Fantasy Football: My Dynasties Through Week 12

Oh boy. Sometimes it's hard to be a Panthers fan. This weekend was another example as the Panthers fell 24-23 to the Browns. We fought really hard and just came up short as the usually reliable and automatic John Kasay missed a 43 yard field goal as time expired.

Now on one hand, I'm happy because this brings us one step closer to Andrew Luck, who more and more scouts are calling elite and one of the best prospects ever at the QB position.

On the other, it's tough to be 1-10 and taking all these losses must be hard for the team. I actually think we have a chance to win next week at Seattle, who hasn't been very good recently. Jimmy Clausen came on a bit more this week. Jason Williams made a good first start at WLB. Unfortunately Peyton Hillis ran all over us in the 1st half, but Jake Delhomme delivered a pick six for us, so all is right in the world in a strange way.

So now it's time to move on to my dynasty teams after twelve weeks of fantasy football.

SCHNOCKERED DYNASTY
Team Name: The Sofa King Awesomes
Team Record: 2-11

I keep coming back to this point week after week, but it bears repeating. I am the third lowest scoring team in the league. I may have the worst record, but I've been scoring a lot of points in recent weeks, and this is without one of my star players in the Giants' Steve Smith. The two teams who have scored fewer points than me have five and six wins respectively. It's not fair, but that's the way it goes. It shows a lot of progress in my team. Guys have been producing quite well, and I'm hoping to finish strong in these final weeks, including causing an upset in my division this coming week.

I suffered a tough 178-162 loss this week. My score was the second highest in the entire league, meaning that I would have beaten any team except the team I faced, Oldguru. Oldguru is the reigning champion of the league, so I don't feel too bad.

Best Performer: RB Fred Jackson, Buffalo Bills

34, 27 and 27. These are the point outputs for Fred Jackson over the past three weeks. He has singlehandedly helped this team score a lot of points. Fred Jackson is playing some great football right now. Despite his age, he is a player I want to hang on to because I am not a believer in C.J. Spiller's ability to run between the tackles, something Jackson is very adept at. Jackson's 27 points this week came against the Pittsburgh Steelers, making the feat even more impressive.

BLACK AND BLUE IDP DYNASTY
Team Name: The Wet Bandits
Team Record: 9-3* (* = clinched playoff berth)

Celebrations are in order as I have officially clinched a playoff spot in this league! Woooooo! That feels good for me because I put a lot of work into it and the potential monetary gains is enticing to say the least. I'm the #2 seed in the playoffs, which are operated in a different way to normal. I have a bye next week, and then the top four teams will duke it out in an all-play format for three final weeks. This means that the highest scoring team for the three week span will win the league. It's a system that I've never seen used before, but it should make for an exciting finish. It takes chance out of it and rewards the best team.

Best Performer: WR Deion Branch, New England Patriots

In a narrow 267-263 victory, Deion Branch came out as the best points scorer for the team. It's somewhat of a surprise, but I'll take it. Branch scored 26 points as the Patriots routed the Lions on Thanksgiving. Let's hope he keeps it up down the stretch, because if there is one position I am weak at, it is wide receiver.

DYNASTYGUYS IDP CHARTER LEAGUE
Team Name: Puntzilla's Barnstormers
Team Record: 9-4* (clinched playoff berth)

That's right, not just one playoff spot clinched, but two! This one feels really good. This league is the one I focused on most closely and really wanted to succeed in. It's a league filled with very good owners. Being 9-4 is a nice feeling, I must say. I have to pat myself on the back for a job well done (so far).

Next week sees the double header games within the divisions as teams vye for those last few playoff spots. I'm playing two teams within my division with inferior records and there's no pressure on me to win because I have already won the division, so it's a nice position to be in. If I win both, I'll finish 11-4 and could put myself in a better position for playoff seeding.

Here are the division leaders right now:
Puntzilla's Barnstormers (9-4)
Evil Empire (10-3)
Orange Crush (9-4)
Bloom and Doom (11-2)

If I could get that #2 seed, I would be thrilled. That's my aim right now.

