A Victory Worth the Wait

The People's Pigskin had to sweat out the Monday night game, but the result was a 101-87 win over the Chicago VinSethBears. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team maintained its lead in the People's League with a 9-3 record. Here is the breakdown.

Peyton Manning, QB: 31 of 48 passing, 285 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 11 fantasy points. Manning had one of the worst outings of his career on Sunday night. At one point, a San Diego Charger knocked Manning down by shoving a guard into him.

Michael Turner, RB: 23 rushes for 110 yards, 1 reception for 4 yards, 1 touchdown and 17 fantasy points. Turner and the Atlanta Falcons just keep rolling along.

Darren McFadden, RB: 8 rushes for 2 yards, 7 receptions for 63 yards and 6 fantasy points. It was a rough day to be any Oakland Raider not named Jacoby Ford.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 4 receptions for 81 yards, 1 rush for 15 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. It's surprising Johnson didn't get even more attention as the Lions tried to come back in the second half of their Thanksgiving beating by the New England Patriots.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 4 receptions, 41 yards and 4 fantasy points. Is this the type of season Ochocinco for himself? This might be his answer.

Dwayne Bowe, Flex: 13 receptions, 170 yards, 3 touchdowns and 35 fantasy points. Bowe was the top-scoring receiver in fantasy football. Again.

Antonio Gates, TE: 4 receptions, 46 yards and 4 fantasy points. Yes, Gates was active for San Diego's Sunday night game. He just wasn't all that active.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 2 sacks, 20 points allowed and 2 fantasy points. The only fight the Titans defenders seemed to put up this week was the one Cortland Finnegan waged with Andre Johnson.

Olindo Mare, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 7 fantasy points. Mare did everything the Seattle Seahawks asked him to do on Sunday. They just didn't ask him to do nearly enough to beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

Thanks again for your help this week, but our work isn't done yet. There's one week to go in the regular season, and the Pigskin has to face the t-bay cuervonatersXXL. Your votes will determine who starts against the cuervonaters, so please vote now. Thanks.

Before the Turkey, Some Results

This year, we at the People's Pigskin are thankful for many things, including health, happiness, family and friends. We are also thankful for you, the Internet, for coming through yet again to help us pick our roster.

Thanks to you, the Internet's favorite fantasy football team will have two players starting today in our matchup against the Chicago VinSethBears. You voted to start both Calvin Johnson (playing early against the New England Patriots) and Chad Ochocinco (playing tonight against the New York Jets). You also voted to pick up Shaun Hill to take Vince Young's spot on our roster. He will arrive too late to start for us, but he'll be available for future weeks. The poll results appear below.

Now, it's time to select the rest of our lineup. The polls are now open and will close Sunday morning. Please vote (but make sure you keep an eye on your bird while you do so), and have a happy Thanksgiving.

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Overdue Updates (and Polls)

First of all, thanks for all your kind thoughts and words over the past few days. They were greatly appreciated. But now, we at the People's Pigskin have some updating to do.

We'll start with the Internet's favorite fantasy football team, which fell to the Hudson Valley Hawks by a score of 123-112. This lowers our record to 8-3 for the season. Here are the details.

Peyton Manning, QB: 38 of 52 passing, 396 yards, 4 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and 25 fantasy points. Manning's last interception was also the last time he touched the ball in the Indianapolis Colts loss to the New England Patriots.

Michael Turner, RB: 28 rushes for 131 yards, 1 reception for minus-4 yards, 1 touchdown and 19 fantasy points. Like Manning, Turner contributed enough to keep the People's Pigskin in the ballgame.

Darren McFadden, RB: 10 rushes for 14 yards, 2 receptions for 16 yards and 2 fantasy points. McFadden did not.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 6 receptions, 46 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. Even when he's not having a big day, Johnson finds the end zone and saves his fantasy stats.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 6 receptions, 109 yards, 2 touchdowns and 22 fantasy points. Bowe has inherited the "All He Does Is Catch Touchdowns" title from Cris Carter. They should have a ceremony.

Chad Ochocinco, Flex: 3 receptions, 28 yards, 1 touchdown and 8 fantasy points. Ochocinco scored the first Bengals touchdown in a 49-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills. After that, he was something he never is: quiet.

Randy McMichael, TE: 0 receptions, 0 yards and 0 fantasy points. Someone please remind Norv Turner that he still has a tight end available, and even though his name is not Antonio Gates, he's still an eligible receiver.

Olindo Mare, K: 4 for 4 on field goals, 1 for 1 on extra points and 15 fantasy points. Who would have thought we'd be singing the praises of a kicker in a fantasy blog?

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 1 interception, 3 sacks, 1 punt returned for a touchdown, 19 points allowed and 11 fantasy points. The defense held up much better than the quarterback in a 19-16 loss to the Washington Redskins.

Bench: Leaving Knowshon Moreno out of the starting lineup proved fatal. He scored 17 points. Vince Young scored 6 before his injury/meltdown, and Justin Forsett scored 4.

