The People's Choice - Week 9

Daylight Savings Time is in our rear view mirror, and Thursday night football is just around the corner. (We'll discuss that further on Monday.) In between those two events, you, the Internet, have selected a lineup for the People's Pigskin. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team may be 2-6, but we're putting on a brave face and, with your help, fielding this lineup against the Arcadia Roses.

Quarterback: It's unanimous. You, the Internet, want to see Eli Manning take on the New England Patriots for the first time since this game. Well, you've got it. Eli takes the field late Sunday afternoon.

Running back: There were two clear winners in this poll to select two starters. They are Ray Rice (facing the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night) and Michael Bush (hosting the Denver Broncos in a late afternoon game).

Wide receiver/Flex: Three wide receivers dominated the voting, so all three are going to get starts over the third-place running back (Danny Woodhead). Your winning receivers are Larry Fitzgerald (in a late afternoon game against the St. Louis Rams), Plaxico Burress (visiting the Buffalo Bills) and Wes Welker (in a late afternoon game against the New York Giants.

Yes, the people who run this blog have noticed the "Q"s next to Burress and Welker. All indications are that both players should play today. However, if they can't, we have backups available to plug in, and we'll let you know if we're forced to use them.

There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten, taking on the Seattle Seahawks), defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, who play the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night) or kicker (John Kasay, looking to bounce back against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers).

Thanks again for your contributions. We'll be back with the People's League predictions.

Fearless Predictions - Week 6

You don't need to hear Hank Williams to be ready for some football. We at the People's Pigskin are always ready for a good game. We're also always ready to pick a fantasy football matchup or two. So, without further ado, here are the predictions for this weekend's games in the People's League. Last week's picks went 3-2, leaving us with a season record of 12-13.

People's Pigskin vs. Team Brotherton. If things hold true to form, Tony Romo should find more passing lanes against the New England Patriots than Donovan McNabb finds against the Chicago Bears. Romo may not necessarily win his game, but he'll help the Pigskin win its game.

t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs vs. Hudson Valley Hawks2. There are injuries, and then there are injuries. Missing LeGarrette Blount and Julio Jones will hamstring the Buccs and help the Hawks go to 5-1.

Glen Gardner's Finest vs. Minneapolis Houll. To pull this one off, the Finest will need the New York Jets defense/special teams to stomp on the Miami Dolphins. Fortunately, the Dolphins feature both a backup quarterback and a coach who's about two days away from hearing "Dead Coach Walking" in the hallway. The Finest will get over the hump on Monday night.

Arcadia Roses vs. LA Lockouts. Don't look now, but the top running back in fantasy football is . And he gets to face a banged-up New York Giants defense. He'll be the difference in a Roses victory.

VinSethVaughn Bears vs. Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85. One of the advantages of loading your fantasy team with players from a single team is that sometimes you'll walk into the Sunday night or Monday night game with enough weapons to erase a major deficit. The Bears have three Chicago Bears in the starting lineup for Sunday night's game against the Minnesota Vikings. That gives the fantasy Bears the ability to come from behind and beat the BearDowns.

Enjoy the games, everybody. We'll be back with some results.

