Squish (268)
E-roc (127)
Shirley (66)
Jeff (53)
Tommy (53)
Mal (51)
Ken (44)
Amir (40)
TJ (29)
Hopefully everyone got what they really wanted this year…a fantasy football championship! I guess I wasn’t a good boy this year though, as Santa couldn’t even bring me a third place finish. Oh well, there’s always next year!
Updates from August, 2010
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Merry Christmas from FFGeekBlog.com!
Brandon
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0.47
Matt
That’s how many points I lost my fantasy championship by.
This is one of those days where you think you might just skip next season. Though I’m not (yet) drunk enough to forget that I’m about as likely to do that as I am to follow through on the "I’m never drinking again, ever" phase of a hangover.
This was a particularly miserable defeat, since at around 4:30 yesterday, I was more or less certain that I had won. After the 1pm EST games had concluded, I was down by 11 points, with Earnest Graham and the Tampa Bay defense still to go. Tampa Bay had just manhandled the Falcons the week before, so I was pretty confident that they’d do something similar to San Fran and make up the margin all on their own – and then I had Graham, the free agent pickup of the year, who would certainly rack up at least ten points even if Tampa did decide to rest him a bit.
Then Tampa Bay lost to San Fran, while giving Graham’s backups the ball more than they gave it to him. And he did jack squat with the carries he did get.
Then I lost by 0.47.
The beer, if you’re wondering, is delicious tonight. Merry fucking Christmas.
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Sunday Wrap-up: Patriots, Moss and Brady inch closer to the records
Brandon
With their victory over the Dolphins yesterday, the Patriots are now one win from reaching that undefeated mark. One game!!! Tom Brady is two touchdowns from breaking Peyton Manning’s single season record of 49, while Randy Moss is two scores from breaking Jerry Rice’s single season record of 22 grabs. If all of these records are broken in that last game, that will be pretty badass, I must say.
But let’s get to the real stuff here…fantasy football league championships. Did you win? While there’s still one game left this week, with pretty big fantasy football implications, you probably have a pretty good idea where you stand right now. For example, in one of my league’s I need Brandon Marshall to outscore Antonio Gates by about 40 points, so that’s probably NOT going to happen, but I can always hope! Anyways, congratulations if you’re poised to be taking home the trophy this season. We can only hope that some advice from this site helped you get there. Let’s give a final recap of the key player performances that may have helped you get there…or may have prevented you from achieving greatness…
Quarterbacks
Kurt Warner (ARI): 361 passing yards, 3 TD
Father time just keeps getting it donePeyton Manning (IND): 311 passing yards, 3 TD
Maybe he could donate some of his touchdown passes to his brother -
Not so Fast Willie Parker
Brandon
Willie Parker (RB-PIT): 1 carry, -1 yards, 1 broken leg
Were you hoping Willie Parker would lead your team to the promise land? If so, you’re team just started off the weekend with a severe disadvantage. While I’m not in a championship, I am playing for pride in a third place game…and Parker did his best to ensure that my pride takes a beating this weekend. However, if you were really weak at running back and decided to throw Najeh Davenport in your RB2 or flex spot…you’re probably doing cartwheels right now…while myself and other fantasy owners are hating you.
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Ask the Geeks: Week 16
Brandon
For all of you that made your league’s championship game this weekend, tonight begins your last match of the season, so good luck! Hopefully we can answer some last minute questions to get you that trophy.
Patrick asks: In week 16 do I start Marshawn Lynch (RB-BUF) versus the Giants or Kolby Smith (RB-KC) at Detroit?
Brandon’s take: Patrick, I’d go with Kolby Smith for a few reasons: (a) Smith is not splitting carries, while Lynch is (with Fred Jackson), (b) the Lions run defense is not as good as the Giants run defense (by about 16 yards/game and 8 touchdowns), plus they just got torched by the Chargers for over 260 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground, so they’re looking mightly vulnerable at this point. And (c), the Lions field is indoors, so weather won’t be an issue, while the same can’t be said for Giants Stadium.
Matt’s take: I have nothing to add. This one’s a no-brainer.
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Teams that might bench their starters in week 16
Matt
Nothing’s more devastating in fantasy football than watching your stud player sit out a late-season game because his coach chose to rest him up for the playoffs. It’s as if they have no idea there are fantasy championships on the line, or that – unimaginable as it seems – they don’t really care. Peyton Manning sat out most of the week 16 game in ’05, and many owners still have yet to forgive him.
