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It's Week 3 and that means its the final week of divisional matchups until we come around to the rematches in Weeks 11, 12 and 13.So there will be some key battles, namely to between former roommates, and another between a surprise division leader and the reigning Super Bowl Champion.
I will be on Gamecast all day, as long as ESPN allows me, so join me as we watch the games and the fantasy matchups.
Sunday Slackers (2-0) at Jimmy Jammers (2-0)
Series History: Jammers leads 5-1.
There are several rivalry matchups going on this weekend in the NFL, so it is only fitting that the Slackers and the Jammers meet up in Week 3.
There really hasn't been much to this rivalry for the Slackers. Just one win in three years, and if it wasn't for the great 40-point Monday night posted by Drew Brees in 2008, the Slackers would be 0-6 against the Jammers.
It seems that any time these two meet, it's just another win for the Jammers. As News Team would say, "85 percent of the time, the Jammers win every time."
I'm not quite sure that stat makes sense, but … when in Rome.
And the Slackers feel like they're in Rome, or some other great vacation spot. Things are going great on Slacker Island. Two wins, and two big wins at that.
The Slack posted 133.3 points in Week 1 and then added 151.6 in Week 2.
It's been touchdown heaven for him with Drew Brees, Ray Rice and Matt Forte.
But, the Jammers is no slouch. His squad has put up even better numbers, scoring 157.1 points and 160.2 points to start the season.
Houserville says that the Jammers won't kept it up, but things are looking good this weekend, matchup-wise.
Stafford and Brees should equal out so this matchup is the Jammers WRs vs. the Slackers RBs.
So it will be up to the rest of the rosters to decide this one, and I'm not going to sit here and break them down, because quite honestly, I could make arguments for why every single one will have a good week.
The prediction has this matchup being a News Team-Thieves kind of game — so it should be fun to watch.
It is interesting that the Slackers have moved on to A.J. Green and Deion Branch. They've had good weeks and it's going to be one of those moves that could be too reactionary.
If Gamecast doesn't go down this weekend, you'll surely be able to follow this rivalry all day.
Jammers' Biased Prediction: Jammers 155, Slackers 102 … OK, you are right. That was mean. …. I'll give him some more points… Jammers 155, Slackers 102.5
T-Money (1-1) at Dottsville Toasters (1-1)
Series History: T-Money leads 6-4.
In another matchup of former roommates (Jammers and Slackers were roomies at Kutztown), the Toasters host his good friend T-Money.
And that means it's time for T-Money to meet Calvin Johnson.
What a keeper pick this was. Calvin Johnson is going to be an amazing fantasy star this season. I predicted that he'd have a 2007 Randy Moss-like season, and so far, he's looking like he might get it. Moss had 23 TDs that season and Johnson has four already. He hasn't posted a 100-yard game yet this season and that's because he's being doubled and that's forcing Matthew Stafford to go elsewhere.
That is why other Lions have been great options, and the Toasters have one in Jahvid Best. He had 12.2 points in Week 1, which included four receptions for 42 yards, and 25.5 points in Week 2, which included six receptions for 66 yards and a TD.
Against Minnesota, I do not see these options dying down. This Lions team is a very interesting team. It's crazy to think, after watching the Lions play like the Slackers for so long, that they have one of the best teams in the NFL. I know they destroyed a horrid Chiefs team, but I bought into the hype before the season and I'm going to keep buying into it today. They'll put up another 30 points today in a win at Minnesota, and the Toasters will get at least 40 combined points from Best and Johnson.
And that may be all he needs if Tony Romo can't go.
Romo has been great fantasy-wise this season, but he was limited in practice and is questionable for Monday's game against the Redskins. T-Money picked up Jason Campbell to counteract the injury, but he'll have to make a decision at 4:05 Sunday (or earlier if the ESPN Fantasy Games go down again at 3 p.m.) because he cannot go into Monday needing points only to watch Jon Kitna start.
