I picked up two players on waivers this week, Matt Bryant and Zach Miller, and both picked up injuries earlier in the week that put their games in doubt. Thankfully both shook these off, Bryant by Friday and Miller by game time. Similarly my opponent also faced the prospect of the will they/won't they decision. Cam Newton eventually missed the Monday night game through the concussion protocol while Rashad Jennings was absent for yet another week with a thumb injury, although he was warming up with the team pre-game.
The Cam Newton injury certainly helped my team as Derek Carr vastly outperformed Kirk Cousins but the rest of the team was once again lead by the running back duo of Murray and Freeman and almost everyone had a reasonable return of points.
The Teams:
If there is one position where I regret my decision it is the flex position. My guy underperformed and the two surprise packages sitting on my bench would have been far better choices. At least it didn't cost me this week.
QB:
JDD 21.98 / WAP 12.30 (+ 9.68)
Derek Carr got off to a slow start, throwing only his second INT of the season before the game really got going. After that he settled down and a big second half performance was required after the Oakland D imploded for the third time this season. One TD for each of his WRs meant that I had a very decent return from the QB position this week. Having watched this game, I found it crazy that San Diego managed to find yet another way to lose a game this week. Tying it up with that field goal could have seen Carr boost my points further but their kick holder had butter-fingers (to say the least) and you have to wonder who the Chargers have upset so much to be this cursed.
RB:
JDD 32.00 / WAP 7.90 (+ 24.10)
My opponent was very unlucky to have so many players on a bye week that he had to gamble on Rashad Jennings being fit. Having said that, Frank Gore really didn't come close to either of my RBs this week and the scores could have been even more lopsided if DeMarco Murray had managed to pick up a TD. Freeman lead the way for me this week, setting the tone with a 4th down TD to start the Atlanta game, while DeMarco Murray did everything except score a TD against a porous Miami defence. It's going to be a long season for Miami fans (and we are only in week 5) with my only solace provided by this fantasy team.
WR:
JDD 22.30 / WAP 22.40 (- 0.10)
This could have been so much worse after Larry Fitzgerald put up 20.10 points on Thursday night. Just about everyone on the Atlanta offence put up big numbers, with the exception of Mohamed Sanu which was great news for me. Michael Crabtree was his ever reliable self, providing me with his consistent 3 catches and 10+ points a week. Alongside him Nuk finally got something going with Osweiler, although they left it late into garbage time. Houston are struggling, this was the first game that I watched on Sunday, their O and D lines are beat up but that doesn't excuse the errant throws from Osweiler. Nuk made things happen in the 4th quarter on Sunday but if Osweiler had been better in the first three quarters they could have competed against Minnesota.
TE:
JDD 7.30 / WAP 4.30 (+ 3.00)
The Zach Miller transaction paid dividends here. As long as Hoyer is QB in Chicago I expect Miller to be a big player in the Bears passing game. Hoyer rarely goes downfield, which hurts my WR Jeffery, and this benefits a big TE who can dominate the middle of the field. If they can get in the red zone more often Miller could start putting up some very nice numbers in the latter half of the season.
Flex:
JDD 6.50 / WAP 23.10 (- 16.60)
Jordan Matthews under-performed and TY Hilton had a great day. There isn't much more to say about this. Matthews will look to hook up with Wentz a lot more next week as they try and overcome their first loss of the year, it wasn't even drops that hurt him this week as he had a 100% catching record. But regardless of what Matthews could have achieved this week he was never going to outdo the 170+ yards and a TD from Hilton. I tip my hat to you sir.
Kicker:
JDD 11.00 / WAP 10.00 (+ 1.00)
Two kickers on opposite sides of the same game. Bryant was the dominant force all game, and only a late field goal from McManus made it look closer than it actually was. Bryant and the Atlanta offence have been so good through the start of the season that I have decided to move on from Cairo Santos. You can't argue with keeping the second best fantasy kicker in the league on your team right now when every point counts.