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Studs and Duds: Week 16
Brandon
Wow…I must say that last weekend did not exactly go according to plan. I promised everyone that my picks would be near perfect, but I guess I pulled an Anthony Smith in that regard, posting my worst record of the season. However, I can’t be completely to blame, as bad weather conditions in certain venues ruined the fantasy production of several players, such as Derek Anderson, while other players just seemed to take a vacation (Antonio Gates). I will take credit for a few picks though, such as suggesting Adrian Peterson would rebound with a big game and that Kurt Warner would also have a big day against the Saints. Kellen Clemens and Chris Redman also helped the cause with pretty poor performances (although I doubt anyone considered starting them in the first place). Anyways, with that anomaly of a week out of my (and hopefully the NFL’s) system, let’s get to the studs and duds of week 16…most likely the championship week in your league (hopefully you’re still in contention!)
Studs
Ryan Grant (GB): Grant has been a machine this season since getting the start in week 6. He’s got four 100+ yard games under his belt and 6 touchdowns since then. Do you really think the Bears ’07 defense is going to slow him down all that much?
Fred Taylor / Maurice Jones-Drew (JAX): Last weekend I hated on the Jaguars running game and they made me pay for it, especially Taylor who went for 147 yards and a score. This week I’m changing my tune a bit though as they play against what the Raiders claim is a run defense, but in all reality is just a bunch of guys standing there hoping a running back will run into them. Oakland has allowed 21 rushing touchdowns this season so far, which is the worst in the NFL…in case you were interested.
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My finals matchup
Matt
If you’re not interested in my personal fantasy football situation, skip this post. Brandon’s got some info you can actually use in his waiver wire report for week 16. I find it easiest to get a handle on a fantasy situation I’m in when I explain it to someone else, and hey, what luck – I’ve got a blog on fantasy football! Crazy how these things work out sometimes. Details on my finals matchup after the jump.
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The Wire: Week 16
Brandon
I can’t speak for everyone else out there, but the poor play of numerous fantasy stars (i.e. Antonio Gates) combined with the unexpected play of a few others (Anthony Gonzalez, Aaron Stecker, etc) has knocked me out of both of my semi-final games this past weekend. The best I can hope for now is a couple of third place finishes…not quite what I was hoping for going into the season, but the great part about fantasy football is that there’s always next year.
Anyways, enough of that depressing talk, as I’m sure there are a number of you who survived this past weekend’s battle and are on to the champion ship game this week. Before I go into this weeks suggestions though, I just wanted to give a quick warning to owners who may have players playing in wintry conditions…don’t start any kicker in the snow (Rian Lindell), and think twice before starting a border line receiver in freezing conditions (Jabar Gaffney)! For those of you whom it still matters, here are your waiver wire suggestions for week 16…most likely the last game of the fantasy football season…
Domanic Rhodes (RB-OAK): Did you get to the champion ship game in part due to riding the coattails of your week 9 waiver pickup Justin Fargas? If so, you’re probably searching frantically to patch up that hole in your lineup, as Fargas is expected to miss a game or so due to a knee injury. It appears that Rhodes was the guy they went to in Fargas’ absence this weekend, and he should get the start this weekend. I’m sure the team wants to see what they have in Rhodes before deciding what to do with their running back situation in the off-season, so he should get the majority of the carries over LaMont Jordan. Keep in mind though that Rhodes has a pretty tough matchup against Jacksonville this weekend.
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Sunday Wrap-up: Miami finally wins...
Brandon
…and the big question is, do the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate? Or do they sink further into depression as the only winless team in NFL history? In other news, the Patriots won again (although not in the blow-out fashion that all the analysts expected) to move to 14-0. Only two more wins to reach that undefeated mark (fingers crossed)!
In fantasy world though, the weekend was actually pretty slow in terms of stats. Consider this…in one of my league’s scoring formats, some of the players that made the top 10 list in fantasy points for their position include Cleo Lemon, Shaun Hill, Greg Camarillo, Roydell Williams, Aaron Stecker and Darren Sproles! Besides Stecker and maybe Williams, I challenge anyone to admit to starting any of those players at any point in the season. On the other hand, Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Antonio Gates and Terrel Owens had very poor games, which probably didn’t help anyone’s playoff hopes (unless they were playing against them). Anyways, let’s get to the top fantasy scores of the week…
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These are the decisions...
Matt
…that make you tear your hair out. I’m in a second-round playoff matchup, and I’ve been dwelling over my WR3 spot for the last half an hour. OK… probably more like an hour. Reading everything I can find about the two guys I’m thinking about filling it with. Pounding coffee to fend off the hangover from the three large glasses of Jack I had to drink last night in order to restore my sanity after seven unbearable hours of Christmas shopping. Knowing that no matter what I do, the guy I bench will score at least two touchdowns. It’s just been one of those seasons for me.
I’ve already had to stomach Rudi Johnson lighting up my flex spot with a whopping two points. I hate him with all my soul.
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Thanks for reading! (Oh, and one more thing...)
