Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

We almost lost our top line game last week when the Raiders nearly pulled off the comeback to beat the Seahawks in Seattle. This brings up an interesting point though. As most of you who read this know, I am a HUGE Raiders fan (pause for sympathy). Watching Oakland pulling closer and closer to the defending champs last week, I wasn’t thinking about losing my top line game. The only thing that was on my mind was the potential of my team pulling off one of the biggest upsets in recent memory.

Whether it is with your confidence pool or your fantasy team, I think that your actual team should come first. It just makes both the fantasy game and the real game a lot more fun to watch. Use it as justification if you want, but don’t openly cheer for your fantasy quarterback to throw a touchdown against your favorite team. It only sets yourself up for a lose-lose situation.

Alright – Week 10 – HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

13 – Denver over OAKLAND – Once again my Raiders are on the wrong side of the top line. Hard to argue that when they play last year’s two Super Bowl teams in back to back weeks.

12 – SEATTLE over New York Giants – Seattle just squeaked by the Raiders last week. They may just squeak by again, but it is hard to think of a scenario where the Giants come out on top.

11 – ARIZONA over St. Louis – Both teams are coming off of big road wins last week. The luck will run out for the Rams though. The Cardinals are a much tougher home team to play.

10 – GREEN BAY over Chicago – One team spent the bye week giving their coach an extension and one team spent the bye week explaining reports that their coach doesn’t have control of the locker room. Green Bay will be ready for this game, the Bears won’t.

9 – BALTIMORE over Tennessee – The Ravens are sitting in last place in a division without a team under .500. Every win is crucial. Lucky for them they get a home game against the Titans.

8 – Dallas over JACKSONVILLE – The Jags make their yearly trip to London and take the Cowboys with them. Just like last week, this game depends on Tony Romo’s availability. They’ll still win, but if Romo doesn’t play they should be dropped down a few lines.

7 – Pittsburgh over NEW YORK JETS – Logic would tell you that there is no way that Ben Roethlisberger will have a THIRD consecutive six touchdown game…although I don’t think logic realizes that Big Ben is playing the Jets this week.

6 – NEW ORLEANS over San Francisco – A pre-season possible NFC Championship preview turns into just another week 10 game. Not only will the 49ers not make it to a fourth straight title game, but my BOLD PREDICTION is that the 49ers will not make the playoffs this season.

5 – DETROIT over Miami – Calvin is expected to make his long awaited return after the bye week. The Dolphins have been hot as of late but they won’t be able to stop a Lions offense that includes Megatron.

4 – PHILADELPHIA over Carolina – Well, the potential for a butt-fumble sequel has returned with Mark Sanchez filling in for the injured Nick Foles. This bumps the Eagles down a few lines but they should still be able to beat the struggling Panthers.

3 – BUFFALO over Kansas City – The Bills are still fighting for a playoff spot. This will be a close one, but game-manager sensation Kyle Orton should be able to find a way to get a win against a hungry Chiefs team.

2 – TAMPA BAY over Atlanta – Yes, I do realize that the Falcons treated Tampa like a high school JV team in their first meeting. Even with that, there really is just no reason to have faith in Atlanta – especially on the road.

1 – CINCINNATI over Cleveland – The week starts off with a strong AFC North game that both teams need to win. A full healthy offense would give me more confidence in the Bengals, but they should still be able to pull this one out.

John Cena vs Brock Lesnar … stop me if you’ve heard that one before. (Actually don’t because I know you’ve heard that one before and I would like you to keep reading!)

Yes the WWE has told us that once Brock Lesnar does come back to TV we will get him and Cena locking up for the third time since SummerSlam. Taking a deeper look at it though, it is hard to have too much of a problem with it.

