Week 8 Picks

Here's this week's quick picks:

Fred, Ian, Taylor, Daniel, Steven, John

Week 7 Picks

Picks for this week:

Ryan, Steven, Fred, Jon, John, Daniel

May the Fabs be with you all....except Ryan. I hope your whole team tears their ACL.

Week 6 Picks

Sorry that I have been a real slacker on picks but this is going to be another quick pick segment.

Winners: Jon, Steven, Ryan, Kevin, Ian, Fred

Week 5 Picks

This is going to be quick since I forgot to do this earlier today.

Winners: John, Ian, Jon, Steven, Taylor (even if Daniel sets his lineup), Ryan

Week 4 Picks

This week is the beginning of inter-league games. That means it's time for the SFC to show the NFC that we're the best conference. And I'm feeling really lazy so this will be quick.

Game of the Week

EL GRANDE THE TACO KING vs Q

Both teams have good matchups but Mex has the better team this week. I found more players on John's team that are iffy to me than I did on Daniel's which was only Brandon Marshall. Daniel gets the W.

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs Imperialist Separatist Movement

For me, Sproles is kind of a meh player for the moment. Johnson has a favorable matchup and I think Thomas will do well in the spot of Reggie Bush. For Taylor, Williams will have an excellent game and I'm not really feeling Pats defense. In the end, I think I will pull out the win just because of the fact that a couple of Taylor's players, like Ponder and Holmes, won't be as good as they have been in the past week or two.

The Injured Knee-groes vs El Champion

I don't like Jonathan's RBs this week but Williams might do better since the run game is better when both Stewart and Williams are playing. Steven is at a disadvantage since Pitta put up a goose egg on Thursday. Roddy White will do good but with Jones on the field, his production is lowered and it doesn't help him that Jon has him. Jon wins this game easily.

The Lance Armstrongs vs The Ox

Ian's already had 4 players play on Thursday and they did pretty well except Rice. He should've been able to have done more against the Browns. Richardson did well against the Ravens for Ryan. Minus Manning and Falcons defense, I don't like the rest of Ian's team that much. Ryan will barely get the win over Ian.

Eleven's Sick Joke vs Sho is good

Garrick's team is much better than Jaime's team this week. Jaime has Nicks starting but he is out for Sunday and looking at his bench, he only has Hillis and Meachum to start. Neither of them have been impressive so far this season. He does have Bush that might play on Sunday but we would have to wait on that. Garrick finally gets his first win of the season this week.

A Dark Fantasy vs Superduperstars

Don't know who to pick on this one so I'm gonna keep it in the SFC and say Fred wins this game.

Week 3 Picks

Game of the Week

Superduperstars vs EL GRANDE THE TACO KING

Wow....that is the first word that come out of my mouth when I saw this match up. This definitely is going to live up to the Game of the Week status. On Daniel's team, he's got a pair of deadly RBs on the ground in MJD and Murray and Floyd and Marshall to catch the ball. For Kevin, he has McGahee and Foster for RB and Bowe and Austin for his WR. For their flex, I am feeling both of their players. When I saw Kevin's lineup, a red flag popped up for McGahee because of the fact that he is going up against the Texans defense. I think that McGahee will be the key player in determining whether or not Kevin gets the win or not. The Texans will contain McGahee pretty well, causing Kevin to get his first loss of the season.

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs The Lance Armstrongs

 Eli already played for me and did ok in his win against my Panthers (that faggot). I have faith in my WR and hopefully Johnson gets the ball thrown to him more. I am a little worried about the Bills defense going against the Browns even though the opposing defense has scored at least 10 points against them. For Ian, he has a 3-headed monster for RB: Rice, Gore, and Bush. We all know what they all are capable of but we do need to keep an eye on Bush since for some stupid reason, the Bears want to rely more on Cutler than their already great rush offense. When it comes down to it, how well his RBs do will determine if he gets the win or not. I think they will do well so once again, I'm going against myself and picking my opponent, Ian to win it.

Eleven's Sick Joke vs Q

John is starting the season out strong against a still winless Garrick.They both had a player play already. Brown had a monster game for Garrick while Smith had a decent game for John. The Steel Curtain will stop McFadden, since no RB so far had gotten more than 7 points against them and Moore hasn't been very impressive at all this season. Tamme is a guy to watch out for. Texans have a pretty good defense and Manning isn't playing on the level he has been pre-neck injury. For John, he has Brown going against a weak Raiders secondary as well as Johnson against the Browns. Both good matchups. I always seem to bad mouth Lynch but I do believe he will have a good game against the Packers. Look for a big run due to a bad play on the Packers. In the end, I think this will be close but I really do feel like John will still get the win.

A Dark Fantasy vs The Injured Knee-groes

Well Fred already has 13.3 points from his TE which puts him in a good spot. If Gates is able to play for Jon, I think he could match or at least come close to matching his points in the position. Looking at Fred's lineup, I like the start of Spiller after seeing what he is able to do last week, almost single-handedly giving Fred a win over me and that's about it for the most part. Peterson and Harvin going against the #1 defense in the league doesn't seem good to me. And I'm not sold on Charles still but he is a player to watch out for as he goes up against the Saints. And now I go to Jon's lineup. I'm feeling everyone in this lineup. Greene is a hit-or-miss guy, but with a game against Miami, this is definitely going to be a "hit" for him. In the end, Fred is going to keep getting his Garlic on and lose his third straight game of the season.

The Ox vs El Champion

For Steven, since I haven't seen what Leshoure is capable of, I'm not expecting much from him, especially because of the fact that he is still behind Kevin Smith. Martin will have a good game since Dallas can seem to stop opposing RBs. And his WRs this week have good matchups. For Ryan, I expect Matt Ryan to have a good game again. I like all of his WRs but Ridley against the Ravens is kind of a tough call for me. And the fact that Cruz didn't play as well as he normally does hurts Ryan. In the end, the rest of Ryan's team can compensate for how Cruz played and pull out the win.

