Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

We have reached the end of the first quarter of the season. If you have been following along all year then you could very well be sitting at the top of your season-long pool.

Plenty of season left to go though, so let’s keep the momentum going!

Week 5 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

15 – PHILADELPHIA over New York Jets – The Eagles were able to pull out a win giving up over 400 passing yards last week. Now they play the Jets who are close to setting record lows for passing production. See what I’m getting at here?

14 – New England over WASHINGTON – The Steelers, Dolphins, Jets, Bills and now the Redskins…I have no idea how the Patriots have been able to stay undefeated!

13 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Denver – How much longer does John Elway last in the Denver front office?

12 – KANSAS CITY over Indianapolis – After a close call last week, I think the Chiefs are just going to let loose. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that PATRICK MAHOMES WILL THROW FOR AT LEAST 450 YARDS.

11 – NEW ORLEANS over Tampa Bay – Jameis Winston had a great game last week…which means he is due for at least 3 INTs this week.

10 – HOUSTON over Atlanta – Looks like this will be an off-year for the Falcons. Going to take a home game against the Dolphins for me to pick them at this point.

9 – TENNESSEE over Buffalo – With the NFL100 clips they have been showing, the number of times I have seen the Music City Miracle makes me not care about these two iterations of the Titans and Bills at all.

8 – Minnesota over NEW YORK GIANTS – I am all aboard the Daniel Jones train…but this will probably be the first bad game he’ll experience. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back next week.

7 – Chicago over OAKLAND – I sent a petition to the league asking for a temporary rule change to allow at least 14 offensive linemen to be on the field for the Raiders at a time for this game … still waiting to hear back.

6 – CAROLINA over Jacksonville – Who knew that one of the most intriguing quarterback matchups of the early season would be Kyle Allen vs Gardner Minshew?

5 –SEATTLE over Los Angeles Rams – I think its safe to say that our streak of solid Thursday Night games will continue this week! (Note – the streak is currently at 1…a three year high)

4 – Baltimore over PITTSBURGH – You can’t play the Bengals every week, Steelers.

3 – Cleveland over SAN FRANCISCO –A solid matchup that wouldn’t look that way a year ago (I feel like I’ll be saying that a lot for both the Browns and the 9ers)

2 – DALLAS over Green Bay – The Packers seem to have the Cowboys number, especially in Dallas, but I’ve got a hunch about this one. But, obviously, not a very strong hunch.

1 – CINCINNATI over Arizona – Welcome to the “If you pick them, put them on the 1-point line” club.

Remember last week how I mentioned we are starting to get things figured out for this season? How it looks like we have an idea of what these teams will look like this year?

Yeah…just forget about all of that. This is the NFL – such realizations do not exist!

At least this week we have less opportunities to mess up as the bye weeks have begun. We will need to stay on top of our game now as there will be less points to grab!

Week 4 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

15 – LOS ANGELES RAMSover Tamp Bay – The Bucs made Daniel Jones look like Joe Montana…have fun trying to stop the Rams!

14 – GREEN BAYover Philadelphia – If Aaron Rodgers realizes that a full football game consists of more than just 1 ½ quarters the Packers could be dangerous.

13 – Los Angeles Chargersover MIAMI – (Insert Team Here) is playing the Dolphins.

12 – BALTIMOREover Cleveland – It isn’t necessarily time for the Browns to smash the panic button on this season … but it’s close!

11 – HOUSTONover Carolina – All the love for Kyle Allen will probably come to a screeching halt this Sunday.

10 – CHICAGOover Minnesota – I think it is safe to say that the Bears learned a lesson from their week 1 home division loss.

9 – New Englandover BUFFALO – Surprising to see the Bills are undefeated…not as surprising that the Patriots are…and still will be. 

8 – ATLANTAover Tennessee – The Titans showed us last week that they aren’t ready to compete at a level needed to win in Atlanta yet.

7 – DENVERover Jacksonville – I can see this being the best game that Joe Flacco has had in years. My BOLD PREDICTIONis that JOE FLACCO WILL THROW FOR OVER 350 YARDS.

6 – PITTSBURGHover Cincinnati – Remember when this was a must-see matchup?

5 – Kansas Cityover Detroit – I had a harder time picking the Chiefs in this one than I would have in the beginning of the season.

4 – NEW ORLEANSover Dallas – Hey Dallas, meet real competition. 

3 – ARIZONAover Seattle – If a Kyle Allen-led offense can shred the Cardinals, Russell Wilson should fare pretty well.

2 – NEW YORK GIANTSover Washington – Between last week and a game against the Redskins, Giants fans are going to start thinking Daniel Jones will take them to the Super Bowl this year.

1 – Oaklandover INDIANAPOLIS – In the years that I have been writing this, I have never made a selfish “homer” pick. But, I mean, I’ll be at this game…I want to see my Raiders win! :)

Things are starting to take shape.

Teams are starting to show who they are and thoughts of just being a “fluke win” or a “fluke loss” are flying out the window. Now that we have seen a few games, we have a pretty good idea what the league really looks like for this season.

Plus, if you have been following these picks for your pool, you’re doing pretty well! So let’s keep the momentum going!

