Classic Fantasy Football

[Mark Sir Link]

lol @ dallas Defense getting 19 points

[DarkCloud_PK]

another wonderful performance by jake delhomme.
how many more turnovers will this guy have to get to get benched

[BigBear3]

Want Tarvaris Jackson Glad?

[MysticX2X]

glad want michael vick

[BlackSolider]

@ DC

Quite a few, considering that they have no one behind him.

@ Mystic.

No thanks.

@ Bear

No thanks.

[DarkCloud_PK]

Originally Posted by BlackSolider

@ DC
Quite a few, considering that they have no one behind him.

They can get someone behind him. Miami grabbed Thigpen from KC for a draft pick pretty much instantly after losing Pennington, for what looks like the season, to a dislocated throwing shoulder.

While the Panthers receivers made some mistakes and caused a few of those bad plays down the past few weeks(smith changing his route at the snap, going outside instead of running the assigned slant), I've watched a game myself and watched the highlights on him a few times in the other 2.

This guy is trying to force the ball into a lot of bad places(double coverage, triple coverage sometimes). His accuracy also is hazy, sometimes he puts the ball right on the money and makes a play. Other times, he'll throw a bad ball, either overthrowing it to the safety over the top or to the corner underneath(usually the former).

I'm not saying the Panthers should go out and bench him immediately, grabbing a new QB or using one of the mediocre backups. However, this should be a wake-up call for the coaching staff and GM of the Panthers. There's a lot of accountability on this team, a lot of positions not functioning adequately, making mistakes. The Panthers need to start cracking down on them, hard. Make it known that if these certain players will be risking being benched from starting positions, if not cut, in place of a backup, or possibly for QB, looking around the league(Philly has 4 QBs and will probably be looking to dump either Vick or Garcia, Kolb showed strong in place of McNabb). If they don't start to improve and correct these constant mistakes that they have been committing for over 3 weeks, considering the showing the saw at the end of last season.

The receivers need to work on their routes, and not run completely different ones when you're the #1 WR, ESPECIALLY on a short and quick route like the short slant Smith was assigned against Dallas. -_-.

Delhomme needs to get his accuracy in check, and stop taking bad shots down the field. Especially considering the in and out problems with the aforementioned accuracy, throwing the ball away, or even scrambling to the sideline is a better option than throwing an INT. He had a few opportunities to make plays with his feet while being flushed out of the pocket.

The o-line needs to step it up, I think Delhomme would calm down and get more relaxed, reducing the tendency to throw an INT, if he had more time in the pocket. The rushing defense also needs to step it up, they have given up an average of over 182 yards per game, granted they faced decent rushing teams with good backs, but these guys aren't on the level of AP(Dallas was even without Marion Barber) and shouldn't be getting you for nearly 200 yards rushing.

Until Carolina can fix these problems with their QB, their WRs, their offensive line, AND their rushing defense, they'll be giving the lions a run for their money for not winning a game this season, because you can't win games with this kind of performance. They have 2 easy games coming up, Skins at home and TB on the road. If they can't beat these teams, I don't see them coming close to any of the other ones on their schedule.(Pats, Jets, Saints x 2, Giants, etc.)


Stay tuned for my week 4 picks.

[Mark Sir Link]

could you stop hijacking our thread with this

[James]

i'm about ready to trade aaron rodgers for a decent wide receiver and something else of value

time to play flacco

[BlackSolider]

I'm considering trading for Rodgers.

[DarkCloud_PK]

Week 4 Picks:

TB @ WAS:
Winner:Redskins
I know, they lost to the Lions. However:

1.Keep in mind Leftwich was benched for John Johnson after being shut out by the giants this last week. First start of his career, first time he passed the ball in a regular season NFL game was against the Giants, going 4/10 for a measly 36 yards against a Redskin's pass defense that's 11th in the NFL in the run, not the best but definitely a force to be reckoned with.

2. I bet nothing fueled the Skins more for getting a W this week, than breaking the Lion's losing streak, and being 'that team' the Lions beat. Look for some improvements within the Redskins, especially with Jason Cambell. Not much makes you want to improve more than losing to a team that until then, hadn't won a game in almost 2 years.

