Fantasy Football Manager

Week 7 Picks

2007-10-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Really quickly, here are my picks for this week.

(Home Teams in Bold)

Baltimore -3 1/2
San Francisco +10 1/2
New England -17 1/2
Houston +1 1/2
Tampa Bay +1 1/2
New Orleans -7 1/2
Arizona +7 1/2
Kansas City +2 1/2
Cincinnati -6 1/2
Minnesota +9 1/2
Philadelphia -4 1/2
Seattle -9 1/2
Pittsburgh -3 1/2
Jacksonville +3 1/2

I have no idea what my record is right now. I'll have to add it up and see when I get a chance. Been struggling recently with my job disappearing. I will try to update this more often, but it might take a week or two still.

Week 6 Picks

2007-10-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Next week will mark the return of my weekly picks and updates for both my website and this blog.

In the meantime here are my week 6 NFL spread picks:

(Home teams in bold)

St Louis +9 1/2
Green Bay -3 1/2
Tennessee +2 1/2
Kansas City +3 1/2
Philadelphia -2 1/2
Houston +6 1/2
Chicago -5 1/2
Miami +4 1/2
Arizona -4 1/2
Oakland +10 1/2
New England -4 1/2
Seattle -6 1/2
New York Giants -3 1/2

Missed my suicide pick last week and game of the week last week, both Green Bay. To try and make up for it, I am going to pick the Miami Dolphins to win straight up against the Cleveland Browns on the road.

Week 5 Picks

2007-10-06T23:57:00.000-07:00

This ended up being a lost week as far as my blog and website go. I haven't been able to update wither of them much this week. In the upcomming week, I will come up with my player rankings and a more detailed approach for the reasons for my picks.

Here is my suicide pick for Week 5

Green Bay Packers over Chicago Bears

Also, here are my week 5 spread pick winners (Bold denotes home team)

Miami +5 1/2
Jacksonville -2 1/2
New York Giants -3 1/2
New Orleans -3 1/2
New England -15 1/2
Washington -3 1/2
Atlanta +8 1/2
Arizona -2 1/2
Pittsburgh -6 1/2
Tampa Bay +10 1/2
Baltimore -3 1/2
Denver -1 1/2
Green Bay -3 1/2
Dallas -10 1/2

And Finally, my spread pick of the week is:
the same as my suicide pick; Green Bay over Chicago.

M.A.S.H. Unit

2007-09-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one here who has this right now. In one of my fantasy football leagues, here is who I had out for the day, either from injuries or bye weeks. I barely had enough to play and I had to make two late roster moves to field a proper team. Here's a list of the players in my M.A.S.H Unit:

Lendale White - bye
Maurice Jones-Drew - bye
Steven Jackson - injured
Ahman Green - injured
Javon Walker - injured
Anquain Boldin - injured
Lamont Jordan - injured in today's game
Marvin Harrison - injured in today's game
Donovan McNabb - sucks unless he's playing Detroit

59 points this week, aw baby!

Oh, by the way, I'm 8-4 so far on my NFL spread picks this week so far.

Hip Hip ...

2007-09-30T14:19:00.000-07:00

Hurray!

I can't celebrate too much with my suicide pick, as I think almost everyone in America went with Dallas over St. Louis. I should have made this my NFL spread pick of the week (Doh!)

3-1 on the year.

Went to the Lions well once too often

2007-09-30T13:59:00.000-07:00

Well, right on queue, my first weekly NFL spread pick of the week went south ... in a hurry.

Chicago's in some big time trouble right about now. An interception return for a touchdown, a kickoff return for a touchdown, a Lions rushing touchdown, and 2 passing touchdowns ... oh and one blocked extra point for a robust 34 points scored by the Detroit Lions in the fourth quarter.

Are you freaking kidding me? Make that an NFL record 34 points in the fourth quarter for the Lions ... and they finish the game with 37 points.

286 yards, 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions for Greise on 51 passing attempts. Where's the running game? Where was the defense in the fourth quarter? Why are you passing 51 times in a game that you were up 13-3 at the start of the fourth?

This game was in the bank ... I already earmarked it as a lock. Where's Rex Grossman when you need him ... oh yeah that's right. And I don't think the defense can use the same excuse this week as they made last week. I don't think the Lions offense really "wore them down."

