FF.com's Members Challenge
Oct 10 2008, 08:18 PM
Week 6 of the FFMCC is here. Time to separate the men from the boys.
Contributed by: Bryce "Nutty" Good
This is the time of the year when you start seeing how your off-season research paid off and how those round six through ten picks paid off. Week 5 is a great time to re-evaluate what transpired in August (or earlier for some). Everyone gets a stud running back, wide receiver, and quarterback in the first few rounds. It is the guys in the middle rounds that can win or lose you a championship.
I don't think any of you will find this concept being new. There have been numerous articles written on the subject. Each one of us looks at our own team and sees this exact theory being put to the test. As the bye weeks continue and new injuries build upon old injuries, we start to see that wide receiver taken in the 7th round scoring us enough points to snatch a victory.
Couple that, with the dreaded game time decision and the early in-game injury and you will have some very interesting matchups. This is not more evident than looking at Week 5's FF.com Member Challenge.
Bracket 1 - http://fanstarpro.com/football/ffmcbracket1
Stackmonkey (5-0) defeats TheFierce (2-3) 137.4 to 125.75 – Stack was able to remain undefeated with the legs of DeAngelo Williams and the arms of Reggie Wayne as they both had good days. TheFierce got a big day from Chris Cooley, but bad days by ADP and Ocho Stinko led to his ultimate demise.
dugr19 (2-3) defeats NoMoreMrNiceGuy (0-5) 104.65 to 94.2 – dugr was able to overcome a shutout thrown by Santana Moss and near shutout by Brandon Marshall to beat NMMNG. The combination of Andre Johnson and Westbrook gave dugr enough points as Chris Perry and Marvin Harrison disappointed for NMMNG.
Woody (4-1) defeats Aggtown (2-3) 121.1 to 97.4 – If you were asked, “Who had more points LT2 or Isaac Bruce?” what would your answer be 99% of the time? That’s right; this week was the one percent. Woody used the power of Bruce to compensate for LT2 bad day to beat Aggtown.
Steve Sheiner (4-1) defeats Boogieman (3-2) 117.3 to 111.6 – Sheiner was complaining on the Sunday radio show that he was in trouble because Matt Schaub was a last minute scratch and he would take a zero. Fortunately for him, Boogieman was hit by the injury bug too. Boogie had Brian Griese make an early exit from his game.
Night Train (3-2) defeats HammerTime (2-3) 111.35 to 98.0 – Night Train loved watching the old, journeyman tossing the rock all over the field on MNF as his Bernard Berrian was the recipient of some of those ducks. Hammertime was forced to play TJ Duckett and LenDale White due to bye week issues and got burned because of it.
Wizzinator (2-3) defeats Aikman157 (1-4) 132.6 to 120.25 – Aikman was another victim of the in-game injury bug as Eddie Royal went down in his game. Add in the big days by Matt Forte and Ronnie Brown for the Wizz and you have the formula for a loss.
Bracket 2 - http://fanstarpro.com/football/ffmcbracket2
circelli17 (4-1) defeats Miami Cohibas (2-3) 140.55 to 114.9 – This game typifies the later round theory discussed earlier. Circelli chose Jay Cutler in the 7th round and has been riding the wave all year. The Cohibas chose Chris Johnson and have seen success due to that pick. Circelli came out on top in this game thanks to good days by Forte, Domenik Hixon (nice waiver wire move) and Larry Fitzgerald.
Daisy's Dynamic Deuces (5-0) defeats Kirschdaddy (0-5) 116.4 to 105.05 – David Grey almost didn’t stay undefeated as Jonathan Stewart, Marvin Harrison and Brandon Marshall all had down days. But, Kirsch was struggling through the injury to Matt Hasselback and a bad day by the dinged up Antonio Gates.
Revenge of the Nutman (2-3) defeats Moose (2-3) 121.55 to 121.4 – I would love to complain about DJ Hackett getting hurt on the kickoff but I won this matchup despite that. In the closest game of the week, Moose is cursing Larry Johnson for his poor performance. On a side note, I was 0.15 points from complaining about Reggie Bush and Moose doesn’t even have him – Moose has the New Orleans defense and 2 Bush TDs on punt returns.
