A little bit of football humor, because I am too lazy to post the matchup recaps.
Breaking Madden: Brett Favre returns to the Rams, and brings Quincy Carter and friends with him
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Jake's FF Mid-season Suggestions
Entering Week 8 of the NFL, 6 different teams head into their bye week. This week is crucial from a fantasy standpoint, as most leagues are halfway through their seasons, and owners are trying everything in their power to ensure that their team is victorious. With so many holes in your line-up, it will be critical to look at the waiver wire to see what is available to pick up. Let me give you a few suggestions as you prepare for Week 8 of your fantasy league:
Suggestion #1: STAY AWAY FROM ANY VIKINGS PLAYERS. Minnesota has been in shambles this whole season. The team is not playing anywhere near their potential. Even their best player, RB Adrian Peterson, has only got 12 points in the last two weeks. This is a guy who last year scored 307+ points in the standard 15 week league, (over 20 points per week). His team is struggling. The offensive line is struggling, they have started 3 different QB's this year (and announced two different starters this week). Don't pick up a MN QB. Don't pick up a MN WR. Stay the heck away from the defense. This team has no momentum, and even NFL Analysts are making fun of them. Not to mention, they are killing their most loyal fans one by one. If you Skol Vikings this week, you will Skull Vikings this week.
Suggestion #2: Look at players with increases in carries and receptions over the last two weeks. In the middle of the NFL season, there are a ton of injuries. Sometimes, it get tough to keep track of all teh injuries and what player is replacing who. I suggest that you pick up a few back-up players who have begun to get more looks on the field at this point in the season: Riley Cooper has had 4x the amount of receptions and yards in the last two games, and I don't see his contributions slowing down for the Eagles; Jarrett Boykin is a number 3 receiver for the Packers who had more targets by Aaron Rogers last week then any other Packer, and with Cobb and Finley out again, he will put up large numbers against a struggling Minnesota defense; Chris Ivory rushed the ball 34 times last week! That's over 3 times his average this year. While he only averaged just over 3 yards per carry, he will continue to get the majority of the carries this week, as the Jet's have no other options at RB.
Suggestion #3: While this suggestion won't necessarily help you this week in your match-up, this suggestion will help you get your team ready for the upcoming fantasy playoffs. Look for players that are currently injured or are not playing that your fantemies (Fantasy Football Enemies or opponents) have dropped this week! Barreling down the last half of the season, everyone wants to win NOW. However, lots of owners overlook upcoming schedules, player projections, and real time injury updates from around the league. This could be very valuable, especially if you are able to pick up guys like Percy Harvin, Randall Cobb, or Andre Brown who may be playing in the next week or two. Be a smart owner who thinks ahead in the chess match of the season. FF is a marathon, not a sprint!
Suggestion #1: STAY AWAY FROM ANY VIKINGS PLAYERS. Minnesota has been in shambles this whole season. The team is not playing anywhere near their potential. Even their best player, RB Adrian Peterson, has only got 12 points in the last two weeks. This is a guy who last year scored 307+ points in the standard 15 week league, (over 20 points per week). His team is struggling. The offensive line is struggling, they have started 3 different QB's this year (and announced two different starters this week). Don't pick up a MN QB. Don't pick up a MN WR. Stay the heck away from the defense. This team has no momentum, and even NFL Analysts are making fun of them. Not to mention, they are killing their most loyal fans one by one. If you Skol Vikings this week, you will Skull Vikings this week.
Suggestion #2: Look at players with increases in carries and receptions over the last two weeks. In the middle of the NFL season, there are a ton of injuries. Sometimes, it get tough to keep track of all teh injuries and what player is replacing who. I suggest that you pick up a few back-up players who have begun to get more looks on the field at this point in the season: Riley Cooper has had 4x the amount of receptions and yards in the last two games, and I don't see his contributions slowing down for the Eagles; Jarrett Boykin is a number 3 receiver for the Packers who had more targets by Aaron Rogers last week then any other Packer, and with Cobb and Finley out again, he will put up large numbers against a struggling Minnesota defense; Chris Ivory rushed the ball 34 times last week! That's over 3 times his average this year. While he only averaged just over 3 yards per carry, he will continue to get the majority of the carries this week, as the Jet's have no other options at RB.