Back Down to .500

The People's Pigskin had almost as bad a weekend as the Philadelphia sports fans.
The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to the t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs by a score of 113-98. The final dagger was a touchdown run by LeGarrette Blount, which made what happened to our quarterback irrelevant. (More on that in a moment.) The loss drops our record to 2-2.
Here are the scoring details:
Tony Romo, QB: 34 of 47 passing for 331 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions and 19 fantasy points. See if this sounds familiar. Romo got off to a blazing start and then took just enough off the table for his Dallas Cowboys to lose.
Ray Rice, RB: 25 rushes for 66 yards, 2 receptions for 64 yards, 1 touchdown and 18 fantasy points. Rice got the only offensive touchdown scored by either team in Sunday night's return (and turnover) fest against the New York Jets.
Joseph Addai, RB: 11 rushes for 41 yards, 1 reception for 7 yards and 4 fantasy points. Addai's Indianapolis Colts had better figure out some way to win that doesn't involve sending Peyton Manning to Lourdes.
Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 8 receptions, 102 yards and 10 fantasy points. Fitzgerald became the top receiver in Arizona Cardinals history on Sunday. But he lost the spotlight to a receiver who forgot to get tackled.
Wes Welker, WR: 9 receptions, 158 yards, 1 touchdown and 21 fantasy points. Welker -- currently the NFL's leading receiver, by the way -- actually accounted for about two thirds of Tom Brady's passing in a bounceback victory over the Oakland Raiders.
Danny Woodhead, Flex: 2 rushes, 13 yards and 1 fantasy point. Woodhead left the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury.
Jason Witten, TE: 8 receptions, 94 yards, 1 touchdown and 15 fantasy points. Witten found the end zone for the first time this season. Just goes to show you don't need a bunch of touchdowns to be dominant in this game.
Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 17 points allowed and 1 fantasy point. It doesn't take long for a team to go from Super Bowl contender to looking long in the tooth. And James Harrison's eye socket fracture certainly won't help things.
John Kasay, K: 3 for 5 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 9 fantasy points. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Bench: Eli Manning scored 18 points in a come-from-behind New York Giants victory. Michael Bush added 13 points, and Percy Harvin (who sat in favor of Woodhead) scored 10.
Now we turn for the first time this NFL season to bye weeks. This week's recipients of a free week off are Romo, Rice, Witten and Mike Sims-Walker. That's why this week's lineup polls (now appearing below the NASCAR polls) look a little slimmer than usual. Nevertheless, we need your help picking a lineup to face the Arcadia Roses. Please feel free to vote now and/or leave a comment about what we should do next. Thanks.

You Can Do Better. Really.

If you play fantasy sports, chances are you use a Website. You know, unless you enjoy crunching stats on a calculator every Tuesday morning to figure out if you beat your neighbor.

Every site has its own unique characteristics. And every Website you'll encounter (including this one) is made by human beings, who carry all the same frailties as every other human being.

But sometimes the frailties are more noticeable than others.

The people who bring you the People's Pigskin are involved in another league with some of the people from the 9beersfantasysportstavern site. For the second year in a row, this league is using FoxSports.com as its host. This is because we were promised the site had improved since last year, when it was abysmal.

One of the features of this site is a "Best Available" page. Let's say you need to make a quick roster switch, because somebody was injured or suspended or just isn't living up to his new contract. This page is supposed to show you the three best players available at any particular position.

Please note the use of the word "supposed."

As of Thursday, September 29, the three running backs listed as "Best Available" on this site were Ryan Torain, Ronnie Brown and, holding the number 1 spot on this list, Jamaal Charles. That's right, the Jamaal Charles who's out for the season.

Want a wide receiver? The three receivers listed as "Best Available" on this site were Mike Williams (Seattle Seahawks version), Austin Collie and, again, holding the number 1 spot on this list, Kenny Britt. That's right, the Kenny Britt who limped off fantasy football rosters across the country this past Sunday.

How about a quarterback? One would expect the free agent pickings to be slim, since every decent fantasy player keeps at least two QBs on the roster. But on this site, the three "Best Available" ones are Tim Tebow, Kerry Collins and, though he doesn't sit at number 1, David Garrard. Yes, you guessed it. The David Garrard who was fired right before opening day.

It's safe to say there are still a few bugs.

Remember to vote for the lineup polls. The NASCAR ones close Friday night. The football ones close Saturday night. Thanks.

The People's Choice - Week 3

On this first Sunday of autumn, we are pleased to report that you, the Internet, came through again. You registered your votes (and, by extension, your concerns) on the People's Pigskin lineup for this week. Here are the players who will take the field for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team as they take on the VinSethVaughn Bears.
Quarterback: You had enough concerns about Tony Romo's midsection to turn his "questionable" status into a "let some other fantasy team take the chance" status. As a result, you decided to start Eli Manning instead. He'll face the Philadelphia Eagles and hope he doesn't face a Miracle of the Meadowlands, Part 3. (Yes, I know the game is in Philadelphia. Work with me here.)
Running back: It's no surprise that the top vote-getter in this poll was Ray Rice. He suits up in the late afternoon against the St. Louis Rams. What might surprise is that the runner-up was Joseph Addai. He gets a few extra hours to prepare for the Sunday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wide receiver: This week's receiver poll resulted in a three-way tie involving Larry Fitzgerald, Wes Welker and Percy Harvin. Since there are two spots labeled "wide receiver," we'll use ESPN's week 3 projections to break the tie. Fitzgerald (19), who visits the Seattle Seahawks in the late afternoon, and Harvin (15), who plays the Detroit Lions, edge out Welker (14). However...
Flex: Since Wes Welker got more votes than the third-place running back (Michael Bush), he gets this spot for his matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
There were no changes at tight end (Jason Witten, who has a Monday night date against the Washington Redskins), defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers, playing the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night) or kicker (ageless wonder John Kasay, facing the Houston Texans).
Thanks for your votes, everybody. We'll be back with the People's League predictions.