Mayhan75 (5-0) defeats Joeal's AZ Azzkickers (2-3) 129 to 117.4 – Mayhan remained undefeated on the big days by Jason Witten and Clinton Portis. Joeal thought he had a good chance to pull this one as he had Reggie Bush and Lance Moore going into the MNF game. But, New Orleans found many ways not to win their game and to help many fantasy owners lose their.
Fire Andy Reid (3-2) defeats guttermouthowns (1-4) 124.4 to 122.7 – fire Andy Reid got enough points from Andre Johnson and Lee Evans to outduel guttermouth’s combo of TO and Donald Driver. Another Saint helped an owner lose as Drew Brees couldn’t score enough to make the difference for guttermouthowns.
Tampa Bay Parrotheads Parrotheadrob (3-2) defeats Abominable Snowbeasts (1-4) 111.35 to 80.85 - A big day by Big Ben helped Parrothead claim the win over the snowbeasts. Nine points, in total, from Maroney, LenDale and ADP doomed the abominable one.
Bracket 4 - http://fanstarpro.com/football/ffmcbracket4
SMLiteguy (4-1) defeats Rob Cobb (1-4) 112.1 to 84.45 – Rob Cobb has been riding high with the wide receiver duo of Eddie Royal and Santana Moss. In Week 5, Rob fell off the ride with the injury to Royal and the big fat zero from Moss. Shawn got enough points from Michael Turner and Jake Delhomme to make up for LJ’s bad day and the win.
LoneWolf (5-0) defeats geewhizkid (3-2) 182.3 to 120.95 – Lonewolf had one player with zero points, which usually bad news for a team. Not when the rest of your ten man roster scores in double digits with five of them in the twenties. Leo didn’t stand chance against the top scoring team in Week 5.
mrclean (2-3) defeats Yergsword (0-5) 115.3 to 94.85 – mrclean’s Austin Miles felt sorry for Yergs and his wide receiver Patrick Crayton, so he let the ball go through his hands to Crayton for a TD. Too bad that the charity points were not enough for Yergs to get the win.
Rmiller517 (5-0) defeats Socrates (3-2) 107.9 to 80.65 – Bobby Engram returned to the Seahawks just in time to help Rmiller stay undefeated as he beat Socrates and his lineup of underperformers.
Viks4thewin (1-4) defeats A1platnum (1-4) 126.3 to 98.85 – Having four guys from the same team is sometimes looked to be a bad idea. Viks4thewin used four Colts (Addai, Dallas Clark, the D and Vinatieri) to help him claim the victory. A1 just couldn’t get enough from his RB corps of Fred Taylor, Chris Johnson and Marshawn Lynch to stop the Viks from earning their first victory of the season.
ald (4-1) defeats Cybersensei (1-4) 130.8 to 89.85 – Formulating the matrix (poor correlation between Cyber’s avatar and the article) for losing a game would include three zeros, one injured QB and one super stud being a dud. Ald was able to claim victory as Cyber’s LT2 and Matt Hasselback scored poorly.
Bracket 5 - http://fanstarpro.com/football/ffmcbracket5
Pony Express (3-2) defeats phidelt503 (2-3) 102.2 to 95.65 – The Sunday night aerial assault by the Steelers helped the Express deliver the victory. Santonio Holmes and Heath Miller helped the Ponies by the Big Ben led phidelt.
Fantasy2006 (2-3) defeats The Desert Fox (1-4) 144.15 to 129.1 – General Rommel tried using an aerial attack (of four WRs) to get on the winning track, but it failed as the ground attack of Ronnie Brown, Reggie Bush and Julius Jones gave Fantasy the victory.
Bayou Bad Boys (5-0) defeats Foreman44 (2-3) 131.55 to 96.6 – Bayou stayed undefeated by getting good points from Brian Westbrook before he got hurt, again. Foreman was hurt by the injury to Brian Griese. By the way, do you think KingDiamond or Osterf would be proud of my use of the pun this week?