Now, we have some work to do and very little time to do it. The Pigskin faces the Chicago VinSethBears this week. We have two players with Thanksgiving Day games (Ochocinco and Johnson), and we have to get Vince Young off the roster. Four polls, including a Thanksgiving-themed one, are now available for voting and will close Thursday morning. Please vote now.

We'll be back with a final update on the People's Pitstop.

People's Choice (and Predictions)

Before the Sunday afternoon games kick off, it's time to let you know who you, the Internet, selected for the People's Pigskin lineup. Here's who will start for the Web's favorite fantasy football team as it faces the always-tough Hudson Valley Hawks.

Quarterback: Peyton Manning (late afternoon vs. New England)

Running back: Darren McFadden (vs. Pittsburgh), Michael Turner (late afternoon vs. St. Louis)

Wide receiver: Calvin Johnson (vs. Dallas), Dwayne Bowe (vs. Arizona)

Flex: Chad Ochocinco (vs. Buffal0)

Tight end: Antonio Gates (if he starts Monday vs. Denver) or Randy McMichael (otherwise).

Defense: Tennessee Titans (vs. Washington)

Kicker: Olindo Mare (late afternoon vs. New Orleans)

And now, a brief version of this week's predictions.

People's League fantasy football: Pigskin over Hawks, Futs over Cuervonaters, RedZone over Zs, Amish over VinSethBears, Cowboys over Feelys.

NASCAR Sprint Cup top 10: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Bill Elliott.

Thanks for voting on this weekend's lineups. The poll results appear below, and two new polls are now available for voting. We'll return (when we can) with results.

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Another Victory (and Another Set of Polls)

The People's Pigskin bounced back from last week's defeat and beat the NFL2K10 RedZone by a score of 113-92, and we didn't even need Michael Vick's epic performance to do it. We just needed the help of you, the Internet, in selecting our lineup, and thanks to your help, we now lead the People's League with an 8-2 record. Here's the breakdown.

Peyton Manning, QB: 20 of 36 passing, 185 yards and 7 fantasy points. Here's another example of the difference between real football and fantasy football. Manning had his worst fantasy day of the season, but his team still beat the Cincinnati Bengals.

Michael Turner, RB: 17 rushes, 39 yards and 3 fantasy points. Turner played a surprisingly small role in the Atlanta Falcons come-from-behind victory Thursday night.

Knowshon Moreno, RB: 22 rushes for 106 yards, 3 receptions for 50 yards, 1 touchdown and 21 fantasy points. One benefit of being a running back on a team that's blowing out its opponent is that your team is likely to spend the second half running the ball.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 13 receptions, 186 yards, 2 touchdowns and 30 fantasy points. Of course, if you're a receiver on the other side of a blowout, you can expect to stay busy throughout the game as your team tries to come back. (Just don't expect the coaches to shake hands afterwards.)

Calvin Johnson, WR: 10 receptions, 128 yards, 1 touchdown and 18 fantasy points. Johnson nearly helped the Detroit Lions keep the Buffalo Bills winless with his late score, but the 2-point conversion came up short, and the Lions earned the title "Unluckiest Team in History."

Chad Ochocinco, Flex: 7 receptions, 86 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. Mister Eight-Five hurt his shoulder but stayed in the game and even recovered a late onside kick.

Tony Moeaki, TE: 1 reception, 34 yards and 3 fantasy points. Thank goodness bye weeks are over.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 1 interception, 1 sack, 29 points allowed and minus-1 fantasy point. It's too bad ESPN doesn't award fantasy points for knocking quarterbacks out of the game. That's the one thing this team did well on Sunday.

Olindo Mare, K: 5 for 6 on field goals, 3 for 3 on PATs and 18 fantasy points. Seattle's uneven offense can create a lot of opportunities for a kicker.

Bench: Justin Forsett, who lost a tiebreaker for the flex spot, scored 15 fantasy points. Chad Henne put up 11 before leaving his game with an injury, and Vince Young scored 4 after relieving Kerry Collins.

Now it's time to turn our attention to this week's matchup against the Hudson Valley Hawks. The football lineup polls are now open. The one on Chad Henne (who -- fair warning -- may not even start for the Miami Dolphins) will close Thursday. The others will close on Sunday. Please vote now.

We'll be back with a look at NASCAR's final race of 2010.

The People's Choice - Week 10

The results are in. Here are the players that you, the Internet, selected for the People's Pigskin and its People's League fantasy football matchup against NFL2K10 RedZone.

Quarterback: It's not as if he needed help in the form of Chad Henne's benching or Vince Young's injury question, but once again, Peyton Manning won this poll handily. He gets the Cincinnati Bengals today.

Running back: We already played Michael Turner on Thursday night. The winner of the poll for the other running back spot was Knowshon Moreno, who's coming off a bye week and plays the Kansas City Chiefs in a late afternoon game.

Wide receiver: Two familiar faces dominated the voting in this poll. The starting spots go to Calvin Johnson (who faces the Buffalo Bills) and Dwayne Bowe (who faces Moreno's Denver Broncos).