It actually might be a good idea to pick up Kitna for T-Money if he's going to roll with Romo.
T-Money may do some damage with his four receivers this week, though. Steve Smith has re-emerged as an elite WR thanks to Cam Newton, and I like Dwayne Bowe to actually score this weekend. He's been limited in his first two games.
The other two receivers, Santonio Holmes and Dustin Keller, are going up against a Raiders defense that let Ryan Fitzpatrick throw for two scores last week, so I'd expect crappy Sanchez to be able to get two this week, and he has a man-crush on Keller.
However, this game is on the West Coast, so I could see some struggles for the Jets.
Where things could go wrong for the Toasters is with Chris Johnson, who has been awful. I'm going to save my rant on him until after this matchup. So C.J. has one more game before I take him down with my prose.
I think he'll avoid that with a big day and the Toasters will emerge with a big divisional win.
Jammers' Prediction: Toasters 133, T-Money 117
Graybill's Generals (1-1) at Channel 4 News Team (1-1)
Series History: News Team leads 5-4.
Here it is. It's the Generals chance to tell all the pollers to go … well, I don't need to finish that sentence, for the sake of keeping my blog worthy of being seen by all Internet users.
Nonetheless, Graybill can stick it to us with a win. He can show everyone that his team is worthy of winning this division.
And today, he has a good chance to do that thanks to the decimation of the News Team's RB corps. Both Arian Foster and Peyton Hillis are reportedly out, and Beanie Wells is a game-time decision, an iffy one if that.
That leaves the News Team with little to work with. C.J. Spiller and Pierre Thomas may have to carry the rock for the News Team, which could be a serious problem.
To make matters worse, Aaron Rodgers is going up against Chicago, which isn't a good matchup for him.
He had only two TDs passes in three games against the Bears last season. The Bears defense hasn't been that great against the pass this season, so it's hard to believe that they'll hold him down today, but still, the history doesn't look so great.
If he does throw a TD, the Generals will hope it goes to his boy Donald Driver, one of five receivers to start Sunday for him. Kenny Britt has been huge, posting 100-yards games and three TDs to start the season. He's not in jail today, so he'll probably pass go and make it to the end zone again.
So will LeSean McCoy who has been worthy of the draft pick swap he did in the offseason to make McCoy his keeper (28 and 24 points).
Joe Flacco also will throw for a pair of scores against the Rams, so I'm going go with the Generals here in a squeaker. A game that may win that silly GMC award that ESPN has on the frontpage.
Jammers' Prediction: Generals 121, News Team 119
Team Boyer (2-0) at Real Houserville (1-1)
Series History: Boyer leads 2-1.
Ooh wee, what a QB matchup we have here. The No. 1-ranked fantasy QB, Tom Brady, vs. the No. 2-ranked QB, Cam Newton.
… Really? Can we believe this?
As amazing as it is, it's true. Brady has 92.1 points and Newton has 79.6 points after two weeks.
Houserville is 1-1 heading into this matchup against the undefeated Boyer, but he would be 2-0 if he could have predicted Newton's early-season explosion.
Now that he has two straight big games in his belt, Houserville is going with Newton. Sorry Big Ben. Enjoy the bench. And he may stay there for a bit. Against the Jaguars, I don't think Newton is going to be stopped. I'm going to predict that he won't score his eye-popping 36 or 42 points, but I think he'll get to 25 or 30 which will be enough to justify the start.
The only problem I could see is the linebacking corps of Jacksonville keeping his running game in check, but I still think he'll hit Steve Smith for a big play or two.
That all sounds great, but the issue could be that Brady should outscore him greatly. … Notice I wrote, "Should."
Brady is at Buffalo in a game that is expected to be the shootout of the week. Many times when a shootout is expected, we get a 24-21 kind of game. So, I'm going go with that and say Brady won't be Superman this week. Maybe just 25-30 points, you know, Cam Newton range.
