Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well I was going to do the re-draft thing this week, as when I got back to Canada I found out that the election 2 months ago didn’t matter. So then it was going to be a whole new draft starting today and who to take. However, I brought back the New York flu and energy has been drained so something simple.

Most leagues should be in playoffs by now, in my espn league I’m in week 3. So the team has got you to the big show or let you down, either way unless there’s huge injuries your team is finalized and you got who you got.

Because of time I’m going old school, no pics

RB

Clinton Portis – What was it like 5 - 6 weeks ago people were saying if you redrafted portis would be the #1 back or top 2 at least. He didn’t fool me and though there wasn’t any redraft I can say told you so. He’s always had injuries but he made it through the first half, imagine if you would have traded him away for a #2 rb and top wr…the possibilities. He’s hurt and playing against one of the best run defenses. I don’t see him getting much running room or playing time - SIT

Ronnie Brown – before I left one reader asked about Ronnie to which I said he’s a time share running back now. Since then nothing has changed and going into Buffalo the weather will be terrible, wait is this the week they play in Toronto. I was going to go with a low scoring game but indoor on turf…I’d still sit Ronnie he’s a #3 rb this week - SIT

Chester Taylor - Yes Adrian is the starter and will get 100+ and 1-2 Td’s, however the Lions stink. I believe in the past 4 games in 3 of those games the opposing teams #1 and #2 backs both got 100+ yds. Also Chester has been doing great the past few weeks, has a nose for the endzone even with his limited touches – START

Peyton Hillis - It used to be that any Denver rb would be a top back because of their offensive scheme and blocking. Then Portis left what 4 years ago and since then Denver hasn’t had a #1 back, Shanahan has screwed with fantasy owners by having 2-3 rb’s and rotating who gets the carries. Well because of 4 injuries Hillis is the last guy, no time share and he’s doing what you expect of a Bronco rb. He ran over the Jets last week and this week is KC. – START

QB

Romo – Almost every football site you see something saying about Romo this week because he’s playing Pittsburgh. If he’s on your team you drafted him to be your guy, you likely don’t have Jay Cutler as a back-up so don’t go and pick up a guy on waivers. JP Losman did fine against the fins last time and he could lite it up again but his ceiling is like 200 yds and 2-3 Td’s. Romo yes, has a bad match-up but his ceiling is so much higher it’s worth the risk. START

Thigpen – Denver as of late has played better on defense lately but Thigpen isn’t that bad of a qb and he should be able to find some holes. He’d be a qood guy to have if your starter has a bad matchup this week. START

Cassell – I went away and this guy is putting up 400 yrd games. Good thing I had him sitting on the bench for Kyle Orton. Last week not good but that was more of the defense I believe. This week it’s Seattle and he may not get back to 400 yrds but he’ll put up some numbers. START

Garrard – This guy is having an awful year. He was one of my targeted qb’s going in to draft week and luckily he was always taken before I wanted to take a qb. This week he’s playing against Chicago and don’t expect much. The only receiver is Matt Jones - still not suspended. SIT

Peyton – What to do with this guy? You're starting him of course but last week against the Browns he didn’t do anything, who’s to say this week will be better? One thing though I like his new commercial. “You're going down Manning ”– “Yep 4th floor gonna get me one of the massages.”

Eli – Well talked about one manning, might as well mention the other. He’s been playing good as of late even without Sherrif Plaxico in their. I think the pass rush of Philly gets to Manning and without a legit deep threat the Giants offense will struggle. SIT

WR

Laveraneus Coles – Favre and the offense should play better. SF has a decent run defense so it will be done in the air. I’m hoping it’s not Cotchery so then it’s gotta be Coles. START

Hines Ward - Adam Jones is back for Dallas and Ward hasn’t been that great so I’m sitting, not only Ward but Santonio to, if Pittsburgh gets yards it’s going to be on the ground. – SIT

Calvin Johnson - Minny gets to roll through Detorit this week. I don’t really understand the whole restraining order but the Williams' get to stay and that doesn’t bode well for Detroit. You gotta believe Calvin will be double teamed and though he wont get shut out he shouldn’t put up big numbers. SIT

Marvin Harrison - He’s got all of his TD’s at home so if your going to start him it has to be when they play in Indy. Also going against Cincy you gotta believe everyone on offense has a great chance of getting a TD this week. START

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

This will probably end up being the final Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby of the season - so thanks to Trebor for guiding everyone through the muck and mire that is Fantasy Football.

And here come the pretzels...


Well I haven’t checked out NFL.com to see if long time reader CH won his game this week. I really don’t think I have to, I’m 99.9% sure that he lost for much of the same reason I lost in another league... studs not showing up.

Today with a few spare moments I wrote down the top positions. Qb - Brady, Romo, Favre, don’t know who would be 4th ??. WR – Moss, Owens, Housh (leads league in receptions and 4th in TD’s…who knew), Wayne (might be a stretch but only healthy WR on Indy so he’s a top guy). Then RB – LT, Peterson, Addai, Westbrook.

Of that list only 1 of the QB’s had positive points (Favre). Only… well, 0 of the receivers got a TD, which is the big thing - sure they got a few points for yards but so what. The RB’s... well some did a lot better.

So CH I know has Brady, Addai and Wayne… maybe 10 points combined from players who usually get between 30-40… so yeah I’m sure he lost.

In my keeper league I had: Romo, Housh, Wayne, Addai. Now usually I get between 120-130 points this week 63. It’s almost funny, none of my players performed. Willis, Witherspoon, Morrison all usually get 6-8 tackles this week 3, 4. Just bad all around.

What to take from it. An element of football that up to this point had been absent… the weather. Up until now sure there’s been the mud bowl and some rain here or there but this week we got snow and we got wind, we got smarts and we got Jessica (more on those later).

Before this you started your studs no matter what. What you were looking at was probably the match-up... Minny run def is top notch maybe I’ll sit my RB, Cincy has a def?? Who knew… I’ll still start whoever against them. Really what else was there to consider?

I got blindsided by the weather, mostly because I was out snowboarding and didn’t bother to check up on that stuff. If I had, I would have sat Tatupu in favor of Digorgio (MLB Buffalo). Why? Because I knew the Browns would have to run most of the day... oh well.

So this week Brady handed the ball off because of the wind, Cleveland players not named Lewis did nothing because of wind and snow. Could you really bench Brady or Moss that would take some serious gonads (funny word), or how about starting Cleveland’s defense... shudder. The weather - the last piece of the puzzle. Next year you’ll have it cased and be prepared..

Maybe not…

This is my third year in Fantasy and I found out something new - who a player is rumored to be dating effects his game. Almost makes sense right??

I somehow managed to watch the Dallas game while doing some house work so didn’t hear the comments but I noticed the camera go up to a hot blonde wearing a pink jersey… All I said was ‘damn that’s a fine piece of…’ and then the second or third time … ‘Is that Jessica Simpson?' I know she’s hot but there’s got to be lots of hot girls there, if the game is really that boring spice it up a bit throw in a brunette or red head, I’ve been to Dallas - there should be lots to choose from.

It wasn’t until today that I realized that Jessica Simpson is one more poor Romo outing away from being (for lack of a better word)… Lynched. There’s blogs up already (Ed. Note: With Leather isn't a blog dedicated to lynching Simpson - it was just the first blog to come up when I Googled "kill Jessica Simpson". If you've never heard the You're with me Leather story - you must check it out), people are trying to make it so she can't come back to Texas Stadium… it’s really something.

I know if I was tossing the ball around in the backyard and she came out wearing that or well anything, yeah I would look over and I may even stare. But do you see a player being distracted by her being in a booth a hundred meters away while you have 300 lb guys chasing you??? Is she that hot?? I don’t have the answer to that last one, or wont answer for fear of the g/f reading…

Or maybe the thinking is it’s not the hotness that is the problem, but the well… hmm how to put it nicely… her being intellectually challenged???? Maybe people think that it’s rubbing of on Romo causing him to throw errant passes.

So next year, I will make sure I check out the Enquirer or whatever gossip magazines are out when I’m in the check-out line and maybe then I’ll get this Fantasy thing figured out.

Maybe not…

Have you ever seen such a terrible, disrespectful, selfish play as what Westbrook did at the end of the Dallas game. I know one guy who has a new dent in his wall, only because he missed the TV. Really I didn’t think there was a player out there that would not run into the endzone. Maybe the Sports As Life braintrust can give another example. A couple of weeks ago against the Redskins he could have done the same thing but he elected to run it in, to the delight of all his Fantasy owners.

Why oh why would you do such a thing?? Owners thinking they outsmarted the weather and they were the greatest fantasy players out there when they saw the wide open space. You crushed them Brian, you crushed them. Maybe some will not return to the Fantasy leagues because they can’t escape the nightmares, or their wives' wrath over a dent in the wall. All because you had to go and do the right thing…for shame… for shame!

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Here is the much anticipated return of Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby to Sports As Life:


The playoffs are here… well in 2 of my leagues anyway. Yahoo and espn start their playoffs in Week 14, yahoo has 8 teams in the hunt espn only 4.

