The following is a free-flowing post containing Pro-Patriots content that may be offensive to some readers. If this is the sort of thing that makes you angry enough to anonymously leave nasty comments, please steer clear.

Patriots fans that have paid attention will look back on the 2008 team as their favorite non-Championship team of the Belichick era. They will wonder how the hell a team that lost Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi, and six young members of an already-mediocre back seven reached the cusp of eleven wins. They will try to forget what they said about Matt Cassel in August and September. They will forget the easy schedule.

This was the only possible successor to the post 18-1 season that wouldn't feel like a let down, save a championship.

Continue reading "The one where I reveal myself as a complete homer" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Reason #4,080 why Mike Tomlin is the best.

The awesome Bill Belichick NFL Films segment that Bill Simmons wrote about last week. Gotta love how the teaching doesn't stop in training camp. Lots of respect from Zach Miller and knowledge from Randy Moss. And have to love that Belichick gives Jerod Mayo such crap for buying so many trucks.

Like him or not, Jim Zorn is probably Jason Campbell's last chance to succeed in Washington. As someone who still thinks Campbell will find his way, I took Zorn staying in Washington as good news.

Gus Frerotte is not happy with Brad Childress. Chilly has a lot riding on the decision to stick with Tarvaris Jackson against the Giants Sunday.

Jason Witten should play against the Eagles. Marion Barber is far less certain.

Wacky Week 17 rankings are up early.

I will be traveling for most of the day. Try to do something wholesome. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Each week, I write up some borderline plays for a NBC P.R. release promoting Sunday Night Football. When I'm not too busy nodding my head in total agreement with Michael Silver, I post them here.

Continue reading "Borderline Plays" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Like any Matt Forte owner, I wanted to puke last night around 11PM. The fourth quarter started, Forte had gained twenty yards all evening, and the other Adrian Peterson played the two previous series for Chicago. It looked like Forte may be done for the evening, but there was no injury update. Where was Suzy Kolber when you needed her?

My wife, calling on her way out of work, sagely assured me Forte would be fine: He always finds a way. I should have known. There are better running backs in the NFL and there were more valuable fantasy assets, but no one was more consistent than Matt Forte in his rookie season.

Forte re-entered the game and kickstarted the pathetic Chicago offense with a 14-yard screen pass. He finished with 81 fourth quarter yards, a touchdown, and helped saved the Bears season for another week. I suspect his final touchdown plunge, aided by a favorable spot on a fourth-down before it, decided a lot of championships.

In standard leagues, Forte scored at least 10 fantasy points in every week but one - he had eight against the Eagles. In a league full of committees, Forte has reached 363 touches. His season started on the national stage with a huge performance against the Colts, and finished the same way against the Packers. He showed up every week in between. That's the stuff of championships.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

Week 17 fantasy is often all about guessing who will rest their starters and how much. This season, with so much on the line, there really aren't that many situations to keep track of. I count four. Every other NFL team has long since been out of it or has something important to play for. Carolina's loss kept them in play. Same goes with Denver and Minnesota. The five teams who don't have anything to play for: Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Arizona and the New York Giants. There is an outside chance Baltimore could be out of it. Here are my guesses about how they will treat Week 17.

Continue reading "Week 17: To Play or Not to Play" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

What an exhilarating Week 16. Apparently I've relayed this message multiple times in the last 18 hours to the only other person in my apartment: my wife. She couldn't care less, but told me to stop staying it. Now she's at work, so I'll say it here. Weeks 16 and 17 are often a let-down. Sure, most fantasy football teams don't win the championship. But great football can make up for it, and we've had a paucity of compelling late season races in recent years.

That has changed dramatically in 2008. Sunday was full of drama whether you played fantasy football or not. The setup for Week 17 could not be much more exciting. Kudos to the NFL for backloading the division schedules this year, which has helped set up many key games late. Luck and circumstances did the rest.

We all love fantasy football, but that grows from a love of football first. And there is nothing better as a football fan than watching season-defining games in late December and into January. They just feel weightier. I, for one, want to try to enjoy the moment before the ugly offseason arrives.

Now if Matt Forte can just score three fantasy points tonight, I'll be really grateful.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It doesn't sound good for Frank Gore. Matt Maiocco has the details. If both DeShaun Foster and Gore are active, I'd be afraid to use them unless Gore is declared the starter. Foster makes for a decent RB2 if Gore is inactive. Here's my look at the matchups. And here's to a great weekend, starting with a terrific Saturday night game to kick it off. Good luck everyone.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Conducting some research here, just because I don't know. Rotoworld has you covered with all the same news and columns next week despite the holiday and relative lack of Week 17 finals. It seems like the fantasy football community has settled on not using Week 17 because too many teams rest their starters. But I always get a surprising amount of questions. Do you play?

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (17)

Thoughts from a Colts win that disappointed many Ravens, Patriots, Dolphins, and Jets fans who wish David Garrard could throw a touch pass in the red zone

1. Is there a more consistently entertaining recent rivarly in the NFL than Jags-Colts? I happened to watch both games in their entiriety this year and they were among the best two games of the year. The themes have repeated since the pre-Garrard era: The Jaguars hold the ball, push Indy around, and the Colts often find a way to come back. The Jaguars managed to respond in Week 3 after the comeback, but fell just short Thursday.

Continue reading "MoJo and Dallas Clark give '09 preview" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There is an old yiddish saying: no one wants to see your baby photos or hear about your fantasy teams. So most people should just skip this post because it's about the latter. A lot of people surprisingly email to ask Rotoworld has done in our expert industry leagues this season. To be honest, I find these leagues are less competitive and easier to do well than leagues against friends and co-workers. There's just not enough at stake. But it was probably my best year in a while and it's self-serving to tell you the results, so they are listed after the jump. I know Chris Wesseling and Evan Silva were also rocking it out in their leagues.

Continue reading "Industry League Recap" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)