As for the flex spot, we have a tie between Chad Ochocinco and Justin Forsett. We are using the ESPN points projection as a tiebreaker. Ochocino wins that by a score of 12-2. He goes up against Manning's Indianapolis Colts today.

Kicker: We have a winner, and, fortunately, we also have a backup plan. Josh Scobee won the poll but was picked up by a team with a worse record than the Pigskin. The runner-up in this poll was Olindo Mare, who's starting for us now and will face the Arizona Cardinals in a late afternoon game.

The Tennessee Titans defense/special teams (playing the Miami Dolphins) return to our starting lineup, and in an earlier poll, you voted to pick up Tony Moeaki to fill our bye-week-addled tight end spot. He gets the Broncos today.

Thank you very much for voting. The results appear below, and a quick poll about a certain well-traveled wide receiver is open for voting now. We'll be back with game/race results.

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Assessing the Damage

It's safe to say the People's Pigskin will not be attending any Amish barn-raisings in the near future.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost for the second time this season. And for the second time this season, the opponent who delivered the crushing blow was the Fighting Amish. The final score: 116-69.

Here's a look at how our players fared.

Peyton Manning, QB: 31 of 52 passing, 294 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions and 11 fantasy points. A very un-Peyton-like performance against the Philadelphia Eagles. Maybe he finally lost one reciever too many.

Michael Turner, RB: 24 rushes, 107 yards, 2 touchdowns and 22 fantasy points. Turner did his part to help the Pigskin, and he helped the Atlanta Falcons beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the process.

Darren McFadden, RB: 17 rushes for 89 yards, 4 receptions for 25 yards, 1 fumble and 8 fantasy points. The Oakland Raiders veered from their script and relied on Jason Campbell to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in overtime.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 1 reception, 13 yards and 1 fantasy points. Maybe "Revis Island" really is more than just a way to sell shoes.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 5 receptions, 63 yards, 1 touchdown and 12 fantasy points. This Bowe knows how to find the end zone.

Chad Ochocinco, Flex: 1 reception, 15 yards and 1 fantasy point. Ochocinco also had a catch nullified by a penalty. Other than that, he might as well have stayed home looking for love.

Randy McMichael, TE: 2 receptions, 23 yards, 2 touchdowns and 14 fantasy points. You'll recall that McMichael was filling in for the injured Antonio Gates and joined our lineup at the last minute. He picked up where Gates left off in the scoring department. Too bad his performance was wasted.

New England Patriots, D/ST: 1 fumble recovery, 34 points allowed and minus-2 fantasy points. The Patriots found themselves in a hole before Tom Brady had a chance to break a sweat.

Jason Hanson, K: 2 for 2 on extra points and 2 fantasy points. It's never a good sign when your kicker is injured to the point where you're asking your nose tackle to make extra points.

Speaking of Hanson, it looks like he will miss some time with his injury, so this week's lineup polls will include one where we ask you, the Internet, to find us a new kicker. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team faces the NFL2K10 RedZone this week. The tight end poll will close tonight. The poll about Michael Turner will close Thursday before his game. The other football polls will close Sunday morning. Please vote now.

We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR race site.

The People's Choice - Week 9

It's almost time to kick off another National Football League weekend, and we at the People's Pigskin have a lineup to field thanks to you, the Internet. Here's who you picked for this week's People's League showdown against the Fighting Amish.

Quarterback: Another week, another sweep for Peyton Manning. He's got a late afternoon date with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Running back: With Knowshon Moreno on a bye week, two players swept this poll -- Michael Turner (who plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Darren McFadden (who has a late afternoon game against the Kansas City Chiefs).

Wide receiver: With Kenny Britt out, you split your votes among three wideouts. The receiver slots go to Calvin Johnson (who faces New York Jets early) and Dwayne Bowe (who plays the New York Jets late in the afternoon). Meanwhile, Chad Ochocinco gets the flex spot. He plays the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.

Tight end: Antonio Gates won this poll unanimously. However, he was ruled inactive about the time this poll closed, so we grabbed his backup, Randy McMichael. Welcome back, Randy, and so long, Robert Meachem, who was cut to make room for him. You get the gift of facing the Houston Texans.

There's no change at kicker (Jason Hanson, facing the Jets). And earlier in the week, you voted to pick up the New England Patriots defense/special teams. They visit the Cleveland Browns today.

The poll results appear below. Thanks for voting. Two new polls are now open. The first one, which will close Tuesday night, asks which tight end we should acquire to deal with Gates/McMichael's bye week. The second one, which will close Thursday afternoon, asks whether Turner should start for us Thursday night. Please vote now.

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No, This Isn't a Typo

157-56.

That's right. The People's Pigskin, a fantasy football team guided by you, the Internet, outscored Team z of the People's League by 101 points. We are now 6-1 for the season. Please take a bow before you read how we did it.