BAL @ NE
Winner:Ravens
Yep, picking against the Pat's at home. I feel that all the Brady worshipers aside, the Raven's have a much more complete team than the Pat's, and that the Atlanta win can be misleading. If you think Fred Taylor, is going to net the same 100+ yards on this Baltimore defense, opposed to the crappy Falcon's D of last week, you're mistaken. Look for Brady to be forced to go through the air, and the Raven's to be ready for that. On the other side of the ball, this Raven's offense has been absolutely dominant, being 2nd for average points scored per game in the league. Between Ray Rice and Willis McGahee, they should be able to set up a formidable running game, allowing Flacco to air it out for big plays. It will be close but the Raven's should be able to outscore the Patriots here and fully establish themselves as the team to beat in the AFC. Brady will have a good game, but he won't be able to do it himself.

DET @ CHI
Winner:Bears
The Bears simply have a better team, plus the home field advantage doesn't help the Lions. This will be close as usual for a division rivalry game against the Lions, which the Lions seem to have a knack for, despite not being able to post a W against them for awhile. The Bears are performing fine without Urlacher so far, in fact looking at it now, I don't think Urlacher is as needed now as he was a few years back, when he was the dominant playmaker on defense.

However, if the Lion's manage to put up a 2 possession lead early, which they are honestly very good at, the Bears will be in deep trouble. The Lions have been getting better at not completely blowing games in the second half, which they have been infamous for during this losing streak. They managed to stick in there to the finish against the Redskins, these improvements, tailored with Cutler tendendcy to lose his composure when having to construct a drive to come back from behind, they will find it hard to come back if Detroit comes out on top early.


TEN @ JAC
Winner:Titans
The Jags aren't that hot of a team. They have multiple facets they need to work on. Despite being 0-3, the Titans are still a team with a lot of potential.
Unfortunately, they've not been able to come back and win the 3 games they lost, all within a touchdown to at least tie against a strong Jets team and budding rookie QB Sanchez. Look for Collins and the Titans to take out their win-less frustrations on the Jaguars. The fact this team is 0-3 is surprising enough, them going 0-4 against the Jags would be even more surprising.

OAK @ HOU
Winner:Texans
The Texans have been having a rough season so far. However, the Raiders are simply an absolutely terrible team. The occasional flashes of defense the Raiders show will not be nearly enough to keep them from getting dismantled.
JaMarcus Russell continues to get worse as the season continues, and the hapless Davis and Cable don't appear to even want to do a thing about it.
Easy win here for the Texans.

CIN @ CLE
Winner:Bengals
The Browns still can't figure out a lot of things with their team, highlighted by their complete lack of an offense and ability to put points on the board. While on the flipside, the Bengals begin to turn heads every week, recovering nicely from their week 1 unlucky loss to the Broncos and emerging as a strong and competitive team.
Bengals should have no problems here, and should put up some very good fantasy numbers this week for you Ochocinco owners.

SEA @ IND
Winner:Colts
Another easy call. Peyton Manning should be able to put plenty of points on the board while on the other side of the ball, Even if Seattle gets luck and they are miraculously able to start Hasselbeck, he won't be 100% and he'll start feeling that cracked rib in no time, affecting his game performance obviously. Seahawks are simply are outgunned in the offensive weapons department in this one. Also, the Colts defense with their amazing stamina will give the offensive weapons that they do have, a full 4 quarters of difficulty.

[DarkCloud_PK]

takes 2 post to post this gigantic wall, i didnt know there was a character limit here.
NYG @ KC
Winner:Giants
What's with this string of easy games to call? The outcome is obvious here, the Giants simply have more talent in just about every position on the field, especially the defense. I can see the Giants holding the Chiefs under 10 points feasibly in this game, and if they dedicate themselves to the running game this week, they can control the time of possession game as well and further control this game.

BUF @ MIA
Winner:Bills
A bit better on the difficulty here. However, losing Pennington is a big blow to this offense of Miami. I don't see their backups lighting up the field to the extent the Bills will be able to. The Dolphins will help themselves if they use their running game to their advantage and milk the play-action for all its worth. This game can easily go Miami's way if they do well with keeping the Bills' defense guessing using playaction fakes and Ronnie Brown provides an extremely strong running game. However, I just don't see the Dolphins having a decent aerial attack while the Bills have the potential to be explosive with theirs. Again, it could go the Dolphins way if they have a strong game on every facet, but having their backups playing as well as Pennington would be able? Nah, Penne didn't have a good game, and Thigpen needs time to learn how Miami operates and to generate chemistry with the receivers.
NYJ vs NO
Winner:Saints
This is very very hard to call. The Jets are an extremely strong team, but the Saints are stronger(should be, anyway, you never know what will happen on game day). The Jets will have a good game on D and be able to slow Brees down a bit compared to the other teams. However, it won't stop him from reaching the end zone, either with his arm or Pierre Thomas/Mike Bell. From there on out, Sanchez will most likely find himself working from behind, not exactly a situation good for a rookie QB in the beginning of the season. Both teams will need to play hard and make sure they are doing the right things.

