Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Back again this year to take a shot at winning all the money and the glory of being the survivor pool champion. So far I am off to a poor start. I procrastinated on getting my payment in and the gentleman who runs the pool only excepts cash/check payments to a P.O. Box. So I mailed my check on Tuesday hoping it will be enough time to make yesterdays deadline. My hesitation might have stifled me, but hopefully my article can help our Drinkfive followers win some greenbacks.

Last year my early season strategy was to look for the lower tier teams that had favorable match-ups to get all the stinkers out of the way and give me more options as the season went on. Well that ended up biting me in the ass when first time starter Brian Hoyer crushed my dreams early on leading the then win-less Browns over the Vikings. So this year I am going to adjust my strategy a bit and keep it simple stupid. With that in mind I am picking this week's biggest favorite the Philadelphia Eagles to roll over the always rebuilding Jacksonville Jaguars. Last year the Jags defense appeared to be on the rise at the end of the season, but they will not have enough offense to keep up with the high octane Eagles. The 10.5 point favorites should win handily in their home opener, while the Jags fans anxiously await the debut of rookie QB Blake Bortles. I set the over under at 6 games until he is anointed the starter.

Have a great season everybody!

Well Week 1 is in the books and I survived to pick again this week, albeit with significantly shorter finger nails after the slow start from the Philadelphia Eagles in their 34-17 victory at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Others in the Pool however were not so lucky with 279 of the 889 entrants eliminated in the very first week.  The majority of the victims suffered at the hands of the Chicago Bears 23-20 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills, which claimed 195 entrants.  Gotta love gambling against a bunch of homers!

Week 2 has three very safe options to go with, but one team stands out above the rest.  You could go with the heavily favored Denver Broncos, fresh off an impressive performance on Sunday night vs the Indianapolis Colts.  The Broncos are favored by 13 over the Kansas City Chiefs at home and should get the job done, but I would like to save them for later on in the season.  Another good option is the New Orleans Saints to take care of business on the road against the Cleveland Browns.  Luckily for the Saints the Browns do not have the firepower that the Falcons have and should score enough to win this game.  The team I will be picking is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The St. Louis Rams made the Vikings look like a Super Bowl contender last week and it looks like Austin Taylor is going to get his first ever NFL start Sunday in Tampa.  The Bucs will be looking to bounce back after a tough loss to Carolina in Week 1.  Josh McCown should enjoy the extra time he will have to throw the ball with Chis Long out for 8-10 weeks for the Rams and that Tampa defense should be able to shut down the Rams' mediocre offense.

I am a survivor no more.  i was among the 212 victims of last week's action. I managed to fade the biggest upset of the week when the 'can't hold a 4th quarter lead' Saints fell to the Cleveland Browns in their home opener, eliminating 80 of the 212. My heart was torn in two when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drove down the field on the final drive of the game and failed to score.  Mike Evans caught a long pass to put the bucs in field goal range with 8 seconds on the clock, only to come up lame and initiate the 10 second runoff rule for an injured player on a team with no timeouts!  I looked on in disbelief as i watched the game end instead of the ball being spiked and Patrick Murray attempt a game winning field goal.  So for the second straight year I am booted by an underdog Quarterback in their inaugural start.  With this death this column will be coming to an end.  

Look for a new column from me next week!

Last week was a great start to the NFL season and my quest for the cash. Week 1, I correctly chose the Packers and the Dolphins to take care of business in my collective pools. The Packers looked solid against the Bears and the game was never really in doubt. While I wasn't impressed with the Dolphins performance against the hapless Redskins, I can breathe a sigh of relief booking the win and eliminating the Dolphins from my list of potential teams to pick in the single entry league.

I'm keeping it simple this week and picking the Saints to trounce the Bucs in their home opener. Not much to explain about this pick. Last week Dick LeBeau and the Titans defense held rookie QB Jameis Winston in check, and I expect similar results from Rob Ryan's Saints D. That Bucs offensive line brings back nightmares of the Lovie Smith/Mike Tice Bears O­lines that had Jay Cutler shoving J'Marcus Webb during games. Then there's the fact that the Bucs defense was soo bad it has ESPN analyst putting Marcus Mariota in the Hall of Fame after his first game! Drew Brees must be licking his chops.

The line on this game is Saints­10 or ­10.5 depending on your source, the largest of the week. I expect a majority of entrants in both pools to take the Saints and am willing to go down with the masses if it comes to that. I see this as a good opportunity to use an underwhelming Saints team in the single entry format league against a rebuilding Bucs team.