Fantasy Football Monday: Week 12 2010 FF Observations

Fantasy Football Monday: Week 12 2010 FF Observations: I don’t do it every week, shoot, I’ve only done it a couple times this season – but when I get the urge, I can really throw some stuff out there. Like most Sundays, I spent a lot of time watching football, but this time I spent some quality time with every single game the league had to offer. I’m not talking about just sitting on the red-zone channel, folks, I’m talking about watching 2nd and 8 from the Panthers own 37 yard line.

Spending that quality time made me think of a lot of things, way more than I can write here – but I know I have at least one observation from every single game that went down this week – counting Thanks Giving, that’s 15 games to be talked about. I better stop the intro there, here goes nothing – off the top of my dome.

1. Patriots @ Lions – Tom Brady is really good and it’s because he’s really talented, he cares more about kicking the crap out of everyone and being better at his job than anybody else. He’s the guy that you work with that stays 4 hours longer trying to sell some more crap or get that program working or deal with a problem in the warehouse. He knows everybody’s job and he can tell them how to do it. He works longer than anybody else. He doesn’t need to, because he’d be good anyway, but he does, because he wants to be better than he is. BenJarvus Green-Ellis runs really hard. The Lions are a pretty good team, and while they lost by 21, it was tied going into the 4th. The young Lions do lots of things well, being consistent on either side of the ball isn’t one of them.

2. Saints @ Cowboys – I didn’t watch as much of this one (I was busy throwing touchdown passes and winning my local Turkey-Bowl – take that Weaver!) but I caught the tail end and I must say, the reason why Marion Barber doesn’t run as well as he used to is because he used to run with reckless abandon and now he does not. Now he gets paid and he has a contract for next year. He still runs hard, but he thinks now – I don’t think he used to do that. The Boys are a completely different team without a players’ coach at the helm. Please let me know when a “Players Coach” consistently wins year after year. Thanks. PS – Where was Dez Bryant in this one?

3. Bengals @ Jets – The Bengals showed they were still in it in the 4th quarter when their kicker (I dare you to name the guy without googling it or looking it up anywhere else – answer at the bottom of this page) busted a short field goal to get the Bungles within a touchdown. Brad Smith took the kickoff back for a touchdown – game over. What little tidbit do I have here? The Bengals don’t get it. The are predictable, Carson Palmer has become a younger/stronger armed version of Jake Delhomme, everybody on their team was shut down in one way or another – and they still probably don’t respect the Jets. That’s not going to get them anywhere – but there’s not a huge difference from last season and this season except they were more committed to the run last year, and their bad plays didn’t haunt them as much. The bounce don’t go there way this year. As for the Jets side – just a note, Shonn Greene had more carries than LaDainian Tomlinson – and neither were that great as far as YPC or fantasy points. In fact, outside of one huge play (a 53 yard run by Brad Smith) and one solid drive, the Jets didn’t do diddly offensively. (Don’t worry, they all won’t be this long).

4. Packers @ Falcons – Matt Ryan may never get to show off the numbers that Aaron Rodgers puts up, but that doesn’t mean he won’t be as good as Aaron. Both young quarterbacks are very talented, great fun to watch, and they throw dimes. Rodgers is the better thrower, but Matty-Ice really gets it. He has a running game, which is nice, and his play caller has a lot to do with it, I’m sure – but he doesn’t seem to waste a play, ever. In a league where starting quarterbacks throw tons of picks and complete 55% of their passes, Ryan looks like he knows how to win, and numbers aren’t the biggest thing. He’s like the Andrew Luck of the NFL… Or the other way around.

5. Steelers @ Bills – Pittsburgh should have lost because they are dumb. No team should throw 33 times against the Bills, not when they are running at will. Now, Pittsburgh didn’t have 8 yards per carry or anything like that, but they were running successfully – it was’t until Big Dumb starting hurling the rock that Buffalo started to catch up. Why pass? It was hard to watch Steve Johnson drop so many balls, but none harder than that overtime touchdown he let slip through his paws. I bet he hadn’t dropped that many balls all season, but the kid has had a hell of a year, the best offensive weapon in Buffalo, no doubt – and I think he’s going to be a good one. By the way, Fitzpatrick is pretty dang good – I hope Buffalo realizes that this off-season.

6. Panthers @ Browns – Cleveland tries to lose in the 4th quarter. They don’t tackle, they stop running, the let Jake Delhomme throw passes. I know Jake had a nearly perfect fist half, I watched most of his throws and I was stunned – however, if a dude like Jake completes all but a couple of his 1st half throws, then come out of the locker room and count your blessings – and never throw again. Dude threw 35 times (and the Browns were up most of the game) – how dumb is that? Not dumb enough to lose, I guess, as John Kasay missed the game winner.PS – Call me nuts, but I think Jimmy Clausen has the balls to make it here.

7.  Jaguars @ Giants – I can’t believe the Jaguars almost won this game. They had both their starting OTs out and their starting OTs aren’t very good, so just imagine how impressive their 2nd stringers are. Still, New York probably should have lost this one. No team mis-uses their players more than New York. Defensively, they should be moving guys around more and freaking offenses out with all those DL playmakers. Offensively, there’s absolutely no reason they don’t run more. Eli didn’t play poorly, but they always get yards running the ball – always. I know Eli’s worth all that money you gave him (sarcasm) but c’mon G-Men, run it.

