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.

The People's Loss (and the Next Step)

Congratulations are in order for t-day jacks 151rum stumblrs, who defeated the People's Pigskin by a score of 77-76. Each team had two players put up zero points, so this one could easily have gone either way. Here's a breakdown of our team's letdown.

Kurt Warner, QB. The stats: 26 of 38 passing, 302 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 20 fantasy points. His team had to sweat a goal-line stand by its defense, but the Arizona Cardinals offense clearly goes through Warner.

Steve Slaton, RB. The stats: 13 rushes for 39 yards, 6 receptions for 59 yards, and 8 fantasy points. One has to wonder what would have happened, for both the Houston Texans and the People's Pigskin, if Slaton had been on the field for that goal-line stand.

Donald Brown, RB. The stats: 6 rushes for 22 yards, 2 receptions for 13 yards, and 3 fantasy points. The Indianapolis Colts did go into preserve-the-lead-and-kill-the-clock-with-runs mode with Brown late in the game, but Brown still couldn't find holes in the Tennessee Titans defense.

Brandon Stokley, Flex. The stats: 0 receptions, 1 target, and 0 fantasy points. More on him later.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh, WR. The stats: 5 receptions, 77 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 19 fantasy points. Now, there's the T.J. we all know and love. Matt Hasslebeck's return to form was a godsend for fantasy players who did not give up on his receivers.

Chad Ochocinco, WR. The stats: 7 receptions for 94 yards, 1 fumble, and 7 fantasy points. His Cincinnati Bengals rallied to beat the Baltimore Ravens, but Ochocinco was kept out of the end zone.

Chris Cooley, TE. The stats: 0 catches, 0 targets, and 0 fantasy points. Cooley was held without a catch for the first time since 2004, when he was a rookie. Hopefully, this won't become a trend.

Nick Folk, K. The stats: 2 for 3 on field goals, 2 extra points, and 7 fantasy points. Fantasy football players who started Folk may be the only people outside of Kansas City who were disappointed that Miles Austin scored in overtime to give the Dallas Cowboys a victory.

Philadelphia Eagles, D/ST. The stats: 3 interceptions, 1 safety, 14 points allowed, and 12 fantasy points. Yes, these numbers came against the hapless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but as long as they keep coming (and as long as Donovan McNabb stays upright), we'll take them.

Bench. Jamal Lewis put up 11 points, and Trent Edwards put up 8.

Now, about Stokley, who was held without a fantasy points for the third straight week, it's time for him to go. (Yes, I'm being Mr. Obvious here.) That means it's time for you, the Internet, to vote on who should be picked up off the waiver wire. Here are the nominees.

Nate Washington, Tennessee Titans. He's averaging 7.5 fantasy points a game, and that average would have made the People's Pigskin 4-1 today instead of 3-2.

Kenny Britt, Tennessee Titans. Yes, another Titan, but this one has at least a point in every game this season.

Kelley Washington, Baltimore Ravens. His team is becoming a passing one as much as a running one, so Washington has as good a chance as anyone to get scores on any given week.

Earl Bennett, Chicago Bears. This receiver, whose team had a bye this week, has at least 2 fantasy points in every game this season.

Bobby Wade, Kansas City Chiefs. He has 2 touchdowns to his name so far this season, and this team seems ready to beat somebody.

Those are the nominees. Here is the poll. It will stay open until Wednesday. Please vote now.

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Quick Update and Must Read

Two items of business before the Sunday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Tennessee Titans gets going tonight.

First, I feel a little like NBC right now. The network, looking at the Colts and Titans records thus far, must wish they had this week's selection back. And I wish we had a do-over on some slots tonight. The People's Pigskin currently holds a 71-70 lead over t-bay jacks 151rum stumblrs, but it may not last. The stumblrs have two Colts lining up tonight: Pierre Garcon and Adam Vinatieri. Our team has just one: Donald Brown. We need to hope Brown outperforms Garcon and Vinatieri combined. And betting against Adam in clutch moments is a bad idea.

Second, if you haven't read Michael Silver's interview with Randy Hanson, the Raiders assistant coach whose jaw may or may not have been broken by Tom Cable, you owe it to yourself to do so. Cable and the Raiders will have the National Football League's full resources available to them to get their side of the story out. Hanson, to put it bluntly, won't.

We'll be back tomorrow to wrap up this week and start working on next week.

The People's Choice - Week 5

You, the Internet, have spoken once again on our lineup. You voted to leave it the way it is. And we successfully picked up Chris Cooley for the tight end slot, so here's how we look right now. And if you want to watch our matchup against t-bay jacks 151rum stumblrs, you can click here.

This week's poll deals with a certain reality about football: You probably fell in love with football -- and with a certain football team -- long before you got involved with fantasy football. Please vote.

We'll be back later with an update on this week's competition. Until then, enjoy the games and your Columbus Day weekend.

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