eagle eye Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 If you wanted to put somebody from the Lions or the Chiefs in your fantasy lineup you are out of luck because they are playing in London for the NFL's 3rd, or is it 4th, trip across the pond. For KC the fantasy leaders are QB Alex Smith (14-22 for 117 yds and 1 TD, plus 5 carries for 78 yds and a TD), RB Charcandrick West (15-58 yds and a TD rushing and 4 receptions for 25 yds) and TE Travis Kelce (6-49, TD receiving) For Detroit the leader is Joique Bell with 7 rushes for 56 yds. Matthew Stafford has been a disaster with 72 yds passing and 2 picks. As you might guess from the stats above the Chiefs have opened up a can of whup ass on Detroit. Half way through the 3rd quarter the Chiefs lead 31-3. Think Detroit fans miss former head coach Jim Schwartz? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 2, 2015 Author Share Posted November 2, 2015 In the last two weeks I've lost 2 main cogs in my fantasy rosters. Last week Arian Foster went down for the season with a torn ACL and this week Le'Veon Bell went down with a bad MCL, bad enough he'll miss the rest of the season. For a bunch of players around the NFL yesterday could be considered Black Sunday because a lot of season ending injuries occurred that could change the fortunes of several NFL seasons. Linked below is an article by Bleacher Reports Mike Tanier about the whos and consequences of a day of injury in the NFL yesterday. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2585099-monday-morning-hangover-scary-sad-season-changing-week-8-injuries In the Cowboys game yesterday during a kick return backup Cowboys safety Jeff Heath put a hit on Seahawks receiver/special teams player Ricardo Lockett that knocked Lockett out, out of the game and out for the rest of the season. It looked like a clean hit, nothing dirty about the hit, it just had a brutal effect. Lockett lay motionless on the field and people were rushing to his aid immediately. Fortunately, after Lockett was strapped down to a stretcher board and put on cart to take him off the field he gave a big thumbs up to the crowd. That was the good news. The bad news is Lockett suffered a neck injury and will need season ending surgery. This injury was addressed in the previous link but a lot of people at the time said Heath gave Lockett a cheap shot. He didn't but I'm sure nobody feels worse than Heath about the whole matter except, of course, Lockett. Anybody remember when Wade Phillips was head coach of the Cowboys? Remember what was the impetus of his firing. In case you don't remember, about half way through the 2010 season Dallas, who had been on a losing streak to begin the season, went up to Green Bay and the Packers handed the Cowboys an ass whooping that was so bad that owner Jerry Jones fired Phillips. Last night Phillips got a little revenge when his defense held the Packers to a mere 77 yds passing and 10 points as Denver simply undressed the previously unbeaten Packers. Peyton Manning got a little payback too after people had been saying that Manning's skills were gone and he couldn't make deep throws any more. Manning threw for 340 yards on just 21 completions. Case closed on both counts. Phillips couldn't resist tweeting about it after the game. Who would have thought that Phillips, who looks like somebody's sweet old uncle, would have a bit of a vicious streak in him. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000571179/article/wade-phillips-throws-some-twitter-shade-at-packers-after-win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 3, 2015 Author Share Posted November 3, 2015 Man, I thought things were bad in Dallas losing 5 games in a row and all but for goodness sake we Cowboys fans have way more to be thankful for than 49ers fans. This was brought home to me this morning when a coworker came in my office this morning and there was despair in his voice over his 49ers. It's been bad enough that San Fran had to endure all the retirements and injuries and in the case of DE Aldon Smith he lost his job because he was just too big of a pain in the ass off the field for the 49ers to put up with but now the 49ers are in a turmoil at QB and they are sitting Collin Kaepernick in favor of Blaine Gabbert. Add to that the Niners have traded their best offensive player in TE Vernon Davis to Denver for basically a late round draft pick in 2016. The 49ers have guaranteed that their offense is going to stink for several years to come and pretty much made new head coach Jim Tomsala a lame duck because as San Fran keeps racking up loses his job security is swirling down the drain. Somebody whose job security has disappeared is Tennessee head coach Ken Whisenhunt. He was fired today after leading his team to a 3-20 record over the last 2 and a half years. The move was pretty surprising considering the injuries the Titans have had up to and including 1st round pick Marcus Mariota. It hasn't helped that last year's 6th round pick Zack Mettenberger has only led his team to 13 points over the last two weeks starting in place of Mariota. Former Falcons head coach and current offensive coordinator assumes the position as interim head coach. Mularky had a bad record as a head coach in Atlanta but he is a well respected OC in the NFL. So, will he be able to do more than Whisenhunt was during his tenure? Who knows but, from the Titans front office standpoint he can't do any worse. Whisenhunt becomes the 2nd coach to be fired prior to the half way point of the season. The Dolphins fired head coach Joe Philbin 3 weeks ago after a very strange and tumultuous tenure in Miami. His replacement, interim HC Dan Campbell, has gone 2-1 since he assumed the reins of the team. It will remain to be seen if Mularky has a positive or negative impact on the Titans fortunes. The NFL is determined to increase its foothold in England and they made another step in that pursuit by signing a deal to play 3 games at Twickenham Stadium in London with an option for others. Where that leaves the games at Wembly Stadium remains to be seen. Personally, I wonder why the NFL is working so hard for this because the most logical choices for NFL expansion outside of the United States would be either Mexico, where the NFL has a huge fan base, or Canada. The nine hour flight from the east coast to England is something that is handled now by giving the teams involved in games in England a bye week the next week. It also robs one of the teams of a home game in their home city. There seems to be a groundswell of support in England for American football but is it worth all this? From a dollars and cents perspective maybe it is but how is it on the players? It almost seems to be another case of the bottom line being more important than the players who play the games. So far there have already been 3 games played in London this season. Games have to start there at 9:30 am central time because of the time difference and televising the games has been dicey. The 2nd game between Jaguars and the Bills wasn't even televised on network TV, it was broadcast on the internet on Yahoo. Who knows where this going to end up going but I am not really sure I like it. Games at 9:30? I have a problem with Thursday games for crying out loud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 4, 2015 Author Share Posted November 4, 2015 The knee injury, as yet unclear about the severity of it, suffered by the Bears RB Matt Forte last week will keep him out of the lineup this week so if you are looking for a replacement you may want to try Bears rookie Jeremy Langford. Langford has gotten some work at times this season but this will be his first start in his NFL career. Langford is used to being on the big stage as he comes from Michigan State so the workload should not be a problem for him. Can he be as effective as Matt Forte? Time will tell but at this time of year the free agent pool is getting mighty thin and, if he's even still available, you know he's going to start and that makes him worth a try. Another guy lost for the season is Baltimore WR Steve Smith Sr who tore his Achilles tendon last Sunday. The Ravens have filled Smith's spot with WR Josh Morgan. Morgan is a veteran guy who, for the most part, has been a disappointment in his NFL career and he's floated around the NFL for several years now. I wouldn't rush to pick him up as I believe it will take a little time for him to get acclimated to the Ravens offense. Kamar Aiken and Marlon Brown with a little Chris Givens thrown in will be the guys the Ravens will lean on going forward. There are six teams off this week. The Texans, Lions, Cardinals, Ravens, Chiefs and Seahawks will be off which will test the depth of fantasy rosters this week. The Browns and Bengals square off in Cincy on Thursday night but Cleveland will not have starter Josh McCown at QB because he injured his shoulder last week against the Cardinals. This will be a Johnny Manziel week as the Browns have announced that Mr Football will be taking first team reps this week in practice because it is a short week and McCown will not have a chance to get back to health in time for the game. Manziel has looked much better this season and despite an off field issue or two he has been a much better team mate and player this season. The Browns jumped out to a 20-7 lead against the Cards last week and they had a 20-10 halftime lead but the Cards outscored the Browns 24-0 in the second half securing a 34-20 win. The Browns have jumped up and surprised teams this year but it was with McCown was the QB. Manziel can put up good fantasy numbers though if you are hurting for a bye week QB. Looks like Ronnie Hillman has replaced CJ Anderson as the starter in Denver but both guys were effective against the Packers in last week's Bronco bullying win over the Packers. But after Anderson exploded for 101 yds on just 14 carries he may have wrestled the starter's role back. Hillman had more carries than Anderson but he was less effective than Anderson running against Green Bay. Hillman had 19 totes for just 60 yds but he scored 2 TDs to 1 for Anderson. I don't think it would matter too much who you play and I believe both will be good against the Colts defense this week so I would feel comfortable playing either one if I have him on my fantasy roster. If I have both, I think I would play both. The Colts have the 3rd worst defense against the run in the NFL so both guys should have a field day as it looks like the symbiosis between Gary Kubiak's offense and Peyton Manning's execution of that offense it looking like it is finally starting to gel should mean some damn good stats for all Broncos players. With the struggles that Indianapolis has had to deal with this season this game could get ugly in a hurry. Don't think Peyton doesn't remember his last trip to Indy when the Colts honored Manning before the game and kicked his, and the Broncos, asses in the game. Another reason to be concerned if you are a Colts fan is the fact that the team has fired offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. Associate head coach Rob Chudzinski will assume the OC duties going forward. Did anyone notice that the only move at the NFL trading deadline seems to have been the Broncos signing TE Vernon Davis on Tuesday? Way different situation than baseball when trades and money go flying around like confetti. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 5, 2015 Author Share Posted November 5, 2015 There is a whole lotta shakin going on in the NFL this week. Coaches are dropping like flies and now front office people are joining the ranks of the unemployed. The latest and not-so-greatest is the sacking of Detroit Lions GM and Club President Tom Lewand by team owner Martha Ford. This comes a week after offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi was fired and interim OC Jim Bob Cooter (no kidding, that's his name) was his replacement. Stepping in as interim GM will be Sheldon White and a lady named Allison Maki will be the new COO. White was the President of Player Personnel before getting kicked up to GM and Maki was the Lions Senior Vice President of Administration and Chief Financial Officer. As we noted last week it's unusual just 8 games into a season under a new head coach but the Lions were a playoff team with a high powered offense and this season they are 1-7 and the offense is pretty anemic. Surprisingly enough new head coach Jim Caldwell survived this employee purge but rumors are that there may not have been a guy the new Lions front office either saw as an alternative or trusted as interim head coach. The whole organizational structure of the Lions front office is in serious reboot mode so things may not get any better for the team on the field any time soon. Brown vs Bengals for the bragging rights to the state of Ohio will take place tonight. Actually, this is just Round 1 in the battle of Ohio as these teams meet again in Cleveland on December 6th. It will feature a start by Johnny Manziel and regardless of who sucks in any given year this is a bitter rivalry which could mean some interesting television tonight. So, if you have any Browns or Bengals on your fantasy roster don't forget to plug them in before 7 o'clock tonight. Because this is a very busy bye week with 6 teams not playing this week are you desperate enough to have to plug in San Francisco's Blaine Gabbert as a bye week QB? The one thing I will tell you is that in preseason when Gabbert played he didn't look like the same inept buffoon that he looked like in Jacksonville. He actually looked pretty good in the limited opportunities he was given. Now considering the state of the Niners offense so far that may not be a ringing endorsement but let's not forget that San Fran does have weapons if a decent QB can get them the ball. Colin Kaepernick wasn't a drop back passer even though current head coach Jim Tomsala has tried to make him one. When Kap was good he played under Jim Harbaugh and they ran a variation of the read option offense. Kap never was a drop back style of QB. Gabbert is. When you consider that the 49ers have Anquan Bolden, Torrey Smith and Jerome Simpson to lead the WR corps. They don't have Vernon Davis any more but have 3 young guys who would love to show what they have. Carlos Hyde and Mike Davis are nursing injuries but one or the other should be available on Sunday against the Falcons. San Fran also signed former Saints RB Pierre Thomas to replace Reggis Bush who had to be placed on IR. Thomas is taylor made for a west coast style of offense and will be a good addition to the 49ers attack. He could actually see some action this week. The only question is Thomas hasn't played a down in 2015 and his conditioning could be an issue. One thing is for sure, he should have some fresh legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 8, 2015 Author Share Posted November 8, 2015 Tennessee will have Marcus Mariota back on the field today when they play the Saints in New Orleans. Jason Pierre-Paul will be active for the Giants for the first time this season because of the accident involving fireworks on the 4th of July cost him part of his thumb and index finger. The Giants face the Tampa Bay Bucs this afternoon. Sammy Watkins is expected to be active for this week's game between the Bills and the Dolphins. The Redskins will have WR DeSean Jackson back for the first time since injuring his hamstring in the season opener. The Broncos will face the Colts in a big game for both teams today. The Colts will be without WR T Y Hilton because of a foot injury. There is a chance he will play but it's being classified as a longshot. On the Broncos side RB Ronnie Hillman has been questionable all week because of a thigh bruise but he will be playing today. Saints backup Luke McCown will miss today's game and he's in danger of missing the rest of the season because of a lower back issue. He is scheduled to see Dr Drew Dorsett, the same guy who did Tony Romo's surgery last year, to determine what will need to be done for his back. Back to the Giants-Bucs game for a sec. The Bucs will be without TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins yet again and they are already missing WR Vincent Jackson. Seferian-Jenkins has a bad shoulder while Jackson injured his knee and he has not been practicing. Matt Forte is out and the load seems to be headed backup RB Jeremy Langford looks to be the guy until Forte comes back. The big question is what the heck will the Lions be like after a major shake up in the organization this past week. Also, how will the Tennessee Titans fare after having head coach Ken Whisenhunt fired this past week. Lots of uncertainty in the Colts organization because of the firing of offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton who just happened to be Andrew Luck's QB coach at Stanford. By all accounts Hamilton was a popular guy in the Colts locker room and some players were not happy about his firing. Good luck, you will need it this week in fantasy with six teams on bye week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 10, 2015 Author Share Posted November 10, 2015 Jeremy Langford is going to be just fine. At least based on his work last night against the Chargers. He had 18 carries for 72 yards and he added 3 catches for another 70 yards in a very Matt Forte-like performance as the Bears came back and beat the Bolts 22-19 last night. If you don't have him and he's available (he's probably not) snatch him up quick! If you thought that Malcolm Floyd was going to be the guy who stepped up and took up the slack after San Diego lost Keenan Allen forget it. Floyd was lost in the 2nd quarter of last night's game with a shoulder injury and this may hasten his retirement from the NFL which was supposed to be at the end of this season anyway. Last night it was Danny Woodhead and Antonio Gates, a RB and TE, who led the team in yards on the night. The next man up was Stevie Johnson who had 7 catches for 68 yards. He also had a cripplingly stupid delay of game penalty which turned 1st and goal at the 4 into 1st and goal at the 11. The Chargers couldn't help but shoot themselves in the foot last night and it continued a trend, similar to the trend the Cowboys are in right now of finding ways to cost themselves wins with stupid mistakes. As well as the offense has played and the number Phillip Rivers is posting San Diego can't buy a win right now. Last night could have been the last prime time game for Chargers in San Diego and they went out like thud instead of a bang. The Chargers are looking to relocate to Los Angeles and their prime time swan song in San Diego was less than memorable. The 49ers seemingly have pulled a rabbit out of their hat by signing Sean Draughn an undrafted free agent out of North Carolina in 2011 that was originally was with Washington but he had been in 6 other rosters over the last 4-1/2 years. The Forty-Niners is his 8th team since 2011 but based on his performance on Sunday in the win over Atlanta, which was big surprise as well, in which he gained 58 yards on 16 carries and another 32 yards on 4 passes caught led the Niners ground attack. It was committee approach as Kendall Gaskins had 7 carries and newly signed Pierre Thomas had 4 carries. Draughn's value is only as good as how long Carlos Hyde is out but he proved he is a good handcuff for Hyde. The biggest surprise for the 49ers was the performance of QB Blaine Gabbert. Gabbert didn't put up a lot of points but he led the Niners to their first win in a while passing for 185 yards with 2 TDs and 2 picks. He also was the 2nd leading rusher on the team behind Draughn with 8 carries for 32 yards. Gabbert also showed a lot of toughness that was something that has been in question since he played at Jacksonville. He got plowed by a blitzing linebacker in the 2nd half of the game Sunday and got up and was prepared to play on but he was forced to leave the field for a short time to go through the NFL concussion protocol on the sideline by an independent doctor before he was allowed to return to the field. You could see him mouth the words to the official as he left the field, "Wow, this is f*cking bullsh*t." It was obvious he was okay as he was examined by the doctor on the sideline. He had to sit out several plays which, I'm sure he hated because he's trying to lose that "soft" label about him. I hate to toot my own horn but I posted last week to keep and eye on Gabbert this week because of the way he played in the preseason. He played well enough that head coach Mike Tomsula has named Gabbert the starter this week against Seattle. (Gee thanks) The Bills may be without RB LeSean McCoy this week because of a shoulder injury suffered last week against Miami. It was determined that McCoy would not have to get an MRI but his status is questionable going into the Thursday night game against the Jets. McCoy is sure he's playing and he probably will. It's pretty clear that this is a two back system because Karlos Williams has shown to be more than just a handcuff to McCoy. Both backs gained 100+ yards against Miami. The fact is Williams scored 2 TDs to McCoy's 1 so his value as a red zone back may make him more valuable than