Chad Henne, QB: 23 of 36 passing, 257 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. On a day when our primary quarterback had a bye week and one of our backups had an injury, Henne brought his Miami Dolphins within one point (one call, actually) of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Michael Turner, RB: 23 rushes for 121 yards, 2 receptions for 23 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. There's the Turner who earned a first-round draft pick from the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.

Justin Forsett, RB: 9 rushes for 41 yards, 2 receptions for 31 yards and 7 fantasy points. As we'll see later, Forsett was the closest thing the People's Pigskin had to a misfire this week.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 10 receptions, 108 yards, 1 touchdown and 16 fantasy points. Ochocinco broke the Cincinnati Bengals career touchdown catch record, but I'm sure he'd trade that mark for a few more victories.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 3 receptions, 81 yards, 2 touchdowns and 20 fantasy points. Most weeks, being one of the primary scoring weapons in a 42-20 win would make you the highlight of your fantasy team. But not this week.

Kenny Britt, Flex: 7 receptions, 225 yards, 3 touchdowns and 40 fantasy points. This performance is even more amazing when you consider that Britt was benched for a quarter for his alleged role in a fight. We won't be trite enough to suggest that Britt get into a fight every week, but he should continue doing anything else he did in the past week.

Antonio Gates, TE: 4 receptions, 50 yards, 1 touchdown and 11 fantasy points. Yes, he did most of his fantasy scoring on a single play, but he did have a decent day for someone who was a game-time decision.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 2 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown), 2 interceptions, 2 fumble recoveries, 1 sack, 19 points allowed and 15 fantasy points. It's too bad you don't get fantasy points for encouraging the opposing coach to go back to his other quarterback once he's healthy.

Matt Bryant, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 4 for 4 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Bryant did everything his coaches asked him to do, unlike Kris Brown.

Bench: Believe it or not, Britt was not even the top scorer on the Pigskin roster. Darren McFadden, who was scratched from his previous 2 games with a hamstring injury, scored 43 points in a 4-touchdown effort. Knowshon Moreno scored 20 of his own in a losing effort, and Robert Meachem scored 3.

Instead of basking in our own glow, we need to get ready for next week's People's League game against the nuckin' futs. We also need to get the People's Pitstop ready for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway. The polls for both lineups are now open.

Since Bryant has a bye week, we need to get a kicker off the waiver poll, so that poll appears first and will close Tuesday night. NASCAR polls will close Thursday night, while the rest of the football polls will close Sunday morning. Please vote, and enjoy Hank Williams and the rest of the Monday night crew.

The People's Results - Week 7

Another Sunday of NFL action is upon us, and once again, the People's Pigskin has you to thank for its lineup. Here are your selections for the Internet's favorite fantasy football in its People's League contest against Team z.

Quarterback. With Peyton Manning getting a week off thanks to the NFL schedulers, you split right down the middle between Vince Young and Chad Henne. Since Young has been essentially inactivated for this game, we'll go with Henne, who faces the Pittsburgh Steelers this week.

Running back. Two players took all the votes in this poll and get the starting spot. Perhaps it makes sense that these are two players without any health issues: Michael Turner (who gets the Cincinnati Bengals) and Justin Forsett (who gets the Arizona Cardinals).

Wide receiver. This poll produced a three-way dead heat between Chad Ochocinco (facing Turner's Atlanta Falcons), Dwayne Bowe (facing the Jacksonville Jaguars) and Kenny Britt (facing the Philadelphia Eagles). Ochocinco and Bowe get the receiver slots, while Britt gets the flex spot.

Tight end. Just like every other week, Antonio Gates (facing the New England Patriots in a late afternoon game) dominated this poll. Unlike every other week, Gates is a game-day decision, so just in case he's benched, we've got his backup, Randy McMichael, on the bench ready to go in. We'll update this when we know one way or the other about Gates.

No changes at defense/special teams (the Tennessee Titans) or kicker (Matt Bryant against the Bengals). Thanks for voting, everybody. A new NFL poll is now available. The results of our lineup polls appear below.

UPDATED 3:05 P.M. Gates is active and will start for the Pigskin.

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Now, the Football Results

It's sad to say, but the People's Pigskin, like the Kansas City Chiefs, is no longer perfect.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team finally had a bad day, losing to the Fighting Amish by a score of 89-72. Our season record is 4-1, tying us with the Amish for the division lead in the People's League.

You already know about the injuries that sidelined Knowshon Moreno and Darren McFadden. Here are the rest of the gory details.

Peyton Manning, QB: 26 of 44 passing, 244 yards, 1 interception, 3 rushes for minus-3 yards and 7 fantasy points. Yes, his Indianapolis Colts won, but Manning was far less than his usual self.

Michael Turner, RB: 19 rushes, 140 yards and 14 fantasy points. The yardage is a season high, and the stats would look a lot better if they included a touchdown.

Kevin Smith, RB: 3 rushes for 16 yards, 1 reception for 17 yards and 2 fantasy points. Smith did not play a major role in Detroit's whipping of the St. Louis Rams.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 4 receptions, 54 yards, 1 touchdown and 11 fantasy points. It's a good thing Johnson found the end zone when he did. He left the game with a shoulder injury that still has his coach concerned.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 3 receptions, 20 yards and 2 fantasy points. He was the target when Palmer threw the late interception that allowed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat the Cincinnati Bengals.