Suggestion #3: While this suggestion won't necessarily help you this week in your match-up, this suggestion will help you get your team ready for the upcoming fantasy playoffs. Look for players that are currently injured or are not playing that your fantemies (Fantasy Football Enemies or opponents) have dropped this week! Barreling down the last half of the season, everyone wants to win NOW. However, lots of owners overlook upcoming schedules, player projections, and real time injury updates from around the league. This could be very valuable, especially if you are able to pick up guys like Percy Harvin, Randall Cobb, or Andre Brown who may be playing in the next week or two. Be a smart owner who thinks ahead in the chess match of the season. FF is a marathon, not a sprint!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Week 7 Scores and Standings
Well, as always, we had a crazy week. A few close games as well as some... not so close ones.
Here are the scores:
SLC Soviets (Shane) @ Weber County Jackals (Jake S)
94-43
This one wasn't even close. And while it certainly didn't help that Jake DIDN'T SWITCH OUT HIS TIGHT END FOR A BYE WEEK (UGH), there was still almost no hope for his roster. Even if he added all the points scored on his bench to his total, he would have still lost by 24 points. In fact, just Shane's bench could have beat Jake's starters and bench. Now there's a scary thought.
I just think Jake doesn't care at this point. This isn't the first time he's not switched for byes, and I have a feeling it won't be the last. (Prove me wrong, dude, please)
Megatron had a monster week for Shane (as he should, dammit) with 27 points, and Jake's highest scorer was his KICKER, Stephen Gostkowski with 10. This game could have been even more one sided if Shane had switched out Gordon or Blackmon for VJax, who recorded 25 points on his bench.
Shane continues his win streak and improves to 4-3, while Jake continues the 2nd worst losing streak in the league (4 games) and is now 3-4. Soviets march on!
Provo Beginner's Luck (Rachel) @ Centerville Psycho's (Scott)
88-50
With the 2nd most lopsided contest of the week, the continuously surprising Rachel soundly bested Dad. There isn't much depth to Dad's roster at the moment, with his bench only posting 31 points. That doesn't sound too bad for a bench until you realize Andrew Luck scored 29 of those points. Dad played Romo instead of Luck, which isn't necessarily a bad call. Romo can certainly produce monster numbers. But Luck and his Colts were in a crazy shootout against Manning and the Broncos.
The Detroit D/ST certainly didn't do any favors for Dad either giving him a sweeeeet -2 points. Awesome job, bro. Meanwhile, Rachel's combo of Frank Gore at RB and AJ Green at WR gave her some very nice points this week. She could have also played Matt Ryan instead of Sam Bradford at QB and gotten 10 more points (22 vs. 12). I've said it before... Rachel has one of the hardest to predict teams in the league.
Frank Gore was Rachel's best this week, with 22 points, and Demaryius Thomas was Dad's best with 14.
Oh, also, side note. DAD, JUST STOP. Seriously, Gronk is back. Brady has better targets.
With her win, Rachel moves up to 4-3 and Dad drops to 3-4. Dad has lost his last 3.
Northern Quilters (Wendy) @ C-Ville Slayas (Kyle)
70-70 (52-15 bench)
This is easily the most interesting outcome of the week. Because we don't use fractional points, Mom and Kyle tied at 70. What this means is the team with the most bench points takes the win. Here were the benches:
Aaron Rodgers alone could have won this one for Mom. What sucks with a game being this close, is just about any different starter set up could have changed it one way or another. For instance, Kyle could have played Greg Jennings instead of Larry Fitzgerald at WR or Antonio Gates at Flex, and he would have won. Of course, on the other hand, if Mom had played Rodgers instead of Cutler at QB, she would have soundly defeated Kyle.
Also of note, is the Carolina D, which had a very solid game for Mom with 17 points. Much better than Mom's usual go to, Chicago, which only got 1 point this week.
Mom's top player this week was WR Eric Decker of Denver, with 21 points. Kyle's best was RB Marshawn Lynch of Seattle, with 15 points.
Mom snuck away with this win, really. This wasn't a great week for her. I mean Jay Cutler got her -1 points for crying out loud! If she had been playing anyone else other than Dad or Jake S, she would have lost, easily. But such is life in fantasy football.
Mom continues UNMITIGATED DOMINANCE or whatever, and improves her win streak to 6 and her record to 6-1. Kyle drops to 3-4.
Mom is still top dog. MY MOM IS WINNING, DAMMIT.
Ogden Cats (Heidi) @ Chicago Clovers (Holly)
85-79
I really thought this was Holly's week. Honestly. Going into the game on Monday, Holly had 59 points, with Eli Manning and Reuben Randle still left to play. Heidi had her final score already, with 85. I totally thought Eli and Reuben could connect enough against a very soft Viking's D to get Holly the 27 points she needed. I was obviously wrong. (But I guess that's Eli and the Giants for you.)