McCoy except for the fact that McCoy was involved in the Bills passing game and Williams was not. It's not really a surprise that Buffalo returned to the win column this week but they did and it's mainly because of the return of QB Tyrod Taylor to the lineup. EJ Manual could not do much in relieve of Taylor as he missed a couple of games with an injury. Besides passing for 181 yards and a TD Taylor rushed 10 times for 44 yards making fantasy owner happy. It also didn't hurt that Sammy Watkins finally returned to the lineup and he was the star of the receiving corp catching 8 passes for 168 yards and a TD. Remember that Taylor only threw for 181 and that lets you know Watkins value to Taylor and the Bills. Since the Browns have two RBs that they can depend on, especially with the development of rookie Duke Johnson Jr, the Browns have released former Seahawk Robert Turbin who Cleveland picked up several weeks ago after he was given his release by Seattle. The Steelers had Big Ben back for exactly 7-1/2 quarters before a foot injury sidelined him again. It is expected that he will be out several weeks with the injury but he refuses to admit that he won't be back against the Browns this week. Either way the Steelers will be in good hands considering the nice job backup Landry Jones has done. Jones is actually a reliever to the reliever since he was backing up Michael Vick until Vick was injured. Vick struggled especially in the passing game and when Jones came in the Steelers passing game was reignited. Even if Vick is healthy I believe Jones has earned the right to play ahead of Vick. The Steelers will be without Le'Veon Bell for the rest of the season and I'm not too sure they can hang their hopes on DeAngelo Williams and Vick who averaged about 40 yards passing in the games he played in for Pitt until he was hurt. Okay, he was better than that but not much. I don't know if it's the QB or the receivers but nobody on the Rams roster scares you except for RB Todd Gurley. Nick Foles will now have a proven target as the Rams have signed WR Wes Welker to a deal. Welker has been out of football for the first half of the season because teams seemed to be leary of his recent concussion issues. The Rams obviously checked him out and it will just be a question of how fast he can get up to speed in the Rams offense. Welker may have been signed because Stedman Bailey is being suspended for 4 games because he violated the NFL substance abuse policy. The Patriots, and fantasy owners who thought they had finally found a New England RB they could depend on, found out that Dion Lewis was lost for the season after tearing his ACL on Sunday in a non-contact injury when Lewis may a cut to avoid tacklers. The Patriots turned to little used RB Brandon Bolden after Lewis went out and he produced for the Pats running once for 12 yards and catching 3 passes for 27 yards and a TD. Certainly these aren't Lewis-like numbers but given a full game those numbers could be a lot better. Why is it that the Patriots lose a man to injury and the next man up seems to be as good as the guy who went down? Unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 I am really suffering in all my fantasy leagues because of all these season ending injuries. So far I have lost Le'Veon Bell, Arian Foster, Dion Lewis, Lance Dunbar. I have been a little more lucky with my WRs but even they have missed time so far. The latest loss was a biggie though as San Diego officially put Keenan Allen on season ending IR with a lacerated kidney. It isn't life threatening thank goodness but he won't be allowed to play until it is completely healed. When you think about the other major fantasy players that have gone out like Jamaal Charles, Steve Smith Sr, Percy Harvin, Khiry Robinson among the players that are out for the season. You add in players who have missed chunks of time like Ben Roethlisberger, Tony Romo, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson and it's a wonder we can field a fantasy team. The latest short, sort of long term, players to miss time is the Colts Andrew Luck who is said to be out for 2-6 weeks with a lacerated kidney. His kidney obviously isn't as serious as Keenan Allen's but there you go. Tim Hasselbeck, who started two games already when Luck missed because of a shoulder problem, will step back into the roll. It will undoubtedly affect guys like T J Hilton so you will have to make your own judgments about your fantasy rosters maybe paying more attention to matchups. PLAYER ALERT: The Tennessee Titans have activated RB David Cobb, the rookie out of Minnesota, to the active roster. To make room for Cobb the Titans have released veteran QB David Whitehurst. Cobb is a 5'11" 229 lbs back who has some speed and also power enough to run through some tackles. The Titans have been rather ineffective in the run game this season but they should do much better with 1st round pick QB Marcus Mariota back Tennessee finally won a game last week and there is no doubt that the Titans are better on offense with him in the lineup. Cobb has been practicing for the past four weeks and he could see significant snaps right from the start. James Starks has supplanted Eddie Lacy as the #1 back in Green Bay. Lacy has been totally ineffective so far this season and I'm not the only person that has noticed that Lacy is overweight to the point that he looks like an O-lineman instead of a running back. James Starks has just plain been more productive than Lacy has been. Hopefully, this will be the wakeup call Lacy needs to lose some weight and get back into shape. He looks slow and he has lost some of the burst that made him a dangerous back. It doesn't mean Lacy won't get touches but it does mean he won't get as many as he did. Don't get fooled by headlines but the Greg Hardy controversy continues to rage. NFL.com interviewed HOF QB Roger Staubach as part of the Veteran's Day celebration and the headline on NFL.com was Roger Staubach: I wouldn't want Greg Hardy as teammate. If you actually read the article Staubach does say that but he qualifies it by saying he is not in the Cowboys locker room and he hasn't spoken to Hardy to see how his life is going. Staubach went on to say that people deserve a 2nd chance if they make a mistake but he says that domestic violence is a very serious issue and he hopes Hardy is getting help. It was Roger's feeling that something like DV can be dealt with without help. NFL Channel interviewer said as a precursor to a question that Staubach had been very outspoken in his criticism of Hardy and Staubach corrected him by saying he has been outspoken about the issue of domestic violence. It is a case of media bias to try to get a respected man like Staubach to diss Hardy personally as part of a campaign to paint Hardy as a Hannibal Lector-like crazed animal. Hardy obviously has issues but if you are a Christian you believe in forgiveness and 2nd chances. Hardy is certainly no angel but if the Cowboys are requiring him to get help and he's doing what the Cowboys expect of him off the field then I don't see a reason for this persecution. Am I just being a homer for the Cowboys? I honestly don't know for sure. Would I feel differently if Hardy was on another team? I certainly hope I wouldn't. Consider this article from Bleacher Report by former NBA HOF'er Charles Barcley who seems to be a voice of reason (Charles? Yep, in this he is.). It's a long article but one worth a look. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2587885-charles-barkley-greg-hardy-was-wrong-but-he-needs-help-not-more-punishment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 12, 2015 Author Share Posted November 12, 2015 (edited) Wow, talk about a miraculous recovery. Ben Roethlisberger left last Sunday's game with a sprained foot that was speculated would keep him off the field for several weeks. Big Ben actually practiced today and he has hopes for playing this week! Big Ben is a tough guy and he's able to deal with a lot of pain and play well so I would not count him out from playing on Sunday. Tonight's game between the Bills and Jets has not been one to cause a lot of excitement in the world of fantasy football but there are several players who are big components on fantasy rosters these days. On the Bills side of the ball they field QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Karlos Williams and WR Sammy Watkins not to mention a pretty good fantasy defense/special teams group. The Jets have a borderline QB in Ryan Fitzpatrick, WR Brandon Marshall, RB Chris Ivory and a good defense of their own. You might have yawned when you saw this game was on tonight but this may be a pretty good football game worth a look. I still hate Thursday games. If recent history tells us anything then the Detroit Lions should be an offensive monster this week when they play the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay. There are a couple of things that make me say this. 1. So far after a coaching shake up this season the team has responded by playing far and away their best football of the season. Look at what happened with Miami after Joe Philbin was sacked--2 straight wins including a virtual beat down of the Texans. What just happened to Tennessee? They fire Ken Whisenhunt and go down to New Orleans and beat the Saints 34-28 in overtime! The Titans hadn't scored more than 6 points in a game for 2 week prior to the change. Neither the Dolphins or the Titans have the talent the Lions do. The Lions are also facing a struggling Packers team that has lost their last two games and were in danger of losing 3 if they hadn't persevered over San Diego 3 weeks ago. This ain't the same old Pack. 2.) The Mike and Mike jinx. This morning on Mike and Mike, Mike Greenberg gave a stat that said that Detroit has not won a game at Lambeau Field since 1991. The Lions and Packers are in the same division and play a home and home every single year. So that is 25 years since Detroit won in Green Bay. Think about that for a minute. That is almost unbelievable. The Mike and Mike jinx is similar to the jinx a broadcaster put on a player who is about to do something and can't or couldn't do something and does. You put it out there and it never fails to go the opposite way. Put money on it, Lions win and their anemic fantasy numbers are taking a big 180 this week. Edited November 12, 2015 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 14, 2015 Author Share Posted November 14, 2015 Head coaches around the NFL continue to confound opponents and fantasy footballers with their propensity to be vague or just down right uninformative. Pittsburgh