2011 fantasy recap, week 3

With the baseball post-season just a few days away, here’s how a few notable MLB personalities are getting ready:

-- Phillies manager Charlie Manuel: Trying to remember how many bases it takes to score one run.

-- Former Braves manager Bobby Cox: Giving Heimlich Maneuver lessons to the Braves staff, as the team’s resident playoff choking expert.

-- Yankees manager Joe Girardi: Pretending that another World Series title would actually mean something to the franchise.

-- Red Sox manager Terry Francona: Seeing if Bobby Cox is available for outside consultant work.

-- Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson: Putting up billboards around the country reminding folks that Arizona has a playoff team too.

-- Mets manager Jerry Manuel: Dusting off his golf clubs.

QB: Joe Flacco, 34.26 pts -- on ChampMike's bench
RB: Darren McFadden, 32.57 pts -- started by ChampMike
WR: Wes Welker, 44.37 pts -- started by Sam
TE: Jermichael Finley, 30.67 pts -- started by Dad
K: Dan Bailey, 21.50 pts -- on the wire
DEF: Baltimore, 21.00 pts -- started by Jim
D: (tie) Greg Hardy, 10.50 pts -- on the wire
D: (tie) Jared Allen, 10.50 pts -- on the wire

Just missing this list was Ravens rookie WR Torry Smith, whose first three catches in the NFL each went for a TD. He's the first rookie ever to haul in three TD passes in a quarter. And that sounds great, but you know that's just going to raise unrealistic expectations. You never want to be known as the guy who only catches touchdowns. Just ask Chris Carter.

In case you missed it, Baltimore police announced on Sunday that they had found and captured a local man impersonating Eagles QB Vince Young at charity events and conning women out of money.

And while the Baltimore cops should be applauded for that effort, it’s an embarrassment to the Philadelphia police department and Philadelphia Eagles fans, who still have not located the real Vince Young since the end of the preseason.

Seriously, though, special thanks to Vince for coining that whole “dream team” thing and then disappearing for a month. I’d accuse him of talking big and coming up small, but that would imply that he has showed up at all this season. And I seriously don’t know if he’s still even in this country.

”Everybody hurts” edition
3rd place: NY Jets, 0.00 pts -- started by Ant
2nd place: Cecil Shorts, -0.02 pts -- on the wire
1st place: Mike Kafka, -2.60 pts -- on the wire

Pity poor Kafka -- He threw only seven passes on Sunday, and tosses #1 and #7 were both back-breaking INTs. As ChampMike said, you’ve got to do better than that if you want to become the next Eagles backup QB to be traded for a second-round draft pick.

During the Sunday night game, Colts QB Kerry Collins suffered a concussion in the late third quarter. That forced backup backup QB Curtis Painter into the game. The commentators asked sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya if he was prepared for the task. Her response:

“When I spoke to him before the game, he said he felt pretty good, he felt pretty relaxed. He said he only had a couple of reps early in the week with the offense, but he said he took as many mental reps as he possibly could, both on the field … and in the meeting room.”

So he didn’t practice at all, but he thought reaaally hard about it. I can’t decide if that’s the dumbest thing I heard all week or the saddest thing I’ve heard all year.

Congrats to Giants QB Eli Manning, who had a career best day on Sunday in the New Jersey squad’s win over the Eagles. How surprising was the performance? Consider this:

** Eli tossed four TDs and no INTs on Sunday, only the second time in 114 regular and post-season starts that he’s thrown that many scores without a pick. Conversely, he’s had 14 games in his career with no TDs and at least one INT.

** In fact, Sunday’s no turnover game was only the fifth time in the last 26 games where he didn’t have a turnover. Over that same span, he’s had five games where he accounted for three or more turnovers.

** But wins is the only stat that really defines a QB, and that’s where Eli’s game Sunday really shines. It brought his record over the last 30 games to 15-15, putting him in the elite company of average QBs.

