2009 fantasy recap, week #13

Sure, the college football regular season is over. But that’s no reason to dump that oh-so-efficient BCS rating system now; Just think of how great the NFL post-season could be if we got rid of that pesky playoff nonsense. Here’s how the rankings would look with just four weeks left.

8 -- Cincinnati (9-3 record)
Ranks: Computer 5, Writers 9, Coaches 12
If not for the opening day loss to Denver, they’d have one less loss.

7 -- Philadelphia (8-4 record)
Ranks: Computer 10, Writers 6, Coaches 7
They were ranked high in the preseason, so they’re still hanging around.

6 -- Dallas (8-4 record)
Ranks: Computer 9, Writers 9, Coaches 3
Six wins versus sub-.500 teams means they’re a true champion.

5 -- San Diego (9-3 record)
Ranks: Computer 4, Writers 3, Coaches 6
LaDanian Tomlinson is great, just not according to his stats or performance.

4 -- New Orleans (12-0 record)
Ranks: Computer 1, Writers 5, Coaches 5
Ridiculous? The college BCS ranked a 12-0 Boise State team sixth.

3 -- Minnesota (10-2 record)
Ranks: Computer 3, Writers 2, Coaches 4
Drew Brees may be the best QB in the league, but he’s no Brett Favre.

2 -- Indianapolis (12-0 record)
Ranks: Computer 2, Writers 4, Coaches 2
Probably the best team, but even the writers are sick of those Manning commercials.

1 -- New England (7-5 record)
Ranks: Computer 11, Writers 1, Coaches 1
Sure they haven’t “won” the most games, but you can’t deny they’re champions.

I can’t wait to see yet another Patriots-Colts match-up, but this time in the Tostitos Super Bowl. That’s what the fans deserve.

QB: Tony Romo, 33.68 pts -- started by Heidi
RB: Jerome Harrison, 26.63 pts -- sitting on the wire
WR: Robert Mecham, 39.97 pts -- started by Jeff
TE: Jason Witten, 24.40 pts -- started by Mike
K (tie): Matt Prater, 15.00 pts -- started by Bobert
K (tie): Garrett Hartley, 15.00 pts -- started by Neal
DEF: Carolina, 22.00 pts -- started by Mike
D: Tamba Hail. 14.50 pts -- sitting on the waiver wire

Ladies and Gentlemen, it finally happened -- Neal collected a whopping 15 points from his kicker, the first points he's gotten from that position all year. Sure, it took a questionable last-second move by the Saints to bench their reliable kicker (and screw my three fantasy teams) for it to happen, but it's all history now. Neal has collected points from all of this fantasy positions now, and that 600-point deficit is a thing of the past.

A quick look at Philly’s two major homecomings this week, and a view of who had the better story:

	Vick	Iverson	Advantage?
Tearful hello?	No	Yes	AI
Pts scored?	12	11	Vick
Team win?	Yes	No	Vick
Long-term value?	none	none	Push
Fan love?	little	redemptive	AI
Cornrows	None	Thinning	AI

Oh, little Allen, we’ve missed you so…

3rd place: Javarris Williams, -0.50 pts – sitting on the wire
2nd place: Kevin Barnes, -1.50 pts – sitting on the wire
1st place: Arnaz Battle, -1.56 pts – sitting on the wire

Denver QB Chris Simms again finished close to the bottom with –0.40 pts, which gives him a total of –3.48 pts for the season thus far. That’s the worst in the league, just below QB Jeff Garcia and his –2.20 pts total.

In case you missed it Sunday morning, the experts over at Yahoo had their weekly podcast where they generously hand out fantasy advice. On their front page put up pictures of three players sure to disappoint in the week 13 games:

** QB Drew Brees
** RB Brandon Jacobs
** RB Joseph Addai

The reasons for the predictions basically boiled down to tough defensive matchups, and in Brees’ case poor weather conditions in Maryland. And each of the reasons were wrong; Here’s how they ended up on the week:

** Brees -- 419 pass yds, 2 TDs, 1 INT (26.76 pts)
** Jacobs -- 103 rush/rec yds, 2 TDs (21.83 pts)
** Addai – 98 rush/rec yds, 2 TDs (24.03 pts)

Granted, none of these guys were the top performers on the week. But if you can afford to leave 20-plus point players on your bench, I’d like to make a trade with you.

** Titans RB Chris Johnson (1509 rushing yds so far) is on pace for 2012 yds rushing this season.

** Patriots WRs Randy Moss (1058 receiving yds) and Wes Welker (1053 receiving yds) are on pace to finish 1-2 in the receiving title with a combined 2813 yds. And Patriots QB Tom Brady is not on pace to finish the year the top passer (Peyton Manning leads him by 47 yds).

** Eagles SS Quintin Mikell (67 tackles) is on pace to finish top on the team with 89 tackles, but only tied for 60th in the league among defensive players.

** Bills WR Terrell Owens (3 TDs) is on pace to finish tied 53rd in the league for receiving TDs, behind luminaries like Packers TE Spencer Havner (4 TDs) and Colts WR Pierre Garcon (4 TDs).

I was looking over the Cowboys roster after their embarrassing loss to New York and spotted something stunning:

Dallas Cornerback Cletis Gordon
-- Giants roar, clocked cornballs --

Wow, that’s dead on. I wonder if any of the other defensive backs can tell me how next week’s Dallas/San Diego game will turn out…

Cowboys strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh
-- Goodbye, new snouts; Chargers slay fat-bags. --

Nice.

Click on the standings to make them bigger.

Another great week by Heidi vaults her up the charts, but right now it still looks like Paul and I have the only real chance of dethroning the new guy. And frankly, you should all be rooting for that.

** Dad dropped one more this weekend, finishing at 15 under. I'm getting the impression this is not his year.

** Just four more weeks, kids. If you have a way to stop Tom Brady and Wes Welker, now is the time.

** I hate the Giants. And I hate that the Cowboys made me root for the Giants last weekend. But, more than anything, I just hate Eli Manning.

** If you watch the Army/Navy game this Saturday, take a close look up in the media box at Lincoln Financial Field. I’ll be sitting warm and toasty up there, enjoying the scene.