is saying that Ben Roethlisberger is questionable. Fortunately Michael Vick seems to have spilled the beans saying today that backup Landry Jones will start this week. As bad a Big Ben's foot injury looked, according to all reports, pretty bad early in the week. Roethlisberger has a habit of playing when most people need to sit. Jones has done a much better job of leading the Steelers, especially from a fantasy perspective, than Michael Vick. Not just for QB numbers but he gets the rest of the offensive weapons at the Steelers disposal involved as well. Speaking of involved, how about the offensive resurgence of DeAngelo Williams who has had to fill in for Le'Veon Bell both at the beginning of the season when Bell was suspended the first two games and now since Bell was lost to an ACL injury. Cleveland's Mike Pettine is being coy about who will start for the Browns this week. Will it be Johnny Manziel or will it be Josh McCown? McCown who has missed a game because of a shoulder injury is listed as questionable on the official injury report. There might be a bit of a tug-of-war between Pettine and Browns GM Ray Farmer with Pettine wanting to go with McCown to give the Browns the best chance of winning and Farmer want to see what they have in Manziel with the prevailing feeling by the GM that at 2-7 the Browns chances of making the playoffs are pretty slim so it is a prime time to evaluate players, including Manziel, to see what they have from a long term standpoint. Ian Rappaport of NFL.com has reported that Cleveland will start Manziel according to a source inside the Browns organization. It must drive coaches crazy to get stabbed in the back with the "unnamed source" crap. Chicago RB Jeremy Langford may get a longer look than first expected because it turns out that Matt Forte's knee injury is an MCL sprain. Even a minor one would keep Forte on the sideline for several weeks at best. It seems that the Bears have found a nice player in Langford and his first start last Monday night in a Bears win over the Chargers in San Diego this past Monday night. He looks like a good fantasy play going forward as he took up right where Forte left off as a good runner and an equally good receiver out of the backfield which is huge in PPR leagues. Langford will have a stern test this week as the Bears are on the road again. This time they face a really tough St Louis Rams defense. The Bears defense has no picnic having to stop Rookie of the Year candidate Todd Gurley. The Rams also signed WR Wes Welker this week so that is just that much more for the Bears to worry about. Should be a good game. Jay Cutler seems to have finally gotten a coach in John Fox that can get the best out of him. Seattle might be without the services of RB Marshawn Lynch who is listed on the infamous "questionable" designation on the Seahawks injury report. Lynch has an abdominal injury but there is still a chance he could play. Thomas Rawls would be the next man up if Lynch can't go. Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald joked today that the Seahawks CB Richard Sherman shouldn't concern himself with covering a "old, grizzly, washed up veteran" (speaking of himself) in this week's game between the Cards and 'Hawks in Seattle on Sunday night. Fitz has been enjoying a revitalization of his career with a healthy Carson Palmer at QB but the Seahawks do have a dilemma. Should they put Sherman on the veteran Fitz or the young and recently fuel injected WR Michael Floyd? In the last 3 games Floyd has been targeted 16 times catching 12 balls. More importantly he's scored a TD in each of the last 3 games. Can you seriously believe that the Lions are considering a future without QB Matthew Stafford and WR Calvin Johnson? Unfreaking believable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 You had to know this was coming, didn't you? The Saints have fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. Ryan has been the DC for 4 teams, the Raiders, the Browns, the Cowboys and the Saints. His longest tenure was his first in Oakland where he spent 5 years from 2004 through 2008. These were years when the Raiders were in the middle of an extended slump that just now seems to finally be lifting. He spent 2 years in Cleveland, 2 in Dallas and now 3 in New Orleans. I thought maybe he might have been fired after last season but the Saints stuck with him but his defenses are high risk and he doesn't have the talent to do what he wants to do. There were a couple of games last year when Ryan and Sean Peyton were seen arguing on the sideline and there seemed to be a disconnect there for sure. I know he wore out his welcome in Dallas after two seasons of poor defensive play. Ryan and Jason Garrett seemed like oil and water and you had to wonder if they were ever on the same page. Rob has that Ryan braggadocio, in other words he talks a good game but his defenses can't seem to stop anyone. Last week the Redskins easily had their best offensive showing of the season with Kirk Cousins throwing for over 300 yards IN THE FIRST HALF! Ryan's defense could not stop Cousins from just picking the Saints defense apart and apparently Sean Peyton had had enough. The Saints have named long time assistant Dennis Allen as the interim DC. Allen has been with the Saints for a long time on two different stints. In between tenures with NO Allen was the DC at Denver and the head coach at Oakland for 2-1/2 seasons before returning to NO. I would venture a guess that the Saints defense will show marked improvement as the second half of the season unfolds. The Browns have announced that Johnny Football will be the starting QB for the rest of the 2015 season. With the Browns sitting at 2-8 the odds of their making a playoff run is slim and none. So, the rest of the season will be an extended job interview for 2016. Manziel and a bunch of other players will extended looks going forward as Cleveland will evaluate their roster for moves that will need to be made in free agency and the NFL draft next year. I know the Steelers were hoping that Landry Jones could play QB for a week or two to let Ben Roethlisberger's mid-foot sprain heal. Didn't happen that way. Jones suffered a low ankle sprain in the first quarter forcing Big Ben into the game. Despite the pain in his foot he threw for 379 yards and 3 TDs as Pittsburgh tore through the Cleveland Browns for 30-9 win. Martavis Bryant and Antonio Brown combined for 311 yards receiving and all 3 TD pass catches. This Steelers offense is a juggernaut with or without RB Le'Veon Bell because their passing game is virtually unstoppable. For fantasy owners this is music to their ears. Word out of Denver is that QB Peyton Manning has plantar fasciitis in his foot and he also has a slight tear which is making his effectiveness less than optimal to say the least. It has affected him enough that the Broncos will be starting backup QB Brock Osweiler this coming week and maybe more depending on how Manning's foot responds to the rest and, let's be honest here, how well Osweiler performs. Osweiler replaced Manning in the 3rd quarter of last Sunday's game after Manning completed just 5 passes to his teammates and 4 to the Chiefs for maybe the worst performance of his career. Osweiler came in and gave some spark to a team that was already down 22 zip. Osweiler led his team to 2 4th quarter TDs to make the game seem a little more respectable. Osweiler was a 2nd round pick out of Arizona State in 2012 and he has been Manning's understudy now for 3+ seasons. He should be ready to step in without much problem. He seemed to be able to handle the offense pretty well so we'll see going forward if we are looking at the 6'8" 240 pound future of the Broncos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Injury reports for todays games pertaining to fantasy owners. > Indy will be without Andrew Luck. Matt Hasselbeck will start. It has been speculated that Frank Gore will be the biggest beneficiary as a result. > Atlanta will be without Roddy White but Leonard Hankerson will be returning to the field. > Alshon Jeffrey is out against the Broncos as is Emmanuel Sanders for Denver. > Matt Forte is out and that gives Jeremy Langford another start. > San Fran has placed QB Colin Kaepernick on season ending IR meaning Blaine Gabbert will start going forward. > Tampa will be without WR Vincent Jackson and TE Austin Sefarian-Jenkins for another week. > The Eagles will start Marc Sanchez over Sam Bradford who has a should injury and is dealing with a concussion. RB Ryan Matthews is out as well. > The Broncos will be without Emmanuel Sanders and DE DeMarcus Ware are among the Broncos inactives. > The Broncos will have RB Ronnie Hillman and it is speculated that he will see a heavy load. BTW Peyton Manning is inactive so for the foreseeable future it is the Brock Osweiler show in Denver. > The Jets will be without DE Sheldon Richardson and WR Kenbrell Tompkins today in Houston. > Houston is without Brian Hoyer, TJ Yates gets the start today. > The Panthers Corey Brown is out and Kevin Funchess will get his first start today. > Detroit will have Joique Bell and Calvin Johnson active today against the Raiders. > The Cowboys will be without CB Mo Claiborne giving rookie Byron Jones the start. Darren McFadden will be playing but Robert Turbin may to worth a flex player option if you are hurting because of the bye week. Note: the Dolphins give up a lot of yards rushing so Run-DMC and/or Robert Turbin could have a big day in the Miami rain. Good Luck. I have noticed that teams are wearing the new "color rush" uniforms lately. I liked the unis that Tennessee and Jacksonville wore on Thursday night. I posted a preview of the Cowboys color rush unis on the Cowboys thread earlier in the week and I like them. Dallas and Carolina, Detroit and Philly and the Bears and Packers should all be wearing their color rush unis on Thanksgiving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 23, 2015 Author Share Posted November 23, 2015 Thoughts on yesterday's games. > It was nice to see James Jones woke up after six weeks of being a no-show fantasy wise. > Ravens RB Justin Forsette is done for the season with a broken forearm. Javorius Allen looks like the next man up for Baltimore. > Eddie Lacy woke up or something else lit a fire under him. He came back against the Vikings off the Packers bye week and gained over 100 yards for the first time this season. The Packers won but it wasn't pretty but if Lacy is going to start producing the Packers are going to start getting tough to beat. > I almost forgot, Joe (Bowzer) Flacco is done for 