My Espn league was an autodraft, was free and I didn’t know anyone in it so I paid little attention to it… I had Boldin as my #2 wr…oops. Also had kolby smith start instead of 3 other starting rb’s.. oops. I was really surprised it was playoffs, but even more surprised when I came away with the W.

This guy had Westbrook, T.O. Adrain Peterson. Those 3 players can win weeks by themselves..but not this week. It was close and if it weren’t for the fact that GB was playing the lowly raiders I would have lost but the 26 points by the DEF gave me a 5 point victory. On paper he had the better team and probably 6-7 times out of 10 he would win, but it’s not a huge upset. He went 10-3, I went 9-4-1 (stupid ties)

My other league it was a different case…..It’s a keeper league that costs money… I was the favorite to win... he beat me early on because of a monster performance by Rocky Mcintosh. I played him in week 13 won 144 to 96, I had high hopes. I’m sitting at work (only place I could at least log on) and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

He got great performances from Kevin Jones, and Andre Johnson... even his defense (Ernie Simms) lit it up. What was worse he had Rivers, who when I got here had thrown 2 int’s and Collins was taking snaps…"Yes" was my reaction, then later I find out rivers comes back in…oh oh….but he throws a pick…. I’m already thinking of ways to harass this guy over Rivers performance….. then I watched the screen to see rivers complete long touchdown drives and rack up the points…"damn you Rivers, somebody cover Chambers or Gates or something", screams could be heard through the hallways.

My team or certain players like Housh, Gore, Cribbs, my top notch D... with names like Morrison, Tatupu, Witherspoon, Willis all stunk it up. Another 1st round defeat leaves me questioning why do I participate in fantasy football. I started writing this before the Sunday night game, then sitting in some bar watching the game I suddenly loved football again, I watched Addai get 3 td’s and Wayne also get 1 to put me ahead by 15 points…. Thank you Baltimore!

Which brings me to the format of play. I’m not sure what is the best.. I’m in one league that there is no head to head, it’s just points: team with the most points at the end of the year wins.

This eliminates having the 2nd highest score in your league but still getting the L. Or not being the lucky guy who plays the loser of the group twice (loser either because of injuries or bad trades or starting people on byes).

Now in this league it is skewed because the top player has Randy Moss and Brady and after 14 weeks is like 300 points ahead of everyone. At first I didn’t like the idea too much but it is starting to grow on me, you really have to pick the right players/match-ups. Case in point #2-#5 are within 40 points of each other… If I had started Kevin Jones this past week, I’d be 8 points behind 2nd….. not bad after starting out dead last with Brees, Leinart tossing up negative points. However KJ has a reputation now of next to 0, 20 points, 0 , 20, ?? I’m guessing 0 this week but without Merriman who knows.

The yahoo league is alright, the final game will be played week 16 which is good. 8 of the 12 teams make the playoffs though. As the #2 in the league I don’t like this one but, I had a 11-2 record, the guy I was playing 7-6. He may have had some close games, but really he squeaked in and if I didn’t have Addai get 22 points I lose the week because of his usual mediocre players did better than expected, and my top players didn’t do anything.

This format also rewards the bad teams because they are at the top of the waiver list, so now Reggie Bush is out the Stecker sweeps begin. Well some guy at the bottom will pick him up and knock off a top team who probably has a very similar line up to when he started. If I’m at the bottom I love this format, upset special right.

Our NFL.com league is not bad 12 teams and 4 make the playoffs and it’s played week 15-16…. It may be the only thing good about that league. It would be better if I made the playoffs but being the 11th ranked coach doesn’t help.

Part 2 of this starts tues afternoon, just after going to the above mentioned ESPN site to see if the guy I defeated was crying or not. Turns out there’s a new twist, a European football twist. It looks like I play him again this week, then the 2 weeks are combined and a winner decided that way. I think this is stupid! Mostly cause I now will lose. Also 2 week playoff game… come on… then the final is based on week 16-17…I hate the idea of having playoff games determined on the 17th week... performances can be skewed so easily.

So for next year the format that I would like to see … I think money should also be involved, makes my format easier to understand.

6 teams make the playoffs. #1 and #2 get byes… have to rest their players after all. Chances are #3 and #6 are fairly close so it should be a good match up, if 6 comes out with a win probably no whining.

Then for that team who has a horrible draft or horrible luck…. Have a loser bowl. Another league I’m in does this. So 12 teams in the league 1-6 play for 80% of the cash, 7-12 play for 20%. That way even if your at the bottom you still have something to go for.

Good luck to CH this week, I hope you beat the Crushers. You may not need this advice but…. Don’t start Norwood….don’t own Norwood….until Dunn retires he’s not going to be worth anything. I’d also consider benching Bowe…. He had a good stretch but with Haynesworth going after Brodie or whoever is QB, Bowe may not see many touches. I have no clue why but Jabar is still available.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Wow, there were a lot of awful NFL games this past weekend - mostly due to the overwhelming number of awful NFL teams I imagine. So I really didn't have much to say about any of them, except to say thanks to Fox and CBS for sticking with the terrible Green Bay and Kansas City games until the very end - and only switching to the Pittsburgh and Washington games once the early garbage had ended.

And hey - speaking of Washington... how's that for segue - our own Trebor was there this weekend for the Redskins/Eagles game. So he might have mentioned that in this week's Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby - I actually haven't read it yet...

Well thought I’d write something this week, since I’ve taken the last few off because, as is the case with most people, it’s been a busy couple of weeks.

I’ll start off by saying I’m out of the playoff hunt for our NFL.com league (I think I was out about halfway through Week 1). The format which you can't change, is stupid - 4 teams make it, and playoffs are played in week 16 and 17. So with that if you believe you’ll be in the final 4 better look at if your team will be… do you have Randy Moss who could sit week 17 just to rest ??? Something to look at.

So today on ESPN radio - that’s 710 on your AM dial if you’ve forgotten - there were a variety of topics but the one that caught my interest was MVP. Brady was at 47%, Favre 27% and then Romo and Big Ben somewhere else. Interesting they are all quarterbacks, in a running back league and note, I’d rather have Favre on my team so he would get my vote for MVP.

I figured I’d take a look at MVP for Fantasy right now. Without doing any research I’d say Brady… Moss… Romo… Westbrook?? Not sure after Brady, who would be the guy, if he’s on your team you should be top 2 of your league. There are lots of consistent players out there… Addai, Wayne, Favre, Romo. But really I would say if you got Brady you're competing for top dog.

Now on to good old research. I’ll look at average since everyone has had their bye week… an injury might slip through the cracks, but I know Andre Johnson’s average of like 25 is misleading cause it was for 2 weeks or whatever it was.

Brady, Romo and Big Ben are the top 3 quarterbacks. But really only Brady is a must have with his average of 26 points per week (ppw). Romo trails at 21 ppw and then you have Big Ben at 18.5, Anderson 18.3, Manning at 17.5, and then a big host of players from 13-15. So really Big Ben isn’t on the list... a mere 3 points above 5-8 others not going to do it.

So Brady or Romo… Is it really that easy….maybe not. Yes the Patriots are doing the eff you to the league, running up the score and being jerks. Does that continue all the way to the end??? New England likely will be playing for the undefeated season, but beyond that they will have home field locked up by week 14. So those last 2 weeks what happens? What happens if a defensive player gets mad about being embarrassed and does something stupid???

Dallas is scoring a ton but it doesn’t seem as bad - it’s within the flow of the game. They also have a running game which means it could steal some points but it will keep defenses honest. Take out the 6 turnovers against Buffalo and they’d be closer. Still, the edge goes to Brady.

Now to running backs... the forgotten foundation of a Fantasy team, probably because most have been hurt for at least part of the season. Westbrook tops everyone with 22 ppw, then Peterson with 20 ppw and third Addai 19.5. Then there’s about 8 at the 12-13.5 ppw. So these three are at the top. Right away I think Peterson and Westbrook put up monster numbers in a couple of weeks, then next to nothing other weeks… Upon looking, Addai has been the same way. Then there’s injury concern, Addai got hurt and let KK (that's Kenton Keith for those scoring at home) step in and he is now stealing touches. Westbrook lives on the injury report and you always run a chance of him not playing and now Adrian is hurt (with an LCL injury? seriously, there's a lateral collateral knee ligament? isn't that redundant?). This is a tough one… where is 2006 LT, or 2005 Alexander? Just because I’m trying to put 1 candidate from all positions I’m going to pick one, but this year there is no sure running back out there. I couldn’t deal with the injury bug of Westbrook, and Peterson plays on a horrible offensive team, which means Addai is the guy I would pick to be my top RB.

... wide receivers *shiver*... they are playing a bigger part this year but the inconsistency still is appalling. Well Moss tops the list with 18 ppw, then a significant drop of for 2-4 Owens, Housh, Edwards all fall between 14.5 and 15 ppw. So not much discussion needed here, though a close #2 is Braylon in my books. Housh is going to suffer with Henry coming back and he already has, look at Week 10. Owens can be inconsistent at times and I think Dallas has too many weapons around the endzone for him to be a top WR. Moss right now is the man, though if he doesn’t get those long balls, if they play against a team with a shut down corner…. If I were to pick one player to be on my team now it would be Braylon…. Gotta love his schedule, but up to this point it would be Moss.