Only real big change Heidi could have made was swapping Kaep for Alex Smith, but it would have only meant a difference of 4 points (19 vs 15). Reggie Wayne was injured during the game on Sunday, which obviously Holly couldn't predict, but she could have played Terrence Williams instead for a gain of 7 points. (5 vs 13)
QB Alex Smith was Heidi's best player this week, with 15 points, and Holly had two players, RB Chris Johnson and Kicker Adam Vinatieri, score 16 points for her best scores.
With this win, Heidi has the 2nd best record in the league at 5-2, and Holly, poor Holly, continues her season long losing streak and moves down to 0-7. Man.
Provo Crunch Time (Spike) @ Minneapolis Marauders (Jake)
101-87
Honestly, this was a low scoring game for Spike. Which is crazy for a couple reasons, which I will point out in a minute. Even with Peyton Manning's awesome 25 points, Jake just couldn't finish. There wasn't a whole lot Jake could do about it, either. His bench only posted a total of 13 points (12 of which came from 2 players). His WR corps seem to be his biggest problem, with 3 players combining for only 11 points. Meanwhile, Spike had two players, Stafford and Forte post monster weeks, with a combined 54 points.
OK, and remember how I said this was a low scoring game for Spike? He broke 100 points even with a Browns D/ST which gave him -1 point and a low scoring Adrian Peterson which gave him a very below average 4 points. If AP had a more normal week and Spike got an actually decent D/ST, there wouldn't even be any competition. Hell, his bench scored a respectable 66 points, so he even has depth. Scary.
Spike's best this week was Matt Forte with 28 points, and Jake's best was Peyton Manning (of course) with 25 points.
Both teams were 3-3 coming into this week, so Spike moves up to 4-3 and Jake drops to 3-4.
And after all that, here are the league standings:
Another interesting fact: Dad has 7 total points less than Holly, but has won three games while Holly hasn't won any. Her points allowed isn't even the worst in the league.
Crazy.
Here are the scores:
94-43
This one wasn't even close. And while it certainly didn't help that Jake DIDN'T SWITCH OUT HIS TIGHT END FOR A BYE WEEK (UGH), there was still almost no hope for his roster. Even if he added all the points scored on his bench to his total, he would have still lost by 24 points. In fact, just Shane's bench could have beat Jake's starters and bench. Now there's a scary thought.
I just think Jake doesn't care at this point. This isn't the first time he's not switched for byes, and I have a feeling it won't be the last. (Prove me wrong, dude, please)
Megatron had a monster week for Shane (as he should, dammit) with 27 points, and Jake's highest scorer was his KICKER, Stephen Gostkowski with 10. This game could have been even more one sided if Shane had switched out Gordon or Blackmon for VJax, who recorded 25 points on his bench.
Shane continues his win streak and improves to 4-3, while Jake continues the 2nd worst losing streak in the league (4 games) and is now 3-4. Soviets march on!
Provo Beginner's Luck (Rachel) @ Centerville Psycho's (Scott)
88-50
With the 2nd most lopsided contest of the week, the continuously surprising Rachel soundly bested Dad. There isn't much depth to Dad's roster at the moment, with his bench only posting 31 points. That doesn't sound too bad for a bench until you realize Andrew Luck scored 29 of those points. Dad played Romo instead of Luck, which isn't necessarily a bad call. Romo can certainly produce monster numbers. But Luck and his Colts were in a crazy shootout against Manning and the Broncos.
The Detroit D/ST certainly didn't do any favors for Dad either giving him a sweeeeet -2 points. Awesome job, bro. Meanwhile, Rachel's combo of Frank Gore at RB and AJ Green at WR gave her some very nice points this week. She could have also played Matt Ryan instead of Sam Bradford at QB and gotten 10 more points (22 vs. 12). I've said it before... Rachel has one of the hardest to predict teams in the league.
Frank Gore was Rachel's best this week, with 22 points, and Demaryius Thomas was Dad's best with 14.
Oh, also, side note. DAD, JUST STOP. Seriously, Gronk is back. Brady has better targets.
With her win, Rachel moves up to 4-3 and Dad drops to 3-4. Dad has lost his last 3.
Northern Quilters (Wendy) @ C-Ville Slayas (Kyle)
70-70 (52-15 bench)
This is easily the most interesting outcome of the week. Because we don't use fractional points, Mom and Kyle tied at 70. What this means is the team with the most bench points takes the win. Here were the benches:
Aaron Rodgers alone could have won this one for Mom. What sucks with a game being this close, is just about any different starter set up could have changed it one way or another. For instance, Kyle could have played Greg Jennings instead of Larry Fitzgerald at WR or Antonio Gates at Flex, and he would have won. Of course, on the other hand, if Mom had played Rodgers instead of Cutler at QB, she would have soundly defeated Kyle.