Matt
As the fantasy football season is quickly drawing to a close, I just wanted to say a quick thank-you to our readers who have made our first season of blogging a whole lot of fun. When we started this blog, we didn’t know if anyone would care about what we had to say, and we definitely had no idea that we’d wind up with thousands of readers every week. Your participation and feedback in the comments and the Ask the Geeks columns have made this a whole lot of fun.
If you like the blog, are into betting on sports, and are feeling in the holiday spirit, we’d be really pumped if you signed up with one of our new sports betting affiliates. They’ve got some nice bonuses for new clients, and they give us an affiliate fee if you sign up after clicking on one of the offers below. So if you’re thinking about betting on the Super Bowl or something anyway, it would be awesome if you helped support our blog along the way. We’ve also got one for poker thrown in there for good measure.
If you’re still live in your playoffs, best of luck. If not – well… happy holidays! Thanks again for visiting. We’ll be posting throughout the rest of the fantasy playoffs, and we’re planning on posting regularly with news and updates during the offseason as well.
The offers:
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Three Potential Shockers for Week 15
Matt
After watching David Patten go off and validate my decision to declare him a potential shocker for week 14, I’m going with the theory that three really is a lucky number. Or maybe I’m just lazy and only feel like giving you three shocker picks instead of five, since a good portion of our audience is probably out of contention at this point (we take no responsibility for this. If you win, though, we strongly feel that we deserve at least some of the credit, and a portion of your winnings).
As always, here’s a brief explanation of my definition of a fantasy “shocker”: A player who comes out of relatively nowhere, has a gigantic, multi-touchdown game, becomes the hottest waiver commodity the following week, and then soon sinks back into the relative obscurity from whence he came. Like I’ve said before, these are long-shot picks and I don’t expect to hit on most of them.
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Ask the Geeks: Week 15
Brandon
Week 15 begins tonight, as the Denver Broncos go to Houston to take on the Texans, so let’s get started with a few early questions from our readers…
Chris asks: Hey guys .. I have a couple of roster questions for my semifinal matchup1.For my third WR would you start Lee Evans or Bobby Engram .. It would be easy to say Evans over his outing last week but this entire year I have been being very optimistic after big games like that but instead he will go weeks with 40 yd games and no TDs while Engram is more reliable..
2. San Diego D or Green Bay D
Brandon’s take: Hey Chris, that’s a tough one you have there with your receivers. It’s hard for me to tell you to start Engram over Evans, when Evans made my "Studs" list this week. However, since it is the playoffs, you might go with the more reliable Engram in this case. Evans is a home run threat, especially against the Brownies defense, but Engram is pretty good for 8-15 points a week or so. Engram has been producing all season long and actually has more touchdowns than Evans.
In terms of your defenses, I would go with San Diego this week. The Lions have been terrible lately, losing 5 straight, while averaging under 20 points a game and I see the Chargers defense going big in this one at home.
Matt’s take: If you’re ever going to start Evans, this is the week. He tends to run hot and cold, and since he just had a nice game, he might be ready for a hot streak. He and Edwards should connect at least a five times against Cleveland, and he’s always a threat for the long touchdown catch.
Keep an eye on the St. Louis QB situation this week, and if Brock Berlin is starting again, use the Green Bay defense. If not, San Diego’s a decent choice.
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Studs and Duds: Week 15
Brandon
Did you survive the first round of the playoffs? Are you still in contention for some consolation prize? Before I get into this weekend’s picks, let’s take a look back at how last week went. As hard as a few players tried, I still ended up with a pretty solid record. The Buffalo running game, plus my boy Ryan Grant, turned in very solid performances, while the Tony Romo to Jason Witten connection was in full force, even if T.O. was left out of the action. Kevin Jones came out of no where to log multiple touchdowns, while the Buffalo and Houston passing games went huge in the touchdown department…which was NOT expected though. This weekend I’m looking to make perfect recommendations (no misses!), but we’ll just have to wait and see how that works out. So without further ado, here are your suggestions that should hopefully propel your team to the next (and possibly final) round of your playoffs…
Studs
Adrian Peterson (MIN): I’m going to go out on a limb and say that last weeks performance by Peterson was a complete anomaly. How else can you explain how the San Francisco 49er’s (!!!) held A.Pete to 3 freakin’ yards on 14 carries? This week Peterson plays against a soft, inter-conference Chicago run defense, so he’ll be looking to re-establish himself as the top back in the NFL.
Joseph Addai (IND): Even with low yardage last week, Addai found his way into the endzone three times. This week, he faces the worst run defense in the NFL in allowing teams into the endzone with the Raiders (21 rushing touchdowns allowed!) Addai should have a field day.