** On a more personal level, Eli’s fast start this season has finally given him the chance to be the best QB in his family for the season. His six TDs and 735 yards passing are well ahead of his brother Peyton’s pace, since he’s been out since day one of the season. Eli has never finished with better stats than his brother.

So good for Eli -- it couldn’t happen to a nicer man-child.

The question all week surrounding the Cowboys was whether QB Tony Romo would play Monday night (he did) and how team physicians could let him play with a serious rib and lung injury. It seems cold from afar, but if you examine the issue a little closer, you see how they could make that decision:

Cowboys’ Tony Romo’s cracked rib and busted lung
** Doctors mock dude’s ugly brain, corny downbeats **

If even the doctors -- the guys whose job it is to keep you healthy -- don’t care if you live or die, it’s a pretty good indication that you’re not well liked. Just saying.

Week 3 standings

The distance between second and eighth place is less than three TDs, but the distance between first and second is a doozy. NewMike posted another huge week and jumped way out front, but it's still early. Unless you're Bob, in which case it's already getting late in the game.


** I’m 30-18 with my picks on the year, which is pretty good, but still two games worse than Dad. Vikings QB Donovan McNabb is 0-3 on the year and I’m 1-2 picking his games so far. Good to know the guy can still cause me heartburn even when he’s across the country.

** What's weirder, that Tom Brady threw four INTs on Sunday or that the Lions are 3-0? Neither. The weirdest thing in the NFL this year is that Brett Farve hasn't unretired yet. But the Colts need a new QB, so give it time.

** The Phillies just won 100 games for only the third time in their history. I feel like I should have had an item on that.

** Hey, does anyone have those Mets "choking hazard" signs from a few years back? We might need to update them with a Braves or Red Sox logo. And it can't hurt to have them around just in case the Eagles keep playing like this.

2011 fantasy recap, week 2

Next Sunday, barring a head transplant for Eagles QB Mike Vick, the Giants and Eagles will square off in Philadelphia in a battle of signal-caller greatness: Eli Manning vs. Mike Kafka. Here’s the tale of the tape:

Kafka: Funny name
Manning: Funny face

Manning: 115 INTs in 107 career games
Kafka: Zero INTs in 1 career games

Kafka: Best QB in Northwestern history
Manning: Third best QB in his family

Manning: Won the 2008 Super Bowl
Kafka: Lost the 2010 Outback Bowl

Kafka: Has a soul
Manning: Has a six-year, $97.5 million contract

Seems like a toss-up to me.

QB: Tom Brady, 35.22 pts -- started by Jo
RB: Darren McFadden, 28.93 pts -- started by ChampMike
WR: Jeremy Maclin, 36.50 pts -- sitting on my bench
TE: Tony Gonzalez, 25.03 pts -- started by Jeff
K: Rob Bironas, 15.00 pts -- started by Jim
DEF: NY Jets, 26.00 pts -- started by Ant
D: Morgan Burnett, 10.50 pts -- on the wire

How good has Brady been this year? Through two games, the Patriots QB has already thrown for 940 yards and seven TDs. If he averages just 300 yards a game the rest of the season (170 yards fewer than he averaged in the first two games), he’ll easily pass the single season passing mark of 5,084 yards.

Here’s hoping he has another perfect season like last year: MVP stats in the regular season, then a quick playoff exit.

“Skill players” edition
3rd place: Ricky Williams, -1.80 pts -- on the wire
2nd place: Matt Cassell, -2.68 pts -- started by me
1st place: Luke McCown, -4.74 pts -- on the wire

Not only did I leave the best player of the week on my bench, I also started the second worst player of the week. All told, I left 49 pts on my bench. Good all around effort by me.

But even more impressive was the work of Jags QB Luke McCown, who made Matt Cassell’s four-turnover day look almost respectable. McCown tossed four interceptions and completed only six passes to his own team, good for 59 yards and a 1.2 QB rating. For the record, that’s 33 times worse than your QB rating on Sunday (one attempt, no completions, no interceptions equals a 39.6 rating).

