Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Guess who’s back! Back again! Um…well…it’s me!

More so than that, it’s football!

It’s safe to say that college football got us primed with the amazing game and finishes we had last weekend. But…I mean…come on! There’s nothing like Week 1 of the NFL Season!

I don’t know about you, but seven months is LONG enough, let’s get back at it!

Week 1 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – TENNESSEE over New York Giants – I don’t think the Giants will be AS bad as it looks like they could be…but they’ll look pretty bad in Nashville on Sunday.

15 – CINCINNATI over Pittsburgh – Welcome back to starting NFL games, Mitch Trubiski! Your prize is a road game against the defending conference champs.

14 – WASHINGTON over Jacksonville – Enjoy it Commander fans, can’t see your team this high on a confidence pool much this year. Well…not as the winner.

13 – Baltimore over New York Jets – Safe to say that Lamar Jackson will be playing like he wants someone to pay him.

12 – Indianapolis over HOUSTON – The Texans might be building a bit of an underrated future for themselves…unfortunately for them Jonathan Taylor will probably run for over 200 yards in the very near present.

11 – CAROLINA over Cleveland – This has to feel like the Super Bowl for Baker Mayfield.

10 – MINNESOTA over Green Bay – I’m not ignorant enough to say Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will have a horrible offense without Davante Adams – but there will be a little “feeling out” period with the new WR group.

9 – MIAMI over New England – Tyreek Hill should be able to provide a decent amount of false hope for Dolphins fans after this one.

8 – DALLAS over Tampa Bay – Heads up, Cowboy fans are going to be insufferable after this one.

7 – ATLANTA over New Orleans – …aaaaand we have our “This game is being playing because it’s on the schedule” level of excitement game of the season.

6 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Buffalo – Last year’s champs start the season hosting what could be our Super Bowl matchup this year. This isn’t a gambling piece but the Rams are currently the underdogs (+2)…just something to keep in mind.

5 – Las Vegas over LOS ANGELES CHARGERS – Those who think this outcome will be different than the epic that ended the 2021 season because of home field advantage for the Chargers haven’t seen the Raider Nation take over San Diego/LA.

4 – Kansas City over ARIZONA – The Chiefs offense will take a hit after losing their top receiver…but so will the Cardinals.

3 – Denver over SEATTLE – Yes, Russell Wilson will beat his old team - but with all the hype around the Broncos, my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE BONCOS WILL FINISH LAST IN THE AFC WEST.

2 – DETROIT over Philadelphia – Yeah I’ll accept that this is just a Hard Knocks Hype pick.

1 – CHICAGO over San Francisco – It’s sad to say that the Bears will be a team this year that if you think they’ll win, don’t put them too much higher than the one-point line.

Just one week into the season and we have already seen a lot!

But do we really KNOW anything based off of one week? As you’ll see in this week’s picks, no, not really! Don’t forget that just a couple years ago the Jaguars upset the Colts in week 1 and created a bit of a hype train for themselves!

…they proceeded to finish the season 1-15. Week 1 isn’t the end all-be all of the season.

So let’s get back to the games!

Week 2 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – GREEN BAY over Chicago – I’m not saying it will be similar to the aforementioned Jaguars season, BUT…my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE BEARS WILL BE PICKING FIRST IN THE 2023 NFL DRAFT (oh I’m gonna get a lot of flak for this one…)

15 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Atlanta – While week 1 doesn’t normally provide conclusive opinions, we did have yet another example of the Falcons with a large 4th quarter lead being the most unstable combination in the league.

14 – BUFFALO over Tennessee – Simply put, the Bills are going to be hard to beat this year.

13 – DENVER over Houston – Not even Nathaniel Hackett making decisions on any level can help the Texans this week.

12 – BALTIMORE over Miami – Remember what I said about Lamar playing like he wants to get paid? Yeah, let’s just keep rolling with that!

11 – SAN FRANCISCO over Seattle – To say that the 49ers offense looked as bad as it did last week was due to the game being played in Lake Michigan would be an understatement.

10 – LAS VEGAS over Arizona – We all knew that DeAndre Hopkins is great, but who knew he would be so crucial to the stability of the Cardinals’ offense?

9 – Tampa Bay over NEW ORLEANS – Ho-Hum…the Bucs are still good.

8 – CLEVELAND over New York Jets – There’s a elf that will be painted in the middle of the field…I don’t know, that’s about as excited as I can get for this one.

7 – Cincinnati over DALLAS – I would say that the way the Cowboys offense looked was due to a solid Tampa defense…but then there goes Dak…

6 – KANSAS CITY over Los Angeles Chargers – Just a quick reminder…Patrick Mahomes is OK

5 – PITTSBURGH over New England – This one can be considered the “Was Week 1 Really How They Are?” Bowl

4 – PHILADELPHIA over Minnesota – This should just be a fun one to watch with the Eagles winning simply because they are the home team.

3 – DETROIT over Washington – For the first time in years, the Lions are favored! That, plus the fact that Carson Wentz having a good game one week means a horrible game the next should make you pretty confident with the Lions…but obviously not TOO confident.

2 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Carolina – Even if the kick at the end of the game last week went in and the Giants lost, you would still have to feel confident in how they looked over all…and with how bad the Panthers looked.

