Today is going to be the epitome of sports overload.
There are six baseball games that will have a huge impact on
the postseason race and we could have as many as three one-game playoffs
tomorrow just to get into — or avoid — the one-game Wild Card playoff.
I'm going to have NFL Red Zone Channel going and MLB.tv streaming on my iPad and Mac. I may need to stack a few TVs in the living room to really capture the excitement of this Sunday.
It’s going to be an awesome day — so awesome that I’m kind
of bummed that there’s also a full slate of NFL games.
Well, not exactly full. Several teams are on their first
byes and Washington and New York played on Thursday with the Giants going
crazy, helping Jerk and Philly Cheese take big leads heading into Sunday.
I was at a wedding yesterday and slept in a bit today, so
let’s get right to the preview capsules, and let’s start with the two JFL teams
gunning for 4-0, Fear and Loathing and yours truly.
FEAR AND LOATHING
(3-0) at REAL HOUSERVILLE (2-1)
HISTORY:
Houserville leads series 7-6.
LAST MEETING:
Fear won 109.3-84.3 in Week 12 of 2013.
VAUNTED RBs: The
Ville — and probably the rest of the JFL — are tired of hearing about it. Fear
has the best RB duo in the JFL. DeMarco Murray (ranked No. 2) and Le’Veon Bell
(ranked No. 3) have been dominant and they’re a huge reason why Fear is
undefeated. So clearly, Houserville needs these two players — or at least one —
fail to make double-digits. Neither have done it yet this year, and with
favorable matchups this week, I’m not sure Houserville will get his wish this
week.
THAT’S WHAT I WANTED!:
When Houserville drafted Aaron Rodgers, he was looking for a No. 1 QB. He’ll
get to see a No. 1 QB in his fantasy matchup this week, but it’s not Rodgers;
it’s Andrew Luck. Fear should be in line for another big day against the
Titans.
BYE BALL: Montee
Ball is on the bye, but after only 3.8 points last week, I’m not too sure the bye was the
only reason Houserville said bye to his RB. Even if he was playing, he might
find it better to go with Shane Vereen (or Knile Davis, if he gets the start
Monday night). Both play on Monday, so he can make a game-time decision then.
GOTTA GET THE POINTS:
Fear is the highest scoring team in the JFL, so when you face the best, you
need your best to have a huge week. Houserville’s best is Julio Jones. He needs
another 31.9 points from Jones like he scored last week. Hell, he may need more
after DeSean Jackson dropped a 1.1 point bomb on Thursday.
JIMMY JAMMERS (3-0)
at CHOO BIG TEEDEES (1-2)
HISTORY: First
meeting.
POND HOPPING:
Darren McFadden should have scored double-digits last week, and the Raiders and
Patriots should have went to overtime. Review shows that it was a phantom
penalty call that called back his 3-yard TD run at the end of the game. So,
this week, he gets the chance to redeem himself with a game against the
30th-ranked run defense, the Dolphins in England.
BYE EVERYONE:
There aren’t many options for either team. The TeeDees are missing Demaryius
Thomas, Zac Stacy, the Seahawks defense and newly acquired Percy Harvin. The
Jammers are missing Terrance West, Tavon Austin and Andy Dalton. It’s not as
bad on the Jammers side, but Harry Douglas’ questionable status leaves no other
options if he’s out for his 4:25 game.
COME ON, GUYS!:
Matthew Stafford. Colin Kaepernick. You have to be better than that. Last week,
Stafford led the Lions to victory, but it was ugly — real ugly — fantasy-wise.
Kaepernick, who has consistently scored around 23 points, hasn’t had that great
of a time in real life. Both have some really great matchups this week, so this
matchup could come down to the QBs. If one of these guys outscores the other by
20, watch out.
WORLD OF NOISE (2-1)
at SHARK ATTACK (1-2)
HISTORY: Noise
leads series 3-1.
LAST MEETING:
Noise won 86.5-68.5 in Week 8 of 2013.
UNCLE V. NEPHEW:
No, it’s not a controversial court case that schools are pressured not to teach
you in public schools. It’s Uncle Jason vs. his nephew Craig Johnson. Craig
looks up to Uncle Jay. He’s a Michigan fan because Uncle Jay is. … OK, I guess
that’s where the similarities end. Noise will look to silence the Attack for a
four time in franchise history.