The other positions…. I’m never going to care, even though Defenses have been known to lose games…. You can play waiver wire on a week to week basis and do pretty good. With TE it’s Gates, Witten, Gonzo…. It’s been that way for 2 years now.

So how does this help Fantasy owners heading into the final stretch. Well if you're in the hunt but maybe lack any of these players, well congrats, you’ve done well. (now say you have none of the players on this list and are 2-8, what then?) You probably have a solid team, no bright stars but no dogs. However, to win you need the guy and the players listed off here are guys I’d do a 2 for 1 deal… What I mean is a solid running back and a #2 WR for that top running back. In the NFL.com league if I had something to play for I’d be making offers for one of the running backs… say Little Willie and Brandon Marshall for Addai (what if the guy who owns Addai is the smarmy jackass who also owns Brady?). Yes Willie has done well and on a points basis I’m getting the worse end of the deal, but he would be worth it. Maybe another deal could be something like Favre and Jamal Lewis for Brady (if only it wasn't for that smarmy Brady owner - we'll have to pry Brady from his cold, dead hands). I would never do a deal that upgrades my WR and downgrades my QB or RB, I just don’t think that’s smart.

Thought I’d just mention that Westbrook had a huge game 3 td’s and like 200 yrds against Washington... so I had many reasons to loathe him. One reason is because I was playing against a guy with Westbrook and lost by 2 points, that last minute TD killed me. But more importantly I was booing him was because I was surrounded by 93,000 screaming fans. True it was probably more like 80-85 and probably 10-15 Philly fans but still a ton (should that be tonne?) of people.

I already talked about the good feel of the crowd (see yesterday's comments on Home is Where the Playoff Game Is), but thought I’d thrown in the rest of the experience in Washington. I’m sure regular reader TH could do a better job but he’s not a bum anymore, he has to work and could be busy so….

We started the day off at about 10, wanted it too be sooner but I just couldn’t get my hair in the right place. Anyway hopped on the Tube (I'm envisioning this to be something out of Logan's Run) and headed to the field, there were a number of people heading to the field but nothing too bad… keep in my this is 3 hours before the game. The walk to the stadium was ~ 1 km, but it took a while before FedEx Field came into sight. Once it did, it was big… this is also a new stadium (10 yrs old) and the look just screamed awesome.

While we sauntered around the parking lot the wind wasn’t going the right direction but you could see the smoke well before the aroma hit you. Yes this was tailgating. It may be hard to understand but they allow their fans to drink in the parking lot before the game. In talking to tailgaters they say it’s almost more important than the game. You have vehicles with BBQ’s mounted on to them, tents set up, tables and chairs set up, mini games of football even and anywhere from 5-20 of your closest friends and this is happening like every 2nd parking stall.

We got to the doors where they have 2 lines of defense. First you get frisked. Yes they don’t just look at you and do a quick profile (we're talking to you Taylor Field). They get you to spread your arms and they frisk. Upon finding my camera in my pocket I had to pull it out to show them, there was no way of sneaking anything in. After that you go to the doors where they take your ticket rip it and send you on your way, no scanners involved. (yes, we're still talking to you Taylor Field). They do this for everyone walking in, yes all 90,000 people.

We then found the Redskins store which was packed... just wall to wall people. Lots to chose from in there though. What I was looking for was an old school Theismann jersey (compound fracture included in the purchase price?). Couldn’t find it but I did find the old helmets. You know, the ones made out of leather and fit right over the head…. I wouldn’t really trust it too much but I wore for the entire game and plan on wearing it to touch football games and such (ill advised Saturday trips to WalMart probably should be included in there as well). After we left the store, all with jerseys or memorabilia in hand, we started to wander.

The wandering was why we went to the stadium so early. We had found in Dallas that was the best part, while things were still quiet and such. There were actually a lot of people around but nothing too bad. Also going early allowed us to get to basically field level to see some of the warm up.















Next was some eats. Really there’s only a few stops where you can get food, beer on the other hand... you can’t walk 20 steps between vendors or people with trays… they really promote the beer for $8. We chose a little store off to the side, what the others got ??? but I got a hot dog and a Coke… at a Rider game, what 7-9 bucks? Well the hot dog alone was 8 dollars and the Coke was 4, so 12 dollars later I had breakfast/lunch in hand and ready to go find our seats.

The seats were well……who could have known? When they were bought on StubHub we had seen some with the warning of possible obstruction. Though looking at the pics and at the stadium you couldn’t tell there could be giant pillars in front of you. Turns out the 2nd level of the stadium overhangs the upper 20 rows of the 1st level and of course the level has to be supported by pillars so every 20 feet or so. It’s such that the overhang is right above your head, like 10 feet up, so towards the back standing would cut off half the playing field. Luckily our seats weren’t pillar blocked and we could stand and still see the whole field, though not seeing the whole stadium took a bit from the experience. They were still really close and that always helps. Still the next trip maybe a bit better research will be done, maybe going on a message board or something…

Anyway the game... the game was great, the Skins were doing well everyone was happy - except for maybe the angriest man in the world (hey - I wasn't at the game), who was beside us. He started kicking a pillar to make noise, we were in the stomping zone after all. He then got a kid involved as well… it was hilarious. Also the unison singing of “The Hey Song” (which apparently is just Rock and Roll Pt.2 by Gary Glitter with lyrics. Ah Gary Glitter, everybody's favorite arena rock and child pornography enthusiast). The song apparently started in Syracuse but it has made it’s way all over, but this was a first for me... very impressive. There was also another song but none of us could get the words but the Hey Song was like every 10 minutes or so we figured it out quickly, TH the first go around.

The Redskins had to lose which put everyone in a somber mood as we all left the stadium but it was all good. The tube ride home was standing room only, but nothing that bad, they really might have the largest parking lot ever, we’re talking the size of downtown Regina. All in all the same 3 words come to mind… We did it….We did it. Can’t wait till next years trip… New york, New York I hear it’s a heck of a town.

Do these fools look like they'd last one second in NYC? And seriously, a Santana Moss jersey? Was it on sale or is that actually just his jersey? He sure doesn't need it anymore.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Well that was an interesting weekend, which involved a lot of screaming and berating of players... mostly New England - when Brady came back into the game to throw a pass to Wes Welker. And also when Marion Barber got a rushing TD, or when Peyton Manning does the qb sneak.

It was those plays that made me think that I had lost my match-up with the Editor-in-Chief (Ha! Not likely - I'm on an unstoppable roll). I saw his receivers: Welker vs the Dolphins, Patrick Crayton vs Minny, Bobby Engram vs. Seattle. I would put all three as potential 100 yrd, 1 TD performance. Luckily that did not happen (big surprise). Why Crayton never caught a ball vs. Minny? (Oh trust me he did - he caught one for 14 yards and then promptly fumbled it, which left him with a -1 Fantasy score for the day) Why Hasselbeck stinks so much... maybe he has been hanging around with Shaun Alexander too much. As a side note... wow, 47 yrds rushing yards against the Rams...wow. I wanted to put him on my sit list but because it was the Rams I couldn’t do it.

Anyway, as I drove home listening to the Dallas game on my favorite radio station (ESPN 710 out of Bismark [We're big fans of free advertising here at Sports As Life]), I thought it was done. When I got home I turned on the Seattle game, and right then Hall just recorded his 4th sack of the game.... I had hope. Someone had recently dropped the Seattle defense (yo) and I took that opportunity to start them rather than Minny, even though Minny would get 10-15 points. Well as it turns out Seattle was the top DST, outscoring every other DST by more that 11 points (NYG 25 – Seat 36) (I might add that that was 34 points better than they did last week when I started them and the scored a whopping 2). The score in our game 105-94... too close for comfort but now I can go back to rooting for the Editors' team to win. (The bandwagon for 'Now With 15% Less Dogfighting' continues to grow!)

This weekend I also got caught with my pants down... and no i’m not talking about what happened at my party Saturday night. I’m talking about Sunday night/Monday morning. I think it was about Week 3 when I talked about RB injuries and that a Fantasy owner should be looking at the back-ups of the studs... the guys who get the ball almost every down. Well I didn’t follow that advice and do what is known as ‘hand-cuff’ of my top RB. Ronnie Brown went down for the count... he’s gone, and because my team has been winning I’m way down the list on the waiver wire. So Jesse Chatman was gone and my chances of winning possibly with them. (But me being the soul-sucking opportunist that I am, picked up Chatman and offered him back to Trebor - at a drastic mark-up of course)

Part of the problem is our shallow bench. Realistically it’s impossible to handcuff all of your backs - maybe 1. So in my case Gore, Brown, Parker... there’s no way to get Davenport, Chatman, and Robinson... but maybe one. Should have gotten one because all three are ‘the man’. No third down running backs, they are going to get 20-25 touches a game.

So who did I pick up this week... Ricky ‘Smokin’ Williams. I have no clue if he will be allowed to play or touch a ball this year. However, as noted above I’m not at the top of the waiver wire - so next week when Miami says he’ll be joining the team again there will be a rush to get him and I won't end up with him.