Dwayne Bowe, Flex: 2 receptions, 33 yards and 3 fantasy points. No bonus points for dropping a pair of passes that get you featured on ESPN's "Come On, Man."

Antonio Gates, TE: 5 receptions, 92 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. If only Gates could protect the punter.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 3 interceptions, 6 sacks, 27 points allowed and 11 fantasy points. Only the points allowed kept this from being an epic performance.

Matt Bryant, K: 2 for 3 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 7 fantasy points. Bryant finds himself second in the NFL in scoring. Not bad for what's normally a throwaway position.

As for the Pigskin, there's no time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have a matchup against cowboys romero this week. That means you need to vote on our lineup polls, which can be found right under the NASCAR ones. Speaking of NASCAR, we'll be back with a look at this week's track.

The People's Choice - Week 5

As Sunday morning (and all the pregame shows it brings) dawns, the People's Pigskin has a lineup thanks to you, the Internet. Here are the players who will represent us in our People's League fantasy football matchup against the Fighting Amish.

Quarterback. No surprise here: Peyton Manning was your unanimous choice again. He plays the Kansas City Chiefs this week.

Running back. If we went strictly by your votes, we would be starting Michael Turner and Darren McFadden this week. Unfortunately, McFadden and Knowshon Moreno have been ruled out because of injuries, so Kevin Smith leapfrogs past them into the starting lineup. He faces the St. Louis Rams, while Turner faces the Cleveland Browns.

Wide receiver. The picture is much simpler here. Calvin Johnson (playing the Rams) and Chad Ochocinco (playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) will fill the starting receiver slots again. And we'll use a three-receiver lineup by giving the flex spot to Dwayne Bowe (facing the Indianapolis Colts).

There are no changes at tight end (Antonio Gates, who faces the Oakland Raiders) or defense/special teams (the Tennessee Titans, who play the Dallas Cowboys). Earlier in the week, you voted to pick up Matt Bryant for our kicker spot. He gets the Browns today.

The results of our polls appear below. A new poll about setting fantasy lineups is now open. Enjoy your Sunday. We'll be back with results.

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A Sigh of Relief

Whew ... that was a close shave.

The People's Pigskin survived a Monday night charge by t-bay cuervonatersXXL and won by a score of 110-107. That puts your favorite fantasy football team at the top of the People's League with a record of 4-0. And we couldn't have done it without you. Here's the scoring breakdown.

Peyton Manning, QB: 33 for 46 passing for 352 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, 1 rush for minus-1 yards and 20 fantasy points. Manning won't be happy with his team's last-second loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but fantasy players will be happy if it means he's still playing when the fantasy playoffs come around.

Michael Turner, RB: 16 rushes for 50 yards, 3 receptions for 28 yards and 7 fantasy points. Obviously, the rushing numbers were not very good, but it would be good news if Turner is being used as a safety valve on passing plays.

Darren McFadden, RB: 12 rushes for 47 yards, 6 receptions for 82 yards and 12 fantasy points. The big story here is the hamstring injury McFadden suffered against the Houston Texans. Early reports indicate the injury is not serious, but it will warrant monitoring throughout the week.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 6 receptions for 86 yards and 2 touchdowns, 1 rush for 2 yards and 20 fantasy points. It's always a good sign when sports writers are advising NFL teams to keep calling your player's number.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 3 receptions, 59 yards and 5 fantasy points. On the other hand, it's not such a good sign when your player lines up across the field from someone having an epic fantasy day.

Justin Forsett, Flex: 19 rushes for 65 yards, 2 receptions for 10 yards and 7 fantasy points. Forsett's situation changed dramatically Tuesday when the Seattle Seahawks traded for Marshawn Lynch. How dramatically it changed remains to be seen.

Antonio Gates, TE: 7 receptions, 144 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. As far as the People's Pigskin is concerned, Vincent Jackson can just go ahead and take the season off. The San Diego Chargers clearly did not miss him Sunday.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 1 interception, 6 sacks, 1 kickoff returned for a touchdown, 26 points allowed and 13 fantasy points. Their opponents called them dirty, and their top draft pick was lost for the season, but the Titans defense did its job, at least for fantasy players, unlike ...

Jeff Reed, K: 0 for 2 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 0 fantasy points. The Cuervonaters started an inactive kicker, and the Pigskin might as well have done the same. Reed has a bye week, and it's safe to say he won't be missed around here.

Bench. It was a decent week to be a backup Pigskin quarterback. Chad Henne scored 14 points, while Vince Young scored 11. Kenny Britt scored 8, and Kevin Smith scored 3.

This week, the People's Pigskin will face the 3-1 Fighting Amish, and we need a new lineup. The polls are now open. The kicker poll will close Tuesday night, so we can make a waiver wire request. The other football polls (located below the NASCAR ones) will close Sunday morning. You know what to do.