Best Performer: CB Devin McCourty, New England Patriots

In my 271-194 win, Devin McCourty scored a whopping 35 points on Thanksgiving to give me a great start in the game. McCourty is playing really well right now for New England and pretty much shut down Calvin Johnson in this one. McCourty had one really athletic interception where he jumped high and seized the ball from a waiting Johnson. McCourty has good broken field running ability too, and all those yards are precious in this league. Long may his picks continue!

I went 2-1 this week in my leagues, so I'm a happy camper now. I'm glad that my playoff destiny doesn't come down to the last couple of weeks. The pressure is off, so I can set my lineups carefree and just let my guys go and play.

As always, it's been a pleasure bringing you this update on my dynasty teams. I hope you enjoyed it. I leave you now with a view from my bedroom window as the snow continues to fall in Dublin city.

Fantasy Football: My Dynasties Through Week 11

Panthers Tangent

So yet another loss for the Panthers this week as we fell to the Ravens at home, a game notable more for who we were willing to start at QB (Brian St. Pierre, for those of you at home keeping score) than the actual game itself. As always, there are both positives and negatives to come from the game.

Positives (+)

• Offensive Line: Our offensive line, a patchwork group if I've ever seen one, came out and fired off the ball with aggression, paving the way for a good day from Mike Goodson. I still think we need a mauler at RG going into 2011 as reserves Mack Bernadeau and Geoff Schwartz are not quite up to standard, but they remain valuable backups.
• Mike Goodson: This kid continues to impress me. I think his performances over the past couple of weeks make DeAngelo Williams expendable at the end of the season. The Panthers love Williams as a player and as a person and want to reward him, but you can't ever be too greedy. I would like to see us franchise him and trade him to the highest bidder because he has a lot of good football left in him. Goodson played well against the Ravens and looks like he can carry the load necessary.
• Pass Rush: Three sacks is more like the kind of weekly production I expect, and Charles Johnson has been playing lights out football recently. It was nice to see Everette Brown register a sack as well.

Negatives (-)

• Secondary: Giving up big pass plays seems to be our forte all of a sudden. The touchdown to Houshmandzadeh was a breakdown in coverage and shouldn't be given up on the second play of the game.
• QB play: Brian St. Pierre was the QB... need I say more? Andrew Luck can't get here soon enough.

SCHNOCKERED DYNASTY
Team Name: The Sofa King Awesomes
Team Record: 2-10 (finally, a win!)

In an interesting twist on the schedule, we played two games this week in this league. I went 1-1, but that's pretty good considering how poor this team has been doing. Let's focus on the game I won. I won by a six point margin, but put up an impressive 150 points. I'm playing spoiler in this league, but I'm optimistic for the future. I have some nice pieces in place, including Arrelious Benn, Demaryius Thomas and the receiving tandem of Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith. I need more running back depth and youth, but I'll address that in the offseason. Some owners in this league are so unresponsive to trades. It's quite frustrating.

Best Performer: RB Fred Jackson, Buffalo Bills

34 points last week and 27 points this week? Wow, great job by Freddy Jackson, who has really given this team a lift recently. Spiller is out for a while, so Jackson has assumed the sole ball carrying role for the Bills. I thought he was in for a rough day after the Bills went down early, but Jackson and this offense roared back. Keep it up, Freddy.

BLACK AND BLUE IDP DYNASTY
Team Name: The Wet Bandits
Team Record: 8-3

What a huge win this week for me in this league. I won 287-251, but the margin of victory wasn't that important to me. It was all about getting back on track after a two game losing streak. I'm hoping I can still take the #1 seed and get that bye in the playoffs. It's crucial. If I win this league, I'll win 350 dollars. Not to be sniffed at, let me tell you.

Best Performer: QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints

Yes, Drew! A 39 point game! That's the kind of game I've been expecting from you. Coming off the bye, the Saints walloped Seattle and Brees went crazy. Breesus Christ wins the award this week and I hope he performs like this down the stretch, starting this week on Thanksgiving in Dallas.

DYNASTYGUYS IDP CHARTER LEAGUE
Team Name: Puntzilla's Barnstormers
Team Record: 8-4

My 300 point effort was the high score of the week in the league, so I would have beaten anybody. It's great to get another win closer to the playoffs in this league. I'm still two games ahead in my division and my last three games are all in-division games, so I have a chance to pull away. I just hope my boys can keep producing big games like this one.