Defence:
JDD 2.00 / WAP 3.00 (- 1.00)
Jeff Fisher and Case Keenum keep undermining the good work that the LA defence put in every week. Up against Buffalo LA were missing 3 of their front seven this week and yet they still held Buffalo to only 17 points with 5 minutes to go. LA set up to punt the ball away from around their own 30 and.... Fisher calls a fake, doesn't get the 5 yards and turns the ball over to Buffalo with a short field. A couple of plays later and Buffalo have a TD. With a longer field the LA defence could have held Buffalo based off of their work earlier in the game. Keenum needs to step up as QB and give this defence some help. 15 points a game won't cut it in the NFL, if you take away the big game against Tampa it looks even worse.
Bench:
Well there were two surprise packages this week, one perhaps more predictable than the other but still enough of a surprise that neither of them made it into the starting lineup. First up Theo Riddick, 6.5, 4.8, 5.8... No those aren't his average yards per carry, those are his total points leading up to this 20.20 outburst. Perhaps unsurprisingly for Riddick after his big first quarter he went very quiet. He still struggles to get anything going in the ground game and has to make up for it as a receiver, this will hold him back in Detroit where the change of pace from Abdullah was something that really helped Detroit to kick on in the early weeks of the season.
The second surprise was Travis Benjamin. He has put up decent yardage with limited catches in San Diego over the past couple of weeks but what has really hurt his game is ball control. Two fumbles in as many games, with the one against New Orleans costing them the game, certainly had me questioning what role he would have in the offence this week. He answered his critics with a 100+ yard game and no fumbles. If he can add in some TDs he could be a very useful piece down the stretch.
Honourable mentions to Dennis Pitta and Alshon Jeffery with their respective 59 and 77 receiving yards. Both would like to start adding TDs to their game sooner rather than later and they should get the chance over the next few weeks.
Some of the more astute members of the audience may have noticed Jameis Winston sneaking in at the bottom of my bench there. He was a late addition to my team on Monday night after I saw his name appear in the activity column for my league. Rather than carry two kickers I have decided to go with two QBs, especially as he Winston will be getting Doug Martin back after their week 6 bye. Going into week 10 the Bucs face the 49ers, the Raiders, the Falcons and the Bears all of whom like to give up points to QBs. Atlanta will pose the sternest test but Winston will probably only see the field in week 10 when Derek Carr and the Raiders go on their bye week.
Best possible lineup, week 5:
QB: Derek Carr (21.98)
RB1: Theo Riddick (20.20)
RB2: Devonta Freeman (18.30)
WR1: Travis Benjamin (11.70)
WR2: DeAndre Hopkins (11.60)
TE: Zach Miller (7.30)
W/R: DeMarco Murray (13.70)
K: Matt Bryant (11.00)
DEF: LA Rams (2.00)
Total: 117.78 (- 14.70)
Table:
Chris and The Fireballers remain undefeated after 5 weeks, with the Dolphins holding second place. Newton Haven Blues jump up one spot despite their loss as CFL sensation drop out of the playoff picture for the first time this season with a 2 game losing streak.
4th and Goal have bounced back from their slow start to pick up two wins on the trot to grab the last playoff spot and the final winning record this week.
Skirt Wearing Northern Folks and FC Barcelona both sit at 2-3 having won this week. FC Barcelona are building on their success last week against the Dolphins and hoping for a surge into the playoff spots.
At the bottom three teams share a record of 1-4. 1pt21 JJ Watts are on a league leading 3 game losing streak while Wapping Wombats will look to regroup and go again for their second win. Propping up everyone this week is TBONE on a 2 game losing streak.
Results:
The Dolphins face 4th and goal in the upcoming games this week while the undefeated Fireballers face the early season leaders CFL Sensation. Newton Haven Blues look to bounce back against FC Barcelona who are pushing to enter the playoff picture. Skirt Wearing Northern Folk have the easiest match-up of the week against a struggling TBONE and JJ Watts vs Wapping Wombats rounds out the fixtures for week 6.
I thought that I would change things up a little bit, and take a look at a weeks worth of TV for this post. I am a few days late with this but it has given me a chance to think the post through and maybe plan it out for future weeks, so here goes.
