WEEK 16 : THE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Lineup : CECIL SHORTS and MATT BRYANT make it into the lineup.

Player of the Week : 

Dez Bryant  43.4
wikipedia.com

Championship Recap :  Dez Bryant simply wouldn't be enough. It was a good run, but The Ramblin RiverCat and Team THUNDER will be back next year to try again!

Hey, I'm thrilled just to make it this far after chasing the best team in the league all season!  Perhaps 2013 I'll take the whole thing down...

WEEK 15 RESULTS

The Lineup : DAVID WILSON gets a shot at running back.  The NEW YORK JETS are in!  And let's not forget DENNIS PITTA.  I'd mention my kicker but I'm incredibly ashamed to have a Pittsburgh Steeler on my roster...

Week 15 Recap : Team THUNDER takes charge behind the efforts of ADRIAN PETERSON and DENNIS PITTA -- combining for nearly 60 points!

Team THUNDER is in the Championship!

BIG THREE
TE	Dennis Pitta	31.5
RB	A. Peterson	27.2
WR	T.Y. Hilton	16.8

NEXT

Week 15 : Devil's Robot vs. Judge, Jury, and Executioner

Player of the Week : 

Russell Wilson  39.4
wikipedia.com

Judge, Jury, and Executioner, the #1 seed.  He started off 3 - 4 before finishing 6 - 0.  He finished #3 in the power rankings, #4 in points, #6 in possible points, and #3 in efficiency.  His team features Andrew Luck, Cam Newton, Ray Rice, and Jamal Charles.

He would defeat Devil's Robot 92 - 86, led by Janikowki's 20 points. Devil got 32 out of Andre Johnson but it simply wasn't enough.

NEXT

Week 14 : 1st Round Playoffs

Player of the Week : 

Cam Newton  37.0
wikipedia.com

The first wildcard matchup features #6 Devil's Robot versus #3 NJ Dragons.  The winner will take on the #1 seed Judge, Jury, and Executioner in the 2nd round.

Devil's Robot began the year 1 - 4 but finished 5 - 3 .  His 6 - 7 record was good enough to sneak in.  Of course half the league made the playoffs.  He was #5 in the power rankings, #2 in total points, #3 in possible points, and #5 in efficiency.  His team features Freeman, Doug Martin, Andre Johnson, and Vince Jackson.

The NJ Dragons began 0 - 2, won 6 in a row, then finished 1 -  4.  In other words, aside from the 6-game win-streak, he was 1 - 6.  He's #7 in the power rankings, #9 in points, #5 in possible points, and #11 in efficiency.  His team features Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jordy Nelson, and Larry Fitzgerald.

Devil's Robot would spank the Dragons 100 - 69.  Leading the way was Doug Martin and Vince Jackson with a combined 47 points. Boldin had 22 points for the Dragons.

The second matchup features the #5 seed Luck-O-The-Irish vs #4 Dead Man's Hand.  The winner, of course, takes on America's Favorite Team -- Thunder.

Of course Luck-O-Irish began the year 6 - 0.  He finished 2 - 5 at #2 in the power rankings, #1 in points, #1 in possible points, and #1 in efficiency.  His team features Aaron Rodgers, AJ Green, Reggie Wayne, and Tony Gonzalez.

Dead Man's Hand had a mid-season win streak of 6 - 0 but lost his last two.  He's #4 in the power rankings, #5 in points, #7 in possible points, and #2 in efficiency.  His squad features Matt Stafford, Demarius Thomas, Eric Decker, and Jimmy Graham.

Of course Luck-O continued with the meltdown, losing 98 - 81.  Deadman was led by Stafford's 21.

NEXT

WEEK 13 RESULTS

The Lineup :  The NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS certainly get the nod again after last week's performance.  

Player of the Week : 

Calvin Johnson  36.1
wikipedia

Week 13 Recap :  PETERSON, MANNING, and DEZ BRYANT lead the way with nearly 80 points between them!  I win!  

BIG THREE
RB	A. Peterson	29.0
WR	Dez Bryant	27.8
QB	C. Palmer	22.3

Unfortunately, I don't win the wildcard...

I won the division and got a first-round bye!!!

Under no circumstances did I even consider the impossible.

