Fantasy football takes skill.And, then, it also takes luck.
And many times, it seems so unfair.
"I hear you, brother," says Slackers, who lost by 4 yards.
That's right, just 4 yards.
"Can I catch a break," says Jawz Attack, who was in the top five in scoring again this week, and lost again.
It's a cruel sport sometimes. Trust me, I know. In the other league I compete in. … Let me rephrase that. There's no competing going on for me. In the other league that I have a roster that I set weekly, I drafted Carson Palmer late just hoping, praying for a miracle.
Well, after five and half weeks, I decided that the miracle wasn't coming, so I dropped him for Curtis Painter because I needed a QB.
Of course, Palmer is now a Raider and I could really use him, but I'm fifth in the waiver order because it resets itself each week and I'm just bad enough to need him but not bad enough to get him.
Ah, fantasy football. Got to love it.
And right now, there's six teams loving it, sitting pretty at 4-2. Two other teams are at .500 and that means there are a lot of teams in the hunt right now.
Here's how we got six 4-2 teams.
Fear and Loathing 106.5, Sunday Slackers 105.9
This is why the Slackers should have run to the bank, took out a small loan and gave Matt Forte the contract extension he wants badly.
Maybe, just maybe, that would have helped him rush for five more yards.
That's all Parker needed to capture the best record in the JFL this season. It also would have matched his franchise-best start of 5-1 in 2009.
Things went wrong during the 4 p.m. games for the Slackers after Felix Jones left the game early following an injury. That left the Slackers with just 3.7 points from Jones. This after Santana Moss had just 4.2 and Jermichael Finley had 2.2 — all while Jordy Nelson had 18.8 on the bench.
It also didn't help that on fourth-and-2 on the Tampa Bay 4, Drew Brees threw his third pick of the game. The other two picks didn't matter as much as the third one was unnecessary. With it being fourth down, defenders are told to just knock it down, but it was picked anyway.
Two points taken away. Two points that were desperately needed as it would become clear later that evening.
For Fear, it was all about Michael Vick and Rashard Mendenhall, who combined for 42.5 points. Mendenhall had his first 100-yard rushing day, and he added a score to give Fear a boost.
And he needs it because inconsistent play and injuries have been an issue for Fear. Still, at 4-2, he'll take it.
Real Houserville 104.5, Jimmy Jammers 97.7
I wish Brandon Marshall would have gotten himself kicked out in the second quarter.
That would have saved me a night of watching football, having to cheer for a guy named Matt Moore who is more frustrating than Andy Reid in the final two minutes of a half.
It also would have saved me from having to watch Marshall drop two easy TDs on two different drives. That would have been the points needed to beat Houserville.
The Dolphins even had the ball with four minutes left as the Jammers trailed by just three points. All that was needed was 40 yards or a TD to win it, and Matt Moore threw a pick on the second play. Shonn Greene, then pushed his fantasy points up to 7.9 with 35 yards on the ensuing drive.
Of course, when the Dolphins got it back with 1:49 left, there was Moore throwing incomplete passes and getting sacked. This guy, earlier in the game, actually ran a bootleg right out of bounds for a 7-yard loss. I guess it never dawned upon him to just throw the damn ball away.
Houserville made all the right moves, sticking with Cam Newton, who outscored Big Ben again, and scored just enough to move Houserville to 4-2. Double-digits from Darren McFadden, Mike Wallace, Anquan Boldin and Aaron Hernandez also helped.
Chinese Organ Thieves 119.8, Dottsville Toasters 84.3
Don't look now, but the Thieves have won two in a row — and he did it without Philip Rivers. We looked at this week in the season preview when I discussed how he'd have the choice of Ryan Fitzpatrick and Mark Sanchez, and his choice of Fitzpatrick was the right choice. I said back then that he was the better of the two, and that has held true — only by two points this week, but it counts.
And those two points would not have made a difference.
Calvin Johnson was held without a TD for the first time this season and the RB tandem of Kendall Hunter and James Starks were busts this week. So was Owen Daniels who had just 1.7 points.
There really wasn't anything special for this matchups. Just a bunch of average performances and not much for me to really break down.
It is worth noting that the Toasters will likely lose Jahvid Best for a bit after suffering another concussion.
