Snakes In My Pants

Willis McGahee? Thomas Jones? Michael Turner? Brandon Jacobs has to be bumming.

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock has an interesting suggestion for the Chiefs:

I’d consider trading Larry Johnson rather than handing him a lucrative contract extension.

Most of the article is given over to discussion of how Johnson is a TO-like clubhouse cancer, but then he gets to the part that I find most compelling (attention fantasy football owners who have LJ < >):

Johnson carried the ball an NFL-record 416 times last year. In the history of the league, nine running backs have accumulated 390-plus carries in a season. Only one, Eric Dickerson, continued to ascend after toting the rock that many times. Everyone else faded quickly.

What do we think the odds are of LJ playing double-digit games next year?

This paragraph, buried in a Newark Star-Ledger story on the Jets, should send send shivers through fantasy football players everywhere:

[Jets GM Mike] Tannenbaum pointed out that the Jets’ running-back-by-committee approach is being employed by many teams and is the wave of the future. He hinted that’s the direction in which the team will continue to go.

Emphasis added by me. Yikes.

So, I’m watching the Jets-Fins game on MNF.  The final game of Week 16.   Week 16, otherwise known as “Championship Week” in most fantasy football leagues.  I’m in the championship game in one league, and starting this game, I’m leading by roughly 10 points, 150-140 (and some odd decimals on each side).  My opponent, after having T.O. largely soil the bed (despite a TD) in the Eagles-Cowboys game, has only Jason Taylor remaining.   If the Jets - and effectively, stud rookie left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson - can fend off all-pro right end Taylor just enough, I’ll take home my 2nd title in this league (3rd FFL title overall, and 4th fantasy sports championship [i have one in b'ball]).  I don’t think I’ve ever pinned my hopes on ONE guy, in ONE game, this singularly.  In any event, C’MON BRICK!!

Argh.  JT just got a sack.  2 points.  With one tackle, he’s got 3.  Hang on, baby! Hang on!!!

Ed update:  It’s halftime, and JT still has 3 points.  I’m still up 7+.  JT’s average is about 8 fpts/game.

Jags-Eagles game, Jags’ Fred Taylor rips a 16-yard run and immediately goes out of the game.

Fine. Give him a breather.

The Jags proceed to run the ball six plays in a row, all with Maurice-Jones Drew. He gains a total of 19 yards.

Can someone please explain the thinking here (wrote the frustrated Fred Taylor-owning fantasy football player)? Taylor has carried the ball 13 times for 95 yards. Drew has carried 11 times for 28 yards. And a fumble.

The best I can figure is that Jags coach Jack Del Rio worried that if he kept running Taylor his team would not take enough time off the clock.

That’s “conventional wisdom,” not that UPN-WB mutant hybrid network.

Here’s something I didn’t ever expect to write: The New York Times has a decent sports blog, The 5th Down, specifically focusing on fantasy football-related issues. It’s got one weekly feature that’s a must-read if you’re a fantasy football owner. Each week they tabulate the positional rankings from three different sites, saving you the trouble. Click here for this week’s rankings.

There are things we know we know. And then there are things we knew we knew — about, say, NFL football — but really didn’t.

Think back to August and early September…

* We knew that Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer would be one-two in the league’s quarterback rankings. But we did not foresee that come mid-October neither would be in a top five that includes David Carr and Damon Huard at 1-2, and also has Rex Grossman.

Read it all..

The numbers have been stark for Chad Pennington and the Jets in recent match-ups against the Patriots — but now Pennington has a secret weapon: Chad Pennington.

Read it all..

How bad was the Kansas City offense on Sunday?

Their rookie offensive coordinator didn’t know down-and-distance. Or maybe it was just down.

In any case, the Chiefs offense doesn’t look like it’s going to move th ball any distance … and could be on a steep drop down.

Read it all..

Thank Detroit for causing the Seahawks to panic and give the Patriots the first round pick they were asking for in return for WR Deion Branch’s services. There appears to be a couple of WRs in next year’s draft that warrant a close look, including Notre Dame WR Jeff Samardzija, who probably will be the most Patriots-offense-ready WR available given his 2 year stint under former New England offensive co-ordinator Charlie Weiss, and with the extra pick the Patriots have flexibility to move up and get the player that they need.  And  who knows, the pick might be good enough on it’s own to land a top-prospect WR, since past Super Bowl losers have had a hangover effect the next year.
Read it all..