Hold on, I need to absorb that statement. Now I just feel like I'm writing fiction.
A key part of this matchup will be Boyer's RBs. With Michael Turner, LeGarrette Blount and Willis McGahee in the backfield, I think they should get 60 or more points, but if they don't do that, he's in trouble because Dez Bryant is questionable still and Antonio Gates is ruled out for Sunday's game already. (Can Gates ever stay healthy? So good when he plays, yet he never plays.)
That is why a TE like Houserville's Rob Gronkowski is the guy you want to have. He has as many TDs at Kenny Britt and Houserville would love to steal some points away from Brady this week.
Add in TD catches for Anquan Boldin, Nate Burleson and Mike Wallace — plus another big day from Darren McFadden — and Cam Newton's team will take down the mighty Brady, handing Boyer his first loss.
Jammers' Prediction: Houserville 135, Boyer 123
Fear and Loathing (1-1) at World of Noise (0-2)
Series History: Fear leads 7-3.
Can things get any worse for these two squads?
They came in with so much promise and after two weeks, they have fallen flat on their face.
Fear lost his star back last week in Jamaal Charles and then had Vick leave the game early, preventing him the chance of moving to 2-0.
Noise hasn't won a matchup yet and has a team that was good in 2008. Jay Cutler, Plaxico Burress, LaDainian Tomlinson are all in the lineup today and that means trouble. Jonathan Stewart also is there, and he's had 13 carries for 31 yards in two weeks. The only guy that has been consistent is Andre Johnson.
Jay Cutler is starting this week against Green Bay, and that's probably the better start over Sam Bradford against Baltimore.
Put it this way, Fear should easily win this matchup.
Vick is back, and Rashard Mendenhall and Cedric Benson are still good options at running back. Maybe Ocho will get involved in the passing game today, and Mike Williams has to score more than the negative-0.2 points he scored last week.
So, Fear will get his eighth franchise win over the Noise and move to 2-1 to keep his share of the division lead.
Jammers' Prediction: Fear 103, Noise 88
Chinese Organ Thieves (0-2) at Jawz Attack (0-2)
Series History: Organ Thieves lead 1-0.
Well, someone has to win, right?
The 2011 season has not started out the way these two pictured it would. The Thieves are coming off of a division title and now finds himself down two games to division opponents. Jawz also is down two games after two divisional losses, so this week is a big week for these two. It's the first step in getting back on track.
And for both teams, falling to 0-2 has been a little on the unfair side for them. The Thieves should be 1-1 after scoring 155 points last week and losing, and the Jawz Attack has had to deal with 133 points from the Slackers and 160 points from the Jammers.
It's tough to win when you face offenses like that.
So it's fitting that both are predicted to post 145-plus points today.
The loser today may be sitting at 0-3 wondering who the hell made the schedule? (It was me. Send your complaints to jimmyjohnson3434@yahoo.com.)
With all the great matchups, I'm not going to break this down completely, but rather, point out the few players who I think will make the difference.
For the Thieves, Adrian Peterson will be key. He's going up against a very tough run defense in the Lions, who have given up just 116 yards all season. Peterson, however, is at home where he is a much better back, so it will be key for the Thieves for A.P. to get into the end zone.
It also will be key for Jeremy Maclin to outscore DeSean Jackson as he did last week. Jackson outscored him in Week 1, so who will do it this week. This could be the decider. Whoever has the more productive Eagle will win this matchup.
Because the Giants fear DeSean Jackson like nothing else, I'm going to assume they're going to blanket him all day. And it's for that reason that Maclin will be the deep threat and he will catch a long TD pass.
Whereas I am going to go with the Thieves to win this, I could see this matchup swinging the Attack's way if Maurice Jones-Drew does what I think he could do. With a rookie QB getting the start, MJD should get a lot of touches against Carolina. A huge day for MJD will flip this matchup, or at least it should.
Jammers' Prediction: Organ Thieves 141, Attack 129
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