I just hope Antonio Bryant's one-handed grab won someone their league. I hope that person was down 35 points in a PPR league, but watched the game because they love football. And because you never know.
As someone who owns Antonio Bryant and Steve Smith in key leagues, Monday Night's game will be remembered for a long time. I'm sure DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart owners feel the same way. A lot of playoff outcomes were decided in the fourth quarter of that game.
Bryant's 200-yard outburst puts a nice bow on his comeback season. We pegged him as a sleeper in March, with full fever catching in September. He's now ranked in the top-15 in standard leagues on the season (tenth in yards), although I still see him more as a great WR3. Jon Gruden, finally coaching some youngish talent again at receiver, has turned a mess into chicken salad once again.
December 08, 2008
Thanks to everyone who voted for Shaun Hill in the poll last week. He was edged out by Steven Jackson, but Hill was my pick. To everyone who didn't vote for Hill: I'm sympathetic to telling other people wrong advice. It happens. Every week. A lot.
Hill helped me comfortable advance to the final 57 teams in the FFOC, meaning the longshot $1 million dream is still alive. Next week is the big one. The competion is narrowed down to the top-15, and those fifteen are guaranteed $3500 and up. I fully expect some heart break. But I also expect to roll with Hill, who has another solid matchup at Miami.
Steven Jackson will be a tougher call Sunday. He gets Seattle on turf, which is very inviting. Jackson's 67-total-yard effort against Arizona showed his warts and upside. The workload was huge and he broke a fantastic 32-yard gain, which is why we love him. But he also was held to 35 yards on 22 wildly ineffective touches the rest of the game. The St. Louis offense held him back, but he used his receiving skills for a tough touchdown. I want to watch the tape of Jackson before making any conclusions, but he's probably going to be on the bench behind Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, and Shaun Hill once again.
All the Seattle offense needed to wake up was to play against an injury-depleted defense forced to play calcifying veterans Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin. Frankly, the Seahawks should have scored more after taking their first two drives of the game a combined 163 yards for two touchdowns. I do think we can take a few things away from Seattle's performance, though, despite the cake matchup. That's because they get another one next week: @ St. Louis.
You could do worse than using Deion Branch as a WR3 next week. His 63-yard catch-and-run was somewhat fluky, but fun. (And long enough to make his personal highlight package from Sunday almost five minutes. He's healthy, he's getting targets, and the matchup is right.
I wouldn't be afraid to use Branch because he's getting better quarterback play. Seneca Wallace looked like the competent starter he was in 2006, largely because his calf is healed. He rushed for 43 yards. It would take guts and a poor roster roster to use Wallace, but he makes other Seahawks options, assuming Matt Hasselbeck is out again.
John Carlson has 174 yards and a touchdown in the last two weeks. He's a good red zone threat, but also can run some deep routes. He's on pace to finish with one of the top-ten rookie tight end fantasy seasons of all time and the third best since 1998, behind Jeremy Shockey and Cam Cleeland. He will be a top-eight option next week.
Monday mornings are spent piecing together the Morning After, which is essentially a collection of about 30 blog posts. That's coming soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd post this quick debate piece I do for NBCSports.com and Sprint on Monday mornings. The debate question today: Is Tony Romo improving or regressing?
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Is this really a question? Going into Sunday, Tony Romo was first in the NFL in yards-per-attempt, passer rating, and touchdowns-per pass attempt. He’s played this well despite playing three games with a splint on his pinkie. He’s also first in all three marks among active players. Give the guy a break with these questions!
The Steelers have a historic defense that is dominating in all phases. They have given up fewer yards-per-play than any team in over thirty years. They have routinely made great quarterbacks look bad, and Romo won’t be the last.
Romo isn’t Dallas’ problem. How long does it take until we realize that quarterbacks aren’t solely responsible for wins and losses? It’s a team game. Teams led by Kerry Collins, Joe Flacco, Jeff Garcia, and Jake Delhomme combine for a 39-11 record this season. Delhomme and Garcia aren’t even playing particularly well. All of their teams would trade their guys and their souls to get a quarterback like Romo.
December 05, 2008
This might be a game-changing day in Rotoworld's history. (I love hyperbole, at least when I believe it.) Our new Snapdraft game has finally launched. My instincts could be wrong, but this baby has tremendous upside potential to change the way people play and think about fantasy sports. The game is Rotoworld Grand Poobah Rick Cordella's baby, and I've spent many hours listen to him talk about Snapdraft's potential: It's essentially a weekly fantasy football league. (Basketball is coming shortly.) I'm not a business guy, and sometimes I glaze over when I hear the idea of the week.
Snapdraft was different. I was as fired up about its potential as Rick was. It appeals directly to why I love fantasy sports: immediacy and competition. I love the immediacy of drafting a team on Saturday and winning your league by Monday. I love the concept that I could play Snapdraft if I missed the playoffs in my other leagues. Snapdraft will be a game of skill that rewards the best players. Which also appeals to my bottom line. It should augment the traditional fantasy football league, certainly not replace it. It's for fantasy owners who want more. Anyhow, the whole concept is in its early stages. If you try it out, let me know what you think and how we can improve the experience.
