Those of you interested in the People's Pitstop have a couple of hours left to vote on which NASCAR drivers should start for us during Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Kansas Motor Speedway. But now, it's time to discuss one of the many facets of fantasy football that can make you do this.
The best time to be a fantasy football player may be the last few days before the season kicks off. Your team is undefeated, all your players lead the league in points and the NFL is still unpredictable enough to make you think this will be the year. The year you win that coveted trophy, and the the year your team gets to play the big game in the House That Texas Taxpayers Built.
Then the games kick off, and sooner or later, you have to make a choice. Do you maintain faith in the lineup that caught your eye in August, or do you adjust to new realities?
First, let's address the easiest question. You cut your kicker at the first sign of trouble. You don't wait until his team brings in a 46-year-old to try out for the job.
Injuries are also easy -- sometimes. Actually, they range from "injured reserve" easy to "game-time decision" hard. Teams also can make your decision easy by benching your player or giving him his walking papers.
The hard part comes when the player performs poorly but doesn't get sent to the bench. Do you hope that this is the week a player like Brett Favre to play his way out of a slump? Do you assume Rashard Mendenhall will bounce back once his quarterback comes back from his suspension for being stupid? Do you ignore the high draft pick you spent on Larry Fitzgerald and turn to a waiver wire star like Lance Moore?
The truth is that there is no one answer to any of these questions. If there were, there would be far fewer people with opinions touting themselves as "experts," and fantasy football would be far less fun if it were predictable. All you can do is make the decision that you feel is best for you and your team. If your decision turns out to be wrong, at least you can say you followed your heart/gut/instincts. This may make you less likely to want to do this.
The only team that doesn't have this option: the People's Pigskin. We have to do what you, the Internet, tell us to do. So tell us what to do.
We'll be back with the results of the NASCAR polls.
Showing posts with label Houston Texans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Houston Texans. Show all posts
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Recommended Thursday Night Reading
(First, a quick NASCAR note: Remember the other day, when I wrote that Clint Bowyer was a legitimate contender to dethrone Jimmie Johnson as the Sprint Cup champion, as long as he kept passing inspections? Um ... never mind.)
Here are a few links for you fantasy football fans to peruse while you wait for the weekend to arrive.
Yes, the first one is about kickers. Deal with it. I'm sure somebody out there lost a fantasy football game because of what happened to Graham Gano. He was the Washington Redskins kicker who kicked what should have been the game-winning field goal Sunday against Houston, only Gary Kubiak called timeout, forcing Gano to rekick (and miss).
More than a few people are thinking "There ought to be a rule against that sort of thing." But according to the Wall Street Journal, that might not be necessary. The Journal studied NFL kicks attempted since 2000 in overtime or the last two minutes of regulation, and it found kickers are more likely to make their kicks if the opposing coach uses the old "icing the kicker" trick.
Of course, that's cold comfort for those who lost the game thanks to Gano's miss and/or Neil Rackers' subsequent game-winning kick.
So let me get this straight ... The Oakland Raiders are smart for calling on Bruce Gradkowski to start in Week 3 over a healthy Jason Campbell, but the Philadelphia Eagles are crazy for calling on Michael Vick to start in Week 3 over a now-healthy Kevin Kolb? In the immortal words of Chevy Chase, can I get a ruling on this?
(Here's your ruling: Start Vick if you have him. Wait and see on Gradkowski.)
The dummy factor. As long as it involves NFL players, fantasy football will always have to deal with situations like Braylon Edwards' DWI arrest -- which, before we go on, was despicable, especially given the program that the team offers to its players precisely to prevent things like this from happening.
The courts will have their say on the matter in due time, and Roger Goodell may or may not wait until then to render his verdict. In the meantime, the New York Jets have a game to play Sunday night, and their plans for Edwards remain murky. The team has said he won't start but will play against the Dolphins. That could mean he'll miss the first series but will play the rest of the game. It could mean he could make a token appearance in the fourth quarter. It could mean anything in between.
For fantasy players, it means that, in addition to getting ready for the possibility of a suspension down the road, they have to consider Edwards less of an effective option than he would have been as a starter.
All because he didn't pick up his phone and say, "Can I get a lift?"
Please vote now on the NASCAR polls. They will close in a few hours, so we can set the People's Pitstop lineup in time for Friday's qualifying session. We'll be back with the results.
Here are a few links for you fantasy football fans to peruse while you wait for the weekend to arrive.
