Fantasy football strategy, rankings, and podcasts

Well, this week we have to sit tons of fantasy players from the Seahawks, Brocos, Cardinals and Bengals. You GET to sit your Rams and Browns...just think of it that way. Anyways, here's 10 things to look for while you become one with your couch on Sunday.

- The Bears and Packers are back at it. The oldest and most played (188 games!) rivalry in the NFL. History will take a back seat this weekend though, because all we care about is fantasy football. Look for Aaron Rodgers to bounce back from a poor game last week and find Randall Cobb for at least one TD. Jay Cutler will also continue to struggle against the Pack, he's 1-9 career against them and his favorite target is banged up.

- Make sure you keep an eye on the inactive list. For the second week in a row, Arian Foster will be a game-time decision. If he doesn't go, it'll be Alfred Blue again, but I think if Foster starts, he's going to be a very sketchy play. He seems to do this every year, and doesn't hit his stride until later...or he's done for the season.

- Steve Smith is playing his old team, the Carolina Panthers, whom he spent 13 years with. Their parting wasn't totally a happy one, and while I'm sure that they will reconcile in order to make a metric shitton of money after he retires, for now he wants nothing more than to crush them. Smith is having a bit of a resurgence this year, already with 18 rec for 290 yds and 1 td, he is a must start against his old team.

- Andrew Luck is leading the league in fantasy points this season, and it appears as if he's taken the step into the elite tier of QB's (most of whom are not playing their best to start the year). With 80.88 pts, he's even ahead of Eli Manning, who had 33.1 points on Thursday night. This week, expect the Colts to roll this week and Andrew Luck to continue to impress.

- The Dolphins and Raiders are playing in London this week, the first of three games to be held in London this year. Coach Philbin seems to be losing the locker room, and with a big road trip on their plate, this could be trouble for the Dolphins. Lucky for them, they play the hapless Raiders. This game is going to go to whoever is the least jet-lagged.

- The Steelers run game last week was damn impressive, and while the now-famous kick in the face wasn't by a RB, it totally represents what their run game has looked like lately. The combination of Bell and Blount will smoke the Bucs and I predict that they combine for over 200 yards as the Steelers roll easily. This is a classic start all your Steelers, sit all your Bucs kind of game.

- Cecil Shorts is back! Everybody drink five. The Jaguars, however, are not back. They have looked better this year, and rookie Blake Bortles does look promising, but they are going to get moon-pounded in San Diego. Hope for some garbage TD's for Shorts and drink five again.

- The Falcons are coming off of a moon-pounding of their own, at the expense of the Bucs last week. This also means that Atlanta has had an extra few days of rest and planning for the Vikings, who have a rookie QB of their own going, not to mention a few other distractions. I don't expect much fantasy production outside of Asiata from the Vikings, but plenty of points will be had by the Falcons.

- The 49ers will get a chance to redeem themselves from failing to win on opening night at their new stadium...but they will fail. The Eagles are an impressive 3-0 so far this year, and the 49ers have looked vulnerable. This will be the game that LeSean McCoy breaks out, even though the 49ers are one of the best against RB's.

- Sunday night's game is going to feature a 2-1 team that is playing at home that is a Vegas underdog to a team that is 1-2. I don't think this is the wrong call either. The Saints have struggled on the road at times, but Drew Brees is 3-0 as a Saint in Dallas, with 9 TD's. This is the game where Brees returns to form. I saw Brian Billick predict that Brees will break the single game yardage record of 540 yards. I don't know if that's even remotely possible, but it sure would be cool to see. Just as long as I don't have to play against him.

Every week there are a few surprises that make us rethink what we know (or think we know, anyway) about player and team values going into the rest of the season. Because it's so early in the season a lot can still change but it's important to stay on top of it. Let me help out with a little analysis from this week's surprises..

- Joe Flacco put up 327 yards and 3 TD's against Carolina.. that makes him the #10 overall QB in standard scoring fantasy leagues so far this year. Their next few matchups are against the Colts, Bucs and Falcons - all of which are in the bottom 3rd of passing defenses so far this year. Great bye week fill-in, or possible week-to-week starter for the rest of the season? Doesn't matter, really.. if you need him for a bye week, grab him now. Otherwise, hold on to him for the next few weeks and sell him as high as possible (this holds mostly true in 2 QB or very deep leagues)!

- Jerick McKinnon breaks out with 18 carries fro 135 yards and 1 reception for 17 yards against the Falcons. Matt Asiata is still the starter, but is averaging less than 3.4 yards a carry through the first 4 weeks. We're likely to see some sort of split between Asiata and McKinnon now with Asiata being the more desirable back on passing downs and McKinnon the clear winner between the tackles. Jerick is an athletic freak and should be picked up for upside in just about every league.

- Steve Smith may be 35, but he's an absolute stud and showed it out there against his former team. Putting up 7 receptions for 139 yards and 2 TD's delivered on his 'blood and guts' promise. I still think we can expect a slowdown toward the middle and end of the season based purely on his age but this guy is a fighter and every-week WR2 from here on out. If Flacco can get both Smiths on track at the same time, the Ravens are an awfully dangerous team.

- Martellus Bennett has surprised everyone this year but his production (9 for 134 against the Packers on Sunday and the fantasy points leader with 53 to Jimmy Graham's 50 in standard leagues) may not be sustainable. We only have to look at stud WR Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery's numbers here to see what's going on: both generally picked to be top-10 receivers in the preseason, Marshall is currently #13 (42.4) and Jeffery #22 (34.7). With Marshall slightly hobbled and Jeffery also having issues earlier this season (he looks alright now) I expect a regression for Bennett back to Earth and a boost for Jeffery while Marshall gets right.