When Lesnar beat The Undertaker at WrestleMania, the initial reaction was that it just didn’t make sense to have a part-time guy like Brock be the one to end the streak rather than a guy that could use it to further his career like a Daniel Bryan or Bray Wyatt. It turns out, though, that this was the start of building Brock as the seemingly unstoppable beast that they want him to be – which in turn has actually brought a little more relevance back to the WWE Championship. In the immortal words of Ric Flair, “To be the man you’ve gotta beat the man!” … … … … WOOOOOOO! (I tried not to!)

A third straight successful title defense against the standard flag-bearer for the WWE over the last decade is just a way to further the “unbeatable” character of Brock Lesnar. Not even John Cena can beat The Beast – making it that much more meaningful when someone actually does beat him.

So now it’s the same concept but a different character. Instead of using the end of The Streak to further enhance a rising star’s career, it’s beating the guy that ended The Streak. There are a lot of guys on the roster now that are ready to take that step by beating Brock or even just benefit from having a program against him.

The big rumor that has been floating out there for months now is that Roman Reigns, even with the recent injury, will be the guy to take on Brock at WrestleMania. If you’re reading this, you probably have heard that already, so you’ve thought about Reigns in the spot for months now, so I won’t bother going any further with him. But who are the others? Let’s take a look, shall we?

Cesaro

Remember him? He’s the guy that, about nine months ago, was ready to step up to the main event level. Cesaro won the inaugural Andre the Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania by carrying the Big Show over the top robe making it look like he was picking up a stack of pillow. The next night he lets the world know that he is a Paul Heyman guy!

Well that didn’t last long! Shortly after that Cesaro was back on his own and has basically been a jobber to an extent this summer. The latest example being a two straight falls loss to Dolph Ziggler in a 2-out-of-3 falls match at Hell in a Cell.

Loss after loss after loss may be the angle to start the rise of Cesaro. He is so upset that he keeps losing that he just takes out anyone who gets in his way. The story with Brock writes itself. After some time, Cesaro crosses paths with Paul Heyman and, in so many words, tells Heyman that joining him was the start of his downfall and threatens to take him out. Enter Brock to save the day.

Some writers have said that Cesaro is good enough in the ring to have a world title match at WrestleMania. With a little mic work, he can very easily be one of the top stars. He has the following, he has the charisma, he has the look. A program with Brock could give WWE a main eventer for the next decade.

Dolph Ziggler

Dolph has the same type of problem that Cesaro has in terms of a push, but Dolph’s push has been due for years! It does look like they are going to be using him in a top level story now with his participation in the Authority vs Cena Survivor Series match. Hopefully this will just be the start for Ziggler.

A run through the members of The Authority could culminate with Triple H and Stephanie once again bringing in the hired gun in Brock Lesnar to stop Ziggler. Dolph wouldn’t have to beat Brock to get the career boost he needs, but a strong showing against Lesnar would be a strong building block for a main event character for years.

Bray Wyatt

Bray is a main-eventer now, but he’s not in main-event’s yet. The time is now!

It seems inevitable that Wyatt will, at some point, turn face. It’s just like Stone Cold Steve Austin in 1997 – he wouldn’t have to change his character at all he would just be booked differently. To say that Wyatt is golden on the mic is an understatement and he backs it up in the ring.

I can see Heyman and Brock in the ring a Monday after a pay per view show saying something along the lines of “nobody can slay this beast!” This brings out the odd two-second Wyatt video and Bray on the big screen saying that he has been slaying beasts all his life. Bray needs a program with the champion to help the sustainability of his character. This business should still revolve around wanting to be the champion. Wyatt is due for his shot.

Randy Orton

To be clear, in no way do I think Orton should be the one to beat Brock. That would be a HUGE mistake and a waste of the last 23 years of The Streak. But the pot on Orton turning face is heating up and is ready to boil over. We were teased a Brock/Orton program with an RKO on Heyman recently.

Just a quick one month program with the two would go a long way to getting Orton over as a top face – which is something the company could really use right now.

