Today we take a look at the fourth and final matchup. These two teams split their regular season meetings, though that is hard to believe given that the Patriots win was a 45-3 thumping in New England on Monday Night Football about a month and a half ago. Lets take a look at the matchup.
Thoughts on the matchup: Two teams that are very familiar with each other. The key to the matchup will be the quickness of the New England offense vs. the strength and brute force of the Jets defense. I think that the Pats benefit greatly from having three or four good options as opposed to one or two great options at wide receiver. All of their weapons will minimize the impact of stud corners Darelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie.
How the Patriots can win: Well the answer to this is quite simple: just study the game tape of your 45-3 win lol. But Belichick is much smarter then that and knows that all the Jets staff is doing is looking at that tape, so he will need a new strategy. Ultimately, the Pats will have to use their speed to their benefit on offense, while on defense they will need to pressure an already shaken Mark Sanchez.
How the Jets can win: As is the case in virtually every game, the key is the play of your quarterback. But I think its magnified in this case, because if Sanchez plays the same way that he did against the Colts, the Pats are going to destroy him. He needs to figure out his accuracy quick, as he will be trying to fix that and deal with pressure at the same time. For a second year player to have to prepare for a game against Belichick for a third time in a year almost seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
My Prediction: It sounds weird to say, but the Jets probably had a better chance to beat the Pats if Randy Moss was still on the team. Honestly, I don't see how the Jets come out on top here. Only if Sanchez channels his inner Peyton Manning for four quarters do they have a shot. I have the Pats here 34-17.
So with that pick, my final 4 is set. I have New England hosting Baltimore and Atlanta hosting Chicago. Thanks for reading.
New England New York Preview
Seattle Chicago Preview
We got through the really tough games to predict. Today I will start looking at the two sunday games, which on paper are the easier ones to pick, but in the playoffs anything is possible. Today, we have Seattle and Chicago.
Thoughts on the matchup: I'm still in shock that this isn't my Saints in Chicago, but the way they played they didn't deserve to win. Many people probably forget that these two teams met IN Chicago in October and Seattle came out with a 23-20 victory. Can Seattle pull the same magic out? Lets take a closer look.
How the Seahawks can Win: The main thing that the Hawks have going for them is that all of the pressure in the world is on Chicago, as it was last week with the Saints. The Hawks can come out free as a bird, no pun intended, and attack this Bears team. However, this Chicago team is much more solid now then they were on their first meeting, and despite winning in Chicago, Seattle is a totally different team on the road, in a bad way.
How the Bears can win: This defense should be light years ahead of the defense that the Hawks played last week(they shall not be named). The key I think is to get Hasselbeck rattled and put him on the ground early. Against the Saints, he was able to get into a groove and hit receiver after receiver without much opposition. And if they can get a score early, that crowd will start rocking the place.
My Prediction: I think the magical seahawks run has to end here, on the road against a far superior team. I think the Bears come out hungry and motivated and know that for all intensive purposes this a golden opportunity to cruise to the NFC championship to play a team that will be beat up after the Falcons and Packers play. I like Chicago here 27-14.
Tune in tomorrow where I will break down the final matchup of the week: New York at New England. Thanks for reading.
Pittsburgh Baltimore preview
It seems like every year these guys meet in the playoffs, and you know it will be a hard fought classic. Throw records out the window with these two. This game will likely come down to a couple big fourth quarter plays by either squad. Let's look at the matchup.
Thoughts on the matchup: These two teams split their season series but its important to note that Baltimore's win was when big ben was still suspended. Also, the ravens were one super human effort by troy polamulu from sweeping and having this game in their house. Of course home field matters, but when it comes to these two teams, neither one cares where its played.
How the ravens can win: The key will be if the Ravens can make Big Ben pay for his risky plays. Its no secret that he likes to make plays and often times forces things. The Ravens will also have to take away the big play capability of Mike Wallace. On offense, they will have to hit a couple big passes to keep Polamalu in the secondary and off the defensive line.
How Pittsburgh can win: They will have to use the home field to their advantage, and try to grind out their possessions to control t.o.p and wear down the ravens d. On defense, they have to get pressure on flacco and shut down the speedy ray rice.
My prediction: Honestly, flip a coin between these two. The steelers tend to own this matchup in the playoffs but im going to give the ravens who are playing for their safety Ed Reed the edge. I think it will be another instant classic with the ravens winning 20-17.
Thanks for reading.
Fantasy Football Playoffs Suck
I love fantasy football. In my completely biased sports loving opinion, I think its one of the greatest inventions of our generation. I will play it every year until I can't use a computer anymore and when that day comes I will make my kids and grandkids manage my teams. But as much as I love it, I hate the playoffs just as much.
