Last Place Wisdom: Week Seven - TFLOEG's Reckoning

A joke I found on Twitter summed up the Monday night football game for me, and inspired me to get Last Place Wisdom up on a Tuesday for once ("Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear"). After the Steelers scoring 24 points in under 3 minutes, someone on Twitter mentioned:

I haven't seen an explosion at Heinz Field this big since Bane showed up with a megaphone.

Hey-oh! Steelers, Batman, the Bane voice! ("What a lovely, lovely voice") Everything about that line is perfect. Monday night was crazy, both for fantasy and real football, with Mike winning on the ultimate of garbage time scores, and Andrew being a called back Antonio Brown touchdown from potentially winning his. We've reached the midpoint of the fantasy regular season, and there is plenty to talk about.

Consider this blog my own personal megaphone, as I bring a reckoning to TFLOEG

"Do you feel in charge?"

John and Steve have been in charge of the fantasy league the entire season, but after both losing two in a row, and one of them guaranteed to lose 3 after their match up this week, I wouldn't be surprised if either of them are starting to doubt just how in charge they truly are. Both have easier schedules going forward, but whoever loses this week could start to have some doubt creeping in.

"We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die"

Apparently Mike doesn't have permission to die yet. He's crawled himself out of the Pit that is the bottom of the Power Powell Rankings, and has given himself a brief hope. Unfortunately for Mike, Curtis and Andrew, Bane has strong words to say about hope....

"There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope.......I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope."

All 3 of those guys still have hope, but I don't like any of their chances at making the playoffs at this point. This has to be especially disappointing for Andrew, who looked so good before the start of the season, but is starting to resemble Batman during his first fight with Bane. He still looks like Batman, but something is just not right with his team. I don't know what has gone wrong, but Bane has some thoughts...

"Peace has cost you your strength! Victory has defeated you!" 

What this fantasy season has done to Andrew.

 I don't think Andrew was overconfident coming into the season, but the quote fits anyway. Now is the time for Andrew to heal his broken back and crawl himself out of the Pit, if not this season, then next season for sure.

"The fire rises."

Both Shayne and Aaron have been rising as the season goes on. Shayne is making his push for #1 overall, while Aaron is doing his best to ensure his spot in the playoffs, and I like both of their chances. Shayne has been doing it without Calvin Johnson, as DeMarco Murray has been the clear cut fantasy MVP up till this point, and as long as he and Rodgers stay healthy I think Shayne ends up in the top 2.

"Oh, you think darkness is your ally. But you merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but BLINDING!"

I don't know how to tie this in to fantasy, but it's my favourite quote of Bane's. My team was back to what I expect from them. I'm a little TD dependent, as none of my RBs TEs or WRs put up huge yardage on a regular basis, but Miller, Lacy, Allen and Floyd are starting to look like consistent options for me. If they can join Luck and Brown as sure-things most weeks, then my team is looking good.

Mr.Manager of the Week Award

No major moves this week that really stick out to me, so I'll just point out what has come to my mind.

In climbing out of the Pit, Mike has made a few good moves. Picking up Baltimore's D/ST was key to helping him pull out the win against Curtis, and thinking ahead to get Miami's D against Jacksonville is looking smart as well.

As the kids say, I have to toot my own horn a bit for deciding to pick up Tre Mason when I did. I was a little hesitant, as I thought St. Louis might be a timesharing mess (and it still might be), but he looked good running against Seattle, and could give me good depth going forward.

Random Thoughts

John's dream of finally owning Drew Brees has become a reality, as his persistence has finally worn Aaron down to the point of accepting one of John's trades.

To be honest, I hate this trade for John. I get that he's sick of watching boring old Phillip Rivers, but Drew Brees has been a disappointment in my mind, and if he doesn't turn it around it could come back to bite John. The fact that he had to give up Steve Smith Sr. as well, who is the most logical choice for John's flex, and important insurance in case he loses Julio to an injury, just seals my opinion. John made a commitment to going with his heart more than simply just going with his head, and I get it (I do the same in hockey), but Bane has words of wisdom in this instance.

"It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan." 

And by plan, he means what matters is how many fantasy points they score. I don't know that Drew Brees will score enough fantasy points to make up for losing Rivers and Smith, and if a championship is his plan, I think this is a mistake.

Week 7 Preview

The Keith-glorius Basterds vs oh that’s nasty – I have some good matchup for Stafford, Miller, Floyd, Ertz and Bell, and I think Dawson will be in tough especially now that the has lost Fred Jackson. Tannehill has a good matchup with Jacksonville, and AJ Green might be back, but Ryan has a bad matchup against Detroit. I'm seriously thinking of benching Brandon Marshall this week, and apparently I didn't learn my lesson last time, so if I do watch him go off for 3 TDs.

What are the Chances vs NFL Owner –The projections have to give Curtis some hope, but no team has been tougher to predict that Curt all season long. Both of Shayne's QBs have strong matchups, and Rodgers should throw all over New Orleans, and so I'm thinking the answer to the existential question posed by Curt's team name this week is "Not good".

BISP vs  RW Throws a Sexy Deep Ball– Both teams try and keep their hope alive in this game, and I don't feel in any position to predict what is going to happen. Andrew has a tough call to make between his boy (or maybe not any more) Jordan Cameron, and Martellus Bennet, and I'm sure he's hoping Calvin Johnson misses another week for Golden Tate's sake. Seattle's D is no longer the frightening prospect they once were, but Newton against Seattle could be the key to this matchup. Andrew has extra investment in the Seattle-Carolina game for that reason.

NINERS vs AARON - PRIMETIME- CLAPPERTON – Aaron can take a huge step towards locking up a playoff birth with a win in this Altus Geomatic showdown. We'll probably see him go with Steve Smith Sr. over Martin in his flex, and he'll have to hope Rivers can go toe-to-toe with Manning in their Thursday night matchup. There's a lot riding on that Denver-Chargers game in this matchup, and we might be able to tell who is going to win this as soon as Friday morning.

The Fear Boners vs Sideliners – This is no longer the undefeated match up that I thought it might be, but as I mentioned earlier it still has intrigue with 1st place on the line and the loser looking at a 3 game losing streak. John will be hoping for a shootout in New Orleans, and is no-doubt praying that Graham continues to recover from his injury. He also has a big decision to make at QB2, as if RG3 isn't ready to go he might have to rely on Bridgewater again. In my mind Steve is in trouble at his 2nd RB spot, as none of the options on his team really inspires me at all. I'll be watching this closely on the hopes that I can overtake whoever comes out on the losing end.