Why do teams use the run to get to the red zone and then turn to the pass on first-and-goal?
Why do teams use the pass to get to the red zone and then turn to the run on first-and-goal?
Why?
Just a random pair of questions that come up often, yet I never get an answer to. King of like the Panthers Thursday night, on their first drive. Clearly with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, you’re a running team. And that’s what they did to get to first-and-goal from the 7. What did the Panthers do after that? Incomplete pass, incomplete pass, sack and then field goal.
It would have been a touchdown had they went with Williams and/or Stewart three times in no particular order — and it most likely would not have taken three tries.
I think NFL coaches need to take some time to play Madden.
Seriously.
I understand that it’s not the “real thing,” but when it comes to picking logical plays in certain situations, it does make sense.
In Madden, when you have a yard or less to go, what are you doing? No, you’re not kicking. No, you’re not passing. You scrolling through the playbook and find that QB sneak. It works.
That’s right, I’m talking to you Coach Reid. The quarterback sneak. Add it to that colorful, laminated playcard that has failed you on short-yardage plays year after year.
OK, now that we’re through with that, on to the previews.
Sunday Slackers (6-4) at Stanksta’s Gangstas (2-8)
It’s do or die time for the Stanky Gang, and it doesn’t help that the Slackers have a favorable schedule with the Saints. Drew Brees will be either handing off to Pierre Thomas, who will find nice holes to run through, or passing to Marques Colston, who will have plenty of room to run after the catch.
If the Saints tank it, though, watch out.
Watch out for Steven Jackson. He has been running well of late, but don’t take the Cardinals lightly. They have one of the NFL’s better run defenses, surprisingly.
Watch out for an interesting move at the flex position with Ryan Moats. I think I’m safe by saying Ryan Moats will be making his JFL debut. In four years of fantasy football, I fairly certain he never, ever started for any team — even the former franchise Amity Island Massacres, who could have used help from the likes of a Moats, never started him.
Watch out for Vernon Davis. I don’t like his chances in Green Bay. Flat out, it should be a rough go in the not-yet frozen Tundra.
So if the Saints falter, watch out Slackers. You might get Stank-a-fied, because he has some scorers this weekend.
Namely, Kyle Orton will be looking at McNabb’s 450 against the Chargers and saying, I can at least get half of that. Unless, of course, he doesn’t play, which is a possibility with his injured ankle (he didn’t practice all week). Still, that means Matt Ryan will be the man, and he’s not a bad backup option.
Maurice Jones-Drew will not find himself in a position where kneeling at the goal line is necessary, because he’ll go wild against the Bills. At least 20 fantasy points, but he has a chance to hit that 30-mark which he has hit several times already.
The Giants are coming off the bye and they should be refocused. That means, they’re going to look to the strength, which is the run game. Insert Brandon Jacobs into this conversation. I really like Jacobs to go for 100 and at least one score against the Falcons.
Hines Ward will score this week. I predicted a Steelers rout last week and failed. I’m not wrong this week. Ward gets double-digits.
And Shady McCoy is the man in Philly from here on out. Against the Bears, he’ll at least get 70 yards and a score. He should get more.
If you start adding all those points up, it equals a potential up-Stank of the Slackers.
That’s right. I’m picking it. I think the Saints will soundly beat the Bucs, but again, it’s the defense doing the legwork. Darren Sharper will return yet another INT for a TD. I like a fumble for a TD. And I like the Saints offense recording two or three TDs, and the Slackers will need them all to go to his players.
I’m going with the Stank 134, Slackers 120.
Jimmy Jammers (7-3) at Dottsville Toasters (8-2)
A potential Super Bowl preview in Week 11 places two of the top teams in the JFL in a big late-season battle. Both teams have clinched playoff berths and both are looking to lock up their divisions. One will be disappointed come midnight Monday.
That is when this game will be decided as the Toasters have QB Matt Schaub and RB Chris Johnson going in the Monday night game.
The Jammers got off to a disappointing start with Jonathan Stewart, like the Panthers on Thursday, going belly-up. He had chances on the goal line, but again, like the Panthers, he didn’t get in and finished with 4.3 points.
Not exactly what you want to see when you’re facing the highest scoring team in the JFL.
The Jammers will probably put up enough points to take a nice lead with the Steelers (Big Ben, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller) playing the Chiefs and the Cards (Larry Fitzgerald/Steve Breaston) in St. Louis, but with a combination of Schaub and Johnson on Monday, it’s not out of the question that those two could combine for 40, 50 or even 60 points. That makes any lead by the Jammers not safe; well, at least any lead that is less than 70 points.