The other backs I’d have no problem reaching for right now, knowing they may not see any action or limited....Michael Tuner (a Keeper League must), Priest Holmes, Adrian Peterson (Benson's back-up), Robinson (Gore's back-up), Morris (Alexander's back-up), Marshawn Lynch’s back-up (whoever it is [The A-Train, Anthony Thomas I believe]). These guys are probably all available unless you're in a deep league. All are one play away from being put into a very favorable place. Each team listed, strength is in running not throwing. Again if you're first to pick at waivers it doens't really matter, but if you're near the end these guys won't be available.

Alright, so 6 teams on bye again... booo. Luckily the talent pool with these teams is shallower than Week 6. Dallas, KC, Seattle, Arizona, Baltimore, Atlanta. So really just a handful of players, maybe Defense pick-ups will be key. However, there are also 2 other teams playing across the Pond (stupid saying), and who knows how reliable the Miami or NYG players will be.

QB’s
Start’em
Rivers vs. Houston... Did anyone see what Kerry Collins did, yeah you read it - Kerry Collins, also he’s got a new receiver to play with.
Big Ben vs Cincy... He put up some big numbers against a strong secondary, now he gets a weak one, though the rivalry will make this game closer.
Greise vs Lions... They played when Grossman just got benched and Greise didn’t play that well but it was his first game, now he’s got into a good rhythm.

Bench’em
Cleo Lemon vs Giants... You may be asking - Cleo Lemon??? Why would I even consider starting him. So to you I say go check out his numbers the last 2 weeks chances are he outscored your QB (unless it Brady). He likes to run the ball himself rather than handoff so that helps. This week however with Brown and playing in London... sit’em.
Pennington vs Bills... He’s got the home crowd to work against, he’s under a lot of pressure and he can't go deep... will the Bills repeat their week 5 performance... maybe.
Campbell vs New England... Teams have put up numbers against NE mostly because they are playing from behind, however their offense has hit a massive speed-brickwall-bump.
Favre vs Denver... Hopefully you traded Favre high sometime around Week 5, if not... there’s still hope. He has a difficult schedule ahead of him, he almost went on Start’em list but the gut says the bench.

RB’s
Start’em
Jackson vs Browns... He’s been sitting for like 5 weeks, should be well rested, he’s playing the browns and they only way for Rams to be successful is through him.
Lynch vs JETS... Basically I’m thinking if Kenny Watson can put up big numbers so can Lynch
Lewis/Wright vs Rams... Right now I’m unsure who will start but whoever does will put up numbers.

Bench’em
Westbrook vs Minny... Last week I said put all Eagles on the bench and I think that turned out pretty good for those that listened. This week is the same though McNabb may have some success, not much.
Watson vs Pitts ... Kenny has been hot - he got like 40 points last week. This week however he’s against one of the best running defenses, so put him on bench... better yet try and trade him should be able to get a decent #2 WR for him. Do this before Rudi comes back.
Maroney vs Wash... So you drafted Maroney in the 2nd round, then he gets hurt, so you keep him on your bench. Then last week he’s back against the Dolphins - big things right... wrong. I think 7 carries for the game total. This year is about Brady throwing.
MJD/Fragile Fred vs TB... Tampa has a good defense, plus I’m assuming Garrard is out so David Grey is playing and yeah - Tampa will put another guy in the box. (I think his name is actually Quentin Grey or something, I'm not looking it up)

D/ST (rather than receivers who I keep saying I give up on) As proven this week, Defenses can win or lose the week for you. The list is defenses likely all on the waivers, and shouldn’t be started every week.

Browns vs the Rams... Not too often will you be able to start them but against Bulger... may be worth a shot.
Lions vs Bears... I’ve looked at the Lions from time to time they seem to get INT’s and when they score lots it forces it to be an air game... could be one of those days.
Tampa Bay vs Jags... I came so close to taking them against the Lions for the sacks, this week it’s because they will be facing David Grey ??? and should rack up some points.
Eagles vs Minny... It’s an easy recipe against the Vikings... shut down Peterson. Though Tarvaris might be hurt, in which case I would stay away because Holcomb or whoever comes in will probably be able to throw the ball better.

I really wanted to talk about quarterbacks this year, as the starters keep getting worse. Then as I was writing this I thought of another topic, maybe for next week. The home stretch which players have favorable match-ups coming up.

Oh yeah almost forgot, there was one player in our league whose entire team was outscored by Tom Brady (50-47)....The guy who hasn’t made a roster move since the draft scored more... (and almost beat TH) I wont name names though cause it’s embarrassing.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Sorry for the delay today - I've been out sick today, then the fire alarm in my building was going off and then Blogger had an outage that prevented me from publishing this post. I bet Ian Hamilton doesn't have to put up with this kind of garbage.

Before we get to the Fantasy Football, I feel as though I should point out that Atlanta Thrashers head coach Bob Hartley was fired by the team today. I should also point out that Hartley was first on my list of head coaches who would lose their job. See for yourself. Just don't scroll down to where I pick Kings goalie Jonathan Bernier to be the rookie of the year - Bernier was sent back to Junior last week.

Anyway on to the Fantasy Football, where my only fantasy is to not be 0-6. I'm going for the record... 0-14. I'm getting into George Costanza territory here - every instinct I have is wrong, so that must make the opposite right. Adjust your rosters accordingly.

Thankfully though we do have someone here at Sports As Life who knows what he's talking about - here's Senior Fantasy Football Writer Trebor's breakdown for Week7:


So Week 6 finally saw some top performances from LT, LJ and MJD, but Alexander has fallen off now (hope you listened about LJ and Alex). This week there’s only 4 teams on a bye. Carolina, San Diego, Green Bay and Cleveland. All but the Panthers had startable QB’s and there’s also some WR/TE’s that will be sitting so hopefully your rosters can be filled properly or you have waiver wire luck/skill (CH).

So with some news coming through the wire. I thought I’d take a look at these trades/signing and give you some things to look for. Just so you know I haven’t read any analysis on the following trades, as work is damn busy - I called it quits at 9pm last night (start at 7 am)…so hopefully when I get a chance later in the week the experts will think the same but…

Michael Bennett gets traded to Tampa Bay:
For the last couple of years this one guy in my league keeps picking Michael Bennett, 2 yrs ago in the 6th round, every time he gets laughed at. Not just a heckle but basically leading up to the draft and then for weeks after the selection is mocked and for good reason, he’s been a back-up for a couple of years now, waiting for LJ to get hurt, before that he was part of a three back system in Minny. If he drafted him this year then he’ll be laughing now. Tampa has no running back, Earnest Graham can be a decent option but Bennett will compete for the starting job maybe not this week but week after I see him out there a lot more than Earnest. One of the reasons being is that Bennett can catch. This used to be Pittman's role until he got hurt. With Garcia playing top notch, Bennett can not only see 10-15 carries per game but also get checked down to 5-7 times/game. So expect 75+ yards from him after week 7.

What to do…If you have Earnest I would suggest picking up Bennett, or if you think you may need some help at RB. He’s not going to put up big numbers in that offense but can help a team out down the stretch with a couple of match-ups against the Saints, Carolina, the ATL. Wow I think Tampa will win their division…who said that Gruden was going to be the first coach fired ???? same person who said Coughlin would also be gone right away ?? (well... at least I can pick which hockey coaches are going to get fired) My picks of John Fox and Lovie Smith are still in play.

Also with the trade LJ’s back-up is now Kolby Smith…you might be saying “who??” and I’m not going to bother looking him up. Important thing is the trade may mean Priest Holmes is going to be playing again. See if/how he does in practice before making a move though

Chris Chambers trade to San Deigo:
This caught me by surprise. The Tampa trade you knew was coming they had to get someone in at running back. So the Chargers went and got a number 1 wr. Or well at least a former top receiver. I don’t see Chambers getting back to his production of 2005, or even what he did at the beginning of the season. Vincent Jackson the soon to be #2 WR, is tall, athletic, fast, knows the system and is a tier 2 wr at best. The reason being ??? I’m not sure Rivers, coaching schemes…. no wide receiver is going to do well in this offense. The reason why Rivers can be a good QB is because of the screen pass to LT and no one can cover Gates. Throwing in 1 more receiver will only diminish balls thrown to Jackson and to Gates. However, teams now have another guy to cover, which means more room for LT.

Miami is in rebuilding mode, Chambers probably was a high paid player if he was a free agent this or the next year wouldn’t surprise me. So the winless Dolphins traded their top wr… I’m not sure but management could be in trouble here, they passed up Brady Quinn thinking Trent Green was the answer and stretched with the pick of Teddy Ginn, but from a fantasy side who cares. Perhaps Teddy showed them something, but I have seen nothing from him except for a 100 yard run that lost XX yards and knocked out their QB.

What to do… With San Diego on bye Chambers will have time to get into the system. I don’t see his production going up so don’t try and reach for him unless you need help. I would value him more than Jackson right now who just might slip to a #3-4 WR, since he may get lost behind the big names.

As far as Miami this could mean the Ronnie will see more men in the box, especially until Cleo Lemon shows he can pass. They also play New England this week so it’s not a good match-up for any Dolphin - though if you have anyone beside Ronnie, well I cant help you. See how Booker and Ginn step up in the offense. After their week 9 bye, they have some easier match-ups and either could be worth a flier when your top WR has a bad match-up.