The DAWGS vs Carnegie PantyRaiders

I'm still not liking Chris Johnson. Until he puts up numbers, I'm still not going to believe in him as a player. The rest of Taylor's lineup is ok but I'm also not too sure about Lloyd neither. He has been putting up just under 7 points for Taylor every week so far. As for Jaime, I really like his RBs this week. Bush is going against the Jets D but that's not going to stop him from having a great game. I like his WRs as well, but I am not feeling Meachum at all. He hasn't done much at all since the middle of the preseason. Despite the fact that he has a dud in Meachum in the WR position and the poor performance by Newton, Jaime will get his second win of the season while Taylor and Fred are going to eat tubs of ice cream as they cry over their lack of success in the SNFL this year.

Week 2 Recap

You guys are lame for constantly changing your team names every week. Just wanted to say that before I started the recap. Also, this recap won't be as lengthy neither because of the fact that I want to play Borderlands 2 right now.

Game of the Week

Fred Jackson's Glass Knee vs Q

This was the only game where both teams had a winning record. Jon was at a disadvantage from the start because of horrible play from James Jones and John's team was able to take advantage of that, mainly his RBs and WRs.

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs The Amazing Core Protection

So much for that redemption you were going to get, Fred. O the irony in this situation. In case you don't remember, Vernon Davis was Fred's last player to go and because of him, I was beaten by Fred and didn't make it to the PWC Bowl II. But after what looked like a sure victory for Fred turned out to be a huge disappointment for him, all thanks to MAI BOI, VERNON DAVIS!!!!!

Eleven's Redemption vs The Lance Armstrongs

Well, Stafford isn't to blame on this one even though he didn't put up good numbers. Even though Ian's QB didn't do well neither, his RBs and WRs came to play.

El Champion vs Superduperstars

Almost everyone on Kevin's team got a TD. Steven, you really need to change your name. You haven't won a single game yet and you are calling yourself El Champion? Not cool. But seriously, if you need my help, just ask. Kevin is now the new leader of the SNFL and Steven is still getting beat up in his rookie season.

The Ox vs The DAWGS

Ok, Ryan definitely proved me wrong on this call. Ryan asked for an apology from me so here I go: I apologize that you don't have an older brother that lives up to the big brother role who always puts little brother in his place. There, you happy Ryan? That's the best I could do. Ryan is now one of three remaining players who are still undefeated where Taylor, who was third overall last year, is near the bottom of the league.

Carnegie PantyRaiders vs EL GRANDE THE TACO KING

Dang, Daniel. Jaime didn't even have a player start and still beat you. That's a shame. I don't know why I had trouble in picking the winner of this one last week.

I was 3-3 in Week 2 picks, making my season record 7-5, with an overall record of  21-9. Not too bad. Week 3 picks will be up Saturday and will be more in depth this time so have your lineups ready by then.

Week 2 Picks

So far I'm 4-2 for the season, 18-6 all-time. Let's see if I can keep improving on this record. And I'm going to wait another week before I start doing Upset Alerts again. This is going to be short since I'm going to a BBQ in an hour.

Game of the Week

Fred Jackson's Glass Knee vs Q

Only reason this is the game of the week is mainly because it's the only game where both teams have already won a game. 

Jon: So far, his team is not on a good start, losing .1 points from James Jones. Plus, losing Fred Jackson is no good. I'm not feeling Greene up against the Steelers too much but I do feel like Williams will turn things around this week. Then his two remaining receivers have good match ups so should have solid performances.

John: Looks like he can't rely on Rodgers this week, who put up horrible numbers for a player of his caliber. The rest of his team looks good to me. Even if Steve Smith doesn't play, I think it won't hurt John too bad. I'm not feeling Seahawks Defense too much. Homo is a hit or miss to me so if they can put the pressure on him, I feel like they will do well.

Final Decision: John has more players with a better match up the Jon does. Plus, he's basically playing eight players against nine since Jones had negative points. Though John did overcome that last week, I don't think Jon will do it this week. John gets the win.

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs The Amazing Core Protection

Quinton: This team got screwed over with the injury of Forte in the middle of the game. The WRs are the one who are going to look good once game day arrives. 

Fred: He had two players play on Thursday and they put up some good points, especially Crosby. And after looking at the rest of his team, I don't see why the rest won't do the same. I have nothing negative to say about their match ups for this week.

Final Decision: Fred will definitely get his redemption this week.

Eleven's Redemption vs The Lance Armstrongs

Garrick: He is still trying to get his first regular season win since some time in 2010. His RBs should put up some good numbers as they have a favorable opponent. Tamme and Thomas did well last week with Manning as their QB and I feel like they will have that same connection again unless Decker gets more involved.

Ian: I believe that Revis is out with a concussion so that favors Wallace. Rudolph is going to have another good game against the Colts. Gore did do well last week, but he's not going to be as good against the Lions. And Lions defense against the 49ers....dicey call there.

Final Decision: There are a lot of "ifs" with Garrick's team. If Maclin starts or not....if Stafford can play well against a strong 49ers defense.....if Manning goes to Decker more instead of Thomas.......with that being said, I think Garrick will somehow pull out the win over Ian. And if he doesn't, it's all Stafford's fault again.

El Champion vs Superduperstars

Steven: His big pluses are Johnson and Hernandez. White will have a good game, not a great one. I'm not sold on Crabtree at all niether even though he is looking like Alex Smith's favorite receiver.

Kevin: I'm feeling his whole team this week except I'm not on the Kevin Smith bandwagon like I was last week only because of the 49ers defense being as great as it is in stopping the run.

