Tuesday Morning QB, Week 8

Tuesday Morning QB is weekly feature on The Full Court Press, reacting to the past week’s happenings in NFL Football.

Doppelganger?

There's not much news I care to write about this week.  However, I noticed in the Bengals-Ravens post-game interview that Andy Dalton bears a striking resemblance to the Heat Miser from A Year Without Santa Claus.   Judge for yourself:

Impish or Admirable?

This is a recap of teams that are either looking good, or need help.  This is not a playoff projection. I call it impish or admirable.  

 Impish - Chicago Bears.  Less than a week after Brandon Marshall was calling people out in the locker room, this team pretty much forgot to show up against the New England Patriots on Sunday.  Jay Cutler should be embarrassed that he's surrounded with talent like Marshall, Alston Jeffery, Martellus Bennett and Matt Forte, but still has a losing record.  Whats even sadder is that he's not embarrassed.  Not at all.  

 Impish - Seattle Seahawks.  No, that's not a typo. I know, I know... defending Super Bowl Champs, coming off a win, winning record overall, etc.  Yesterday's 13-9 win over the Carolina Panthers was uninspiring to say the least.  They were trailing 9-6 with under a minute to go against a struggling Carolina team.  That's one week after they lost to St. Louis on a couple ridiculous special team plays, which was one week after losing to the Cowboys at home.  A 13-9 win does not answer lingering questions from the Percy Harvin trade and rumors about divisions in the locker room.

 Admirable - Denver Broncos.  I know it's only October and we should expect this level of dominance from Denver.  Sure, they'll be under a very critical microscope come playoff time, but right now, this is the best team in football.  Payton Manning's precision is unparalleled.  I realized this past Thursday that he doesn't just have a large number of targets to choose from, he has a large variety to choose from: Julius and Demaryius Thomas are big and athletic, Emmanuel Sanders is fast, Wes Welker is one of the best possession receivers in the NFL.  Peyton also has a big weapon he didn't have most of last season in Ryan Clady, arguably the best (if not, then definitely most underrated) left tackle in the business.  No Montee Ball, no problem.  Denver's running back by committee strategy has been very effective.  And the defense is significantly improved with a healthy and out of rehab Von Miller, the signing of DeMarcus Ware, and the addition by subtraction of releasing Champ Bailey combined with the addition of Aqib Talib (that's a plus 2 at cornerback if you lost count).   It's a week-to-week league, but they're going to need a lot of bad weeks to loose the Super Bowl contender label.

 Admirable - Buffalo Bills.  Don't sleep on this young (not counting Kyle Orton) team!  The season's been a bit of a roller coaster thus far, but right now they're in the midst of an upswing. The aforementioned elder statesman Kyle Orton has led the team to consecutive wins, and Sammy Watkins is quickly becoming a force to reckoned with at wide receiver (he'll learn to wait until the end zone to celebrate).  And the defense is sneaky good.  They're in the bottom third of the league in points allowed, but number 1 overall in sacks and interceptions, and 8th in forced fumbles (all of this sans Jarius Byrd).  I haven't watched  a Bills game yet this season, but these numbers coupled with 5 wins tells me that while they may be pushed around by better offensive teams, they make big plays when it counts.  The only serious question mark is at running back, after they lost both CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson against Minnesota last week.

Fantasy Watch

A look at players worth having on your fantasy football roster, who needs to be cut, and who has deceptive stats.

Like - Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers QB.  You can make an argument that after Sunday's record-setting performance, Ben would be a "Pyrite" candidate.  True, he will not throw for 500+ yards and 6 TD's every week, but the numbers still aren't bad.  He's top-10 in the league in total passing yards, touchdowns passes, completion percentage, and fewest interceptions thrown (minimum 100 attempts).   Traditionally a bench QB in 8-12 team leagues, you might want to start thinking about starting Ben.  And if you don't have him and need a QB, he's un-owned in 20-25% of most leagues. 

Dislike - Jordan Cameron, Cleveland Browns TE.  Remember when you weren't supposed to draft tight ends before the 6th round?  This was supposed to be the year of the receiver in fantasy football, and tight end stock consequently went up as well.  Jordan Cameron was one of those beneficiaries, with selections as high as the 3rd or 4th round in many leagues.  However, lingering injuries and an Cleveland offense without a clear identity has left many Cameron owners disappointed.  With the exception of a 17-point outburst in week 6, he hasn't topped 4 points in any other week, including this past Sunday.

Pyrite - Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints RB.  Ingram owners must have been excited this past Sunday, as the back tallied 172 rushing yards and a touchdown.  With injuries to Khiry Robinson and Pierre Thomas, Ingram is likely to see an increase in starts across fantasy leagues.  That makes sense for now, but I don't recommend having him as a major role in your late season and playoff plans.  This was his first 100 yard game of the season (after missing 3 games with injury).  Historically, Ingram has never ran for more that 600 yards in any season, and New Orleans has always been a pass-first, running back by committee team.  If Drew Brees and his receiving corps continue their momentum from Sunday, and if Thomas and Robinson get healthy soon, Ingram will be a RB3 or Flex option at best.

