For as upset as I was last week, I have to be happy about this weekend's slate of football games.Unfortunately, I'll be on the road covering Patriot League Championships, but I should be in the car and drive home during the 4 p.m. games and home in time for the big Steelers-Ravens game.
That game was a lopsided decision in favor of the Ravens last time, and I guarantee that it will be nowhere near the blowout it was last time. It may not be the low-scoring battle that has happened in the past, though. I have a feeling this could be a nice little shootout.
Then of course, I'll be home for the big Eagles-Bears game on Monday night which should be a lot of fun to watch.
Other games that I will enjoy listening to on the radio will be the Packers-Chargers, Bucs-Saints and Bills-Jets.
The Bills-Jets game to me is only going to be good because I think the Bills are going to rout those awful Jets. I've said it all year. This Jets team is no good, and I can't wait to see the Bills dispose of them.
In our own league, we have a few big matchups that will be fun to watch this week. The top two in the Nittany North and the Patriot Division will be going up against each other this Sunday. The first-place Jammers will play second-place Boyer and second-place Slackers will play the first-place Toasters.
Another interesting matchup pits the tough-to-beat News Team, even when Aaron Rodgers is out, and Real Houserville. Both squads are 4-4 and a game out of first place in their respective divisions, so a lot is on the line this week for them.
This weekend features a lot of key inactive players, some still not announced but will be soon, and that will mean there should be some surprise performances that will affect matchups.
Jimmy Jammers (6-2) at Team Boyer (4-3-1)
Series History: Jammers leads 5-1.
It's not a good week to play Boyer.
The backs are back.
Michael Turner returns from the bye week and LeGarette Blount returns from injury.
Turner is going up against an awful Colts defense, while Blount gets a crack at the Saints defense that gave up more than 150 yards to Steven Jackson last week.
Both should get a good amount of yards and fantasy points this weekend.
The Jammers, who will be without Matt Stafford this week, will go with Matt Ryan and that means Ryan will have to take points away from Turner. The Jammers is rooting for a passing game.
And that will have to happen early because it is very unlikely that this game will turn into a shootout. So early fantasy points from Ryan will be key, because as soon as the Falcons take a big enough lead, it's just going to be a heavy dose of Turner.
If that doesn't work, the only way the Jammers can make up the points is at WR, where Boyer is at the disadvantage. Dez Bryant is the most talented wideout, but he's been inconsistent, and Steven Johnson has the chance to have a good day, but he'll likely be going up against Darrelle Revis, and my boy from Pitt should shut him down.
The other key matchup in this game will be Darren Sproles against the Bucs. The Jammers has gotten a lot of great production from Sproles this season, and it should continue this week with Mark Ingram down.
It's going to be close, but I'm going to lean toward Turner getting his points.
Jammers' Prediction Boyer 131, Jammers 126
Sunday Slackers (5-3) at Dottsville Toasters (5-3)
Series History: Toasters leads 2-1.
I'd like to say that this matchup will come down to the Sunday night game because they both have the defenses going in that game, but I just can't with the lack of productivity from the running backs.
I imagine that Kendall Hunter will be replaced by James Starks, but who knows. Both are shots in the dark.
Kind of like Chris Johnson.
Wait, what am I saying? He's not a shot in the dark. We know what he's going to do. Nothing.
But the fact that he could do something ridiculous is why the Toasters has to keep starting him.
This has to be one of the most frustrating things in fantasy football.
Trust me, I know. In a way, I deal with the same thing each week when I start Larry Fitzgerald. I know Kevin Kolb is absolutely awful and his chances of getting Fitz the ball for big fantasy points are slim, but the fact that he could at any time go nuts leaves him in the lineup.
That's what Johnson is. A huge threat. But he's been a huge disappointment.
The only way I see the Toasters winning this matchup is if he gets a huge day from him, because someone has to pick up the slack with Calvin Johnson on the bye.
That's right. Mr. 20 points is on the bye. Let's hear Dawson complain about that. Calvin on the bye is like the other team having at least a 10-point home-field advantage.
I do think the Slackers' big RBs — Ray Rice and Matt Forte — will be limited in points, and by that, I mean they are not going to have big 20-point days. I think Rice will be bottled up for about 90 total yards (50 rushing, 40 receiving) and Forte will get close to 100 and possibly a TD, but still, it's not the big fantasy days that have given the Slackers five wins.
But even with that, he'll still pull out the win.
Jammers' Prediction Slackers 125, Toasters 112
Real Houserville (4-4) at Channel 4 News Team (4-4)
Series History: News Team leads 3-0.
Houserville is in a bit of trouble this week.
The News Team is primed and ready to put on a clinic this weekend, and Houserville is going without Darren McFadden.
I do think replacement Michael Bush will fill in nicely, but I cannot see him getting enough points to make up for the kind of days Aaron Rodgers, Arian Foster, Miles Austin and Victor Cruz will have.