It didn't even occur to me!  I hadn't been in first place all year.  Luck-O-The-Irish has been clearly the best team throughout the season: Starting off 6 - 0 and ending up #1 in points, #1 in possible points, #1 in efficiency.  He scored 118 per game - which nobody came remotely close to.  He's had such a good team, it never actually occurred to me I could win a tiebreaker with him should he lose and I win!  But that's exactly what happened.  And it just so happens I had the better divisional record! 4 - 2 versus 3 - 3.

And it gets weirder.  Keep in mind I was in a must-win scenario, my playoffs on the line...

Not only did I overtake Luck-O- The -Irish on the last game of the regular season -- I got a 1st-round bye!  This is on account of another division winner, Shatpaper, only going 7 - 6.  Wow!  What a crazy twist.

NEXT

WEEK 12 RESULTS

The Lineup : All my studs at the "skill positions" are back in for the home stretch.  DWAYNE ALLEN, BLAIR WALSH, and the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS are new additions to round out the three troublesome positions.

Player of the Week : 

Cam Newton  37.4
wikipedia

Week 12 Recap : Struggle, struggle, struggle.  BAM!  40- point win.  And a much-needed one, too...

BIG THREE
WR	Dez Bryant	35.1
WR	Cecil Shorts	20.5
RB	A. Peterson	19.8

I'm #3 in the power rankings.  I'm only #11 in efficiency but, whatever, I'm #1 in BENCH POINTS!

Heading into the last week of the season, I'll need a miracle if I lose.

The simplest thing to do is WIN.

NEXT

Week 12 : Roster Moves : Blair Walsh

I dropped my kicker, BRIAN SUCCOP, for BLAIR WALSH.

wikipedia

I dropped CHRIS IVORY and the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS for 2 defenses : the NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS and the NEW YORK JETS..  Both have easy matchups.  The Patriots get the Jets, Dolphins, and Jaguars.  The Jets get the Cardinals, Jaguars, Titans, and Chargers.

I picked up DWAYNE ALLEN again, and dropped JOIQUE BELL.

NEXT

WEEK 11 RESULTS

The Lineup : I'm really shaking things up this week!  New additions include CHRIS IVORY, DONALD JONES, DENNIS PITTA, RYAN SUCCOP, and the INDIANAPOLIS COLTS.  CARSON PALMER earns a start over PEYTON MANNING.

Player of the Week : 

Andre Johnson  47.3
wikipedia.com

Week 11 Recap : I won't beat around the bush, here.  This is an absolutely miserable week.   Go figure, Dez Bryant is riding the pine when he puts together a 32-point effort..

BIG THREE
WR	Dez Bryant	32.5
QB	P. Manning	22.8
QB	C. Palmer	20.7

My 3-game losing streak drops me to 6 - 5.  Miraculously, I'm still in the playoff hunt!

NEXT

Week 11 : Roster Moves : Dennis Pitta and a House-Cleaning

Let me be quick to go ahead and dump the Miami tight end DWAYNE ALLEN.  Incredibly, DENNIS PITTA was still available.  After posting some big games at the beginning of the season, he was quiet for awhile.  Then last week he got 18 before leaving the game with a minor injury.  Good enough for me -- I'm desperate.

wikipedia

Seeing a lot of high-scoring kickers would be available next week, I went ahead an dropped LAWRENCE TYNES for RYAN SUCCOP (KC), who had scored 30 points in the last 3 games.

I dropped TAIWAN JONES for CHRIS IVORY.  Ivory has averaged nearly 14 points the last two weeks.  He went 10-48 yards with a touchdown 2 weeks ago.  Last week he went 7-72 yards with a touchdown.  This, even despite Sproles return.

I dropped the VIKINGS and the DOLPHINS for the TITANS  and the COLTS.

I then dropped TY HILTON for DONALD JONES.  I hated to do this but Jones has scored 11 more points than Hilton the last 3 games and is going up against the 29th-ranked defense in the Miami Dolphins.

Busy week CLEANING HOUSE!

NEXT

WEEK 10 RESULTS

The Lineup :  Out of desperation, I go ahead and start Dwayne Allen at tight end...

Player of the Week

Calvin Johnson  38.7
wikipedia.com

But once again, the bottom three in the lineup would just plain stink -- combining for 13 points.  At one point, it didn't look like I'd get back in the contest at all.  But when Gore put up a 20-spot I was back in business.  With a 5-point lead, all I had to do was sweat the Bears defense against the Texans on Monday Night Football.  I'd lose this one by 2 points.  Gross!