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The rankings updates are up and I fear for Marion Barber's owners. It doesn't sound good. See you on the Fix Sunday. Enjoy the weekend.
With all the attention on the Diuretic Six, Matt Jones' impending suspension has slipped through the cracks. Or at least been delayed. The delay is about to end. Jones has appealed the suspension, but he plead guilty in the courts a long time ago.
This is just speculation, but it would be shocking if Jones wasn't suspended by the league next week. Perhaps he'll get a game knocked off his reported three-game suspension, although I doubt it. Either way, don't plan to have Jones available as a WR3 after a good matchup against the Bears this week.
Jones' arrest, ironically, appears to have turned his career around. He was nearly cut in the preseason, but some renewed focus has led to a season where he is on pace for 83 catches and nearly 1,000 yards. He's likely to head into a contract year as Jacksonville's number one receiver in 2009.
Thoughts from one of the worst Thursday Night games ever ...
1. LaDainian Tomlinson worked hard for his 91 yards against the Raiders. I thought the same thing about his 24 yards against Atlanta; it wasn't for a lack of effort. That's almost disheartening. LT2 did what he needed to for his owners, but in the past he'd go for 130 and two with such a big lead early. His longest run was for nine yards.
The expectations are so much lower for LT2 now. He performed as expected in a great matchup. I would have been more surprised with a monster performance than a dud. I can't be the only person that thinks the offense is better with Darren Sproles in. Maybe that's because the offensive line is so bad and they need an elusive back right now. LT2 is running hard, but he's not elusive. I doubt Tomlinson will be in my top ten running backs to start next season.
2. The Raiders were playing reasonabl7 good football, at least on defense, in the last month before last night. Their performance in the passing game was embarrasing against a terrible secondary like San Diego's. They only made it into field goal range once all night! And two penalties took them right out of range.
3. It's amazing the Chargers won 34-7 on a night that Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson both didn't play great. They were good, but Rivers
4. How you feel about starting the Zach Attack, Mr. Miller of the Raiders, probably depends on whether you play in a PPR league. Eight catches for 64 yards is rock solid, like his season, but I was hoping for a chance to score a touchdown in this matchup. Miller is now on pace for 756 yards. He's averaging a surprising 13.64 yards-per-catch.
I'm repeating myself, but Miller could have Jason Witten's career if he was on another team. Sigh.
5. Vincent Jackson is maddening to own. He had four catches in the previous three games, then explodes. I had him in one playoff lineup, but on another bench. Jackson now has a career high 44 catches. He's third in the league with a 19.3 YPC average. He's ninth with six receiving scores. All that sleeper potential has been realized. He is one of the few post-hype all stars that actually panned out.
And a happy morning to you, Antonio Gates owners! For the second straight year, Gates is potentially destroying a solid season with a terrible stretch run. He is still somehow the number-two ranked tight end in standard leagues, but he has 65 yards in the last four weeks. So what do we make of Gates' two-target, zero catch performance?
First of all, you can't forget that Philip Rivers only completed ten passes. There weren't many sustained drives in a strange, uneven, terrible game. Something appears to be hobbling Gates though. It is hard to believe the other tight end in Thursday's game, Zach Miller, has 80 more yards on the season.
Perhaps Gates has truly recovered from his foot injury. It doesn't make sense that he saw only two targets, even if there were only 22 attempts. This has been coming for a while: He's had five or less targets in three of the last four games. Since he hurt his foot late last year, he's had five targets or less in half of his last 18 games. Before the injury, Gates had five or fewer targets in only 16% of his previous 42 games dating back to 2005. The output is especially surprising this season, when the Chargers actually have a decent passing attack.
So if you survived, can you bench Gates next week? I doubt it, unless you have a top-ten option like Dustin Keller, Chris Cooley, or possibly Zach Miller sitting on your bench. I am not benching Gates for the Visanthe Shiancoes and Marcedes Lewis' of the world no matter what. The man has still scored six times last year. In a one-week vacuum, he still gives you better odds than a waiver wire pickup.
December 04, 2008
Tiffany and I bring back our speed round Start or Sit segment below. I think we're spending too much time around each other because the interactions are getting salty. Our four matchup previews after the jump ...
Continue reading "Setting the Table" »
A look at the weather this Sunday. Could be rainy in Seattle, but no wind. It's going to be well below freezing in Green Bay, but no snow. The Steelers/Cowboys looks to have the most potential to be messy.
Florio's highly entertaining Chris Landry/National Football Post plagiarism scandal has reportedly ended in a firing. Well done Florio! And at least Landry has good taste in what to copy.
Continue reading "Skinny Posts: Sunday Weather" »
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