If you’re still playing in Week 17, I have a couple thoughts to share with you.
First off, congratulations!
Second, what the hell are you thinking?
Fantasy Football Week 16 Waiver Wire Pickups and Advice
December 19, 2011 By 29 Comments
After weeks of anticipation, it’s finally here…your fantasy championship game.
Oh, you thought I meant Christmas?
Ideally you’ve been shopping the waiver wire all season long and have picked up some bargains along the way. But just in case you waited until the last minute, there are still a few options out there in your hour of need.
Kyle Orton’s 5 Most Likely Destinations
November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Although Tim Tebow has won 4 out of his 5 starts so far, the everyday fan was still surprised to see Kyle Orton be waived by the Broncos.
John Fox is a coach who looks for a more traditional style quarterback, and that leads me to believe that he did not have much to do with the waiving of Orton. Orton is a quarterback that I feel is better than most quarterbacks starting in the NFL as of today, and many teams could use him as an upgrade from what they currently have.
Here are some of the teams that may have an interest in claiming him.
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Tim Tebow nearly leads Broncos to victory against San Diego – should he be the starting QB in Denver? [Poll]
October 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The so-called quarterback “controversy” in Denver has been going on since training camp. The coaches were in full support of Kyle Orton, while the fans wanted to see Jockey model Tim Tebow take the reigns.
After Tebow relieved Orton today and nearly led the Broncos to victory, it may be time for the Tebow Era to officially begin in Denver.
Fantasy Football Week 4 Start Em, Sit Em Picks, Player Projections, and Lineup Advice
September 26, 2011 By 154 Comments
Week Three is over, and you are probably wondering one thing: How is a guy that’s giving such great advice 0-3 in his own fantasy league?
I wish I knew…injuries have just killed me…and I’ve lost each week by an average of 1.2 points. Just heartbreaking.
Some of you are probably in the same boat as me. Even if you aren’t, it’s the time in the fantasy football season when leagues are won and lost. Now is when we have to start making the tough calls.
Oakland Raiders v Denver Broncos: Monday Night Football Preview and Prediction
September 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
After an immensely fun but exhausting weekend helping my brother celebrate his 21st birthday, I am spending this Monday morning getting caught up on all of the MSF duties that piled up over the weekend. I unfortunately won’t have time to get a full Monday Night Football preview posted for the second of tonight’s MNF double-header (Miami-New England Preview here), but here is all of the info you need to know plus a prediction and my spread pick from earlier week.
All 32 Week One NFL Starting QBs…as Michael Jackson Songs
September 2, 2011 By 7 Comments
When Super Bowl XLVI arrives in Indianapolis come February 2012, it will be 19 years since one of the most iconic moments in the history of America’s most popular sporting event: Michael Jackson’s epic 1993 halftime show.
Unfortunately, the eternal King of Pop is no longer with us (he would have turned 53 just a few days ago on August 29th), and he thus he will never be able to follow in the footsteps of Bruce Springsteen, The Who, John Mellencamp, and others who have taken to the Super Bowl stage as older musicians, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t weave the musical brilliance of Michael Jackson into a post about the National Football League.
So enjoy this homage to my favorite musician of all time, Michael Jackson, as we kick off our coverage of the 2011 NFL season. Here are all 32 Week One starting QBs in the NFL…as Michael Jackson songs.
Photo Story: Tim Almighty – Starring Tim Tebow and God
August 29, 2011 By 12 Comments
With our blog being called Midwest Sports Fans, I realize that Tim Tebow is not necessarily within our purview (unless, of course, you are one of those weirdos who considers Colorado to be part of the Midwest…). However, I don’t think anyone would argue that Tebow, because of his on- and off-field accomplishments, transcends sport and region into being a national topic of conversation.
We have discussed Tebow here at MSF. He was the subject of this very pro-Tebow podcast and I and other MSF writers have discussed him extensively on Twitter, always in a positive light. And when I read this article by Gregg Doyel that included Tebow’s situation within the larger context of NFL teams that try to change uniquely skilled QBs, it further emboldened my belief that Tebow will someday be a winning quarterback in the NFL…just not in Denver.
And somehow, all of this led me to sit down and create my first photo story in a while, which deals with this very subject.
Fantasy Football QB Rankings for 2011: Top 15 plus the “Stay Aways”
August 27, 2011 By 4 Comments
Well running backs, it was a good run (no pun intended). For over ten years, you have been fantasy football gold. The old cliche was that when draft night came, it was best to draft running backs early and often.
However, with the arrival of platoons in the backfield, a greater emphasis on passing, and unbelievable rule adjustments that make it practically impossible to defend the pass, running backs just aren’t as valuable as they once were.