SIT DOWN, BUSH:
Reggie Bush is on the bench? I guess after seeing what the Jets defense did to
Matt Forte, that’s a good call; but then again, going with Chris Ivory — who
has been consistent — against the Lions defense isn’t much better. I’d
personally go with the home-run threat in Bush, but I’m not the Noise. I never
would have started Ivory in recent weeks, and that move has led to wins. I
guess I can’t judge him at this point.
THE OLD AND THE NEW:
The old Carolina WR sensation has rejuvenated his career in Baltimore, scoring
double-digits in two of three weeks, and being productive in all three games.
Now, he’s going up against his old team and I’m sure the Noise is hoping he
gets a huge game out of his boy Steve Smith Sr., who has to be itching for a
chance at making Carolina realize what they let go. On the other side, the
Attack have the new Carolina WR sensation in Kelvin Benjamin, who has had two
big weeks, including eight catches for 115 yards and a TD last week (19.1
points). It all came on the Attack bench and with the way he is now playing, he
won’t make that fantasy mistake again.
SUNDAY SLACKERS (1-2)
at JERKIN’ MY KIRK HERBSTREIT (1-2)
HISTORY: First
meeting.
SADSKINS: This
has been a bad week for the Sunday Slackers. First, his Washington Football
Team — yes, I’m done using the mascot name, too — got double-slammed by
Comedy Central with a South Park episode solely devoted to the absolute
hypocrisy surrounding the team’s name, as well as a Daily Show report that
pushed the same exact point. Then, to make matters worse, his team goes out and
blows up on national TV, getting routed by the Giants. And even worse than
that, Eli throws four TD passes and scored 44.1 points to give the Jerk a
52.7-15.6 edge heading into Sunday. Ouch.
COMEBACK IMPOSSIBLE?:
Eli Manning put up 44.1 points? So what. That’s Parker’s likely response. Drew
Brees is at Dallas in what should be a shootout (again, we all know what
happens in “Should-be-shootout games). It’s on Sunday night which means there’s
a good chance for big points for Brees. He loves primetime, especially
prime-time comebacks. By the time the SNF game roles around, Parker should
still be losing with four players going. He’s got a lot of guys in this game
and he absolutely needs a shootout. He needs TD passes to go to Pierre Thomas
and Kenny Stills. Jerk has Marques Colston and he, of course, wants any Brees
TDs to go to him. … But we all know what will really happen. Jimmy Graham will
catch three TDs. I say if Torrey Smith scores double digits in the afternoon,
we’ll see a Parker comeback at night.
WILL THE REAL FORTE
PLEASE STAND UP: This is not what the Jerk wanted when he drafted Matt
Forte. To think, I was between LeSean McCoy, Jimmy Graham and Matt Forte as
first-round picks. Of course, McCoy went high, but man, who would have thought
that Graham would be the best out of the three. Forte has scored 18.5, 4.6 and
8.8 points in the first three weeks, and he has yet to score a TD in 2014. That
needs to change fast for the Jerk.
DOTTSVILLE TOASTERS
(2-1) at CHALUPA BATMAN (1-2)
HISTORY: First
meeting.
MEGATRON GOING:
The Tron was questionable for today’s game, but he’s active and ready to go. As
a home-run threat, that makes all the difference in a matchup like this.
FLORIDA CONTINGENT:
The Florida players Doug Martin, Toby Gerhart, Vincent Jackson and Austin
Seferian-Jenkins are all dealing with injuries, but they’re probable for
today’s games. The Batman will need them to really need them to play well, but
maybe the best player in a Florida game will be the one playing a Florida team in
San Diego. Philip Rivers has the Jags on the docket and that should be a
prescription for an easy 35 points.
OUT TO SEA: The
Seahawks are on the bye and that kills the Batman who will go without the
services of Marshawn Lynch, but fortunately for him, the Toasters are also
affected in that Alex Smith must start with Russell Wilson on the bye. After
two really bad weeks to start the year, Smith scored 27.7 points against the
Dolphins last week. Sadly, though, the Patriots’ defense is not the Dolphins.
Monday night will be tough. The only thing on his side will be the fact that
he’s at home. Looking at the matchup, this could turn into yet another Toasters
comeback on Monday night.
T-MONEY (2-1) at
PHILLY CHEESE STEAKS (2-1)
HISTORY: First
meeting.