Also of note, is the Carolina D, which had a very solid game for Mom with 17 points. Much better than Mom's usual go to, Chicago, which only got 1 point this week.
Mom's top player this week was WR Eric Decker of Denver, with 21 points. Kyle's best was RB Marshawn Lynch of Seattle, with 15 points.
Mom snuck away with this win, really. This wasn't a great week for her. I mean Jay Cutler got her -1 points for crying out loud! If she had been playing anyone else other than Dad or Jake S, she would have lost, easily. But such is life in fantasy football.
Mom continues UNMITIGATED DOMINANCE or whatever, and improves her win streak to 6 and her record to 6-1. Kyle drops to 3-4.
Mom is still top dog. MY MOM IS WINNING, DAMMIT.
Ogden Cats (Heidi) @ Chicago Clovers (Holly)
85-79
I really thought this was Holly's week. Honestly. Going into the game on Monday, Holly had 59 points, with Eli Manning and Reuben Randle still left to play. Heidi had her final score already, with 85. I totally thought Eli and Reuben could connect enough against a very soft Viking's D to get Holly the 27 points she needed. I was obviously wrong. (But I guess that's Eli and the Giants for you.)
Only real big change Heidi could have made was swapping Kaep for Alex Smith, but it would have only meant a difference of 4 points (19 vs 15). Reggie Wayne was injured during the game on Sunday, which obviously Holly couldn't predict, but she could have played Terrence Williams instead for a gain of 7 points. (5 vs 13)
QB Alex Smith was Heidi's best player this week, with 15 points, and Holly had two players, RB Chris Johnson and Kicker Adam Vinatieri, score 16 points for her best scores.
With this win, Heidi has the 2nd best record in the league at 5-2, and Holly, poor Holly, continues her season long losing streak and moves down to 0-7. Man.
Provo Crunch Time (Spike) @ Minneapolis Marauders (Jake)
101-87
Honestly, this was a low scoring game for Spike. Which is crazy for a couple reasons, which I will point out in a minute. Even with Peyton Manning's awesome 25 points, Jake just couldn't finish. There wasn't a whole lot Jake could do about it, either. His bench only posted a total of 13 points (12 of which came from 2 players). His WR corps seem to be his biggest problem, with 3 players combining for only 11 points. Meanwhile, Spike had two players, Stafford and Forte post monster weeks, with a combined 54 points.
OK, and remember how I said this was a low scoring game for Spike? He broke 100 points even with a Browns D/ST which gave him -1 point and a low scoring Adrian Peterson which gave him a very below average 4 points. If AP had a more normal week and Spike got an actually decent D/ST, there wouldn't even be any competition. Hell, his bench scored a respectable 66 points, so he even has depth. Scary.
Spike's best this week was Matt Forte with 28 points, and Jake's best was Peyton Manning (of course) with 25 points.
Both teams were 3-3 coming into this week, so Spike moves up to 4-3 and Jake drops to 3-4.
And after all that, here are the league standings:
Interesting to note, Shane was the only one in the East who won a game this week.
Jake, Spike and Shane lead the league in total points, with 706, 673, and 672 respectively. Mom and Heidi are close behind with 667 and 665, respectively.
Another interesting fact: Dad has 7 total points less than Holly, but has won three games while Holly hasn't won any. Her points allowed isn't even the worst in the league.
Crazy.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Week 7 - League Standings and Implications
Sup, readers - Jake here. Wanted to give you a good picture of what our current league looks like. Remember, this is a Higgins League, meaning that only family and close friends (my college buddy and his wife) are in this league. The Higgins family is the most competitive family you will ever meet. EVER! If you say your family is, you are lying. My family screams during games of cards, and doesn't know how to use their "inside" voices when speaking amongst themselves. Yea, its that bad.
As we are now at the halfway point to the season, every week from here on out will have HUGE playoff implications. Everyone is gunning for that first-round bye, and at this point in time, there is no clear cut guarantee as to which team will finish first place in their division.
In the Eastern Conference, we have a 4-way tie for first place. FOUR DIFFERENT TEAMS are (3-3) and each have an equal shot at gaining the playoff first round bye. Every team this week will be gunning for a win in order to have sole possession of first place. The biggest match-up in this conference this week is easily SLC Soviets (Shane) vs. WCJ (Jacob S) as this is the only division game for the Eastern Conference this week. Whatever team wins will be a full game ahead in the standings, and will be sitting in great position heading into the most important part of the season.
