PPFFL Week 11 Review
Written by Greg Shelley, Tuesday November 24 2009
Week 11 in the NFL is behind us now, leaving us with just three games left in the PlayerPress Fantasy Football League regular season. While one team has already been eliminated from playoff contention and three others have emerged as division leaders, six other teams are within 2 games of taking over the division leads and nine teams still have reasonable shots at making the final cut.
Here’s a look at how this last week played out:
Texans 133 (6-5) Vs. Hypnos_zz 85 (4-7)
Greg Shelley Jason Coldiron
This 48-point differential was the beatdown of the week, a game that was over before my QB and TE even stepped on the field. Unfortunately for the real Texans team, things didn’t quite play out so well. Still, Matt Schaub put up 24 points for my Texans here in Fantasy land and the rest of my team got some solid help from Ricky Williams’ 30-point day along with two receivers, Rice and Welker, adding 20 points each. My one managerial slip-up was leaving Crabtree on the bench when he scored his first NFL touchdown and put up 13 points total, eight better than the active Vincent Jackson.
Jason’s Hypnos got off to a nice start, with QB Warner putting up 18 points before leaving the game halfway through with a concussion. He also got solid output from WR DeSean Jackson with 15 and his kicker, Kaeding, who added 14. Unfortunately for the Hypnos, the other two WR’s only added 8 points, while Terrell Owens’ 25 points and Brett Favre’s 32 sat wasted on the bench. Ah, but it is nothing for a manager to mope about, since no combination of active players could have taken the Hypnos to victory over my Texans this week anyway.
DaBares 127 (6-4-1) Vs. Cleveland Steamers 93 (7-4-0)
Nolan Thomas B-Dub
Two high scoring teams, one a division leader, the other the Wild Card leader, and still a 34-point margin of victory, as the Central Division’s leader, DaBares brought down the hammer on B-Dub’s Steamers. Nolan’s Patriot DST benefitted from five gifted turnovers from USC grad Sanchez as they contributed 26 points. (By the way, it’s kind of funny how any conversation about Cleveland Steamers somehow ends up leading to a discussion of the Dirty Sanchez—no offense intended B-Dub.) Nolan also got solid help from Matt Ryan at QB who added 21 points and both of his RB’s who added 17 points each. Ironically, and very fortunately, he had Sanchez (with his 1 point) on the bench. Adding to Nolan’s apparent managerial mastery is the fact that 2 RB’s and a TE were on his bench where they belonged with their combined 9 points.
Simply put, B-Dub’s Steamers had a tough day with no single player breaking the 20-point mark. His forever Philly QB, McNabb, put up 19 and his top receiver, Boldin, added 16. Unfortunately, his two active RB’s only mustered 19 points between them, while two of his RB’s on the bench put up 25. Again, that’s nothing to beat himself up about since no moves with his existing players would have made him a winner against DaBares this week. B-Dub does get some managerial kudos for having the sense to leave the 7-point Hasselbeck and the 2-point Brandon Marshall on the bench.
Bo Jackson’s 96 (4-7) Vs. Born A Brave 65 (5-5-1)
Taver Chong Daniel Doyle
Big Poppa’s Bo Jackson’s put up this 31-point margin of victory compliments of Daniel’s underperforming and mismanaged Born A Brave team. The Bo Jackson’s utilized a shockingly prolific offensive production from the Detroit Lions to bolster their effort this week, as their WR Calvin Johnson and RB Kevin Smith combined for 42 points. Add in QB Garrard’s 13-point production and those three players contributed 55 of the total 96. They were hampered slightly by RB Lynch’s 1-point contribution, while LT sat on the bench with his 13. TC definitely deserves some managerial recognition though, as he had a RB, WR, and TE combine for 1 point and he had them on the bench where they needed to be.
Daniel on the other hand, who was apparently AWOL in week 9 as Nolan pointed out and returned at some point last week to manage a 100-point tie, managed his team to the lowest points total this week. All-in-all, you might have been able to chalk this up to simple player underperformance as Peyton Manning only had 13, the two RB’s added 32 together, and the rest of the team only managed 20. When no player scores 20 or more and five players come in with three points or less, there is simply not much a manager can do. Oh, but he could have benched the suspended Dwyane Bowe and installed the 13-point Andre Johnson in his place—some would call that an obvious move. Still, in Daniel’s defense, he did have 2 RB’s and another WR on the bench who combined for a mere 4 points, so once again, no amount of moves would have secured him the win.
