Hello, Week 11. Very nice for you to finally get here.Why am I so happy to see Week 11?
I'll tell you why. It's what college football typically terms separation Saturday. This week, the teams that want to win divisions step up.
Two divisional matchups feature the first- and second-place teams, while T-Money and Toasters both play with the chance to take over first place if Boyer loses as only a half-game separates the three teams in the Nittany North.
The Jammers and Slackers play in the matchup of the week, a matchup we could see again in the playoffs as both teams clinched berths last week. The Jammers can clinch a division title with a win. Fear and Loathing can do the same thing if he defeats World of Noise and Houserville loses or ties.
The other divisional matchup features the Graybill's Generals and the Channel 4 News Team, who are tied for first in the Nittany South.
It should be a great Sunday of football. Unfortunately, I will be covering the Patriot League volleyball championships in Washington, D.C., so I'm hoping for a 3-0 sweep and a quick return to my rental car where I will immediately turn on my Sirius Radio and drive three hours home listening to Matt Ryan throw more TDs than Matt Hasselbeck (I hope).
Jimmy Jammers (8-2) at Sunday Slackers (7-3)
Series History: Jammers leads 6-1.
Playoff Scenarios: Both have clinched playoff berths. The Jammers can clinch the division and No. 1 seed with a win. The Slackers can only move into a tie for first place with a win.
This is where planning in August comes into play. You have to look at your bye weeks and your schedule be sure you will be ready.
The Slackers knew that the Saints had the late bye week and he drafted Donovan McNabb.
Well, that didn't work out.
So he added Andy Dalton and Matt Hasselbeck as the season went on and now he's left with the decision, who to start for Brees in quite possibly the biggest matchup in the Slackers' franchise history.
That's right. It's that big. To key his rival from winning a division title in Week 11 means a lot. Plus, it gives him a chance to end the Jammers' run of division titles. With a win, it could come down to points if the two finish with the same record at 10-3. Both would have the same division record, a split decision in the season series, tied in conference record and separated by about 70 in points.
Now, do you see why it's so big?
The Slackers made the decision to go with Matt Hasselbeck, which means there should be an interesting battle at 4:15 p.m. Sunday. The Jammers' Matt Ryan will be going up against Hasselbeck as the Falcons play the Titans. Both are similar in fantasy rank and both have decent matchups as their defenses have been giving up passing yards.
Ryan, who is ranked 12th in the JFL has come on strong of late, will be a key factor in this matchup, especially if he can connect with Julio Jones — if he plays. Hasselbeck is ranked 13th, but has had just one big week — against the Cleveland Browns.
Another interesting matchup lies in the Packer receivers as the Jammers will send out Greg Jennings and the Slackers will use Jordy Nelson and Jermichael Finley. Garnering Aaron Rodgers' attention has never been more important for these two fantasy owners.
But the biggest thing to watch this week will be the running backs. We all know what Ray Rice and Matt Forte have done. This week works out nicely for the Slackers as the Ravens are coming off a tough loss on the road where they were criticized for throwing too much.
So what do you think the Ravens are going to do at home against the Bengals? That's right. Run, run and run some more. Rice is projected to get 18 points, but I think that is grossly underestimating what he's going to do. I feel a 30-point week coming for Rice.
And then there's Matt Forte who benefited from the offense being criticized for throwing too much earlier in the season, and since then, he's had double-digits every week. This week should be nothing different for Forte, especially against a weak San Diego defense.
On the other side, teams have struggled running against the Bears, so it will be unlikely that the Jammers with Ryan Mathews will find much success in the run game. So, points will be limited. Heck, it may even be worth it to start Daniel Thomas and have both Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas going, because Mathews has been disappointing recently and there's no guarantee that Tolbert would steal touches and TDs.
Either way, the Jammers is at a clear disadvantage at RB.
I see this matchup being close, but in the end, I see Rice and Forte making the difference.
Jammers' Prediction: Slackers 128, Jammers 122
Channel 4 News Team (6-4) at Graybill's Generals (6-4)
Series History: Series tied 5-5.
Playoff Scenarios: Neither team can clinch a playoff spot this week. The winner will need another win in Week 12 to do so.
After the News Team scored nearly 320 points in the last two weeks, the Generals has to be a bit worried heading into this matchup.
But there is good news. Arian Foster is on the bye week.
The bad news. Aaron Rodgers is not — and he's going up against the hapless Bucs. Ah, it's nostalgic to say something like that. It's been a while since we could describe the Bucs as hapless, but that's what they are, and Rodgers will take advantage of them. Probably for 40 points. And, that's a low estimate.
I think this matchup will be rather close heading into Monday night when the News Team's Danny Woodhead goes up against the Generals Steve Breaston. In all likelihood, News Team will have a lead at that point because I like Victor Cruz, Vincent Jackson and Tony Gonzalez this week to get double-digits. I didn't include Denarius Moore because I like him for another 20-plus-point week.
Jammers' Prediction:Channel 4 News Team 131, Generals 120
Dottsville Toasters (5-5) at T-Money (5-5)
Series History: T-Money leads 6-5.
Playoff Scenarios: Neither team can clinch a playoff berth but a loss for T-Money would greatly hurt his playoffs chances because he will not own the tiebreaker against the Toasters, Channel 4 News Team and the Graybill's Generals.
Thursday was a rather disappointing night for the two of these playoff hungry teams. This matchup is huge considering one of the two teams could be in first place after the weekend if Team Boyer losses.