Embarrassingly enough, my mom (Northern Quilters; Wendy Higgins) is in sole first place in the Western Conference. She is 5-1. She only needs to win 4 more games in order to guarantee that she has that first round playoff bye. Her match-up with Kyle this week will be critical. Kyle needs a win to put him into first place in his conference, and Mom needs a win to stay in front of the pack.
It will be very interesting to see how these games pan out this week. Very interesting indeed.
As we are now at the halfway point to the season, every week from here on out will have HUGE playoff implications. Everyone is gunning for that first-round bye, and at this point in time, there is no clear cut guarantee as to which team will finish first place in their division.
 |
| Dat HIGGINS FFL Standings (after Wk 6 of 11) |
Embarrassingly enough, my mom (Northern Quilters; Wendy Higgins) is in sole first place in the Western Conference. She is 5-1. She only needs to win 4 more games in order to guarantee that she has that first round playoff bye. Her match-up with Kyle this week will be critical. Kyle needs a win to put him into first place in his conference, and Mom needs a win to stay in front of the pack.
It will be very interesting to see how these games pan out this week. Very interesting indeed.
Week 7 Match-ups
Week 7 Match-ups:
Projected standings from Fantasy Pros:
SLC Soviets (Shane 3-3) @ Weber County Jackals (Jake S 3-3)
Shane had a rough start to the season, winning his first game but then dropping the next 3. Some luck finally came his way starting week 5 and he's looking to expand his current win streak to 3 against Schlegel. Jake S was a powerhouse the first 3 weeks, but has dropped his last 3.
Ogden Cats (Heidi 4-2) @ Chicago Clovers (Holly 0-6)
Holly's season has been rough to say the least. As far as projections are concerned, she is always poised to well, but her players seem to always fall short. Look for her (and by her I mean Jake) to make some moves to try and get her first win against Heidi, who has caught a lot of luck so far this season but hasn't been consistent the past few weeks.
Ogden Cats (Heidi 4-2) @ Chicago Clovers (Holly 0-6)
Holly's season has been rough to say the least. As far as projections are concerned, she is always poised to well, but her players seem to always fall short. Look for her (and by her I mean Jake) to make some moves to try and get her first win against Heidi, who has caught a lot of luck so far this season but hasn't been consistent the past few weeks.
Provo Beginner's Luck (Rachel 3-3) @ Centerville Psychos (Scott 3-3)
Both of these teams are about as inconsistent as you can get. Dad looked pretty strong to begin the season, but has floundered a few matchups. Rachel on the other hand looked weak at first, but then had a couple huge games. This one could go either way.
Provo Crunch Time (Spike 3-3) @ Minneapolis Marauders (Jake 3-3)
Jake had a really rough week last week. If the projections were to be believed, he should have scored well above everyone else in the league with Manning and the Broncos' D/ST vs. Jacksonville. But the fantasy gods said "No way, bro" and Jake just couldn't produce. Meanwhile, Spike "SET YOUR FREAKIN' LINEUP" Gatten has AP and Jordan Cameron and has huge potential every week. That is when he SETS HIS FREAKIN' LINEUP.
Northern Quilters (Wendy 5-1) @ C-Ville Slayas (Kyle 3-3)
And last but certainly not least we have probably our most interesting matchup this week. Mom is on top of the league after a very lucky win against Jake last week. Kyle, same as Shane, has won his past 2 after having a very rocky season start. This game should be a nail-biter, as both teams are projected to score the same amount. If Mom can win, she will solidify a very good lead in the standings.
And last but certainly not least we have probably our most interesting matchup this week. Mom is on top of the league after a very lucky win against Jake last week. Kyle, same as Shane, has won his past 2 after having a very rocky season start. This game should be a nail-biter, as both teams are projected to score the same amount. If Mom can win, she will solidify a very good lead in the standings.
Projected standings from Fantasy Pros:
GRONK IS BACK!
YO SOY FIESTA!
New England Tide End Rob Gronkowski's agent has said that he has been cleared to play this Sunday by his doctor. This is awesome news for Gronk owners (like me) who have waited patiently for his return, while using mediocre tight ends to try and fill in the gap. Of course this also means Tom Brady (who I play against this week) will be on the upswing, as he has one of his favorite targets back.
New England Tide End Rob Gronkowski's agent has said that he has been cleared to play this Sunday by his doctor. This is awesome news for Gronk owners (like me) who have waited patiently for his return, while using mediocre tight ends to try and fill in the gap. Of course this also means Tom Brady (who I play against this week) will be on the upswing, as he has one of his favorite targets back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)