2015 too. Flacco tore his ACL and maybe his MCL. MRIs will be done today. Matt Schaub will step in for him for the foreseeable future. > Atlanta RB Devonta Freeman will likely be out this week at least due to a concussion suffered in the game against the Colts yesterday. Rookie Tevin Coleman will likely get the start if Freeman can't go. > The Rams lost QB Case Keenum late in the 4th quarter to a concussion. The question now is, will Jeff Fisher go back to Nick Foles or will he give Oregon State rookie Sean Mannion if Keenum can't pass the concussion protocols this week? > Marshawn Lynch is going to see a specialist to see if surgery will be required. Lynch has been dealing with an abdominal injury and the fear is he has a hernia. If Lynch can't go, as he wasn't able to yesterday, Thomas Rawls will step up. Rawls has been very good in relief of Lynch this season and he looks to be a very nice replacement for Beast Mode. > Redskins RB Alfred Morris left the game early with a rib injury. Nothing known right now how serious it is. You would think that if Morris can't go then the next guy up would be Matt Jones with Chris Thompson as the 3rd down guy. It's hard to say because the Redskins sucked across the board yesterday in getting pounded by the Carolina Panthers. The Skins managed a pitiful 14 yards rushing on 12 carries as they were totally dominated by Carolina in a 44-16 rout. > The Eagles Zack Ertz left yesterdays beat down by Tampa Bay with a concussion. With only 3 days until Thanksgiving it's a sure bet Ertz will not play against the Lions. > The Chiefs (and fantasy owners) got bad news when RBs Charcandrick West and De'Anthony Thomas were both knocked out the game against San Diego. The Chiefs running game was, for all intents and purposes, non-existent except for backup Spencer Ware who gained 98 yards on 11 carries and scored two TDs. West has a bad hamstring and Thomas has a concussion so in all likelihood it's Ware's show for a week or two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 More news from the NFL and how it could affect fantasy rosters. > The Eagles are saying that QB Sam Bradford has passed the concussion protocol but the Eagles are not saying he will start Thursday against Detroit. Marc Sanchez didn't do all that well considering he threw 3 picks that heavily contributed to the 40 point route by Tampa. Bradford does have a shoulder issue but he threw yesterday but even so Philly isn't committing to anyone as yet. > Carolina Panthers head coach is touting rookie WR Devin Funchess as Kelvin-esque referring to Kelvin Benjamin who was lost for the season in Panthers training camp. If you are hurting at WR in fantasy because of injury or buy weeks maybe Funchess is worth a shot. Funchess caught 4 balls for 65 yards and a TD in the Panthers pummeling of the Redskins. The Panthers were constantly being gifted short fields because of the 4 fumbles and 1 INT committed by the Redskins. Cam Newton had 5 TD passes on the day but he only threw for 246 yards because of the short fields. Then again, 246 is about average yardage for a game in the NFL so it's to say "just 245 yds" is unfair to Cam. Funchess was tied for 2nd most catches and he led the team in receiving yards. So, maybe Funchess is well worth a look. I hate say it but the Panthers are facing a Cowboys secondary that is hurting with Mo Claiborne probably out because of a hamstring injury and moving Byron Jones to his spot. Jones may be a 1st round pick but he's still a rookie and he gave up 2 big plays against the Dolphins on Sunday. > Don't go overboard on Patriots RB James White, the 2nd year player out of Wisconsin, who stepped in for the injured Dion Lewis. His contribution last night against the Pats was just 15 yards rushing on 4 carries and 32 yards receiving on 2 catches with a TD. Weak flex player numbers to be sure especially if he doesn't get the TD. His value may grow as the season enters the final month. Tom Brady develops trust in White and he could end up being a factor. All I'm saying is, if you have a weak player on your roster it can't hurt to give him a spot on the roster with an eye on the starting lineup if he pans out. > Brock Osweiler will start again this week as Peyton Manning is going to a foot specialist in North Carolina. Brock will face a sterner test than he did this week against the Bears because the New England Patriots will be the next team up. The Broncos will have one advantage and that is they are playing in Denver. Also, Emmanuel Sanders may not be back this week because he revealed that the ankle issue he's been dealing with is the dreaded high ankle sprain. He played a couple of weeks ago when he convinced coaches he was good to go but he was inactive last Sunday against the Bears. For the high ankle to heal it often takes 4-6 weeks depending on the severity. So, keep and eye out for the injury reports today and the rest of the week if you need Sanders in your lineup. If you think you can pick up a backup WR from the Broncos roster you might want to think twice because the top 2 receivers last Sunday were tight ends Owen Daniels and Vernon Davis. If you are desperate you may give Cody Latimer a shot. > The Browns coach Mike Pettine says they are considering benching Johnny Manziel for at least one game. Why? Yet another headline in the media along with a photo of him parting in Austin, Tx showing Mr Football holding up a champagne bottle. Pettine did not want to name Manziel the starter for the rest of the season a week ago for whatever reason but he did. This probably at the urging of the Browns GM who is trying to see what the Browns have roster-wise going forward. Manziel's lifestyle has been a constant problem for him and it included a stint in rehab in the offseason. A few weeks ago he had an altercation with his girlfriend in traffic and now this. It's embarrassing to the Browns and shows a total lack of maturity by Manziel. It Pettine has his way Manziel will sit on Monday night instead of starting against the Ravens. One day Manziel may "get it" and appreciate his obligation to Cleveland to set a good example and be a steady leader for the Browns. Hopefully, when he wises up it will be before the Browns and the NFL turn their backs on him. > Is this deal with the refs never going to get better? Last night an inadvertent whistle likely cost the Patriots a TD. Tom Brady was rolling out and he lofted a pass to Danny Amendola that was completed and had nothing but open space in front of him an just a single defender to beat. Didn't matter because the ref blew his whistle while the BALL WAS IN THE AIR for goodness sake! Amendola was given a 14 yard gain as the refs ended up spotting the ball where he caught it. The refereeing this season has been just horrible. I know of at least 5 plays the refs have blown in Cowboys games alone. It's not as if it's a conspiracy against Dallas because it's happening all over the NFL it's just a general incompetence by the refs. Dean Blandino and the leaders of the referees in the NFL league office need to devise a penalty system which should include full time paid officials. If a guy is worried about losing his job for incompetence he might actually do a better job. Maybe not losing his job but losing pay for being suspended for incompetence may be the ticket. Right now there isn't a lot that can be done other than being given crappy games and no playoff games as a consequence of doing a lousy job. Something has got to give--soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 It hasn't been a good fall for Rams WR Stedman Bailey. First he gets himself suspended by the NFL for violating their substance abuse policy and last night in a car with other adults and children Bailey and another passenger were wounded. Bailey and adults and two minors were sitting in a car outside a residence in Miami, Fla. Bailey was said to be in critical but stable condition waiting to go into surgery. Bailey was two games into a 4 game suspension when the incident occurred. Bailey has been in the NFL for 3 years and he's been suspended twice. In 2014 Bailey was suspended two games for PED use. All the people in Bailey's car were family members. Bailey was shot in the head and hip. The other adult in the car was Antwan Reeves who sustained life threatening wounds as he covered up the minors in the car. He was rushed into surgery as soon as the ambulance arrived at the hospital. No details of why the person or persons in the other car opened fire on Bailey's car and as yet no suspects have been detained. It's official now, the Seahawks will be without Marshawn Lynch for at least a month because he had surgery this morning for a sports hernia. Thomas Rawls will be the man now for the 5-5 Seahawks as they make a push to make the playoffs. The 'Hawks are currently 3 full games behind the division leading Arizona Cardinals. As I was looking at the NFL standings for the Seahawks item above it struck me how many lousy records there are 10 games into the season. So I decided to count how many teams with greater than .500 records there are in the NFL and I was sort of shocked at what I found. Out of 32 NFL teams only 9 are over .500. Nine. There are 8 teams with 5-5 records and the rest of the league, 15 teams in all, with a 4-6 or worse record. There are two divisions, the AFC South and the NFC East, with the division leader sitting at 5-5. At 3-7 the Dallas Cowboys have a shot, albeit a slim shot, to win the NFC East. The Texans and Colts are tied at 5-5 for the AFC South lead. Weird year going on here. Or maybe the correct adjective would be "mediocre" year. It's official, Mike Pettine announced that Josh McCown will start on Monday night. Whether or not Manziel will start after that is up to Manziel. He is being benched because of the photo of him with a champagne bottle in Austin, Tx last week has called his commitment to the Browns and his rehab from alcohol an substance abuse into question. I'll admit it was chickensh*t of the so-called friend to posted the picture but make no mistake, this is all on Manziel. NFL teams do not want their franchise QB to be a party boy constantly in the media, both social and traditional, for BS. Teams do not want the face of their franchise to be a loose cannon, period, and so far that's pretty much is what John Football has been. This doesn't help fantasy owners at all but the Broncos have signed Christian Ponder to backup Brock Osweiler as the Big O will take Peyton Manning's place for at least a couple of weeks while he tries to get his mid foot injury back healthy. For now the Broncos have the AFC West under