As for picks... the big one I got wrong was to sit Adrian Peterson... wow did I ever get that wrong. Wasn’t there a time when you went into Chicago knowing that if you got 75 yds on the ground it would be a good day.

QB’s
Start’em
Eli Manning vs SF... Who needs leaderships skills Tiki when your a Manning, they’ve got the running backs in place, receivers who can catch, Def playing strong... which is good news for Eli, bad news for Eli he is going to get jacked up by Willis which will be fun to watch.
Campbell vs Arizona... He didn’t do much last week against a tough Green Bay team. He’s up against the Cards this week, still tough but I figure their Def will pick off Rattay or whoever ??? a couple of times and give him a short field to work with.
Garcia vs Detroit... Who would have thought Garcia could still play at this level, I’m fairly sure he hasn’t thrown a int yet and going against the Lions could mean he could rack up some td’s.


Bench’em
McNabb vs Da Bears... I’m putting all Philly players on the bench this week, I think after the embarrassment of last week they’ll be all kinds of fired up for their visit to the City of Brotherly Love. Mcnab probably gets put on here anyway cause he’s not playing good against anyone.
Cutler vs Pittsburgh... Come off a bye to play one of the top Def coupled with their running back situation ??? not a good situation for an average QB.

RB's
Start’em
Brandon Jacobs vs SF... Can’t wait to see Willis go after Jacobs, I realize this is the 2nd time I’ve mentioned Patrick Willis, maybe too close to man crush but hey he’s that good.
Thomas Jones vs Cincy... Jones is starting find his stride with J-E-T-S, I think he went over 100 last game and this week he gets the Bungles.
LJ vs Oaktown... After being on the sit list for the first 5 weeks (which was the right call) he is now permanently on the start list, and facing Oakland will only help him get back in stride.

Bench’em
Westbrook vs Da Bears... See my McNabb argument, the Bears aren’t going to let someone else run all over them. Yes he will probably get 50 yrds on the ground and 50 in the air, but in standard leagues that’s 4 points... not that good.
Travis Henry vs Pittsburgh... His role is going to start being less and less unless it’s true that it was 2nd hand smoke that caused him to fail the 2nd drug test. Didn’t say anything about the 1st test so.... also I think Pitts hasn’t allowed a RB to gain more than 70yds this season.
Barber/Jones vs Minny.... This tandem is one of the better ones in the league, but going against Minny, Romo will be chucking the ball way too much. If you want to start one Barber, he is more active in the passing game and also should get goaline work.

WR's
Start 'em
Crayton vs Minny... They have the worst pass defense, so expect numbers from both all three (Owens, Crayton and Witten).
Engram vs Rams... I’m putting him here as he seem to be the go-to guy, but for some reason my gut says Nasty Nate (Burleson) is the better of the 2.
Cotchery vs Cincy... Even though Chad’s arm can't get him the deep ball, Jericho will run the short routes and pile on the YAC.


Bench 'em
Colston vs Atla... This could be a fun game to watch... kind of like the stooges. None of the Atlanta players can catch and Colston seems to be taking notes from his former mentor (Joe Horn) and will fit right in with Atlanta. He had 1 catch last week and 3 drops that I saw, 1 he was standing there with ball delivered right to his chest and... well... I just laughed.
Boldin/Fitz vs Washington... I have the misfortune of having both WR’s so I’ll have to start one of them. Boldin will likely play this week but with Rattay throwing the ball??? Also Washington's secondary had really stepped up by shutting out Kitna and Favre.

Also I hope the editor wins one game this year - just not this one, though I am worried because of his receivers and their favorable match-ups. (If you haven't guessed Trebor and I are playing each other in our Fantasy League this week - stay tuned next week for the results)

Dear Mr. Fantasy

Does anyone out there on the Internet Tubes use Dear Mr. Fantasy for a column name? I'm sure somebody must but nothing came up when I Googled it. Maybe there are no Traffic fans in the Fantasy Football world. Anyway, I'm not going to use it regularly or probably ever again - I used Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby yesterday, so I needed something different today. Plus there was a fantasy question from TH that I didn't answer yesterday. To wit:

"I need help beating a fantasy upstart this week I will call him "CH and his brady bunch". Who should I start for my rb situation: McGahee, Jamal Lewis or LaMont Jordon (two who are coming off of injury and may be limited in playing time), and at WR: Andre Davis, TJ Housh..., Jerry Porter or Santana Moss? What to do, what to do? I need advice Mr. Sports...help me beat "CH and his brady bunch"."

And then later the same day:

"You didn't answer any of my questions!?!?! WTF? I don't mind taking advice from you...seriously, I am not biased against a guy who has no wins (plus I know you want me to beat CH deep down inside). You probably give better advice than a certain Trebor (who advised me to take a certain Michael Jenkins of the Falcons for a bye-week issue that I had). So who is it going to be, Jamal Lewis or LaMont Jordon? Jerry Porter, Andre Davis or Santana Moss? This is assuming that they are all healthy and playing. You used to answer peoples questions man...what happened to you? you've changed buddy, you've changed."

I'd say that mocking CH because he spelled chunky as chuncky would be victory enough for me. However, since you were irate over my lack of response yesterday - WTF indeed - Trebor, the resident Sports As Life Fantasy Expert is back to answer your question, even though you clearly do not value his advice:

"To TH, you can’t assume they are all healthy… you wont know until Sunday. I’m guessing about the status of Lamont, Lewis and Moss. So I would sit Moss because of match-up and same with lamont, SD seem to have found their defense and who know how the carries will be split in Oaktown. Yes I did say Jenkins based on his average 6 rec/game, Anthony Gonzalez was also mentioned, but you dropped him for…Amani ‘it’s not a’ Toomer. I think I even mentioned Bryant Johnson if Boldin doesn’t play…what about those guys ?? Would they have made a difference ?? May I suggest a better Def…SD or Cardinals both should put up better #’s than Dallas."

And might I add - oh snap. Anyway back to our 'usually on Wednesday' Fantasy Football breakdown brought to you by Trebor:


Alright, this is the time when the weak look like All Stars and the top dogs get brought down to their knees. You’ve been sitting at the top with your great draft, live or generated. You’ve not had to deal with any injuries your top players are playing like they should.

Enter Week 6. Following teams are on byes: Indy, Denver, SF, Pitts, Detroit and Buffalo. 4 of those teams have #1 qb’s, there’s 5 starting rb’s who could be #1 on any ones team. Then 6-7 wr’s that were probably taken as a top 20. Meanwhile the guy scrambling at the bottom has comprised himself a team made up of undrafted players all startable the next few weeks.

So you’ve been sitting at the top not having to change your team, chances are this week though you have some holes to fill. In my NFL league I have Gore and Fast Willie to replace and my only solution is DeShawn Wynn… could work out good, could post a big old 0 or 1 though too. In my Yahoo keeper league… Gore, Addai, Henry…I’ve been laughing up until now. This week I have Sammy Morris, Dunn and Leonard, not laughing anymore.

Everyone knows the injury bug has hit the rb’s this year hard… my suggestion pick up #2’s now. RB that aren’t hurt... LT, Alexander, Bush, Edge, McGahee. All these top back are the workhorses and 4 of them probably won't play all of the remaining games. Wr’s.. who cares, this week I’m not even filling my roster because of wr bye’s. Qb’s... if you have Brady or Romo good for you - if not well Ferotte was the 3rd best qb last week. It’s really a plug and hope Kitna has fallen of the starable qb list, Brees isn’t even on the bye week replacement list, I’d rather start Tarvaris Jackson.

One last note before the picks. Did you know that 4 kickers outscored all wr’s last week, 3 kickers outscored all rb’s not named Kenton Keith. Also these top 3 kickers outscored all but Brady, Rivers, Ferotte... yes Gus Ferotte. All I can say is wow. (And all I can say is I'm quitting Fantasy Football after this season - that's it, I've had enough. How is a person supposed to compete with garbage like that going on? There used to be some skill involved in this - now it's just all about luck. /end rant)

I unfortunately did family stuff this weekend on Sunday and Monday. So it only being Wednesday night I haven’t even reviewed what happened last week, I don’t even know who’s starting qb for Miami, KC or Atlanta. (If you're scoring at home, it's: Cleo Lemon, Brodie Croyle and Joey Harrington. Try to contain you're excitement) So very brief this week...

QB
Start
Anderson vs Miami … Zach Thomas is back and all of sudden they can stop the run, to bad Jamal Lewis isn’t the primary or secondary weapon.
Palmer vs KC… not a good match-up but coming off a bye.
Warner vs Carolina… could be the high scorer of the week. (And that's Kurt Warner by the way - *shakes head*)

Sit Em'
Vince Young vs Tampa… they've got a good Def.
Pennington vs Philly… versus a team coming off the bye Chad is up and down ??
Culpepper vs SD… good Def and until Daunte can complete more than 5 passes he's a Sit.

RB
Start
Larry Johnson vs Cincy... he finally gets off the bench and shouldn't disappoint. Hopefully you weren’t one of the owners who gave up on him early on.
Edge vs Carolina… Def may actually be focused on the air attack.
McGahee vs Rams… anyone against the Rams.
Westbrook vs Jets… He might be off the probable list, who am I kidding he lives there, but since he practiced hope for a good game then trade him...who needs the Sunday morning headache.

