Last Place Wisdom: Week Six - A day late and a joke short

So I’m sure my loyal readers (Andrew, John, Shayne, that I know of) have noticed that Last Place Wisdom seems to be getting posted later and later in the week. This isn’t a good trend, and while I have holiday Monday as an excuse this week, it’s something that I want to try and do something about. On the weekends that I don’t watch a lot of football, it can be hard to really get the motivation to recap how things have gone down. This is too bad, because honestly this past week was perhaps the craziest/most exciting that we’ve seen up to this point. With only 1 sub-100 score and multiple 130+ performances, it was a good week overall.

Aaron found a way to beat me again. He got the best games of the year from Flacco and Bortles, and had a +24 at the D/ST over me and the disappointing Bengals. I didn’t hate my week, but inconsistent performances from Stafford and Lacy have certainly been frustrating and a little disconcerting.

I was happy to see both of the undefeated’s get beat, as it keeps them within striking distance. Andrew’s bad luck has continued, as he finally had a great game but ran into Stan who had the best game of the year. I also feel good for Mike in getting his first win. I know for a fact that Mike believes he can win out and still make the playoffs and I commend him for his confidence and positive attitude, even if I have my doubts. As long as Cam Newton keeps rushing, Arian Foster stays healthy, and he gets anything out of his receivers, he might have a chance.

It was a big week injury wise, and it impacted my team a lot. Although it sucks to see the guy I just traded for (Moreno) go out for the year with an injury, on the plus side it has turned a potential timeshare into Lamar Miller’s job alone. Victor Cruz seems like a good guy and I like him as a player, but I’m hoping that him being out can turn Rueben Randal into an every week starter (and potential trade-bait down the road).

Mr.Manager of the Week Award

John has already highlighted this, but Shayne once again deserves a lot of credit for his smart QB moves and making the best of a tough situation. I like Palmer for the rest of the year, and for Michael Floyd’s sake, I hope he stays healthy. Stan has made some good moves as well, and staying patient with Brady might finally be paying off. He got one of TY Hilton’s good games, which will happen twice a year and win a week for you, but I still wouldn’t want him on my team because of his inconsistency.

Overall, I’m going to give this award to Mike this week. It might be one of his only chances to get it, and despite some questionable moves (Kenny Britt? C’mon man), getting Forsett and Sanu were good calls.

Random Thoughts

At this rate, we might have to start calling John “Scraps” as he has taken to picking up Mike’s leftovers and drops. Julio Jones last year, and now RG3. It’s an interesting call, with no real downside for John, but personally I don’t RG3 to come back and have a good year.

I really appreciated the intro to the Power Powell rankings this week. I appreciate TFLOEG primarily for helping to maintain the connection that was formed back in Junior High, and which are outside of my family the most important and longest lasting I have. I too could relate to sometimes putting too much emphasis on the results of fantasy football, and my last place finish, besides providing a title for the blog, helped put this into perspective. As you’re all likely aware thanks to my references to Warcraft in previous blogs, I enjoy myself some video games. WoW in particular, I spent more time playing, researching and generally obsessing over. What I loved most of all was being able to dig into the mechanics of it, take my Mage and push him to the max, getting the most out of what I had and constantly striving to be the best that I could (which was pretty good, if I may say so). These days, because of life and priorities, I don’t have the time to play as many video games as I would like, and fantasy football has kind of taken that position instead. It’s why I spend so much time listening, reading and researching in order to make my team the best that I can. This is partly why, when my team is struggling at least, it can be extra discouraging, and having a good perspective on the role of luck in any outcome is important.

Week 7 Preview

Sexy Sacks Men vs NINERS – Stan had a great week, and it will be interesting to see if this is the start of a roll for him or just a brief turnaround. Brady and Manning scare me for sure, although I can’t say the rest of his team does. That’s likely just because I don’t Brandon Oliver as a lead back yet, and Crowell and Hilton are inconsistent. Meanwhile, I’m hoping Stafford can turn it around against a bad New Orleans D, and that the Bills can make Bridgewater look as bad as Detroit did last week.  

What are the Chances vs BISP– Last place is on the line with this game, and possibly the season for each team. Curtis is still starting Harvin, which I don’t like, but somewhat understand given his other options are either no sure thing themselves (Allen, Wayne), or have tough matchups (Quick – Seattle, Robinson – Detroit (possibly with Ingram back as well)). He has great RB matchups against Oakland and Jacksonville however. Mike has some ok matchups, and in my mind he has a decision to make regarding Locker, who if he starts has a great matchup against Washington, who might be worth starting over Eli.

Oh that’s nasty vs  RW Throws a Sexy Deep Ball– Andrew finally starts to get something from McCoy, and he loses him to the bye. Andrew is in need of some RB help, as having to start MJD is not a good situation to be in. It looks like he will get to see what he has in Odell Beckham, who has the opportunity to be a star with Cruz out for the year. For as much as I would hate having to start MJD, Toby Gerhardt is probably just as bad. Dawson is in a tough spot as well with AJ Green out, but I really couldn’t imagine starting Gerhardt every week this year like Dawson has.

The Fear Boners vs AARON - PRIMETIME- CLAPPERTON – John’s team is vulnerable here. Bridgewater has looked like a rookie and has another tough matchup. Graham is out and Lynch is facing a fairly tough D as well. Meanwhile Aaron is hoping that Vereen picks up more carries while Ridley is out, and that Reggie Bush can return from injury in a good matchup. The key might come down to Brees, which puts John in a tough situation. If he has a good game, John will be frustrated that Aaron hasn’t traded him to John. On the other hand, if he has a bad game and the Saints lose, a fantasy win will only help dull the pain so much.

NFL Owner vs Sideliners – The game I’m most interested in, as I see these two teams as my biggest competition for a top 2 spot and a first round playoff bye. Steve has to rely on Derek Carr, who showed well last week but hasn’t the rest of the season. Shayne’s team could start rolling if Palmer can be as good as I expect, although he is a little thin at WR with Megatron and Maclin out for the week, Colston or Decker are adequate fill-ins but not much more than that in my mind.