Your Vacation Is Officially Over

A generation ago, even the most diehard football fans wouldn't have dared to think that the National Football League could form its own television channel and keep people tuned to it 12 months a year. But these days, you might feel cheated when this channel interrupts its live updates to bring you a Super Bowl rerun.
That's the way sports are these days, especially if you're a fantasy player. When the NFL had its lockout, all we wanted to know was when it was going to end. Now that the lockout and preseason are over, we want to know who's going to play. If you have a fantasy football team, you better not think you can ignore it for six days, come back to it on Sunday and rest assured that your team's fortunes haven't changed.
On Tuesday, if you were paying attention, you learned that the Jacksonville Jaguars had waited until five days before their season opener (and after he appeared at a chamber of commerce luncheon) to fire David Garrard. At first glimpse, this may not seem like a major concern to fantasy football players, since the only reason you would have been starting Garrard is because you had found a bad quarterback league. But football is a team sport, and one player's misfortune affects so many others. Did you spend your late first round pick on Maurice Jones-Drew? Will he now be facing a defense featuring 11 nose tackles? Maybe you took a flyer on a Jaguars receiver in the 13th round. Are you sure Luke McCown even knows that receiver's name?
Then, on Wednesday, if you were paying any attention at all, you learned that Peyton Manning won't be ready to play Sunday. If you rolled the dice and drafted him anyway, do you have a reliable quarterback to start this week? Do you need to go find Kerry Collins (and pray your opponent for this week didn't just get him off the waiver wire just to burn you)? Do all the other Indianapolis Colts players littering fantasy rosters remain valuable now that Collins is calling the shots? If you wait until Sunday to ask yourself these questions, you may find your alternatives to be quite slim.
And those were the relatively easy calls. We haven't even gotten to things like Arian Foster's photogenic hamstring or Ryan Grant's playing time or whether the Cincinnati Bengals really are stupid enough to let Carson Palmer rot on the shelf to make some short-sighted point. Some of these questions may be resolved by the time this post is published. Some of them may still be in the air at 12:59 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
All of them are why NFL Network won't have to worry about going off the air anytime soon.
Quick reminder: There are polls that need your votes. The kicker poll closes at 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. The fantasy NASCAR polls close Thursday night, and the other fantasy football polls close Saturday night. Please contribute your votes to this experiment in fantasy democracy. Thanks.

Think Before You Draft

In addition to dealing with Hurricane Irene, the people who bring you this fine blog has gone through two fantasy football drafts in the past week. (Neither one was for the People's Pigskin, which will hold its draft Monday night, so you still have time to vote on the fantasy football polls on the right side of this page.) It's amazing how much a draft can sneak up on you, especially when the off-season is sacrificed at the altar of short-sightedness. So it might be helpful to remember some simple rules.
First and foremost, plan ahead. Take a look at the pre-draft settings at your league's Web site, and adjust them if you think whoever compiled them goes to Ricky Williams' old dealer. You never know when Mother Nature is going to decide to interfere with your draft.
In the days leading up to your draft, know what matters and what doesn't. In the long run, Chris Johnson's holdout wasn't going to matter, since everyone knew he would get a new deal in time for the season. And Arian Foster calling you sick for playing fantasy football doesn't matter. But Foster posting a picture of a possibly torn hamstring will matter. As for Vince Young's hamstring, whether that matters remains to be seen.
Next, get online early. If your draft is scheduled to start at 8 p.m., it's best not to try to sign in at 7:59 p.m. For one thing, many leagues will release the draft order a few minutes before your draft starts, so you can get a head start on figuring out who will be available when your turn comes. For another thing, you want to give yourself a few minutes to handle any last-minute computer glitches.
Also, keep an eye on bye weeks. Yes, both of your favorite receivers may be available when you pick. But if both of them are taking the same week off, that will make it twice as hard to field a full lineup when that bye week comes.
And if possible, don't leave early. After one of our drafts, someone sent out an email asking how he got a couple of the players he didn't recall drafting. As it turns out, this player left the room a few rounds early, and the automatic picking feature took over. (Again, it helps to know whose ranked where on your Web site.)
One more thing: Take the kicker last. This serves two purposes. First, it will keep from being laughed at for taking a kicker too early. (In one of our leagues, someone used a keeper protection on a kicker. You can lead some players to water...) Second, if you have to leave a round early, your computer will pick your kicker automatically.
That should be enough to get you through the draft in one piece.
Now you can turn your attention to your Labor Day weekend, the MDA Telethon (yes, it's still on, and yes, the kids still need your help) and Sunday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The three NASCAR lineup polls will close in a few hours, and we need your help to keep the People's Pitstop at the top of our league. Thanks. We'll be back with the results.

