One More Week Until Fantasy Playoffs

In most leagues, there's one more week left before the start of the fantasy football playoffs. At this point in the season, there are many very interesting scenarios playing out in the NFL that could have a definite impact on your fantasy team. By now your team probably looks completely different than the team you drafted, or maybe it looks the same just with some minor tweaks. Maybe you're sitting on top of the league or maybe you're fighting for that last playoff spot. This week is crucial and there are some things you definitely should look out for this week...

...Such as that opponent you're facing who is fighting for that last playoff spot. Depending on the make up of your league, this is the guy who started off bad but through good managing and pick ups from free agency, this guy is on multi-game winning streak and could possibly end up winning the league. This happened in my league this year and it's somewhat happening again this season, and it's my fault. I traded Tom Brady after week 4 to the guy who is in currently first place for Ben Roethlisberger. At the time of the trade I was in 8th place and he was in 9th. It worked out fine until two weeks later when the real Tom Brady stood up and has been on fire ever since. I did this with the guy in 4th place too. I wasn't patient with Roethlisberger and I traded him away before the real Big Ben stood up and started throwing mad touchdowns like he was playing Madden. Had I been more patient, I probably wouldn't be fighting not to come in last place (actually, I was patient but with the wrong quarterback, should've traded Cam Newton instead).

There isn't anyone available in my league to help anyone trying to make a playoff push. Everyone in my league are sluts (picking up players they don't necessarily need). My boy Victor picked up Ray Rice yesterday who did get reinstated, but is not on a team and probably won't be on a team this season. However, in many regular leagues there still might be some players available who can help your team out during this oddly stressful time. Some of these guys might not and should not be available in your league, but these guys are definitely worth mentioning because they were not in the picture in the beginning of the season, but they now play a key role in their respective team's success.

If C.J. Anderson is available in your league, you should grab him real quick. I had never heard of this guy until about two weeks ago, but he has a major advantage because he plays with Peyton Manning. Over the last three weeks he has scored an average of 19.76 points in standard leagues, including 25.5 points last week when he rushed for 167 yards. Most running backs can excel in a Peyton Manning offense and Anderson is definitely taking major advantage of this opportunity.

Even though Odell Beckham Jr. plays for the Giants (I'm not a Giants fan), I can't sleep on him on that PhantasySteez. He was injured for the beginning of the season but since then he's been pretty productive, especially since Victor Cruz went out for the season. He's probably not available in your league and by now everyone has seen the catch that has gotten the attention of almost everyone. That was no fluke, the catch was real and Beckham Jr. is definitely one to watch out for as the playoffs is just around the corner and he will definitely have an impact for some lucky players who start him.

Another guy who has came up all of a sudden is Mark Sanchez. I personally didn't think he would do good in Chip Kelly's offense, especially after what happened to him with the Jets. However, Sanchez has used that Jest situation as fuel and has mounted a major comeback, probably the comeback of the season. He's been at the helm for the past three weeks and has put up good numbers. It helps when you got Shady McCoy in the backfield, just like when he had LaDamian Tomlinson back there with the Jets. On Thanksgiving Sanchez had 21.48 points which was well over the 17.47 points that were projected. I know he already played this week, but watch out for teams who has him starting at quarterback.

If I'm going to put Mark Sanchez on this list, I have to also put his favorite target Jordan Matthews on it too. Matthews is a second round pick and since Sanchez has been at quarterback, Matthews' stock has noticeably risen. Even though he plays behind Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper, Matthews has proven that he can also be relied on. You'll probably catch him as a WR3 on most squads, but his fantasy point production has major potential.

I think I'm only making the playoffs in one league, but I'm still playing spoiler in the leagues I'm not. Watch out for Mike Evans who has been one of the top receivers over the last month. I also go LeGarette Blount on the squad who had a good game last week back in a Patriots' jersey, but we all know you can't rely too heavily on Patriots' running backs. If you got some sleepers on your radar we should all be looking out for, let me know. Feel free to leave a comment, hit me up on twitter @donofalldons, google+ +Marcus Nickerson, instagram @donspook.

Going into Week 12...

Fantasy Football Playoffs is right around the corner and right now you're either trying to maintain position, trying to build momentum to get into playoffs, or you're tanking. Every move is crucial at this point and even the sexiest lineup can be unpredictable. There are a few names going around this week and while some may be a clear bet to have a good week, others are not what they appear to be.

Jonas Gray had a Patriots' career day last week against the Colts and he is one of the top pick ups for most people in most leagues. I considered dropping Montee Ball who should be out for the next 2-3 weeks for Gray but I decided not too because of two reasons. First, as a Patriots fan I know that a running back can have a career game one week and have a vanishing act game the next week. Secondly, I know that the Patriots will change up their game plan next week. It is well noted that when the Patriots play the Colts, the Patriots pound the ball and expose the Colts weak run defense. It has worked over the past two seasons, but going against the Lions who have a top rated run defense, I expect Gray to not get as many touches and for Tom Brady to take over as he usually does. By the way, LeGarette Blount signed with the Patriots on Thursday, so now Gray has to come behind Shane Vereen and Blount. It's not looking too good for the kid.

Speaking of quarterbacks, one person I wanted to add this week and who I should've added two weeks ago is Josh McCown. I've never been a huge fan of his as I've always thought his success in Chicago last season was a fluke. While his stat line hasn't been off the charts, he's been consistent and has been one of the better fantasy football quarterbacks recently. He has one of the best fantasy football wide receivers to throw it to in Mike Evans. Evans has dominated over the last month and I was lucky to pick him up through free agency. Also, McCown still has Vincent Jackson to throw it to on the other side, but the real advantage is Evans. McCown may not light the board up with yards and completions, but with Jackson and Evans he should get at least two touchdowns a week.