For the Saints, they need to be able to establish the running game and EARLY, else Brees will have difficulties trying to air it out against a very formidable Jets D(I think they're near top 5 in most defensive categories). Jets will need to be able to do the same, and Sanchez will have to maintain composure as a rookie if he finds himself constantly 1 or 2 scores down. Otherwise, the Saints will be able to easily get an INT or 2 if he acts like Jay Cutler did in week 1 and tries to force plays. This is going to come down to just how strong Rex Ryan has built this Jets defense, as well as Sanchez being able to continue to show a minimum of rookie decisions and mistakes. However, I just see the Saints having too much firepower for Sanchez to be able to match. The Jets offensive unit isn't exactly a high scoring and consistently explosive unit, it is a very defensive team. Plus I don't think Sanchez has found himself in a large scoring deficit yet, and the Saints can certainly make it happen if they can put points up relatively often vs the Jet's D.

STL @ SF
Winner:49ers
Easy here again. Bulger is injured, and Boller takes away in the accuracy department where he adds in the mobility department. SF should be able to dominate on defense and shut down the Rams' offense(home crowd of SF wont help things for the Rams on offense either). Only thing I worry about is the SF running game without Gore. However, in the end, the SF defense and special teams should be able to fill in for that for the W. Further ruining Crabtree's holdout, as SF, with the exception of a close week 3 game against the Vikings, continually proves that they really don't need the greedy first round pick anyway.

DAL @ DEN
Pick:Cowboys
Dallas found their running game this week. Hopefully they can stick to it and establish it again here against a strong denver run defense. Dallas has 3 talented RB(2 healthy ones) for a reason. As long as Romo doesn't melt down again(if it happens, it will probably be Romo throwing questionable passes in the direction of the receiver that Champ Bailey lines up on, which shouldnt be a problem since that WR core of Dallas has a lot of talented players), the Cowboys should have little difficulty putting up a lot more points than Orton and Broncos can respond with.

SD vs PIT
Pick:Chargers
This is going to be an aerial battle in this game.
The Chargers have had their ups and downs, losing LT and However, Rivers should have no problem picking apart the Pittsburgh pass defense, which have been weakened significantly with the loss of Troy Polamalu in the safety position. Rivers should have enough time in the pocket to find areas to put the ball, and with his stellar accuracy and power, he should have little problems setting up a drive in the air. On the other side of the ball, the offensive line just sucks for Pittsburgh. Due to the lackluster o-line, Big Ben is well on his way to getting sacked another 50+ times this season. Having a bad offensive line also has killed the running game for Pittsburgh. No matter Big Ben's inspiring ability to always be under pressure yet still find ways to get the ball down-field in the air and make plays, will not be enough to keep the Steelers in this one. Neither team has much of a running game, however it comes down to Rivers just being under less pressure and having the ability to put the ball where he wants it. While I commend Roethlisberger's ability to keep things going while constantly getting hit, he will continue to lose games because the game is always left on him, and he doesn't simply have enough comfort in the pocket to make as many plays as he is able to. The Steelers have already lost very close aerial games and almost lost against the Titans, against teams with a weaker aerial attack than the Chargers, and even put up better passing yardage in each game with the exception of the Bears.

The Steelers need to fix the o-line so they can start running the ball up the middle and provide Roethlisberger much needed time, combined with a healthy Polamalu to assist again with a now weakened pass defense. Or else games like this will be a struggle to win and will keep 'middle of the road' teams(Bears sup) in the game against the defending Super Bowl champs.

[DarkCloud_PK]

Make that 3 posts.


Monday:
GB @ MIN
Winner:Too many deciding factors to call.
Honestly, I don't want to call this one. Obviously the Pack is my home team, but theres going to be a lot of factors we just can only take a stab at, that will decide this game in the end. My head says Vikings win but my gut says Packers pull it out:


1.Can Dom Capers bottle up AP without constantly stacking the box?