OK, Maybe We Need to Try This Again

Do you know why serious fantasy football players have busier Labor Day weekends than Jerry Lewis used to have? It's because serious players hold their drafts as close as possible to Opening Day. They want to have all the preseason games (physical and mental) done and over with before they make their selections.
We're all used to players getting banged up during the preseason. But we may never have had a situation like the one we have this season.
When Peyton Manning announced that he was having a second surgery on his neck, most observers brushed it off. After all, he missed absolutely no regular season playing time as a result of his first surgery. But then a few things happened. First, Manning's backups, Curtis Painter and Dan Orlovsky (remember him?) demonstrated once and for all why they were backups. Then, the Indianapolis Colts signed Kerry Collins. Those two events, when taken together, suggest that someone in Indianapolis suspects Manning may not be ready for the opening Sunday, after all, and they needed a better back up plan than "Start Painter and hope the opponents get lost on the way to the field."
For the NFL fan, of course, Manning's health issues are a lot more pleasant than the issues in the New York Giants defensive backfield, where players are dropping like flies. After all, we know those defensive backs are done for the season, and Manning could very well start all his team's games again. For the fantasy football fan, however, Manning's health issues are far worse. After all, you already know what happened to the Giants, and you can reassess their defense/special teams accordingly. In the worst-case scenario, Manning may not be scratched until right before kickoff.
That's why the People's Pigskin, for the first time in its brief history, is reopening a poll. We asked last week which quarterback we should target first, and you chose Manning by a healthy margin. Now that you know Kerry Collins is an option for Indianapolis, do you want to change your vote? Here's your chance.
The quarterback and running back polls will close Saturday night. The NASCAR polls beneath them about picking a lineup for the People's Pitstop will close Thursday night. Please get your votes in for all of them. Thanks.
We'll be back with a look at this week's race.

The Trouble with a Lockout...

... is that it makes writing a blog about fantasy football so difficult.
As this post hits the Internet, the National Football League and its players are still fighting each other over a boatload of money. However, by the time you read this, the owners and players may or may not have voted to settle their differences and get back to doing the things that generate said money. I imagine it's a little like a pregnant woman being days away from her due date and not being able to plan a lot of things because she could go into labor at any minute.
And speaking of painful things, the lockout complicates every injury-related issue in the football world. Take Peyton Manning, who has a pain in his neck (instead of being one for many people). How seriously should the Indianapolis Colts take his pain if they don't know when the season, or even the preseason, is going to start? And how are we as fantasy players supposed to gauge the relative value of a less-than-100% Manning if we don't know how many games everyone else is going to miss because of the lockout?
Then you have all the fantasy football magazines that hit the newsstands this summer, even though so many of the typical off-season questions have been put on hold. How can you take a fantasy football magazine seriously if it can't tell you where Kevin Kolb will be playing this fall? Surely, if there had not been a lockout, the Philadelphia Eagles would have resolved that matter long ago.
Multiply that question by about a hundred, even if most of the questions would be shrugged off in the fantasy sphere (Carson Palmer? No, thanks.), and you have the recipe for massive amounts of uncertainty -- the worst enemy of a fantasy football players.
Meanwhile, we, like the folks in the opening scene of "Casablanca," sit and wait for a CBA.
And wait.
And wait.
And wait.