There are a lot of interesting things going on in Cleveland this week. Josh Gordon is expected to come back from his suspension. Doesn't it seem like Gordon is always suspended to start the season? Usually he comes back and scores a lot of fantasy points for us. With the Browns doing so good and Brian Hoyer performing better than usual, he shouldn't have a problem producing on that PhantasySteez right? This could be, but I have to be a little pessimistic because the Browns let go of Ben Tate this week. Tate is now with the Vikings and this could be a good thing for Teddy Bridgewater, but what's going to happen with the Gordon and the Browns' backfield? With Tate's departure it'll be between Isaiah Crowell and Terrence West. I haven't seen either of them play, but if one of these guys don't step up it could be a rough return for Gordon. Well, then again the Browns' running game has always been kind of jacked up and that hasn't stopped Gordon in the past.



Last but not least, RGIII is starting his third game since coming back from injury. He's been in the sports news lately for trying to throw his teammates under the bus, but coach Jay Gruden defended and his players and let it be known that RGIII is the one who needs to get his rep up. I wonder if RGIII will rise to the occasion. Since his return he has had below average production on that PhantasySteez, and it mostly comes from sacks and turnovers. I believe that he has all the weapons he need with DeSean Jackson, Pierre Garcon (who has fallen off), Jordan Reed and Alfred Morris. However, last week he stunk it up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and this week they play the 49ers who are looking better now that Aldon Smith is back in the lineup. I don't want to start RGIII this week, but unfortunately in a league where free agency is beyond slim, I have no choice.

Feeling Some Kind of Way

As the fantasy football season continues on, I find myself in an interesting position as a fantasy football player. For some reason, this season feels very different than previously. One thing is I'm not having the success I've had in previous seasons, and it has kind of lead me to losing interest in playing the game. For instance, this morning my boy Vic had called me to talk fantasy football, but I was totally not interested in the conversation. I was watching a game at the time, a game that I was upset about having to watch, and none of my players were in the game. Secondly Vic was questioning me about why I haven't picked up Shaun  Hill. At that moment Hill had just threw his touchdown pass to Kenny Britt, a pretty play might I add. I have no interest in Hill, but Victor was pointing out that at the moment Hill had more fantasy points than Cam Newton, which was true at the time but turns out Cam found some way to turn it around and did eventually outscore Hill.

Speaking of Cam Newton, he has been a thorn in my side all season as I'm sure most of you who owns him feels the same way. Last week, I was ready to just get rid of Newton all together. I felt like one of those losers who take fantasy football way too seriously and go off on players' twitter accounts. I didn't resort to that low life behavior though. Instead I tried to trade him to another player in my league but all I was offered in return was a bag of Fritos. In the league Roughing the Picker, I've lost 7 games already and in most of those losses, Cam Newton did not meet his projections. In week 8 he got me 7 points, and he followed that up with 11 and 13 points in weeks 9 and 10 respectively. I already dropped him in another league, Coast2Coast Ballers, but that came back and bit me in the ass because my opponent picked him up this week when Cam decided he didn't want to play like Tim Tebow.

Going forward at this point, I don't know what I'm going to do with Cam. Even though he did okay this week, in most weeks he's been absolutely horrific. I've had opportunities to trade him multiple times but I felt it was dumb to trade him because of his potential. I mean, this is Cam Newton we're talking about. He's bound to come around sometime right?

In this league Roughing the Picker, the last place player pays the prize for the third place and currently I'm in last place. That will change this week as the two players that are in 8th and 9th will lose, but how am I going to maintain that going on? Newton is on a bye next week and my other two quarterbacks are RG3 and Mike Vick (Roughing the Picker is 2 quarterback league). Vick has been not great, but better than expected. RG3 on the other hand, well in a week that he should've dominated against a week Tampa Bay defense, he finished with 207 yards, one touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Honestly, a part of me wants to tank, but as I mentioned earlier the last place guy has to pay the third place guy, we did this to prevent tanking in the first place. Funny thing about it is that I still have an outside chance of making the playoffs, but quite frankly I'm almost to the point to where it's not even worth it. The only thing that's motivating me to keep playing at this point is avoiding finishing in last place and having to pay the third place winner.

I mentioned my other league Coast2Coast Ballers earlier and I should be somewhat satisfied in this league. Even though I should lose this week, I've been dominating throughout the season. Including this week I've lost two out of the last three games but that's mainly because of byes. I'm still in playoff contention and I should rebound sooner rather than later. The reason why I'm not feeling this league though is because it's so quiet. This league in particular is why I play fantasy football. Usually the competitive banter is off the charts. It's a very prideful league and trash talking is usually a constant. This season however, no one is talking. Even the commissioner has been quiet as of late.

This has made this league mad boring. My fantasy football rival Mr. Hindsman is in this league and when we played, there was nothing epic about it. I almost forgot we were playing against each other. He's not doing too good in this league and another league that we're in and it's like he's lost interest because of it. I called him out about this last week on Facebook and his response was simply, I forgot. I FORGOT? He was talking all that good ish during the preseason and now all of a sudden he forgot? I expect more from Mr. Hindsman but I know, the sun don't shine, the sun don't shine. I'll go ahead and win the league, since it was also thrown in my face that I haven't won the league yet, but I'm going to put an asterisk by this victory because it just isn't the same.