T-Money 140.1, Jawz Attack 124.1
Again, the Jammers to the rescue here. A late Facebook post to change the roster helped T-Money win this one. He had Jason Campbell in the lineup and nobody at No. 2 WR, and after a roster change, Tony Romo and Torrey Smith made it into the lineup — a 31-point swing.
You're welcome.
For Uncle Jason, I'm sorry.
Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, and not because you're my uncle, but rather, because you've been the unluckiest team in the JFL this season.
More than 800 points allowed, a stat you can't control, is rough, especially when you're ranked third in scoring.
That's where Jawz stands. No. 3 in scoring, No. 11 in points allowed. Thus a 1-5 record.
It's just unfair sometimes.
But it means that if any team is primed to pick up some wins over the final seven weeks, it's Jawz.
A seven-game winning streak is unlikely — a very hard feat to accomplish in the JFL — but Jawz is in a situation where winning at least six of the final seven is necessary to make the playoffs. With four 4-2 teams in the conference, he's already three games behind four teams — and only three of those teams can make the playoffs.
Insert Jim Mora rant right here. "Playoffs?"
Jawz is just trying to win a game.
For the second Monday night in a row, he thought he may have it, but again, a MNF comeback was had. Santonio Holmes and Dustin Keller combined for 18 potions to put T-Money in front.
It wasn't as painful as the 40-some points the Toasters scored last Monday to beat Jawz.
It wasn't Monday, but Ahmad Bradshaw's performance was just as deflating. Three touchdowns on Sunday to score 31.4 points, added with Frank Gore's 21 really put this one away for T-Money.
If he can get that kind of offense from his RBs for the rest of the season, he can make some noise in the Nittany Conference.
Team Boyer 140.5, Channel 4 News Team 95.4
Aaron Rodgers does it again. Another 310 yards, three TDs and 36 fantasy points.
It's so easy to see why the News Team won again. …
Wait. What's that?
I'm being told they didn't win.
How?
Oh, the rest of this team scored just 59 points, and 26 of that came from the Bengals' defense?
Ouch. That really hurts. And now, after working their way back to .500 after an 0-2 start, the News Team has lost two in a row to fall to 2-4.
This was supposed to be the best squad in the JFL. The News Team should be winning this division and keeping the trophy that he will pick up in a few weeks, but at this juncture, I don't know.
Arian Foster has been nothing like he was last season. Peyton Hillis was actually brought up in trade discussions and has been dealing with illnesses and injuries all year. It's just been a disappointing year so far for the News Team.
On the other side, things are looking good for Boyer. He got a lot of help from the Bears defense (34.5 points) and kicker Billy Cundiff (20 points), while Michael Turner scored two more TDs Sunday and ran for 139 yards.
Boyer is still a little shaky at WR, but who needs WRs when your kicker is scoring 20 points?
Graybill's Generals 125.1, World of Noise 113.6
I think it's official. The Retarded Firetrucks are back. Forget this World of Noise crap. This team resembles the team that went by the name Engine 49. The Little Firetruck That Couldn't.
This week, Mr. Fireman actually scored 113.6 points — Marques Colston had one of his three good games a season and Noise won the game "Start the Right Jones" getting 14.4 points from Jacoby Jones.
Still, it wasn't enough as the Generals continue to shock the JFL world with his 4-2 record and two-game lead in the tough Nittany South. The Jets defense was key this week, scoring 32.5 points on Monday night to seal the win.
It also helped that LeSean McCoy had his fourth 20-point performance and sixth double-digit. LeSean McCoy is ranked No. 2 in fantasy — only Fred Jackson has been better — and the offseason trade from the Thieves is looking like a steal for the Generals.
Like Boyer, the Generals' WRs are shaky, but at this point, who cares. The backs are taking care of business.
That and David Akers. Take that World of Noise. Shunning the prized Akers for the new Eagles kicker wouldn't have turned around this matchup, but Akers has three 50-yard kicks this season. Makes you wonder what the Eagles could have if they still had him — and of course, that would mean the Noise would have him.
Oh, and one last comment for Week 6.
Anyone else shocked that Jason Avant wasn't scooped up by the Noise after 139 yards in Week 5?
Comments