A 70-point lead might be safe, emphasis on might.
Ray Rice could be limited in Indy and Vincent Jackson and Miles Austin are coming off rough weeks, so it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back. Jackson will be going up against the tough Denver secondary, while Austin is in Washington — which should be a cakewalk, but just ask Denver about that.
If all the key players get their points, I think the key to this matchup may come down to defense. The Jammers have the No. 1 defense in the Saints playing woeful Tampa Bay, whereas the Toasters have the mighty Ravens going against Peyton and the dynamic Colts.
The point differential here could make the difference.
But so will Schaub and Johnson on Monday.
Toasters win 138-116.
Graybill’s Generals (4-6) at Chinese Organ Thieves (4-6)
This matchup is big for the two of these teams. Both are behind in Wild Card race due to tie-breakers and need to win and get some help.
Graybill got some help Thursday when DeAngelo Williams and Steve Smith combined for 29.8 points, a very nice start to the week.
That leaves a little work for the Thieves starting Sunday.
Two out of three running backs should have fairly good games as A.P. is at home against Seattle and Beanie Wells is in St. Louis. Both should get yards, and A.P. will score for sure. Wells, I’m not so sure about when it comes to getting into the end zone.
The third back is Marion Barber, and against Washington, he may have trouble scoring and finding room to run, however, that doesn’t mean he won’t have a better than Beanie.
Where the Thieves will be looking for points is in the WR position where the off-and-on Brandon Marshall and Calvin Johnson are. Both have favorable matchups against teams that give up a lot of receiving yards.
Still, this matchup may come down to Marshall’s game — not what Marshall will do, but what the opposing QB, Philip Rivers, does.
The Thieves need a high scoring affair between these two teams, which shouldn’t be too hard for these two teams.
Rivers will get his points and the Thieves will move on up to remain in Wild Card contention, while the Generals will fall further out of contention.
Thieves 125, Generals 106
T-Money (5-5) at Team Boyer (4-6)
This divisional matchup also has great playoff implications. Boyer learned his lesson in a win and will start Tom Brady this week. He and Wes Welker will be good for their points this week and that’s why there could be a tie for second place in the Nittany North after Week 11.
But, not likely, because Boyer is hurting. Clinton Portis is out. Michael Tuner is highly doubtful. And that leaves him with just Ryan Grant at RB.
Devin Hester also is a tough option at WR along with Lee Evans who came alive last week, but it’s hard to expect him to do it two weeks in a row.
That being said, T-Money is strong at RB with Thomas Jones and Frank Gore.
I like Chad Johnson against Oakland this week and I definitely like Anquan Boldin for yardage against the Rams, maybe even a TD.
And Tony Romo against the Skins should get 15-20 points. Nothing big, but nothing small.
The only chance Boyer has is if Turner makes a miracle comeback, and/or Tom Brady goes Tennessee Titan on the Jets.
And with how the Jets have been playing of late, it’s a possibility.
But again, not likely.
T-Money 110, Boyer 89
Fear and Loathing (3-7) at Houserville (4-6)
Here it is, Fear. Seize the moment. Win three straight games and you make the playoffs. It’s that simple.
OK, well, maybe not that simple, but that’s one way to get in. The biggest thing, though, would be defeating Houserville this week. A win for the Villains will set up two chances for Houserville to officially eliminate the Fear.
Now after all that talk about what Fear needs, let me start saying what Fear won’t get.
Fear won’t watch the Ravens shut down Peyton Manning. He’s having his best season ever and it will continue against the softer Ravens defense.
Cedric Benson is doubtful, and that’s a shame because he’d have the chance to run all over Oakland. Instead, Houserville will have to go with Steve Slaton against Tennessee, a matchup I kind of like. I think this will be a back-and-forth high scoring affair and that will benefit the speedster —unless, of course, he fumbles and makes way for the new fantasy star Ryan Moats.
He does have Bernard Scott to take over if Benson is out, but I’m not so sure how many carries he’ll get now that Larry Johnson is in town. If they had faith in Scott, LJ would not have been signed.
Still, Mendenhall against the Chiefs is money in the bank. Look at it this way, the last time Pittsburgh misused him and lost to Cincinnati, he had a season-best 29 carries for 165 yards and two TDs.
He wasn’t used properly last week in a loss to Cincy, and he should have a similar day, yardage-wise. The scores are possible, too, if the Steelers can figure out their red zone woes.