On Sunday, Lions K Jason Hanson set an NFL record by playing in his 297th game with the same team. Here’s a look at some of the good times he has gotten to enjoy over his nearly 20-year career in the Motor City:

-- Two Pro-Bowl selections
-- Five playoff appearances
-- Zero playoff wins
-- 191 losses (career .359 win percentage)
-- A record 26-game road losing streak
-- A record 0-16 regular season
-- 8 different head coaches
-- 21 different starting QBs
-- 97 missed FGs (against 441 made)
-- 8 missed XPs (against 576 made)
-- One Barry Sanders retirement

If there’s a Hall of Fame for withstanding punishment, Hanson is a lock to get in.

This week’s award goes to the guy who sat behind me at the Phillies game Saturday night (when the Phils clinched their fifth straight NL East title). Among the gems he uncorked during the game:

-- “Stutes is terrible. You can’t rush him up if you’re not ready to pitch in the big leagues.” P Mike Stutes had a bad game Saturday, but it was his 53rd of the year. That’s not exactly rushing him to the bigs.

-- “Now they’re in trouble. Berkman is due.” Cardinals OF Lance Berkman was two for three at that point in the game.

-- “Lidge has his stuff tonight!” P Brad Lidge did indeed get the final out of the 8th for the Phils, but it was on one pitch. Not a great sample size.

-- “They’ve got to bring in Madison already. BRING IN MADISON!” The Phillies closer is P Ryan Madson. There is no I in ‘closer.’

Great omens related to the Phillies five-peat as division champs:

-- Look at the words “World Series Champs.” World has five letters. Champs has five letters. Series has five letters, plus one.

-- How many World Series have the Phillies won? Two. How many have they played in? Four. How many World Series take place this year? One. Two plus four minus one? Five.

-- No Phillies team in history has every won five consecutive division titles and failed to win the World Series (This is the first time the team has ever won five in a row).

-- Who wears #5 for the Phillies. 2B Pete Orr. He’s Canadian. Who won the last major sports championship? The Boston Bruins, a team FULL of Canadians. Case closed.

The hero-but-almost-goat of the Cowboys win on Sunday over the 49ers was unheralded WR Jesse Holley, who in overtime took a 77-yard pass down the two-yard line before being tackled while showboating. Many were surprised by the wideout’s big play, considering he was only on the roster because he won the reality show “4th and Long” to earn a spot at the team’s training camp. But one quick look at his name shows why he belongs on the Cowpokes’ squad:

Jesse Holley -- Joyless heel
Wide Receiver Jesse Holley -- Jeers: I yell, deceive whores
Reality Star Jesse Holley -- Tailor’s hell: Jersey yeast

I don’t even understand that last one, but it’s clear this guy is completely revolting.

Week 2 standings

Tough week for Bobert, who already finds himself down almost 100 points in the standings. But I dropped all the way into last place early last season and pulled myself up to the top through hard work, persistence and tax breaks for small businesses making less than $5 million annually. That’s called “good coaching.” Just ask Jim.

-- Picked up two games on Dad this weekend, so we’re tied for the year. Want to know my secret? Pick against Eagles QBs. Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb and Mike Vick all lost this weekend. Koy Detmer was unavailable for comment.

-- Rams QB Sam Bradford currently holds the title of worst rusher in the NFL, with -15 yards on the ground through two games. At his current pace, he’ll finish the year with -120 yards rushing. Browns QB Colt McCoy is the worst WR, with one catch for -5 yards, on pace for -40 receiving yards for the season.

-- This weekend’s Eagles-Giants game marks the first meeting since WR DeSean Jackson’s last-second punt-return TD win last fall (Miracle at the Meadowlands III or IV, depending on how you’re counting.) You know what would be awesome this week? A “Miracle on Broad Street” game. Except this time, the home team takes the win. And instead of a last-minute comeback, they just kick the crap out of the visitors and win by 35. That’d be fun.