Final Decision: Kevin....done.

The Ox vs The DAWGS

Ryan: Awww junk, it's the Brother Bowl! I like his WRs and his RBs. But you need to keep an eye on McCoy. We all know what he is capable of but the Eagles failed to use him to his fullest potential last week. If they continue to do so, that may hurt Ryan. 

Taylor: Pretty much the same how I felt about Ryan's team. I like the match ups but just not feeling a RB. I'm still not sold on Johnson and the fact that they are going to be playing in San Diego, that just makes things a little tougher for him. And like I said before, unless Manning starts looking in Decker's direction more, I don't see him doing that great; last week proved that point.

Final Decision: In the end, big brother puts little brother in their place and shows them who the Alpha DAWG is. Taylor gets the win.

Carnegie PantyRaiders vs EL GRANDE THE TACO KINGS

Jaime: Not really feeling this team at all right now. Nicks is questionable but is good to go supposedly so no worries there. Mathews is also questionable but is a game time decision. I like Bush and V Jax but not Hillis. The only big plus isn't even on his team. It's the poor performance by Marshall and Finley on Daniel's team.

Daniel: Like I just said, Marshall and Finley both played horribly. But the rest of his team should be fine with the exception of Britt.

Final Decision: This is a tough decision. Daniel has 7 players with 3 points and Jaime has 9 players to go......eff it. Even with Hillis, who I think will have a bad game even though they are playing the Bills, will get at least 3 points, matching Finley and Marshall. Now, if the rest of Jaime's team plays, like I think they will, Jaime will get the win, with or without Mathews in his lineup. 

May the Fabs be with you.....except Fred. I hope the Madden curse gets transferred to your team somehow or they get Fred Jackson-ed.

-Quah

Taylor's Wednesday Wavier Wire

I just want to start off with a brief preface that gives you guys an idea of what I hope becomes a weekly article on the SNFL blog.

Have you ever been sitting outside of class surfing the internet on your phone wishing that Matthew Berry or Peter King had new articles out every 30 minutes? Well, hopefully I can solve your unquenchable thirst for everything football. Wavier Wire will be set up into several different sections, ranging from a headline stories and ending with my power rankings. In between will be whatever the fuck I want to write about. So, if it's how awesome Tom Brady is compared to any other quarterback buckle up, shut up, and enjoy. If it has to do with politics, get ready to be informed. In other words, my article... my rules!

CONGRATULATIONS TO MVP WINNER...
 Peyton Manning returned to football Monday night, in case you haven't heard, and displayed what has made him a surefire Hall of Famer: pinpoint accuracy, command of the huddle, and making his teammates better players. Of course, since Manning ended up winning the game, he is undoubtedly the 2012 NFL MVP and there's no point in playing out the rest of the season. I mean seriously, the Bronco looked unstoppable! The Steeles just could not stop the no-huddle offense, this is the same team that fell to the prolific Tim Tebow who is now a renowned hands teamer. Not to mention that the Bronco defense couldn't get the Steelers off the field (11-19 on third down, 35:05 TOP). If not for a clutch interception by Tracy Porter, we could be talking about how the Broncos have to play Atlanta, Houston, Oakland, New England, San Diego, and New Orleans in the next six games. They'll be lucky to go 4-2, and if they do then I'll talk about a Denver Broncos Superbowl... but till then I'll hold off on the accolades and tip my hat to one of the greatest of all time. For now, I'll give my overreaction MVP award to Matt Ryan who had a masterful Sunday.

ALRIGHT I'LL ADMIT IT...
 I didn't expect RGIII to actually be a capable quarterback. Now before you formulate some smart ass comment like how could I possibly think RGIII wouldn't be the next Michael Vick, Cam Newton, or whatever black quarterback you see fit, let me defend myself. I had convinced myself that RGIII was too cocky (and maybe he is) to play in the big leagues, and that when he dropped back and saw the speed of a NFL defense, he'd inevitably try to make plays with his legs instead of with his arm. Because he'd rely exclusively on his legs, RGIII would eventually suffer the big hit that would continually hamper him his entire career. This would result in him being released from the Redskins, ridding them of the cost of having RGIII play, at most, 6-7 games a year.... or so I thought.
 Griffin was ridiculous, and against a decent team (more on that later). Not only did he make all the right decisions, he did it in an offense that will change the foundations of the NFL landscape (this is a great article on that). Mike Shanahan has taken the spread offense and transformed into a lethal attack that combines the mind of Peyton Manning, the arm of Tom Brady, and the legs of Michael Vick into one offense. Aaron Rodgers is only the beginning, soon we will see more and more quarterbacks like Cam Newton, RGIII, and Andrew Luck (who can actually run) that have the ability to pass and run, forcing defenses to think on the fly. Added with the no-huddle, nearly unstoppable. I am whole-heartily convinced this type of offense is the future of the NFL. Don't think so? Check this out... it has already begun.  
But lets get back to the original point. I'm not one of those people who thinks that RGIII was the better option over Andrew Luck, but he demonstrated why the Redskins gave up an ass-ton to get him and the transformation of the NFL. Time after time the Redskins habitually made costly and stupid decisions. However, just maybe they found the next great thing that we'll be talking about for generations.

NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO HEAD COACH...
 Well it turns out losing your head coach for the entire season could have a small effect on a teams performance. RGIII and the Redskins looked like an entirely new team, but I don't think it was solely Mike Shanahan's doing. In fact, the outcome of Redskins-Saints game was largely due to the huge void on the sideline. Losing Sean Peyton is going to have far reaching consequences throughout the season that Drew Brees won't be able to fix himself. The amount of game planning and strategy Peyton designed for the Saints can't be replicated by some interim head coach (sorry whoever is HC of the Saints right now). Just imagine if the Patriots lost Bill Belichick, chaos. These guys (Peyton, Belichick, Andy Reid, etc.) spend an inordinate amount of time game planning, thinking up different situations, and finding players that fit into their own designed system. The Saints are asking guys that have never been head coaches of a NFL team to suddenly run one, and lead it to a Superbowl! The Saints will win games purely with the arm of Drew Brees, but I wouldn't be surprised if they finished anywhere between 9-7 to 6-10. The Saints have a pretty manageable schedule coming up, but soon... the shit could hit the fan.