Reviewing the Previews (Again)

By now, every fantasy football player is looking back at the season and wondering how everything went so wrong (or, in cases like the Fighting Amish, so right). One popular question: Did I get my advice from a bad source?
In this post, we look back at the predictions offered by four preseason fantasy preview magazines and consider whether they did any better than you would have fared picking your team this way.
QUARTERBACKS
Top 10 (in standard ESPN leagues): Michael Vick, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers, Drew Brees, Josh Freeman, Matt Schaub, Matt Ryan, Joe Flacco.
How the previews fared: There was amazing fidelity among the magazines at this position; nine quarterbacks appeared in all four previews' top 10 lists. ESPN and Fantasy League Football had Flacco in the top 10 and got seven players right. USA Today and the Sporting News substituted Eli Manning for Flacco and got six players right.
What happened: All the magazines thought that Tony Romo would stay healthy and that Mike Martz would at least try to keep Jay Cutler upright all season. And at this point, the less said about Brett Favre, the better.
RUNNING BACKS
Top 10 (actually, 11, because two players tied for 10th): Arian Foster, Adrian Peterson, Peyton Hillis, Darren McFadden, Jamaal Charles, LeSean McCoy, Chris Johnson, Michael Turner, Ray Rice, Maurice Jones-Drew, Rashard Mendenhall.
How the previews fared: It's as if they called each other before their printer deadline to exchange notes. The ESPN, Sporting News and Fantasy League Football previews got the same six players right (Johnson, Peterson, Jones-Drew, Rice, Turner and Mendenhall). USA Today missed on Mendenhall but had the other five players.
What happened: All four magazines showed too much faith in the bones and sinew of DeAngelo Williams and Frank Gore, and they all thought the St. Louis Rams would continue to ride on Steven Jackson's shoulders.
WIDE RECEIVERS
Top 10: Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Lloyd, Greg Jennings, Calvin Johnson, Roddy White, Mike Wallace, Hakeem Nicks, Andre Johnson, DeSean Jackson, Steve Johnson.
How the previews fared: Not well. USA Today got two players right (White and Andre Johnson). Fantasy League Football got those two plus DeSean Jackson. The other two previews got those three players plus Calvin Johnson.
What happened: Let's see ... Randy Moss was traded AND cut by different teams. Miles Austin and Larry Fitzgerald played on teams that tanked. Sidney Rice had migraines. And Reggie Wayne -- who, to be fair, missed the top 10 by two points -- lost a boatload of teammates to injury.
TIGHT ENDS
Top 10 (again, we go to 11 because of a tie): Jason Witten, Antonio Gates, Vernon Davis, Marcedes Lewis, Kellen Winslow, Chris Cooley, Rob Gronkowski, Dustin Keller, Aaron Hernandez, Zach Miller, Brandon Pettigrew.
How the previews fared: More fidelity. The Sporting News and Fantasy League Football got the same four players right (Gates, Davis, Witten and Winslow). USA Today got those four and added Miller. ESPN got those four and added Cooley.
What happened: Everyone in the Western world expected Dallas Clark to be the top tight end again. All four previews also expected stellar performances from Brent Celek and Tony Gonzalez. (Remember: You don't have to be a top-performing tight end to make the Pro Bowl.)
KICKERS
Top 10: Sebastian Janikowski, David Akers, Matt Bryant, Josh Brown, Dan Carpenter, Adam Vinatieri, Neil Rackers, David Buehler, Nick Folk, Jay Feely.
How the previews fared: Each preview got two players right. No preview picked Vinatieri, which is understandable, since it's not like he's ever made a big kick or anything.
What happened: Predicting kickers is always a crapshoot, but all four previews swung and missed on Nate Kaeding, Stephen Gostkowski, Ryan Longwell, Rob Bironas, Mason Crosby and Garrett Hartley.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
Top 10: Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns.
How the previews fared: All four previews hit on the Jets, Packers, Ravens and Steelers. Fantasy League Football made it five right with the Patriots. The Sporting News made it six right with the Bears and Titans.
What happened: Too much confidence in teams that either fired the head coach in midseason (Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings) or let the coach's contract expire at the end of the season (Cincinnati Bengals).
We'll be back with some news about postseason fantasy football.