We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track.

The People's Choice - Week 4

We've made it to another Sunday, and once again, it's time for us to thank you, the Internet, for selecting the People's Pigskin lineup for this week's People's League matchup against t-bay cuervonatersXXL. Here are the results.

Quarterback. Raise your hand if you're surprised Peyton Manning was the unanimous choice this week. OK, put your hand down, Jon Lovitz. Manning gets the Jacksonville Jaguars today.

Running back. Knowshon Moreno's injury may have made this poll easier. We have a tie at the top: Michael Turner (playing the San Francisco 49ers) and Darren McFadden (playing the Houston Texans). They get the starting spots.

Wide receiver. Calvin Johnson wins this poll and gets to face the Green Bay Packers this afternoon. The runner-up was Chad Ochocinco, who need to forget about his cereal long enough to play the Cleveland Browns.

As for the flex spot, Justin Forsett got more votes than Kenny Britt, so Forsett plays for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team this week. He gets the St. Louis Rams.

There were no changes at tight end (Antonio Gates, who plays the Arizona Cardinals) or kicker (Jeff Reed, who plays the Baltimore Ravens). As we discussed earlier in the week, you chose to replace our previous defense with the Tennessee Titans. They face the Denver Broncos this afternoon.

Again, thanks for voting. A new poll dealing with the issue of bye weeks is available now. The results of the football polls appear below. Enjoy the games, everybody!

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Quick Defense Poll and Week 3 Results

First things first: Bye week season is upon us, and for the People's Pigskin, that means finding a defense/special teams unit to fill in for the Minnesota Vikings. A new poll is up, and this one needs to close TONIGHT, because ESPN will process waiver requests on Wednesday morning. Here is a look at the candidates:

Seattle Seahawks: 2nd among D/STs with 42 fantasy points, including 26 last week. They visit the St. Louis Rams this week.

Tennessee Titans: 4th among D/STs with 32 fantasy points, including 14 last week. They host the Denver Broncos this week.

Chicago Bears: 5th among D/STs with 28 fantasy points, including 13 Monday night. They visit the New York Giants this week.

Indianapolis Colts: Tied for 7th among D/STs with 26 fantasy points, including 9 last week. They visit the Jacksonville Jaguars this week.

If our request is rejected (because someone who's actully lost a game made a request for the same defense), we'll offer another poll. In the meantime, please vote now. We'll wait.

(Whistling the "Jeopardy" theme)

OK, back to the football. Thanks to the frequently intelligent votes of you, the Internet, the People's Pigskin beat the Chicago VinSethBears by a score of 115-91. That means the World Wide Web's favorite fantasy football team is the only team in the People's League with a record of THREE-AND-OH, BABY!

Here's a breakdown of the results.

Peyton Manning, QB: 27 for 43 passing, 325 yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 rushes for minus-1 yard and 25 fantasy points. We're going to have to speak to Manning about that trying-to-run thing.

Michael Turner, RB: 30 rushes for 114 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions for 11 yards and 18 fantasy points. Looks like that groin injury isn't a problem at all. The only thing hurt in Sunday's overtime game was Garrett Hartley's employment status.

Darren McFadden, RB: 25 rushes for 105 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 receptions for 17 yards and 17 fantasy points. Another running back who had a strong day while watching a kicker suffer.

Dwayne Bowe, Flex: 2 receptions, 61 yards, 1 touchdown and 12 fantasy points. Never underestimate the value of trickery.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 6 receptions, 56 yards, 1 rush for 2 yards and 5 fantasy points. Like the rest of Detroit Lions, Johnson can't wait for Matthew Stafford to heal.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 4 receptions, 34 yards and 3 fantasy points. Mr. Eight-Five doesn't have a backup quarterback to use as an excuse. Looks like he's going the "Tweet about my injuries" route instead.

Antonio Gates, TE: 7 receptions, 109 yards, 1 touchdown and 16 fantasy points. Rotowire.com says it best: "Gates continues to be Philip Rivers' most trusted pass catcher and seems like the person who is benefiting the most from Vincent Jackson's absence."

Minnesota Vikings, D/ST: 2 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered, 1 sack, 10 points allowed and 11 fantasy points. Don't cry about losing them to a bye week. Despite the strong outing against the Lions, this defense ranks 17th with only 20 fantasy points.

Jeff Reed, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 5 for 5 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Ironically, the butt-whipping that the Pittsburgh Steelers delivered to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held Reed's point total down.

Bench: Chad Henne put up 20 points, while Justin Forsett scored 9. Kenny Britt and Vince Young scored 8 apiece.

Next up for the People's Pigskin is a date with the 2-1 t-bay cuervonatersXXL. It's time for you, the Internet, to help us find the way to 4-0. The defense poll will close tonight, but the other football polls (located below the NASCAR ones) will close Sunday morning. Please vote.

We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track.

The People's Choice - Week 3

For football fans, the acronym should be TGIS: Thank goodness it's Sunday!