Sit Em'
Benson vs Minny… with favorable match-ups he’s almost useless, so against a strong Def coming off the bye... you can do the math.
Alexander vs NO… if you listened to me last week - you sat him and were grateful. This week Strong is out and coach says he’s going to lose carries. It’s a good match-up but I’d stay clear
Peterson vs Chicago… He’s been good this year but Chester Taylor stepped up last week and it’s a tough Def who will put 8-9 in the box.

WR
Who really knows ??? Wr’s on Cincny, Arizona and the Browns should see lots of balls thrown to them. Baltimore, Minny, Chicago, Tennessee, Oaktown, SD, Washington, Carolina, Atlanta and KC… either the quarterback is inconsistent at best, or doesn’t like to throw the ball, or any wr may be a #3-4 wr on any other team. (last one doesn’t include Steve Smith, but the first 2 apply to him). That’s a lot of teams and with the teams on bye you probably have 1-2 of these guys…

(Not So) Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Looks like I'm on my own today for the Fantasy Football column as Trevor is busy with his real job. Nobody gets paid here, what do you expect? So today's topic is something I'm well versed in - losing. (I'm now 0-5 for those of you scoring at home)


87 Signs That Your Fantasy Football Season is Not Going Well

...you're visibly upset when Kurt Warner gets snatched off the waiver wire before you can get him - realizing of course that it's 2007 and not 1999.

...you actually start to believe that you're having a negative effect on the players you put on your team.

...you do not laugh at the thought of Vinny Testaverde being your starting quarterback.

...you have been #1 in the waiver order every week of the season.

...you've thought about Gus Ferrotte in a way other than, "Wait - he still plays football?"

...you're 0-5.

...you're starting an Atlanta Falcon - any Atlanta Falcon.

...you had a top six pick and took Steven Jackson, Frank Gore, Larry Johnson or Shaun Alexander. Who knew Ronnie Brown should have been a first round pick?

...you do not own Tom Brady, Tony Romo or Peyton Manning. Quarterbacks are the new running backs.

...at some point during the season you have owned such world-beaters as Jacoby Jones, Reggie Brown, Earnest Graham or Chris Brown. (Note: I have owned all 4)

...you've sent an email inquiring about the availability of Ron Dayne.

...you've started any one of the thousands of Green Bay running backs this year.

Ok, that's only 12 signs but I've seen too much of myself in those - I'm making myself sick. To give you an idea about the current state of Fantasy Football, in our league this week one of the match-ups features Daunte Culpepper vs. Brian Griese.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

Week 5...... the following teams have byes: Oaktown, Bungles, Philly Cheesesteaks and Minny. Again collectively not a lot of startable players on these teams, wr’s and rb’s are what is going to be missed with these teams. I changed up my anaylsis this week, and added some postion specific talk, this will not happen every week so bear with the length.

When I looked at this week’s schedule I started with quarterback and I realized something: of the 28 qb’s starting this week there are only 5 that I would start without question. Brady, Romo, Peyton, Favre and Kitna(in that order)... Kitna barely makes it, depends on your scoring system if it’s standard 50 yrds=1 point then even his 400 yard game isn’t that good, but some leagues have 25 yrds=1 pnt, obviously a huge difference. So if your lucky enough to have 1 of those 5 then life is good, if not your probably looking at match-ups... who’s playing against the Lions, Browns, Rams or Bills... unfortunately Brady and Romo are playing against 2 of those teams.

Luckily in 3 of my leagues I have Romo... but in the other one I have Campbell, Delhomme, Greise (trying to drop for Anderson or Harrington). So this is worst scenario - not knowing who to start.

This week there’s a couple of match-ups where both qb’s playing are... questionable so:

Big Ben over Hasselbeck..... Ward may still be out but the Defense is what I’m looking at, Pittsburg is better and madder after last week than the Seahawks.
Eli over Pennington..... The NYJ offense is still working kinks out, which means that they can have a big game or they can put up a stinker, with the chance of Jacobs coming back I think Eli will have more options.
Jay Cutler over Rivers..... See the above note for Pennington, Denver also has Bailey and Bly ready to pick off Rivers...not good, unless he throws lots of screens to LT.
Brees over Panther qb.... Harrington beat them up pretty bad this past week and I don’t know maybe I just keep having hope that NO will turn it around and coming off the bye at home seems like a good time to do so. Whoever is playing for the Panthers will look to Steve Smith often and that’s never a bad thing but the question mark status is a signal to stay away.

NOTE: Of the above Hasselbeck and Pennigton are not sits, but they’re in the middle for sure. Also last week I’m fairly sure I was 10/10 on my qb’s.

Bench:
Anderson vs The Patriots.... I don’t need to explain this one.
Schaub vs Miami.... He may not have to throw the ball to win this game and if he does throw who is he throwing too ???

The 4 headed monster of Mcnair/Boller and Leinart/Warner are still sits, though the Cardinals do have a great match-up so both could end up with big games, so they are startable if you have one of those #2 qb’s with a bad match-up.

Now on to running backs, once the foundation of a strong fantasy team... this year that is not the case, there has been no stand out stud(s)... addai may be the only one. This year keeps getting worse for injuries... last week I gave a fairly long list, now add to that Westbrook, Maroney, Jordan, Henry, Addai and of course Caddy (gone for year). (And of course, I as your Editor and an 0-4 owner, had Cadillac - marking the 3rd straight year my #1 running back has gone down with a season ending knee injury... I'm beginning to think this is all my fault)

Running backs are flying off the waivers, teams are scrambling, unless you handcuffed and saw the need last week to add Buckhalter and Morris to your team. I actually had Morris starting in my one league, not even knowing Maroney was out, I also had him on my start’em list for rb, so don’t say you weren't told. If your grabbing one of these #2 guys get one that will get goaline carries... it’s easy to find out go to a play by play recap and on these teams that have the injured running back, who is getting the ball inside the 20?? One running back that I think is still available in almost all leagues...Selvin Young... If I had room on my rosters he would be there, Henry’s knees are a problem already and it’s only week 5. Otherwise Pittman, Leonard, Morris, Buckhalter and KK (Kenton) are all decent pick-ups this week, Pittman having the most upside down the road.

Start’em
Reggie Bush vs Panthers... see my Brees comment, i think they’ll come out strong this week
Ronnie Brown vs Houston... He faces a tough run defense this week but it’s obvious that he’s the guy the offense will go through this year. Look at carries for chatman in the first 2 games vs the last 2 games... time for ronnie to get off the bench.
Dayne,Green vs Miami... I don’t know who’s starting because it’s only wed, but whoever is the starter is a must start agaisnt a horrible miami Def.
Edge vs Rams... An easier match-up for the edge, hopefully he gets back to numbers he put up at the beginning of the year.

Sit’em
Lewis vs Patriots... I had him as a starter last week vs the Ravens {70yrds, 1 TD was actually 6th best rb last week} but this week you should have him on the bench
Alexander vs Pitts... He’s been a disappointment for the most part, definitely not #1 back status yet, last week he only had 80 yds rushing and this week he’s up against a tough Def.
Benson vs GB... I actually had this guy as like a top 15 back before the season stared luckily other people saw him as a good rb too cause i never got the chance to take him. Last week should have been a coming out party, 1st time qb, lions Def. Yet he did nothing...very disappointing.
Magahee vs SF... I love watching Willis play, I guess I should point out which one..Patrick.. SF has a decent Def, they held Seattle for most of the game, which had a starting field postion avg. of like the 50.

Wide Receivers oh how I loathe thee.... Last year the gap between the #1 wr and the #15 wr was a mere 30 some points so basically 2 points per game which is why wr’s are usually not sought after in the early rounds. This year though wr’s are winning games for their teams. Moss, Owens, TJ, Plaixco, Braylon... If you have one of these guys you're happy. Right now Plaxico is #2 wr with 50 points, the number #15 brandon Marshall is at 27 points [Moss is just to far ahead ruins everything]. That is an average of over 5 points per game difference...which is huge.

I wish I could predict the top wr’s for a given week. Last week I had Patrick Crayton [27 points] on the bench so I could start Ronald curry [0 points]....not happy about that but that is the problem with wr’s any given day can be a breakout, 2 weeks ago it was Curtis, this week Crayton, prior to these weeks these wr’s did nothing. For the people who picked up Curtis, how happy are you about starting him last week ??? (I assume that was directed at me, so let me tell you... not very)

Then you look at your top wr’s last week... Owens [1], smith [1], Ocho cinco [2], harrison [0]..... my only advice have just enough wrs so that way you never have to decide between who to start and sit.

Anyway I’ll try and figure the hot guys this week...