The Toasters got a big zero out of Denver's Eric Decker Thursday night, which is what most Denver WRs get if they're not getting handoffs. Decker had double-digits last week, but that was because he caught a 56-yard TD pass. One catch. That's it. This week, it was less, and that's why it's dangerous to go with any receiver that Tim Tebow will try to complete a pass to.
The same could be said for Mark Sanchez targets. Santonio Holmes only scored 4.7 points for T-Money, so it wasn't all that bad for the Toasters. He only has to make up 4.7 points.
The bad news is, he's going to have to make up some more points at QB. With Matt Schaub done for the season, the Colt McCoy era begins in Dottsville, and against Tony Romo, I'm not sure how much success he'll have fantasy-wise.
I see Romo having a huge week — yeah, can you believe that; a late-season big game by Romo — because the Cowboys have found a reliable every-down back in DeMarco Murray and their offensive line has come together to protect their QB. Romo hasn't been sacked since Week 8. Not taking any sacks in the last two weeks has allowed him to scored great fantasy points. More importantly, he's had no turnovers.
Where T-Money has to worry is at RB where Frank Gore was a waste last week, getting just one point before leaving the game with an injury. Backup Kendall Hunter came in and ran for 40 yards and a TD in his stead.
It just so happens that the Toasters have Hunter on his squad and he will be starting him, hoping that Gore is limited. That would be a huge help for the Toasters. It will also be huge if Chris Johnson can manage a second straight 100-yard rushing week. Last week, he got 27 carries and went above 100 yards for just the second time this season. The Toasters also will need Calvin Johnson to get back on track.
If both Chris and Calvin can reach 20 points, I have to think the Toasters will get enough help to win this matchup, but because I cannot trust Chris Johnson and because I really like Romo this week, I'm going to go with the home team — just by a few.
Jammers' Prediction: T-Money 120.4, Toasters 119.3
World of Noise (1-9) at Fear and Loathing (6-4)
Series History: Fear leads 7-4.
Playoff Scenarios: Fear and Loathing can clinched a playoff spot as well as the division with a win. A loss gives Houserville hope.
So, after reading the playoff scenario, it seems that Fear and Loathing is a lock to win the division now. All he has to do is beat World of Noise. How hard is that?
Well, I guess for Fear, it's a bit harder, considering of the 10 games Noise has played, only one win has come and that was against Fear and Loathing.
Avenging that loss was a little scary early Thursday, but Tim Tebow had the drive of drives this season to lead the Broncos to a win and give Fear 17.8 points. It's not ideal, but it's better than what Vick will get now that he's been ruled out for Sunday's game. That's why Fear had to make the move to Tebow.
Now he needs to get a big day out of DeMarco Murray, which shouldn't be hard. I think he'll continue to get the touches, despite the return of Felix Jones. Murray has the organization's support and will be seeing the bulk of the carries.
Noise can't say that about any of his backs.
Even though his backs aren't in the greatest shape to score fantasy points, Noise actually has a chance because of Jay Cutler, who has had some big games this year. He's also had some really bad games, like last week's 5.8-point performance and Week 4's 4.2-point day. But against the crappy Chargers, Cutler should have a big day. Most other QBs do.
A big game will certainly give Noise a chance because this is going to be a low-scoring fantasy matchup.
Still, I have to be smart and go with the better team, and that's Fear. Murray scores 30 points, and the Packers defense and Brandon Lloyd have decent games to give Fear the division title, his first since 2008.
Jammers' Prediction: Fear and Loathing 101, World of Noise 89
Jawz Attack (3-7) at Team Boyer (5-4-1)
Series History: Boyer leads 1-0.
Playoff Scenarios: Jawz is eliminated. Boyer cannot clinch a berth, but a win will keep him in first place. He's guaranteed to fall out of first place with a loss.
It's spoiler time for Jawz Attack, and that's a shame.
The reigning champion Nick Nikish sat next to Jawz Attack last weekend and said, "You have a good team."
He wasn't just being nice. The Attack has a pretty damn good team, and if he were in the Nittany North, he'd probably be 6-4 or 7-3 right now.
But he's not.
Still, I like him to fulfill his role as the spoiler this week as I like Carson Palmer, MJD, Fred Jackson, Roddy White…. OK I'm going to stop listing. I like his entire lineup this week.
Whereas I can see good days for Tom Brady, Michael Turner and Dez Bryant. Outside of that, I think Marshawn Lynch should get low double-digits, but Antonio Gates is a liability with his injury and Steve Johnson is potentially going to miss the game.
That's why I'll give the edge to Jawz.
Jammers' Prediction: Jawz Attack 145, Team Boyer 130
Chinese Organ Thieves (3-6-1) at Real Houserville (4-6)
Series History: Houserville leads 3-0.
Playoff Scenarios: Playoffs?!? Playoffs?!? Hell, these two teams are just trying to win a damn game. Hello? You play to win the game.
Lose and you're eliminated.
Win, and well, you still may be eliminated.
That's what these two squads are dealing with now. At this point, both teams need a lot of help to make the playoffs, but winning is the only thing that is going to allow that help to actually matter.
The biggest part of this matchup will be the QBs. Philip Rivers has been a bit of a mystery this season, and Cam Newton was solved last week. Detroit should cause him issues, and Chicago should make it tough for Rivers.
So, I'm going to leave this matchup down to who gets the better QB play.
To me, I think it should be Rivers, but I can't help but think about how Newton rushing the ball will factor in. And for that reason, I'll give Newton the 30-point week. I'll also give Michael Bush another 20-plus-point week. And that should be enough to overcome Shonn Greene's poor performance.
Jammers' Prediction: Houserville 124, Thieves 113
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