So far, it seems like any well-reasoned thought that I post on this board gets blown back in my face with the double-gooch, and Nelson from the Simpsons laughing at me. No Whammy! No Whammy! No Whammy! STOP! Aw man! And I really wanted that 1986 Yugo and $800.

That makes me 0-1 for my pick of the week. Let's roll on with this exercise in futility ... next week baby! Going for 1-1. (You suck Bears)

Week 3 Who's Hot and Who's Not

2007-09-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

Haven't had time to create a detailed Who's hot and Who's not page for my Fantasy Fooball website this week, so this abbreviated version is going to have to do for this week.

Also, please visit my NFL Fantasy Football Week 4 Rankings

Here are my week 3 picks for the top 5 players at each position:

QBs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Quarterbacks
1) Donovan McNabb -
2) Tony Romo
3) Tom Brady
4) Brett Favre
5) Jon Kitna

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Quarterbacks
1) Marc Bulger
2) Derek Anderson
3) Ben Roethlisberger
4) Jay Cutler
5) Carson Palmer

RBs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Runningbacks
1) Brian Westbrook
2) Marion Barber III
3) LaMont Jordan
4) Joseph Addai
5) Willis McGahee

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Runningbacks
1) Edgerrin James
2) Kevin Jones
3) Derrick Ward
4) Larry Johnson
5) Travis Henry

WRs –

Week 4 Hot Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
1) Randy Moss
2) Roy Williams
3) Terrell Owens
4) Kevin Curtis
5) Bernard Berrian

Week 4 Cold Fantasy Football Wide Receivers
1) Isaac Bruce
2) Reggie Brown
3) Javon Walker
4) Braylon Edwards
5) Marvin Harrison

Week 4 Top 5 Tight Ends
1) Antonio Gates
2) Tony Gonzalez
3) Jeremy Shockey
4) Todd Heap
5) Owen Daniels

Week 4 Top 5 Place Kickers
1) Nick Folk
2) Adam Vinatieri
3) Stephen Gostkowski
4) Robbie Gould
5) David Akers

Week 4 Top 5 Team Defenses
1) Dallas
2) Baltimore
3) Indianapolis
4) Chicago
5) Pittsburgh

NFL Spread Pick of the Week

2007-09-28T21:55:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm going for broke. Another chance to go big or go home.

Here is the one game that I am going to highly recommend for my first NFL Spread Pick of the Week:

Chicago -2 1/2 on the road against the Detroit Lions

I know, I know ... I picked on the Lions last week. Well, its time to pick on them again. The Lions are going to be good for at least two turnovers. The Bears are going to be very angry after giving up 34 points to Dallas. The pressue is going to be on the Bears offense to help their defense out and keep them off of the field. I'm betting you are going to see Bernard Berrian burn the Lions corners the way that Kevin Curtis did last weekend. Of course, this assumption is predictated on my belief that a Chicago Bears quarterback will do good for once and that the Lions still won't have a running game. This will force Kitna to throw the ball a lot, and that will be the downfall of the Lions in this game.

Week 4 - NFL Spread picks

2007-09-28T21:34:00.000-07:00

I said it last week, I need to go at least 8-6 or else this week is a failure. I'm putting the pressure on myself now, not only do I want 8-6 here, but I want to go relatively flawless with my hot a cold picks this week as well. We have enough of the NFL season played now, and I should have a pretty good idea of who's going to do what.

Here are this weeks spread picks -
(Home teams in bold)

Atlanta +2 1/2
Buffalo +3 1/2
Baltimore -4 1/2
Dallas -12 1/2
Chicago -2 1/2
Oakland +3 1/2
Green Bay -2 1/2
Tampa Bay +2 1/2
San Francisco +1 1/2
Pittsburgh -5 1/2
Indianapolis -9 1/2
Kansas City +12 1/2
Philadelphia -2 1/2
New England -7 1/2

Fingers crossed ... We'll see how I do

NFL Suicide pick for Week 4

2007-09-28T21:19:00.001-07:00

Ah yes, the much anticipated return of the weekly suicide pick. Also known as my desperate attempt to not get eliminated in the first half of the season.