In fact, one could easily make the case that there are several players of other positions who are more valuable than even the top running backs. This has never been more the case than it is this year at the Quarterback position.
But which quarterbacks should you be targeting in your drafts or when the free weekly FanDuel beat-the-expert contest starts? And which ones should you stay away from?
Just like I did earlier this week in ranking the running backs, here are my top 15 fantasy QBs for 2011, as well as my suggestions for who you should stay away from.
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Fantasy Football Week 14 Start / Sit Picks
December 6, 2010 By
Well, it all comes down to this.
As I put the finishing touches on this week’s Start ‘em, Sit ‘em post, I currently lead my Week 13 opponent (Brian Bassett of The Jets Blog) 61.22-36.20 in the P&G-sponsored Blogger Fantasy Football League*.
Before you get too excited for me though, take a look at who he still has left to play: QB Mark Sanchez; RB Shonn Greene; WR Danny Woodhead; TE Dustin Keller; D/ST New York Jets. Basically, if those five players average five points a piece, I’m toast.
What will make a loss burn even more is that the team I needed to lose, PUNTE‘s squad, did in fact lose. A win and I am a single game out of the final playoff spot with one week to play. I’ll have a fighting chance. A loss and I’m done, just playing Week 14 for pride.
Needless to say, I will be watching the Monday night game with great intrigue, hoping for a miracle.
Update: I don’t know how the hell it happened, but I won! Still alive baby!
Photo Story: A Bronc’s Tale – The Story of Josh McDaniels and his Fun-Loving Quarterback
November 17, 2010 By 1 Comment
Ever since I started doing these photo stories, like this one about benching Brett Favre and this one about Donovan McNabb’s new contract, I’ve been yearning to do one that involved Purdue alum and former Chicago Bear Kyle Orton. Why? This is why. Because even though we’ve all seen the multitudes of Kyle Orton hammered pictures plenty of times, they really never get old.
I decided that today would be the perfect time for the Orton photo story because: a) it gives me a chance to promote MSF Fantasy Sports since Orton is surprisingly among the top fantasy QBs this year; and b) because the Broncos play the Chargers on Monday night this week, meaning it was easy to weave the equally photogenic Philip Rivers into the proceedings.
And, well, poking fun at Josh McDaniels – the guy who traded Peyton Hillis for Brady Quinn – is pretty much always appropriate. (As for the inclusion of Matthew Berry – who, for the record, I read religiously and respect greatly as a fantasy analyst – well let’s just say that I stumbled upon some must-use pics of him, and his fantasy man-crush on Orton made this the perfect opportunity.)
So here is today’s photo story, which probably isn’t as good as the previous two from a narrative standpoint, but which is still special for me in it’s own right…thanks the incomparable Kyle Orton, every sophomoric sports blogger’s best friend.
NFL Quarterback Power Rankings
November 10, 2009 By 9 Comments
No position in the NFL is more highly scrutinized, debated, and discussed than the quarterback. It’s impossible to build a consistent winner without one (and people who follow the Cleveland Browns would tell you that it’s impossible to find one period).
After this weekend’s Packers loss to the Bucs, Aaron Rodgers was a popular topic of conversation on Twitter. I made the comment that he has not shown me that he has the “it” that people always talk about when it comes to QBs. Some agreed and some disagreed, but it got me thinking about where Rodgers falls in relation to today’s crop of QBs.
Thus, I set out to rank the quarterbacks currently holding starting NFL gigs, taking into account their current age and skill level, future potential, past accomplishments, and the general confidence level I would have if that player was the QB of my team.
Steelers-Broncos Monday Night Football Preview and Prediction
November 7, 2009 By 7 Comments
Editor’s Note: AJ Kaufman’s weekly MNF coverage on MSF is sponsored by Sadler’s Smokehouse, a producer of premium pit smoked meats that are best described by Sadler’s slogan: Legendary since 1948.
Sadler’s premium meats are perfect for tailgating on Saturday, for grilling out at home on Sunday, or for when you are hosting a group of friends, or even just the family, on Monday night.
With a variety of delicious choices (beef, pork, ribs, turkey, brisket, and more) and availability at grocery stores throughout the U.S., Sadler’s meats are the tasty, convenient choice when you want to watch the big game and eat well while you’re doing it.
Check out Sadler’s Monday Night Football Recipe of the Week: Sadler’s Smokehouse Pulled Pork Stew
Visit the Sadler’s Smokehouse website: Sadler’s Smokehouse
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Fantasy Football Week 4 Sleepers and Bye Week Fill-Ins
September 30, 2009 By 3 Comments
We have now had three weeks of the 2009 fantasy football season and everyone should have a decent idea of what kind of team they have.