BIG THREE
RB	A. Peterson	28.6
QB	C. Palmer	22.7
WR	Cecil Shorts	22.3

This one stings a little.  With nearly my entire bench outplaying my starters, there's about a million ways I could have won this -- starting with the Vikings (3 pts) instead of the Dolphins (1 pt).  Oops.




NEXT

Week 10 : Roster Moves : TY Hilton

I did the unthinkable.  I dropped one mediocre player for another -- I'm that desperate.  I finally dropped Jermichael Finley for Dwayne Allen.  Allen has only been targeted about 5 times per game, but the tight end did have 13 points last week.  Boy, this is scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I also had to remedy the defense.  I felt dropping Manningham again was a better option than dropping the Vikings defense.  I picked up the Dolphins.

Carson Palmer has spoken well of Taiwan Jones.  Why not -- I finally got rid of Hillis

And finally, I dropped the banged up Donnie Avery for TY Hilton.  I don't see Hilton getting many start opportunities, but he did get 23 last week and may be on the verge of a breakout.

T.Y. Hilton

colts.com


NEXT

WEEK 9 RESULTS

The Lineup : It's a first-place division battle between Thunder and Luck-O-Irish.  It's hard to believe I'm even in this position considering how we both got out to the gates.  It seems impossible, but I'm benching both FRANK GORE and DEZ BRYANT the same week!  It's a wide receiver trio of VICTOR CRUZ, DONNIE AVERY, and CECIL SHORTS.  With both tight ends struggling, I go with KYLE RUDOLPH.

Player of the Week : 

Doug Martin  55.2

wikipedia.com

Week 9 Recap : Once again my Vikings connection stunk it up -- getting 1 point between Rudolph and the defense.  This is a game I "coulda won" if I'd known to start Carson Palmer, Joique Bell, and Brian Hartline.  It was not to be:

BIG THREE
QB	C. Palmer	34.9
RB	A. Peterson	34.3
QB	P. Manning	23.4

The streak is over.

I fall back to 2nd place.

The Good News :

1.  Carson Palmer is heating up.

2.  Peterson is in BEAST mode!

3.  Hartline is back on track, 12 targets

4.  Joique Bell makes some noise.

The Bad News:

1.  Cruz has struggled for 2 weeks.

2.  Hillis is averaging 2 yards per carry.

3.  Dez is dinged up.

4.  Finley sucks.

5. Rudolph is never targeted anymore.

I have SERIOUS tight end issues and I need another defense 

NEXT

Week 9 : Roster Moves : Cecil Shorts

Cecil Shorts!  This is my most exciting pick-up in quite some time. I can't believe he was on nobody's radar.

Cecil Shorts

jaguars.com

I also picked up Joique Bell, hating to drop Kevin Smith.  Here's my latest roster:

QB : Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer

RB : Adrian Peterson, Joique Bell, Frank Gore, Peyton Hillis

WR : Donnie Avery, Victor Cruz, Cecil Shorts, Dez Bryant, 

Brian Hartline, Mario Manningham

TE : Kyle Rudolph, Jermichael Finley

K/D : Lawrence Tynes, Minnesota Vikings

NEXT

WEEK 8 RESULTS

The Lineup : PEYTON MANNING is back!

Player of the Week : 

Doug Martin  36.4

wikipedia.com

After a slow start with the Vikings defense and Kyle Rudolph pretty much being shut out, Dez Bryant gave me some hope with a great touchdown catch in the end zone -- but stepped out of bounds as he was falling backward.  Peyton Manning, however, gave me a small cushion going into the Sunday Night game, where Gore managed to hold on with his mediocre outing.  Whew!  

BIG THREE
QB	P. Manning	24.6
RB	A. Peterson	19.7
PK	L. Tynes	19.0

Five straight wins.  

FIRST PLACE!

I'm pulling this off with a ton of dead weight.  I'm walking a tightrope.Now my tight ends aren't producing!  Finley hasn't topped 10 points in 5 weeks.  Rudolph has a total of 4 points the last two. 

For now, I'll put in my bid for Cecil Shorts.  He's heating up for the Jaguars the last two games -- combining for 22 targets for scores of 18 and 20.  Do I have a shot of getting him with my remaining $18?  If it's a no go, I should get Brandon Myers to help out at tight end... 

NEXT

WEEK 7 RESULTS

The Lineup : 

It's PEYTON MANNING'S bye week.  CARSON PALMER should do just fine...