Monday - Lord of the Rings
This is a classic series and as Sky Movies are showing all of the films right now it is a massive opportunity to return to Middle Earth and a world that I loved as a child. In terms of the books The Two Towers is my favourite from the series, although it still falls behind The Hobbit for nostalgic reason. Dani prefers the Hobbit trilogy as it has the "fabulous" Lee Pace and Martin Freeman but for me the original film trilogy is my favourite. I don't know if this is because it feels like The Hobbit was too stretched out over three films or if there is simply more material for a film trilogy in Lord of the Rings.
As I have grown older I have come to appreciate The Fellowship of the Ring more than I did as a child, when it just seemed to drag on for too long with nothing happening, and it was the perfect place to start on Monday.
Tuesday - National Treasure
Robbie Coltrane growls his way through another episode of this Channel 4 drama as there seems to be something shady going on. The episode closes with Dee crashing her car through the front of one of the accuser's houses while leaving a message that she chooses to believe in her father. Julie Walters plays her complex character well as she struggles to balance her faith with her husband's indiscretions. Tim McInnerny must have a larger role to play in this drama over the final two episodes but I really hope it isn't anything too sinister as I can't help but see him as Captain Darling.
I am concerned that the show is making you question the potential victims and their motives as you try and unpick what events actually occurred as a viewer. Additionally it hasn't shown the police in a very favourable light, pressuring vulnerable people with pointed questions as they try and build a case that simply doesn't appear to be there.
Wednesday - Great British Bake Off
Ok this one is more for Dani. I get dragged along for the ride every week hoping to see some disaster occur and adding some sort of inappropriate running commentary. In particular Tom seemed to spend all episode looking on in abject horror as if his latest bake was about to betray him by jumping up and slapping Paul and Mary across the face before mooning the camera.
I can't see how this show will make a successful transition to Channel 4 with only Paul going with it as he appears to be the least popular member of the "cast". Mary is the grandma figure that everyone adores while Mel and Sue provide some much needed comic relief. While all this goes on Paul seems to apply fake tan in the background before finding some fault with everyone's attempt at baking, also what the hell is a lace pancake????? You can't put any filling on the Paul you madman.
Of all the bakers competing for the title we like Selasi the most. You go Selasi!
Thursday - The Fall
Jamie Dornan returns to our screens and once again has to take his clothes off. Thankfully this time he doesn't have to share any awkward screen time with Dakota Johnson, and the only reason his clothes come off is because the doctors are trying to save his life after he was shot twice at the end of the last series. We had the philosophical section with him stuck in limbo choosing between going into the light or back to his life and it seems he will be back for the rest of the series. Gillian Anderson returns to her role of tortured soul with style and it seems that a lot of focus this series will be on the fall out of her decision to take Dornan's Spector out into the woods to save Rose.
Dear Jamie, please stick to these serious roles, your talent is put to much better use here rather than trying to breathe life into a cardboard Christian Grey.
Friday - Hooten and the Lady
Hooten and Alex returned to our screens on Friday with an adventure involving the tomb of Alexander the Great. Lined up against them is a rival "archaeologist" who's dubious motives develop throughout the episode. Angel Coulby guest stars as a tough female character with a twist or two during the episode that keep our two leads on their toes. Hooten seemed to go more Nathan Drake than Indiana Jones this week while Ophelia Lovibond's Alex seemed to take some fighting lessons at the Colin Firth/Hugh Grant Bridget Jones school of fighting.
The writers are trying to develop a relationship between our two leads almost forgetting that they mentioned Alex's engagement in last week's episode. Hopefully this will not become the focus over the next few episodes as I would really like to see the characters developed outside of any potential relationship first.
Saturday - Graham Norton
Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Harry Potter (sorry, Daniel Radcliffe) and Robbie Williams were Graham's guests this week sharing some great stories although Robbie's was by far the best.
Justin was possibly drunk, but entertaining while Anna was understated which was a shame as she is usually a delight. Both were very apologetic for Donald Trump, something akin to me when the subject of "Brexit" comes up.
Daniel was there to discuss his latest films Imperium and Swiss Army Man. Both films look really good although at completely different ends of the spectrum. Imperium is a serious drama looking into the threat of White Supremacists in the USA while Swiss Army Man is a comedy involving Radcliffe playing a flatulent corpse. He also brought along "dead Daniel" a dummy that has seen better days after it was put through hell during the filming of Swiss Army Man. Daniel was brilliant as usual, entertaining and coming across as completely approachable.
