As Ugly as It Gets

It's hard to tell whether the People's Pigskin had a worse weekend than Tim Tebow, but they are definitely running neck and neck.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost a butt-ugly 81-64 matchup to the LA Lockouts. Our season record is now 2-6, and the losing streak now stands at five games.

Here are all the charisma-challenged details.

Tony Romo, QB: 18 of 35 passing for 203 yards, 1 rush for 9 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 10 fantasy points. It would be nice to say Romo's stats would be better if the Philadelphia Eagles let him play more. But the Dallas Cowboys offense stank just as much as the defense. No, Jerry Jones isn't pushing a panic button, but he's probably considering turning down future opportunities to play on Sunday night.

Ray Rice, RB: 18 rushes for 63 yards, 7 receptions for 36 yards, 3 touchdowns and 27 fantasy points. Feast your eyes on the only bright spot in this report. Rice maximized his opportunities in the red zone and produced a season-high fantasy score.

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 7 rushes for 26 yards, 2 receptions for 13 yards and 3 fantasy points. Williams is being paid like a featured back but certainly isn't be expected to perform like one at this point.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 3 receptions, 98 yards and 9 fantasy points. Most of Fitzgerald's points came on one catch early in the game. Other than that, he fully earned his spot on this list.

Wes Welker, WR: 6 receptions, 39 yards and 3 fantasy points. Welker was a victim of a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that had the New England Patriots' collective number on Sunday.

Danny Woodhead, Flex: 0 rushes, 0 receptions and 0 fantasy points. Woodhead, on the other hand, was a victim of Kevin Faulk's comeback.

Jason Witten, TE: 4 receptions, 28 yards and 2 fantasy points. The good news: Witten was targeted 12 times and clearly remains a go-to guy in the Dallas Cowboys offense. The bad news: It doesn't do any good to be the go-to guy if your offense isn't going anywhere.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 3 sacks, 1 safety, 17 points allowed and 8 fantasy points. Say what you want about Troy Polamalu's hair, but his slapping the ball out of the end zone did wonders for his team's fantasy score.

John Kasay, K: 0 for 1 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 2 fantasy points. You know you're having a bad week when one of the top kickers in fantasy football misses his only field goal attempt of the game.

Bench: This loss could have been different with a different set of starters. Eli Manning scored 21 points from the bench. Percy Harvin scored 10, and Damian Williams scored 6, a week after those two players gave us 1 point combined.

What do we do now? We get ready for our next matchup and hope things will get better. This week's opponent is the Arcadia Roses, who beat the Pigskin 122-86 earlier in the season. And this week's bye week victims are Williams, Brandon Pettigrew and Percy Harvin. And this week's polls are open. They will stay open through Saturday night, which should be plenty of time to round up some friends and get them to vote. Thanks.

The People's Choice - Week 8

Neither nor could stop you, the Internet, from making your voice heard in this week's fantasy football polls. As a result, the People's Pigskin will field this lineup this weekend against the LA Lockouts.

Quarterback: Eli Manning may have the Dolphins on his schedule, but Tony Romo gets the Sundy night spotlight. Maybe that's why Romo won this week's pool. His prime time opponent is the Philadelphia Eagles.

Running back: Two players tied for first place in this poll, despite their less-than-stellar performances last week. They are Ray Rice (who gets to take out his frustrations against the Arizona Cardinals) and DeAngelo Williams (who gets to do likewise against the Minnesota Vikings).

Wide receiver: It should surprise absolutely nobody that Wes Welker won this week's poll, even if he gets a late afternoon game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It also should surprise few that Larry Fitzgerald came in second, even if he does visit the Baltimore Ravens.

Flex: Danny Woodhead, the third-place finisher in the running back poll, got more votes than Percy Harvin, the third-place finisher in the wide receiver poll. Therefore, Woodhead gets the late afternoon start against the steelers.

Tight end: The People's Pigskin will be busy on Sunday night. That's because Jason Witten won his head-to-head voting battle against Brandon Pettigrew and gets the start against the Eagles.

There were no changes at defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, facing the New England Patriots) or kicker (John Kasay, playing against the St. Louis Rams).

Thanks again for voting. We'll be back later with the People's League predictions.

