Didn’t write about FF earlier because I didn’t want to dwell on a damper to an otherwise great football day. (Browns won, Steelers lost, and the ratbirds are going to be Miami’s only win - haha).
I was a strong favorite going into both of my fantasy semi-finals and got creamed both games. I knew the Cleveland weather was going to put a hamper on my games. I didn’t factor weather into my drafting… relying on cold weather receivers in the fantasy playoffs is dangerous.
I wanted to put Jamal in over Grant, honestly, but I also wanted to diversify my fantasy teams. Jamal was starting for my other team so I decided to spread out the risk and go with Grant. Decision cost me 7.8 points, which, while not great, would be a big deal with Peterson still to play.
Also, my choices for receiver were Steve Smith, Roddy White, Calvin Johnson, and Lee Evans, and I’m proud to have made the right one. But what kills me is that Johnson caught a Hail Mary… at the 1 yard line. He catches it 1 yard deeper and I have 7.1 more points, also critical.
That said, I’m down by 27.46 points. I don’t expect that many points out of any player, but if anyone can do it it’s Peterson, so I’ve got a shot.
Omni won his playoff game and will advance to the championship.
Peterson gave me some last-minute hope, but came up short. I thought he was going to break that run on his last drive. I lost by less than 6 points - if that Calvin Johnson Hail Mary catch goes half a yard more, I’d win. Or if I’d have started Jamal Lewis over Ryan Grant, I’d win. I really wanted to do it, I kept waivering before I left the house. But I had Lewis in both leagues, and I decided to spread my risk around and I didn’t want a bad game by Lewis to hurt me badly in both leagues. And since Grant has been putting up 20+ for the last month…
Frustrating. I was a strong favorite in both my leagues, after being the top scorer in one and the second place scorer in the other, and lost both semi-final games mostly on account of the blizzard game in Cleveland. Unfortunately I got matched up against the only guy I could lose to.
LOUNE got it worse this week, though, losing by 1.3 points to Omni.
Congratulations to Omni and Diomedes on making the championship.
Roddy White was my starter all week. He’d been productive with Redman before, and was facing a bad pass defense. Last night I looked at ratings, rankings, fantasy football forums, etc. and the overwhelming consensus was that Anthony Gonzalez was going to have a better day. So I switched to him. Then I decided to go with my gut and switch back. Then at the last minute I decided to switch back to the consensus. Damn. I should trust my gut. Another last minute change - switching the Arizona defense to Tennessee, worked out much better though.
I have 99.10 points left on the bench, I wonder if that’s a new record. Of my 6 running backs, the lowest score of any was 11.5 (not including Peterson yet). I’m feeling decent about my chances. Anytime you face LDT is dangerous though, and especially against one of the worst run defenses. A convincing performance by Peterson would put me in a nice position.
Omni is the league champion. Congratulations.
It’s amazing that Minnesota’s running schemes are so horrible that they’ve been shut down for multiple weeks with arguably the best runner in the NFL and some of the best run blocking linemen. I go in with an almost 30 point lead with Peterson still to play, and I’m probably not going to win. Bizarre.
Peterson was by far my worst running back choice this weekend. Jones-Drew would’ve scored me 20, Grant 16.9, Taylor 17.1, or Kolby Smith 11.5. Does anyone sit Peterson in my position? Gah.
LT needs to cover 27.62 points. Against Denver? No problem. Peterson not coming back from that injury might’ve saved my season in this league.