11-8-09 Hope you didn’t miss us last week. I figured nothing really needed to be said since the Vikings said it all on the field – Lambeau Field no less. And, I thought it would be nice to have something to read over the bye.

We are at the halfway point of the season so I will reflect on Favre and the Purple overall.

First on Favre. Everyone says he is exceeding expectations but maybe we should have expected this. Over the past two years when he played without injury he was 16-8 during the regular season and that included 8-3 with the previously 4-12 Jets. Everyone seemed to think he was done because he played hurt the end of last season and finished 1-4. But, what do you expect with a QB with a bum arm on what was a horrible team the prior season?

Here is the impact of Favre on the Vikings, the Packers and the NFL this year:

· #1 – Tie – most TD passes

· #1 – All-time most watched Monday Night Football game

· #1 – All-time highest non-Super Bowl viewership in the history of Fox

· #1 – All-time most watched NFL pre-season game

· #1 – Attendance record at Lambeau – does this mean Packers fans like Favre more as a Viking than they ever did when he was a Packer?

· #1 – Attendance record for Steelers

· #2 – Scoring offense (no way without Favre)

· #4 – 2009 Passer rating

· #3 – record in NFL

· 7-1 – our record – would be no better than 4-3 and maybe even 3-4 with Sage or T-Jack (Baltimore, Niners, Pack on road, Pack at home and weeks 1 and 2 all could have been losses without Favre)

· 24 start record – post Packers – 16-8 (16-4 when not injured)

· Sidney Rice – might actually be on Fantasy rosters now

· Percy Harvin – said he has learned more from Favre in 2 months than he learned in his entire life prior to Favre

Looking back to last week I continued to hear how, long-term, the Packers made the right choice. But, I am not so sure they did. Everyone raves about Rogers but he is a QB that took a 13-3 team and since he took over they are 10-13 (update – now 10-14 after a pathetic 3 INT loss to the previously winless Bucs….). Sure he can make spectacular plays and he throws for a lot of yards but how many are during garbage time? And, regardless, record is all that matters and his is not very good. Can you say Jay Cutler or even Jeff George?

This year their defense has been questioned but I heard on KFAN this morning that they are in the top 10 in yards and top 5 in points allowed. So, you can’t blame the D. You can talk about the offensive line but remember – in Favre’s last year the Packers had the youngest team in the league and nobody expected anything from them. He went 13-3 and came close to winning the NFC Championship game.

So, there you have it – the Packers blundered and the Vikings finally got one of the best QBs in history. All that remains to be seen is whether he will stay healthy, how far he can take us and, if he lasts two years and wins two Super Bowls with the Purple, what jersey will he wear into Canton??? Oh, mercy – could you imagine him going in as a Viking?

Back to the Purple – since we are at mid-season I thought it was a good time to hand out some grades:

· Overall – A-: We have third best record in the NFL. We are about where we expected if not a game or two above. I think the most realistic fans going into the season would have expected a loss on the road to the Steelers and one or two losses between Baltimore at home and the Packers on the road. We won both of those and we probably should have won the Steelers game. Not an “A” because I think the coaches have held us back on occasion. At times they were not aggressive enough to start the game (weeks 1 and 2) and at others we took our foot off the gas on offense and defense – see Baltimore and the Niners

· Players – A: I think the players are playing to their potential and are “who we thought they were” to quote a famous former coach

· Childress – A-: High marks for assembling a great team, taking the risk with Favre, having a team that plays hard and having a 7-1 record. I really wanted to give him a B+ based on the offense occasional conservatism and over coaching but I just couldn’t with a 7-1 record

· Offense – Players – A, Coaches – B+: The players are executing, the coaches sometimes get too cute and hold us back. Who would have thought we would be #2 in scoring? We certainly wouldn’t be without Favre

· Defense – Players and Coaches – B+: We are great in the first half but we either get tired, conservative or both late in games. We are giving up too many points. Missed tackles and going conservative have kept this grade out of the A range

· Special Teams – Players and Coaches – A-: Best special teams in years. Partly talent, and partly new leadership although I would give the nod to talent. It is incredible the difference Harvin makes. Our coverage is much better than it has been other than a couple of lapses and the kicking game remains solid if not spectacular

· Watchability – A: It hasn’t been this fun to watch the Purple since 1998. The offense sometimes actually looks Kick-a** and we often seem to move the ball at will. We never feel out of the game and we don’t dread a mistake every time our QB drops back