Robbie Williams shared a story from his time in Take That which you have to hear to believe. I was not a massive fan of his latest song, but then again my music tastes are stuck in the 70s and 80s.
Sunday - NFL
I spent the afternoon at Wembley watching the latest (15th) game in the International Series. Indianapolis and Jacksonville did their best not to win the game over the 60 minutes, Jacksonville tried everything to throw the game away in the fourth quarter. I returned home to watch the later games on TV with Baltimore and Oakland taking up most of my interest. Oakland continue to build on their foundations week in, week out and you can't help but feel that they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the season if they can keep everyone fit.
The season is rumbling along now. Week 5 sees my team attempting to bounce back from their first defeat of the season against another cellar dweller, the 1-3 Wapping Wombats. Both teams will be hoping that key contributors can bounce back from less than stellar weeks last time out while I will also be looking to avoid leaving so many points on the bench this week.
Starting off we have a couple of waiver wire transactions to take a look at, neither appear to have superstar potential but both will hopefully make nice additions to the team.
Waiver Wire:
Add - Matt Bryant (K)
First up is a transaction that I had to make, with Santos and the Kansas City Chiefs on a bye week I needed a kicker to make sure that I was not carrying any dead weight. At first I considered targeting Sebastian Janikowski and changing my team name to the JD Raiders as the majority of my transactions seem to target members of the Oakland fraternity. However, when I saw that the number 3 ranked kicker was available I had to move for him. Bryant has been hanging on to the coat tails of Matt Ryan and the seriously overpowered Atlanta offence and you would expect him to continue to get opportunities to rack up points, maybe he will even steal Santos' spot in weeks to come...
Drop - Jamison Crowder (WR)
Ah Jamison, we hardly knew thee. Hopefully my mistake with Crowder will be short lived. Hopefully he won't go on to have a big week this week and make me regret dropping him. I guess we will find out, although regardless of what he achieves this week it is highly unlikely that he would make my starting lineup, unless there were a bucket load of injuries in practice, please don't let that happen!
Add - Zach Miller (TE)
This is maybe a curious one. Chicago have been less than impressive all season but my merry-go-round of TEs continues with a guy who has picked up 3 TDs in two weeks. Now I don't expect that to continue but he is getting targeted by Brian Hoyer quite a lot since Jay Cutler went down. If Hoyer continues to start, a possibility with rumours swirling that Cutler is on the Trading Block in Chicago, then you would expect Miller to continue to produce over the coming weeks. Even if Cutler returns, the big TE should get his fair share of targets with Chicago's injury report longer than Santa's list at Christmas.
Drop - Andy Dalton (QB)
The ginger ninja. There is a simple reason for this, I am nailing my flag to the Derek Carr mast. Andy will improve over the coming weeks as Eifert returns and the Cincinnati Offence becomes slightly less Green-centric. But he will not be starting for me as Carr and Oakland continue their rampant run out West. I will need a QB in week 10, right now I expect that Dalton will still be available, but if not there will be a long list of QBs available (10 players in the league, 32 starting QBs) for me to pick from for a single week of play.
As an interesting aside, before we get into my team for the week, Justin Forsett has been released by the Ravens. This comes only 5 weeks after he declared himself the starting RB for the team and makes that new contract he signed with the Ravens towards the end of preseason look more than a little silly. After drafting him late on as an optional RB during bye weeks I released him in week 3 with his production being extremely poor. He will probably catch on with another NFL team but it is interesting to see how quickly you can go from hero to zero in the NFL.
Well with that done, let's take a look at the team for the week.
QB - Derek Carr (Proj. 19.42)
Carr is now the number 3 QB in fantasy points. He is surrounded by weapons that would make any QB in the league jealous and the coaching staff in Oakland have built a system around him that appears to be working to perfection this season. Last week he had 4 TDs through the air against a Baltimore team that limited him to only 199 yards (first time this season under 200). This week he faces an easier task against a San Diego Chargers team giving up on average 27 points a game. The only team not to put up 20+ points on them were the Jaguars with the ever erratic Blake Bortles at the helm.