GOOD FOR ME, NOT FOR
YOU: Thursday night was great for the Cheese Steaks. His tight end Larry
Donnell scored 24.8 points with seven catches for 54 yards and three TDs on
Thursday. It’s a start that you only dream of, getting that many points out of
a waiver-acquired tight end. Meanwhile, T-Money got only 5.4 points out of
Rashad Jennings, this coming after three straight weeks of double-digits. How
Jennings doesn’t rush for more yards in a 45-14 rout of the Sadskins, I don’t
know.
THE WEEKLY ROMO DISH:
Every week we have to talk about him. It’s like we’re a Dallas sports talk
radio station. Last week, Romo scored 24.9 fantasy points and with a matchup
against a Saints defense that has struggled against the pass, T-Money could be
in for a big day.
FOLES IS IN THE SAME
BOAT: The 49ers pass defense hasn’t been that great either, and the bad
news for T-Money is, Nick Foles is the No. 4-ranked QB in fantasy. With
back-to-back-to-back 300-plus yard performances, there’s no reason to think
that he won’t do it again today.
SOPHOMORE HOME RUNS:
Alshon Jeffery, for T-Money, and Cordarrelle Patterson, for the Steaks, are
both home run threats. They have that ability to make the big 50-plus-yard TD
and change a fantasy matchup in one play. I think we’ll see that today from one
of these guys, and I’m going with Patterson. He’ll score a big touchdown that
when all points are added up will be worth about 15 points alone. That will
sway this matchup in favor of the Steaks.
CHANNEL 4 NEWS TEAM
(1-2) at GRAYBILL’S GENERALS (0-3)
HISTORY: News
Team leads series 9-6.
LAST MEETING:
News Team won 149.9-97.8 in Week 13 of 2013.
MUST WIN?: It’s
hard to say “must win” in Week 4, but man, both of these guys want this one
badly. The Generals are the only winless team in the JFL, while the News Team
avoided 0-3 with his first win last week. The Generals certainly do not want to
fall any farther behind. At 0-4, you know its going to take at least seven wins
to get in the playoffs, which means you’d have to go 7-2 the rest of the way.
That’s a daunting task.
KIRK!: Scream
that like Kirk (or Spock) screamed “Kahn!” That’s how the News Team reacted
after his fourth interception and fifth turnover of the game Thursday night.
His new QB scored 14.7 points, which means Geno Smith can make the News Team
look foolish on Sunday.
PERFECT WEEK: After
Cousins went for a measly 14.7 points, the door opened for the Generals. The
News Team are without several key players now with Giovani Bernard on the bye
and Percy Harvin (who would have been on the bye anyway) traded in the Cousins
deal. That leaves it up to a probable Jamaal Charles for the News Team. It’s
the perfect week for the Generals to face his division rival. He already got 12
points from Victor Cruz and if he can get great days out of his
under-performing RBs, he may finally get the win. Cam Newton also will play a
huge factor. Outscoring the opponents QB by 15 to 20 points can make a huge
difference, and Newton has the chance to do that today thanks to Cousins’ poor
game. However, Newton hasn’t shown us that he’s capable of putting up a big
fantasy day yet. This matchup will certainly come down to Charles on Monday
night, and I think the Generals will sweat it out until the very end.
CHINESE ORGAN THIEVES
(2-1) at TEAM BOYER (1-2)
HISTORY: Thieves
lead series 8-3.
LAST MEETING: Thieves
won 126.8-100.7 in Week 10 of 2013.
SPEAKING OF PERFECT
WEEKS: Man, if there was ever a week to play your division rival, it’s the
one when Peyton Manning, Emmanuel Sanders and Julius Thomas are on the bye.
That’s, as we have stated, about 55 points out of the lineup. So, who is in?
Big Ben, Stevie Johnson and Garrett Graham. That’s a huge drop, but their
matchups are all favorable and it’s not a lock for Team Boyer, especially with
the way Tom Brady has played. He goes on Monday night and this matchup will be
won or lost on that night.
FAVORABLE MATCHUPS: The
Thieves replacements are not the only ones with favorable matchups. C.J.
Spiller, Mike Wallace, Andre Johnson and Antonio Gates all have great matchups,
too, and the key will be TDs this week. I think if three of those four get in,
Monday night will just be a matter of adding to a margin of victory. But all of
those guys are up-and-down kind of players. They can easily score 20 points one
week, and four the next. I think he’ll get just enough to make Tom Brady
actually have to score 20 fantasy points to win this matchup — something Brady
has yet to do in three games this year.
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