Another round of NFL games are on the slate, and the People's Pigskin is ready for its People's League matchup against the Chicago VinSethBears. Thanks to everyone for voting on our lineup. Here are the results.

Quarterback. Peyton Manning? Really? You want to start the player who leads quarterbacks in ESPN fantasy points? Well, OK, if you insist. He gets the Denver Broncos.

Running back. Knowshon Moreno threw a wrench in the works by injuring his hamstring. But that's OK. You, the Internet, rose to the occasion and voted to start Michael Turner (who faces the New Orleans Saints) and Darren McFadden (who plays against the Arizona Cardinals).

Wide receiver. Calvin Johnson may not have won a game yet (though that may change today against the Minnesota Vikings), but he won this week's poll. He and runner-up Chad Ochocinco (who plays the Carolina Panthers) get the wide receiver spots.

Dwayne Bowe finished third, but since he isn't injured, he gets the flex spot for his game against the San Francisco 49ers, which hasn't changed quarterbacks but has changed softball-throwing reporters.

No changes at tight end (Antonio Gates, who faces the Seattle Seahawks), defense (the Minnesota Vikings) or kicker (Jeff Reed, who gets the Tampa Bay Buccaneers). Thanks again for voting. The results appear below. Feel free to vote in our quick gameday poll. We'll be back with results.

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What We Have in Common with the Bucs

In fantasy football, they never ask "How?" They always ask "How many?"

For the People's Pigskin, the answer to that question was "Enough." The Internet's favorite fantasy football team managed to beat the Hudson Valley Hawks by a score of 101-82. Therefore, like the unlikely Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Pigskin boasts a record of 2-0.

Here's how we got there.

Peyton Manning, QB: 20 of 26 passing, 255 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 rushes for negative-3 yards and 22 fantasy points. The oh-so-hyped Manning Bowl looked more like a scrimmage thanks to Peyton and the rest of the Indianapolis Colts.

Michael Turner, RB: 9 rushes for 75 yards and 7 fantasy points. Turner left the game early with a groin injury, though the Atlanta Falcons are saying it's not serious.

Darren McFadden, RB: 30 rushes for 145 yards, 2 receptions for 8 yards and 14 fantasy points. All McFadden couldn't do is score a touchdown for the Oakland Raiders, who needed the help of Bruce Gradkowski to beat the St. Louis Rams.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 4 receptions, 50 yards, 1 touchdown, a 2-point conversion and 13 fantasy points. All Johnson couldn't do was win the game for the Detroit Lions.

Chad Ochocinco, WR: 4 receptions, 44 yards and 4 fantasy points. He had Johnson's day, except for the touchdown and the loss.

Dwayne Bowe, Flex: 4 receptions, 45 yards and 4 fantasy points. Ditto.

Antonio Gates, TE: 5 receptions, 57 yards, 2 touchdowns and 17 fantasy points. Neither Gates nor the rest of the San Diego Chargers seemed to miss Vincent Jackson much Sunday.

Minnesota Vikings, D/ST: 14 points allowed, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 sacks and 7 fantasy points. Normally, a team with defensive numbers like that plays well enough to win. Unfortunately, no team with Brett Favre under center is normal.

Jeff Reed, K: 4 for 4 on field goals, 1 for 1 on extra points and 13 fantasy points. If you're on a team that wins a game 19-11 and is down to its fourth quarterback, the only way you can score fantasy points is by kicking.

Bench. Our winning margin could have been even larger. Knowshon Moreno scored 17 points, and Kenny Britt scored 6. Of course, the margin also could have been smaller. Chad Henne scored only 8 points. And if we had played Vince Young, whose point total was negative-3, there might not have been a victory at all.

Regardless, it's time to put that game in the archives, enjoy the Monday night game and set our sights on week 3 against the Chicago VinSethBears. The lineup polls are now open (beneath the NASCAR ones) and will stay open until Sunday morning. Please vote now.

We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track. Here are the results from the snack poll.

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The People's Choice - Week 2

Everybody ready for kickoff? Good, because another football Sunday is upon us, and thanks to you, the Internet, the People's Pigskin is ready for its People's League matchup against the Hudson Valley Hawks. Here is the starting lineup you helped choose for the Web's favorite fantasy football team.

Quarterback. In one of the least suspenseful polls of all time, Peyton Manning took all the votes. He gets his brother and the New York Giants tonight.

Running back. Half the votes went to Michael Turner, who faces the Arizona Cardinals. For the other spot, Darren McFadden edged out Knowshon Moreno. McFadden has his home opener against the St. Louis Rams.

Wide receiver. Calvin Johnson, who faces the Philadelphia Eagles and hopefully will hang on to the ball this time, and Chad Ochocinco, who gets to play the Baltimore Ravens, beat out Dwayne Bowe for the two receiver spots.

As far as the flex is concerned, Moreno and Bowe drew an equal number of votes. They are also projected to score the same number of points. Since we have no other way to break this tie, we flipped a coin. (No, you weren't invited to watch.) Bowe won the toss and elected to start as our flex. He travels to Cleveland to face the Browns.