RECORDS, STREAKS, AND FANTASY FOOTBALL...
 Week 1 of the SNFL season is in the books, and it couldn't have been a bigger pile of horseshit (Looking at you Ronnie Brown you waste of a roster space! I don't how a first round second overall pick could suck so much ass given all the opportunities he's been given to succeed. Sure the Dolphins sucked, but shit they brought the wildcat to the NFL and allowed you to waste everyone time watching a RB try and throw TD passes just because their shitty ass QB Chad Pennington has no arm. But then you get to go to Philadelphia and play for the dream team and do THIS?! How did you get picked up by the Chargers? Clearly they wanted to fuck fantasy owners like me who had hope that maybe, just maybe, Ronnie Brown figured it out. Let's pretend we're in Ronnie Brown's mind... obviously you know you're only good for 20-30 yards a game, maybe a TD once every five games. But guess what, Ryan Matthews is out and you can prove to the NFL you might just have what it takes to be a reliable backup [shit maybe a starter again{I realize this has been a long as parenthesis, bare with me, this is serious}].... fuck where was I... you know what fuck it. Ronnie Brown doesn't even deserve to be acknowledged. Let's get on with the record book.):

Fred and I both saw our win streaks end in week 1, they were at 7 straight and 6 straight respectively. Fred is tied with Kevin for longest win streak in SNFL history.

Garrick continues his never ending losing streak (14 now).

Kevin now has 6 straight wins (regular season and postseason combined).

I'D BE WILLING TO PUT MONEY ON IT...
This is a good article for anyone wanting information concerning the upcoming election: http://www.salon.com/2012/09/10/barack_obama_is_winning/

Whether or not you like Obama or Romney, this election is heavily in favor of President Obama. Romney needs Ohio or he might as well call it quits. Obama could lose NC, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, and Virginia (all battleground states) and, as long as he has Ohio, still win this race. If Romney can't win Ohio, which is not looking good for him right now, he must win Michigan and Wisconsin to have any chance. Both have been Democratic strong holds, and even with Paul Ryan, are going to be damn near impossible to switch over.

5 THINGS THAT WERE PRETTY AWESOME IN WEEK 1...
1. Having football back was the best part. Thank god for the Olympics because I don't know how long I could last watching baseball... little league baseball... major league baseball... softball... women's basketball (not baseball but just as boring). At least the Lakers made spiced up the off-season by creating a super team to challenge the Heat.

2. Seeing the Dallas Cowboys beat the Giants was so sweet. I'll say it, I thought the Giants were going to win, but Romo showed why he is a great quarterback. If their line can hold up, I could see the Cowboys, Falcons, and 49ers all vying for home field advantage in the playoffs.

3. Seeing Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees lose in week 1 could not be any better. In fact it was literally perfect. Not only did both lose, but they lost at home! You know what funny, Rodgers and Brees were ranked ahead of Tom Brady in the NFL Top 100 Players of 2011, but only one of the three is 1-0 right now... can you name that quarterback?

4. Having Peyton Manning back has brought back balance to the NFL. He's not my favorite quarterback but not having him play was a real loss and made a lot of game less exciting: Colts v. Patriots especially. Now that he's back we got to see him play the Steelers, and he looked to be back to his old self. Next we'll see him play the Falcons, Patriots, Saints and much more. A definite upgrade over Curtis Painter vs Drew Brees.

5. THIS!     

NOW LET'S HEAR IT FOR CAROLINA...

We hail thee, Carolina, and sing thy high praise...
For crushing ECU 48-10, demonstrating a well rounded passing game that saw 11 different receivers catch the ball. There's no doubt Connor Shaw could have had similar results had he played, which goes to show how much depth is on the Carolina offense.

With loyal devotion , remembering the days...
When the 2011 Gamecocks started their first few games of the season winning close games. This trend continued later into the season with Shaw against SEC teams. That year the Gamecocks finished 11-2, proving that with a good run offense and stout defense, they could win games. This year we should have a much better passing game, and once Marcus Lattimore returns to form, we  could (*cough* will be * cough*) be unstoppable.

When proudly we sought thee, thy children to be...
Unfortunately, those children left the game a little early at halftime. Now it was ridiculously hot and we were crushing ECU, but it was a little sad that there was such a mass exodus. UAB is at 7 and should see a greater amount of loyalty, especially since it will be Spurrier's 200th win.

Here's a health, Carolina...
And Connor Shaw's arm/shoulder. We don't need him for UAB, but I'd like to see him get maybe a quarter to play just so he's not rusty for the Mizzou game. Mizzou couldn't grow some balls and knock off Georgia, so they shouldn't be a problem for Carolina!

Forever to thee!

5 THINGS THAT PISSED ME OFF...
1. Don't get me wrong, I love that Fred lost in week 1, but the way he lost just grinds my gears. I don't know  where Fred got the idea that sitting Adrian Peterson would be a good idea. I don't know why that idea even manifested itself into Fred's mind. Adrian Peterson could have polio and his only method of movement is to do a half crab-walk crawl and still produce more points than Rashad Jennings and Marques Colston combined.

