It was absolutely sick what Matt Flynn did to the Detroit Lions in the snow globe conditions at Lambeau Field Sunday. In fact, it was sick what both Flynn and Matthew Stafford did in snowy, windswept Lambeau Field.
NFL: AFC Playoff Scenarios and Predictions for Week 17
December 26, 2011 By 9 Comments
I just broke down the playoff scenarios for the NFC (including my predictions for what the first round matchups will look like).
Now let’s break down the playoff scenarios for the AFC based on what happens in Week 17. There is still a lot to be decided.
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Fantasy Football Week 14 Start em, Sit em Advice, Projections, and Lineup Q&A
December 6, 2011 By 91 Comments
Week 14 is here.
For some of you, that means you have a team (or hopefully teams) on bye this week. If so, major kudos to you.
For others of you, Week 14 means that it’s the first week of the playoffs. If so, good luck, and hopefully the advice in this post will help you move on.
For others, Week 14 is the last week of your regular season. Maybe you’ve clinched a playoff spot or maybe you’re still scratching and clawing for one. Regardless, hopefully we can do you and your lineup some good with our picks in this week’s start em, sit em.
And for some of you this may be your first week without fantasy football – if your playoffs start this week and you did not make it; but if that’s the case, why would you be reading this?
Alas, if you’re here, you are looking for help in Week 14. And you’re in luck, because that is exactly what you’re about to get.
Altogether now, let’s point and laugh at Mark Sanchez
November 6, 2011 By 3 Comments
Mark Sanchez and the New York Jets won a pivotal AFC East battle against upstart Buffalo today. Actually, “won” is too tame of a verb. They vanquished the Bills, reminding Buffalo which team has been to two straight AFC title games and which team hasn’t made the playoffs since…since…well who the hell can remember back that far?
Buffalo dominated 27-11, and the game wasn’t really that close. The Jets ran relatively well, played outstanding defense, and followed Sanchez’s efficient 20-28, 230-yard, 1 TD day to victory.
Despite the W, however, Sanchez is likely to be one of Week 9′s biggest punchlines because of this play that occurred late in the 4th quarter.
NFL Power Rankings Week 9: The Midseason Motown Edition – One Classic “Hitsville, U.S.A.” Track For All 32 Teams
November 1, 2011 By 2 Comments
Week 8 is now in the books after Philip Rivers fumbled away a road win in Kansas City, which means we are right around the midway point of the 2011 season. Most teams have played 8 games, a few have played 7, and we can finally start to state with some level of certainty who is good, who is not, and who is too enigmatic to declare.
Without question, the story of the first half of the season (other than this) has been the ascent of the Detroit Lions.
They went 0-16 three years ago, then 2-14 in Jim Schwartz’s first year, then 6-10 last year; and now halfway through their 2011 slate Detroit, sitting at 6-2, is a bona fide contender in the NFC. And the Lions aren’t just an empty record either. They have the skill, attitude, reputation, and right now the health (knock on wood) to suggest that they aren’t going away.
So in honor of the Motor City Mufasas, and their roaring wreakers of wreckage Ndamukong Suh and Calvin Johnson, I give to you my Midseason NFL Power Rankings, with each team presented alongside a Motown classic that sums up the first half of its season.
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How many NFL teams would trade their current QB for Cam Newton right now?
October 31, 2011 By 17 Comments
How many teams would trade their current QB, right now, for Cam Newton?
This is a question I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past several weeks, as I continue to be more and more impressed (and surprised) by how well Cam Newton is transitioning to the NFL in his first season.
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets: Monday Night Football Preview, Point Spread, and Prediction
October 15, 2011 By 1 Comment
It’s Week 6 and the Monday Night Football contenders this week have a combined number of wins of TWO. That’s right, two. Combined. The 2-3 Jets will host the 0-4 Dolphins on Monday night.
This game isn’t just a competition of who can play the best, no; it will be a vicious fight for a win between two teams desperate for Ws.
Let’s take a look at why the teams are where they are.
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Fantasy Football Week 6 Start Em Sit Em Picks and Player Projections for Hillis, Hernandez, Dez, Stevie J, and more
October 10, 2011 By 106 Comments
Is 2011 going to be the highest scoring fantasy season of all time? All signs indicate that it could be. Last season, seven players finished the season with more than 270 points (ESPN Standard Scoring). After four weeks this season, a staggering 18 players were on pace to beat that mark…and nine of them were QBs.
