Fantasy Football Awards - Week 5

For those of you who follow the blog my love for fantasy football is on display on a regular. Currently I belong to three leagues, two of which I am the commish. Hope the readers enjoyed Part IV (with the Russian), now its time for.... parto de cinco (spanglish for part 5...duh). As the familiars might know, two awards will not appear in this article to save the identities of those who had their hearts broken in our nailbiter of the week or for those who suffered the biggest beat down of the week, whoever had the worst luck ending up against Matt Hasselback and Minnesota's defense. Your rear really hurts from the whooping you took.

For the scoring system click the link below:

http://bsingwithbs.blogspot.com/2009/09/scoring-system-for-fantasy.html

Moving on to the awards.


Week 5 Fantasy Football Awards


Our first award this week goes to a man who hasn't given up much this season. When a team loses a game you can rarely blame on person. So you have to blame one entire side of the ball in this case. While it made for a very entertaining game on Monday Night, this team also allowed as many TDs in one quarter as they had in the entire season. Last clue is they made Chad Henne look like Dan Marino, says their own coach! If you had them you probably started them because of their ownage of opposing offenses (88% owned, 67% start in Yahoo! ; 100% owned by the Wildcat). So yes, thanks to the wildcat, say hello to this week's...

CHOKE ARTIST OF THE WEEK

New York Jets Defense - -1 point (31 PA)

What shocks me about this stat line the most is that, against a guy in his second start, they were unable to sack him or create a turnover. Their offense looked great with Braylon Edwards(sorry Browns fan/Lebron's homie) but their defense looked terrible in the fourth quarter. Most of the game they were okay but that last period was insane. Rex Ryan was ashamed of his own defense and felt the need to dog the Wildcat. Just because it dogged you Rex doesn't mean you have to insult the formation. The Dolphins are one of the few (if not only team) that can run this formation because they have the personnel for it. A QB that can air it out, two backs who are similar in rushing style and a vicious O-line. Add Pat White to the mix and you have a lot of looks that this one formation can give you. I don't see this formation going away so just deal with it Rex. If you had the team you had in Baltimore maybe you could have stopped it. I mean you had no problem stopping this in the playoffs last season.

Pierre Garcon with zero points this week gets notable FAIL mention this week. Second best Pierre in fantasy my foot!


NOTABLE PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK


So this award goes to a team/player who does really well just not as well as the MVP of the week. Unlike previous entries this one actually is a surprise that he did so well. This week he was number one at his position which is shocking considering the weeks that Roddy White, Jeremy Maclin, Andre Johnson or the Seahawks combo of Houshmandzadeh/Burleson had. So the man with a 30% increase in ownage this week (100% ownage of the Chefs who were cooking up a victory, so they thought). Look out Roy Willams, you may have just lost your starting spot to...


Miles Austin 24 points (250 rec yds, 2 TDs; 24 ret yds)

In week 5 only a few people took a chance on him, he was 35% owned with 15% of those actually starting him in Yahoo!, but everyone is hopping on the midnight train to Austin. Lame I know but this guy owned a pitiful KC secondary and helped one owner in my league(shout out to Lauren for having the balls to start him) in beating down another opponent. Now this has sports media asking, "Roy who?" Patrick Crayton was a complete non-factor unless you consider fumbling that punt making him a factor for Dallas. With Jason Witten declining, he hasn't done anything yet this season, and their backfield suffering from injuries on a regular, Jones and Barber with knee and quad issues, who knows what the future could bring for the king of Austin, TX. He now owns a franchise record for receiving, that is saying something considering the likes of Michael Irvin walking the halls in Dallas. With bye weeks steadily increasing for everyone, its worth covering extra Miles for Austin. Chris Berman ain't got nothin' on me!

A lot of players deserve to be here so here is a quick hit for you guys;
Donovan McNabb 31 pts, Ahmed Bradshaw 25 pts, Roddy White 22 pts and Jeremy Maclin 19 pts


MOST VALUABLE PLAYER


Two guys came back strong from rib injuries this week. Antoine Pollard is not one of them(he almost choked on a bone at Famous Dave's). That last part may not be true but what is is that each QB owned this week. I already mentioned McNabb but this guy clearly means more to his team, considering without him they lost the past 3 games.

Matt Hasselback 35 points (241 pass yds,4 TDs; 23 rush yds)

I assume that not a lot of people followed his injury status as heavily as I did since the two leagues I own him in he started. Of course my other options were Kerry Collins (ew) and Philip Rivers (on a bye) in one league with Matt Ryan against SF in the other. The fact that I also own Houshmandzadeh and finally am getting my draft picks worth out of him is, for lack of a better term, extremely relevant. None of my friends will admit that I told them that my man crush for Hasselback was almost as large as my affection for MJD. Hasselback was my sleeper QB in all of my drafts and luckily he fell to me twice. As long as he is healthy and/or playing someone in his division you may have to start him. Since this week only 20% of his owners started him and 39% of leagues didn't even own him in Yahoo! I'm sure that will change this week. Bye weeks and tough matchups for studs like Philip Rivers, @ Denver, or injury problems like Eli Manning will do that to owners. At least this week I owned the MVP of the week. Hope to keep that streak alive!