Opponent - Cam Newton (Proj. 19.26) - Cam has had two really tough weeks, he ran in a TD against Minnesota before everything went to hell in that game (3 INTs). Next he faced Atlanta and wound up throwing for only 165 yards and 1 TD. He will look to bounce back against Tampa Bay in what could end up being a shootout with Winston and Newton throwing the ball all over the field before the game is done.
With Doug Martin still out these two were always going to be the picks for my backfield. Their only competition was Theo Riddick who continues to struggle to get anything going in a Detroit backfield without Ameer Abdullah. Surprisingly, neither of these RBs are getting much love from the NFL fantasy team. Right now DeMarco is the number 1 overall RB in all of fantasy, not only that he is the only non-QB player in the overall top 10 fantasy players, but he is only projected to get 7.40 points this week against the 29th ranked Miami Dolphins defence, come on guys.
Devonta Freeman has a tougher match-up against the Denver Broncos but he can be expected to get his fair share of touches in the ground and passing game. Denver will have their hands full trying to contain Matt Ryan, Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu which may give Freeman, and his backfield buddy Coleman, some decent room to work with.
Opponent - Rashad Jennings & Frank Gore (Proj. 22.70) - OK, now I know that these projections have to be a joke. Gore is projected to get 14+ points against the Bears, maybe that is fair? I'm not sure, the Bears may be terrible but it wasn't until the 4th quarter that Indianapolis got anything going against the Jaguars in London. Rashad Jennings is projected to get 8.50 which I find even more ludicrous. This is a guy who hasn't played for two weeks, and he may not even be RB1 when he gets back, how is he projected to score more than DeMarco Murray?
You can't drop Nuk, I continue to stick by this although it is getting harder with each passing week. He and Osweiler need to get back on the same page, the one they were on in week two against Kansas City. I have hope for him this week as it is not a case of Nuk not getting the targets in the Houston offence, 6 last week and 8 the week before, it's just a case of Osweiler and co not executing to the required level. Fuller will start drawing some tougher looks on the other side which should free up Nuk in the passing game, even if he doesn't you can't keep Nuk quiet for 3 weeks in a row, right?
Crabtree is my other WR of choice. I dropped him last week for reasons that I cannot fathom when I look back at it. He has 23 targets in two weeks and 4 TDs on the season. Teams will continue to pay attention to him in the passing game but he is making his size work for him and the rapport he has built with Carr since last year will stand him in good stead going forwards. Next up is San Diego, their secondary likes to give up passing opportunities so I hope that Carr and Crabtree can link up for another big game.
Opponent - Larry Fitzgerald & Mohamed Sanu (Proj. 10.20) - Fitzgerald could be limited by an injury to Carson Palmer while Sanu seems to be losing out on targets to Julio Jones which is understandable. I expect Sanu to do better this week and improve on his two catches for 22 yards, we will be on Palmer watch over the week to see whether Fitzgerald has his favoured QB or ends up having to try and figure something out with Drew Stanton who struggles to get the best out of his number one WR.
TE - Zach Miller (Proj. 3.30)
I am struggling to get anything out of the TE position this season, hopefully that will change with Zach Miller. He has a modest projection this week, but that is the case with almost every TE not named Gronk. He's catching TDs right now so I will be going with the hot hand in this game.
Opponent - Jason Witten (Proj. 4.10) - Dak Prescott's security blanket. Prescott likes to check down to a safe pair of hands in the TE position and 4.10 feels about right for Witten this week against Cincinnati.
Flex - Jordan Matthews, WR (Proj. 12.00)
Surprise package for the first quarter of the season, Philadelphia, are back off their bye week and looking to remain unbeaten as they travel to Detroit. Jordan Matthews was the favourite target of rookie sensation Carson Wentz before the bye and they will be looking to build on that chemistry going forwards. The Detroit team that they are up against have struggled to contain WRs so far this season and it feels like a good match-up for Matthews to pick up some more points. I like the sound of 12 points although his last couple of outings suggest that this may be a little optimistic.