Best Performer: WR Greg Jennings, Green Bay Packers

Jennings' 7-152-3 line was tremendous and it gave me 40 points, probably one of the highest totals I'll see from a single player in a single week for a while. Jennings was simply on fire against the Vikings and Rodgers is finding him often now. I hope he keeps it up down the stretch. My WR trio of Fitz, Jennings and Bryant (and Santana Moss as a flex) is unbelievable. No headaches at WR, that's for sure.

And so we are down to the final few games of the fantasy football season, in the regular season at least. I went 3-0 this week, so I couldn't be happier. If only my Panthers were better... you can't have it every way. It's going to be an exciting finish to the year as I aim for the #1 seed in one league, a high seed in another league and a first overall pick in the last league.

Until next time!

Fantasy Football: My Dynasties Through Week 10

So despite a 31-16 loss to the Bucs this week for my Panthers, I'm not hugely disappointed. The reason for that is twofold; we're looking more and more likely to have the 1st pick in the draft thanks to a Buffalo win and the fact that we were actually quite competitive throughout the game despite a sleuth of injuries. So before I get into my dynasty teams' fortunes this week, here are three positives and three negatives from the game.

Positives (+)

• Mike Goodson: He ran really hard and topped 100 rushing yards on 23 carries. I think the front office will have an easier time letting D-Will go if Goody keeps playing like he did Sunday. Tyrell Sutton is also a very good back who just hasn't had much of an opportunity yet.
• Jimmy Clausen: Believe it or not, Clausen looked like a real NFL quarterback out there. He was sharp with his reads, he didn't look overwhelmed like in previous games and he delivered some nice balls, including a beautiful downfield pass to Steve Smith. The learning curve for QBs is steeper than steep, but Clausen took a step forward.
• Steve Smith's passion: Smitty and Bucs CB Aqib Talib don't get on very well. When Talib smashed into the back of Clausen deliberately after a failed QB sneak, Smitty took exception to that and stood up for his QB. Sure, he got flagged, but it's nice to see that kind of fire from Smith.

Negatives (-)

• Rush defense: Blount force trauma absolutely killed us on the ground... we have to stiffen up that part of our defense big time.
• Not capitalising on red zone chances: Too many field goals... we could have won this game had we scored TDs in the red zone.

Now onto my dynasty leagues!

SCHNOCKERED DYNASTY
Team Name: The Sofa King Awesomes
Team Record: 1-9 (finally, a win!)

It's been a long time coming, folks, but finally I've managed to register my first win in Schnockered Dynasty of the season, beating a 6-3 team as well. I won with my highest points total of the season, 163-130. Take that! It felt good, I'm not gonna lie. So I've got a win, and that's great, but I just realised the rather unfair system that operates in this league when it comes to rookie draft picks. It's kind of a lottery system for the first six picks amongst the worst six teams, but the team with the worst record has the best chance of getting the first pick. I guess it's in place to prevent teams from tanking i.e. losing on purpose.

I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. It's so important to maintain the competitiveness.

Best Performer: RB Fred Jackson, Buffalo Bills

Jackson scored a massive 34 points for me against the Detroit Lions. He had touchdowns rushing and receiving and amassed 133 rushing yards. C.J. Spiller is also going to be out a while with an injury, so this is Jackson's gig now. Let's hope he can lead me to more wins in the last few games. Take a bow, son. Take a bow.

BLACK AND BLUE IDP DYNASTY
Team Name: The Wet Bandits
Team Record: 7-3 (and on a losing streak, unfortunately)

I started really hot in this league but have tailed off in the last few weeks, yet I still find myself leading my division and tied for the best record in the league. I guess what I'm saying is that I thought I would be more dominant. I lost this week to the highest scoring team in the league, 356-206. That 206 points irks me a little bit. Sure, I didn't have my strongest outing and Brees was on bye, but it concerns me. This league operates a sort of all-play format in the last couple of weeks to determine the champion, so I'll need to maximise the points in my lineup to win it all.

