Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Welcome to the article geared to winning the Fanduel Sunday Million.  This week I've made heavy picks around two games that I expect to be fantasy gold mines (Steelers/Falcons and Bears/Saints).  Good luck gamblers!

QB – Matt Ryan, ATL ($7,900):  Going on the cheaper side for my quarterback selection this week.  Ryan goes up against a Steelers defense giving up the 4th most passing touchdowns to opposing QBs so expect him to toss a few in the air to White and Douglas.

RB – Justin Forsett, BAL ($7,700): Forsett has a great match up against a Jacksonville Jaguars defense giving up the 3rd most rushing touchdowns in the league and 130.3 yards per game.  Expect some involvement from Forsett in the passing game this week too.

RB – Jonathan Stewart, CAR ($6,700): It looks like DeAngelo Williams will be sitting out another week which leaves Stewart to get the bulk of the carries against a Tampa Bay defense near the bottom of the league against opposing running backs.  Great volume play for the price here.

WR – Antonio Brown, PIT ($9,100): This is a dream matchup here, the top fantasy wide receiver going up against a Falcons defense giving up the most yards per game to opposing wide receivers.  Should be a huge day for Brown which should compliment my QB pick of Ryan if this turns into a high scoring affair.

WR – Roddy White, ATL ($7,000): Julio Jones should be sitting out on Sunday which gives White a huge boost in value.  Besides that I love this play complimented with the aforementioned Ryan and Brown.

WR – Marquess Wilson, CHI ($4,500): With Brandon Marshall out for the season Wilson will step in as the number two receiving option on a pass happy Chicago Bears team.  He will face a terrible Saints defense ranking near the bottom of the league against the pass so this play has a ton of upside for the price.

TE – Jimmy Graham, NO ($6,900): Graham has posted back to back terrible weeks but this should be where he gets back on track playing a Bears defense ranked 28th against the pass.

K – Steven Hauschka, SF ($5,200): The matchup of Seattle/San Fran should be dominated by defense which means great field goal opportunities from both clubs.  I like taking the home team kicker on this one.

DEF – Kansas City Chiefs ($4,900): The Chiefs get a plus match up playing at home against an Oakland Raiders team that turns the ball over the 3rd most in the league.

13 out of 16 games correct last week is a great way to start the final stretch of the confidence pool season. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Week 16! HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – New England over NEW YORK JETS – In a week where road favorites dominate, none can give you more confidence than the Pats taking care of their lowly rivals.

15 – MIAMI over Minnesota – The Vikings, namely Teddy Bridgewater, are starting to show signs of life. But the Dolphins are still fighting for their playoff lives and won’t let this win get by them.

14 – Green Bay over TAMPA BAY – Aaron Rodgers and the Packers have a lot of frustrations to take out on the Bucs this week if they want to prove they are still the team to beat.

13 – ST. LOUIS over New York Giants – The Rams have shown signs of life, which is a lot more than can be said for the Giants this year.

12 – Philadelphia over WASHINGTON – RGIII is back under center…which makes it easy to put the Eagles on a line this high on the road.

11 – CAROLINA over Cleveland – Carolina has been a disappointment this year. Lucky for them the Browns decided to end all playoff hopes when they decided to go with Johnny Manziel.

10 – PITTSBURGH over Kansas City – The Steelers are quietly becoming a team to keep an eye on in the AFC. If they can contain Jamaal Charles they should cruise in this one.

9 – NEW ORLEANS over Atlanta – A big divisional game against two bad teams. It’s in New Orleans so it’s pretty easy to pick the Saints here.

8 – DALLAS over Indianapolis – Dallas showed that they are still a contender with a big win in Philly last week. That should give them the needed momentum in this big inter-conference game.

7 – JACKSONVILLE over Tennessee – The Jags have proven to be the lesser of two evils here. Playing at home with about 3,600 screaming fans behind them should help.

6 – Detroit over CHICAGO – I immediately bumped this game up a few lines with the Bears’ quarterback change news. Hopefully for them it’s the start of the process of getting Jay Cutler out of Halas Hall. This week's BOLD PREDICTION is that Jay Cutler will NOT be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears week 1 next season.

5 – ARIZONA over Seattle – The Seahawks have started to climb back into the playoff picture the last few weeks. However the Cardinals have been able to maintain their stance on the NFC lead even with injury issues.