So there you have it folks. Those of you who I am in the leagues with congrats to the owners who have these players. For the others, thanks for checking out the blog. Think there should be another player on here instead of those listed? Want to make fun of me for my obsession with fantasy football? Go ahead in the comments below. Until we BS again.

NFL Power Rankings - Week 6

At this point in the season we are starting to see who the great teams are. Which is why the top part of my rankings haven't changed minus the addition of the Bengals and Broncos. 5 teams remain undefeated with one definetly falling this week (NYG vs NO). The Titans are still the laughing stock of the AFC South but thanks to the Browns/Bills they aren't the laughing stock of the entire conference. The Rams/Kyle Boller still aren't very good, in fact they are just awful. The Ravens and the Patriots fell a little due to their tight losses but again I like to see the rankings jumble around. Let's get to the rankings shall we.

NFL Power Rankings

1. New Orleans Saints (1, 4-0)

Bye weeks are good. Unless you are on a roll like this team was. However they have two weeks to prepare for the Giants. Should be a monster game this week.

2. Indianapolis Colts (2, 5-0)

Peyton Manning is STILL a complete monster. He has thrown for 300+ yards in 5 straight. Making stars out of no names. Like Garcon, Austin Collie is Manning's new toy. He was put on display against a struggling Titans team that has yet to find their identity from a year ago. Probably because he is injured in Washington.

3. Minnesota Vikings (3, 5-0)

Favre did not even come close to a repeat of what he did on Monday Night. Against the Rams he looked pedestrian but he didn't have to look good or pretty. Peterson did his job and got in the end zone a couple of times. The defense looked good but who doesn't against the Rams/Kyle Boller?

4. New York Giants (4, 5-0)

They faced the Oakland Raiders and served them a beatdown. Eli only had to throw 10 passes and ended the game with a perfect QB rating(158.3), 2 TDs, and over 150 yards passing. Ridiculous. They actually don't play an awful team this week. Big match up against the Saints. I wish I could watch it on something other then ESPN.com. Shameless plug.

5. Denver Broncos (9, 5-0)

I'm completely sold on this team. The defense is legit thanks to the tutelage of Mike Nolan and shut down corner ability of Champ Bailey. The defense is allowing under 10 points a game (43 points allowed so far). Yet another potent offense to face this week with San Diego. Which I hear is German for something.

6. Cincinnati Bengals (16, 4-1)

So Merril Hoge was right about them. They are playing just enough offense and defense to win games. This cardiac cat act is going to get them in trouble eventually. Until then they are the best team in the AFC North. I mean they just beat all 3 teams in the division. 2 being at home. They just keep winning. This week they had a chip on their shoulder for Mike Zimmer dealing with his wife passing away this past week. They wanted this win for him and his family.

7. Philadelphia Eagles (7, 3-1)

They beat a team they should have and McNabb looked great. At least he got a warm up game against a cupcake team like the Bucs to prepare him for this week's opponent...Oakland. Their receiving core is sick with Maclin showing up like he did this week. There is an explosive player everywhere McNabb looks. Defense can be suspect but when they aren't look out.

8. Atlanta Falcons (11, 3-1)

Call it saran because their game this week was a wrap by the end of the first quarter. Ryan to Roddy clicked big time this week and Michael Turner looked like...Michael Turner. When they are clicking like this I don't know a team that is going to be able to stop them. Well, maybe the Giants.

9. New England Patriots (5, 3-2)

What a weekend for the Boston area. Red Sox and Patriots going down hard. This was a tough loss but the reason there is such a drop is because of how shaky their offense looked. That all could be due to the great Broncos defense. Orton owned their defense and the only reason they got a turnover is because of a hail mary. They get a laugher, possibly, this week with the Titans in town.

10. Baltimore Ravens (6, 3-2)

They had no right winning that game. Flacco looked like a rookie or Kyle Boller. The penalties on Cincy's last drive killed us but its not all bad. The good news is that Ray Rice is looking great and Ed Reed took his first interception to the house (he had reservations for 6). This rough 3 game stretch ends in Minnesota before the team has a much needed bye week. Here is hoping Favre plays like he did in St. Louis.

11. Pittsburgh Steelers (10, 3-2)

They almost lost a game to the Lions. Without their best offensive weapon on the field. Daunte Culpepper was their QB. Come on Steelers! What happened to you guys? You are looking very pedestrian lately. Getting Polamalu back will fix the defense somewhat but he doesn't play offense. At least you got a win but it was ugly. A win on the road is good but I saw the stands in Detroit. That was a home game!

12. New York Jets (8, 3-2)

Rex Ryan knows when his defense is horrible. Last night was one of those times. Braylon Edwards is revived in New York barring a possible suspension for messing with Lebron's friend. Deep threat for Sanchez indeed. Miami is on the up and up, the AFC East just got interesting.

13. Chicago Bears (13, 3-1)

Bye weeks are good. Great match up this week against the Falcons. We will see if Cutler can impress once again.