2011 fantasy recap, week 1

After a Sunday afternoon full of Sept. 11 anniversary tributes (many of them just awful -- Robert De Niro just seemed creepy talking on behalf of the NFL), I thought it was a nice touch to see New York's own beloved football team go out there and play their hearts out. Nobody was sure what to expect from the squad after another tumultuous offseason, but they went out there and performed exactly how you'd hope they would. So, congrats again to the Buffalo Bills, New York state's only football team, for their epic beatdown of the KC Chiefs on Sunday.

In unrelated news, the New Jersey Giants were absolutely terrible on Sunday. And I thought it was embarrassing that they would wear New York Fire Department hats on the sidelines, since the team doesn't play in that city. They really should have worn Newark or Jersey City items instead. Show some civic pride, jerks.

QB: Tom Brady, 42.98 pts -- started by Jo
RB: Mike Tolbert, 34.87 pts -- started by Joel
WR: Steve Smith, 31.87 pts -- started by Sam
TE: Scott Chandler, 21.20 pts -- on the wire
K: David Akers, 15.00 pts -- started by Jo
DEF: Chicago, 27.00 pts -- started by Dad
D: Brian Urlacher, 13.50 pts -- started by Jo

Only one girl left in the league this year, and she whipped all our sorry butts this week. Jo fell just short of an epic 200-point week, even with Danny Amendola’s dislocated arm on her bench. And for those of you who before this week could identify Mike Tolbert and Scott Chandler as professional football players and not characters from a generic police drama, congrats.

-- Patriots QB Tom Brady (517 passing yards Monday) is on pace to pass for 8,272 yards this year, destroying the NFL single-season record of 5,084.

-- The Steelers (7 turnovers Sunday) are on pace for 112 giveaways this year, nearly double the team record of 63 turnovers in a season.

-- Eagles RB LeSean McCoy (122 rushing yards Sunday) is on pace to rush for 1,952 yards this season, roughly 1,900 more yards on the ground than coach Andy Reid would like to see from his team.

-- Cowboys QB Tony Romo and Giants QB Eli Manning are on pace to go 0-32 this year, and post a record 752 dopey faces by November (Previous record held by Eli, with 652 by Nov. 1).

-- RB Fred Taylor (retired two weeks ago) is on pace to get injured anyway.

Opening Defense edition
3rd place: Seattle, -1.00 pts -- on Jeff’s bench
2nd place: Miami, -3.00 pts -- on the wire
2nd place: Kansas City, -3.00 pts -- started by Jim
1st place: Pittsburgh, -5.00 pts -- started by Paul

Paul may have had the worst player on the week (one point off the lowest possible score from a defense), but Jim had the roughest coaching debut of the season: He left 52 points on his bench. For good measure, Anthony opted to start two players injured before kickoff this week, and Jeff supported my preseason prediction that he’d win the league by inexplicably failing to start a second defensive player, the 769th time he’s left a position open in this fantasy league. He’s sly like a fox, that one.

During the USC-Utah game on Versus on Saturday (note: I may have a problem with the amount of football I'll watch), the commentators had this exchange during the first series:

Play-by-play guy: Utah QB Jordan Wynn had shoulder surgery during the offseason, and missed much of the spring practices. If you're USC, do you try and get to him early?

Color commentator: Sure. He's the QB. I try to get to him on every play.

I couldn't hear the booth clearly after that, but I assume the next sound was that guy slapping the play-by-play announcer upside the head.

Every year, at the start of the season, my father asks me a question about some rookie and quotes Yahoo's fantasy expert projections. Then I respond by asking him if he still believes in the tooth fairy as well. And then we don't talk for a few weeks.

But this year, I wanted to pull some numbers to show just how terrible those projected fantasy points are. So I pulled the numbers for the top 30 projected QBs and the top 50 projected RBs and compared them with how they actually fared. Since I crunched the numbers Monday night, before the game finished, I had to throw a few names out. But here's what I found:

-- Among 28 QBs, only 17 were within 50 percent (plus or minus) of the projected fantasy points.
-- Only 12 were within 30 percent.
-- Only 3 were within 10 percent.

