Arian Foster is better than Cribbs.
There are some pretty strong rumors on the Cardinals message boards about Larry Fitzgerald not playing this week.
I have to agree. If the Cardinals can’t beat the Lions with the rest of their receivers, they don’t belong in the playoffs. Sitting Boldin for a week helped the Cards go on a nice win streak. Now, it’s Boldin’s time to step it up.
I have Fitz on 2 of my teams. I’ve pulled him from one of the lineups (I have decent options including Crabtree, whom I’ve started in Fitz’s place), but I’m waiting until game time in the SDMB Auction league, since my option will be either Devin Thomas or whomever I can scrounge off waivers.
Edit: It’ll be either Devin Thomas or Josh Cribbs.
I grabbed Cribbs because of the idea that he may be used as more of a RB. But picked up Foster on waivers late last night. May swap em.
On the league page on yahoo leagues, it now has a link asking for feedback. I suggest everyone click that and then in the text box add something to the effect of “Please add auction drafts next year”… if enough people say it, they just may … and auction drafting is the way to go.
Good news: In the 20 team SDMB Big League, I started a Cleveland Browns RB.
Bad news: It was Chris Jennings.
Congrats to Cobra Kai, who looks to be moving on to the title game.
What kind of playoff setups do you like?
I’m in 3 12-man leagues now. In the all-pro league, we use a 3 week playoff system that admits 6. In the first week, the 1 and 2 seed get byes, 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5. And then from there you have your final 4 and it’s the normal 2 week format.
In the other leagues, it’s just a standard 2 week 4 man playoffs.
Even though I think 6 may be too many people to admit to the playoffs, I think I prefer the former system. For one thing, it feels meaningful to have a top seed - your road to the championship is only two games long, while everyone else has to win 3… in other leagues, top seed earns you the priviledge of playing lower seeds, but that’s not even always an advantage depending on the matchups this week. There’s no fantasy equivelant of homefield advantage, but a bye week certainly is advantageous. But the other side of the equation is… is half the league going to the playoffs too much?
My brother’s coworker is apparently in a fancy pay-to-play league that has some pretty funky settings.
First off, you play everyone twice. If that means you’re playing TWO teams on any given Sunday, so be it (so Team A could be playing Teams B & C at the same time). Secondly, their playoffs have 6 teams, like SB mentions. But the best part is that the championship game is two weeks long.
Who is Cobra Kai? That was my team name the last time I played in a league with you guys. That’d be funny if it were me and it were on autopilot the entire year.
I prefer 4-team playoffs with consolation bowls for the increased activity. Assuming a 12-team league, the amount of actual games is:
6-team playoffs
13 regular season weeks * 12 teams = 156 participants
1 wildcard week of 4 participants
1 divisional week of 4 participants
1 championship week of 2 participants
166 total participants
Half of league is done after week 13.
4-team playoffs w/consolation
14 regular season week * 12 teams = 168 participants
1 playoff week with 8 participants
1 championship week with 4 participants
180 total participants
Most of league is active through week 15
Additionally, a 14-week schedule is ideal for a 12-man league if you opt for three divisions of 4 teams each. (Play division rivals twice, everyone else once.)
it was Boozeahol Squid, P.I.
Sorry to take away your championship
So, I made it to the finals in my league. Woo hoo! I got lucky, though. I had a pretty good week, but I only had 30 point lead after all my guys were done Sunday afternoon, and my opponent still had the Vikes “D”, DeAngelo Williams and Lawrence Tynes left. I thought I was in trouble. I figured the Vikes had a decent chance at a defensive TD against Matt Moore; and 30 points didn’t look that stout. Lo and behold, Williams got hurt early and stayed out (whew!) and the Panthers racked up 26 on Minnesota and didn’t give up a score to the D.
The championship game in the auction league has turned into a bit of a QB controversy for my team. Which Manning brother should I start? Normally it’s a no-branier to go with Peyton, but he faces the stout Jets defense while little brother Eli faces Carolina.
Carolina seemed to give Favre fits on Sunday; does that return this question to no-brainer status? Eli looked awfully good against the Redskins, but Peyton looked even better against the Jags, and the Jags don’t completely suck on defense, right?
Any thoughts would be appreciated. I’m leaning toward Peyton, but man the Jets have given opposing QBs hell for most of the season and seem to be playing at their highest level right now.
What I can say about the Panthers is:
Julius Peppers knows they aren’t going to tag him again, and with a cap-less season a real likelihood next year, is auditioning for a new team/contract.
The team has not quit on John Fox and actually want him back, so they are playing for something, even if it isn’t the playoffs.
Still, they aren’t nearly as good as they looked against Minnesota.
If the Colts get out to a big lead they may pull Peyton. Eli is still fighting for a playoff berth.
The flipside of that scenario is that getting out to a big lead means that Peyton probably put up some numbers…
The Panthers are among the very best in the league at defending against the pass, the Jags are among the very worst. Both the Jets and Panthers are tough, but I’d take Peyton at home in a dome over Eli outside in December. What’s most important is whether Peyton will play at all.
Good point about the weather, even though he looked fine outside at night just after a blizzard in Washington. It’s wind that kills Eli, and East Rutherford in December in wind central.
I’ll start Peyton unless it looks like he won’t play much, at which point I’ll be happy starting Eli. I gotta say, having the two Manning boys as your fantasy tandem doesn’t suck, not just for points but also because neither ever misses starts.
Pretty good season, all in all.
Finished the He Hate Me regular season third in overall scoring, though just out of the playoffs, and I’ve got a good chance of winning the first pick.
Finished first in scoring and second overall in the auction league (bounced from the playoffs by Ellis).
Second in scoring and first recordwise in the dynasty league, and will be heavily favored in the championship game. 
Oh, and finished second in scoring and first recordwise in my non-SDMB money league, but got bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
I made the finals in my 2 non-SDMB leagues. In one of them, I have to choose 3 WRs (one is going into the flex position) from:
Larry Fitzgerald v StL
Marques Colston v TB
Steve Smith NYG v Car
Michael Crabtree v Det
Hakeem Nicks v Car
Antonio Bryant v NO
I’m inclined to start Fitz (if he’s healthy), Crabtree, and Colston, but Colston hasn’t been so consistent lately.
That’s who I’d play too, but I’d be tempted to try and get Bryant in there over Crabtree maybe. Crabtree is a safer play but Bryant could have a monster…or could have nothing.