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Week 9: Only One Undefeated Remaining
Authored by Andrew Perna - 7th November, 2006 - 10:49 pm
With John Herrera standing to his right dressed in black and appearing not unlike an undertaker, Lane Kiffin sat down at the podium for Sunday's postgame news conference.
Baltimore wants Flacco to be their QB of the future. But the Ravens feel they have no choice but to start him now because Boller and Smith are unavailable. Wrong!
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Week nine in the NFL was an eventful one. The Bears lost their first game, the Colts remained undefeated, and Big Ben and the Steelers’ season might as well end now. The Ravens increased their division lead with a win over the Bengals, Chad Johnson likened himself to a hood ornament, and the Lions earned their second win of the season as they grounded Mike Vick’s passing game.
As always the NFL entertained millions of American’s this weekend, and with Thanksgiving getting closer by the minute – football season had hit its midpoint and the playoffs are just a few months away.
The theme of my weekly column has always been the best and worst from each week in football, but a growing theme as of late has been my fantasy football futility. In week nine my nine teams put together a much more respectable record than the 2-7 slaughtering they received last week. But you’ll have to painfully scroll down and read the rest of the column before you find out how well my teams faired…
…don’t get too excited!
The Highs of Week Nine Miami
You’re as confused as I am. The previously undefeated Bears lost their first game of the season to the cellar-dwelling Dolphins. The Bears turned over the ball over far too many times, as Miami cruised to a 31-13 victory. It was reminiscent of the 1985 season when the Dolphins handed the Bears their first loss of the season in a week thirteen battle.
Bryon Who? Jacksonville back-up David Garrard led the Jaguars to a 37-7 victory over the Titans, throwing for three touchdown passes in just twenty-two attempts. The win was Jacksonville’s sixth in Garrard’s last seven starts. Take your time Bryon…
Trent Who? Trent Green may be just weeks away from returning from the serious concussion he suffered in a week one loss, but Damon Huard seems to be handling his role just fine. Kansas City is 5-2 when Huard starts and he’s thrown for 1,623 yards, with eleven touchdowns and just one interception. Only Peyton Manning has a higher QB rating…
Can Indy Run The Table? No, but they sure do look impressive. They picked Tom ‘Mr. Cool’ Brady four times Sunday Night en route to a 27-20 win over the rival Patriots. At 8-0 the Colts are halfway to a perfect season, with Buffalo, Dallas, and Philadelphia on the horizon. If they win their next seven games, at 15-0, they’ll host the Miami Dolphins in week seventeen. Wouldn’t that make for great television?
LaDainian Tomlinson I should pencil him in for a spot in the High Five each week. He’s become the human stat line, a one-man fantasy gang, and the MVP of the Chargers all wrapped into one. San Diego is 6-2, largely due to the feet of Tomlinson and is doing just fine without Pro Bowl-Quarterback Drew Brees. Not for nothing, but Brees (6-2) is enjoying New Orleans just as well.
The Lows of Week Nine The Super Bowl Champions At 2-6 I’m not even sure if the Steelers can make it into a BCS Bowl game, let alone another Super Bowl. Big Ben looks more like a Grandfather Clock than the towering presence he was last season, and the Pittsburgh defense has more holes than the Pirates batting order. Cowher should save himself the stress and retire now…
Vince Young I bet he wishes he could have played another season at Texas, because the Titans have looked more like a high school team in the last few weeks. At 2-6 Tennessee’s season is all but over and Young hasn’t shown much of anything in his five starts. He has seven combined touchdowns to go along with eight turnovers.
Chad The Hood Ornament? After suffering a 26-20 loss to their division rival Ravens, Cincinnati receiver Chad Johnson likened himself to a hood ornament. The comment came after another dismal receiving performance where he caught four balls for just 32 yards. The Bengals will need to pick things up if they hope to upend the Ravens in the AFC North.
Dallas The Cowboys have gone through more ups and downs than a rollercoaster this season, and the fallout after a three-point loss to the lowly Redskins won’t be pretty. On a high note, Terrell Owens got his touchdown this week so Tony Romo and Bill Parcells should dodge a T.O. bullet this week.
Bills Win, but McGahee Injures Rib Buffalo running back Willis McGahee was carted off the field with a rib injury in Sunday’s win over the Packers. He laid on the field for several minutes until he was helped off the field. The Bills are bad enough – they can’t stand to lose McGahee for an extended period of time.
My Fantasy Diary… In the introduction I told you my fantasy teams improved from their horrible 2-7 performance last week. In week nine my teams posted a 5-4 record, my first winning record since 1972, or at least it seems as though it’s been that long. Heading into Monday Night Football I was 4-4, with one game hanging in the balance.
In the Nichols College League I was down eight points to Team O’Brien, with Deion Branch still to play on my team. Worried about whether or not Branch could get me the nine points I needed for the win, I sat down ready for a long wait with Seneca Wallace quarterbacking for the Seahawks. My wait didn’t end up being very long as Wallace hooked up with Branch for a 22-yard touchdown minutes into the game. On Seattle’s next series Branch caught a 19-yard pass that sealed the deal for my Italian Stallions and gave me the important win.
My 5-4 record wasn’t devoid of disappointments. I lost in the ever-important CBS East Coast Pigskin League, dropping The Drew Crew to 2-7 and officially ending my postseason hopes. Having given up on my chances at the league title, I posted a long column on the league page handing in the towel and making my picks for who I think will win the ECP championship.
With the regular season hitting its statistical midpoint, I figured I’d give you all a report on how each of my fantasy teams is doing:
East Coast Pigskin League (CBS) – The Drew Crew (2-7)
Hometown Heroes (MyFF.com) – The Nipsy Russell All-Stars (2-7)
Public League (FOX) – That Just Happened (4-5)
Indiana Fans (ESPN) – The Riverside Pacers (6-3)
Nichols College (ESPN) – The Italian Stallions (4-5)
Orlovsky Charity League (Yahoo) – Cut That Meat! (6-3)
Serious NFL (ESPN) – Daytona RealGM’s (5-4)
RealGM Challenge League (RealGM) – Andrew’s Army (2-7)
RealGM Writer’s League (Yahoo) – The Cunning Linguist (6-3)
That gives my nine-team army a combined record of 37-44, which is pretty pathetic considering that I change my line-ups each week and add/drop like a fiend. I have reset my goals for this fantasy season. I want to win at least one of the leagues, and try to make the playoffs in at least half. My short term goal involves getting back to .500 for a combined record. That’ll take a pretty impressive run from my army, but hey – you never know.
Andrew can be contacted at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com
