Fantasy Football

I haven’t watched nary a second of last night’s Bears-Saints game, but from looking at my fantasy page, it appears Reggie Bush either re-aggrevated his injury or was benched for fear of doing so. Either way, between him and Matt Forte, my opponent only managed roughly 22 points, with about 16 of them coming from the Bears running back. On the other hand, we didn’t play Colston because he’s had maybe four good games all season. Naturally, for what’s probably the second time we’ve benched him since he’s been healthy, he gets in the end zone. Fuck that Saints team and all their unpredictability.

There were considerably more games for last night and with the 1PM slate on Sunday, which pisses us off incredibly. Why does the NFL format their television schedule in the manner that they do? For the most part, every market gets four games on Sundays (three in the afternoon, one at night) and one game on Monday night. You can’t even consider the Thursday night game part of the lineup because it’s only available on the NFL Network (unless of course the NFL allows your local market to pick up the home team’s game that otherwise wouldn’t be available to them, I guess we should be grateful?).

So for the most popular sport in the country, they offer the layman under a third of all possible matchups on any given week (give or take one or two). Why not sparse it out a little more? Of the 16 games available to them after the byes, 13 of them air in only two different time slots. Does this not seem illogical? Even if you have NFL Network, you can only realistically follow one or two games at a time (depending on how many televisions you can cram into a living room).

Wouldn’t they be better served to start games at intersecting times. Maybe a couple at 11AM, a few at 1PM, some at 3PM, several at 5PM and save two for the prime time slots at 8PM on Sunday and Monday night? That is a lot more availability and as a result a lot more revenue, is it not? Look at The Oscars, or any entertainment awards show, they don’t just start chucking little trophies across the audiotorium to try and get it over with. No, they stretch it out over an unfathomable length of time to milk every dollar out of it they can.

I never thought the NFL equivalent of this format would be favorable.

Anyhow, I do not mean to tell the NFL its business, they’re obviously making money hand over fist with their current arrangement with both the broadcast networks, ESPN and the NFL network. But maybe if everything with the NFL wasn’t so exclusive, they wouldn’t have to lay off 150 people.

Onto the picks, home team in CAPS. We’re 0-0-1 on the week after last night’s game.

ARIZONA Pick ‘em Minnesota
Line Pick: I’ll take Arizona at home, despite them being 3-7 against all non NFC West teams. Minnesota is actually great in domes, so this might be unwise, but I think the Vikings are due for a loss.

Fantasy Advice: It might be a good day to start Berrian or whatever other receivers are on Minnesota, since it doesn’t seem like the Cardinals can stop anyone from passing the ball. But you do so at your own peril. This will probably be the first and last time I recommend starting a receiver who has either Gus Ferotte or Tavarais Jackson throwing to him. Minnesota has a great defense so you might want to consider benching Warner if you drafted him as a backup and he became your starter as the season moved forward. At this point, can you justify benching any Cardinals receivers? I say no.

NEW ENGLAND -7 Oakland
Line Pick: Yeesh, The Pats have left a lot to be desired the last couple weeks, but we’ll still take them to cover here. These two teams are polar opposites in terms of professionalism. Just based on that alone I can’t take Oakland with seven in Foxboro.

Fantasy Advice: I’d expect Moss to be out for a little vengeance, but I can’t recall a more indifferent hall of famer. Welker, Kevin Faulk and Cassel should all be safe options, and of course you should always start a defense who’s playing the Raiders. On the other side of the ball, much like the Bengals of Cincinnati, I wouldn’t go near any of their players.

CAROLINA -7 Denver
Line Pick: This Denver team has been an enigma for quite some time, but Carolina has been on a role and they’re deadly at home. I think you have your answer right their. Yes, I am aware of Jay Cutler’s arm strength, at this point I hope he’s mentioning it ironically.

Fantasy Advice: It’s a fire sale for Carolina Panthers. Stewart, Williams, Delhomme, Muhammad, Smith…regardless of how many you have, they all have to be starting. Denver…just play the regulars. You could make a stretch with someone like Stokley if you’re in a deep league, but Carolina’s defense is nothing to sneeze at.

BALTIMORE -2 Pittsburgh
Line Pick: Alright, maybe we didn’t do this Baltimore team justice last week, but we have a hard time believing they should be a favorite against a solidified and respected Pittsburgh defense. For this matchup, we’re going with the better of the two quarterbacks. Roethlisberger, though inconsistent and sort of disappointing throughout the course of the season, has faced defenses like this for four seasons now, in late season games against viable playoff teams. Flacco looks good beating up on Cleveland. We’ll take the points on the road.

Fantasy Advice: Pssh, Michael Clayton has been coming on a lot more since Baltimore discovered how to move the ball downfield, but it is hard to recommend anyone other than top-tier players against Pitt. The Steelers have Hines Ward, two running backs and a slew of other players that you have to reconsider starting against Baltimore. The offense, much a result of their quarterback, is rather erratic. I like Ward and Parker, but don’t expect more than a touchdown out of anyone else.

DALLAS -3 New York Giants
Line Pick: So they lose one game because of some errant dropped passes by a shell shocked wide receiver, and now they’re a 3-point dog against an 8-6 team? Of course they are. They’re playing the Cowboys in Dallas. Everyone is a dog. This Dallas team has too many “stars” to be an underdog, am I right? If you can’t tell, I’m taking the points with the Giants.

Fantasy Advice: Well, like we said, there are a lot of stars on Dallas, and the circumstances are such that I think you have to cap it at them. You really don’t want Miles Austin in their against this pass rush. Or Patrick Crayton. Tashard Choice if Barber isn’t playing. And Barber, whose had a Roethlisberger like season, is actually questionable. For the Giants, I would actually expect Ward to get his fair share of carries and for Toomer, Boss and Hixon to all produce.

PHILADELPHIA -14 Cleveland
Line Pick: Let’s just make it a rule of thumb, and give the points in every single game the Browns play for the next three weeks. Ken Dorsey. My God, they might as well put the Frisbee dog from PCU back there. For next week’s game against the Bengals, they should have David Spade get on the intercom and say, “Doesn’t matter who wins, because they’re all losers”.

Fantasy Advice: Westbrook, McNabb, Jackson and maybe even Buckhalter depending on how out of control things get. Oh, and with Dorsey lining up under center, I would use the same approach that I recommended for teams playing Oakland. On Cleveland’s side of the ball…Um, in really deep leagues, Jerome Harrison or Josh Cribbs might be worth a gamble. You can’t really play any of their receivers. Not that the Browns have used Dante Stallworth appropriately all season.

That’s it for the week. Enjoy the games and we’ll be back on Monday.