Fearless Predictions - Season Finale

There's still time to vote on the Nate Washington and Christmas football polls (both of which will close tomorrow) and the lineup poll (which will close Sunday). In the meantime, it's time for one last set of predictions for the Landshark Maniacs fantasy football league. Again, these are two-week matchups, so week 17 will be in play here, too.

Last week's predictions went 4-1, raising our season record to 41-29. The only miss was the win by the Southern Rebels, our opponent in the final round. Here's hoping the Rebels don't hold that against us.

Let's start with the ninth-place matchup between the Houston Wreckin' Crew and Ravens Fan T Sizzle. In this game, it will be important to mind your Ps and Qs--that is, the "probable" and "questionable" statuses throughout both lineups. This matchup will hinge on Michael Turner, who could put up big numbers for the Crew or injure himself on his first carry and put up a doughnut (as he did in last week's game against the Pigskin). My guess is that Turner will show up for the last two weeks and fuel a victory for the Crew.

Next is the seventh-place match between the D.C. Destroyers and T-bay jacks 151rum stumblrs. Both sides have plenty of players fighting for playoff spots, but the most intriguing player is Chris Johnson, who is chasing a postseason bid, a 2,000-yard season and possibly Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record. Since the Titans need to win both games to get into the playoffs, they'll be motivated to feed Johnson the ball early and often. That will mean big fantasy points for him and a victory for the Destroyers.

The fifth-place match for the title of Best Landshark Maniacs Team Not to Make the Playoffs (yes, I just made that title up) pits the People's Pigskin against the Southern Rebels. Which team is the pick here? Let me give you a hint: In the immortal words of Terrell Owens, "I'd love me some of me."

In the playoff consolation game for third place, we have the Hawaiian Surfriders facing Tinks Revenge. As of this writing, the Surfriders have not selected a kicker, but it probably won't matter. Ray Rice is a contender for fantasy football find of the year, and his team is in a "We need to win both games to get into the playoffs" situation, so he'll get the ball early and often. The Revenge gets the win and the proverbial bronze medal.

Finally, we have the Landshark Maniacs championship game, Northeast Dragons vs. Big Lough O. One thing that's striking about this matchup is the proliferation of 1s and 2s under the "position rank" column. We can honestly say that the two best teams are meeting for the title. (Note to college football fans: We used a playoff to get here. We did not need a fraudulent set of polls and computer numbers. Remember: Playoffs rule.)

Anyway, it's hard to find a player who won't be in a position to put up a ton of points over the next two weeks. Even Drew Brees has a reason to keep slinging the ball in the fourth quarter. (The New Orleans Saints have not wrapped up home-field advantage.) The difference here may be the wide receivers. Given the choice, I'll take Brandon Marshall, Andre Johnson and Vincent Jackson over Roddy White, Terrell Owens and even Wes Welker. As a result, I'll take the Dragons to win it all.

We'll be back tomorrow with poll results. Have a merry one.

Looking Back (and Ahead)

Even though the Monday night game has yet to kick off, the People's Pigskin has racked up another loss. We currently trail the Northeast Dragons by a score of 93-83. The Dragons will start Brandon Marshall and the Steelers defense/special teams tonight, but unless Brandon has a few "Wrong Way" Marshall plays in him, the Pigskin's record will drop to 4-5.

Here's a breakdown of our results.

Kurt Warner, QB. The stats: 22 of 32 passing, 261 yards, 5 touchdowns, 1 rush for 3 yards, and 30 fantasy points. A week after his disastrous five-interception outing, Warner made mincemeat of the the Chicago Bears defense. If the rest of our fantasy football team played the way he did, we'd be talking about a resounding victory instead of a defeat.

Matt Forte, RB. The stats: 5 rushes for 33 yards, 6 receptions for 74 yards, and 10 fantasy points. For what it's worth, Forte is one of the few running backs who doesn't become irrelevant in fantasy football when his team gets behind, because he can do as much damage as a receiver as he does as a runner.

Steve Slaton, RB. The stats: 6 rushes for 17 yards, 3 receptions for 12 yards, 1 touchdown, and 8 fantasy points. This week it was Ryan Moats' turn to fumble the ball for the Houston Texans. Slaton held the ball long enough to get it in the end zone -- always a plus for fantasy players.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Flex. The stats: 6 receptions, 34 yards, 1 touchdown, and 9 fantasy points. The Seattle Seahawks were able to beat the Detroit Lions, but no Seahawk covered himself in fantasy glory.