I've used the following teams so far in my quest for success: Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers (loss), Philadelphia Eagles. I am not allowed to use these teams again this season, which I hope will last more than just the next week. By the way, I am going to officially eliminate myself if I get another game wrong.

Here it is ... my suicide pick for Week 4 (drumroll please ..........................)

The Dallas Cowboys (at home) over the St. Louis Rams.

Damn, how anti-climatic. This game is like a PAT, if I miss it, its most likely because the holder botched the snap. I thought about going out on a limb and pick a tighter matchup, but I thought to myself, there isn't a better week to use the Cowboys. How often do you think that an NFC East should beat up on their own division, only to have the underdog pull off the upset?

This game is a safe as safe can get. The best team in the NFC versus a suddenly anemic offense and pourus defense. Anyways, I have to get my confidence back up and try to have a great week for once. If not, I'm not going to inspire many people with my poor picks.

Week 3 in Review - Who's Not

2007-09-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Quarterback –

1) Matt Leinart –53 yards passing, 2 yards rushing – replaced by Kurt WarnerActual week 3 QB rank - #31That’s the definition of a cold quarterback. Kurt Warner came in and almost rescued the day. I can’t see Arizona going back to Leinart for the time being.

2) Phillip Rivers –306 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 QB rank - #4Well, he most certainly woke up this week. Problem is, it still wasn’t enough and the Chargers aren’t utilizing Tomlinson correctly. San Diego is heading in the right direction, though, and I expect them to start clicking in the upcoming weeks.
3) Marc Bulger –116 yards passing, 3 interceptionsActual week 3 QB rank – tied for last with J.P. LosmanSt Louis is in deep trouble for right now. The loss of Orlando Pace is killing them. Compounding the problem is Steven Jackson’s injury. I would completely avoid St Louis fantasy players for the time being.

4) David Garrard –154 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 52 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 QB rank - #15Not horrible, the Jags offense still confuses me. They are winning though, so it doesn’t matter what us fantasy football managers think.

5) Derek Anderson –248 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 2 interceptions, 12 yards and 1 touchdown rushingActual week 3 QB rank - #11Cleveland was showing their colors in the first half against Oakland. Then they rebounded and almost pulled out that game against the Raiders. Derek Anderson still isn’t your starting fantasy quarterback material yet, but he’s at least worth considering if the Browns can keep this up.

Fantasy Football Week 3 in Review

Week 3 in Review - Who's Hot

2007-09-28T21:06:00.000-07:00

Gotta love the work week. I wish I had more time to get on this blog and my Fantasy Football website. I'm going to hammer down some blogs and updates for my site tonight. I've still got a lot to do before the games start on Sunday. The sooner I get it up, the better. Hopefully, in the future weeks, I will be able to get all of this done before the week end.

Full version of the Week 3 results

Quarterback -

1) Tom Brady – 311 yards and 4 touchdowns passing, 2 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #2There is no limit to the effectiveness of Tom Brady’s quarterbacking ability. I am convinced that with the addition of Randy Moss, New England could go 15-1 this year. I don’t know who the one loss will be to, but I’m not ready to anoint any team with an undefeated record.

2) Drew Brees –225 yards passing, 4 interceptions, 9 yards rushing, 1 fumbleActual week 3 Quarterback rank – better off not starting a QuarterbackOh so close on this pick … well not really. Nothing like a 0-5 touchdown-to-turnover ratio. Now I know that Tennessee’s defense was pretty stout again Peyton Manning in week 2, but they aren’t that good; Drew was horrible. The Saints’ offense looked confused and disoriented. Worse yet, Deuce McAllister is out for the season. All and all, it was about as bad a game as could be for New Orleans.

3) Matt Hasselbeck –248 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 2 interceptions, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #6Good game out of Hasselbeck, but I don’t know how often you can expect this kind of a game out of him. Cincinnati’s defense obviously had a much better game, in comparison to week 2 against Cleveland; but it will definitely be the Bengals downfall for the foreseeable future.

4) Jon Kitna –446 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, 2 fumblesActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #7Jon Kitna had the exact kind of game that I expected out of him. Without a running game, Kitna is likely going to throw his arm out before long; not to mention the fact that the more he throws, the more he gets hit, the more likely he gets injured, and the more likely the Lions are out of any serious contention for a playoff spot.