4 – Buffalo over OAKLAND – This could be closer than some think, but the Bills should still be able to pull out the road win.

3 – Baltimore over HOUSTON –Houston is still fighting with their slim chances left but the Ravens are just playing too good now.

2 – San Diego over SAN FRANCISCO – The Chargers head up the coast line and should be able to aid in Jim Harbaugh’s eventual relocation to Oakland…or Chicago…or Ann Arbor…or…

1 – CINCINNATI over Denver – I think the Bengals can pull this out, but their inability to perform on the big stage gives me a lot of trepidation.

A just above .500 week last week takes us to the final week of the season!

We’ve had a solid year and I’m sure you’re sad to see it go – just like I am!

But we’re not done just yet! We have one more week to make that final push to win your season long pool. I hope I have helped you out this year! If so, please contact me and I’ll let you know how to send me my cut from your winnings! ;) Just kidding!

Happy Holidays everyone!!

WEEK 17!! HERE WE GO!!!

(HOME TEAM IN CAPS)

16 – DENVER over Oakland – The Raiders are on the cusp of turning the corner…they’ll just have one more Bronco beat-down to take before another off-season of change. This may be nothing more than a hopeful fan, but my BOLD PREDICTION to end 2014 is that the Raiders will have a .500 or better record in 2015.

15 – MIAMI over New York Jets – Miami had one of the more surprising seasons in the league this year and should have no problem ending it with an exclamation point and send Rex Ryan to the unemployment line.

14 – SEATTLE over St. Louis – No team has risen to the top faster than the defending champs. After a start that had some, including me, questioning their playoff chances, they should be able to lock up home field advantage with a win this week.

13 – NEW ENGLAND over Buffalo – In the first few weeks of the season I predicted that the Bills would make the playoffs and the Patriots dynasty was done…well this game should pretty much sum up how wrong I was on both fronts.

12 – Indianapolis over TENNESSEE – The Colts need to get things back in order before the playoffs start. Look for them to take out some aggression on the lowly Titans.

11 – BALTIMORE over Cleveland – The Ravens still have a chance to make the playoffs this year and should be able to do their part and beat the Johnny Football-less Browns.

10 – New Orleans over TAMPA BAY – Don’t worry Bucs’ fans! After that pesky little Super Bowl thing is over, YOU will be the NFL’s #1! … in the draft. You are now on the clock.

9 – MINNESOTA over Chicago – Teddy Bridgewater has shown that he could be a top quarterback in this league sooner rather than later. This week he will learn about how NOT to be an NFL quarterback as Jay Cutler is back under center for the Bears.

8 – GREEN BAY over Detroit – The NFC North comes down to this. A first round bye and a home playoff game is likely on the line. There aren’t too many teams that I have more faith in when playing at home than the Packers right now.

7 – HOUSTON over Jacksonville – Houston is still fighting for their playoff lives. They need help that I don’t think they’ll get but they still should be able to do their part.

6 – PITTSBURGH over Cincinnati – The best division in football this year comes down to week 17 where the Steelers, who have been one of the hottest teams to end the year, should be able to take care of a Bengals team that still seems to have some problems winning a big game.

5 – Dallas over WASHINGTON – The Cowboys should be able to put the 2014 Redskins out of their misery and usher them to the off-season quickly and quietly.

4 – ATLANTA over Carolina – The NFC South champion and 7-win play-off team will be decided here…that’s really all the effort this game deserves.

3 – KANSAS CITY over San Diego – The Chargers hold their play-off destiny in their hands. Unfortunately that destiny is in Arrowhead right now – not a place you want to HAVE to win a game.

2 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Philadelphia – The Eagles were prime to make a run to the Super Bowl, they just ran out of gas a few weeks too soon.

1 – SAN FRANCISCO over Arizona – Congrats Jim! Now wave good-bye – we’ll see you next year in Ann Arbor.

I bet you thought I was just going to let it go, didn’t you?

You thought that I would just throw out a bunch of BOLD PREDICTIONS and wouldn’t hold myself accountable, huh?

Oh that’s not me my friend!

After an epic Super Bowl, the 2014 NFL season has come to a conclusion. This brings us to the first part of every season – looking back at last season. For all but one team, it means figuring out where things went wrong (being a Raiders fan, that would take way too long to do here). So instead, let’s take a look back at the BOLD PREDICTIONS made this season and see where we went wrong!