2. Notre Dame joining the ACC is utterly ridiculous. It's just a way to give a conference that is despite for football notoriety (even though ND is not playing football as an ACC school) a school that's focused on their past success. Notre Dame is a B1G school (they're in Indiana right next to Chicago) that has multiple rivals in that conference (Michigan, Michigan St., and Penn State). Of course, Notre Dame needs dat bowl money, only underlining the absurdity of their move.

3. Chris Johnson had a pathetic performance against the Patriots Defense. Not only did he cost me a game, but now he's got me wondering what could be. Are the Titans that shitty at run blocking or are the Patriots that great of a defense. I don't know, and I'm not ready to say the defense will keep up a run average of 0.05 yards (aw that'd be sick), but I definitely think they are vastly improved from last year thanks to Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower.

4. Fucking Georgia has to be a bunch of dicks (no surprise) and teach Missouri a lesson. Whoever is in charge of SEC scheduling is clearly in bed with Georgia, Arkansas might be shit but avoiding Alabama and LSU gives them a huge advantage in the SEC East. Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee all having a good chance to win the East, all have to play either LSU or Alabama. Luckily, the East doesn't seem as crappy as it was in years past. Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee are all ranked and could be hoisting the SEC Championship trophy this year.

5. The kid who couldn't hold his liquor this past weekend after taking five shots of everclear and threw up all over my kitchen floor. Now right off that bat I'm shocked he didn't die, because that was five shot along with about two full cup of pj. Second, who thinks it's a good idea to take shots of what is essentially hand sanitizer. I can't really be too angry thought, he ended the night throwing up all over himself on our balcony. Thank god it rained...          

SNFL POWER RANKINGS...

These are based off of my rankings only. The () indicates my preseason ranking:

1. Ryan (3): The addition of Steven Ridley could be huge.

2. Daniel (7): MJD, Kenny Britt, and RGIII were on his bench.

3. Garrick (8): I seriously doubt he goes 0-13 again.

4. Quinton (2): I don't like his bench, but he scored the most points.

5. Kevin (9): He loses to me, he stays at 9.

6. Jonathan (4): Don't like the Fred Jackson injury.

7. Taylor (N/R): Matthew Stafford threw one TD pass... to Kevin Smith.

8. John (10): They're alright, but the win is tainted.

9. Fred (1): If they spent more time setting their lineup instead of bashing USC and Tom Brady, they would have won.

10. Ian (11): This team could jump up fast.

11. Steven (6): Nice showing from a newbie.

12. Jaime (5): I expected this team to have a better outing, good thing Ryan Matthews is returning.

-Taylor

   

                    

 


   

2012 Week 1 Recap

Started out the season with a 14-4 all time record. As I recap the events of this past weekend, I'm going to include Studs and Duds for each team as I analyze how their team performed.

Game of the Week: The TRONS II vs. Superduperstars

Kevin went into this week having never beaten Taylor in the regular season. I said that in the end, Kevin will get that first regular season over Taylor. And he most definitely did. Taylor's RBs and WRs did not show up at all this past weekend. His other players made up for the lack of points but because of one player on the Superduperstars, he was able to make a difference and help Kevin get the win. Kevin Smith was the Stud in this match up that made it easier for Rivers to seal the victory for Kevin. The biggest dud of this match up is also on the Superduperstars, Gregg Jennings.

Studs: The TRONS II - Bryant, Patriots Defense, Graham

Superduperstars - Smith, Foster, Austin

Duds: The TRONS II - Brown, Decker, Johnson

Superduperstars - Jennings and Bowe

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs Eleven's Redemption

Say hello to the current leader of the SNFL, yours truly, QUAHHHH!!!!!! Anyways, after the games on  Sunday, it was Jainikowski and the Ravens D vs McFadden with Garlic having a double digit lead over me. Thought it was game over for me, but Ravens showed out for me and helped me get the win of the season. Johnson and Forte played like I expected them too, as well as Wayne. And as I said with Thomas and Decker, Peyton did go with Thomas in this game and not Decker which caused Taylor to suffer. The biggest disappointment for Garlic, who is also the guy who I said will have a great game, was Stafford. He put up good yardage and only one TD but the 3 picks he threw made a big difference. Also, another costly mistake was Succop missing a field goal. This was a great match up between us but missed opportunities cost Garlic the game. Looks like he has to wait until next week to get that redemption.

Studs: Las Tortugas Bombardero - Johnson, Forte, Wayne

Eleven's Redemption - Thomas, Maclin, Texans Defense

Duds: Las Tortugas Bombardero - none

Eleven's Redemption - none

The Lance Armstrongs vs Fred Jackson's Glass Knife (Blue's Kluwes)

After suffering a loss of his star RB, Fred Jackson, Jon's team was still able to pull out a win. Both teams had their share of poor performances as well as having outstanding players show up to make up the lack of points. Rudolph definitely didn't live up to the sleeper status like I thought he would and Turner decided to make Rice do all the work apparently. I didn't expect a big game from Fred Jackson but I didn't expect it to be true because of injury (sorry Jonathan.....not really). Williams' performance was a surprise to me, making him the dud of this match up. This should've been a much bigger win for Jon but that injury killed it for him but hey, a win is a win and injuries is a part of the game. Let's see if he can adapt to the loss for now.

Studs: The Lance Armstrongs - Rice, Manning, Gore

Blue's Kluwes - Greene, Jones, Brees

Duds: The Lance Armstrongs - Turner and Lions Def

Blue's Kluwes - Williams, Jackson, Gates

The Amazing Core Protection vs Q

I think John has a thing where he tries to prove me wrong. I noticed that I seem to go against him and I'm usually wrong. I was completely wrong in this pick. Wrong about Green-Ellis, biggest surprise to me honestly, and Johnson managed to pull out a TD. The only thing I said that was true was Coby Fleener is someone to keep an eye on. Fred....I don't know where to begin. Eff, I don't even know what to say. All of his best players were chilling on his bench, straight up trolling. 