It Was a Heck of a Run

...but one that came up just short of the goal for the People's Pigskin. We would like to congratulate the Fighting Amish for winning the People's League championship. It was a title that was hard-fought but richly deserved.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team fell this week by a score of 82-67.

The final overall score for the two-week championship was 171-144.
As promised, here is a look at the individual player results.

Peyton Manning, QB: 27 of 41 passing, 264 yards, 2 touchdowns and 18 fantasy points. Manning did his part both for fantasy football teams and for his Indianapolis Colts, who clinched the AFC South title and the conference's No. 3 playoff seed.
Michael Turner, RB: 17 rushes, 67 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 fumble and 10 fantasy points. The second red-zone fumble in as many games has to raise a red flag for the Atlanta Falcons, who nevertheless wrapped up home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs.
Knowshon Moreno, RB: 6 rushes for 41 yards, 1 reception for 2 yards and 4 fantasy points. If the Broncos stick with Tim Tebow next season, his ability to call his own number will hurt the fantasy value of anyone sharing a backfield with him.
Dwayne Bowe, WR: 5 receptions, 68 yards and 6 fantasy points. It didn't help his fantasy cause that Bowe's quarterback was sacked 7 times. Regardless, Bowe ended the season as fantasy football's top receiver.
Kenny Britt, WR: 5 receptions, 85 yards, 1 touchdown and 14 fantasy points. Britt got most of his points on a single throw from Kerry Collins -- before Collins forgot how to take a snap.
Calvin Johnson, Flex: 0 receptions, 0 yards and 0 fantasy points. Yes, Johnson was active for the Detroit Lions, but it seems that just because you're listed as "active" does not mean you will actually ... you know ... take the field. On behalf of fantasy football players everywhere, thanks for resting Megatron for the Pro Bowl, Detroit Lions.
Randy McMichael, TE: 2 receptions, 22 yards and 2 fantasy points. It wasn't a good season to be a top-notch tight end such as Antonio Gates (or Dallas Clark). Will the 2010 injuries shake up the 2011 tight end rankings? We'll find out in a few months.
Washington Redskins, D/ST: 1 interception, 17 points allowed and 3 fantasy points. The Shanahans clearly have a lot of work to do.
Olindo Mare, K: 3 for 3 on field goals, 1 for 1 on extra points and 10 fantasy points. It's safe to say Mare did at least as much as Charlie Whitehurst to get the Seattle Seahawks the NFC West title.
Again, we'd like to thank you, the Internet, for helping us get this far. This season provides strong evidence that the masses know at least as much as the "experts" about how to build a run a fantasy football team.
But don't take this blog off your reading list yet. Fantasy NASCAR will be here before we know it. In the interim, we have the playoffs, the Super Bowl and a season to review. We'll be back.

The People's Choice - Week 17

Championship Sunday is upon us, and once again we at the People's Pigskin must thank you, the Internet, for helping us pick a lineup. Here's who the Internet's favorite fantasy football team will field for the second half of the two-week People's League final against the Fighting Amish.
Quarterback: Peyton Manning has everything to play for today, so he gets the nod for the 16th time this season as he takes on the Tennessee Titans in the late afternoon.
Running back: Two backs split the vote. One was Michael Turner, who will play the Carolina Panthers. The other was Darren McFadden, who won't play anyone because he's inactive. In his place, we are turning to the other running back on our roster, Knowshon Moreno, who's questionable for the late afternoon game against the San Diego Chargers. If he can't go, we've got the next best thing: his backup, Correll Buckhalter, who will take his place in our lineup.
Wide receiver: This poll delivered two winners. Dwayne Bowe plays the Oakland Raiders, and Kenny Britt plays the Indianapolis Colts in the late afternoon.
Flex: For probably the first time all season, neither the running back poll nor the wide receiver one produced a third-place player, so we'll go to the fallback position of projected fantasy points. Calvin Johnson is expected to produce some, so he gets this spot. He plays the Minnesota Vikings.
Tight end: Once again, the winner of this poll was the Antonio Gates/Randy McMichael combo platter. McMichael gets the start in a late afternoon game against the Denver Broncos, since Gates has been put on injured reserve. (We cut Gates to make room for Buckhalter on the Pigskin roster.)
There are no changes at kicker (Olindo Mare, playing Sunday night against the St. Louis Rams) or defense/special teams (the Washington Redskins, who will try to keep the New York Giants out of the playoffs).
Once again, thank you for helping to put us in this position. The poll results appear below, and a ridiculously premature Super Bowl poll is now available for your votes. Enjoy the games. We'll be back with the results.
[polldaddy poll=4305165] [polldaddy poll=4305168] [polldaddy poll=4305174] [polldaddy poll=4305178] [polldaddy poll=4305180] [polldaddy poll=4305189] [polldaddy poll=4300149]