Opponent - TY Hilton, WR (Proj. 13.00) - The Bears are beat up, the NFL.com "experts" don't like them, and it all adds up to a big projected score for Hilton in their eyes. Dorsett will take away some of his targets and his inconsistent play could hold him back. He has two TDs in as many weeks and against a bad Bears secondary it is reasonable to see another TD as a possibility, but 70 yards on top of that? Well that will be the question.
K - Matt Bryant (Proj. 7.00)
Santos is on his bye week, I need a kicker, why not the number 3 kicker in the league right now? Atlanta will look to put up points on the board in bunches, Bryant will kick the extra points and if they fall short he can kick the field goals. 7 points suggests a couple of field goals and a TD, Atlanta have shown that they can do more than that in recent weeks so I will be hoping for a slightly better return from Bryant which could put pressure on Santos going forwards.
Opponent - Brandon McManus (Proj. 8.00) - Bryant's opposite number in the ATL/DEN game. I'm not sure why he is projected to get more than Bryant considering his weekly totals are not comparable but they are both around the same number and that is to be expected from kickers.
DEF - LA Rams (Proj. 4.00)
No love. I think this is the projection that bothered me the most this week. Over the past 3 weeks LA's defence have put up the following fantasy points, 11, 12, 17, they shut down Seattle and Arizona while scoring a TD against Tampa Bay. This week they face the Buffalo Bills and Tyrod Taylor without Sammy Watkins. Sure Rex Ryan's team are tough but they are not renowned for being an offensive powerhouse. I'm quietly confident that LA can pick up more than 4 points for me this week.
Opponent - Carolina Panthers (Proj. 6.00) - They were one of THE defences to own coming into the season so it's not surprising to see them projected to score higher than LA. What is surprising is that they have only put up double digit points one week so far this season. They will want to make up for that poor performance last week against Atlanta, Jameis Winston may give them that opportunity as he continues to struggle with turnovers but he also has the potential to burn them for a lot of yards.
It was the first time that I did not have anyone playing in the Monday night game to save me, but that wasn't the thing that cost me the game. I decided to play the match-up game and start Andy Dalton over Derek Carr, that hurt and it didn't help with the result but it did not cost me the game.
My decision to pick up Jamison Crowder and start him in the flex position instead of Michael Crabtree, that is what cost me the game. I should have stuck to my guns, just last week I was praising Crabtree for being "The Guy" for the flex position, guaranteeing 10 points a week. I should have kept him in the team but instead I decided to try and be clever and pick up someone under the radar as a Free Agent. Crowder should have done better against Cleveland, but at least he can walk away with some sense of pride. He's only a WR3, a slot receiver, but he far exceeded any performance from my WR1 DeAndre Hopkins. Right now Hopkins owes all of his fantasy owners for two sub-par weeks. He has been awful, but more about that later.
The Teams:
Well that was probably the worst output I have seen from any set of fantasy wide receivers this week. I could have left all 3 positions empty and been down less than 10 points. They were pathetic, and it was made even worse by the fact that each and every one of them had a favourable match-up on paper.
QB:
JDD 14.64 / FCB 8.22 (+ 6.42)
Andy bloody Dalton. Once again it wasn't an awful performance but it stung all the more because I sat Derek Carr who went and destroyed the Baltimore secondary. Redzone problems continue to plague the Bengals and I'm sure that they cannot wait to get Eifert back in the fold so that the can target someone, anyone, other than AJ Green (who burnt me for 23.30 points).
RB:
JDD 36.30 / FCB 31.40 (+ 4.90)
DeMarco Murray was simply amazing once again, and it is such a shame that his brilliant effort went to waste for my fantasy team. 3 consecutive weeks with 100+ yards from scrimmage, 5 TDs on the season, Miami, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Jacksonville up next. If he can stay fit then there should be a lot of fantasy points coming through from my RB1 position. Devonta Freeman also put in a decent performance with a TD, but seemed to tail off in the second half, but his twelve points were nothing to be sniffed at.