Studs: The Amazing Core Protection - His bench

Q - Rodgers, Green-Ellis, Garcon

Duds: The Amazing Core Protection - His starters

Q - David Wilson

Carnegie PantyRaiders vs The Ox

Well Newton and Jackson didn't live up to my expectations but Gonzalez pulled through for me. Bush managed to be a key factor in Miami's offense and Meachum didn't do very well. All the players I said were key for Ryan's team played well, especially Matt Ryan who is the Stud of the Week for the SNFL. McCoy should have more points but the Eagles are fools and didn't work him like the did last year. Ryan pulled off the win with the biggest margin for this week by 40.7 points.

Studs: Carnegie PantyRaiders - Kaeding and Bush

The Ox - Ryan, Ridley, Bears Defense

Duds: Carnegie PantyRaiders - Gerhart, Nicks, Meachum

The Ox - Welker and Cruz

EL GRANDE THE TACO KING vs El Champion

Well, looks like Steven wasn't able to get his first win on his own. If you want, I can help you out since you have never won without me on your team....just saying. I thought the rookie was going to get his first win of the season by beginner's luck but the Fabs don't think he's worthy of a win just yet. Mex was screwed with that last WR position but that didn't matter since Marshall and Floyd covered for him. Vick didn't show out like I thought he would. And the Jets Defense just went crazy to be this match up's stud. Not surprised at Wells' performance and Fitz was a disappointment as a dud for this team.

Studs: EL GRANDE THE TACO KING - Murray, Marshall, Jets Defense

El Champion - Akers, Hernandez, Martin

Duds: EL GRANDE THE TACO KING - Benson and Dwyer

El Champion - Wells and Fitzgerald

So I was 4-2 for the first week of football. Not too bad; this brings my overall record to 18-6.

Week 1 picks

It's that time again for me to start doing picks for the week. I don't know my overall record for sure, but last I saw, it was 14-4 after starting to do it in Week 7 I believe. But anyways, since I don't have cable and don't care for the preseason, I don't know how good players are this year for the most part. So I will just be going off of how they played last year and from what I did heard from ESPN and NFL.com. So without further ado, let's begin with the first set of picks for Week 1 of the 2012 season.

Game of the Week

The TRONS II vs. Superduperstars

Usually I go off of a team's record and the performance of their players to determine the game of the week but since we haven't seen what each team has to fully offer, I really can't do that. But choosing this week's game of the week was easy. I chose them because of the great rivalry between these two. If I remember correctly, when these two face each other, Taylor is undefeated in the regular season while Kevin is undefeated in the post season. Will Kevin finally get a regular season win against Taylor or will he just troll and upset Taylor later in the playoffs or when Taylor needs a win? 

The TRONS II

Both players had one player each play in the Dallas/NY game Wednesday so they already have some points up. Homo put up some good points (big surprise for me) for the new and improved TRONS. A big plus that I see for this team is Brandon Lloyd. A player of his caliber is always a dangerous weapon for a team and with a QB like Brady, he should rack up some points for Taylor. Too bad it's not the great Drew Brees or Eli(te) Manning throwing him the ball. A setback that I possibly see is Chris Johnson. I feel like if Taylor gets good points from him it'll be because of a bad play on the defense. After last season, I feel like he's a hit or miss for whether or not he puts up good points or not. And I think this game will be a miss. One player you have to look out for is Ronnie Brown. Mathews is out with an injury, making him the starter, and he has a pretty favorable match up against the Raiders.

Superduperstars

Austin did some good work last Wednesday for his team that are not just superstar, but superduperstars. Philip Rivers, watch out for this guy. I read that he is 5-1 against the Raiders with a QB rating or 102.2. Not only that, but he has a healthy Antonio Gates which usually means great success for Rivers. And then there's Arian Foster. He's questionable but they say he'll be starting. Foster will do what Foster does and just score points for Kevin. I don't think his knee will slow him down much unless a defensive player hits his knee hard enough. I'm kind of on the fence with the Packers defense. They did have one of the worst pass defenses in the league last year but they did make key plays when they really needed it. Alex Smith is a good QB but doesn't have that great of receivers even though they did get Manningham. If the Packers defense can put enough pressure on him, I think they will do well.

Final Decision

I felt like both teams were evenly matched but I think Kevin will finally get that regular season win against Taylor. And the player that gives Kevin the edge over Taylor is Kevin.........Smith, that is. Best is out and Leshoure is suspended so he basically is getting all of the carries and is the feature back for the Lions.

Las Tortugas Bombardero vs Eleven's Redemption

Las Tortugas Bombardero

Las Tortugas Bombardero looks to start of the season strong as he did last year. Once again, both teams had players play this past Wednesday with Eli starting for the Bomber Turtles. He put ok numbers but could've done better. Johnson and Forte are going to be the top two players for the turtles since Miami won't be able to shut Johnson down completely and Forte was the Bear's offense for the mos part last season and I don't see why they won't continue to use him as they have been before. One player to keep an eye is Reggie Wayne. Just like Steve Smith was last year by Cam Newton, he has been revived and his value went up because of Andrew Luck. For most of the preseason, he was Luck's favortie target. But with that being said, facing a defense like the Bears is going to be a test for the rookie QB. If that defense is all in his face and gets hits on him, Wayne may not be much help to the turtles.