No major surprises at tight end (Antonio Gates, who faces the Jacksonville Jaguars), defense (the Minnesota Vikings, who get the Miami Dolphins) or kicker (Jeff Reed, who plays against the Tennessee Titans). However, those of you who voted "get a free agent" have inspired a rule change: If you choose that option, you will be asked to leave a comment offering a suggestion for which free agent to target.

Thanks again for voting. The results appear below. A quick football poll is now open. Good luck, everyone.

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The People's Choice - Week 1

Thanks to you, the Internet, the People's Pigskin has its lineup for its season debut, a People's League matchup against Beanie's Weenies. Here's who you selected for our starting lineup.

Quarterback. It really was never a contest here. Everyone chose Peyton Manning to start against the Houston Texans.

Running back. A mild surprise here. Michael Turner, as expected, starts in one spot. He gets the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, Darren McFadden gets the other starting spot over Knowshon Moreno and Justin Forsett. McFadden faces the Tenneessee Titans.

Wide receiver. All your votes went to three receivers: Calvin Johnson (who faces the Chicago Bears), Dwayne Bowe (who gets the San Diego Chargers tomorrow night) and Chad Ochocinco (who faces the New England Patriots). Since Ochocinco and Bowe got more votes than either Moreno or Forsett, we're using Ochocinco for the flex spot.

No surprises either at tight end (Antonio Gates, who faces the Kansas City Chiefs tomorrow night) or kicker (Jeff Reed against the Atlanta Falcons).

The poll results appear below. The polls for next week's NASCAR Sprint Cup race are available now. Please vote now, and enjoy the games!

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The Draft Results Are In

It's not quite as momentous or historic an event as, say, the invention of the Big Mac, but it's a moment of pride nonetheless.

The People's Pigskin has completed its second annual draft, and as a result, the Internet's favorite fantasy football team has a fairly strong lineup to test the theory that the masses can do just as well as the "experts" in running a fantasy team. Here are the round-by-round results.

Round 1. The People's Pigskin drew the ninth spot out of 10 teams, and all six of the players selected in the who should top our draft board polls were taken in the first seven picks. We responded by taking the best player left, Michael Turner. No truly shocking picks, except Tony Romo's pick at No. 10 overall.

Round 2. One of the side effects of picking 9th in a 10-team draft is picking again three picks later. Drew Brees didn't make it to this round, so we took the second-rated quarterback on our board, Peyton Manning. And a few weeks ago, you would have won a few bets if you guessed that someone would pick Arian Foster in the second round of a fantasy draft.

Round 3. Time to get a receiver, but none of our top four receivers made it this far. (Brandon Marshall almost did.) We took Calvin Johnson.

Round 4. Again, a quick turnaround. We took Knowshon Moreno, the winner of this year's T.J. Houshmandzadeh award for "player whose name the people who run this blog will be able to spell in their sleep by Halloween."

Round 5. Dallas Clark continued his habit of coming off the draft board ridiculously early (in the fourth round, along with Vernon Davis), but we got the tight end who was ranked second on our board, Antonio Gates.

Round 6. Time to get a second receiver. We went with Chad Ochocinco, who, despite his ongoing love affair with himself, manages to put up solid numbers season after season.

Round 7. This round saw a run of tight ends, but we were able to avoid it by taking Dwayne Bowe.

Round 8. Time to get Turner and Moreno a backup. We went with Justin Forsett, since his numbers won't go south if Matt Hasselbeck still have a gimpy back. (By the way, this was the round where the first defense/special teams, the New York Jets, was selected.)

Round 9. Since the Jets escaped our grasp, we went with the next-best option, according to our draft board, the Minnesota Vikings. They went eight picks after NFL2K10 RedZone took the first kicker, Nate Kaeding. And you probably already know what I would say here, so let's just move on.

Round 10. Time for another receiver. We went with Robert Meachem.

Round 11. We missed out on our chance to get Donovan McNabb as our backup QB, so we picked Chad Henne instead.

Round 12. Three more kickers found homes in this round, but we selected Kenny Britt as a backup receiver.

Round 13. Santonio Holmes did not make it down to us in this round, so we grabbed a third QB in Vince Young.

Round 14. We rounded out our running game with Darren McFadden, while two other players drafted kickers, including NFL2K10 RedZone, who made David Akers his backup kicker. Or something.

Round 15. The boneheaded move of the night goes to the People's Pigskin, which forgot about Montario Hardesty's injury and drafted him. Just goes to show that you don't need to have any intelligence to write about fantasy football. (Don't worry; we already have a waiver claim on Kevin Smith to take his spot.)

Round 16. Four teams waited until this round to draft a kicker, including the People's Pigskin, which selected Jeff Reed.

What do you think of our lineup? Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the football lineup polls are open. Most of them will stay open until Sunday morning. The one about the Vikings defense/special teams will close Thursday, since the Vikings play the New Orleans Saints in the season opener. Feel free to vote now.