Time to Get Some Help

Once again, the People's Pigskin fell short, though we're getting closer to victory.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to Team Brotherton this week by a score of 84-76. We are now sitting on a three-game losing streak and a 2-4 record.

Before we get to the step we're about to take to turn things around, here's a look at how we got here.

Tony Romo, QB: 27 of 41 passing for 317 yards, 1 rush for 17 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 15 fantasy points. Those stats would probably be higher if Jason Garrett hadn't decided the best way to beat New England was to kill the clock (and force his opponent to use timeouts) by running the ball late.

Ray Rice, RB: 23 rushes for 101 yards, 5 receptions for 60 yards and 16 fantasy points. All that was missing this week was the touchdown, which was taken by the vulture Ricky Williams. (Remember him?)

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 12 rushes for 44 yards, 1 reception for 2 yards and 4 fantasy points. One has to wonder if the Carolina Panthers would win a little more if they relied a little less on Cam Newton to carry the offensive workload.

Wes Welker, WR: 6 receptions, 45 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. If this is what happens when the defense focuses all its efforts on taking the best receiver in football out of the game, imagine what happens when the defense has to worry about something else.

Plaxico Burress, WR: 1 reception, 16 yards and 1 fantasy point. Burress looked more than just a little off against a winless Miami Dolphins team on Monday night. Who knew a prison sentence could do that to you?

Michael Bush, Flex: 10 rushes for 28 yards, 1 reception for 9 yards and 2 fantasy points. The good news: Those 10 carries were a season high for Bush. The bad news: None of them took him to the end zone. Whether the new quarterback is good or bad news remains to be seen.

Brandon Pettigrew, TE: 8 receptions, 42 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. Pettigrew was actually targeted several times in the end zone. His relationship with Matthew Stafford is obviously much warmer than Jim Schwartz's relationship with Jim Harbaugh.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 5 sacks, 13 points allowed and 10 fantasy points. Now that's more like it.

John Kasay, K: 2 for 2 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Fantasy football players, please note that Kasay, currently tied for fourth among kickers in fantasy scoring this year, was taken in the last round of our draft.

Bench: Eli Manning led the bench with 11 fantasy points, followed by Jason Witten (10), Percy Harvin (7) and Danny Woodhead (2).

Now, let's talk about our receivers. The People's Pigskin welcomes Larry Fitzgerald back from its bye week, but we'll have to say goodbye to Mike Sims-Walker, whom the St. Louis Rams released Monday to make room for the newly acquired Brandon Lloyd. We'll have to waive Sims-Walker and pick up a wide receiver to take his spot. (Before you ask, Lloyd is taken.) That's why we have a new poll today. According to ESPN, the top four wide receivers available to pick up in the People's League are Steve Breaston, Damian Williams, Jacoby Ford and Doug Baldwin. They are featured in our newest poll, which will close Wednesday night. Please vote now. And if you think we should get someone else instead, please fire off a comment.

We'll be back with some more thoughts on what happened Sunday.

The People's Choice - Week 6

UPDATED 12:30 P.M. Sims-Walker is surprisingly inactive this week, so we are calling an audible and starting Michael Bush, after all. He faces the Cleveland Browns in a late afternoon game.

As you go through your normal Sunday morning routine, we're glad you've taken a moment to check in with the People's Pigskin. We're also glad you voted on the lineup the Internet's favorite fantasy football team will use in this week's People's League matchup against Team Brotherton.
Quarterback: Both of the quarterbacks on our roster were available again this week, but you liked Tony Romo slightly more than you did Eli Manning. Romo gets the start this week and faces the New England Patriots late Sunday afternoon.
Running back: That long touchdown last week must have really made an impact. The winner of this week's poll is DeAngelo Williams (who plays the Atlanta Falcons). Ray Rice took the runner-up spot and will take on the Houston Texans (minus Mario Williams) in a late afternoon game.
Wide receiver: We have another surprising winner in this poll. That would be Plaxico Burress, who hosts the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. The other starting spot goes to -- who else -- Wes Welker, who plays the Dallas Cowboys in a late afternoon game.
Flex: This week's battle of third-place poll finishers pitted running back Michael Bush against wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker. Using the projected points as the tiebreaker, Sims-Walker (5) edges out Bush (2). He'll get the Green Bay Packers.
Tight end: Despite what happened Saturday night, the Detroit resurgence keeps rolling along. The latest evidence comes from this poll, in which Brandon Pettigrew beat out Jason Witten. Pettigrew welcomes the San Francisco 49ers this week.
There were no changes at defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Jacksonville Jaguars) or kicker (John Kasay, taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a late afternoon game.)
Thanks again for voting. We'll be back later this morning with People's League predictions.