WR:
JDD 3.20 / FCB 25.00 (- 21.80)
This was a deficit too big to make up. Nuk has been awful down in Houston the past couple of weeks and Travis Benjamin has two fumbles and no TDs since emerging as WR1 in San Diego. I would have been better off starting any other WR combination than these two in week 4. There is talk that they will bounce back in week 5, but it is hard to see how right now.
TE:
JDD 1.70 / FCB 1.10 (+ 0.60)
Another quiet week for Pitta, another week where it seems that I gave up on Barnidge too early. I won the match-up with my opponent but I really need more production from this slot, especially if my WRs continue to under perform.
Flex:
JDD 2.10 / FCB 6.70 (- 4.60)
My greatest error. Jamison Crowder seemed like a great pick before the games began. He was up against a Cleveland team that failed to contain Miami's anemic offence, he had been scoring a TD a week against stronger opponents and Kirk Cousins was developing a rapport with him. Then everything seemed to go wrong right after kick off. Still, he outperformed Nuk...
Kicker:
JDD 2.00 / FCB 7.00 (- 5.00)
A poor week for Cairo who is on a bye next week, but the same can be said for each and every member of the Chiefs team. They were embarrassed by a Pittsburgh team looking to bounce back after their own embarrassment at the hands of Philly. Cairo is still a decent fantasy kicker despite missing his first FG of the season from 49 yards and will likely be my starter again in week 6 once he gets the bye out of the way.
Defence:
JDD 17.00 / FCB 11.00 (+ 6.00)
The LA Defence are keeping their team in games week in, week out right now. giving up an average of 14 points a week after the 28-0 shutout in San Francisco the only time anyone has really put the hurt on them was when Jameis Winston decided to just fling the ball about everywhere in week 3, and they still found a way to help their team win. 4 INTs in the last two weeks, 5 fumble recoveries on the season, seven sacks and one TD scored... This is the LA Defence I was expecting to see at the start of the season. Next up is a Buffalo team that beat the Patriots in Foxborough but only scored 16 points. Rex Ryan is a defensive whizz but he will need to come up with something pretty special on the other side of the ball if he wants to score on this LA team.
Bench:
This is where it all went wrong. Everyone on my bench who played in week 4 could have conceivably improved my team. The two standout performers were Oakland's Derek Carr and Michael Crabtree. They may have done enough this week to convince me to stop playing silly games and just start them every week except their bye week. Alshon Jeffery is still without a TD this year but he gained enough yards to be my WR2 and Theo Riddick would have been a better Flex choice than Crowder. Surprisingly my bench was not the highest scoring this week, with The Fireballers putting up 72.60 points, and somehow they still managed to win their game.
Best possible Lineup, week 4:
QB: Derek Carr (23.76)
RB1: DeMarco Murray (23.90)
RB2: Devonta Freeman (12.40)
WR1: Michael Crabtree (26.80)
WR2: Alshon Jeffery (4.60)
TE: Dennis Pitta (1.70)
W/R: Theo Riddick (5.80)
K: Cairo Santos (2.00)
DEF: LA Rams (17.00)
Total: 117.96 (- 41.02)
Table:
There is only one undefeated team left in play after week 4, The Fireballers and they will be facing the Newton Haven Blues who are on a two game winning streak and holding on to fourth in the table. Despite losing the Dolphins climb up one spot to second with a game against the Wapping Wombats in week 5. Even I am not sure how this works.
Every team in the league now has at least one victory and FC Barcelona will be looking to get some momentum going off of the back of this week as they take on the 1pt21 JJ Watts.
Skirt Wearing Northern Folks have a tough match-up against CFL Sensation if they want to end their league leading three game losing streak, while their opponents will be hoping to bounce back to the top of the table.
Results:
Week four starts tonight and my Dolphins are looking to go 4-0 to start the season. Up next would appear to be a favourable match-up against the 0-3 FC Barcelona, but due to some tough fixtures for my players this game could be a lot closer than expected, in fact the prediction is for FC Barcelona to scrape through with a victory, 80.50 - 79.26.
Of course we have had the odds against us in previous match-ups but this one feels a little tighter than before. With that in mind let's take a look at some of our likely starters this week.