control at 8-2 but the 2nd place 5-5 Chiefs have won 4 in a row and seem to be coming on strong despite having trouble keeping a starting RB on the field. Jamaal Charles was lost for the season with a torn ACL and now Charcandrick West has missed a big chunk of last week's game with a pulled hammy. Spencer Ware came off the bench Sunday and performed really well for KC and if West can't go against the Bills this week the load will fall on Ware. Right now Andy Reid is classifying West's status as day to day and probably the infamous game time decision. Tyrod Taylor has been a good fantasy option at QB this season when healthy but it was obvious he was slowed by a lingering shoulder injury in the Bills loss to New England on Monday night. Taylor will need to be healthy to give even a slight chance to the Bills in their game against a badass KC defense. The Chiefs held the Chargers Phillip Rivers to less than 200 yards passing as the Chiefs defense smothered the Bolts offense. Last Sunday was the 4th game in a row KC has held the opposing team to less than 200 yards passing. Looks like Sam Bradford is more than likely out tomorrow against the Lions meaning Marc Sanchez will be at QB for the Eagles. As a Cowboys fan I say that's good. The Lions are at home and the Eagles just got whitewashed by Tampa. The Lions seem to be playing much better since the front office for the Lions got cleaned out as well as the offensive coordinator getting fired. The Lions are not a factor for the playoffs but they can darn sure be a spoiler to those who are. The 49ers RB Carlos Hyde did not practice because of a foot injury. It could be Shaun Draughn will get another start this week unless something changes. The Bears will add Martellus Bennett to the list of players who will not play this week for Chicago against the Packers. He joins Matt Forte and Alshon Jeffrey as key offensive weapon who are out of action, or maybe not. Both Forte and Jeffrey are listed as questionable and you know a lot can change in just a couple of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted November 29, 2015 Author Share Posted November 29, 2015 I have been busy so I wasn't able to chase the injury reports. By now you know KC won't have Charcandrick West at RB today so it will be left up to Spencer Ware and Nile Davis. Going by the carries last week after West left the game Ware should be the next man up. Karlos Williams is out with a shoulder injury possibly leaving you without a backup to LeSean McCoy. Or maybe a good flex player in your fantasy lineups. Good luck to you guys. Right now I'm getting killed but it's early in the day. In one of my leagues my opponent had Matthew Stafford who finally had a good day at the office on Thanksgiving when the Lions kicked the stuffing out of Philly. The late games offer some fantasy upside with the Broncos and Pats going tonight and Cleveland and Baltimore going on Monday night. In the late games today I have some interest with Big Ben and Antonio Brown the lynch pins of one of my leagues. If you have some Arizona Cardinals in your lineup say, Carson Palmer, Chris Johnson, Michael Floyd, Larry Fitzgerald, you have something to look forward to this afternoon as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Just couple of quick shots. 1. The Patriots will be without Rob Gronkowski for at least one week because of a knee strain suffered in the 4th quarter of the Pats loss to the Broncos last night. It could have been much worse. Both Gronk and Pats lucked out. 2. You know the guy who fumbled the punt by the Broncos at the beginning of the 4th quarter last night? It doesn't matter if you do or not because he was cut today. 3. Arizona's Chris Johnson is out indefinitely with a cracked tibia (leg bone). Andre Ellington left the game against San Francisco as well with a toe problem and he is being listed as day to day. Rookie David Johnson got most of the snaps after CJ2K and Ellington left the game. 4. Big Ben Roethlisberger is day to day as he goes through the NFL concussion protocol after getting clocked in the game against Seattle. 5. Ahmad Bradshaw is out for the rest of the season after breaking his wrist Sunday. A headline on NFL.com said that Frank Gore is "beat to crap". What that means is Gore is feeling the pounding his body has taken in the NFL and it's starting to show in his lack of production lately. It was hoped Bradshaw would be the guy to take the load off but that is not going happen now. The Colts have signed former RB Dan Herron off waivers and they have also brought in Zurlon Tipton (who?) to replace Bradshaw. Tipton was an undrafted free agent signed by the Colts out of Central Michigan last year and has been on the Colts practice squad. (Just thought you might like to know.) Herron has been productive in the past for Indy so he is probably a nice handcuff or even flex player for fantasy owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 1, 2015 Author Share Posted December 1, 2015 Just a random thought or two.... Why is everyone so enamored with Jeff Fisher? He has never won squat. His teams haven't even made the playoffs since his Tennessee Titans did it in 2002. That's 14 seasons ago. IMO Fisher and Chip Kelly are the two most over rated coaches in the NFL. What happens when the Carolina Panthers run up against a team who can get the best of their defense? So far the Panthers have a sort of formula for winning that consists of the defense dominates the other team, gets turnovers and either scores or gives the offense a short field and all the offense has to do is not screw it up and they have score a TD or two. Easy-peasy and the formula has worked 11 times this season. Sometimes you have to be lucky AND good and with the remaining games on the Panthers schedule there isn't one single team I can see capable of beating them. The Saints suck so they won't beat Carolina. They play the Giants and that defense will rip Eli and company a new one. They play Atlanta twice in a home and home division series but the Falcons have lost 5 of their last 6 games and don't seem to have a clue how to end the string. Matty Ice has turned into Matty Slush and the only offensive weapon worth mentioning in Julio Jones. Last but not least on their schedule is Tampa at home. Will good Jameis or bad Jameis show up. It's funny how the Panthers defense seems to make the bad in every QB come out to play. I can't speak for the playoffs but there doesn't look like much to prevent the Panthers from recording an undefeated regular season. I sure hope they beat the crap out of the Giants the same they beat the crap out of Dallas, Philly and Washington. The Browns will likely have a decision to make this week because it appears QB Josh McCown has Tony Romo disease--a broken collar bone. So, with Johnny Manziel in the doghouse because he not only partied in Austin while he's supposed to be practicing sobriety since his stint in rehab this spring he lied to the Browns about it until it went public a couple of weeks ago. It was the lies he told that got him benched as a punishment. Can't really blame the Browns front office for that--Johnny effed up. The question remains, will Cleveland be satisfied with a one game benching or will they keep Manziel on the bench as a backup and let Austin Davis start. It was Davis who came in after McCown was injured. Davis and head coach Mike Pettine totally blew the last drive of the game. With the Browns at mid field with 30 something seconds left Davis scrambled out of the pocket and got down to the Ravens 32 but instead of running out of bounds he slid in the field of play keeping the clock running. Now the Browns had all 3 of their time outs but the didn't call one after Davis slid down. Instead they ran off 20 seconds of clock until there was only 9 seconds left when they ran a meaningless run play to get the football between the hash marks THEN they called timeout with 3 seconds left to play. With all 3 TOs Cleveland could have moved the ball down deep into Ravens territory instead of having to attempt a 51 yard FG which was blocked and run back by the Ravens for the winning score. Totally stupid clock management. I would have the QB, head coach and OC drug tested because one or more of those guys had to be high on something. As a side note to the Browns QB situation, they have signed Terrelle Pryor. Pryor hasn't been able to make an NFL team as either a QB or WR. Nice. The refs sucked yet again this week. One of the crews' incompetence actually cost the Tennessee Titans a win. When is something going to be done. Even Fox's Mike Pereira who tries to explain the calls made by the refs on Sundays was unable to explain the defensive holding call on 4th down that allowed the Raiders to get a first down and ultimately the winning score. I reference the movie "The Replacements" a lot because, while it's a little over the top to be really good there are some nice moments in the film. The main WR in the film in Clifford Franklin played by Orlando Jones and the story on Clifford Franklin is that he has world class speed and bricks for hands. It strikes me that there is a real life Clifford Franklin in the NFL, Davante Adams of the Green Bay Packers. The second year, 2nd round draft pick out of Fresno State has good, not great, speed (4.51 at the scouting combine) but he can drop a pass with the best of them. He's been targeted 64 times so far in 2015 catching 32 balls and dropping 5 officially. If it's not Adams playing the real life Clifford Franklin then it's got to be Tampa's Mike Evans. He's been targeted 103 times with only 49 receptions and 8 official drops. The Packers need some positive production out of Adams especially with Jordy Nelson out all season but the Packers have lost 4 of their last 5 games and obviously have more problems than a WR with a case of the dropsies. The Eagles Sam Bradford has returned to practice, like that will matter for an Eagles team that looks like they have thrown in the towel on the season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 2, 2015 Author Share Posted December 2, 2015 The Browns are not caving in on the benching of Johnny Manziel. Today they announced that Austin Davis would start this week against the Bengals this week. You have to respect the Browns head coach and front office people for sticking to their guns on this because Johnny deserves to be punished. Now, the hope would be that Davis can somehow lead the Browns to a win over Cincy which would give the Browns the option to elevate Manziel to starter status without the press saying it was done out of desperation. The Browns need