few that means playoff time and fantasy football. Of the four active leagues I am in, the LiveWorld league is the only one where I am NOT either already locked into the playoffs or have a chance at the playoffs coming into this week.

I must admit, I had visions of repeating as champion and sweeping the points, then magnanimously offering to take a year off in order to give someone else a chance to win. Alas, now I must return again and refocus my will to dominate and crush you all next season.

And, speaking of next season, after we are done with this year I’d like to use this blog as a place for discussion about possible rule changes for next season. I’m all for scoring points, but I’ve never been a fan of fantasy leagues where people are averaging 100 plus points. I’ve always preferred trying to make the fantasy league as close to actual football as possible, and while, yes, having that running back who gets you 100 yd. a game should give some sort of bonus to your team, let’s be honest, 100 yd. rushing does not equate to 10 points a game.

But, those discussions are still a month or so off (unless anyone is interested in getting a playoff league going? In which case the discussions could still be two months away! ) For now, let’s focus on how things are going in the NFL and the fantasy league playoffs.

First, in the NFL, I’ve been saying it all year and it keeps on proving itself true, this season is one for the history books. You’ve got the defending Super Bowl Giants, dominating all season, but suddenly starting to look like maybe Plaxico and injuries are starting to weaken them at the worst possible time. Tennessee hit a little bump in the road against the Jets a few weeks ago but are once again trucking right along. And those Jets, who everybody was ready to anoint AFC champion after beating Tennessee, have not won since and even the playoffs are in jeopardy now. Carolina is flying under the radar (they are 10-3 you know??) and Arizona has won their division for the first time since, well since before they were Arizona. The Steelers are playing defense the likes of which have not been seen in 30 years, maybe ever, but they are still only one game up on Baltimore, and teams like New Orleans are playing some of the best offense ever seen and they may not make the playoffs at all!

And let’s not forget about Miami, 1-15 just last season, competing for a division title this season. A rookie quarterback and rookie head coach in Atlanta have Falcon fans once again taking pride in their team after the specter of Michael Vick.

Of course, there’s the other side of the spectrum as well. Detroit. I have a friend who is a lifelong Detroit fan. Honestly, I’m not sure how he does it. There’s a very real possibility the Lions are going to go winless this season, which has never been done in a 16 game season. But it’s not just that, it’s the fact that this team hasn’t even been able to break 500 since the turn of the millennium. Even teams like Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis and Buffalo have had reason to hope in the last eight years. Detroit has had nothing but despair with no light on the horizon, and this season it’s gotten so bad that my friend is not even able to watch his favorite team play football anymore. He lives too close to Detroit, and while it does not happen very frequently in any NFL city, Detroit has now had three home games blacked out because they have not been able to sell enough tickets to show the game in the local viewing area. All I can say is, hold on to your hope Detroit fans, at least Matt Millen is gone.

In fantasy football, it’s been just as crazy. Preseason sure fire, can’t miss players like Tom Brady, Braylon Edwards, LT and Reggie Wayne have all been disappointing to one degree or another. But, on the other side of things you got players like Thomas Jones, Ronnie Brown, Matt Ryan and Vincent Jackson who have all been some level of pleasant surprise.

Now comes the trickiest time of the year in fantasy football. What players are going to be rested, what players have the most to play for, which one is going to have that end of the season slump and which one is going to break out during these final weeks? Let’s see how I did last week and then if I can get any insight whatsoever on what is going to happen this coming week.

My quarterback of the week was Kurt Warner. He did not have as big of a game as I anticipated, but with just under 300 yd. plus a touchdown, that would qualify as a good call/push combo

My quarterback bust of the week was a risky one, Tony Romo. He did manage to go just over 200 yd. with one touchdown, but also three interceptions and a fumble. That’s almost enough for a double good call, but we will go good call/push again

I thought my running back selection of the week was a no-brainer, Adrian Peterson. Going against Detroit? Come on! Well, he winds up with just under 120 total yards, but no touchdowns. That’s a bad call/push combination

My running back bust of the week was DeAngelo Williams. Double bad call, let’s not go into it any further, it’s much too painful.

My wide receiver selection of the week was a double choice with Andre Johnson and Kevin Walters. Walters was clearly a good call with nearly 150 total yards and a touchdown. Johnson is a much closer call, he did get into the end zone, but only managed 55 yd.. I could probably go with a good call, but going to go with a push on this one.

My wide receiver bust of the week was another risky one, Terrell Owens. Anytime your receiver gets into the end zone, you have to be at least partially happy. But with under 40 yd. total, this falls into the double push category.

For the week I am an unusual 3-3-6, making the season total 74-60-26.

Now for the crucial playoff predictions. Criteria is the same as it has been:
Quarterbacks.

Three touchdowns or a 300 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 200 yd. is a bad call

Running backs

Two touchdowns or a 150 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call

Wide receivers

Two touchdowns or a 100 yd. game is a good call
No touchdowns or less than 100 yd. is a bad call.