For Fear, he’ll look to Kurt Warner to take it to his old team and show them that the Fastest Show on Turf is dead and that the Air Show in the Desert is on. Larry Fitz, Anquan B, and Steve-o Breaston will land in the end zone several times Sunday.
Randy Moss should have a big day against the Jets, but Johnny Knox and T.J. Houshmandzadeh are scary starts against Philly and Minny, respectively. However, mark this, they could make the difference if one or both show up and score double-digits.
I love this matchup because there’s big QB point potential, questions at RB and WR on both teams, good tight ends, defense with very favorable matchups. Hell, at this rate, it could come down to the kickers.
Now that I’ve flip-flopped more than John Kerry, I’m going to break it down like this.
I like Moss over all of Houserville’s WRs and I like Mendenhall over all of Fear’s backs — which means, I think it’s coming down to Warner vs. Manning. I’m going to go with Warner because I see 4 TD potential and 400-yard potential. Manning has 2 TD and 300 yard potential.
So, that being said, things get interesting in the Ball-and-Chain. Houserville falls 113-111.
World of Noise (8-2) at Channel 4 News Team (5-5)
This matchup could be over already. Ricky Williams said, “Ronnie Brown, who?” on Thursday, rushing for 119 and scoring three total TDs for 33.8 points.
That’s a heck of a start to the week.
Noise will send out Laurence Maroney against as Westbrook also is on the shelf, leaving him little options at RB. At WR, he’s running out two rookies, too, in Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin, both in favorable matchups, along with Andre Johnson, who may cap off the Noise’s ninth win of the season.
A loss would put the News Team in a tie for first with either Graybill or the Thieves.
This week, the Bears-Eagles game will be a big matchup for these two as a combined seven players are going during that time.
David Akers (Noise) and Robbie Gould (NT) will have a kick-off, while Maclin and DeSean Jackson (NT) will fight for catches from Noise’s quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Every catch that Jackson get, is points that Maclin doesn’t get and points that are taken away from McNabb.
News Team also has Matt Forte who will be running against the Eagles defense (Noise) — for every yard and point that Forte gets, points will start to disappear from the Eagles defense.
So on Sunday at 8:15 p.m., you know where Nosie and News Team will be. Hopefully in the League Smack Chat Room on the FantasyCast Scoreboard. I hope so. I’ll be there, waiting to give my shoutout.
Why do teams use the pass to get to the red zone and then turn to the run on first-and-goal?
Why?
Just a random pair of questions that come up often, yet I never get an answer to. King of like the Panthers Thursday night, on their first drive. Clearly with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, you’re a running team. And that’s what they did to get to first-and-goal from the 7. What did the Panthers do after that? Incomplete pass, incomplete pass, sack and then field goal.
It would have been a touchdown had they went with Williams and/or Stewart three times in no particular order — and it most likely would not have taken three tries.
I think NFL coaches need to take some time to play Madden.
Seriously.
I understand that it’s not the “real thing,” but when it comes to picking logical plays in certain situations, it does make sense.
In Madden, when you have a yard or less to go, what are you doing? No, you’re not kicking. No, you’re not passing. You scrolling through the playbook and find that QB sneak. It works.
That’s right, I’m talking to you Coach Reid. The quarterback sneak. Add it to that colorful, laminated playcard that has failed you on short-yardage plays year after year.
OK, now that we’re through with that, on to the previews.
Sunday Slackers (6-4) at Stanksta’s Gangstas (2-8)
It’s do or die time for the Stanky Gang, and it doesn’t help that the Slackers have a favorable schedule with the Saints. Drew Brees will be either handing off to Pierre Thomas, who will find nice holes to run through, or passing to Marques Colston, who will have plenty of room to run after the catch.
If the Saints tank it, though, watch out.
Watch out for Steven Jackson. He has been running well of late, but don’t take the Cardinals lightly. They have one of the NFL’s better run defenses, surprisingly.
Watch out for an interesting move at the flex position with Ryan Moats. I think I’m safe by saying Ryan Moats will be making his JFL debut. In four years of fantasy football, I fairly certain he never, ever started for any team — even the former franchise Amity Island Massacres, who could have used help from the likes of a Moats, never started him.
Watch out for Vernon Davis. I don’t like his chances in Green Bay. Flat out, it should be a rough go in the not-yet frozen Tundra.
So if the Saints falter, watch out Slackers. You might get Stank-a-fied, because he has some scorers this weekend.
Namely, Kyle Orton will be looking at McNabb’s 450 against the Chargers and saying, I can at least get half of that. Unless, of course, he doesn’t play, which is a possibility with his injured ankle (he didn’t practice all week). Still, that means Matt Ryan will be the man, and he’s not a bad backup option.