Beanie Wells also has the potential if he can play Sunday. He's questionable, but he'll try to play. Unlike Peyton Hillis, who when he has a question, immediately decides he's out — that, or his agent does.
Can you believe how far he has fallen? I heard many people in the preseason say — and I was in agreement — that Hillis was going to take a step back this season. We all saw him fade down the stretch last season and then, of course, he was selected to be on the cover on Madden 12.
Yes, the curse strikes again.
This continues to get more interesting each year.
I think the News Team is going to have to worry a bit this offseason. Aaron Rodgers has to be on the Madden franchise's radar. And if the Packers win another Super Bowl, which looks very promising at this point, he'll be heavily pursued for the cover.
So, News Team, you need to start sending letters, emails, Tweets, care packages, whatever you can give him, to keep him from doing this.
On my blog, I begged Tomlinson in 2007 to not be on the Madden cover and fortunately he didn't.
Perhaps start a blog?
That, or win another Super Bowl before it's too late.
A win over Houserville will get the News Team over the hump after starting 2-4. It will be his third straight win and depending on the Generals performance Sunday, this could put him in a tie for first place, where we all thought he would be at the start of the season.
For Houserville, it will be the complete opposite. It will be a third straight loss and it could push him two games behind Fear.
The Ville does have a chance in the matchup because I personally believe Big Ben is going to have a big day, but I feel like points will be tough to find from Shonn Greene, Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin this week.
Jammers' Prediction News Team 142, Houserville 130
Fear and Loathing (5-3) at Chinese Organ Thieves (2-5-1)
Series History: Organ Thieves leads 4-1.
Fear and Loathing has made some interesting choices for Sunday.
Mendenhall, benched.
DeMarco Murray, benched.
Jackie Battle, benched.
Who's in at RB? Kevin Faulk and Cedric Benson.
Benson makes some sense, but I'm not so sure about Faulk. He's fresh off the PUP list and caught five passes and ran six times for 6.2 fantasy points last week. Against the Giants in what should be a back-and-forth contest, he could see a good amount of touches, but at this point, it's hard to count on him fantasy-wise.
Then again, Fear is the king of the waiver wire, so that means Faulk will score 20 fantasy points this week. Another one of his waiver-wire gems, Michael Vick, will have a huge night Monday, completing this victory for Fear. The Thieves have Jeremy Maclin going that night, but by then, Fear should have a good enough lead to just pad it and remain in first place.
Jammers' Prediction Fear and Loathing 129, Organ Thieves 110
Graybill's Generals (5-3) at Jawz Attack (3-5)
Series History: Generals leads 1-0.
It's the battle of the best running backs in fantasy football — Generals' No. 1-ranked LeSean McCoy and Jawz' No. 3-ranked Fred Jackson.
McCoy, as we all know, was an offseason trade acquisition.
Jackson was a fourth-round draft pick, 56th overall. Take this time to kick yourself. Fred Jackson had another 20 points last week, his fifth 20-point outing of 2011. He ran for 120 yards and caught three passes for 74 yards. He's been excellent and he should continue that strong play this week. The yardage may not be as high as it was last week, but a pair of TDs will certainly help him get to 20 points again.
The player Jawz took three rounds ahead of Jackson, Roddy White, hasn't been worthy of the No. 1 pick, but he's got the chance to score his fourth TD of the season Sunday. Maybe even a fifth, too. Against the Colts, I expect Roddy to have a big day. Jimmy Graham, Wes Welker and DeSean Jackson should all be good for decent point totals Sunday.
The Attack's weak spot with be Knowshon Moreno, although, if he can somehow get double-digit touches, I think he'll have a chance to make the loss of Maurice Jones-Drew (on the bye) not that big.
The Generals will run into trouble with his WRs and Steven Jackson. Jackson has been pretty good this season and is coming off of his best outing of the season, but he's got the Cards this week. And that sounds like a good matchup, but Jackson has only scored three TDs in 11 games against the Cards. I'm going with the stats. He'll stay out of the end zone and will fall well short of last week's performance.
Jammers' PredictionJawz Attack 130, Generals 102
T-Money (3-5) at World of Noise (1-7)
Series History: T-Money leads 4-1.
In this week's "Who the heck cares?" matchup, World of Noise faces T-Money.
Let me set the record straight, I'm in no way slamming T-Money. This is all about World of Noise. No matter who he plays, we don't care about the matchup. Chalk it up as a win. And if you happen to lose to this bum squad, shame on you.
I am hoping this matchup comes down to a couple points, though. Not because I want to see T-Money sweat it out, but rather, because I want Plaxico Burress to make the difference.
World of Noise shot himself in the leg the other week when he dropped Burress right before he scored three TDs. Now, he's hoping he doesn't shoot himself in the other leg. … I'm talking about World of Noise, of course.
Jammers' Prediction T-Money 110, Noise 88
Comments