Craig Davis (3-2) defeats FLY_IGGLES_FLY (4-1) 107.65 to 85.2 – Craig Davis is just showing off now. Last week, I made fun of him for playing a man down to Ryan Brooks. This week, his starting lineup was 2 guys short (and they were not on bye or injured). Sorry FIF, it must really suck to lose your first game this way.
daweasle (3-2) defeats hawk265 (2-3) 126.1 to 123.3 – daweasle used a big night from Hines Ward to pull out the victory in this close game as Mr. Goldhawk couldn’t get enough from Robert Mewachem in the MNF game.
isawred77 (2-3) defeats Ryan Brooks (1-4) 131.25 to 83.9 – No Ryan, you cannot get your money back for your crappy team (his words not mine). You drafted these guys and now you are stuck with them. Isawred used nice games from Cooley, Andre Johnson and Eli for the win.
Bracket 6 - http://fanstarpro.com/football/ffmcbracket6
Spiguy (2-3) defeats MentalAcumen (2-3) 118.3 to 107.05 – Spiguy was cheering the Steelers onto victory Sunday night. He was cheering even louder every time someone besides Santonio Holmes caught a pass. MentalAcumen, the owner of Holmes, was not.
Wrecking_Crew (4-1) defeats JLine (2-3) 144.9 to 108.95 – Wrecking Crew was cheering on the Giants on Sunday. He was cheering even louder when Brandon Jacobs ran the ball as he owns Jacobs. JLine was set back by the injury to Matt Hasselback and the poor games by Ocho Stinko and Robert Meachem.
NJ Turnpike JOBOOZOSO (2-3) defeats Essex House Militia (3-2) 120.1 to 67.8 – the one thing that a military needs to claim victory is ammunition. When that ammunition is made of some blanks, it makes it hard to kill your enemy. The Essex House Militia fired four blanks (zeros) in their matchup and got run over by the paid highway.
RickyAndTheDeuce Harkey's Evil Monkeys (4-1) defeats Senseiwarriors (3-2) 138.6 to 88.85 – Tony Romo throws, Ronnie Brown runs, Reggie Wayne catches the ball, and Harkey wins the game. LJ doesn’t run, Santana Moss doesn’t catch, and Sensei doesn’t win.
Taternuggets (1-4) defeats Mighty Moose (3-2) 125.45 to 114.7 – If I told you that a team that has Peyton Manning, LT2, Marvin Harrison and Hines Ward got their first win in Week 5, would you believe me? You better since you just read the record for taternuggets.
El Hombre (3-2) defeats SoCal Raider (1-4) 133.35 to 114.7 – What a week for Cubby. The Cubs lose in the playoffs (again) and he wins his matchup with SoCal. It did help that SoCal forgot to play a whole team by only having nine starters. And it did help that SoCal’s bench outscored his starters. Cubhaters used the big game by Roddy White get back on the winning track.
Thanks for reading my babble and hope I entertained enough to get you to read again next week.
Useless statistical tidbit that few care about:
There were 34 different players taken in the 7th round of each of the five drafts for the Challenge. There were three quarterbacks, twelve running backs, 13 wide receivers, and six tight ends taken. Of those 34, ten of the players are currently in the top 20 scoring for their respective positions. The top scoring QB, Jay Cutler, was taken in the 7th by two different brackets. Donovan McNabb was the other QB taken in this round by one team. Three RBs were taken: 1) Ronnie Brown once (7th among RBs), 2) Chris Johnson three times (13th in scoring), and 3) DeAngelo Williams once (20th). Three WRs were taken: 1) Santana Moss once (5th highest scoring WR), 2) Hines Ward was taken twice and is the 9th highest scoring WR, and 3) the 12th ranked WR, Lee Evans, was taken once. Two TEs, Chris Cooley and Jeremy Shockey, were selected in the 7th round. Cooley was taken by four teams and is currently ranked second, whereas, Shockey was taken twice and is 16th in scoring TEs.