· Emerging players

o Sidney Rice – WOW – a little hard work and dedication and a new QB can make a world of difference

o Harvin – We got another SOD playmaker. Nice gamble Chilly

o Loadholt – Rock solid and better than expected. We could be set for years

· Disappointments

o Safeties – biggest weakness on the team

o Puzzling conservatism at times

o Chester Taylor – he has not been horrible but he has not been the same. Of course, the drop in the Steelers game sticks out but outside of that he just has not delivered the clutch plays with the same frequency. He is a free-agent after this season and don’t expect him back. More his choice than ours (he will command starter money somewhere) but I doubt he will stick around

· Studs

o Favre

o AP

o Allen

o Winfield

o Hutchinson

o Williams

o Williams

o Linebacking corp as a unit

o Rice

o Harvin

o Shiancoe

There you have it – an incredible start to the 2009 season and expectations have not been higher for over 12 years. I can’t wait to see how this year, and next, play out…….

Hopefully this, and the Packers loss (Ha Ha), will get you through the bye.

Skol Vikings and Thank You – Zygi, Chilly, Favre, AP and the rest of the Purple!!!!!!

sb

 

 

It’s an interesting season so far in fantasy football. Now that we are six weeks in we can start to glean some trends and embark on new strategies.

The first thing I notice as I sort through the numbers is that this is going to be a very competitive season at every position, and the winner is going to have a well-rounded roster with no proverbial ‘dead spots.’ There is not one player who stands heads and shoulders above the pack in any position this season, and I don’t think it’s going to happen.

Take RB for instance. As expected, Adrian Peterson is the top RB in our league (6 points for TD, 6 points for 100 yards and 2 points for every 25 yards after). And standing tall with Peterson is MJD, who is tied with 62 points. No big shock. But what is a shock is that Thomas Jones is just 6 points behind at 56. And Ronnie Brown is a mere 12 behind at 50.

There is not the separation at RB this season and I don’t think there will be. Frank Gore is leading our league in average points per week at 13 (he’s missed several games due to injury and bye week) and the 49ers schedule is easing up considerably.

It’s even more of a cluster at WR. In our league, 14 points separates the top WR (Randy Moss) with the 12th best WR (DeSean Jackson). Most of the usual suspects are in between, though there are several surprises (the ‘other’ Steve Smith is ranked 4, Miles Austin and his big break-out game is ranked 7, Mario Manningham is ranked 9.) Randy Moss, Roddy White, Andre Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald and Reggie Wayne are the safest plays. It’s nice to have one of those. Up and comers that have arrived include Vincent Jackson, DeSean Jackson and NY’s Steve Smith. I’m not sold yet on Simms-Walker.

So what’s your strategy at WR? If you have one of the studs (Moss, White, Johnson, Fitzgerald, Wayne) then you just need one or two guys in the top 20 and chances are you’ll be set at WR. If you’re stuck with one stud and a bunch of junk, look to trade that one guy in exchange for 2 guys that are almost as good, but don’t have name value yet (think Vincent Jackson, NY Steve Smith, Desean Jackson or Santonio Holmes). Chances are one of those ‘lesser’ guys will be as good or better than the big name player, and certainly the combo will be better.

So who is missing from our list? Well, Carolina’s Steve Smith definitely. Greg Jennings is underachieving, but I wouldn’t give up on him just yet. I can’t say the same for Smith. He is still a big name so you should be able to find one desperate owner to bite. Terrell Owens is in the same boat as Steve Smith, not yet droppable but every week he’s on your roster is a week your team is under-achieving. Someone will take him from you, make the offer!

Note the Giants have two WRs in the top 9. So if Hakeem Nicks is available grab him right now. He is the rookie in NY and could very easily take over for Manningham and just as easily out-produce all WRs in NY. There is some hesitation – if Eli’s foot issues flame up then all those NY WRs will flame out.

QBs show the same theme as RBs and WRs. If you have one of the top 7 you’re doing well. Peyton Manning, Matt Schaub, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Ben Roethisburger, Tom Brady and Aaron Rogers are all huge, and Jay Cutler is not far behind. There’s not much separation at all among these.

TEs are also a dime a dozen. There is only 6 points separating the top 6, and some of these might even still be available in your league! Heath Miller was just picked up in our league, while Visanthe Shiancoe and Owen Daniels might be available in yours. Too many options at TE this year make it hard to separate at this position.

It’s going to be a very competitive season. Make sure you are stocked throughout your line-up or you may lose out. No single player is going to catapult your team this year. It’s going to be a grind it out from all roster spots kind of year.

Due to some serious technical issues (1 microphone being shut off and others) Fantasy Football Audible for Oct 22 is going straight to the vault. Sorry for the inconvenience.