-- Among 39 RBs, only 25 were within 50 percent.
-- Only 15 were within 30 percent.
-- Only 3 were within 10 percent.

Among the QBs off by more than half, the average mistake was more than 14 points. For the RBs, it hovered around 10 points. Imagine a professional football analyst guessing the final score of a game and regularly being off by two touchdowns. How long would that person hold onto a job?

Well, Chris Berman has been that terrible with his picks for 32 years straight now, so maybe that's a bad example.

You'd think that after nearly 130 Cowboy insult anagrams (I counted in the offseason) that I'd start having trouble coming up with new ideas. And you'd think wrong. It's easy to keep doing this, because every year the Dallas braintrust brings in a new crop of absolutely abominable players.

For example, take the Cowboys first-round draft pick this year, Tyron Smith. It took me less than 30 seconds to find the evil lurking inside the offensive tackle's soul:

Tyron Smith -- Horny mitts
Tyron Smith -- Tis my thorn
Tyron Smith -- My hints rot
Tyron Smith -- Him on tryst

He'll fit right in with the rest of those jerks. So, we say to you, "Hi, Mr. Snotty" (also an anagram for Tyron Smith).

Click on the image below to make it bigger.

Pretty good scores all around this week, so catching up to Jo shouldn't be too much of a problem.

-- We're only one week into the season and I'm already down two games in my weekly picks to Dad. Special thanks goes out to the AFC South, where I managed to get both games wrong. Damn Colts.

-- Speaking of the damn Colts, NBC's Sunday Night Football intro features Peyton Manning front and center among the NFL stars being highlighted. In the promo he still has a neck, so you know that picture was way outdated.

-- More awesome anagrams, but these are from mentalfloss.com:
** Indianapolis Colts: spinal dislocation
** Baltimore Ravens: ovarian trembles
** Chicago Bears: ribcage chaos
** Dallas Cowboys: spawn of satan
OK, maybe that last one doesn't quite work.

-- The Eagles are still 93 wins behind the Phillies on the season. I'm just saying.

2011 fantasy football -- preseason predictions

Everybody’s team is ready to go, and it’s already obvious how the season will play out. Here are the highlights:

TEAM: Kickers rule (Sam)
PREDICTED FINISH: 1802 pts, 12th place
ANALYSIS: New guy always gets the bottom preseason ranking, and since he drafted a Lions player in the first round (RB Jahvid Best), he earns that spot. Sam did end up with his man crush, Wes Welker, but forgot to draft Welker’s missing knees afterwards. The only good news for Sam is that he does have QB Kevin “Corn on the” Kolb, so if he starts him in week one he’ll mysteriously end up with Mike Vick by week 5.

TEAM: Boy named Boy (ChampMike)
PREDICTED FINISH: 1884 pts, 11th place
ANALYSIS: I hate just about everyone on Mike’s team, so that’ll make it easier when he gets busted for performance enhancing drugs later this season (I’m sure he’ll blame it on Heidi). Tony “Toy Moron” Romo, Vincent “He screwed my fantasy team five years ago” Jackson, Stephen “I have to look up this spelling every week” Gostkowski … I’d love to see Mike finish in last. He’ll probably win anyways.

TEAM: Springfield Atoms (Bobert)
PREDICTED FINISH: 1977 pts, 10th place
ANALYSIS: Bob took QB Aaron Rodgers with the fifth overall pick, which is just a terrible mistake. QBs can be found anywhere. Just look at the Jaguars – they just dropped longtime signal caller David Garrard in favor of old-school QB Cade McNown. Or was it Luke McCown? Reggie Brown? I’ve got no idea.