OK, This One Hurt

If you play fantasy football for any length of time, eventually you will suffer a beatdown like the one the People's Pigskin experienced.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to the Arcadia Roses by a score of 122-86. This lowered our season record to 2-3.

Here are the scoring details, which are almost as gory as some of the signs from the Wall Street protests.

Eli Manning, QB: 24 of 39 passing for 420 yards, 3 rushes for 5 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble lost and 20 fantasy points. This season, the People's Pigskin seems to be collecting quarterbacks with a propensity for late turnovers.

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 9 rushes, 1115 yards, 1 touchdown and 17 fantasy points. As so often happens in fantasy football, most of Williams' points came from a single play. But we'll take it all the same.

Joseph Addai, RB: 6 rushes for 19 yards, 1 reception for 6 yards and 1 fantasy point. Addai left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. That's something we'll have to monitor throughout the week.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 4 receptions, 66 yards and 6 fantasy points. Fitzgerald's fantasy points dropped for the third straight week.

Wes Welker, WR: 5 receptions, 124 yards and 12 fantasy points. That point total would be much higher if Darrelle Revis hadn't stopped him from scoring on his 73-yard catch.

Percy Harvin, Flex: 1 rush for 12 yards, 1 reception for 11 yards and 2 fantasy points. Someone on the Minnesota Vikings must have remembered that they had Adrian Peterson on the active roster.

Brandon Pettigrew, TE: 4 receptions, 39 yards, 1 touchdown and 9 fantasy points. That touchdown helped the Detroit Lions reach 5-0 for the first time since this man was president.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 1 interception, 3 sacks, 17 points allowed and 6 fantasy points. No one will confuse this year's Steelers with the Steel Curtain, but as long as they keep winning, no one in Pittsburgh will mind.

John Kasay, K: 3 for 3 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 13 fantasy points. Don't look now, but the 41-year-old Kasay is now the third-highest fantasy scorer among kickers. We may have a debate about what to do with him when his bye week comes up.

Bench: This report will be short but not sweet. Plaxico Burress scored 4 fantasy points. Everyone else was on a bye week, injured or ignored by his team.

This week, we get several of those bye-week players back, including Jason Witten, Tony Romo and Ray Rice. But we send Fitzgerald to the bench for this week's matchup against Team Brotherton. And we certainly need your help filling out our roster. Therefore, the lineup polls are now open (below the NASCAR polls on the right side of this page) and will close Saturday night. Please do your part to help us turn this ship around. Thanks.

The People's Choice - Week 5

It's Sunday morning again. And if you're reading this blog, chances are your morning routine includes setting your fantasy football lineup. The People's Pigskin is able to set its roster thanks to you, the Internet. You overcame the many questions that arise during bye weeks and picked this lineup for this week's People's League matchup against the Arcadia Roses.
Quarterback: Tony Romo's much-needed week off helped make this selection easy. You chose to start Eli Manning instead of taking a chance on the waiver wire. Manning hosts the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday.
Running back: There were two clear-cut winners of this poll. Fortunately, there are two clear-cut spots for running backs in the starting lineup. They go to Joseph Addai (who takes on the Kansas City Chiefs) and DeAngelo Williams (who faces the New Orleans Saints).
Wide receiver: As should be expected by now, the winner of this poll was Larry Fitzgerald, who visits the Minnesota Vikings this week. In second place, we have a tie between Wes Welker and Percy Harvin. Turning to the points projections as a tiebreaker, Welker (19) easily beats out Harvin (13) for the starting spot. He'll play in a late afternoon game against the New York Jets.
Flex: This battle between the third-place running back (Michael Bush) and the third-place wide receiver (Percy Harvin) goes to Harvin by virtue of the points projections (13-9). He gets the Arizona Cardinals today.
Tight end: It's always fun to have a fantasy player take the field in prime time to help you cement a win or erase an afternoon deficit. This week, thanks to Jason Witten's bye week, that role falls to Brandon Pettigrew, who will entertain the Chicago Bears on Monday night.
There were no changes at defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, who face the Tennessee Titans) or at kicker (John Kasay, who visits the Carolina Panthers).
Thanks again for your votes. We'll be back later this morning with the People's League predictions.