Fearless Predictions - Week 17

As we get ready to say good riddance farewell to 2010, we have one last bit of predicting business left to knock down. That's right; it's time to tell you what's going to happen in the last games of the People's League season. Last week's predictions went 3-2, leaving us with a season record of 54-31.
9th Place Game: cowboys romero vs. t-bay cuervonatersXXL. Any last flicker of hope the Cowboys had of avoiding a last place finish was likely extinguished when Maurice Jones-Drew was scratched from the second straight game the Jacksonville Jaguars absolutely need to win to make the playoffs. The Cuervonaters won last week by 63 points. This week, they'll win again, and the margin may be even bigger.
7th Place Game: Team z vs. NFL2K10 RedZone. This week's game may be closer than it looks on paper (or pixels, unless you're printing these predictions out to read later). The New England Patriots is likely to rest as many starters as possible, so the Zs will have a chance to erase that 26-point deficit. Or at least chip away at it. The Zs should win this week, but not by enough to stop the RedZone from claiming seventh place.
5th Place Game: Chicago VinSethBears vs. Feely Her Up... The VinSethBears won by 24 points last week. And that was before the San Diego Chargers put Mike Tolbert on injured reserve. The Feelys have an otherwise solid lineup, but the VinSethBears have plenty of players with plenty of reasons to play hard, including "We hate the Packers." The Bears should win this week, as well.
3rd Place Game: Hudson Valley Hawks vs. nuckin' futs. The Futs took a six-point lead last week, so the bronze medal is still up for grabs. Arian Foster can get a season rushing title (and perhaps save his coach's job), but Rashad Jennings can be the reason the Jacksonville Jaguars make the postseason. The Hawks will ride Jennings to a week 17 win and the People's League's yellow ribbon.
Championship: People's Pigskin vs. Fighting Amish. The Amish took a 12-point lead last week but likely won't have Michael Vick this week. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team has Michael Turner, who can make sure the Atlanta Falcons' next outdoor game is in August (at the earliest). Look for the Pigskin to win this week and take home the title.
And since you've read this far, you probably already know the drill by now: Vote in the lineup polls on your right. They will close Sunday morning. Until then, happy new year!

Championship Time, Baby!

With the help of you, the Internet, the People's Pigskin is ready to compete for the People's League title.

Last week, the Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to the Hudson Valley Hawks by a score of 82-73. However, the combined score from the two-week semifinal left us with a winning margin of 184-156. Here's a look at the week 15 results.

Peyton Manning, QB: 29 of 39 passing, 229 yards, 2 touchdowns and 17 fantasy points. Manning and his Indianapolis Colts kept their AFC South title hopes alive by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Michael Turner, RB: 25 rushes, 82 yards and 8 fantasy points. Turner was not his usual fantasy self, but his Atlanta Falcons beat the Seattle Seahawks and clinched a playoff spot. Another win will clinch home-field advantage.

Darren McFadden, RB: 20 rushes for 119 yeards, 4 receptions for 39 yards, 1 fumble and 12 fantasy points. McFadden joined the 1,000-Yard Club on Sunday. He failed to do was cross the goal line, but plenty of teammates did that for him.

Calvin Johnson, WR: 10 receptions, 152 yards and 15 fantasy points. Megatron didn't find the end zone, either, but his Detroit Lions broke a 26-game road losing streak. And he's still pretty good.

Dwayne Bowe, WR: 2 receptions, 53 yards and 5 fantasy points. At least it wasn't another donut. And his Kansas City Chiefs kept their AFC West title hopes alive.

Knowshon Moreno, Flex: 4 rushes for 5 yards, 1 reception for 1 yard and 0 fantasy points. Moreno left his game in the first quarter with a rib injury. His status for this week is still up in the air.