Bayside Tigers 114 (7-3-1) Vs. Sweatpants+Handguns 95 (5-6-0)
Brian Kintz Kerri Senno
Brian’s Bayside Tigers outdueled Kerri’s Sweatpants+Handguns in this relatively close matchup, which came down almost exclusively to the play of the QB’s. Eli Manning led the Tigers with 31 points while Kerri’s overthrowing QB Cutler managed just 13. Brian also got 19 points from the Chargers DST in their stomping of the Broncos. In retrospect, the only questionable move for Bayside here was the decision to leave the 15-point Heath Miller on the bench in favor of the 4-point Antonio Gates. Other than that, his two benched RB’s and 1 WR only had 12 points among them, and the Tigers still managed a nice 114 total points.
Ultimately, there just wasn’t much of anything Kerri could have done to avoid this loss, but putting in Greg Jennings off the bench with his 18 points would have limited the margin of defeat to three points. Still, she wisely left two WR’s, 1 RB, and the Denver DST on the bench, with their combined 6 points (none of which came from the Broncos). Regardless, something needs to change fast here, as Sweatpants+Handguns is sliding through a five-game losing streak and now sports a losing record. And, in another ironic event, Jay Cutler could probably be helping the anemic Denver offense if he was still there, but he hasn’t done much for Kerry or the Bears lately.
MC Homer 104 (5-5-1) Vs. Flash Greyhounds 92 (5-6-0)
Michael Cureton Todd Schmerler
Only twelve points separated these two fairly productive teams this week. MC Homer overcame the measly ten points his three WR’s and the one point his kicker managed to put up, in part due to Big Ben Rothlisberger’s nice 29-point day, pre-concussion. He also had a big day from TE Vernon Davis with 16. His two running backs combined for a solid 32 and the Vikings’ DST added another 16. MC demonstrated his managerial prowess by leaving two RB’s and a WR on the bench with their combined three points, as well as leaving Oh-No Romo on the bench—that decision was key in this week’s victory. No doubt, details such as these are why MC is enjoying a three-game win streak.
For Flash, it was just the wrong matchup this week. He only had six points he could have gained by playing the Jets defense. Other than that, he had the right guys in the game and the right guys on the bench. His bench had a QB, 2 RB’s, and a WR who all combined for just 9 points. Even though Flash Greyhounds had six of nine players in double digits, no one could get over 14 points in the game, leaving them outmatched against the MC Homers, and forcing Todd's team to the bottom of the West Division.
Philly Fans Suck 81 (7-4) Vs. Ridemcowgirl1 70 (3-8)
Benn Hodapp Stacey Mickles
This matchup featured the lowest combined points total of the week at 151 and the second and third lowest individual scores of the week. In the end, the league leader, Philly Fans Suck was the latest recipient of Ridemcowgirl1’s charitable contributions, propelling Benn’s team to a fourth straight victory. Despite having only three players in double digits this week, Benn’s team got a 26-point addition from QB Aaron Rodgers to push them over the top. He only got a combined 23 point output from his RB’s and only 32 from the WR’s, TE, Kicker, and DST. Apparently, he was smart enough to get RB Snelling when his best RB Michael Turner went down last week, but he didn’t trust him enough to play him and left the 20 points on the bench. Still, he did have three other RB’s on the bench who combined for just three points and he got the win this week, so apparently he knows what he is doing.
Other than the fact that they have lost three straight and had the second lowest points total this week, there really isn’t much room to criticize Stacey’s team. Oh, yeah, there is that 3-8 record too. Regardless, her best shot at victory was simply the lower than normal production for PhillyFansSuck. She got a good outing from Drew Brees with 25 points and her two RB’s combined to add another 20, but the rest of her team only managed 25 collectively. Her three WR’s and TE only contributed a combined 7 points. While you might be inclined to ask why in the Hell would she have Kyle Orton on her team, you cannot fault her for having him and his four points on the bench. She had a QB, RB, WR, and kicker on her bench who all together managed just 8 points, so she made the right plays with who she had. Hopefully, she keeps her team focused and managed these next three weeks despite their seeming irrelevancy. It would only be fair to the three teams she managed to beat this season if she continued to field the best team possible for the last three weeks—any additional wins in the next three weeks for them will be relevant to someone still looking to get into the playoffs.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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5 comments
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Yes, yes indeed. Though I do have their D in my other league. The last year I play two leagues. I hope you score no other points.
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the Packers must really, REALLY hate you, Greg.
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Thanks B-Dub! And, thanks Benn. I'm yet to win a division game, so why start now? Oh well, the team is set, and I have the edge, at least on paper. Good luck!
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HUGE matchup for the Western Division lead this week, Greg. Choose wisely.
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The Cleveland Steamers to Dirty Sanchez connection was inspired Greg. Nice work.