14. San Diego Chargers (14, 2-2)

Bye week this week. We'll see what they are made of this week against the division leading Broncos.

15. San Francisco 49ers (12, 3-2)

Their defense was abused this week by Atlanta. Completely abused, not just passing the ball but rushing as well. I don't know what happened from week to week with this team. They looked great last week and completely horrible this week. Clearly they are not for real, at least not yet. They will have their chances to prove themselves again, hopefully with better results.

16. Green Bay Packers (15, 2-2)

Rodgers needed the bye to heal. We will see how the bye week treated them against the Lions this week. This team is on upset alert.


17. Miami Dolphins (21, 2-3)

Chad Henne, or as Rex Ryan calls him Dan Marino, looked great in addition to the Wildcat completely owning the Jets. Ronnie Brown clearly wasn't a fluke last season and neither was the formation. Something is going on with this team, they are looking great since Chad Pennington got hurt. The game on MNF was insane. The best game of the week by far.

18. Dallas Cowboys (17, 3-2)

For almost blowing a game against the Chiefs it is hard to move this team up. Sure Miles Austin saved them, sure he deserves a NFC Offensive Player of the Week award but this team doesn't deserve to go up. They are a mediocre team at best, neither side of the ball is consistent from week to week.

19. Seattle Seahawks (22, 2-3)

Hasselback is back, is he ever. Throwing 4 TDs and finally showing what this team can do on the offensive side of the ball when he is healthy. Getting Housh and Burleson the ball and letting them make plays resulted in a couple of his TD passes. This is the team I thought would take the division. As long as Hasselback is healthy, look out.

20. Arizona Cardinals (20, 2-2)

Hightower scored and Warner got the ball to Fitzgerald which had his fantasy owners very happy, twice. Defense was great against the run, stopping the Texans on a 4th and Goal play from the 1 to win the game. Also the pick 6 to win the game was pretty sweet to.

21. Houston Texans (18, 2-3)

They were one play away from at least tying the game against the Cards after that poorly timed pick 6 that Schaub gave up to Rodgers-Cromartie. Honestly their game should have been a higher scoring one against the Cardinals, at least with each team's explosive offense paired with each team's sub par defense.

22. Jacksonville Jaguars (19, 2-3)

Garrard was awful but not nearly as terrible as their secondary looked against the Seahawks. Getting shutout is never a good thing. Hasselback did whatever he wanted in the passing game. They will turn this around eventually.

23. Carolina Panthers (24, 1-3)

Hey, the Panthers end up in the win column. Beating the Redskins is an accomplishment, at least for this team it is. Especially the way the won, coming back might boost the teams spirits enough for something to happen. Seriously though, what is going on with their lack of a running game.

24. Detroit Lions (26, 1-4)

They made a game of it against the Steelers. Yes losing to the defending champs by 8 is a win for this team in my book. Especially with their best weapon out for most of the game. Hopefully Johnson's leg injury isn't serious or this team is going to need someone to step it up in the passing game. They are going to play a winnable(its a word) game this week against the Packers.

25. Kansas City Chiefs (27, 0-5)

They actually made the Cowboys nervous. If they only had someone who could cover Miles Austin then they might have a 1 in the win column. Cassel actually looked good, like the guy the Broncos wanted during the offseason. Luckily for them, they got Kyle Orton.

26. Buffalo Bills (23, 1-4)

Their D actually held a team to 6 points in what was the worst game to watch this week. A final of 6-3. What a gas! How can a team with such weapons on offense be so terrible on that side of the ball. Dick Jauron, its time to get your resume together because this is not looking good for you.

27. Tennessee Titans (25, 0-5)

There isn't much to say except Vince Young is going to start next week. So maybe they will turn this around. They did win 10 straight last year. At this point that is what they would have to do earn a playoff spot in the extremely strong AFC. My thoughts are no they won't.

28. Washington Redskins (28, 2-3)

Way to lose 'Skins. Blowing a lead in the fourth quarter to a winless team who had no right to win that game. Jim Zorn won't make it to December with a job. Cowher anyone? Anyone?

29. Oakland Raiders (29, 1-4)

They scored a TD due to a missed fumble call. At least they lost to a much better Giants squad. Russell still doesn't look great and probably won't until later in the season when he is playing some weaker defenses.

30. Cleveland Browns (30, 1-4)

To anyone who watched them play the Bills, the NFL would like to appologize for that HORRIBLE display of football. A win is a win but without Edwards there really isn't a down field option. Nice to see Jamal Lewis back though.

31. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (31, 0-5)

Josh Johnson has some chemistry with Kellen Winslow. Other then that they looked awful against the Eagles. Firing your offensive coordinator so early isn't looking like a good idea. It could be worse, your offense could be like the Bills.

32. St. Louis Rams (32, 0-5)

Kyle Boller hasn't changed too much. He and his team are still terrible. This team is shooting for one win. Oh the poor team, or teams, that lose to them. The loss count is at 15 straight.

Dare to compare mine to those at ESPN. We differ on who we think the best team is but hey, at least you know I'm not one to plagiarize. Check it out and I will see you here next week!
http://espn.go.com/nfl/powerrankings