to know about Manziel from a talent perspective but that may be secondary, all other things being equal, to his battle as a substance abuser. Just because he went to rehab doesn't mean all is well with him. If fact this recent episode is proof he hasn't got a handle on his partying ways. To all you Aggie fans who want Jerry Jones to pick him up if he gets released by Cleveland please get a grip. Don't the Cowboys have enough problems without taking on a PR nightmare like Manziel? Peyton manning is out of his cast but it doesn't mean he's back. It only means he can begin rehab of his foot. The other side of the story is Brock Osweiler will get another start and judging by the 2-1/2 games he's played so far, that isn't a bad deal at all. As for the fantasy value of the other weapons in Denver's arsenal they show a lot of promise. Osweiler has been the perfect driver for Gary Kubiak's offense. The biggest beneficiaries so far have been the tight ends, Owen Daniels and Vernon Davis. But last week, as Osweiler starts to be more comfortable in his starting role, he expanded his to spread the ball around. The return this past week of Emmanuel Sanders didn't help one bit as he hauled in 6 balls for 113 yards in his first real action in 2 weeks. Demaryius Thomas had but one catch but that isn't the whole story as he dropped at least 3 others. The Broncos travel to San Diego this week to face the defensively challenged Chargers. Fantasy numbers should be favorable for Bronco player owners. The only mystery is whether the main RB will be Ronnie Hillman or CJ Anderson. Last game it was Anderson who was the bell cow. Either way if you have both play 'em because one will put up good RB numbers and the other will most assuredly put up good flex numbers. Ben Roethlisberger passed his concussion protocols and he was back at practice today. The loss to the Seahawks was painful but you wonder how they will bounce back. The Seahawks successfully took WR Antonio Brown out the picture but the Steelers are deeper than just Brown as evidenced the huge game by Marcus Wheaton who hauled in 9 balls for 201 yards and a TD. The key to Big Ben's value is his ability to use all of the weapons at his disposal. The Steelers will face the Indianapolis Colts Sunday night. It is likely that Andrew Luck will be back this week too. Reports are that he is throwing pretty well without any pain in his injured shoulder. It remains to be seen what will happen there. The Patriots will be without Gronk this week and the hope is it will be only for this week. The Patriots got good news as they got Danny Amendola back after he passed the concussion protocols that kept him out of action against Denver Sunday night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 3, 2015 Author Share Posted December 3, 2015 Is there an NFL franchise more sad sack than Cleveland? Geez they suck as an organization. Since Cleveland got their franchise back in 1999 the Browns have used a first round draft pick on quarterbacks 4 different times. 1999 Tim Couch (bust), 2007 Brady Quinn (Bust), 2012 Brandon Weeden (bust) and 2014 Johnny Manziel and so far he's a bust too. Cleveland is the only team to draft an Alabama RB and miss since 2000. Trent Richardson was an unqualified bust but the Browns actually got something for him in a trade with Indianapolis. The Browns used to be good, I swear they were. In the late forties in the AAFC they won 4 straight championships. When they joined the NFL in 1950 they continued their winning ways by winning championships in '50, '54 and '55. They won their last NFL championship in 1955 under head coach Paul Brown, the man the Browns were named for and they had Jim Brown as their running back. The last championship was won in 1964 and that is the last time Cleveland won an NFL championship. They are currently one of only 4 teams in the Super Bowl era to never appear in the big game along with Jacksonville, Houston and Detroit. They came close in the 80s with Bernie Kosar at QB but they just couldn't get past the John Elway led Denver Broncos. Since Kosar left Cleveland the Browns have only made the playoffs twice, in 1994 and 2002. Otherwise it has been a barren wasteland in Cleveland. Even the great Bill Belichick couldn't win in Cleveland where he was head coach from 1991 to 1995. In 2012 Pilot Flying J Truck Stop chain owner Jimmy Haslam bought the team and you thought maybe things could turn around. Instead the Browns have been through 2 GMs and 3 head coaches just since 2012. The Browns recent draft history is atrocious and the only reason the Browns drafted Johnny Manziel was because Haslam likes him. Ironically, when the Browns were looking for a new head coach to replace Pat Shurmur the Eagles Chip Kelly interviewed for the job. That was 2013 and Browns ended up going with Rob Chudzinski. Chud was fired at the end of the season and Mike Pettine was hired in 2014. The Browns currently have the worst record in the NFL and I have no confidence that Pettine will be back for 2016. This is a franchise who needs something to go right for it. It just doesn't look like it will be anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 4, 2015 Author Share Posted December 4, 2015 The Week 13 odyssey begins tonight with the Thursday night matchup between The Packers and Lions. At first glance, or rather, first assumption is that the Packers are going kick the Lions back to the jungle except for a couple of facts. 1) The Packers are playing like crap and 2) Detriot isn't. In their last 5 games Green Bay has lost 4 of those games with the win coming on the road against NFC North division leading Minnesota. By contrast the Lions have won 3 in a row and Matthew Stafford seems to have remembered how to throw TD passes. The first win in the Lions current streak was against these same Packers in Green Bay, a place the Lions hadn't won at in 24 years. The Lions and Packers are in the same division which means they play each other 2 times a year so that 24 year dry spell means they lost 24 times. It could very well be that Detroits main men, Stafford, Megatron, Ameer Abdulah, Golden Tate may be worth more fantasy bucks than Aaron Rodgers, Eddie Lacy and whoever the hell it is Rodgers is throwing to these days. Potentially a good game tonight but I still hate Thursday games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 7, 2015 Author Share Posted December 7, 2015 (edited) Man, I missed out yesterday. Christmas goings on hampering my attention on fantasy news but things seem to need some mention, so here goes. The Steelers had Big Ben on the field after he passed all of his concussion protocols this past week and were fantasy owners ever happy about that! Nearly 400 yards passing and 4 TDs I'd say, "Well, I guess!" Are the Steelers fans saying Le'Veon who? DeAngelo Williams has been running his 32 year old ass off. Last night he ran for 134 yards against the Colts. Is there a team more schizo than Pittsburgh? Losing last week to Seattle who really hasn't shown much offense this year and beating the Colts who have shown the ability to score. What isn't in question is the explosive nature of the Steelers offense. Just about every skill player for the Steelers is fantasy worthy and that offense as a whole is just scary. On the flip side, with reports that Andrew Luck throwing last week in practice there were hopes he'd be back in the lineup but according to last night's TV broadcast Matt Hasselbeck may be the guy for another week or two if not more. That is good news for the Houston Texans especially if it's two weeks because they play Indy in two weeks. Frank Gore seems like he's on the downhill side of his career. Either that or the Colts O-line just stinks. Either way, you cannot depend on Gore as a fantasy option the way you used to. After the Bengals kicked the stuffing out of Cleveland yesterday the Browns have announced just this morning that Johnny Manziel has served his penance and will start this coming Sunday for the Browns. I hate to say it because the Browns may have had a 2 game benching on their minds anyway but after the Bengals whitewashed the Browns 37-3 yesterday it sort of looks fishy. The fact is, last time out Manziel looked decent, like a guy who was making progress learning the NFL way to play QB, The Browns really need to find out what they have in Manziel so they can make appropriate plans for the draft this coming spring. For me, I'd like to see what he's got too. One thing for sure the Browns starter yesterday, Austin Davis, doesn't seem to have a clue about clock management and he could be seen as a liability on the field that further justifies this move by the Browns. Regardless of the reason Johnny Football will get his 4 game audition beginning this Sunday against the 49ers. Anyone notice that the Chiefs are one of the hottest teams in the NFL. And just about every phase of the team is fantasy worthy. QB - Alex Smith, solid but not spectacular but he doesn't turn the ball over. He's also found out he's got some good receivers in Travis Kelce (TE) and Jeremy Maclin (WR) to throw to. The RB situation is in good hands with Charcandrick West or Spencer Ware. The defense/ST can hang with anyone in fantasy and their kicker is pretty solid. It's weird to think the Chiefs could actually miss out on the playoffs. They have won 6 games in a row making them the hottest team this side of the Carolina Panthers in the whole NFL. Their schedule in December is pretty patty cake with the Ravens and Raiders the only teams realistically with a chance to beat them. Is there another player you can think of who chased a big contract and turned out to be a bigger bust than DeMarco Murray? It's hard to imagine one. The guy rushed for over 1800 yards last season and he has only 569 yards in 12 games of work this year. Murray's style of running isn't really compatible to the offense the Eagles run but that's not a Murray problem it's more of a problem of the Eagle's GM who misread Murray's fit in the scheme. The Eagles had the ideal fit in LeSean McCoy but evidently there was a personality conflict between him and the head coach because it wasn't about money considering what the Eagles are paying Murray. It's a shame because Murray was a big part of the chemistry of the 2014 Cowboys and both the Eagles and the Cowboys both have suffered as a result of Murray's defection to Philadelphia. Too bad and the real shame is if Philly cuts Murray at the end of the year it may be too late to resign him in Dallas. The damage has already been done because Murray is another year older and closer to that point in every RB career