Fantasy Football Week 9 In Review And NFL Open Thread

Jaybird

Jaybird is Birdmojo on Xbox Live and Jaybirdmojo on Playstation's network. He's been playing consoles since the Atari 2600 and it was Zork that taught him how to touch-type. If you've got a song for Wednesday, a commercial for Saturday, a recommendation for Tuesday, an essay for Monday, or, heck, just a handful a questions, fire off an email to AskJaybird-at-gmail.com

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17 Responses

  1. Slade the Leveller says:

    Clawing my way back to .500!Report

  2. Kazzy says:

    This has been a weird year in the NFL. Advanced stats point to the Broncos as far and away the best team (historically great before last week’s debacle). A lot of this has to do with strength-of-schedule, as they’ve played really well against a tough slate of teams. But, somehow, they don’t feel as good as last year’s incarnation owing to the fact that Peyton Manning and the offense aren’t breaking every record. They are significantly better on the defensive side of the ball and yet… they don’t feel dominant.

    The Cardinals lead the NFC but seem to be doing it with the sort of smoke-and-mirrors that are hard to rely on long term. Other primary contenders — the Eagles, Packers, Bengals, Steelers, Ravens, and Seahawks — are far from sure things. The Pats have looked phenomenal recently and it is easy to point at the full return of Gronk and say that he is the difference, but it is hard to ignore their limited running game, still suspect line, and injuries on the defensive side of the ball.

    I keep seeing my team — the Eagles — ranked top 5 in ESPN’s power rankings and top 4-8 in advanced stats and think, “Surely there are more than a handful of teams better than them.” But, there aren’t. It’s a weird year.Report

    • Burt Likko in reply to Kazzy says:

      Respectfully, the only competition in the Eagles’ division is the Cowboys and, well, color me unimpressed with Dallas. McCoy is Philly’s sole standout player.

      I’m in no position to throw rocks, though — has there been a bigger bust this year than Eddie Lacy?Report

      • Kazzy in reply to Burt Likko says:

        @burt-likko

        Perhaps I am misinterpreting you, but I agree that the Eagles do not feel like an elite team. No one — besides the Broncos and maybe the Patriots — seem elite this year. Which is weird. I would push back against the idea that McCoy is Philly’s sole standout player. Maclin has established himself as an elite #1 WR and I think we could see from McCoy’s early-year struggles that the starting offensive-line is an elite unit, with elite players in at least three of the spots (Peters, Mathis, and Kelce).

        But they have some real holes. As do all the other contenders save for the aforementioned two. And I can’t shake from my memory that the Patriots barely beat the lowly Raiders (who are better than their winless record suggests but are still bad) and got trounced by the Chiefs (a good team playing with a strong home field advantage but a trouncing no less).Report

    • Jaybird in reply to Kazzy says:

      The loss to the Patriots (you know who else lost to the Patriots?) made the Broncos look paper-thin.

      The Broncos in their current incarnation are a Playoff Team every year… but there is always going to be a brick wall that’ll prevent them from winning the big one: Manning refuses to be coached.Report

    • Kim in reply to Kazzy says:

      Steelers are looking… really, really weird.
      This is the first really offensive-heavy team we’ve had since what…
      1979?
      30+ points in a steelers game? Let alone one against the Ravens?

      This is Weird, man.Report

  3. Burt Likko says:

    I’m just about ready to give up. I played the best team I could last week and it was still pathetic.

    So I’m going for draft picks now. The Colts played “Suck for Luck” in real life and that’s worked out well for them. I can do the same thing in fantasy football… Right?Report

    • Dman in reply to Burt Likko says:

      I hear you Burt. While my record is good, I feel like most of my players under perform every week and feel like the paper-thin team Jaybird says the Broncos are.

      I also agree that this feels like a weird year in the NFL. No one seems dominant. The Broncos did until the shellacking they just took. The Patriots are only a couple games away for the KC debacle. Seattle is barely losing the games they barely won last year. And the best record in the league goes to the Cardinals?!? I do wonder if they will be the KC team of last year by the time this season ends.Report