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 – NEW ENGLAND over Indianapolis – Ask the Dolphins how the Patriots are feeling about their slow start! This week should be no different.

14 – NEW ORLEANS over Washington – It should be an historic day in New Orleans as the Saints will ride the momentum of the new career passing yards leader to a win.

13 – CAROLINA over New York Giants – The Panthers have one of the most exciting offense’s in the league. There is no way the Giants will be able to contain them.

12 – CINCINNATI over Miami – Trips to New England and Cincinnati should bring the Dolphins back down from the cloud they were on when they started 3-0.

11 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over Oakland – Can’t host the Browns every week, Raiders!

10 – SAN FRANCISCO over Arizona – Without Jimmy G, the 9ers are bad. The Cardinals are worse, though.

9 – PHILADELPHIA over Minnesota –  Three weeks ago this would have been considered a Game of the Year contender. Now … not so much!

8 – Tennessee over BUFFALO – I said that a win over the Eagles would prove the Titans are for real, so I am a believer. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE TITANS WILL WIN THE AFC SOUTH.

7 – HOUSTON over Dallas – Texas is considered to be The Football State. Hard to believe now that these are their two professional representatives!

6 – NEW YORK JETS over Denver – I can see this being a breakout game for Sam Darnold.

5 – PITTSBURGH over Atlanta – In the battle of teams with a really confused identity, the Steelers have at least shown that they can pull things together to win a game.

4 – KANSAS CITY over Jacksonville – The Chiefs will take this potential AFC Championship game because they are the home team – would be different if the game were in Jacksonville.

3 – DETROIT over Green Bay – When Aaron Rodgers and their top 3 receivers are all dealing with injuries, it’s hard to win on the road in the division.

2 – SEATTLE over Los Angeles Rams – Simply put, the Rams can’t win them all … … … right?

1 – CLEVELAND over Baltimore – It will be a little while before I can put the Browns winning higher than the 1 line, but we are getting there.

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 – JACKSONVILLE over New York Jets – The Jaguars learned last week that giving up 9 points might be too may to win…poor Sam Darnold!

14 – LOS ANGELES CHARGERS over San Francisco – Game 1 of the post-Jimmy G 2018 for the 9ers won’t be an easy one. The Chargers have an offense that make you score a lot to win.

13 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Minnesota – A short week to play against the league’s best team is not exactly the best way to get back on track after being embarrassed at home by the Bills.

12 – GREEN BAY over Buffalo – Speaking of the Bills, yeah they’re magic runs out this week.

11 – NEW ENGLAND over Miami – Never has it been so easy to say that a 1-2 team will have no problem beating an undefeated team.

10 – CHICAGO over Tampa Bay – The Jameis Winston suspension is over so Ryan Fitzpatrick needs to stay on top of his game to keep his job. Not exactly the defense you want to go against when you are playing for your job! 

9 – PITTSBURGH over Baltimore – I got the sense last Monday that the Steelers may be starting to get back on the ball. That’s not good for the rest of the AFC North. 

8 – ATLANTA over Cincinnati – Cincinnati’s road through the NFC South will continue to be a rough won after losing last week in Carolina.

7 – Kansas City over DENVER – Remember when people thought that Case Keenum was going to be the new AFC West quarterback who will make the biggest difference? Weeeeeellllllllllll…

6 – New Orleans over NEW YORK GIANTS – Drew Brees juked out two defenders with a spin move last week. I know it has nothing to do with this game but I just really wanted to mention that!

5 – TENNESSEE over Philadelphia – Are the Titans legit? After a win in Jacksonville, a win against the Eagles would help prove their case of contention.

4 – Seattle over ARIZONA – The Seattle defense might not be as dominant as it once was, but they should look like the Legion of Boom against a debuting Josh Rosen.

3 – INDIANAPOLIS over Houston – Buried in the return of Carson Wentz was the fact that the Colts came very close to beating the defending champs on the road last wekk.

2 – DALLAS over Detroit – The Cowboys just seem out of sorts. My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that THE COWBOYS WILL FINISH THE SEASON IN LAST PLACE IN THE NFC EAST.

1 – Cleveland over OAKLAND –  Things…things are bad in Oakland. As a Raider fan, I’m just glad the Browns’ won last week so THIS game wouldn’t be the one to end the losing streak.

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 good! So let’s keep the momentum going!

Week 3 – HERE WE GO!!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – MINNESOTA over Buffalo – I’m setting the line for this game at 2.5 for this game…not for how much the Vikings will win by, but for how many points will score … I’ll take the under.

15 – JACKSONVILLE over Tennessee – I’m setting the line for…oh wait, already did that one. Titans won’t score much if any, that’s what I’m getting at here as well.