In real sports, a great regular season is rewarded by something so simple yet so powerful: Home field advantage. It is the reason why so many 1 and 2 seeds make the title game. But in fantasy football, there is no home field advantage. Just a matchup against a" lesser" opponent where more often then not you are projected to win by 10 points at the most. I have two 10 team family leagues where 8 make the playoffs, and in those leagues, these are the 2nd round matchups: 8 vs 4 6 vs 7 and 8 vs 4 6 vs 2. So both top seeds are out, one 2, and both 3s because there is no reward for a good regular season. Well I have a few simple ideas that would make the regular season matter more.
The easiest solution would be to impliment an alternate playoff system that mirrors the current nfl system, where the top 2 seeds get byes, 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5. This way, not only do over half the teams still get in, but the top seeds are given the huge reward of a 1st round bye. This seems the easiest, but in the event that yahoo's computers can't handle this, here are a few other simple solutions.
1. Give the higher seeds a point advantage: This would probably be the easiest, and there is an easy way to give the high seeds a bigger advantage. Take the difference in the seeds, double it, and give the higher seed that many points to start. So in 1vs8, 1 would have a 14 pt advantage. 2vs7 a 10 pt advantage. And so on and so on. This way, the top seeds get a benefit, and the lower seeds have a tougher mountain to climb, as they should.
2. Add a flex position for higher seeds: Another option would be to give the higher seed an extra player at either wr or rb. Tbis would give them a bigger advantage, and would reward the deeper teams, because depth doesnt matter in the playoffs rite now. A perfect example would be my #2 team that lost. A team that had santonio holmes, sidney rice, and cedric benson on the bench. While neither player would have given me enough pts to win, it still would have given me a fair advantage given my better season then my bros.
3. Allow one in game change for higher seeds: This is unlikely since it goes against the agonizing yet awesome experience of picking the rite or wrong side of a coin flip just before the game. But it would help a team that loses its star at halftime (cough aaron rodgers) or has two players who have ripped it all year combine for 4.5 pts (cough brandon lloyd and dwayne bowe).
So by adding any one of these perks, it not only emphasizes the regular season had much more, but it makes fantasy more realistic. Thanks for reading.
NFL Top 5 Picks
Last week I really struggled, going 1-3-1 on the week, which accounts for the worst week of my year so far. Still waiting for my 4-1 week lets hope its this week!
5. San Diego at Houston(+3)- It looks like Vegas is back on the Chargers band wagon after last week's big win. I think two things are apparent in this game: San Diego isn't as good as years past, and Houston isn't as good as they were earlier in the year. But I can't pass up a home underdog here when I still feel that the Texans are the better team.
4. New England(-5.5) at Cleveland- The Patriots have quietly managed to get the best record in the league this year. Meanwhile, the Browns are showing improvement, but are still not a fantastic team. I'll take the top team in the NFL over a bottom 5 team by a touchdown any day of the week.
3. New York Jets9(-4.5) at Detroit- Basically, just look above. Same reasoning here. The Jets are too good to not beat the Lions by a touchdown, even though the Lions continue to impress me.
2. Miami at Baltimore(-5)- For my money, the Ravens are still the best team in the league. The Dolphins have been solid this year, especially on the road, where they are undefeated. But I definitely see that ending against this juggernaut of a team.
1. Chicago(-3) at Buffalo- There seem to be alot of common themes this week. Another case of a team that isn't as good as we thought they were, and another case of a game where the favorites have no business winning by less then a TD. Despite the newly high powered bills offense, there defense is atrocious, and not even the freak in his prime could help them, let alone the shell of the player he once was that he is now.
Well those are my thoughts. Let me know what you guys think!
NFL Top 5 Picks
Last week I once again went 3-2, looking like a genius with my Oakland +8 pick lol. Seriously who saw that coming?! Here we go this week my top 5 picks.
Fantasy Football Matchups Week 6
After a slow start to almost all of my teams, I have started to pick up the pace, including having my first 3-0 week of the year for my main family teams. I have a public auto draft team thats 2-3, a public live draft thats 4-1, my family league team is 3-2 with two wins in a row, and my taylor league is 2-3, with both teams notching wins last week. Here are my family league matchups tomorrow.