Yes, the first one is about kickers. Deal with it. I'm sure somebody out there lost a fantasy football game because of what happened to Graham Gano. He was the Washington Redskins kicker who kicked what should have been the game-winning field goal Sunday against Houston, only Gary Kubiak called timeout, forcing Gano to rekick (and miss).
More than a few people are thinking "There ought to be a rule against that sort of thing." But according to the Wall Street Journal, that might not be necessary. The Journal studied NFL kicks attempted since 2000 in overtime or the last two minutes of regulation, and it found kickers are more likely to make their kicks if the opposing coach uses the old "icing the kicker" trick.
Of course, that's cold comfort for those who lost the game thanks to Gano's miss and/or Neil Rackers' subsequent game-winning kick.
So let me get this straight ... The Oakland Raiders are smart for calling on Bruce Gradkowski to start in Week 3 over a healthy Jason Campbell, but the Philadelphia Eagles are crazy for calling on Michael Vick to start in Week 3 over a now-healthy Kevin Kolb? In the immortal words of Chevy Chase, can I get a ruling on this?
(Here's your ruling: Start Vick if you have him. Wait and see on Gradkowski.)
The dummy factor. As long as it involves NFL players, fantasy football will always have to deal with situations like Braylon Edwards' DWI arrest -- which, before we go on, was despicable, especially given the program that the team offers to its players precisely to prevent things like this from happening.
The courts will have their say on the matter in due time, and Roger Goodell may or may not wait until then to render his verdict. In the meantime, the New York Jets have a game to play Sunday night, and their plans for Edwards remain murky. The team has said he won't start but will play against the Dolphins. That could mean he'll miss the first series but will play the rest of the game. It could mean he could make a token appearance in the fourth quarter. It could mean anything in between.
For fantasy players, it means that, in addition to getting ready for the possibility of a suspension down the road, they have to consider Edwards less of an effective option than he would have been as a starter.
All because he didn't pick up his phone and say, "Can I get a lift?"
Please vote now on the NASCAR polls. They will close in a few hours, so we can set the People's Pitstop lineup in time for Friday's qualifying session. We'll be back with the results.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Last Word? Try Opening Salvo
Everyone circles a certain date on the NFL offseason calendar: the day by which all teams must whittle their lineups to 53 players. "Cut day" is known far and wide as the date when many football dreams die, as well as the day when players learn whether they are "safe," or at least as safe as a player ever can be in this league.
It's also the day when we fantasy players are supposed to have some sort of clarity about who's part of a team's plans and who's not. Matt Leinart wasn't part of the plan for the Arizona Cardinals. Ditto for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the Seattle Seahawks.
This year, "cut day" was Saturday, September 4. But it was also the day when some NFL teams seemed to start forming their plans for the 2010-11 season.
Since Saturday, there have been plenty of reports about plenty of players. Some of the stories are absolutely useless to the average fantasy players. In one Yahoo fantasy league, I happen to have Tom Brady, whose name had a "breaking news" icon next to it this evening. The news that Yahoo felt fantasy players needed to know? The New England Patriots are reportedly close to signing Brady to an extension. The effect of that potential deal on this year's fantasy teams? None.
There was also news about a certain Heisman trophy winner (this one, not this one) potentially being stripped of that trophy. The effect of that on this year's fantasy teams? None. As we learned on "cut day" when two former winners got the axe, the NFL hasn't taken a player's trophy case into account for a long time.
Now, on to the post-cut developments that will affect fantasy teams. First, Darrelle Revis made a lot of fantasy players happy by deciding not to extend his holdout into the regular season. So, yes, those of you who drafted the New York Jets defense/special teams way too early can breathe easier.
If you spent a late pick on the Washington Redskins defense, it's time to scan the waiver wire. Albert Haynesworth, the $100 million malcontent who has spent the preseason ticking off his coaches, may soon be out the door. Since all he'd probably draw is draft picks, he will leave a hole in the middle. Whether a hole would be better than Haynesworth is up to fantasy players.
Oh, and as far as Houshmandzadeh, Leinart and Troy Smith are concerned, all three have new homes now. Houshmandzadeh will probably get significant playing time Monday night, while the other two are only a play like this away from being relevant in fantasy football again.
It just goes to show that fantasy football is a seven-days-a-week hobby. Plan accordingly.
We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track.
It's also the day when we fantasy players are supposed to have some sort of clarity about who's part of a team's plans and who's not. Matt Leinart wasn't part of the plan for the Arizona Cardinals. Ditto for T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the Seattle Seahawks.