Ryback

The Big Guy is back! It appears that they are giving him another run as a single face. I watched some of the shows during his run as a top face in 2012 and the crowd was electric! Ryback is a guy that could be successful with a run with the belt!

My prediction for months now was that Kurt Angle was going to be the guy to beat Rusev when he finally comes back to WWE this year. Well, that’s not happening unfortunately. Here is the order that I could see things going : Rusev beats Sheamus for the US Title at Survivor Series – Ryback beats Rusev for the US Title at TLC – Ryback wins the Royal Rumble and goes on to feud with Brock and win the title at WrestleMania. If the crowd gets behind Ryback in the next few months the way they did in 2012, the atmosphere at Levis Stadium would be incredible!

What do you think? Who do you agree with? Who do you disagree with? Who did I forget? Follow me on Twitter @Tadigity24 and let me know!

Time for a little mini-rant!

The Cowboys are playing the Cardinals this week in a battle of two of the NFC’s best teams. After taking a shot in the back last week, Tony Romo’s status for the game is up in the air and will more likely be a game-time decision. Obviously this will play into our decision on what line to put either team. BUT, because we have a game every Thursday, the pools are locked at kickoff.

I don’t get it! Why can’t the one line you use on the Thursday game be locked leaving the other lines available for editing up until their kickoff? Makes sense to me! So to those that run the Fantasy Football sites on Yahoo and CBS, since, you know, they are avid readers of mine, it’s time to change your system!

OK, I’m off my soapbox and ready for a new week of football!

WEEK 9! HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

13 – SEATTLE over Oakland – Do…do you need an explanation?

12 – SAN FRANCISCO over St. Louis – The Rams defensive line is starting to live up to their pre-season expectations. Unfortunately the Rams offense has been hit by the injury bug and will have no chance of putting up enough points against a fresh San Francisco team.

11 – CINCINNATI over Jacksonville – The Bengals have been struggling a bit, but the Jags are still the Jags. AJ Green could be making his return this week. Even if he doesn’t, you shouldn’t have any worries over putting Cincy this high.

10 – KANSAS CITY over New York Jets –Alex Smith is hurting a bit, but the Chiefs offense doesn’t really need a quarterback anyway. The Jets won’t be able to stop Jamaal Charles, which means they won’t be able to stop the Chiefs.

9 – CLEVELAND over Tampa Bay – I know that I have been talking about the Browns a bit the last few weeks, but it does still feel a little odd to put them this high. The fact that it’s a home game against Tampa makes it a lot easier.

8 – PITTSBURGH over Baltimore – Welcome back to relevance Big Ben! I’ll go out on a limb and say that Roethlisberger won’t put up another 500 yards/6 touchdown game, but he will be able to do enough to get a huge divisional win.

7 – Indianapolis over NEW YORK GIANTS – The week ends in Jersey with a Colts team coming to town that has something to prove after giving up the previously mentioned 500 yards/6 touchdown game.

6 – San Diego over MIAMI – The Chargers have looked good despite losing two big division games recently. The second half of the season has traditionally been San Diego’s time to shine. The Dolphins should be able to put up a good fight but the Chargers should be able to hold on and win a close game.

5 – DALLAS over Arizona – We already talked about this one before. Dallas at 5 is based on Tony Romo playing. I think he will and the Cowboys should fight behind him.

4 – CAROLINA over New Orleans – The week starts off in Charlotte with two teams who have three wins…and are playing for first place? The NFC South has seen better days. We’ll make this week’s BOLD PREDICTION that the winner of the NFC South will NOT have a record above .500. Cam needs a bounce back game and he gets it against the Saints defense.

3 – HOUSTON over Philadelphia – This could be the sleeper Game of the Week. The Eagles have looked solid all year but Arian Foster may just be too much for them to handle this week.

2 – NEW ENGLAND over Denver – Brady vs Manning in a rematch of last year’s AFC title game. The change in venue will be enough for the surging Patriots to get a bit of retribution.