Randy McMichael, TE: 5 receptions, 55 yards and 5 fantasy points. McMichael, once again filling in for the injured Antonio Gates, helped the San Diego Chargers beat the San Francisco 49ers and keep their own playoff hopes from dying. He might even have helped Justin Smith get an early shower.

Tennessee Titans, D/ST: 1 interception, 4 sacks, 17 points allowed and 7 fantasy points. The Titans beat up on the Houston Texans, who were probably still feeling a hangover from their overtime loss in Baltimore the previous week.

Olindo Mare, K: 1 for 1 on field goals, 1 for 1 on extra points and 4 fantasy points. Mare's points were held down by the fact that the Seahawks went for 2 after a touchdown.

Bench: Jon Kitna, who can now stop looking over his shoulder at Tony Romo, scored 21 points, while Chad Henne scored 13. Kenny Britt had 12 points. Chad Ochocinco had 3, and Tony Moeaki had 2.

Now we must prepare for a two-week championship matchup against the formidable Fighting Amish. The lineup polls are now open and will close Sunday (or Saturday, if Jon Kitna can build up a lead in his poll; his Dallas Cowboys play Christmas night). The beverage poll is also still open, so feel free to vote in that one, too.

We'll be back with more football thoughts.

The People's Choice - Week 13

Thanks to everybody who voted on this week's lineup for the People's Pigskin. The Internet's favorite fantasy football team can wrap up the top spot in the People's League playoffs with a victory this weekend over the t-bay cuervonatersXXL. Here's who you selected to help us do that.

Quarterback: Once again, Peyton Manning dominated this poll. He starts a late afternoon game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Running back: The two top vote-getters in this poll were Michael Turner (who plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the late afternoon) and Knowshon Moreno (who plays the Kansas City Chiefs).

Wide receiver: Only two receivers drew votes this week. Calvin Johnson faces the Chicago Bears, while Dwayne Bowe faces the Denver Broncos.

Flex: Since no third receiver got any votes, this spot will go to the running back who finished third in his poll: Darren McFadden. He has a late afternoon date with the San Diego Chargers.

Tight end: Speaking of the Chargers, their tag team won this week's poll. If Antonio Gates is active for the game against the Oakland Raiders, he gets the start. If he's not, Randy McMichael will get the start. We'll update this post when we have a resolution. UPDATED 3:30 P.M. Gates is listed as active for this game, so he'll get the start.

No changes in kicker (Olindo Mare, facing the Carolina Panthers in the late afternoon) or defense/special teams (the Tennessee Titans, who face the Jacksonville Jaguars).

Thanks again for voting. The results appear below, and some new polls are now available for voting. The first one deals with replacing the injured Shaun Hill in our roster and will close Tuesday night. The other three deal with this week's Thursday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans. Those will close before kickoff Thursday. Feel free to vote now, and enjoy the games.

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The People's Choice - Week 12

Thanks for taking time out of your busy shopping weekend to cast votes for the People's Pigskin lineup. We now know (for the most part) who will start for the Internet's favorite fantasy football team this week against the Chicago VinSethBears.

Quarterback. Trends may come and go, but Peyton Manning just keeps on churning out poll wins. He'll start against the San Diego Chargers in the Sunday night game.

Running back/flex. This week, we asked you to fill three lineup spots with a single poll. Knowshon Moreno got some love, but not enough to unseat the triumvirate of Michael Turner (facing the Green Bay Packers early), Darren McFadden (facing the Miami Dolphins in the late afternoon) and Dwayne Bowe (taking the flex spot and facing the Seattle Seahawks in another late afternoon game).

Tight end. Here's why we said "for the most part" in the introduction. You, the Internet, voted for the tag team of Antonio Gates and Randy McMichael, who face Manning's Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. If Gates is healthy, he'll start. If not, McMichael will start.

There were no changes at kicker (Olindo Mare against the Kansas City Chiefs) or defense/special teams (the Tennessee Titans against the Houston Texans). And while we were stuffing our faces on Thanksgiving Day, the People's Pigskin was getting 19 points from Calvin Johnson and Chad Ochocinco.

Again, thanks for voting. The results appear below, and a new poll on the upcoming fantasy football playoff season is now available for voting. We'll be back with some results. In the meantime, enjoy the games.

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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.

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.

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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