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Tuesday, October 11, 2011

NFL Week 5 Recap

Happy Birthday to my Brother from the same Mother - Sanj! I love you kid - you make me laugh more than anyone else I know and youmakemesoproud :) Hope that you have an awesome day. 


There was a lot of good football this weekend, some close games, some big upsets, and the crumbling of a dream. Click after the jump for a recap of what happened this weekend...


For the weekend predictions we came out at 6-6-1 going .500 for the week. Not too much excitement on that end. On a bit of a somber note - I selected the New York Giants in all three of my survivor pools this week. The New York Giants lost by 11 points to the Seattle Seahawks. Of course they did. I can't say that I'm surprised by this as three of the four successful picks were won by a touchdown or less. I had been living on the edge the whole season - and this week was no different. The Giants simply failed to show up against a much weaker team. Unfortunately nearly 65% of all survivor players picked the Giants this week so that was the end of the road for a lot of people including myself. Wish I would have steered clear of that game in at least one of my leagues - but oh well... here's what we learned in the world of fantasy as well as in the NFL. 


Fantasy:
I just looked at the leaders for receiving yards this week in my big money league and the top four WRs were all available (Victor Cruz, James Jones, Jason Avant, and Doug Baldwin - who?). 8 of the 15 leaders were available - with less than 1% of owners owning either Texans TE Joel Dressen (5 catches, 112 yards, 1 TD) or Jaguars WR Jason Hill (5 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD). So basically - the fantasy crap shoot continues. There are two guys that I think are worthy of additions at some point this year:


Jackie Battle RB, Chiefs - So it appears the Battle - not Thomas Jones nor Dexter McCluster will be getting the load of carries in Kansas City. Battle had an impressive week against the Colts as he racked up 119 yards on 19 carries. He's only owned by 11% of owners - so for teams that are in need of a bye week matchup or just another RB to add some depth - I'm sure Battle could definitely help at some point this year. 


James Jones WR, Packers - This is a guy that I drafted in two leagues - but was not patient enough to wait for. He's currently owned in only 13% of all leagues so you should be able to get him. The Packers are a team that love to throw the ball. While they spread the ball around more than any other team in the league (12 guys caught at least one pass last week against the Falcons) - Jones has established himself as the viable deep threat. They have a cupcake at home against the Rams next week so I would expect big things for the Packers, James Jones, the towel boys, and just about anyone else that suits up next weekend with a "G" on their uniform. 


Sluggish week for me in Fantasy this week as I was only able to go 1-2. Lost the big money league by 1.35 points to Preet who inexplicably got help from DeAngelo Williams. I also put up the second most points in the other league that I lost to ruin my chance at 13-0. 


Weekly Buffalo Bills Shout-Out:
The Bills the Bills the Bills are 4-1! They keep finding ways to outlast teams with more talent. Their Defense is terrible, as their unit currently ranks 4th to last in yards/game and dead last in Sacks for the year. So they don't get any pressure on the Quarterback, and they give up a ton of yards. Klassik "bend, don't break" defense. They have also forced 12 Interceptions, 8 of which have come against Brady and Vick - and 3 of which have been taken back for Touchdowns. The offense has been great so far this year - but if there is any shot at the playoffs and making a deep run - this defense will need to improve fast. Next up: G-Men.


NFL:
Along with the Bills, the Patriots and the Chargers also improved to 4-1 on the year. The Patriots are still the class of the AFC - and they looked every bit as impressive against the Jets this weekend. The Chargers on the other hand have continued to look challenged for long stretches at a time. They find ways to win - but not very confidently. I'm not very high on the them at this point but they do get the bye week coming up so its likely they'll use the extra time to get things going. As for the rest - the AFC North teams are all at least .500 or better so far. The Jets playoffs chances seem to dwindle with every passing week. The Dolphins and Colts continue to compete for Andrew Luck's services. Best of Luck to both fan bases.


In the NFC the Lions and Packers continue their dominance over the rest of the league. And the surprise team of the year right up there with the Bills has to be the 49ers of San Francisco. In my week 1 NFL Recap - I jokingly asked for a Bills and 49ers Superbowl. 4 weeks later that's not looking as funny. Am I right Eagles fans? After the Packers, Lions, Saints and 49ers - things are a mess in the NFC and still wide open for those last two playoff spots. The Giants killed all momentum that they had built with that 3 game winning streak, the Eagles still have loads of talent but 1 win in 5 games makes the playoffs highly unlikely, the Bucs looked terrible against the Niners, the Falcons are 2-3. Actually by not playing last week, the Cowboys and the Redskins playoff chances probably benefitted the most. At 1-4 the Panthers are likely out of the Playoffs as well - but things definitely look promising there - I wouldn't be surprised if they started turning some of these "close covers" into Wins.


That's all I got for now heading out to LA today so probably won't be back until the Week 6 Predictions on Friday. I purposely haven't give predictions on the MLB playoffs because 1) I was 1/4 in the first round 2) I Lost all three series in Game Five and 3) I'm completely disinterested right now. 


Happy Birthday again to Sanj - not even sure if he reads these things - but I'll keep telling myself that he does and that he enjoys them as much as I enjoy licking his ears. Love you okaybye.

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