5) Carson Palmer –342 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 2 interceptions, -1 yard rushingActual week 3 Quarterback rank - #16For the first time I can remember, Carson looked confused and Chad Johnson looked upset. Palmer was completely off on his timing for most of the second half. He is going to have to play a near perfect game this week to avoid falling to 1-3 against the Patriots this weekend.

Week 3 NFL Spread picks

2007-09-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ouch! Let's just put it this way, I started off 3-0 with my picks; but that's about all that went right with my NFL spread picks. You think after touting up the Eagles for my suicide pick that I would have picked them to win the spread. No, silly me for thinking the Lions would actually be close in a game that involved the Eagles. The line was 6 1/2. There was a few late game turns that went against me, the New York Jets, Oakland and Minnesota. That said, it still takes some kind of skill to pick eight straight losers.

So for the week, I went a paltry 6-10:

Arizona +7 1/2 - Winner
Green Bay +4 1/2 - Winner
Indianapolis -5 1/2 - Winner
Minnesota +2 1/2 - Loser
Buffalo +15 1/2 - Loser
New York Jets -3 1/2 - Loser
Detroit +6 1/2 - Loser
San Francisco +8 1/2 - Loser
St Louis +3 1/2 - Loser
Denver -3 1/2 - Loser
Oakland -3 1/2 - Loser
Cincinnati +3 1/2 - Winner
Carolina -3 1/2 - Winner
Washington -4 1/2 - Loser
Dallas +3 1/2 - Winner
New Orleans -4 1/2 Loser

My record coming into the weekend was 18-14, meaning that I've effectively loss my status of being over .500 on the year.

Current record after week 3: 24-24

Next week, a little more well thought out picks are in order. Now, because of the upcoming bye weeks, the NFL will only be playing 14 games per week. In my case, anything less than 8-6 on my picks next week is a failure.

More Maddenisms - This time on Monday night

2007-09-24T18:14:00.001-07:00

Well no sooner than I posted my Mike Shanahan post, Sean Payton two-ups him on the Madden scale by not only going for it on fourth and 1 from the Saint's own 45 yard line, but doing so in the first quarter and throwing a very incomplete 40 yard bomb. "What do you mean 'Hail Mary' didn't work?! There's no way the computer saw that play coming on 4th and 1. And Drew Brees doesn't throw that inaccurately, and I saw that receiver break open for a second."

As we speak ... the Madden "unstoppable momentum" has set in and Tennessee scores easily to shove it right back in Payton's face.

I guess I'm going to have to rethink my pregame thoughts. One part I'm going to get dead right: neither Bush or McAllister are going to get to the century mark in rushing, and they might not get it combined, either. (Yes, I guess the Saints really are as bad as they've looked)

Mike Shanahan goes Madden 2008

2007-09-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Did you hear about this one yet?

Denver trailed 20-14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars with four minutes left in the fourth quarter yesterday. The Broncos were out of timeouts. Mike Shanahan decided to put all of his eggs in one basket and went for it on 4th and 5 at Denver's own 9-yard line. Shanahan said he had a gut feeling they would make it.

Just like Madden football, the game didn't allow him to be rewarded with his "gut reaction" and Denver's tight end Daniel Graham dropped the ball. "Awwww Crap! How could Madden do this to me? I used the 'Tight end seam' play and he had his hands on the ball! You know that should have been completed. I don't see this game as a loss because if the computer hadn't screwed me over, I would have gone straight down the field and won." Unfortunetly for Mike, he doesn't have the option to quit and reload the memory card.

I know you would have gotten the ball back with minimal time for a lengthy drive, but you have that little confindence in your defense's ability to stop the Jags three times on the ground?

And how "Keep games close" of Jacksonville for than going three and out and having to kick a chip shot field goal. Yes, that put them up 9 points, but it's been the Jags style this year. Whether they win or not, you know the game will be within a touchdown late in the fourth.

Are you ready for some blogging?

2007-09-24T17:29:00.000-07:00

Pre-game prediction for the Saints-Titans game:

Saints win 27-24

Drew Brees is going to have a good night tonight. 300 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, probably an interception as well.

Neither Reggie Bush or Deuce McAllister will reach 100 yards rushing, but one of them will score on the ground.

Marques Colston will finally have a note-worthy fantasy performance.