8. Vikings @ Redskins - Sure, they won, but the Vikings still aren’t very good. Favre didn’t throw a picks, and the running game was used heavily – but this team doesn’t have the explosion they used to have, on either side of the ball. The Redskins are worse. McNabb hasn’t been good, the don’t take many chances down the field, and I don’t think they had even 50 yards rushing. I counted three drops in one series. Cooley on 1st and 10. Armstrong on 2nd and 10. Santana Moss on 3rd and 10. McNabb’s not good enough to get his passes that are accurate, dropped.

9. Titans @ Texans – Is Randy Moss really this big of a team cancer? No, c’mon – but seriously, how many games has Randy won this year? Since leaving “win all the time” New England, his record isn’t real good. Not his fault, in fact, I’m going to lay this one on Jeff Fischer. Fish knows what he has in Vince Young – and I think Fish is a great coach, but Vince was by far this team’s best quarterback – there was no reason to alienate him like he did. Don’t think it’s all Young’s fault, I know he’s a baby and super sensitive, but so does Jeff. After the Vince/Jeff situation, I thought for sure that it would be Vince out of Tennessee – but if a couple more of these happen, I’m not so sure. Andre Johnson obviously boxes in the off-season to stay in shape. Seriously. Right, right, uppercut…

10. Dolphins @ Raiders – Oakland should have started Jason Campbell. I know he’s not pretty, but against mediocre teams I think he gives you the better chance to win. Against good teams, maybe it’s Gradkowski, because he sticks with it longer, and maybe he has a chance to make more positive plays. Either way, the Raiders had to pass it at least twice as much as they ran it, probably more, and that’s not a good ratio for Oakland. Chad Henne made some really nice throws – I still think he’s a solid future QB. But this game was won because the Dolphins went back to doing what they do. Ricky and Ronnie each carried the ball around 20 times and for the first time in a while, the Dolphins ran more than they passed. Good for them.

11. Chiefs @ Seahawks – I thought the Hawks would score maybe one offensive touchdown. They busted expectations by putting 2 in the end zone. But their “solid run D” (PS, they stop bad teams from running, they give up plenty of yards to good teams) couldn’t stop the Chiefs as KC went well over 250 yards on the ground. Also, Dwayne Bowe big brothered the Hawks secondary, he looked like me at my Turkey Bowl – only faster, taller, more athletic, and he put up better numbers. Seattle can’t run the ball and I don’t think it’s the running backs’ fault. The line can pass block, but they can’t move any defensive linemen.

12. Eagles @ Bears – The Eagles are still better than the Bears, but the Bears played better today. Philly left a lot of points on the board and didn’t run the ball nearly enough to keep the Bears’ honest. Chicago plays lights out defensively, but Chicago fans, you know Jay Cutler will never play another game without throwing an interception – ever. Never ever. Matt Forte looked like the Bears’ best player. He is. I wonder if they recognized it?

13. Rams @ Broncos – Sam Bradford is the real deal holyfield. Many teams could learn from the Rams – Steven Jackson had 29 rushes for 72 yards, that’s just 2.5 per tote – but they stayed committed. That’s big. With the run threat there, the passing game stays more open. If it’s not working, don’t ignore it – this is a big reason why the Rams are 5-6 with little receiver help and a rookie QB – and the fact that the rookie QB is legit. Kyle Orton had no TD passes going into the 4th. He had 3 for the game. One wonders why the Broncos fired their defensive coordinator last season. Orton didn’t play well through 3 quarters, but Tebow wasn’t seen. So Bronco fans, shut your dumb mouths, believe me – if Tebow was the better option he’d be out there. Orton is having a hell of a year, give him a break here and there.

14. Bucs @ Ravens – This game just goes to show, if you don’t hurt yourself via shot to own foot, and you tackle – you have a chance. I think the Bucs would run more if they had a second chance, but they played well enough to have a shot. LeGarrette Blount is a beast. If he has three steps without getting contacted, the first guy almost never tackles him. The Bucs run to the ball, they tackle well, and they keep everything (for the most part) in front. The Ravens had to beat them, the Bucs didn’t give them anything. That’s why Tampa is 7-4, it’s not luck. Anquan Boldin was targeted 3 times, he had 4 catches. Derrick Mason was targeted 13 times. Just an observation.

15. Chargers @ Colts – Really, Reggie Wayne? I didn’t watch the entire game but I saw Reggie drop (flat out drop) three balls. I didn’t see Peyton get mad at him once. If Garcon drops a ball, Peyton freaks out. Manning actually threw the ball fine, despite the statistics- a couple tough plays went against him, and the Chargers tricked him a couple times. Rivers only threw the ball around 20 times. No touchdowns, no big plays, all dinks and dunks and mostly stuff to RBs in the first half. This is why Rivers is good – he’s smart, and he will do what it takes to win. That’s where yards were open, so that’s the way he went. He may yap and yell and huff and puff, but it’s what he does on the football field that blows your house down. By the way, this cat Mike Tolbert – I think I saw tacklers getting up off the ground telling him how they didn’t like to tackle him. And I have to say, it looks like it sucks.