Start’em
Santonio Holmes vs Seattle... Ward could be out again, but even if he does play expect big things from Holmes
Dwayne Bowe vs Jags... Finally KC has a receiver not named Kennison... he’s big, quick and the only wr that Huard has to throw too, a bit worried about the match-up but he should produce.
Brandon Marshall vs Chargers... I was unaware of this guy until he was offered in a trade [Derrick Ward for Marshall], this guy has been Mr. Consistent even when Javon is playing. Him playing against the Chargers seemingly weak Def. is only a plus.
Patrick Crayton vs Bills... Ok so last week I hesitantly put Curtis on this list and was burned for it. The difference here is Crayton has a proven qb to throw to him as well the Bills Def has been decimated with injuries this year.
Fitz/Boldin vs Rams... If Boldin isn’t playing and you need help pick up Bryant Johnson, I hate the shuffling qb thing but against the Rams any cardinal should start.

Sit’em
Holt/Bruce vs Arizona... Ferotte has been named the starter, which could be good news. Gus the chimney sweep has the possibility of putting up big numbers, but as i’m a betting man I have my money on him being a dud this week against a strong secondary.
D-Jack vs Baltimore... This could be Darrell’s breakout game since he has yet to do anything and Baltimore is looking shaky, however with a new qb... you cant have any faith in him now.
Vincent Jackson vs Denver... San Diego is in trouble and after they lose this week maybe there will be changes and this wr will have a chance to show his stuff but sit him until then.

Then there are the Sleepers, which I’ve done great at calling thus far

Trent Edwards vs Dallas... Bad match-up but this guy did alright last week, he found the invisible Lee Evans, who if you remember was on this sleeper list last week. At one point I think he was 13/14 so I look for him to put up some decent numbers this week.
Leon Washington vs the Giants... No real reason, maybe.... to counter a strong pass rush, you throw screens and it will be Leon not Jones who will be benefiting from that.
Colston vs Carolina... He’s probably starting in most leagues despite not doing anything this year but once again I see a breakout game for the Saints.

This week I’ll leave a disclaimer:
For those that aren’t in the NFL.com league you may want to know that I’m the 12th rated coach in a 12 man league. (I'm #11) I don’t agree with that ranking since I have the #1 def, #2 passing, #2 rushing and #4 receiving corps. The problem is I leave a lot of points on the bench (damn you Ronnie Brown). Even though I’m seemingly the worst coach I’m 1st place in my division (it is a week division but still 1st is 1st)

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

I'm 0-3 and starting 2 white wide receivers (not that I'm disparaging the athletic ability of white people) - I may never write about Fantasy Football again. Here are Trevor's Fantasy tips for the week...


First of all, I’ll start off with CHECK YOU ROSTERS.

This is the first bye week and you don’t want to be starting anyone from the Jags, Skins, Saints, or Titans. Chances are if you're starting any players from those teams except Reggie Bush or Clinton Portis you're probably in trouble already. Also you probably have a RB or two on your team that has an injury. Not sure what happened but the ones I’m aware of now (tues night) McCalister, Alexander, Steven Jackson, Caddillac, Fragile Fred, Larry Johnson, Rudi Johnson, Westbrook, Derrick Ward, Ahman Green. So the big ones are McCalister, Jackson, maybe Rudi and Green, the rest will probably play…but take a look at the RB situations right now.

Look at a growing trend….Caddy (who I thought would have a good game), he’s banged up this past week and lost goal line carries, Watson from Cincy also got some work, Reuben Droughns picked up goal line work from Ward. How many RB’s are on the free agent list right now with TD’s, but only have like 50 yds rushing. It doesn’t matter who your top running back is, if he ain't getting goal line carries you should look elsewhere and any injury has implications.

Lastly for those who don’t have the perfect team...there are some interesting pick-ups in most leagues…should check some out.

Now on to some apologies, to those who benched Chad Pennington in favor for Jason Campbell or Josh McCown, sorry.

But if you sat Matt Schaub, LJ, or Edge then you're welcome. In order to show you I’m not afraid to stand behind my prediction I started Josh McCown over Tony Romo. Now stupid…perhaps, but I would do the same thing all over again. At the moment I changed my QB Cooper was behind by 1 pnt with Chad Johnson, Drew Brees and Ronald Curry yet to play. Whereas I had Steve Smith and a QB (by the end of the morning games he would have been ahead outright). I thought Romo could get 200 yds, 1 TD…thinking the Bears wouldn’t allow a huge score and the (Marion) Barber would steal a TD. McCown had the chance to put up big numbers against a weak secondary… didn’t work out this week but oh well.

For my scoring I forgot to mention for a QB to get the thumbs up it means 15 points, 10 for RB’s and WR’s…the rest - who really cares.

My sleeper picks paid out this week with Harrington and Brown lighting it up. Which brings me to a point already mentioned last week I believe…

You don’t sit your studs. Frank Gore has shown he’s up at the top for RB’s and though he was against Pittsburgh, it doesn’t matter: you can’t sit him for Ronnie Brown. Ronnie did have a favorable match-up but has done nothing to show he’s a #1 or #2 back…a flex player at best. So that’s why Gore stayed in the lineup and Brown was on the bench.

This week I’ll try to do a little better. (17/25). No TE’s or Def…though GB, Dal would be good pick-ups.

Start’em (opposing teams in italics)

QB’s
Favre – Minny… I would put Favre as a #1 right now it doesn’t matter who the defense is, especially with another WR coming off injury
Romo - St. Louis … Week 2 vs dolphins he was a bit shaky, but now after his performance against the Bears, he’s a top QB... behind Brady and …??
Garcia – Carolina… Did you see what Harrington did last week against the Panthers?
Eli – Philly… This guy is starting to rub off on me, may not be Peyton yet but …
Culpepper – Miami... This is assuming he starts… if you combine the stats of Josh and Daunte last week... not bad so this will be any Oak QB, I think it will be Culpepper but ??? Injuries to Donavon Darius and Zach Thomas has put this defense in a lot of hurt.

RB’s
Marshawyn Lynch – NY Jets…Did you see what Ronnie Brown did to the Jets last week?
Cedric Benson - Detroit… How do you turn around a season...play the Lions or the Browns.
Lamont Jordan – Miami… This could be the last time he goes on this list with Rhodes coming back from suspension.
Sammie Morris – Cincy… It’s getting thin but with the injuries noted above it’s hard to pick any RB… who isn’t Addai, Gore, Parker. Sammy gets here even though Macaroni (Mauroney) isn’t hurt he doesn’t get goaline work…Sammy does and with an expected many trips to the red zone.

WR’s
Galloway – Carolina ... Just like last season. He goes high, low, high, low…
Dallas Clark – Denver … I haven’t looked at stats but if someone said he’s outperforming Wayne and Harrison I wouldn’t be surprised
Wes Welker – Cincy… He’s officially #2 WR and has Brady throwing to him. (note: not sure if officially he is #2 but in my books he is)
Vincent Jackson – KC… Finally Rivers started looking his way...big things to come.
Kevin Curtis - NY Giants … this is the toughest one, as Sunday night I said one game wonder. He will not have this performance again, hopefully he wont wear the jersey again… but it looks like he’s the favorite target of McNabb so that right there puts him on the start list.

Sleeper
Brian Griese - Detroit... Originally it was Rex Grossman here but Rexy doesn't have a job anymore - so Griese's on the list now.
Jamal Lewis – Baltimore…This is purely based on match-ups… Balt could scare owners away from Lewis but I think he may give a little bit more this week.
Lee Evans – NY Jets… not sure if this is a sleeper or not, maybe he’s not playing... I haven’t heard anything about him this year. (just checked NFL.com..he’s #5 on the team for yrds and rec).. add that to the fact that the Bills have no TD’s in the air - this may be too big of sleeper but oh well.

Bench’em

QB
Bulger- ?? It doesn’t matter…with 2 OL out and Jackson also out he’s on the bench unless your other choice are Brees or Leinart (damn them both) - he’s playing dallas by the way.

Leinart
Warner I group them together cause as of right now it seems both coaches are content
McNair with a revolving quarterback ???? again it doesnt matter who they play and
Boller I’m not looking this one up.

RB
Kevin Jones – Chicago…The Bears did give up points and yards but it wasn’t on the ground.
Edge – Pitt… He may have a permanent spot here... though it’s been a bad few match-ups.
LJ – San Diego… His spot is secure here till week 6.
DeAngelo Williams – TB… He should be close to off your team by now but in case your one of those people who listen to how he’s the better back, the system favors him not Foster yadda yadda yadda...at least sit him until further notice (note: I was/am one of those people).
Jerious Norwood – Houston… See the above reasoning, however I have always been a Dunn believer.

WR
James Jones – Minny... Had the opportunity with Jennings being hurt to be #2 but didn’t step up.
Fitz - Pitt... If you haven’t checked out the stats yet, do it…he’s still doing alright but something's amiss plus with no sure qb …

I hate wide receivers... they can be on top one week and at the bottom next. See my team of Steve Smith, Hines Ward...

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

The most common Fantasy Football thought this week has been, "I can't believe I started the Cincinnati defence!" If this was you, don't worry - you're not the only one. Just don't make that mistake again. Playing Cincinnati's D against Cleveland is a great argument for why you shouldn't play the match-up game. Of course playing Brett Favre against the NY Giants is a great argument for why you should play the match-up game. Which leads me to the second part of TH's comment from yesterday:

"Well I know it is a bit early in the week for fantasy talk (or is it?) but I must say, even though I won this week (oh, thanks for the tip on starting farve, sorry I couldn't offer you any advice)...I have a sneaking suspicion that that was an anomaly. So riddle me this, who should I play this week at qb? Rivers or Farve (who are playing each other)? Jordan, McGahee or the now resurgent Jamal Lewis? Oh and no bad advice since I am playing against you in the league this week (can you separate personal from professional?)."