Best Performer: DE Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings

A 19 point outing from Jared Allen was the highlight for my team this week. When 19 points is the best you can do, that's not very good. I thought Allen would register more than just a single sack against the porous Bears offensive line, but he played well enough not to warrant any concern.


DYNASTYGUYS IDP CHARTER LEAGUE
Team Name: Puntzilla's Barnstormers
Team Record: 7-4

I'm really happy about my 251-195 win this week, because my division rivals are starting to creep up on me a little bit. This win gives me a two game cushion in the division, with all of my division rivals still on my schedule. I'm especially looking forward to Week 13, a week in which every team in the league plays two games, meaning you have to put up a big score to get those two priceless wins that could be the difference in playoff seeding. Even with four games to go, I'm pretty confident that I'll be the winner of my division. I really love this league and it would mean a lot personally if I did well in such a competitive setting.

Best Performer: DE Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings

Yes, that's right! Jared Allen was my high scorer in this league too with 22 points. I hitched my wagon to him in both of the startup drafts in these leagues, and I feel like it's a good investment to make. Allen's 23 point effort is more like what I envisaged at the start of the season. I just hope he can keep it up because sacks are so valuable in this league. One sack = 8 points! That's good stuff.

So that's it for my leagues update after Week 10! Let's hope I can keep it up and make the playoffs in two of the leagues.

Fantasy Football: My Dynasties Through Week 9

First off, I'm officially putting a bag over my head for the 2010 Carolina Panthers. This is a drastic move, but it has to be done. Matt Moore is now on injured reserve, and with him goes our only chance at having even a semblance of a passing game. Injuries piled up on Sunday against New Orleans like there was no tomorrow. It's bitterly disappointing, but I'm ready to wash my hands of John Fox and this coaching staff and move on. I'm officially on the Andrew Luck bandwagon and I really hope we have a chance to draft him.

Back to fantasy football, where things are going slightly better. Here are the updates following Week 9:

SCHNOCKERED DYNASTY
Team Name: The Sofa King Awesomes
Team Record: 0-9 (and still on a collision course for the #1 pick!)

A 134-105 loss isn't terrible for this team, let's be honest. I'm actually not even the lowest scorer in the league. In fact, the lowest scoring team has three wins! How uncool is that, huh? Okay, so I've done a lot of soul searching with this team, and I'm making some moves now to solidify the future of the franchise. Veterans are being shipped off rapidly for draft picks and young talent. What I need most is young talent at RB, hence my love for Mark Ingram as the #1 pick in my rookie draft.

I'll detail my offseason plan in more detail at a later time. Now to this week's best performer award.

Best Performer: RB Brandon Jackson, Green Bay Packers

This is one I didn't see coming at all. Jackson got me a nice 22 points against the hapless Dallas Cowboys. I'm actively trying to trade Jackson now for a 2nd round rookie pick as I don't believe he has a lot of long term value. Kudos to him for his good game.

So, no change in Schnockered Dynasty...

BLACK AND BLUE IDP DYNASTY
Team Name: The Wet Bandits
Team Record: 7-2 (and still the #1 seed)

Yep, this league is proving to be a lot of fun this year. It's very competitive. Not as competitive as I would like, but it still offers a great challenge. This week I lost only my second game of the season, and it was mainly due to the sheer number of points my opponent put up. I'm the #1 seed currently, but only by a game. It's getting very tight all of a sudden, so I need to go on a winning streak now and secure that first round bye.

Best Performer: CB Richard Marshall, Carolina Panthers

Richard Marshall came up with a really solid 29 point effort. 7 tackles, an assist and a big interception return resulted in the big score, but unfortunately the Panthers couldn't pull out a win. I'd trade a loss in this league and all my leagues for a Panthers winning season. I really would. Marshall has been a consistent CB1 for my team this season, and I hope that continues into the postseason (if I get there!).


DYNASTYGUYS IDP CHARTER LEAGUE
Team Name: Puntzilla's Barnstormers
Team Record: 6-4

Damn, I hate losing in this league. The good news is that I'm still top of my division and I only lost narrowly this week. It's coming to that time when all your roster moves count, and you have to be really dead on with who you start each week. Eight teams in this league make the playoffs, but boy would I like to be one of those teams with a bye or a high seed.

I'm confident that I'll be in the postseason, but I can't afford any more slip ups with such good competition.