OR…hopefully more times than not…where we went right!

BOLD PREDICTIONS … HERE WE GO!!!

Week 1 – BOLD PREDICTION OF THE WEEK – THE COWBOYS WILL WIN THE NFC EAST THIS SEASON - Well the prediction didn’t start off as planned as the Cowboys fell to the 49ers in week 1. Dallas would then go on to win their next six games, finish 12-4, and yes WIN the NFC East…as was boldly predicted right here!

Week 2 – BOLD PREDICTION is that Andy Dalton will throw for over 400 yards for the first time in his career – While the Bengals ended up beating the Falcons here, Andy Dalton disappointed and only managed 252 yards. An Andy Dalton disappointing performance…stop me if you’ve heard that one before.

Week 3 – BOLD PREDICTION is that with the AFC as wide open as it seems now, THE BILL WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFFS THIS SEASON – Fell just short of this one as well, but for a team that finished with one of the worst records in the league in 2013, staying playoff eligible through up until week 16 is a huge step in the right direction.

Week 4 – BOLD PREDICTION is that Kirk Cousins will be a starting quarterback in week 1 of 2015 … and that will be with the Redskins – There very well could be a quarterback change in Washington next year as the RGIII project seems to have fizzled out. However, Cousins’ five turnover game in week 4 may have been the start of proving that he won’t be a part of the change. We’ll count this one as a loss.

Week 5 – BOLD PREDICTION … the SAINTS WILL WIN THE NFC SOUTH – All they had to do was win HALF of their games and they would have won the division! What is going on in New Orleans?

Week 6 – BOLD PREDICTION is that Devin Hester WILL return a kick against his former team – Well he didn’t return a kick but his team did manage to lay an egg against the Bears. So there’s that.

Week 7 – BOLD PREDICTION will be that the Raiders will win their first game of the season this week – The Raiders weren’t able to get their first win this week, but it came soon after. For how bad the season started, Oakland at least looked a little more respectable in the second half of the season and have given fans a glimmer of hope for the future.

Week 8 – BOLD PREDICTION is that Arian Foster will have a 200 yard game – Well he came pretty close with an impressive 151 yards on the ground helping the Texas to a two touchdown win over division rival Tennessee.

Week 9 – BOLD PREDICTION that the winner of the NFC South will NOT have a record above .500 – Nailed it!

Week 10 – BOLD PREDICTION is that the 49ers will not make the playoffs this season – Two in a row! After three consecutive NFC title game appearances, the wheels fell off in the Bay leading to the end of the Jim Harbaugh era.

Week 11 – BOLD PREDICTION is that the Seahawks will NOT make the playoffs this year – Close! OK, so they made the Super Bowl instead. I’d like to think that it was MY prediction that motivated the Seahawks to show me up. You’re welcome Seattle!

Week 12 – BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that AJ Green will have a 200 yard receiving day – 12 catches for 121 yards isn’t a horrible game, but it was enough to make me out to be a liar.

Week 13 – BOLD PREDICTION is that this game (Packers vs Patriots) will be this year’s Super Bowl matchup – Oh so close here! I was one Green Bay collapse away from a correct prediction. But hey, if the Packers make the right decisions with some of their key free agents, it could still very well be the matchup for Super Bowl 50.

Week 14 – BOLD PREDICTION this week is that Geno Smith will have a second consecutive sub-100 yard passing day – Smith finished with a respectable 254 yards and was almost able to pull off the minor upset in Minnesota, but it still doesn’t look like it was enough to save his job.

Week 15 – BOLD PREDICTION for this week is that Johnny Manziel will NOT be the starting quarterback for the Browns week 1 of next season – The guy is in rehab right now – you do the math.

Week 16 – BOLD PREDICTION is that Jay Cutler will NOT be the quarterback of the Chicago Bears week 1 next season – With a new GM/coach combo, the Bears could very well be looking to make some changes. For their sake, hopefully it will mean getting rid of the most overpaid player in the league!

Week 17 – BOLD PREDICTION to end 2014 is that the Raiders will have a .500 or better record in 2015 – Obviously not something that we’ll know now, but with Derek Carr’s progression, another high draft pick, a boatload of money to spend in free agency and a last place team’s schedule for 2015, the stars could very well align for the silver and black.