1 – Washington over MINNESOTA – It was announced today that RGIII will be back and start. I didn’t have too much faith in him when he was healthy let alone coming back from (another ) injury.

Welcome back! We had another solid week in Week 7, but still could have been better.

Time to see what Week 8 has in store for us!

Week 8! HERE WE GO!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

15 – KANSAS CITY over St. Louis – The Rams got a home win against the champs last week, but they needed a lot of trickery to do so. You can’t rely on that every week.

14 – DALLAS over Washington – The Cowboys seem to be the real deal this season. It looks like Colt McCoy will be under center for the ‘Skins Monday Night – that’s a good reason to have a lot of confidence in Dallas this week.

13 – DENVER over San Diego – Peyton and the boys have given us no reason to think that we should have anything but a lot of confidence in them at home. The Chargers may keep this close, but a home loss last week showed that San Diego has some chinks in the armor.

12 – NEW ENGLAND over Chicago – The good news for the Patriots is that they get a home game this week…the good news for the Bears is that they DON’T have a home game this week! Seriously, the Blackhawks have more wins in Soldier Field than the Bears do in 2014! Tom Brady is starting to look like the old Tom Brady which isn’t good news for a depleted Chicago secondary.

11 – Miami over JACKSONVILLE – Miami looked really impressive on the road last week. The Fins may be able to make a strong run at the division this season. The Jags are coming off of their first win of the season last week – hard to see them make it two in a row this week.

10 – CINCINNATI over Baltimore – The Bengals are just confusing this year. A lot of the offensive problems, though, revolve around AJ Green and his toe. If he plays, it will be hard to stop Cincy.

9 – ARIZONA over Philadelphia – Hard to imagine but there is an outside chance that this could very well be your NFC Championship game! With Carson Palmer playing the way he is, the Cardinals offense will be able to outscore the Eagles.

8 – NEW YORK JETS over Buffalo – The Jets were a field goal away from an upset in Foxboro last Thursday and the Bills just barely got by half of the Minnesota Vikings at home. The Jets have been close in most of their losses this season – I think this is the week they cross the line.

7 – Seattle over CAROLINA – If you listen closely, you can hear the Packers score on the Panthers again! That game was brutal! It doesn’t get any better as an upset Seahawks team comes to Charlotte. After losing to the Rams, Seattle will be pumped to show they are still the cream of the crop.

6 – Houston over TENNESSEE – Titans fans have started the “Suck for the Duck” campaign (meaning tank the year in order to draft Oregon star quarterback Marcus Mariota) and it looks like the team is obliging. Arian Foster will run all over the Titans so much so that my BOLD PREDICTION is that Arian Foster will have a 200 yard game.

5 – CLEVELAND over Oakland – After looking drastically improved two weeks ago, the Raiders reminded us last week that they are indeed still the Raiders. Look for a huge game for Ben Tate which will allow the Browns to control the game and get the win.

4 – Indianapolis over PITTSBURGH – The Steelers have been very hit or miss this season. Last week they hit and this week the Colts will make sure they miss.

3 – Green Bay over NEW ORLEANS – Sunday Night Football has a shootout on their hands this week. The only thing scarier than the thought of a Saints offense in the dome is this Packer offense in the dome. Rodgers has the team and city R-E-L-A-X ing to the tune of four straight wins averaging over 36 points in that span. Look for win number five this week.

2 – ATLANTA over Detroit – London game number two comes up this week with the Falcons and Lions. Here’s the kicker – the game will be played in prime LONDON time, which translates to a 9:30 a.m. EST kickoff in the states. I’ll be sleeping to the coin told me the Falcons will win.

1 - Minnesota over TAMPA BAY – This could have been a decent game. Unfortunately half of the Vikings offense is gone and the Bucs just can’t seem to get it going. The Vikings were close on the road last week so we’ll give them our one-point line this week.