Tennessee will have over 150 yards rushing from the combination of Vince Young, LenDale White, and Chris Brown.

Vince Young will have at least two touchdowns.

Suicide Pool Pick Week 3 result

2007-09-23T14:35:00.000-07:00

Now that's how a suicide pick is suppose to work. Everything I said in the previous post rang true. Detroit's lack of a running game, Detroit's defense wasn't as good as they appeared, Minnesota's passing game really being that bad, Detroit's turnover problem ... everything happened the way I thought.

Now if only my spread picks for this week weren't turning out so horrible ...

Week 03 - Who's Not

2007-09-23T01:48:00.000-07:00

Week 03 Who's Not

Quarterback
1) Matt Leinart
2) Phillip Rivers
3) Marc Bulger
4) David Garrard
5) Derek Anderson

Running Back -
1) Marion Barber III
2) Maurice Jones-Drew
3) Larry Johnson
4) DeShaun Foster
5) Chris Brown

Wide Receiver
1) Lee Evans
2) Reggie Brown
3) Larry Fitzgerald
4) Isaac Bruce
5) Santonio Holmes

Week 03 - Who's Hot

2007-09-23T01:42:00.000-07:00

Week 03 Who's Hot

Quarterbacks
1) Tom Brady
2) Drew Brees
3) Matt Hasselbeck
4) Jon Kitna
5) Carson Palmer

Running Back -
1) LaDainian Tomlinson
2) Joseph Addai
3) Willie Parker
4) Clinton Portis
5) Lamont Jordan

Wide Receiver -
1) Steve Smith
2) Reggie Wayne
3) Randy Moss
4) Joey Galloway
5) Santana Moss

Tight End
1) Antonio Gates
2) Kellen Winslow
3) Chris Cooley
4) Owen Daniels
5) Tony Gonzalez

Kicker
1) Adam Vinatieri
2) Jason Elam
3) Shaun Suisham
4) Josh Brown
5) Jeff Reed

Defense
1) New England
2) Baltimore
3) Minnesota
4) Pittsburgh
5) Kansas City

NFL Spread Winners - Week 3

2007-09-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here are my picks for week 3 NFL spread winners:
(Bold denotes home teams)

Arizona +7 1/2
Green Bay +4 1/2
Indianapolis -5 1/2
Minnesota +2 1/2
Buffalo +15 1/2
New York Jets -3 1/2
Detroit +6 1/2
San Francisco +8 1/2
St Louis +3 1/2
Denver -3 1/2
Oakland -3 1/2
Cincinnati +3 1/2
Carolina -3 1/2
Washington -4 1/2
Dallas +3 1/2
New Orleans -4 1/2

Suicide pool pick - part duex

2007-09-21T14:11:00.000-07:00

Yup, I sure was glad I posted Carolina over Houston for my inaugural weekly suicide pick (brutal). 0-1 (1-1 if you count my pick for week 1 that I didn't post) to start things off. Wahoo!

Alright, I'm going to start over (I'm going into the loser's bracket ... double elimination, baby!), but I still can no longer use the Steelers or Panthers in future picks.

Here's my suicide pick this week:

Philidelphia (at home) over Detroit

I'm walking on thin ice with this pick given that Philly's 0-2 and the offense has yet to prove itself and Detroit is 2-0 with a "great" offense. Great is in quotation marks because don't you ever try telling me that an offense is great without a running game. Jon Kitna's already been picked off in the end zone twice this year and the Lions have gone a couple years now without a turnover free game. I'm not getting to hyped about Detroit's defense either. It may have looked good against Minnesota, but that's because the Minnesota Vikings' passing game is just that bad.