| QB | (GB - QB)P  | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 24.58 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Den - WR) | NYJ | Sun 1:05 pm | 9.12 | 0.00 |
| WR | (NYJ - WR) | @Den | Sun 1:05 pm | 8.36 | 0.00 |
| WR | (NE - WR)  | Bal | Sun 10:00 am | 13.68 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Atl - RB) | @Phi | Sun 10:00 am | 10.65 | 0.00 |
| RB | (GB - RB) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 8.43 | 0.00 |
| TE | (Ind - TE) | @Was | Sun 5:20 pm | 11.91 | 0.00 |
| K | (Atl - K) | @Phi | Sun 10:00 am | 7.35 | 0.00 |
| DEF | (GB - DEF) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 10.09 | 0.00 |
| QB | (Ind - QB) | @Was | Sun 5:20 pm | 27.52 | 0.00 |
| WR | (GB - WR) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 12.60 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Cin - WR) | Bye | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| WR | (NYG - WR) | Det | Sun 10:00 am | 13.38 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Oak - RB) | @SF | Sun 1:05 pm | 7.68 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Ari - RB) | Bye | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| TE | (Phi - TE)P | Atl | Sun 10:00 am | 9.12 | 0.00 |
| K | (Cin - K) | Bye | 0.00 | 0.00 | |
| DEF | (Ten - DEF) | @Jac | Mon 5:30 pm | 8.67 | 0.00 |
| QB | (Min - QB)Q  | Dal | Sun 1:15 pm | 18.95 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Oak - WR) | @SF | Sun 1:05 pm | 5.71 | 0.00 |
| WR | (NYJ - WR) | @Den | Sun 1:05 pm | 7.89 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Bal - WR) | @NE | Sun 10:00 am | 6.79 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Jac - RB) | Ten | Mon 5:30 pm | 18.23 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Phi - RB)P | Atl | Sun 10:00 am | 16.28 | 0.00 |
| TE | (Min - TE)P | Dal | Sun 1:15 pm | 7.33 | 0.00 |
| W/R | (SD - RB)P | @StL | Sun 10:00 am | 7.49 | 0.00 |
| K | (GB - K) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 7.88 | 0.00 |
| DEF | (Atl - DEF) | @Phi | Sun 10:00 am | 8.47 | 0.00 |
| QB | (GB - QB)P | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 23.24 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Ind - WR) | @Was | Sun 5:20 pm | 12.44 | 0.00 |
| WR | (GB - WR)P | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 10.91 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Dal - WR) | @Min | Sun 1:15 pm | 13.43 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Ind - RB)Q | @Was | Sun 5:20 pm | 9.47 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Mia - RB) | @GB | Sun 10:00 am | 10.60 | 0.00 |
| TE | (NE - TE) | Bal | Sun 10:00 am | 8.47 | 0.00 |
| W/R | (Pit - WR) | Cle | Sun 10:00 am | 10.06 | 0.00 |
| K | (Oak - K) | @SF | Sun 1:05 pm | 7.59 | 0.00 |
| DEF | (Pit - DEF) | Cle | Sun 10:00 am | 15.46 | 0.00 |
| QB | (Dal - QB) | @Min | Sun 1:15 pm | 21.51 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Den - WR) | NYJ | Sun 1:05 pm | 8.03 | 0.00 |
| WR | (NYG - WR) | Det | Sun 10:00 am | 8.27 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Min - WR) | Dal | Sun 1:15 pm | 11.26 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Atl - RB) | @Phi | Sun 10:00 am | 11.41 | 0.00 |
| RB | (GB - RB) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 9.01 | 0.00 |
| TE | (Ind - TE) | @Was | Sun 5:20 pm | 11.41 | 0.00 |
| W/R | (SF - WR) | Oak | Sun 1:05 pm | 6.15 | 0.00 |
| K | (SD - K) | @StL | Sun 10:00 am | 9.10 | 0.00 |
| DEF | (GB - DEF) | Mia | Sun 10:00 am | 10.09 | 0.00 |
| QB | (SD - QB) | @StL | Sun 10:00 am | 21.81 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Chi - WR) | Sea | Sun 10:00 am | 6.91 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Cle - WR)P | @Pit | Sun 10:00 am | 4.24 | 0.00 |
| WR | (Phi - WR) | Atl | Sun 10:00 am | 12.35 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Ten - RB) | @Jac | Mon 5:30 pm | 16.91 | 0.00 |
| RB | (Den - RB)Q | NYJ | Sun 1:05 pm | 9.16 | 0.00 |
| TE | (SD - TE) | @StL | Sun 10:00 am | 12.11 | 0.00 |
| W/R | (Dal - WR) | @Min | Sun 1:15 pm | 6.77 | 0.00 |
| K | (Ten - K) | @Jac | Mon 5:30 pm | 8.04 | 0.00 |
| DEF | (NYJ - DEF) | @Den | Sun 1:05 pm | 9.35 | 0.00 |