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The Wire: Week 15
Brandon
So I survived the first round of the playoffs in the two leagues I made the playoffs in, in large part due to the performance of Brandon Marshall, Jay Cutler and Ryan Grant…not to mention the Buffalo defense. Hopefully most of our readers can say the same thing and have survived long enough so that this list even matters to them at this point! I didn’t want to go off on any tangents about how the Patriots or still undefeated after stomping the Steelers or anything like that, so let’s get right to this weeks waiver wire suggestions…
Baltimore (DEF): Just as I expected, the Buffalo defense was one of the top defenses last week against the Miami Dolphins. Their next opponent? The Baltimore Ravens. While the Ravens defense has been decent this season, it hasn’t been as good as the previous few years, leading to them being free agents in many leagues. I just snatched them up this morning in one of my leagues and you should do the same. (More …)
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Sunday Wrap-up: B. Marshall breaks out!
Brandon
On a day when the Patriots crushed the Steelers to move to 13-0 (can we take anything Anthony Smith says seriously now?), one of my proudest (and luckiest) moments was seeing my pre-season sleeper pick, Brandon Marshall, step up and go huge in the first round of my fantasy playoffs.
Brandon Marshall (WR-DEN): 10 receptions, 115 receiving yards, 2 TD, 10 rushing yards
Complementing those stats was the fact that in one of my leagues, I had also started Jay Cutler…so that worked out pretty well. Hopefully our readers had similar luck if everyone drafted Marshall like I recommended! Anyways, Sunday seemed to mark a return to great fantasy stats for most of the regulars, such as Brady, Manning, LT, Moss, and Trent Edwards. Hah…well maybe Edwards didn’t return to greatness, but he did have a great game. I guess that’s one things the Dolphins are good at…making the opposing quarterback look like Dan Marino. So that’s enough rambling, let’s get to the top performers of the weekend…
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Did your keeper league team miss the playoffs?
Brandon
If you’re in a keeper league and your team is out of the playoffs (but your league still allows you to make roster moves), it’s time to start thinking about next year. Unlike re-draft leagues, you can’t sit back and forget that your fantasy team even exists at this point…because there is always next year, so you need to be prepared. Similar to my concept of a Post-draft Draft that I explained before the season began, I figured I’d draft up a list of players that are poised to break-out (or at least make some kind of fantasy impact) next season, and could be picked up now in preparation…
Quarterbacks
Kellen Clemens (QB-NYJ): Of the quarterbacks on this list, Clemens has had the most experience and hasn’t performed all that badly. Even though his team is 3-9, Clemens has kept the team close in a few of the losses and his defense can be blamed for a few others. Clemens should only get better next season with a year of experience under his belt and better chemistry with the skill players.
JaMarcus Russell (QB-OAK): With the least experience of all the quarterbacks on this list so far, Russell could also have the most potential. In his first real experience, Russell played fairly well, going 4-of-7 for 56 yards, but throwing 0 TD and 0 INT. Depending on your league’s rules, you may be able to watch Russell play a few more games before making an ultimate decision, but Russell has a chance to be a pretty solid quarterback in the NFL. If you don’t scoop him up now, make sure to keep an eye on him in next season’s draft.
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Three Potential Shockers for Week 14
Matt
I’m a bit ashamed to realize that the last Shocker post I did was for week 11. At least it was a decent one… I correctly predicted big games for Ronald Curry (120 yards) and his QB Daunte Culpepper (a whopping 340 yards, only 1 TD though). The picks of Northcutt, Boller, and Grossman were wrong and stupid.
Here are this week’s potentially wrong and stupid picks. I’m pressed for time this afternoon (damn these Thursday games rushing me) so I can only offer three today. As always, here’s a brief explanation of my definition of a fantasy "shocker": A player who comes out of relatively nowhere, has a gigantic, multi-touchdown game, becomes the hottest waiver commodity the following week, and then soon sinks back into the relative obscurity from whence he came. Like I’ve said before, these are long-shot picks and I don’t expect to hit on most of them.
Kellen Clemens, QB, NYJ: He’ll likely have Coles back, and good things tend to happen against the Browns D. Given that the Browns will be able to score against the Jets, the Man-Formerly-Known-As-A-Genius will be forced to call a ton of passing plays. Expect big yardage, and at least a couple of touchdowns.
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Rumblin’, Bumblin’, Stumblin’ - Fantasy Football Player Value Adjustments - Week 14
Matt
Here’s a look at the guys who spent their time in week 13 doing one of three things: rumblin’ up the player value charts with big performances, bumblin’ through a rough week and making their owners nervous, or stumblin’ badly enough to pretty much wreck their fantasy value.
Dallas Clark, TE, IND: Two touchdowns in week 13 and nine on the season, which is tops in the league. Thanks to yardage, Gates and Witten are still better options in all but touchdown-only leagues, but Clark’s a weekly threat to score.
Braylon Edwards, WR, CLE: A string of games against tough opponents had kept his numbers down for the past few weeks, but he blew up in week 13 for 149 yards and a TD against the Cards. And check out his next three matchups: Jets, Bills, Bungles. Look out.