Week 2 NFL Spread Picks results

2007-09-21T13:23:00.001-07:00

I started out horrible on the day, losing 5 of my first 6 games; but I came back with a bang. Here's how I did:

Carolina -6 1/2 - Loser
Cincinnati -6 1/2 - Loser
Jacksonville -10 1/2 - Loser
Green Bay -3 1/2 - Winner
Buffalo +9 1/2 - Loser
St. Louis -3 1/2 - Loser (1-5 ... doing great so far)
Tampa Bay +3 1/2 Winner
Tennesse +7 1/2 Winner
Seattle -2 1/2 Loser (*Hasselbeck* ... excuse me ... I sneezed)
Minnesota +3 1/2 Winner
Dallas -3 1/2 Winner
New York Jets +7 1/2 Winner
Kansas City +12 1/2 Winner
Oakland +9 1/2 Winner
New England -3 1/2 Winner
Philadelphia -6 1/2 Loser

Week 2 record - 9-7

Week 1 results (I promise these are accurate)

Indianapolis -6 1/2 Winner
Denver -3 1/2 Loser
Pittsburgh -3 1/2 Winner
Green Bay +2 1/2 Winner
Kansas City +1 1/2 Loser
Jacksonville -5 1/2 Loser
Minnesota -2 1/2 Winner
New England -5 1/2 Winner
St. Louis -1 1/2 Loser
Miami +3 1/2 Winner
Oakland -2 1/2 Loser
Chicago +5 1/2 Loser
Seattle -6 1/2 Winner
Dallas -3 1/2 Winner
Baltimore +3 1/2 Loser
Arizona -3 1/2 Winner

Week 1 record - 9-7

Overall record for 2007 - 18-14

I will be posting this weekend's picks either tonight or tomorrow. Here's hoping for a ten win week.

I guess Friday's the new Monday

2007-09-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Took a little while off there; busy with work, busy with the fantasy football website. If you not too busy (like me), why don't you take a look at my fantasy football rankings for week 3.

Ok, that's enough with the links (cough, cough, week 3 injuries, 2007 fantasy football stats, cough) ahem, excuse me.

Well now, let's get to the recap of last weeks action shall we.

Hot picks - What I got right

Carson Palmer - 401 yards and 6 touchdowns passing, 2 interceptions, 10 yards rushing. It didn't take a mental giant to figure out he was going to torch the Browns defense; but, that doesn't mean I still don't owe the team an apology. I didn't give Cleveland any chance of winning that game. Yet it was their defense that forced three turnovers that kept them in the game in the first half.

Tom Brady - 279 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -2 yards rushing. Couldn't have been more right with my analysis. The Pats are the most dangerous team in the league when their motivated and they proved as much on both sides of the ball.

Brett Favre - 286 yards and 3 touchdowns passing, 1 interception, -2 yards rushing. Yes, the Giants defense is just that bad right now. There offense didn't help them out much either, but what can you expect from a gimpy quarterback and a backup running back. That being said, Favre did show flashes of his former self. Don't sleep on him this year, not with the way Green Bay's defense has been playing.

Rudi Johnson - 118 yards rushing, 33 yards and 1 touchdown receiving, 1 fumble. Pretty good game overall, but then again every offensive player for both Cincinnati and Cleveland were.

Chad Johnson - 209 yards and 2 touchdowns receiving. Only Steve Smith did better. Which begs the question "What was Steve Smith doing off of this list?" Like I said last week with LT, it would be easy to pick the best player for these lists every time, but then there would be no creativity.

Roy Williams - 111 yards and 1 touchdown receiving, 9 yards rushing, 1 fumble. If only Jon Kitna could have been healthy the entire game, his numbers could have even been better. A lot better. Two interceptions and a fumble by J.T. O'Sullivan are the only reasons the Vikings stayed in this game. Without a running game (for now), the Lions wide receivers should all be considered to start on your fantasy team (if you need a viable third receiver to start)

Cold picks - What I got right

Vince Young - 184 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 53 yards rushing. Vince is not going to be a viable passing threat yet; however all bets are off this weekend against the Saints' defense.

Jason Campbell – 209 yards and 1 touchdown passing, 1 interception, 39 yards rushing. He did better than McNabb did on Monday night, and it was good enough to win.

Chris Brown – 34 yards rushing, 2 yards receiving. Spot on this time around, but don't sleep on him if LenDale White gets injured.

Marshawn Lynch – 64 yards rushing, 21 yards receiving. No touchdowns, but not a bad day for a rookie against the Steel Curtain.

Lee Evans – 17 yards receiving. You might want to look elsewhere with Losman's struggles.

Reggie Brown – 27 yards receiving. Even with the good matchup against the Lions defense, you still might want to avoid Reggie Brown until he proves himself.

Laveranues Coles – 57 yards receiving. He will do better in the future, maybe not this weekend against Miami, though.