Eleven's Redemption

After setting the record for the worst record in SNFL history, Garrick is looking to get redemption I guess and show the league that he is worthy of winning the PWC Bowl this year. Bradshaw had a pretty good game while Bryant could've done better (I have high expectations for players, by the way). The biggest plus I see for Garrick is Matthew Stafford playing the Rams. He pretty much is going to have a field day on them. I currently don't see a kicker on his team period so that's hurtful to him and I want to say that he played a game last year without one, I don't remember. Thomas is a good weapon to have now that the Broncos have Peyton and he loves to spread the ball, especially to Decker and Thomas. With that being said, there could be the possible Saints effect with the two of them. Doubt it but seeing as Peyton already spreads the ball out, usually when he has success with a player, he tends to go to the receiver more often. If he does it with Decker, that just hurts the production of Thomas.

Final Decision

In the end, I fill like the Bomber Turtles will pull out the win. I feel like the Turtles have more talent and we actually have a kicker ready to go. Looks like Garrick is going to have to begin redeeming himself next week.

The Lance Armstrongs vs. Blue's Kluwes

The Lance Armstrongs

If he doesn't try, then Ian could possibly win it all since when he doesn't try he seems to have more success. But whether or not he is trying, I will still analyze his team for the picks. He already had his kicker go who did well for his position last Wednesday. The key players on his team are Ray Rice and Michael Turner. Out of everyone in his line up, they seem like they are going to be the workhorse for his team this week even though Bengals do have a pretty good defense. He does have Mike Wallace but I'm not sure how good the Broncos defense is. Is Champ Bailey still in the NFL? I seriously don't know. Anyways, Frank Gore is a dicey call in my opinion since he has like 2 or 3 other good RB's to share the ball with. And the player I feel like is a sleeper for this week is Kyle Rudolph. He is the #2 guy for Christian Ponder behind Harvin and I'm pretty sure last season the Jags gave up the most points to opposing TEs. Or it might be the other way around. Either way, he's still my sleeper on this team.

Blue's Kluwes

Just saw he has the greatest QB of all time on his team. Not Brady but the great Drew Brees! And he's going against Washington? That sounds like success to me. Julio Jones against the Chiefs is also a great match up for him. Not to mention a healthy Antonio Gates going against the Raiders. I think Fred Jackson is a good RB but I don't think he'll do well against that Jets defense. But he will still do good. And at the flex position is going to be a huge impact. Deangelo Williams is going to be getting the bulk of the carries due to Stewart being out against a sorry Bucs defense. 

Final Decision

Do I really need to say who I think is going to win this? I obviously know that Jonathan will win his first game of the season.

The Amazing Core Protection vs. Q

The Amazing Core Protection

So this team is amazing now? I won't believe that until I see some proof of that. Winning your first game of the season is a start. Let's see how this team matches up this week. Tom Brady and Nate Washington are the two top players that I see. We all know what Brady can do and know how talented he is (though not nearly as talented as Brees, greatest QB of all time). And with Britt suspended one game and going against a poor Pats defense, Washington will have some success. Jamaal Charles is a player to watch for. He's coming back from missing last season for tearing his ACL. So coming back from that he may not be up to the level he was two seasons ago but at the same time, he may just come in as if nothing happened.

Q

Well John is already in a hole with negative points due to a poor performance from rookie David Wilson. That sucks since that is almost the same as just not starting a player. So in a sense, he's playing with only 8 players. Hopefully his team can make up for that and carry him to a win. Let's see....ok there's Aaron Rodgers, we all know what he can do. I think I heard the Seahawks defense is better this year. Plus, they are going up against the Cards. Green-Ellis against the Ravens? Stevie Johnson against Darrelle Revis with a groin injury? The Ravens defense is typically good for stopping the run so dicey call there. And I read that Johnson did pretty good against Revis the last two games but Revis is 100%, Johnson isn't. He usually does a lot of cuts but that would be hard to do with a groin injury. So that's also a dicey call right there. Coby Fleener is a player to keep an eye on. 

Final Decision

There are more negatives than positives for John this week so definitely a win for Fred.

Carnegie PantyRaiders vs. The Ox

Carnegie PantyRaiders

Well both players had a WR from the Giants already play so they have some points up on the board but Ryan has the upper hand, I guess, for now. Key players I see for Jaime are Newton, V. Jackson, and Gonzalez. Cam  and Vincent are both going against each other, with both teams not having good defenses. We all know the magic that Cam Newton can make and Freeman and Jackson were both making good connections with one another in the preseason and he is definitely Freeman's top target. Gonzalez has always been a reliable TE in the past years though I feel like his production does go down every year since his prime days are behind him now. I like Reggie Bush but I'm not feeling the match up against the Texans. He is a key part to the Miami offense so that's a plus for him. And Meachum hasn't been much of an impact in the preseason, already is competing with Malcolm Floyd who already has a good bond with Rivers, and then you also have Antonio Gates, who is one of Rivers favorite targets.

The Ox

He has Ryan going against the Chiefs, McCoy against the Browns, Welker against the Titans, and Pettigrew against the Rams.....that sounds like ballin match ups to me. Ryan is good and should do well against the Chiefs, McCoy seems to get at least 15 points every week, Welker is just a tricky guy to cover, and I don't need to say much about Pettigrew's match up. I was going to include Steven Jackson but I feel like he will only have success if he can get past that Lions D-line; so I have him as a player to keep an eye on.

Final Decision

Ryan definitely has the better match ups from what I can see. This is also an easy call for me: Ryan gets the win.

EL GRANDE THE TACO KING vs. El Champion

EL GRANDE THE TACO KING

I understand why you capitalize you team name. Are you yelling it at us? Or are you trying to emphasize how bad your team is? If I had hurt your feelings with that one, then suck it up. No room for emotions in the SNFL. Or is it capitalized because that's one big acronym? Just tell me later. So far, Murray put up a pretty good performance but not good enough to cover for your RB2. But I will say that you do have some good match ups this week. Vick against the Browns, done. Marshall against the Colts, done. Malcolm Floyd against the Raiders, already done. I'm trying to figure out what the best lineup would be for you since you have an empty spot. You're pretty much screwed with the WR position. And you would have to wait until Sunday to see if you can start the back up RB for Seattle, Turbin. 