This is key for the Packers. If they can't keep the running game of the Vikings in control, this game is lost. If you can't bottle up AP, you either get ran on all day or be forced to stack the box and leave themselves open to 1 on 1 coverage, which Favre can attack easily using the speed of his WRs to get an edge on the pro bowl corner tandem, using his knowledge about his former teammates, Harris and Woodson, against him. However, if AP gets bottled up enough, Favre will have to take shots into coverage. This is not what Favre wants to do with corners that have practiced with him for several years, and know his tendencies and will exploit it the best they can.

Dom Capers has proved he can stop the run, but not on a consistent basis.
He was able to completely lock down the explosive Bears RB, Matt Forte, but could not do the same against Cedric Benson the following week. They only did marginally better against the powerful Steven Jackson last week. They started off strong, constantly tackling Jackson in the backfield, but that didn't hold 100% of the time, allowing Jackson to eat up chunks of yardage and plow into the second level as the game went on.
Will he able towin the chess match against Peterson and Favre? Maybe, maybe not, we will have to watch to find out, though I would imagine it will start out good, as usual. Expect Capers to mask his plays extensively vs. the experienced Favre. If Favre is able to read the packers defense, it will be a long day for them, as Favre is one of the best when it comes to reading defenses before the snap and adjusting the play accordingly. If Capers is able to lock up Peterson at least long enough for Rodgers to get a significant lead going, it will help the Packers immensely in walking away with a W. Putting Favre behind will force Favre to air out the ball with a sense of urgency to catch up, putting him in the gunslinger situation. SF's secondary struggled locking Favre up when he started to air it out, especially in the second half. However, the secondary of GB is much more experienced and much more talented to create turnovers when a QB is forced to line up in the shotgun very other play and try to put the ball down the field. Shutting down AP is vital, otherwise, the capers defense will become predictable, which is one of the main strengths of that defensive scheme, as shown on Cutler. With the inability to read the defense, Favre will not know if there's pressure coming, how much if so, and from which directions. Without having an idea on the defense and whats vs whats dropping back into coverage, Favre's years of experience just aren't that useful as they need to be to consistently score and avoid turnovers.

2. For the other side of the ball, there's a couple questions. By far the most important question is the status of the Packers offensive line.

Clifton's return after his ankle injury is unknown until later this week when practices come. If he was to return, it would increase the performance of the struggling offensive line greatly. They have been improving slowly after the disasters earlier in the season with the Bengals, allowing 2 sacks against the Rams compared to the eariler 4 and 6 against the Bears and Bengals respectively. This will further be tested by the Williams wall.

The more the o-line performs well, the more options Rodgers has. Even with no options other than to scramble constantly to stay off the ground and then throw down the field into coverage, Rodgers has proved he can still put points on the board 1-dimensionally without having a single turnover this year. Amazing that he can do this, but this is not where the packers want to be again and it will make these difficult games hard to win. With a good offensive line, the running game opens up for Ryan Grant down the middle, which he excels at, rather than either getting stuffed up the middle or being forced to run outside. With protection and a running game to open up the playaction, Aaron Rodgers will be unstoppable, being able to pound the ball with Grant, throw quick receptions to one of the best WR cores in the NFL, and use the playaction to find gennings deep and force Favre to constantly answer the scores of the Packers explosive offense with his arm, not something the Vikings want to have to do, risking turning the ball over on a forced throw.

In summary, theres too many unknowns for me to call this game. It could go largely in any direction. If the offensive line is good enough to create gaps for Grant and protect Rodgers in the pocket, the Packers offense will be ridiculously explosive. However, if they have that and are missing the run defense, this will be a very high scoring shootout for both teams. Vice versa and it will be a low score game similar to the CHI @ GB game of week 1.

If the Packers are unable to do either, the Vikings will be in control of the game(and clock), and Rodgers would have to rely on his accuracy along with the skill of his receivers to make plays and at least stay in the game and keep the lead by the Vikings low. Not very likely to win that situation.

We'll see how it turns out, but I have a hunch that this game is going to be a close shootout.

[Rufus]

DC could make his own site.

[BlackSolider]

Or I could continue my monopoly on websites and do it for him.

[MysticX2X]

Right after the CTF league website, GC Website, and whatever else you had unfinished.

BTW, the Stafford effect is kicking in. Lion's will be the golden boys.