I’m in six leagues and am at least 2-1 in five of them, so I’m feeling pretty good.
But the equations change a little bit this week as the bye week rotations begin.
This week, Arizona, Carolina, Philadelphia, and Atlanta are all on byes. This means that teams with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, DeAngelo Williams, Desean Jackson, and Tony Gonzalez, among many others, have to find productive fill-ins to keep them competitive in Week 4.
And that’s what we’re going to look at this morning.
So far, my start em, sit em picks have worked out a lot better than my sleeper picks on a weekly basis (Byron Leftwich last week, ’nuff said). In reality, though, Weeks 1-3 are really like the preseason when it comes to waiver wire trolling in the 50% -or-less category.
Most teams, if they drafted at least semi-competently, should not have been digging too far down the wire to plug any holes yet.
It’s a different ballgame now, with each team needing to find bye week replacements. This morning, I will attempt to identify players at each primary fantasy position (no kickers…not now, not ever) who have favorable matchups in Week 4 and could do some damage.
Here we go:
Bears v Broncos Preview: The Biggest Game of the 2009 NFL Preseason
August 27, 2009 By 3 Comments
If you can only watch on preseason game, you should watch the game between the Bears and the Broncos. Preseason games don’t mean anything at all (and if you don’t believe me, the Lions went 4-0 in the pre-season last year and look how well they did) but this game will be a very interesting one.
Here are the particulars:
- Bears-Broncos Preseason Game Date: Sunday, August 30th
- Bears-Broncos Preseason Game Time: 8:00 PM ET (6:00 local time)
- Bears-Broncos Preseason Game TV: NBC
- Bears-Broncos Preseason Game Location: Invesco Field at Mile High in Denver, CO
- Bears-Broncos Preseason Game Point Spread: Denver -2.5 (via DocSports’ NFL odds)
- StubHub: Deals on Bears-Broncos Preseason Game Tickets
- StubHub: Deals on Denver Broncos Regular Season Tickets
- StubHub: Deals on Chicago Bears Regular Season Tickets
As you may know, Jay Cutler and Kyle Orton were traded for each other. Bronco fans were angry, and they still are, at Cutler for refusing to do anything unless he was traded. I can see why fans would hate Cutler. I believe they did get the worst side of the trade. Though some might argue that Denver got the better side of the trade because of the draft picks, you have to remember that just because you have high draft picks, and that you may draft good college football players, that doesn’t mean they will will amount to anything in the NFL.
The number 1 reason to watch this game is to see the QB battle. I am positive each QB will want to play better, command the game better, and perform better than the another. These QBs will play like it’s the Super Bowl! It should be a great battle to watch.
Kyle Orton has the chance to make the Bears regret trading him away, but I don’t see him having a great day to change any Bear fans’ or coaches’ mind. I liked Orton, but I didn’t see the Bears winning anything with him at QB.
Jay Cutler will have to win over the Bears’ fans over the course of the season, a process which he has already begun in earnest, and this game is a great venue to continue doing so. If Cutler does well, the fans will continue to develop their love for him, and if he doesn’t…well, it’s only the preseason, but you never want to do anything that might make the fans anxious or angry.
Be prepared to hear lots and lots of booing at Invesco Field, where Cutler used to play his home games. I expect every time Cutler is on the field to hear the fans boo until he steps off. That is how much the fans there now despise Cutler. Even Cutler expects to be hated endlessly.
Another reason to watch the Bears-Broncos preseason game is that this game should feel somewhat like a regular season game, at least until the starters leave. Up through that point this game should be very enjoyable. The QBs have things to prove, and the tension between the fans and players will give this game a regular season feel.
Overall, the first half will be a fun time for football fans. It will be a break from the boring and really long football preseason. (I am a fan of only two preseason games and the adding more games to the regular season, for the record.) While this game logically doesn’t mean anything, it actually does. Coaches and players won’t tell you that it does, but I think it does. Orton and Cutler are both thinking in their head “I have to do better than the other guy,” and that alone should make the game exciting.
Whether you’re a Bears or Broncos fan, or just an NFL fan in general, it doesn’t matter. This game should appeal to you.
The whole thing about Bears fans to loving and then hating their QB, and seemingly switching week-to-week is wrong, but you have to realize that Chicago has never had a franchise QB. No matter who they have tried, it has just never happened. So when they get somebody who has the best chance to become a franchise quarterback, the highs and the lows have the potential to be more extreme.
On Sunday night, Jay Cutler has one more chance to get Bears fans believing before the regular season starts. The fact that he will do so in front of his angry former supporters makes it all the more intriguing. So everybody tune in on the game Sunday at 7:00pm CST. You won’t be let down.