No - in fact I cannot separate personal from professional - so you should start Joey Harrington, Matt Jones, Brandon Lloyd, Fred Taylor, Kenton Keith and the New Orleans defence. At 0-2 I need every win I can get - I have no scruples. Since I am playing you I'll let Trevor, the Sports As Life Fantasy Expert answer your questions:

"I would start Favre at QB. And RB's - Jordan of course, going against the Browns, and toss up, both other RBs have favorable match up's.... Henry did rush for 120 some yards against Oaktown so lewis should be able to do the same."

I still say you should be starting Kenton Keith - he's due.

Since you should, under no circumstances take Fantasy advice from someone who's 0-2 and starting Wes Welker and Jacoby Jones at wide receiver - here's Trevor's fantasy analysis for this week:


Get Them Off Your Bench

RB’s
Cadillac Williams vs St. Louis
Lamont Jordan vs Cleveland - even if he wasn't against the browns he shouldn't be on the bench anymore
Travis Henry vs. Jacksonville - he may not get the TD’s but in leagues that give points per yard, he’s great

QB’s
Donovan McNabb vs Detroit - he has looked bad but this is his breakout game
Matt Hasselbeck vs Cincinnati - nothing great yet, but he gets the Bungles so....
Josh McCown vs Cleveland - it’s the Browns and he hasn’t looked that bad thus far
Jason Cambell vs NY Giants - he did well against a blitz happy Eagles defence Monday...think what he’ll do against a team with no pass rush and an non-existent secondary.... NOTE: I’m not sure if they have players in those positions, maybe Tom Coughlin has just painted up some pylons which he controls poorly from the sideline.
Vince Young vs New Orleans - did you see Jeff Garcia last week, enough said

WR’s
Larry Fitzgerald vs Baltimore - this may be a sleeper but I think if you're going to attack the Baltimore D it’s through the air
Donald Driver vs San Diego - see above
Jerricho Cotchery vs Miami - emerging as a favorite target
Deion Branch vs Cincinnati - see reason for starting Hasselbeck
Ronald Curry vs Cleveland - it's Cleveland, enough said

Others
Jeremy Shockey vs Washington - Eli Manning has to throw it to someone
Tennessee Def vs New Orleans - look what they did to the Colts and the 'Aints have yet to show they have an offense
Kansas City Defence vs Minnesota - who knows who will be the Minny QB (hopefully we get another Brooks Bollinger sighting)
Kickers in the Cowboys/Bears game


Sleepers

Joey Harrington vs Carolina - no one will have this guy on their team and shouldn’t, but he gets to go in this category this week (for some reason)
Ronnie Brown vs NY Jets - he may lose some touches on the running side but I see him becoming a bigger part of the passing game
Antwaan Randel El - did you see on the last drive when he faked going out of bounds then tried for the goaline... sure not a smart decision...maybe a bit selfish...but I like it


Get Them On Your Bench

RB’s
Edgerrin James vs Baltimore - he’s showing signs of getting back to old but not a good match-up
Larry Johnson vs Minnesota - ok yes he was a stud last year, but wow - candidate for biggest bust thus far

QB’s
Jon Kitna vs Philadelphia - Kitna's prediction of a 10 win season is looking possible, but he will be on his back more than... no, no more cheap shots at Britney
Matt Schaub vs Indianpolis - this guy is hot right now, but Andre Johnson could be out and Bob Sanders is at full speed back at safety, getting to everything faster than Brittney can get to ... phew barley caught myself on that one... but it’s such an easy target...easier than... damn almost did it again
Chad Penington vs Miami - looks like the Jets are going to give the ball back to him - big mistake

WR’s
Donte' Stallworth vs Buffalo - what happened to this guy??? Looks like Wes Welker is the #2 receiver in New England, bench him or drop him completely


Other Fantasy News.... On Monday night the sack of McNabb from Rocky Mcintosh lost me the week in my IDP league... it didn’t help that McNabb thinks Reggie Brown is 7 ft 5 (Reggie was my WR for the game)... he’s throwing like another QB in a green jersey that we’re all familiar with... I foresee , Feely or Kolb ( is that his name ??) getting a start or 2 before this year is over. In the editors drafted league....I’m going to try and compile a team of players with first names starting with T. It may not be possible but here is the team that could start:

Tom Brady
Tony Romo
Travis Henry
Thomas Jones
Terrel Owens
Tory Hold
TJ housh....
Todd Heap
Tony Gonzalez
Tennessee D/ST
Tampa Bay D/ST

Looked at the teams and it’s possible, though getting Terrel and Holt unlikely, and Brady would be tough to get ... if only Brees wasn’t sucking as much as....whoops, I almost did it again.

Sweet, Sweet Fantasy Baby

In case you missed Trebor's comment yesterday, here it is:

"How come no mention of your fantasy team???? In our league their I was lucky to get a win after sittin Romo..who knew NYG would decide not to cover Witten.

What a bad week for most fantasy owners... heres some players that I think would be started in 100% of leagues, are tops at their postion and could have lost the week for a fantasy owner. Larry Johnson, Steven Jackson, Maurice jones drew, Willie parker, rudi johnson, reggie bush, mcallister, could go further down into the #2 backs. Really bad week for Running backs... Drew brees (clements from NYJ got as many points), Favre, Young, Leinart. Fitzgerald, Colston, deion branch (maybe not top but for a #1 wr to get no catches), even disppointment with TE's such as Cooley, Heap, gonzo and veron davis.

Point is if your in a fantasy league you likely had 1 of these players in my case the team which the editor helped draft I had 5.... not a good week. But these guys will bounce back, you can't be giving up on the season this early, the rediculous trade offers will come in from (In one deal i was offered derek anderson for brees... then almost equal rb's and wr's in there as well). Suggestion is don't blow up the team just yet, but maybe socut out the waiver wire, as there were some suprising performances this week."

My response is that I want to have an NFL Review on Tuesday and the Fantasy discussion on Wednesday. So here we go...


I hate Fantasy Football.

Well maybe it's not as bad as that. But after this past week I remember why I swear off Fantasy Football every year. It's not just that my team sucks - which it does - it's that Fantasy makes you root against yourself, sometimes in more than one way. To wit - I had Donald Driver of Green Bay and Reggie Brown of Philadelphia on my team last week and they just happened to be playing each other. In addition to that I had also placed a wager on Philly to cover the spread on the road. So there I am, sitting on my couch, clutching my betting tickets like some sort of wino at a dog track - and I don't even really know what I'm rooting for. I guess I wanted Philly to win by 6 but by a final of like 48-42, with Brown and Driver catching two TD's each. As it happened neither caught a TD - Brown only caught one ball - and Green Bay won outright. So I was screwed all around.

If you want a hilarious description of why a person shouldn't play fantasy football, listen to Bill Simmons' podcast from this past week with Adam Carolla (click on the Sports Guy's World link on the left and then find the BS Report). Carolla's story is basically that he doesn't play Fantasy Football because he's seen first hand what it does to his friends. The same way he's never been in to alcohol after seeing what it did to his parents. It's fantastic - a must listen. I also love him referring to Fantasy Football as Fairy Tale Football.

I also feel I should respond to Trebor's comment, as I feel it is at least in part a veiled criticism of how I've run my Fantasy team so far. So here's my story.... Because our Fantasy league was an automated draft you have little or no real control over who you pick - in the end it's basically random. I ended up with a team of what could best be described as, "random dudes." Now I have no desire to manage or cheer for a group of guys that I didn't select and didn't want - I'm talking to you Reggie Brown and Chris Chambers.

What I've decided to do is to make up a team of guys I actually like and are available through trade, free agency and the waiver wire. Since I basically had no star players that I could build around, I had to blow the whole thing up and start again.

This is not me throwing in the towel by any means - although most people seem to think that. This is me trying to make something of my own creation that I can cheer for. I want to get together a group of guys who haven't been given a chance yet. I'm going to give them their big break. Calling my team an All-Sleeper team is a little pretentious but I'd like to do something along those lines. I think the "No-Name All Stars" would be better - although they're not really all no-names.

As I think I said last week, the team I was handed was probably just good enough to miss the playoffs. Why would I want a team like that, that I didn't even pick, when I could create something of my own that just might surprise some people? At least its going to keep me interested. Instead of losing every week because I don't have a top-flight QB or even RB for that matter, why wouldn't I at least want to lose on my own terms?

After all that, this is the line-up I'm going to go with:

QB - Matt Hasselbeck
RB - Marion Barber
RB - Chris Brown
WR - Wes Welker
WR - Jacoby Jones
WR - Donald Driver
TE - Alge Crumpler (I'll probably move him somewhere down the road)
K - Steven Gostkowski
D/ST - Seattle

The last thing I have to say is that I will never, under any circumstances, join a league with people I don't know again - unless those people I don't know are vouched for by people that I know and trust.