QB - Andy Dalton
For the first time this season I am leaning towards Dalton as my starter instead of Carr. This decision would have been an awful lot easier had Tyler Eifert been declared fit to play but as he is doubtful there is a lot more room for doubt in my mind than I am comfortable with. However, he does have the more favourable match-up against a Miami defence that is yet to perform anywhere near the levels that their contracts suggest. Adam Gase read the riot act to the team in Miami this week which could kick them into gear, especially as Cincinnati have already allowed Dalton to be sacked 12 times this season, and Miami's front seven are meant to be pass rushing experts.
On the other hand, Derek Carr and the Raiders travel to Baltimore this week against a defence that hasn't exactly been great for opposing QBs. I think Dalton may just edge it but it is a close call.
RB 1 & 2 - DeMarco Murray & Devonta Freeman
They won me the game last week, both putting up massive numbers, and it would be very difficult to sit either of them after their respective performances. Murray is up against a Texans defence that just lost JJ Watt, potentially for the season, which should help him continue as a running and receiving back this week. Devonta Freeman had a massive game against the lowly Saints defence last week, but this week should prove to be a tougher assignment against a smarting Panthers defence. Atlanta vs Carolina will be a battle for supremacy in the NFC South and both sides will be looking to make the most of their weapons available which should be good news for Freeman after he became involved in the passing game last week. My only other option right now is Theo Riddick, with Doug Martin out, and it is just too difficult to sit either of these two starters with Theo looking a little pedestrian right now.
WR 1 & 2 - Travis Benjamin & DeAndre Hopkins
This was a tough call. Benjamin and Hopkins both let me down in a big way last week but once again they have the more favourable match-ups this week, at least on paper. Benjamin is up against the New Orleans defence that allowed the Atlanta Falcons to run amok in week 3 and Oakland in week 1. Nuk faces a Tennessee defence that should be a lot easier for him to pick apart than New England last week. With Matthews and the Eagles on a bye this week my only other options are Alshon Jeffery and Michael Crabtree. Jeffery is once again limited in practice and with a questionable QB situation, and an even worse O-Line, it seems almost impossible to start him right now. The Bears need to turn it around quickly if they want to make this season respectable. Crabtree on the other hand has a very settled situation in Oakland and he was the go to guy last week. The only issue here is that tough match-up in Baltimore, he needs Carr to get him the ball and the question is will he be able to do that in Baltimore?
TE - Dennis Pitta
He was out performed by Gary Barnidge, who I dropped to bring him on board, but still put up decent numbers for a TE. He faces an Oakland D that, whilst they improved last week, are still liable to give up big plays. Joe Flacco is still likely to rely on his big TE and this makes Pitta a must start for my team.
Flex - Theo Riddick OR Michael Crabtree
This one is going to give me a few more sleepless nights. On the one hand Theo Riddick is up against a Chicago team in turmoil and he wants to prove to everyone that he can be the number one back with Abdullah out in Detroit. On the other hand however is Michael Crabtree. Pretty much guaranteed to give me 3 catches or more, averaging bang on 10 points a week and getting the majority of the looks from Carr last week. Both have boom or bust potential this week and in a situation where I need to make every position count both of these options feel like a gamble. Of course I could throw a spanner in the works here in the form of Alshon Jeffery... But let's not get completely crazy.
K - Cairo Santos
He had a quiet week last week, and it could be the same again this week against a Pittsburgh team who were embarrassed by the Eagles in Philly and will be looking to set the record straight. KC should continue to move the ball on offence, it will just be a question of whether or not they can get it in a position for Santos to make something of it.
DEF - LA
The last two weeks the Rams have looked better. Sure giving up 26 points to Winston and co in Tampa wasn't ideal but that was to be expected with someone like Winston slinging the ball out all over the field. Add to that the errors they caused the Bucs to make and it wasn't a terrible performance, just not quite to the same level as the game against Seattle the week before. Up next are Arizona who were shown up by Buffalo last week. Carson Palmer will want to get the Cardinals back on track and LA will need to be back at their best if they want to stop him.
There seem to be a few low expectations for my players this week, so I can only hope that they outperform these and lead us on to a 4-0 start, pushing us on towards exceeding our pre-season prediction of 2nd place.
