I’m 7-6 and the #4 seed in a six-team league. #s 1 and 2 get a bye in the first week, so technically I’m a high seed this week, getting the 6-7 Soaring Yetis, whom I beat in our last meeting in week 12. He and I are the two worst n00bs in this league, in that we’re n00bs but we’re trying to wheel and deal, make a lot of moves, etc. The other newbie did better than us, and she let Yahoo! draft her team for her and hardly manipulated her team at all. Yes, yes, there’s a lot of messages there, and I’m trying to learn from them, but I didn’t know all that at the time. Anyway, I feel mildly confident because his team has streakier players than mine - they can go off for huge numbers, but their averages are mostly lower than mine.
The good news, as I already leaked yesterday, is that I won the round. The bad news, I yet again made poor decisions that left points on the bench. Once again, the key decisions are at QB, RB, and defense.
- I started Cutler (vs. Kansas City) over Manning (vs. Cincinnati). Fail, to the tune of 22-29.
- I started Brandon Jacobs (vs. Philadelphia) and LaDanian Tomlinson (vs. Oakland) over DeAngelo Williams (vs. Tampa Bay and their supposedly-staunch run defense) and Maurice Jones-Drew (at Chicago). Jacobs: 5. LT: 15. Williams: 30. Jones-Drew: 15. So, half-wash, half-25 point screw up.
- Chicago had 9, Pittsburgh had 23. Yep, another 14 points on the bench.
So, despite winning my match (the Yetis only got 15 from all receivers and another 15 from running backs) I still left 46 points on the bench. I’d be a monster if I could just get out of my own way. This is particularly rough since I get the #1 seed next week, and he would’ve gone for 96 or so if he hadn’t had a bye. The other match that week also went 106-97, so both of them would’ve beat me.
So, it’s the big game next week, against the #1 seed (it’s a semi-final, but still). Here are my decisions:
- QB: Peyton vs. Detroit or Cutler @ Carolina. I may be horrible at this, but there’s no way not to take Peyton Manning.
- WR: They’re fixed at Terrell Owens, Roddy White, and Vincent Jackson, a pick-up I just made to replace Amani Toomer. Toomer was a “smart” pick by me that bit me in the ass last week. I gave up Santana Moss to get him, which was fine (Moss hasn’t done much lately and didn’t last week, either) but still left me with no depth at WR.
- RB: Tomlinson @ Kansas City (#31 run defense), DeAngelo Williams vs. Denver (#26), Jacobs @ Dallas (#9), Jones-Drew vs. Green Bay (#27). I think my season comes down to good picks here. I can’t not play DeAngelo Williams, at home vs. a suspect defense. Jacobs feels like an easy sit, but whenever I think that I screw up. Tomlinson is facing the worst overall defense, and he both runs and catches well. Jones-Drew is home, against a bad defense, and he feels due. I hate playing the guy that “feels” due, however. Hell, I don’t have to decide this yet, so I’m going to wait on opinions or more information. Feel free to make a suggestion!
- Defense: Pittsburgh is at Baltimore and the Bears host the Saints. Over the last three weeks it hasn’t been close, and the Steelers are incredibly up for this game. I’m not picking a winner, just a defense, so Pittsburgh gets the call.
At the moment, with Jones-Drew penciled in, Yahoo! predicts my victory, 109-100, but those predictions are crap; they’ve had Tomlinson rated at his last-year production each week. :p
Oh, last. Here’s the side-by-side match-up:
- QB: Manning vs. Aaron Rodgers
- WRs: White, Owens, and Jackson vs. Greg Jennings, Randy Moss, and lee Evans.
- RBs: Williams and Jones-Drew vs. Michael Turner and Marion “bad-toe” Barber (oh please oh please oh please…)
- TE: Jason Whitten vs. Antonio Gates
- K: Jason Elam vs. Mason Crosby
- DEF: Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore (neat, huh?)
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