when the skills just slip away. Good riddance to the Eagles, who I hate anyway but I still feel sad at the loss of Murray both for him and a Cowboys team that is far removed from that 12-4 season of last year. I have a question, or two. Why is Jeff Fisher considered to such a great coach? He hasn't done squat in his career as a coach except for the one year his Titans went to the Super Bowl and lost by inches on the last play of the game. What is it that makes him so freaking great? His teams miss the playoffs way more than they make it. Why is Fisher everyone's Golden Child? The other question is, Chip Kelly isn't the genius everyone made him out to be is he? The Eagles haven't really done squat. He has made the playoffs a couple of times but when he plays playoff caliber teams they get smoked. He seems to be even less of a genius as a GM. How do you quantify shipping out talent like LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin not to mention Pro Bowl caliber linemen on both sides of the ball? Not just that but ending up with a team that can barely compete in the NFL. Yesterday was more of an aberration than the rule beating the Pats. Take away 21 points scored by the defense and special teams the offense managed only 14 points and the offense is Kelly's claim to fame. Like I said, an aberration. IMHO I would have to classify Jeff Fisher and Chip Kelly to two most overrated people in the NFL. Edited December 7, 2015 by eagle eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 There a lot of leagues where the fantasy playoffs begin---TONIGHT!. It wasn't good news to find out yesterday that New Orleans RB Mark Ingram was lost for the rest of the season because of a shoulder injury. I know it hurt me because he was as solid as a rock in fantasy. Rarely spectacular but you could count on solid numbers and that means a lot. I was scrambling to find a replacement because in this league I have already lost Dion Lewis and Le'Veon Bell. I was lucky to have picked up KC's Charcandrick West and subsequently Spencer Ware and they were enough to help propel me into that league's playoffs. My other two leagues I haven't been as lucky and I am out in the cold in those leagues. Also, for those who need to replace Ingram the next logical choice is CJ Spiller but he is not likely to be available because he was chosen in a lot of drafts to begin the season. In my case in my league I was lucky that Patriots RB James White who had a breakout game last week against Philly. I am really hoping he will continue to be a major contributor for the Pats now that he has shown the ability to do it. In other injury news, > Rob Gronkowski returned to practice today which is great news for the Patriots and Gronk fantasy owners. > This isn't an injury to report but Green Bay RB Eddie Lacy only had 19 snaps in Green Bay's surprise win over Detroit on Sunday night. Why? Lacy pulled a bonehead move and missed curfew the night before the game. Lacy said he was in the lobby of the Packers hotel and he lost track of the time. With he again have to watch James Starks from the sideline take his snaps? Who knows and for a fantasy owner it makes it difficult to set a lineup with such things up in the air. After yet another disappointing offensive performance by the Rams last week they fired their offensive coordinator. Rob Boras was promoted after Frank Cignetti was kicked out the door because of his vanilla offensive schemes. The Rams have the worst 3rd down conversion rate in the NFL and when the Rams get down in the score they tend to go away from the run game. One change under Boras will be to feature rookie phenom RB Todd Gurley a lot more regardless of score. Boras stated that the Rams have special players in Todd and Tev (Tavon Austin) and they need to be more involved in the offense. We'll see. One thing for sure fantasy owners will be happy to see Gurley more involved and the Rams need him because they have had terrible QB play. It didn't matter if it was Nick Foles or Case Keenum it's been a sad situation. JJ Watt broke his hand in practice yesterday but it is being reported that Watt will definitely play this Sunday night against the Patriots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 The start of the fantasy playoffs is having endure a few unpleasant surprises at just the wrong time of the year. > Julian Edelman will not play this week against the Texans. He could be back in a week or two as he began practicing this week making him ahead of his rehab schedule. > The 49ers will be without Carlos Hyde for the rest of the season because of a foot injury. Shaun Draughn will be your man going forward. > Is James White the next Dion Lewis? We'll find out going forward after his breakout performance last week. His value will be similar to Lewis' as a pass receiver, not a runner. Trusting him with a fantasy playoff spot is risky because he's only had one game of any great success but, with Julian Edelman out again this week White could be in position for another big day. This time it will have to be against the Texans. That would have been shaky considering how well Houston played defense during their 4 game winning streak but last week against Buffalo the Texans defense was part of the problem in their loss. Unlike Todd Gurley who has shown he is an impact player with the St Louis Rams Melvin Gordan, the 2nd RB taken in this year's draft, has not lived up to the expectations of a first round choice. I doubt that Gordon will make an impact this year because the Chargers O-line is just awful. Who is playing the Cleveland Browns this week? The answer is San Francisco. What does it matter? The Browns have given up 30+ points in 5 straight games. That is likely not to change this week either despite the Browns starting Johnny Manziel for the first time in a month. With Arizona losing their RBs left and right the Cardinals turned to rookie David Johnson and he hasn't been a disappointment. If you didn't pick him up two weeks ago it won't be available now. His game on Thursday night showcased his versatility. 19 carries for 92 yds and 5 catches for 31 was just what fantasy owners were hoping for when Chris Johnson and Andre Ellington went down. He is a late season burst of offense for both the Cards and fantasy owners. Anyone notice Javorius Allen blow up for Ravens last week? Allen gained a combined 170 yards with a TD in the Ravens 15-13 loss to Miami. I'm just saying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eagle eye Posted December 13, 2015 Author Share Posted December 13, 2015 Rob Gronkowski is still not certain to play tonight in Houston. He practiced on a limited basis on Thursday and Friday. You are taking a chance on having him in your fantasy lineup but if he plays he is liable to bring dividends. Jimmy Clausen is going to get the start for Baltimore in Seattle today instead of Matt Schaub. Schaub is suffering from a back problem. I really don't like either team so can they just tie? No, that could be a good thing for both in the long run. Damn, I wish there was a way for both to lose. The Broncos RB situation is a little shaky with Ronnie Hillman (foot) and CJ Anderson (ankle) both listed as questionable. Hillman is expected to start while Anderson is less certain. It's a benefit for Denver being at home this afternoon against the Raiders. If Brad Osweiler's proficiency getting better each week a win over a division opponent will be a good thing for the Broncos who need to maintain their 2 game lead over Kansas City. The Chiefs play the Chargers in San Diego today and unless strange things happen the Chiefs should beat the Bolts rather easily. The Chargers are just plain bad right now. So bad I would not recommend Phillip Rivers for anyone's fantasy team. The Browns will have some weapons on the field today when they roll out Johnny Football this afternoon against the 49ers. As I posted yesterday the Niners will not have RB Carlos Hyde because he has been put on season ending IR. Shaun Draughn will be the guy they will depend upon and he hasn't been too bad the past 3 weeks subbing for Hyde. Fantasy Alert! For those among you who are wondering if the Saints will go to Tim Hightower or CJ Spiller to sub for the injured Mark Ingram, Ian Rappaport of NFL.com is reporting that it will be Hightower carrying the load against the Tampa Bay Bucs. As he did last week when Ingram injured his shoulder and Hightower came in and carried the load the rest of the way for New Orleans in their wild and wooly loss to Carolina last week. One last item. Philly is rumored to be benching RB DeMarco Murray or at least use him sparingly with Darren Sproles carrying the load for the Eagles. There is an article on NFL.com that says that the whole NFC East should thank Chip Kelly for signing Murray. I haven't read the article but I'm guessing it's because it weakened the Cowboys and the Eagles making it possible for the Giants and Redskins to get into the division hunt. It's too bad the Cowboys and Murray couldn't find a compromise. At any rate it has been the loss of Tony Romo that has really affected the Cowboys fortunes in 2015. We'll see what happens here in December. The NFC East features some pretty good games. Washington travels to Chicago. The Redskins have been horrible on the road and Chicago has surprised some this season. I hope Washington continues to stink on the road and the Bears get the win. The Giants travel to Miami who is coming off a close win over Baltimore last week. The Giants have a better QB than the Ravens but overall the Ravens have a better team. The Dolphins didn't show much offense last week but the scored enough to beat the Ravens. Let's hope they don't lose their home mojo and beat the Giants who are reeling and looking pretty darn bad. This could be the season that costs Tom Coughlin his job. Last, but not least, Philadelphia hosts the Buffalo Bills who are coming off an emotional win over Houston last week. The Eagles also had a big win over the Patriots which was done with smoke and mirrors more than skill. The Bills LeSean McCoy has been spewing venom this week in reference to his former head coach in Philly Chip Kelly. Kelly has let McCoy, Desean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin go and the he has replaced them with broken or ill fitting parts like Miles Austin, who was released this week, and DeMarco Murray. The Bills will be without backup RB Karlos Williams again this week but this was going to be McCoy's show all along anyway. Go Bills! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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