Our First Victory of the Season

It's easy to get nervous when you're playing fantasy football against someone who has Michael Vick as a starter, but the People's Pigskin can now breathe a sigh of relief.
The Internet's favorite fantasy football team beat Glen Gardner's Finest by a score of 109-71. That lifts our season record to 1-1.
Here's how we did it.
Tony Romo, QB: 20 of 33 passing for 345 yards, 2 touchdowns and 21 fantasy points. How do you extinguish questions about your ability to perform under pressure? By making a big play in overtime to lead your team to victory. Of course, the pressure questions have been replaced with questions about his ribs, which we'll have to monitor closely this week.
Ray Rice, RB: 13 rushes for 43 yards, 5 receptions for 53 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. Yes, his production against the Tennessee Titans dropped from last week against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But he's definitely a keeper.
DeAngelo Williams, RB: 5 rushes for 13 yards, 4 receptions for 23 yards and 3 fantasy points. Yes, it's hard to shine in Cam Newton's shadow, but eventually Williams has to start performing like a player who signed a big contract in the off-season.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 7 receptions for 133 yards, 1 touchdown and 19 fantasy points. Play like this one are what everyone had in mind when Arizona traded for Kevin Kolb.
Wes Welker, WR: 7 receptions, 81 yards and 8 fantasy points. No, Welker didn't get another 99-yard touchdown, but he will remain a fantasy factor as long as he's running patterns for Tom Brady.
Percy Harvin, Flex: 2 rushes for 18 yards, 7 receptions for 76 yards, 1 fumble lost and 6 fantasy points. This shows that you can get just as much fantasy production from a player on a struggling team as you can from a player on a Super Bowl contender.
Jason Witten, TE: 7 receptions, 102 yards and 10 fantasy points. If you're paying attention, you've noticed that four different starters for the People's Pigskin caught seven passes. We're sure that's a coincidence and not some football conspiracy.
Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 5 sacks, 0 points allowed and 13 fantasy points. It seems as if the Seattle Seahawks had the cure for whatever ailed the Steelers.
John Kasay, K: 3 for 3 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 14 fantasy points. This 53-yarder helped Kasay post a double-digit fantasy score for the second time in as many weeks.
Bench: Joseph Addai, who lost this week's flex faceoff to Harvin, scored 9 points. Michael Bush scored 8 points. We'd give you Eli Manning's score, but he plays Monday night against the St. Louis Rams.
Now that we have that first win, it's time to start working on collecting our second against the VinSethVaughn Bears. To do that, we'll need your help. The polls are now open and will stay open through Saturday night. Please vote now.
We'll be back with NASCAR results when (and if) they become available.

The People's Choice - Week 2

Before we make the switch from your usual morning beverage to the unofficial beverage of the People's Pigskin, it's time to thank you, the Internet, for another week of input. Thanks to your votes, the Web's favorite fantasy football team has a strong roster to bounce back from last week's loss. Here's who will take the field against Glen Gardner's Finest.
Quarterback: Turnovers aside, Tony Romo showed you enough talent to keep his starting spot. He will visit the San Francisco 49ers late this afternoon.
Running back: The two top vote-getters in this poll were -- no surprise here -- Ray Rice (who visits the Tennessee Titans today) and DeAngelo Williams (who faces the Green Bay Packers).
Wide receiver: Somebody was paying attention on Monday night to something other than Ron Jaworski's language. You gave one starting spot to Wes Welker, who faces the San Diego Chargers late this afternoon. The other spot went to former fantasy football magazine cover boy Larry Fitzgerald. We pays a visit to the Washington Redskins.
Flex: In this week's battle of third-place finishers, we didn't need the projected points tiebreaker. Percy Harvin got more votes than Joseph Addai, so he gets the start. He'll play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten, facing the 49ers), defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, who face the Seattle Seahawks) or kicker (John Kasay, who goes up against the Chicago Bears).
Thanks again for voting. We'll be back a little later with some predictions for the People's League.