This year, "cut day" was Saturday, September 4. But it was also the day when some NFL teams seemed to start forming their plans for the 2010-11 season.
Since Saturday, there have been plenty of reports about plenty of players. Some of the stories are absolutely useless to the average fantasy players. In one Yahoo fantasy league, I happen to have Tom Brady, whose name had a "breaking news" icon next to it this evening. The news that Yahoo felt fantasy players needed to know? The New England Patriots are reportedly close to signing Brady to an extension. The effect of that potential deal on this year's fantasy teams? None.
There was also news about a certain Heisman trophy winner (this one, not this one) potentially being stripped of that trophy. The effect of that on this year's fantasy teams? None. As we learned on "cut day" when two former winners got the axe, the NFL hasn't taken a player's trophy case into account for a long time.
Now, on to the post-cut developments that will affect fantasy teams. First, Darrelle Revis made a lot of fantasy players happy by deciding not to extend his holdout into the regular season. So, yes, those of you who drafted the New York Jets defense/special teams way too early can breathe easier.
If you spent a late pick on the Washington Redskins defense, it's time to scan the waiver wire. Albert Haynesworth, the $100 million malcontent who has spent the preseason ticking off his coaches, may soon be out the door. Since all he'd probably draw is draft picks, he will leave a hole in the middle. Whether a hole would be better than Haynesworth is up to fantasy players.
Oh, and as far as Houshmandzadeh, Leinart and Troy Smith are concerned, all three have new homes now. Houshmandzadeh will probably get significant playing time Monday night, while the other two are only a play like this away from being relevant in fantasy football again.
It just goes to show that fantasy football is a seven-days-a-week hobby. Plan accordingly.
We'll be back with a look at this week's NASCAR track.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Umm...Oops
Put simply, the people who bring you this Web site fell asleep before setting the lineup for this week. No excuses. We screwed up. It will never happen again.
Yahoo will not allow us to change our drivers at this point for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It will only allow us to send starters to the bench and vice versa. So the People's Pitstop has the same driver pool we had last week: Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Paul Menard and A.J. Allmendinger. The best qualifiers will start. (Kevin Harvick, who's now ineligible to start, will stay on the bench.)
Meanwhile, on the fantasy football side, you, the Internet, decided that Maurice Jones-Drew should be No. 3 on our draft board (after Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson), and that Andre Johnson should be the top wide receiver on our board.
We have three new polls up now. One asks which football player should be No. 4 overall on the board. The others ask which quarterback we should rank second after Drew Brees and which receiver we should rank second after Andre Johnson. The results from our previous polls appear below. We'll update this after the qualifying session.
Oh, and there are still spots available in the People's League for those who want to match wits with the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.
UPDATED 8:00 A.M. The results are in. Tony Stewart not only beat out Jeff Gordon, but he also earned us a bonus point for qualifying 4th. Jamie McMurray (7th) and Kasey Kahne (11th) get the B List starting spots. A.J. Allmendinger qualified 10th, just two spots ahead of Paul Menard, who will live to start for us another day.
We'll be back with the weekly predictions.
[polldaddy poll=3630901] [polldaddy poll=3630910] [polldaddy poll=3630921] [polldaddy poll=3630934] [polldaddy poll=3630941]
Yahoo will not allow us to change our drivers at this point for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. It will only allow us to send starters to the bench and vice versa. So the People's Pitstop has the same driver pool we had last week: Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Burton, Paul Menard and A.J. Allmendinger. The best qualifiers will start. (Kevin Harvick, who's now ineligible to start, will stay on the bench.)
Meanwhile, on the fantasy football side, you, the Internet, decided that Maurice Jones-Drew should be No. 3 on our draft board (after Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson), and that Andre Johnson should be the top wide receiver on our board.
We have three new polls up now. One asks which football player should be No. 4 overall on the board. The others ask which quarterback we should rank second after Drew Brees and which receiver we should rank second after Andre Johnson. The results from our previous polls appear below. We'll update this after the qualifying session.
Oh, and there are still spots available in the People's League for those who want to match wits with the Internet's favorite fantasy football team.
UPDATED 8:00 A.M. The results are in. Tony Stewart not only beat out Jeff Gordon, but he also earned us a bonus point for qualifying 4th. Jamie McMurray (7th) and Kasey Kahne (11th) get the B List starting spots. A.J. Allmendinger qualified 10th, just two spots ahead of Paul Menard, who will live to start for us another day.