Quarterbacks who will lead your team towards your league championship.

There are two of them who seem to stick out this week, so going with a single bet on both. The only thing that might stop Big Brother Manning from having a massive game against Detroit is if Indianapolis gets out in front so big, so early that they stop throwing. Then, Donovan McNabb has not given up on the playoffs just yet, it’s hard to pass up on him at home against Cleveland on Monday night

Quarterbacks who will lead your team out of the playoffs.

There are a lot of good quarterback matchups this week, so even though they have been on a bit of a roll, going to go with a double bet on who ever starts at quarterback for Houston

Running backs who will get you the tough yards when it matters most.

He has been quiet the past couple of weeks and pretty banged up, but going to go with a double bet on Clinton Portis on the road in Cincinnati this week

Running backs who will get stopped on fourth and short

Any running back on Baltimore or Pittsburgh. This game should be a nasty, knockdown drag out defensive struggle and any running back involved will be happy if they are able to walk off the field by the end of it. We will consider it a single bet for each team individually

Wide receivers who welcome the spotlight of the playoffs

Another one of those sure things, so don’t listen too me to closely, but there is no way to go with anybody other than Randy Moss. Historically, wide receivers just love to show up their old teams, and I expect Randy to do just that against Oakland this coming Sunday.

Wide receivers who will drop the ball under pressure

Anybody on Baltimore or Pittsburgh, with the exception of Hines Ward. If you haven’t heard, this should be a knockdown drag out defensive struggle and any wide receiver involved will be happy if they are able to walk off the field by the end of it. Now, tight ends do not count and neither does Hines Ward, Baltimore put out a bounty on him earlier in the season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes back to haunt them

The power rankings might get tricky, as will the race for the overall points title. It looks like we are able to see how many points teams are scoring even if they are not in a playoff game, at least I was able to do so this week. However, it looks like it is not keeping track of any of the playoff points in the overall scoring column, and I have no idea what is going to happen in next week’s games. I think that what we have to do next season is schedule it so that the web site thinks that we do not have any playoffs. Just schedule 17 weeks of head-to-head games and have the web site believe that is all we are doing. Then, we can manually adjust the schedule for the weeks that would be our playoff, and still schedule the teams who do not make the playoffs into a head-to-head matchup so that the web site continues scoring overall points for the entire 17 weeks. I’ve had to do this sort of thing in some of my other leagues this season that use a different software. For now, we will do the best we can and keep on submitting a starting lineup if the web site allows you, even if you are not in a playoff or consolation game.

http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/standings?leagueId=293451



1. size7 poopShooters. (1) they get past the highest power ranking team in the playoffs and it looks like the only way they are going to give up the number one spot is if somebody knocks them off, and that is not going to be an easy task.

2. Twittering Witty Wombats. (3) they move one step closer to defending their toilet bowl championship from last season, they also move up another notch in the power rankings

3. Evil Midnight Bombers.(5) they move up a couple of spots but are eliminated from the playoffs at the same time. There may not been much left to play for as it appears the web site is not going to continue tracking overall points. But, I am going to do my best to continue with the power rankings as long as possible, so there is still a chance of moving to the top spot in the rankings



4. Dreaded Mercenaries. (2) they dropped a couple of spots and fall out of the consolation race. What was a promising first half of the season completely fell apart in the second half

5. Damaged Denial.(4) they had the bye in the first round of the playoffs, but they still drop a rank as they struggle to score many points. Now, maybe they did not bother to start their best lineup since they knew they had the bye, but if it is just a sign that their late-season slump is continuing then they might have a difficult time getting past the next level.

6. Team Fenix. (6) this team is fairly scary right now what with the emergence of DeAngelo Williams. Sometimes just one player getting hot in the playoffs can carry the entire team to the championship, and that has to be exactly what Fenix is hoping for.


7. Cowering Code Monkeys.(7) well, they certainly corrected the recent struggles that they have been having, bursting into the playoffs with 155 points. They very easily could have moved up, but with their performances in the past couple of weeks, there wasn’t enough reason to drop the teams above them down based on one week

8. The Flood. (8) even if the web site was keeping track of overall points the rest of the way, it seems increasingly unlikely that the Flood could make a run at the overall points title. But, they do advance in the consolation bracket.


9. San Hosers. (9) the playoffs are short-lived for the Hosers. There is unfortunately very little reason remaining for them too worry about setting a viable starting lineup

10. The Bloodsuckers. (10) they are unable to knock off the Flood and it now seems certain that they will end the season in the number 10 spot



11. Team Jackie. (11) the season was over for this team even before they were mathematically eliminated

12. Pavlov’s Altoids. (12) it’s hard to tell exactly when the season ended for this team, but it was probably sometime before the leaves changed colors


Only a few more weeks remaining, in the NFL regular-season anyway, but we still have almost two months of football left! Good luck everybody