TEAM: Joe Buck Yourself (Ant)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2016 pts, 9th place
ANALYSIS: Yahoo awarded Anthony the “Toyota Best Draft” award on Sunday, based on their points projections for the year. I’m giving him the “Crazy Glue Cracked Draft” instead, for the most fragile team: QB Mike Vick, RB Arian Foster, TE Owen Daniels. He’s one Fred Taylor away from a glass-bottom boat. He does have the best team name, though.

TEAM: I Heart WRs (Paul)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2029 pts, 8th place
ANALYSIS: Paul forsook his team name in this year’s draft, taking three RBs and Peyton Manning’s bent spine before grabbing his first wideout. Think of him like the New York Giants – just because it says New York in the name doesn’t mean they play anywhere near that city. They play in New Jersey, which explains the stink around Eli Manning.

TEAM: The Wildcat’s Corpse (NewMike)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2098 pts, 7th place
ANALYSIS: There’s where all of Paul’s beloved WRs went … NewMike grabbed four top receivers (and top-flight TE Vernon Davis too) and no decent RBs to speak of. For good measure, this squad doesn’t have any linebackers either, and includes Donovan McNabb. It’s Andy Reid’s dream team. If only he could have found Doug Pederson somewhere.

TEAM: Stafford Infection (Joel)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2134 pts, 6th place
ANALYSIS: Another good team name, but another bad team. His top two RBs are Mike Tolbert (possibly a type of candy) and BenJarvus Green-Ellis (I’ll never trust any player with the same initials as my power company). Plus, he didn’t even draft Matt Stafford. Talk about false advertising.

TEAM: Akers Breaky Heart (Jo)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2136 pts, 5th place
ANALYSIS: The only player Joanna really wanted on her team was the former Eagles kicker, and she made sure to pick him up a round before everyone else. And really, what’s more important to a fantasy team than the right kicker? Just ask Sam. Kickers rule. I suggest you all drop a WR and pick up an extra one right now.

TEAM: Jonathan’s PopPop (Dad)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2201 pts, 4th place
ANALYSIS: I thought Dad’s squad looked OK – QB Phillip Rivers, two good TEs and RBs – but apparently his entire team is already on the waiver wire. So why the high rating? Because of RB Daniel Thomas, WR Danario Alexander, RB Jamaal Charles, and RB Ryan Williams, all on his team. Never pick against men with two first names.

TEAM: Anguish and Ammo (Capt. Awesome)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2275 pts, 3rd place
ANALYSIS: Everything about my team rocks. The name: It’s an anagram of Nnamdi Asomugha. My RBs: Studs LeSean McCoy and MJD. My WRs: Greg Jennings, Reggie Wayne and Jeremy Maclin. My title: Reigning Awesome Cup champion. My downfall: Drafting QB Eli Manning. That’s like topping an ice cream sundae with a rotten egg. A dopey, dopey rotten egg.

TEAM: Taxing Job Creators (Jim)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2332 pts, 2nd place
ANALYSIS: Jim and his ultra-conservative agenda are at it again this year, trying to keep down all the lower-income teams in favor of keeping the rich, fantasy football fat cats ahead. That means overpaying for guys like RB LeGarrette Blount (2nd round), WR Miles Austin (3rd round), QB Matt Schaub (4th round), and the KC defense (why would you draft them at all?). But that kind of “damn the little man” attitude is popular in the country today, so there’s no reason to believe his strategy won’t work.

TEAM: Blue Collar Killers (Jeff)
PREDICTED FINISH: 2338 pts, 1st place
ANALYSIS: Last time I picked Jeff as the sleeper team of the year he ended up stealing the title. This year? Call it a hunch again. Except for the human stain that is a Cowboys RB, his roster is full of undervalued players: RB Michael Turner, QB Matt Ryan, WR Percy Harvin, TE Tony Gonzalez. It’s a hard-working, blue collar squad. And when Jeff wins the Awesome Cup again and the Eagles win the Super Bowl, make sure to look up and appreciate all those flying pigs circling above.

League play starts Thursday night, folks. Make your roster changes (or dump your entire team, Dad) and get ready for your weekly punishment.