Best Performer: DE Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings

You know that moment in the Lion King when Rafiki (that crazy monkey) says of Simba: "He's aliiiiive! Oh hoh hoh!" and so on? Well, that's kinda how I feel right about now regarding one Jared Allen. He finally got a sack to his name after a long drought. In fact, he got 2.5 sacks. Sacks are worth a lot of points in this league. I need this guy to keep putting up good performances if I'm going to get high scores. His 31 points this week topped my team. Credit has to go as well to Dez Bryant, who despite the Cowboys smelliness still put up 23 points.

And so the season goes on. Week 10 (really?) is approaching fast, and with the TNF game I'll have to make sure I've got my lineups set early. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed reading about my dynasties.

Man Crush Of The Week: Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford

Come to Carolina!!!

Fantasy Football: My Dynasties Through Week 8

So we're back again with another update on my dynasty leagues. I really love the ebb and flow of fantasy football. Last night I had a 100+ point lead in one of my leagues going into MNF but my opponent had six players. I only won by 14 points in the end or something like that, so I was sweating it. Anyway, here are the updates on my teams.

SCHNOCKERED DYNASTY
Team Name: The Sofa King Awesomes
Team Record: 0-8 (and headed for the #1 pick!)

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, it went ahead and did anyway. Look, I'm not shocked that I've lost this week. It's a bye week, my lineup isn't as strong as normal and so on. I'm just shocked I've lost eight in a row. Let that sink in for a moment, people.

Eight games, no wins.

I've come to the point where I'm looking forward to 2011 and 2012. Yep, I'm officially blowing up the team. This move may come back to bite me in the ass, but I firmly believe that I have to sell all of my veteran players who don't figure into my long term plans ASAP. I hope to cash in to get some draft picks and young prospects. The bottom line is that this team won't be competing for a championship for at least two years.

Best Performer: Larry Fitzgerald

Good ol' Fitz spared me the embarassment of having an even worse day. As it was, I only put up 79 points or something horrible like that. In the offseason I'll be updating you via the blog as to how the rebuilding effort for the team is going. For now, you'll have to deal with my whining every week.

BLACK AND BLUE IDP DYNASTY
Team Name: The Wet Bandits
Team Record: 7-1 (and currently the #1 seed)

Can I just start by saying "woo hoo"? Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how things are going in this league. First of all, it's IDP, so it's instantly better than Schnockered Dynasty. Secondly, I'm 7-1 and looking good while doing it. The bye weeks have slowed down the points juggernaut that I was in the first few weeks of the season, but I'm over the worst of the byes now.

I got a close win this week, but they all count. Being the #1 seed with only a few more weeks to play is a nice position to be in. I'm still only a game ahead in the division though, so I have to keep winning to pull away from the pack. If you asked me now to predict my end of season record, I would say (with four more weeks remaining) that I'll finish 10-2. Go Bandits!

Best Performer: Jason Witten

He's done it again! He's the MVP of the team for the second week running. I'm happy I made a trade for him. The Romo injury actually works in my favour, because Witten will get a lot more looks from Kitna. Tight ends get a premium 1.5 PPR in this league too, so keep on catching balls Jase!

DYNASTYGUYS IDP CHARTER LEAGUE
Team Name: Puntzilla's Barnstormers
Team Record: 6-3

A win this week over one of the best players in the league, Orange Crush, came somewhat as a surprise to me. He was missing a lot of his key players entering the game, and so the low points output wasn't a surprise. I'm happy to get this win to make me two games clear in my division with about 5 weeks left in the season, including a Week 13 doubleheader. I'm excited about this league because it has so many good players in it, including expert Sigmund Bloom.

Best Performer: Devin McCourty

Great job to Devin this week for being my highest scorer. He was a guy I just threw in this week to replace Charles Tillman, but he could be worth holding onto now. His 4 solo tackles, 1 assist and big interception (and return) were the difference for him. Keep it up, Devin, and you may find yourself in my good graces again.

That will do it for this week's update. I'm going to finish off with a guy that, barring any setbacks, will be my #1 pick in the Schnockered Dynasty rookie draft.

Mark Ingram, I'm coming for you!