The Pigskin's Painful Week 1

The National Football League's opening weekend did not hurt as much for us as it did for Eric Berry or Nate Kaeding, but it came close enough.
The People's Pigskin dropped a heartbreaker to the Hudson Valley Hawks2, losing by a final score of 84-81. We open the People's League season with a record of 0-1.
Here's how we got here.
Tony Romo, QB: 23 of 36 passing for 342 yards, 3 rushes for 9 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 1 fumble lost and 17 fantasy points. Maybe it's unfair to pin this on him, but Romo was one of the last two players representing the Pigskin, and we had this game won until those two late turnovers.
Ray Rice, RB: 19 rushes for 107 yards, 4 receptions for 42 yards, 2 touchdowns and 26 fantasy points. Rice was clearly our star of the week. His ability to find holes (and the end zone) played a critical in a Baltimore beatdown of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
DeAngelo Williams, RB: 12 rushes for 30 yards, 1 reception for 6 yards and 3 fantasy points. While Cam Newton was setting records under center, Williams must have been wondering whether he could get a little love. The good news: He got more carries than Jonathan Stewart.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 3 receptions, 62 yards and 6 fantasy points. The good news is that Fitzgerald got the most targets from Kevin Kolb. That should mean the reception and yardage figures will go up as the season progresses.
Percy Harvin, WR: 4 rushes for 15 yards, 2 receptions for 7 yards, 1 return touchdown and 7 fantasy points. It's a good thing Harvin found the end zone on special teams, because Donovan McNabb's tenure at the Minnesota Vikings got off to a rough start.
Joseph Addai, Flex: 8 rushes for 39 yards, 2 receptions for 13 yards and 4 fantasy points. The conventional wisdom was that, even without Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts had enough offensive weapons to at least tread water. Maybe not.
Jason Witten, TE: 6 receptions, 110 yards and 11 fantasy points. How many things would have changed if Jim Leonhard doesn't tackle Witten on that late deep catch? Well, for one thing, we would have had enough points to win this game.
Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 1 sack, 35 points allowed, and minus-3 fantasy points. It's not often you hear the words "Steelers" and "completely manhandled" in the same sentence. At least, not with the Steelers as the recipient of said manhandling.
John Kasay, K: 2 for 2 on field goals, 4 for 4 on extra points and 10 fantasy points. So what if he's 41 years old? He might be a keeper.
Bench: Wes Welker racked up 28 points (in bunches). Eli Manning scored 14, and former teammate Plaxico Burress scored 13.
This week, the People's Pigskin licks its wounds and gets ready for a week 2 matchup against Glen Gardner's Finest. We need your help to avoid an 0-2 start. The polls are open (below the NASCAR lineup polls) and will remain open through Saturday night. Please vote now. Thanks.

The People's Choice - Week 1

We are (finally) ready for the first Sunday of the National Football League season. Before we get this pigskin smorgasbord under way, we need to thank you, the Internet, for voting on the lineup polls that determine who the People's Pigskin will start this week against the Hudson Valley Hawks2. Here are the results.
Quarterback: Some of these choices will be simple. Tony Romo won this poll by a landslide, so he gets the start. He faces the New York Jets on Sunday night.
Running back: We might not have gotten the running we targeted in our draft, but we do have a few that you like. The top two vote-getters were Ray Rice (who plays the Pittsburgh Steelers) and DeAngelo Williams (who visits the Arizona Cardinals).
Wide receiver: We did get our targeted wideout, Larry Fitzgerald. He won this poll and gets the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Percy Harvin finished second, so he gets the other starting spot. He visits the San Diego Chargers today with his new quarterback.
Flex: This spot can go to a running back or a wide receiver. We will give it to the player who finishes third in his poll and gets the most votes. If there is a tie (as there was this week), we will go with the player projected by ESPN to score more points. This week, Joseph Addai is projected to score one more point than Wes Welker, so Addai gets the nod at the Houston Texans.
No surprises at tight end (Jason Witten, who visits the Jets) or defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, who visit the Baltimore Ravens), and we already used John Kasay on Thursday night.
Grab some popcorn. We'll be back shortly with predictions for this week's action in the People's League.