Maurice Jones-Drew will not find himself in a position where kneeling at the goal line is necessary, because he’ll go wild against the Bills. At least 20 fantasy points, but he has a chance to hit that 30-mark which he has hit several times already.
The Giants are coming off the bye and they should be refocused. That means, they’re going to look to the strength, which is the run game. Insert Brandon Jacobs into this conversation. I really like Jacobs to go for 100 and at least one score against the Falcons.
Hines Ward will score this week. I predicted a Steelers rout last week and failed. I’m not wrong this week. Ward gets double-digits.
And Shady McCoy is the man in Philly from here on out. Against the Bears, he’ll at least get 70 yards and a score. He should get more.
If you start adding all those points up, it equals a potential up-Stank of the Slackers.
That’s right. I’m picking it. I think the Saints will soundly beat the Bucs, but again, it’s the defense doing the legwork. Darren Sharper will return yet another INT for a TD. I like a fumble for a TD. And I like the Saints offense recording two or three TDs, and the Slackers will need them all to go to his players.
I’m going with the Stank 134, Slackers 120.
Jimmy Jammers (7-3) at Dottsville Toasters (8-2)
A potential Super Bowl preview in Week 11 places two of the top teams in the JFL in a big late-season battle. Both teams have clinched playoff berths and both are looking to lock up their divisions. One will be disappointed come midnight Monday.
That is when this game will be decided as the Toasters have QB Matt Schaub and RB Chris Johnson going in the Monday night game.
The Jammers got off to a disappointing start with Jonathan Stewart, like the Panthers on Thursday, going belly-up. He had chances on the goal line, but again, like the Panthers, he didn’t get in and finished with 4.3 points.
Not exactly what you want to see when you’re facing the highest scoring team in the JFL.
The Jammers will probably put up enough points to take a nice lead with the Steelers (Big Ben, Santonio Holmes, Heath Miller) playing the Chiefs and the Cards (Larry Fitzgerald/Steve Breaston) in St. Louis, but with a combination of Schaub and Johnson on Monday, it’s not out of the question that those two could combine for 40, 50 or even 60 points. That makes any lead by the Jammers not safe; well, at least any lead that is less than 70 points.
A 70-point lead might be safe, emphasis on might.
Ray Rice could be limited in Indy and Vincent Jackson and Miles Austin are coming off rough weeks, so it will be interesting to see if they can bounce back. Jackson will be going up against the tough Denver secondary, while Austin is in Washington — which should be a cakewalk, but just ask Denver about that.
If all the key players get their points, I think the key to this matchup may come down to defense. The Jammers have the No. 1 defense in the Saints playing woeful Tampa Bay, whereas the Toasters have the mighty Ravens going against Peyton and the dynamic Colts.
The point differential here could make the difference.
But so will Schaub and Johnson on Monday.
Toasters win 138-116.
Graybill’s Generals (4-6) at Chinese Organ Thieves (4-6)
This matchup is big for the two of these teams. Both are behind in Wild Card race due to tie-breakers and need to win and get some help.
Graybill got some help Thursday when DeAngelo Williams and Steve Smith combined for 29.8 points, a very nice start to the week.
That leaves a little work for the Thieves starting Sunday.
Two out of three running backs should have fairly good games as A.P. is at home against Seattle and Beanie Wells is in St. Louis. Both should get yards, and A.P. will score for sure. Wells, I’m not so sure about when it comes to getting into the end zone.
The third back is Marion Barber, and against Washington, he may have trouble scoring and finding room to run, however, that doesn’t mean he won’t have a better than Beanie.
Where the Thieves will be looking for points is in the WR position where the off-and-on Brandon Marshall and Calvin Johnson are. Both have favorable matchups against teams that give up a lot of receiving yards.
Still, this matchup may come down to Marshall’s game — not what Marshall will do, but what the opposing QB, Philip Rivers, does.
The Thieves need a high scoring affair between these two teams, which shouldn’t be too hard for these two teams.
Rivers will get his points and the Thieves will move on up to remain in Wild Card contention, while the Generals will fall further out of contention.
Thieves 125, Generals 106
T-Money (5-5) at Team Boyer (4-6)
This divisional matchup also has great playoff implications. Boyer learned his lesson in a win and will start Tom Brady this week. He and Wes Welker will be good for their points this week and that’s why there could be a tie for second place in the Nittany North after Week 11.
But, not likely, because Boyer is hurting. Clinton Portis is out. Michael Tuner is highly doubtful. And that leaves him with just Ryan Grant at RB.