Plaxico Burress – 32 yards and 1 touchdown receiving. Once Eli Manning is healthy, Plaxico will be rolling again.

Hot picks - What I got wrong (didn't list middle of the road results)

Brian Westbrook - 96 yards rushing, 66 yards receiving. Guess he doesn't own Washington anymore. The yardage was what I expected, but I didn't expect the Redskins' defense to hold the Eagles without a touchdown.

Shaun Alexander - 70 yards 1 touchdown rushing, 5 yards receiving. Yikes, not the kind of game I expected from him either. Hasselbeck did find his receivers more, but he couldn't find Alexander for the game-blowing handoff. Not an impressive game by Shaun or the Seahawks.

Maurice Jones-Drew - 31 yards rushing, 10 yards receiving. Yuck! That says all you need to know about that Jacksonville-Atlanta game. Way to play down to you competition Jags. You do know that Maurice Jones-Drew is your best running back, right? I think ... one would be lead to believe ... in my humble opinion. 11 carries is the best you can do for him. Stay away from Jacksonville's players until the team figures out where they are going with that offense.

Steven Jackson - 60 yards rushing, 36 yards receiving. Gag me with a spoon. Again, this may be a sign of things to come if St Louis doesn't get over not having Orlando Pace. 0-2 at home to start the season? The Rams better start converting some of those field goals into touchdowns post haste if they want to be in contention for the playoffs.

Marvin Harrison - 87 yards receiving. Neither Harrison or Wayne got into the end zone against Tennessee. Not bad on the yardage, but this isn't what you would expect for one of the top 5 receivers in the NFL. Credit the Titans' defense.

Cold picks - What I got wrong (again, not listing middle of the road results)

Matt Schaub – 227 yards and 2 touchdowns passing, 3 yards rushing. I didn't do too bad on the cold quarterback picks overall. This would be the exception. No sacks? No turnovers? This is Houston were talking about, right? Schaub did very well against Carolina. This upcoming week might not so kind to Matt and the Texans as they are going to be without Andre Johnson at home against the Colts.

Jamal Lewis – 216 yards and 1 touchdown rushing. Oops. Not the best choice I've ever made. Did Jamal try to call his shot again to break the rushing record? Otherwise, this was completely unexpected.

Carnell Williams – 61 yards and 2 touchdowns rushing. A couple of 1 yard touchdowns helped Cadillac turn this pick south.

Deion Branch – 122 yards receiving. Redemption for Deion Branch is my only fault with my wide receiver picks. Several long completions, but still no touchdowns.

Either tonight (Friday) or tomorrow, I will be coming out with this weeks fascinating and exciting edition of the Hot and Cold picks. Be sure to stay tuned!

Any given cliche

2007-09-16T14:35:00.001-07:00

Wow! ... Cleveland ... wow.

Cincinnati, you disappoint me. How are you going to flop so badly after I gave your defense some love? 51 points! To Cleveland! ... ow, my pride. And what's worse is that I played their defense this week (minus 2 points this week, quality) because the Pats were playing the Chargers.

Haven't had a very good week so far. All of my offensive picks for Cincy did really well; but, I labeled Jamal Lewis number 1 of my cold list for running backs. What did he do? Not much (215 yards rushing and a touch).

Bonus, I had Carolina flop on me at home against Houston for my eliminator challenge. Guess I'm going to have to start on my second chance eliminator challenge.

Maurice Jones-Drew is not officially a flop, but he's definetly leaning in that direction.

I'll give the post week wrap-up after Monday night. Hopefully, I'll get some late love and won't look completely incompetent.

See you then.

At the half, what have I learned so far

2007-09-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've learned so far this Sunday:

I would have been right about the Cincinnati-Cleveland game had the Bengals learned how to take care of the ball. Now, the Bengals' D is making Derek Anderson look good. There's still a half to go, though, so I'm not officially eating crow yet.

Maurice Jones-Drew may be the biggest first (early second) round fantasy draft bust of the young season.

And already I'm playing against fantasy football competition that doesn't look at their stating lineup to see that Brandon Jacobs is out for the game. Nothing like a person who's going to give up this early in the season, or doesn't care to look at his starting lineup (Hello bye weeks!)

I'm sure I'll find a lot more things to talk about as the day progresses.