- Cowboys look GREAT, Patriots look terrible out there.. Romo was the 7th highest fantasy scorer out there this week with 262 yards and 3 TD's. Murray is currently the best RB in the NFL and Bryant and Williams look great. Witten had his best game of the year with 5 receptions for 61 yards but still hasn't seen the end-zone.

Meanwhile, Brady and Co. were abyssmal with no one performing at their expected levels except for Brandon LaFell who looked comfortable out there and put up 6 receptions for 119 yards and 1 TD. Is the Chiefs defense back in business, or are we witnessing the fall of the great Tom Brady? He did say that he would play until he sucked.. well? Brady?

Eh, we'll expect to see him under center again this week vs. the Bengals but we no longer have faith in Brady or the Patriots in general on a consistent basis until they can show us otherwise. That said, Gronkowski is averaging a TD per game and Edelman is averaging over 6 catches per game so yeah.. keep those guys in.

Madden has nothing on me!

For years we have all heard of the dreaded “Madden Curse.” For those unfortunate few who haven’t, simply put, those who have graced the cover of the Madden video game have found misfortune in their near future. I don’t think it has had the calamity success rate that my recently installed BOLD PREDICTION has!

For those players and teams that I have affected, I promise that my intentions were good. However, it seems that whenever I make a positive prediction, bad things follow. The week I say the Cowboys will win the East, they lose. The week I say the Bills will make the playoffs, they lose. The week I say Kirk Cousins will win the starting job in Washington, he throws 4 interceptions in a home loss to the Giants.

So best of luck to the remaining 13 teams/players that I make a prediction about!

Week 5 – HERE WE GO!!

(HOME TEAM IN ALL CAPS)

15 – NEW ORLEANS over Tampa Bay – It’s a rare occurrence to see a one-win team sit on top of a confidence pool sheet, but I think an exception can be made here. I still have a lot of confidence in the Saints in the Superdome, especially when playing the Bucs. I’ll go so far as to make this week’s BOLD PREDICTION that the one-win team I referred to, the SAINTS, WILL WIN THE NFC SOUTH. (Sorry for doing that do you Saints fans!)

14 – INDIANAPOLIS over Baltimore – In order to beat the Colts this year, you will have to plan for a shootout. The Ravens just don’t have the sustainable offensive fire power to do so.

13 – GREEN BAY over Minnesota – Ah, THERE’S the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers that we all know of. Just like the Colts, you will need to put up a lot of points to beat the Pack. The Vikings, especially with a sub 100% Teddy Bridgewater, won’t be able to put up the needed points.

12 – SAN DIEGO over New York Jets – The Chargers look like they just might be able to challenge the Broncos in the AFC West. The Jets shouldn’t be an issue for San Diego this week.

11 – PHILADELPHIA over St. Louis – After letting one slip through their hands in San Francisco, the Eagles will be looking to bounce back. They should have no problems with a home game against the Rams.

10 – DETROIT over Buffalo – A ranking this high depends on Calvin Johnson. If he plays, then the Lions should have no issues with the Bills. If he doesn’t, then you may want to drop the Lions down a few lines, but they should still be able to win.

9 – DENVER over Arizona – Carson Palmer appears to be heading to another missed start due to injury. A Drew Stanton-led Cardinals team won’t be able keep up with Peyton and friends.

8 – Seattle over WASHINGTON – After embarrassing themselves on national television, the Redskins get to stay in the national spotlight against the champs! This won’t end well for the ‘Skins.

7 – DALLAS over Houston – After a slow start, the Cowboys are doing what they can to help my division title prediction. DeMarco Murray has proven to be the best running back in the young season. The Texans defense has been solid thus far, but won’t have enough to maintain Murray and the rest of the Dallas offense.

6 – Cincinnati over NEW ENGLAND – The Bengals are for real…the Patriots are apparently not! Tom Brady hasn’t been able to start that bounce back season most expected and the high-powered Bengals offense should be able to put enough points on the board for the big road win.

5 – SAN FRANCISCO over Kansas City – The Chiefs looked very impressive with Jamaal Charles back in their backfield. Though at this point, it’s just enough to cause some doubt on the 49ers inevitable win.

4 – CAROLINA over Chicago – Two teams looking to get back on track meet in Charlotte. If for no other reason, the Panthers should pull this one out simply because it’s a home game.

3 – NEW YORK GIANTS over Atlanta, 2 – JACKSONVILLE over Pittsburgh, 1 – Cleveland over TENNESSEE – I grouped these three together for one simple reason – they should win, but you really shouldn’t have too much confidence in picking them.

So we are a now a quarter of the way through this season and so far it has been a good one. My Lions are in first place (for now...) and teams like the Saints and Patriots are showing some struggles. I also can't help but notice that there haven't been many off-the-field situations as of recently... but that is not going to stop me from finding funny memes about it anyway.

So apparently it's ok to pray as long as you are praying in an NFL approved manner..

Oh, but that celebration didn't stop Abdullah and the Chiefs from letting Tom Brady know that his time is just about up..

Tommy isn't the only QB having some struggles these days..

Two Tebow references today?! What is wrong with me? I know I could have easily taken the Kirk Cousins route.... Ok fine, I will eat my words a little bit from a couple of weeks ago..

I still think he'll be ok but that was one serious debacle last Thursday! I can't close out on this one so here is a twofer to make everyone smile... unless you're from Oakland and then there is nothing to make you smile anyways (sorry about your A's)!

Pretty sure that is a legitimate road sign...

Thanks for checking this out and as usual, feel free to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. any memes you find during the week!