Devin Hester also is a tough option at WR along with Lee Evans who came alive last week, but it’s hard to expect him to do it two weeks in a row.
That being said, T-Money is strong at RB with Thomas Jones and Frank Gore.
I like Chad Johnson against Oakland this week and I definitely like Anquan Boldin for yardage against the Rams, maybe even a TD.
And Tony Romo against the Skins should get 15-20 points. Nothing big, but nothing small.
The only chance Boyer has is if Turner makes a miracle comeback, and/or Tom Brady goes Tennessee Titan on the Jets.
And with how the Jets have been playing of late, it’s a possibility.
But again, not likely.
T-Money 110, Boyer 89
Fear and Loathing (3-7) at Houserville (4-6)
Here it is, Fear. Seize the moment. Win three straight games and you make the playoffs. It’s that simple.
OK, well, maybe not that simple, but that’s one way to get in. The biggest thing, though, would be defeating Houserville this week. A win for the Villains will set up two chances for Houserville to officially eliminate the Fear.
Now after all that talk about what Fear needs, let me start saying what Fear won’t get.
Fear won’t watch the Ravens shut down Peyton Manning. He’s having his best season ever and it will continue against the softer Ravens defense.
Cedric Benson is doubtful, and that’s a shame because he’d have the chance to run all over Oakland. Instead, Houserville will have to go with Steve Slaton against Tennessee, a matchup I kind of like. I think this will be a back-and-forth high scoring affair and that will benefit the speedster —unless, of course, he fumbles and makes way for the new fantasy star Ryan Moats.
He does have Bernard Scott to take over if Benson is out, but I’m not so sure how many carries he’ll get now that Larry Johnson is in town. If they had faith in Scott, LJ would not have been signed.
Still, Mendenhall against the Chiefs is money in the bank. Look at it this way, the last time Pittsburgh misused him and lost to Cincinnati, he had a season-best 29 carries for 165 yards and two TDs.
He wasn’t used properly last week in a loss to Cincy, and he should have a similar day, yardage-wise. The scores are possible, too, if the Steelers can figure out their red zone woes.
For Fear, he’ll look to Kurt Warner to take it to his old team and show them that the Fastest Show on Turf is dead and that the Air Show in the Desert is on. Larry Fitz, Anquan B, and Steve-o Breaston will land in the end zone several times Sunday.
Randy Moss should have a big day against the Jets, but Johnny Knox and T.J. Houshmandzadeh are scary starts against Philly and Minny, respectively. However, mark this, they could make the difference if one or both show up and score double-digits.
I love this matchup because there’s big QB point potential, questions at RB and WR on both teams, good tight ends, defense with very favorable matchups. Hell, at this rate, it could come down to the kickers.
Now that I’ve flip-flopped more than John Kerry, I’m going to break it down like this.
I like Moss over all of Houserville’s WRs and I like Mendenhall over all of Fear’s backs — which means, I think it’s coming down to Warner vs. Manning. I’m going to go with Warner because I see 4 TD potential and 400-yard potential. Manning has 2 TD and 300 yard potential.
So, that being said, things get interesting in the Ball-and-Chain. Houserville falls 113-111.
World of Noise (8-2) at Channel 4 News Team (5-5)
This matchup could be over already. Ricky Williams said, “Ronnie Brown, who?” on Thursday, rushing for 119 and scoring three total TDs for 33.8 points.
That’s a heck of a start to the week.
Noise will send out Laurence Maroney against as Westbrook also is on the shelf, leaving him little options at RB. At WR, he’s running out two rookies, too, in Mike Wallace and Jeremy Maclin, both in favorable matchups, along with Andre Johnson, who may cap off the Noise’s ninth win of the season.
A loss would put the News Team in a tie for first with either Graybill or the Thieves.
This week, the Bears-Eagles game will be a big matchup for these two as a combined seven players are going during that time.
David Akers (Noise) and Robbie Gould (NT) will have a kick-off, while Maclin and DeSean Jackson (NT) will fight for catches from Noise’s quarterback Donovan McNabb.
Every catch that Jackson get, is points that Maclin doesn’t get and points that are taken away from McNabb.
News Team also has Matt Forte who will be running against the Eagles defense (Noise) — for every yard and point that Forte gets, points will start to disappear from the Eagles defense.
So on Sunday at 8:15 p.m., you know where Nosie and News Team will be. Hopefully in the League Smack Chat Room on the FantasyCast Scoreboard. I hope so. I’ll be there, waiting to give my shoutout.
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