Greg Jennings, WR. The stats: 5 receptions, 61 yards, and 6 fantasy points. Jennings should have had a much bigger day against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who got their first win of the season in spite of their ugly Popsicle-colored uniforms.

Chad Ochocinco, WR. The stats: 5 receptions, 66 yards, 1 fumble, and 4 fantasy points. It's never a good sign when the most memorable part of your starting receiver's day is his attempt to give an official a dollar in exchange for a replay call. (He may end up giving the NFL more than a dollar for that stunt.)

Jeremy Shockey, TE. The stats: 3 receptions, 26 yards, and 2 fantasy points. You would think Shockey would have gotten more involved in the New Orleans Saints come-from-behind win over the Carolina Panthers.

Nick Folk, K. The stats: 2 for 2 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points, and 8 fantasy points. Folk made the most of his chances in a surprising Dallas Cowboys victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Speaking of which...

Philadelphia Eagles, D/ST. The stats: 1 interception, 4 sacks, 20 points allowed, and 6 fantasy points. The Eagles did everything right except keeping the Cowboys out of the end zone.

Bench. Matt Cassel got 20 fantasy points in his debut on the People's Pigskin bench, while Derrick Ward earned 11.

Now, while we wait for the Monday night game, it's time to look ahead to another night: Thursday night. The NFL Network Thursday slate starts this week with the Chicago Bears taking on the San Francisco 49ers. That means we can't wait until Saturday night to make the call on whether Matt Forte should start. As a result, this week we'll have a special poll for Forte alone. This poll will close Wednesday night. Please vote.

We'll be back tomorrow with a more detailed look at next week's matchup.

An Update and a Poll

As we get ready for Sunday night's game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, the People's Pigskin finds itself in a hole. We trail the Northeast Dragons by a score of 84-69. Tonight, we have Nick Folk and the Eagles defense/special teams. The Dragons have Brent Celek tonight, along with Brandon Marshall and the Steelers defense/special teams tomorrow.

While you wait for Al Michaels and the dulcet tones of Cris Collinsworth, here's a new poll. Please vote. We'll be back tomorrow with an update on your favorite fantasy football team (other than your own, that is.) Here are the results of the poll on your team.

[polldaddy poll=2196022]

The People's Choice - Week 9

Once again, I'd like to thank those of you who voted in our lineup poll. The majority of you voted to leave our lineup the way it is now. If you'd like to follow this week's fantasy football matchup against the Northeast Dragons, click here.

You can see the results of our lineup poll below. The other poll will stay up for now. We'll be back later with a new poll and an update on our matchup.

[polldaddy poll=2210047]

Pick the People's Team - Week 9

While you consider what quarterback to pick up off waivers (and that poll will close Wednesday night), it's time to start gearing up for our upcoming fantasy football game. This week's opponent is the 7-1 Northeast Dragons. You can look at our current lineup here. And here's the breakdown.

Quarterback. For the moment, Kurt Warner remains in the starting lineup. There's no question that he had a rough time last week, but the Arizona Cardinals are showing no signs of either shifting their offensive focus away from the passing game or benching Warner. Bonus stat: He's tied with Matt Schaub for most pass attempts this season. If you want to bench Warner anyway, we can start the QB we pick up off waivers. (You can still vote on that, btw.)

Running back. Right now our starters are Matt Forte and (take a deep breath here) Steve Slaton. Yes, Slaton was benched last week after an early fumble, but Gary Kubiak has said Slaton will get some playing time this week against the Indianapolis Colts. If you wish to bench either Forte or Slaton, we can call on Chris "Beanie" Wells.

Flex. We currently have T.J. Houshmandzadeh in this spot. He put up disappointing numbers last week but was still targeted 11 times last week and gets to face the Detroit Lions, whose fans seem to be turning on Matthew Stafford already. Nate Washington can be called into service if you want to bench Houshmandzadeh.

Wide receiver. We get to welcome back to the lineup Chad Ochocinco, who ranks in the top 10 in receiving yards per game. He joins Greg Jennings, who gets to face the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who probably wish they could be facing the Florida Tuskers instead. If you want to bench one of these receivers, T.J. Houshmandzadeh could fill one of these slots, and Nate Washington could take the flex spot.

No changes this week in tight end (Jeremy Shockey), kicker (Nick Folk), or defense/special teams (Philadelphia Eagles).

The new poll is up, along with the quarterback and fantasy team ones. Please vote. We'll be back with more tomorrow.