Week 3 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – DALLAS over Miami – The Dolphins are so bad this year, the Patriots are hosting a lowly Jets team starting their 3rd string quarterback and they STILL can’t get above the Cowboys on our sheet!

15 – NEW ENGLAND over New York Jets – See above

14 – GREEN BAY over Denver – The Packers dominated the first half last week and the Broncos aren’t exactly the Vikings and will be able to come back.

13 – MINNESOTA over Oakland – Speaking of the Vikings, they’re pretty upset about last week and will look to take out their frustrations on the Raiders…and probably will.

12 – PHILADELPHIA over Detroit – See above, just change Vikings/Raiders to Eagles/Lions.

11 – BUFFALO over Cincinnati – Wait…the Bills are this high on the list…

10 –SAN FRANCISCO over Pittsburgh – …AND the 49ers are up here too?? Any given Sunday indeed!

9 – Tennessee over JACKSONVILLE – The week kicks off in Jacksonville Thursday with, um, this game. Man the Jags are looking rough.

8 – KANSAS CITY over Baltimore – Lamar Jackson has been on fire to start the season … against the Dolphins and Cardinals. The Chiefs are not the Dolphins or Cardinals.

7 – SEATTLE over New Orleans – Some are saying that the use of both Teddy Bridgewater and Taysom Hill will be enough to confuse the Seattle defense enough for the Saints to pull out a win here. However, neither of those names I just mentioned is Drew Brees…soooooooo….

6 – ARIZONA over Carolina – Easy to say that Cam being out makes us lose all confidence in the Panthers, but the way Newton has been playing, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

5 – TAMPA BAY over New York Giants – The Daniel Jones era has begun…probably won’t start well, though.

4 – Atlanta over INDIANAPOLIS – Is it me, or does it seem like Julio Jones is starting to go the way of DeSean Jackson – by which I mean great game one week, horrible week the next. Julio needs a big game here to avoid that label.

3 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Houston – The Chiefs and Ravens are getting all of the headlines, but don’t sleep on this game as a Game of the Week candidate.

2 – Los Angeles Rams over CLEVELAND – It’s hard to figure out what the Rams are doing with Todd Gurley, which is just the scenario they want opposing defenses to be in. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that TODD GURLEY WILL FINISH THE SEASON WITH OVER 1,750 TOTAL YARDS.

1 – Chicago over WASHINGTON – After a loss to the Packers and a horrible roughing the passer penalty away from a loss in Denver, the Bears NEED this Monday nigh win!

Just when you think you have things figured out, you get a big WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!

That pretty much sums up the first week of every NFL season. We have an off-season full of time to put together our expectations on what we will see. Then the curveballs…

“This is it – the Browns are back! They will easily find their way to a division title and maybe even a Super Bowl berth!”

WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!

“After an off-season of the Double-Doink looming over their heads, the Bears are hungrier than ever and could make a Super Bowl run of their own!”

WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!

It doesn’t look like things will get any easier as we have a strong slate of even matchups this week. But, someone has to make the predictions!

Week 2 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – BALTIMORE over Arizona – The Ravens looked unstoppable last week, but that was against the Dolphins. Lucky for the competition doesn’t exactly make too much of a jump this week.

15 – HOUSTON over Jacksonville – The Texans defense will have something to prove after last week. A home debut against a rookie backup starting QB should do the trick.

14 – CAROLINA over Tampa Bay – If you haven’t figured it out yet, this game will be another example as to why it’s time for the Bucs to move on from Jameis Winston.

13 – New England over MIAMI – The Dolphins have typically played the Pats tough in Miami. But, I mean, come on…

12 – TENNESSEE over Indianapolis – It’s safe to say that no one expected the Titans to perform the way they did in Cleveland last week. Look for them to keep that momentum going in their home debut.

11 – GREEN BAY over Minnesota – This game will be pretty similar to week 1 for the Packers – low-scoring against a top defense, but Aaron Rodgers is able to pull one out.

10 – Dallas over WASHINGTON – The Cowboys embarrassed the Giants enough last week that we got our first glimpse of a first round QB…that may happen again this week.

9 – Los Angeles Chargers over DETROIT – Melvin who?

8 – Seattle over PITTSBURGH – It doesn’t look like Juju will pan out as a #1 WR the way he did a #2. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is the THE STEELERS WILL FINISH LAST IN THE AFC NORTH THIS SEASON.

7 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over New Orleans – I, for one, can’t wait for the first pass interference called in this NFC Championship Game rematch! 

6 – Kansas City over OAKLAND – The Raiders proved that their offense doesn’t need AB, but the young defense may not be able to stop the Chiefs enough.

5 – Cleveland over NEW YORK JETS – After an off-season of expectations, the Browns NEED this Monday Night win!

4 – CINCINNATI over San Francisco – The Bengals showed some signs of life in Seattle last week. Look for them to keep that going.

3 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Buffalo – Random observation, the Bills will start the season with two road games in the same stadium…

2 – ATLANTA over Philadelphia – The Falcons are that team that you know you should go against…but you also know that once you do, they’ll play the best game of their season. 

1 – DENVER over Chicago – I think it’s safe to say that the Bears offense isn’t ready to go up against the Broncos defense in Dever