14 – BALTIMORE over Denver – I’m setting…yeah, you get it!

13 – PHILADELPHIA over Indianapolis – Hey, thanks for the whole Super Bowl thing, Nick. Carson’s back now so, I don’t know, maybe we’ll send you to Miami or something.

12 – KANSAS CITY over San Francisco – Can’t say that too many expected Patrick Mahomes to get off to such an historic start. Looks like the Chiefs will still have their AFC West stranglehold held tight.

11 – HOUSTON over New York Giants – DeShaun Watson made a statement last week – one that the Giants won’t be able to contain this week.

10 – ATLANTA over New Orleans – The Saints brought out the Fitzmagic to the world…then almost lost to the Browns. It looks like it may be a hard season in the Big Easy.

9 – TAMPA BAY over Pittsburgh – Speaking of the MVP front-runner, this is the final chance for Ryan Fitzpatrick to show the Bucs that Jameis should stay on the bench after his suspension is up. After giving up to Patrick Mahomes, it seems like Fitzmagic will run longer than we thought a month ago. 

8 – Chicago over ARIZONA – It was a primetime matchup between these two teams where Dennis Green let us know that the Bears are who we THOUGHT they were. Between the Bears D and the Cardinals offense so far, we should see more of the defensive dominance that we saw that night.

7 – New England over DETROIT – Patriots lose a game…Patriots add Josh Gordon. Don’t make Tom and Bill mad!

6 – MIAMI over Oakland – Jon Gruden told reporter this week that “a good pass-rusher is hard to find.” … … … so will wins this year apparently. 

5 – CAROLINA over Cincinnati – This could be the low-key game of the week candidate. I think Cam and the Panthers will be a little too much for the Bengals to take.

4 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Los Angeles Chargers – So what LA matchup do you think the locals are more interested in – Rams/Chargers or USC/UCLA?

3 – Green Bay over WASHINGTON – This game would be a lot higher on the list if I had more confidence in the durability of Aaron Rodgers’ knee.

2 – SEATTLE over Dallas – This once-potential NFC Championship Game is now nothing more than a game the Seahawks win because they are the home team.

1 – CLEVELAND over New York Jets – For over two years, it doesn’t get any bolder than this. My BOLD PREDICITON for this week is that THE BROWNS WILL WIN THIS WEEK!

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…

“A game in New Orleans when Jameis Winston is suspended and Ryan Fitzpatrick is under center? The Bucs don’t have a chance!”

WEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL!

“Oh the Lions lucked out getting their first game against the youngest quarterback in NFL history. The secondary will have a field day! SEE! First pass=pick 6! This will be a breeze!”

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 – LOS ANGELES RAMS over Arizona – Yes the Raiders looked bad against the Rams last week, but a lot of that had to do with how good their defense is!

15 – NEW ORLEANS over Cleveland – A home game against the Browns is the best cure for a dose of Fitzmagic.

14 – PITTSBURGH over Kansas City – I can see Ben Roethlisberger having a big game against a now not-as-scary KC secondary.

13 – TENNESSEE over Houston – In this era of mobile quarterbacks you can either be a Cam Newton or an RGIII…last week’s performance has me a little worried about DeShaun Watson. 

12 – ATLANTA over Carolina – The Panthers may have been the least impressive winning team of Week 1.

11 – SAN FRANCISCO over Detroit – After a big first defensive play of the season, the Lions really made it seem like it is going to be a long fall/winter in Detroit.

10 – Los Angeles Chargers over BUFFALO – Speaking of long fall/winter seasons – My BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that WHEN THE SEASON ENDS, THE BILLS WILL BE “ON THE CLOCK.”

9 – DENVER over Oakland – So so many long fall’s and winter’s…

8 – CINCINNATI over Baltimore – Sorry Baltimore, you can’t play the Bills every week.

7 – CHICAGO over Seattle – Who are the Bears? (cue the Dennis Green references) Are they the first half Bears or the second half Bears? I feel that we’ll find out they are real this Monday.

6 – GREEN BAY over Minnesota – This pick is based on the uncertainty of Aaron Rodger’s status. If he plays, raise the Pack up the lines. In he doesn’t then move him down. 

5 – JACKSONVILLE over New England – The Jags will be ready to go for their home opener/AFC Championship rematch…that they should have won.

4 – Philadelphia over TAMPA BAY – This is probably the most exciting matchup of backup quarterbacks in league history!

3 – WASHINGTON over Indianapolis – So this game will happen… 

2 – NEW YORK JETS over Miami – I said that Sam Darnold was going to be the best quarterback of this class. He’s off to a good start of proving me right!

1 – DALLAS over New  York Giants –  How long ago does it seem that this was a marquee matchup? Now…not so much!