Like I said at the beginning of the season, gone are the days of fantasy rule by the RBs. Of those 18 players, only 5 are RBs…simply a staggering thought to anyone living in 2006 or before.
Fantasy Football Week 5 Stock Report: Sanchez, Decker UP; Fitzpatrick, Colston DOWN
October 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Oh byes.
We don’t like them, but the players do need their rest. With the rest periods starting now, there are some crucial decisions that need to be made regarding your roster.
Who is going to fill in for Ray Rice? Issac Redman can’t carry the load for an injured Mendenhall…can he? And so many more.
Now is the time that we want to highlight players who might be on your bench or floating around on waivers waiting to be picked up in hopes that he can provide that stopgap service. Everyone knows that Jason Witten is good for your health but how about Brandon Pettigrew?
There are questions galore to be answered in the Week 5 stock report.
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NFL Power Rankings Week 5 – “Drunk Girls Alone At The Bar” Edition
October 4, 2011 By 2 Comments
I don’t like that NFL teams wear pink during the month of October. I love the idea that they are celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month and doing what they can to increase awareness and honor those who have fallen victim to the disease, but I don’t like that they add pink to the uniforms for the whole month.
30 years from now when the next generation of kids are watching highlights from the 2011 season, they will randomly see players wearing pink, and unless the NFL continues this practice forever, they won’t know why. The great thing about highlights from the 60s and 70s is that teams always looked the same. They were the definition of uniform.
Nowadays each team has at least one throwback or alternate uniform that they wear periodically throughout the season. And while they look great, it messes with continuity. I realize that the extra uniforms bring in racks on racks on racks of extra money each season, but they need to do away with it. Teams should be forced to pick one uniform design – one home, one away – and stick with it. If the throwback uniforms are such a hit and look better than the default uniforms, then switch back.
On to the Week 5 Power Rankings.
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Sunday Night Football Preview and Prediction: New York Jets at Baltimore Ravens
September 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment
This Sunday night’s game between 2010 playoff teams the Jets and Ravens is actually an anticipated matchup compared to the game last week, even though the Colts didn’t do too badly. (Or did the Steelers just do that bad? Either way, the Colts are 0-3 and Curtis Painter is their starting quarterback. He’s no Ryan Leaf, but at the same time he is no Peyton Manning…)
Let’s take a look at this game, which will feature Jets head coach Rex Ryan going up against the future Hall of Famers he used to coach in Ray Lewis and Ed Reed.
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Dallas Cowboys at New York Jets: Sunday Night Football Preview and Prediction
September 9, 2011 By 1 Comment
The opening weekend of play in the NFL will have a different tone this year, as it falls on the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Some would like to see the NFL postpone the first week of the season, but that would never happen in the league that just locked out the players.
Play will carry on as usual, with memorial services being broadcast on the video screens at every NFL game.
The last game on the night of September 11th will take place in New York, which is fitting considering the situation. The Jets will take on the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football.
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Fantasy Football Defense/Special Teams Rankings for 2011: The Big Four and One Wild Card to Keep An Eye On
August 31, 2011 By 4 Comments
Whether you play full-season fantasy football or the fun, free weekly games that we participate in at FanDuel, when it comes to picking a defense for your fantasy football team this season, just remember one thing: FOUR, NO MORE.
Reach way back into your memory and try and recall something you learned in Economics class: The Law of Opportunity Costs.
The law of opportunity costs states that, “Whenever you spend money on one thing, you are choosing against spending money on something else.” While it may be an incredibly simple concept, many of us often get seduced on draft day into spending way too much on a defense.
The fact is that if you don’t get one of the top four defenses in the league, #5 isn’t better enough than #12 to justify spending the additional money.
Mason heads to NY
August 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Update: ESPN is reporting that the Jets have signed WR Derrick Mason, formerly of the Ravens. This is a bit of a shock as it was believed the Ravens were offering more money, but perhaps Mason believes the Jets have a better shot at the Super Bowl, having been to the AFC title game the past two years.