1 – JACKSONVILLE Indianapolis – Surprisingly enough, the Colts haven’t won in Jacksonville in a few years. After how both teams looked last week, hard to see that trend changing…but always keep the Jags on the one-point line.

Oh this is going to be a fun week!

To clarify, this will be a “fun” week.

This is the kind of week where season-long confidence pool participants are separated. Once we get past the first few lines, nearly every other game is a crap shoot!

My best to those who have to make picks for a survival pool this week.

We’re not worried about that here though so let’s get some confidence!

Week 3 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Jacksonville – Sorry, Jags – can’t host the Colts every week.

15 – MINNESOTA over Detroit – The Lions have looked better than they have in years…but its still hard to have confidence in them on the road.

14 – Buffalo over MIAMI – Yes Tua had a bit of a coming out party last week. But give me one good reason why you think the Bills will lose any game this season? Not saying they will go undefeated, crazy things happen during the season but my BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE BILLS WILL WIN AT LEAST 16 GAMES THIS SEASON.

13 – Kansas City over INDIANAPOLIS – With how good Buffalo has looked, the Chiefs haven’t been too far behind.

12 – San Francisco over DENVER – Aren’t too many situations where a team loses their starting quarterback…and MIGHT be better for it.

11 – TAMPA BAY over Green Bay – I haven’t officially done the math but Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers may have more career TD passes than the combined career yards totals for both of their receiving corps.

10 – Baltimore over NEW ENGLNAD – I fully expect Baltimore to take a lot of AFC East aggression out on the Pats this week.

9 – Los Angeles Rams over ARIZONA – I look for the Rams to make a much needed statement in this game.

8 – CLEVELAND over Pittsburgh – Amazon gives us a matchup this week that most wont be upset about missing due to streaming issues.

7 – SEATTLE over Atlanta – Remember when this would have been a Game of the Week candidate?

6 – CAROLINA over New Orleans – This is a matchup for #1 overall pick quarterback…just keep that in mind as you are trying to stay awake watching.

5 – TENNESSEE over Las Vegas – Both teams desperately need a win – luckily for the Titans the game will take place in Nashville.

4 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Dallas – The Giants could very well be 3-0 at the end of this week…just let that sink in for a bit.

3 – WASHINGTON over Philadelphia – We’ll give this the pick ‘em because they’re the home team tag.

2 – NEW YORK JETS over Cincinnati – Welp, the Jets beat the Bengals last year when Cincy wasn’t seemingly falling apart…sooo…

1 – Houston over CHICAGO – You could very well take the Bears in this one but, unlike the Bears, I’ll pass.

OK…so…about last week…

Well, now seems like a good idea to remind everyone that most season-long pools will allow you to remove your lowest scoring week from the total amount.

I didn’t really think we would have to look into that feature less than a quarter of the way into the season…but here we are!

Ah well, time to get back on that horse!

Week 4 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – GREEN BAY over New England – I won’t say that the Packers are back to normal after winning in Tampa last week…but there definitely at a point where they can easily handle Mac Jones’ backup.

15 – Minnesota over NEW ORLEANS – Remember to wake up early to catch the first London game of the year! Or don’t, its just Kirk Cousins vs Jameis Winston.

14 – PITTSBURGH over New York Jets – Zach Wilson is back!!! Yeah…it won’t matter.

13 – PHILADELPHIA over Jacksonville – So the Eagles look like the best team in the league…the Jaguars just went to LA and beat the Chargers by four touchdowns … … … where are we??

12 – LAS VEGAS over Denver – Yes, this is an ignorant hopeful homer pick. If  you choose to make adjustments with this one, I will more than understand.

11 – DETROIT over Seattle – The Lions are on a double-digit line…as the winner? This has been a weird start to the season.

10 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Chicago –  This will basically be Saquon Barkley and a bunch of middle schoolers.

9 – DALLAS over Washington – The Cowboys in another divisional matchup that, unlike last week, wont be nationally televised…thank God!

8 – INDIANAPOLIS over Tennessee – The Colts and Titans both battling to try and keep pace with the Jaguars …(checks notes confusingly)

7 – ATLANTA over Cleveland – Yes this will the Falcons back-to-back wins…but change is coming. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is DESMOND RIDDER WILL BE STARTING FOR THE FALCONS BY WEEK 12.

6 – Buffalo over BALTIMORE – One loss won’t change my Bills’ opinion. Safe to say Ken Dorsey will be making sure no mistakes are made this week!

5 – CINCINNATI over Miami – I don’t think there would be a bigger way to close the book on the 2021 season than the Dolphins going 4-0 by sending the defending AFC Champions to a 1-2 start…but it won’t happen.

4 – SAN FRANCISCO over Los Angeles Rams – Just like the Bengals, the Rams don’t exactly seem to have the dominant aura that a defending Super Bowl champion should have.

3 – Los Angeles Chargers over HOUSTON – I wanted to say the Chargers would lose to the Texans since they knocked me out of my survivor pool last week…but I have responsibilities.

2 – TAMPA BAY over Kansas City – This one is obviously a toss-up with the craziness surrounding it. Thoughts & prayers out to everyone in Florida – stay safe!

1 – CAROLINA over Arizona – Can you think of anything entertaining or helpful to say about this one? Go ahead, I’ll wait…