El Champion

I know you're the sumo champ back in Japan and all but no one cares about that so I think you should just change your name. Moving on, I'm definitely liking Calvin Johnson against the Rams, no need to explain why there. Hernandez is always a reliable target for the not-as-good-as-Drew-Brees Tom Brady. The Fitz is always reliable too and going against the Seahawks will prove to be an advantage for him. And Doug Martin getting the start over Legarette Blount against the Panthers is a plus too. The only player I'm worried about is Beanie Wells since apparently Seattle does have a tough defense. I still think Fitz is going to have a good game.

Final Decision

Steven has the upper hand in this game mainly because of Daniel's RB and WR situation. So in advance, congrats on getting your first win on your own in the SNFL. It was beginner's luck.

I remember the last record I had after predictions was 14-4 for 3 weeks; not too bad if you ask me

Good luck to you all and may the Fabs be with you all.....except Garrick. I hope all your players get injured.

-Quah

Power Rankings: Season 4, Week 0

Here are the Week 0 (preseason) power rankings! Since we don't have any games played yet (duh), the records shown are those from last year's regular season. For the "previous ranks" (the ones in parentheses) I used the playoff results for the top 6 teams and the regular season results for the bottom 6 teams. This is because the losers' playoffs are such a joke that even Garrick's 0-13 team won a game last year.

	TEAM	RANK	REC
	The Ox	1 (11)	3-10
	Core Protection	2 (2)	11-2
	Team Canuckistan	3 (8)	6-7
	Superduperstars	4 (1)	8-5
	Eleven's Redemption	5 (12)	0-13
	Unnamed Team (Steven)	6 (x)	N/A
	The Lance Armstrongs	7 (10)	5-8
	Las Tortugas	8 (4)	7-6
	Carnegie PantyRaiders	9 (6)	7-6
	The TRONS II	10 (3)	10-3
	The Taco King	11 (9)	6-7
	Q	12 (5)	8-5

For those interested, here is breakdown of the votes, in the form of a fun color-coded table. Feel free to verbally assault those who ranked your team badly.



-Jon

Vincere est totum. Victoria aut mors. Vivat SFC!

Pre-season Projection Rankings

Hey,

I was bored and I didn't feel like actually forming opinions about all the teams for my rankings yet, so I decided to try to approximate rankings from the Madden 13 projections that NFL.com gives all the players. We all know the projections are terrible, so there is no need to point how unreliable my data source is. I know it's unreliable. Ideally, the inaccuracy of the projections would average out across the teams and affect each teams standing about equally, but that probably isn't the case.

There are certain explicit cases in which idiosyncrasies of the projections could drastically affect a teams ranking. One example is Daniel: The current projection for two of his players is 0, which could mess with his teams total on the first three of my rankings (although in the last ranking, subs are removed, so those players probably wouldn't have mattered anyway). Additionally, the projections obviously can't take into account cases like MJD continuing to hold out; I assume that the projections have him playing every game.

Also, I took all this data down tediously from the NFL.com player pages yesterday by filtering by team. If you have done any transactions since then, they aren't represented in the data. However, once again, the final ranking does not include your subs, and I doubt any of you have changed your upper ranked players. Similarly, if your projections have changed for some reason, that won't be represented in the data.

I started out with a simple ranking that sums all of your players projections and sorts based on that total. Essentially, it ranks us based on our average player projection. That ranking is not very useful for several reasons that I address in the later rankings. Here are the results:


That ranking included kickers, an unfilled position for some currently. I figured the best way to account for that was removing the kickers from the teams who have them and removing the lowest projected substitute from the teams that don't. The results are shown below:


Another position skewing the data severely was the second QB position. All QBs put up a lot of points, even alternate ones, so teams that had 2 QBs had a large advantage over those who don't (Taylor, Fred, and me, I believe). The other substitutes constitute depth and are much more likely to be used at varying points in the season so they probably should count for something. Ideally I would weigh substitutes less, but that was too much work for a system based on unreliable projections. So for this ranking, I left the subs in, except for either the 2nd QB or the lowest projected sub if there wasn't a second QB. This changed the rankings quite drastically, and looks to have normalized the three owners who don't have 2 QBs (I definitely liked how far it moved me):


The last adjustment I made is beneficial in some ways and detrimental in others. Because owners have chosen to stock different numbers of subs at each position, the data is skewed in different directions for different owners. Although the skew created by the other position subs is certainly less than the effect the QB subs had, it is still there. For example, if an owner has more TE subs than another (1 as opposed to 0), their total will be skewed downwards since TEs earn less points than WRs and RBs, on average. The simple solution to the sub's complication of the data is removing the subs from the totals, however doing so removes a lot of depth from the ranking. If two teams have equal starters, but one teams bench is much better than the other, then the team with the better bench has a better outlook for the season. I went ahead and tried removing all of the lowest projected players from the teams such that each position was filled by the player with highest projection. This did raise the people without depth beyond their starters and lower those who had depth in their subs. I should have increased fairness by comparing apples to apples, but I'm not sure if that was worth the cost. Here is my ranking of teams by their starters using NFL.com projections.

I would say that my 3rd and 4th rankings are the most significant. The 3rd seems closer to where I think the rankings should be (although I really don't think I should be at the top), but there are a lot of confounding variables that don't exist in the 4th. My main problem with my final ranking is that it deviated from my initial direction with these rankings. I wanted to take depth into account in my rankings, but unfortunately the variability of  depth strategies makes it difficult to compare depth statistically.

Anyway, I hope you guys maybe got something from my ramblings. If you'd like to take a look at the spreadsheets, I have them here. Feel free to leave comments of derision or encouragement.