Player of the Week:

Vincent Jackson  34.6
wikipedia.com

Good week!  Despite no-shows by DEZ BRYANT and KYLE RUDOLPH, I operated at 90% efficiency choosing my lineup.  In fact, my high scorer on the bench, DONNIE AVERY, only produced 8 points.

BIG THREE
WR	Victor Cruz	26.1
RB	A. Peterson	23.9
QB	C. Palmer	23.3

Big week!  Not only did I win my fourth consecutive game -- I also beat a division rival.  Meanwhile, Devil's Robot was handing Luck-of-the-Irish his first loss of the season!  End result?  I'm by myself in second place, only one game out...

 

NEXT

WEEK 6 RESULTS

The Lineup:

Yep, I started Hartline over Dez Bryant.  I'll look like a genius if I win, right?

Player of the Week : 

Aaron Rodgers  39.22
i4u.com

Mistake : I started Hartline (0) over Dez Bryant (34). With Peyton Manning trailing the Chargers 24 - 0 things just weren't looking good.  But then the Broncos came back with 35 unanswered points!  Manning is now the #5 scorer in fantasy football.  Thunder is now 4 - 2 !

BIG THREE
WR	Dez Bryant	34.5
QB	P. Manning	24.1
RB	A. Peterson	19.9

My power ranking improved to #3 !  However, my efficiency rating of 79.9 drops me to #11.  I'm now 5th in total possible points and back to #1 in bench points.  But at 4 - 2 I'm not ready to fire the coach just yet.

 

Jahvid Best was a scandal!  It seems that bringing him back wasn't "for real" but rather a ploy to get him a pension before permanently retiring with these concussion issues.  Well, good for him -- bad for me.

My roster is getting really thin as my secondary players production declines.  I only have five real starters -- Gore, Peterson, Bryant, Cruz, and Hartline -- in the 4-player WR/TE slot.  There isn't much available: 

RB  Woodhead (7.9)

WR  Manningham (10.3), Stokley (9.7), Gordon (9.5), and TY Hilton (9.1)

TE  Myers (10.1), Fasano (8,6)

With the Best flop, I need to pick someone up... 

NEXT

Week 6 : Roster Moves : Jahvid Best

I got Best!

Jahvid Best

wikipedia

As I present my new roster, I'm introducing starter win-loss records.  It seems silly, I know.  Wins and losses in fantasy football are obviously a direct correlation to points scored.  But, as I discovered in my gambling career there are complete non-sensical trends that has nothing to do with anything -- but need to be given consideration.  So, I'm going to take a look at it.  In parenthesis are starter win-loss records:

QB : Peyton Manning (3 - 0), Carson Palmer
RB : Frank Gore (3 - 1), Adrian Peterson (3 - 1), Jahvid Best, Peyton Hillis (0 - 1), Kevin Smith (1 - 1)
WR : Victor Cruz (3 - 2), Brian Hartline (1 - 0), Donny Avery, Binns, Dez Bryant (0 - 2)
TE : Kyle Rudolph (2 - 0), Jermichael Finley (1 - 2)
K : Tines
D : Minnesota Vikings (1 - 0)

Interesting.  What stands out is Manning's 3 - 0, Rudolph's 2 - 0 and both my stud running backs at 3 - 1.

My new goal is to get my average points over 100.

NEXT

WEEK 5 RESULTS

The Lineup :  Hartline gets his first start.

Player of the Week : 

Reggie Wayne  40.2
wikipedia.com

Not only do I defeat "Dead Man" quite handily, but I also nail my first 100% efficiency rating!

BIG THREE
WR	Victor Cruz	28.0
QB	P. Manning	26.7
RB	Frank Gore	16.7

Things are beginning to take shape.  I think it's finally clear who my quarterback is!  Big comeback players: PEYTON MANNING and ADRIAN PETERSON!

You see my challenge, here.  The two teams ahead of me in the division are the best in the league -- a combined 9-1, Marauder's only loss to Luck O Irish!  

I lost Cedric Benson for 8 weeks! Benson's backup, Alex Green, had a good day filling in but most of his yardage was on a 42-yard burst.  I suspect this is who most fantasy owners will be focused on this week.  Meanwhile, I'm eyeballing someone else...

 According to reports, Jahvid Best is in his best physical condition ever and may be cleared to play by Week 7.   I originally queued up bids of 21 on Green and 21 on Best.  But then I noticed Luck-O do something strange -- he did two drops with no adds.  Is he doing this to get other owners to overbid? 

NEXT