A sports blog by and for Midwest Sports Fans
The NFC East champion will be decided Sunday night in New York, where the Cowboys and Giants are squaring off for the last spot in the NFC playoffs.
The first time these two teams played each other was in Week 14, and the Giants won the game 37-34. That win set them up to stay alive in the NFC East, and gave them a shot to win it this week.
If you’re reading this post right now, one of three things is happening:
One, you are in your league’s championship round and looking for some advice as you try to make the most important lineup decisions of the season. We congratulate you, and we’re here for you. Skip ahead and start soaking in the analysis as you go for your league’s equivalent of The Shiva.
I am skipping an introduction this week because I’m too mad at fantasy football.
In my league of 14 teams, I finished right in the middle of the pack in terms of points…but because I had the third most points scored on me, I missed the playoffs…by a lot.
I finished second to last.
Lame.
Sometimes, fantasy football goes that way. I will spare you my three heart-breaking losses of the year because, quite frankly, we all have them…and nobody else cares.
I know what you’re thinking…
“I love the NFL, and I need my start/sit advice for Week 13, but I’m just SO pumped for the Big Ten Championship game this weekend that I can’t even think about it!”
You’re in luck!
Click here (or here for a work-friendly page) and comment, “I want tickets!!!!” in order to win FOUR free tickets to the Big game this weekend between Michigan St. and Wisconsin, courtesy of our friends at Verizon.
Seriously…that’s all you have to do. What have you got to lose? We’re even going to save you time by helping you out with your start em, sit em questions in this post and in the comment section!
Now on to week 13.
On Thursday the National Football League presents perhaps it’s best Thanksgiving package ever.
The first portion begins with the 10-0 Green Bay Packers against the Detroit Lions (AMANDA’S PREVIEW). Dessert is the 9-1 San Francisco 49ers visiting the Baltimore Ravens. (Throw in a certain Indiana Hoosiers hoops coach and the Harbaugh clan is fast becoming the most annoying coaching dynasty in the history of Western Civilization.)
Just don’t forget the main course in the middle; because as any true elitist knows, it is just not quite Thanksgiving without the Dallas Cowboys.
Jon will have the overall Week 12 start/sit post ready to go for tomorrow morning, but with three games on Thanksgiving Thursday I thought it might be helpful to do a special start/sit column for those games.
So in this post I’ll do just that, providing analysis and recommendations for the key players you need to decide on before Turkey Day.
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The number one reason why the Cowboys will win the division is simple: schedule.
The Cowboys final opponents are Miami, Arizona, New York, Tampa Bay, Philadelphia and New York again.
I absolutely love the fact that there are no byes this week even though it makes things harder on my own team. How’s that for a contradiction?
As I stop with the filibuster lines, let’s discuss the injuries that have begun to rear their many ugly heads. And I’m not just talking about injuries to players on your roster. Something else to pay attention to is injuries to your players’ opponents. These can sometimes affect your guys greatly. For example, Johnathan Joseph will play this week against Tampa Bay, but his hamstring isn’t 100%.
As a matter of fact, in the NFL, after week 1 nobody is 100% anymore. This is a tough game we play we with tough decisions, and we highlight who is healthy enough and good enough to play in this week’s stock report.
There are many different factors that make fantasy football difficult: bye weeks; injuries; random lucky days for your opponent; and worst of all, Chris Johnson.
In my opinion though, the hardest thing is staying in the present.
What do I mean?
Before we get to the Week 9 fantasy football start/sit advice, I want to add a couple more thoughts on my Tebow article from yesterday. (And don’t worry; I’ll analyze his fantasy prospects for Week 9 too.)
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.
After two straight weeks of seeing terrible teams on Sunday Night, the Vikings and Colts, this week’s game is actually a hyped matchup. The Eagles are hosting the Cowboys in a must-win game for the home team.
Well, that was fast.
As soon as I opened up my big mouth and proclaimed that 2011 was going to be the most prolific fantasy year ever, scoring around the league plummets. No worries.
At least I had a great week on the predictions front, as I was right on nearly 80% of my picks.
As always, here is a quick look back at last week before we move on to week 7.
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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.
Is this guy serious?
I realize Cowboys fans are frustrated with Tony Romo for making a few bone-headed decisions yesterday that allowed the Detroit Lions back into the game, but I really cannot fathom any excuse for a grown man to decide he should teach his son to burn Romo’s jersey in retaliation.
Watch the video, which I just saw over at Black Sports Online courtesy of Robert Littal, and then let’s talk about it.