We'll be back with the weekly predictions.
[polldaddy poll=3630901] [polldaddy poll=3630910] [polldaddy poll=3630921] [polldaddy poll=3630934] [polldaddy poll=3630941]
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
A Midweek Link Batch
The NFL gets a head start on week 10 tomorrow, when the San Francisco 49ers will face the Chicago Bears. While you get your lineups ready (and decide what to do with ours), here is some recommended reading.
Further review? I've got your further review. If you feel your fantasy football team was robbed when Ryan Moats fumbled the ball last week against the Indianapolis Colts, think how Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak must feel. Kubiak said he has filed a report with the NFL about how the replay of that fumble was handled:
"The bottom line, they're saying that the ball was not touched by anybody who was out of bounds. Or if it was, it was only touched by Ryan (Moats), who was on top of another player. We thought looking at it that 41 (DB Antoine Bethea) is touching the ball and he's out of bounds."
How far will that report get Kubiak? I'm hoping he's not holding his breath (or anyone else's).
Well, they're both filled with large male human beings. That's a similarity. It can't be easy to be Eric Mangini right now. He has a quarterback with worse stats than JaMarcus Russell, his hand-picked GM is out, and he may be next to get the heave-ho if his owner brings in the football czar he wants.
But Mangini is mounting a defense. (Off the field, at least.) He claims that there are "remarkable similarities" between how his Browns are now and how the New England Patriots were when Bill Belichick arrived. "It was top-heavy financially, there were tough decisions that had to be made, and we didn't have much success that first year."
The Patriots went 5-11 in Belichick's first year there and 11-5 in his second. If Mangini thinks he can pull off something similar in his second year -- heck, if he thinks he can match that 5-11 record this year -- he might be sharing an office with these guys.
It's not just for slackers anymore. The Boston Globe has a nice story about a nursing home that started a fantasy football league for its residents. About a dozen people who are old enough to have watched Sammy Baugh are now monitoring Sammy Morris' stats. If anyone from that league is reading this, kudos to you (and don't be afraid to help our team out by voting in the polls).
If this isn't enough for you... The NFL Network, apparently afraid that some football fans may not feel invested in Thursday's tussle, is offering a Fan Challenge. It's basically a mini-fantasy football league in which you pick from the players involved in the NFL Network's eight Thursday and Saturday night games. No, this guy isn't available. But then again, neither is this guy.
We'll be back with more thoughts tomorrow.
Further review? I've got your further review. If you feel your fantasy football team was robbed when Ryan Moats fumbled the ball last week against the Indianapolis Colts, think how Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak must feel. Kubiak said he has filed a report with the NFL about how the replay of that fumble was handled:
"The bottom line, they're saying that the ball was not touched by anybody who was out of bounds. Or if it was, it was only touched by Ryan (Moats), who was on top of another player. We thought looking at it that 41 (DB Antoine Bethea) is touching the ball and he's out of bounds."
How far will that report get Kubiak? I'm hoping he's not holding his breath (or anyone else's).
Well, they're both filled with large male human beings. That's a similarity. It can't be easy to be Eric Mangini right now. He has a quarterback with worse stats than JaMarcus Russell, his hand-picked GM is out, and he may be next to get the heave-ho if his owner brings in the football czar he wants.
But Mangini is mounting a defense. (Off the field, at least.) He claims that there are "remarkable similarities" between how his Browns are now and how the New England Patriots were when Bill Belichick arrived. "It was top-heavy financially, there were tough decisions that had to be made, and we didn't have much success that first year."
The Patriots went 5-11 in Belichick's first year there and 11-5 in his second. If Mangini thinks he can pull off something similar in his second year -- heck, if he thinks he can match that 5-11 record this year -- he might be sharing an office with these guys.
It's not just for slackers anymore. The Boston Globe has a nice story about a nursing home that started a fantasy football league for its residents. About a dozen people who are old enough to have watched Sammy Baugh are now monitoring Sammy Morris' stats. If anyone from that league is reading this, kudos to you (and don't be afraid to help our team out by voting in the polls).
If this isn't enough for you... The NFL Network, apparently afraid that some football fans may not feel invested in Thursday's tussle, is offering a Fan Challenge. It's basically a mini-fantasy football league in which you pick from the players involved in the NFL Network's eight Thursday and Saturday night games. No, this guy isn't available. But then again, neither is this guy.
We'll be back with more thoughts tomorrow.
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