Questions, comments, smart remarks? Log in to your Gmail account and leave feedback below.  For last week's Tuesday Morning QB, click here.

Tuesday Morning QB, Week 7

Tuesday Morning QB is weekly feature on The Full Court Press, reacting to the past week’s happenings in NFL Football.

America's Team?

Two days after the Dallas Cowboys made headlines for beating the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, essentially establishing themselves as back to "relevant" in the NFL landscape, they woke up to a less desirable headline: The Denver Broncos are America's team.  At least that's according to the annual Harris Poll, a national survey of adults who follow football to find out who the most popular team in the country is.  The Cowboys fell to the 4th spot, which comes as a shock considering they had been number one for the last six years.  In all fairness to Dallas, the poll was conducted between September 10-17, BEFORE they went on their 6-game winning streak (or 6 free coffees from DFW Dunkin Donuts!).  The Cowboys probably have bigger things to worry about anyways, like making sure ALL players are adequately supplied with underwear and cologne. 

Also, breaking news as of Friday afternoon: the Seattle Seahawks traded Percy Harvin to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick.  I'm not afraid to admit that I have no idea what's going on here.  Either the Jets are delusional or the Seahawks are getting really cocky.  I'm guessing a combination of both.

And congrats to Peyton Manning, 510 and counting...

Impish or Admirable?

This is a recap of teams that are either looking good, or need help.  This is not a playoff projection. I call it impish or admirable.  

 Impish - Minnesota Vikings.  We already know about the AP drama.  Then there was the brief glimmer of excitement mixed with hope when Teddy Bridgewater started - and that was cut short with a 1-week ankle injury.  Yesterday, they lost to a Buffalo Bills team that played half the game without a running back.  At almost the halfway point of the season, they stand at 2-5, and there's no reason for optimism.  Well, Kyle Rudolph might be off IR in a few weeks, so I guess that's something....

 Impish - New Orleans Saints.  For weeks, I feel like we've all been saying: "That was a close game, they'll bounce back," "They just need a game at home," "Drew Brees will throw his way out of this funk," "A Rob Ryan-led defense can't stay this bad for too long," "They'll turn it around," etc, etc, etc.  Saints fans, your team is 2-4, no road wins, and they blew a 13-point lead with under 6 minutes to go Sunday against the Lions.  Perhaps most alarming is that Drew Brees continues to look.... human?

 Admirable - Jacksonville Jaguars.  Jags win!  Jags win!  Normally, a 1-6 team does not merit "admirable" status, but when a team is this bad, you can't help but feel good for them when they get their first win.  Blake Bortles was forgettable, but Denard "Shoelace" Robinson had a career day rushing.  This is a week-to-week list, so don't anticipate seeing Jacksonville on this side of "Impish or Admirable" for the rest of the season. 

 Admirable - Green Bay Packers.  "Relax."  Hindsight is always 20-20 vision, but that was a profound statement by Aaron Rodgers in week 3 after a 1-2 start.  The Packers have won 4 straight, and the offense is running on all cylinders: Rodgers is putting up MVP-like numbers, Jordy Nelson is at least statistically the best wide receiver in the NFL, Randall Cobb is settling in as a solid number two receiver (even with ketchup on his jersey), and Eddie Lacy found the end zone 4 times in that span.  The defense is bottom 3rd in the league, but at the top of that bottom 3rd, and when your offense that good, who cares?

Fantasy Watch

A look at players worth having on your fantasy football roster, who needs to be cut, and who has deceptive stats.

Like - Shane Vereen, New England Patriots RB.  Is this me hopping on the bandwagon after his 26-point performance on Thursday?  No.  In fact, if Steven Ridley were healthy, Thursday would have been enough reason to stick Vereen in the "Pyrite" category.  However, the fact of the matter is that Ridley is out for the season, and that changes the entire dynamic of the Patriots running game.  In past weeks, either of the Pats RB's were risky starts, and they were being dropped and picked up week-to-week on fantasy rosters like bad habits.  With Ridley hurt, Vereen is likely not available on most waiver lists.  If you were one of the managers who had Vereen before the Ridley injury and wisely held on afterward, it's reasonable to start him as either a RB2 or flex from here on out.

Dislike - Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins QB.  Confession: I picked up Cousins on one of my teams when RG3 went down.  To be fair though, I did not agree with late 2013 season/offseason/early 2014 season cries for him to be named full-time starter.  I knew RG3 would be down for a while, and Cousins put up good numbers at the end of last season (except for wins, which mean nothing in fantasy). I picked him up in the event that if he went off, I could: 1.) start him and get solid point production, or 2.) trade him for a high-value player at one of my weaker positions. Neither happened.  Colt McCoy led a game-winning drive on Sunday.  RG3 will be back before season's end.  Teams in my "Backyard Football 11" league will find Cousins on the waiver list later this week.

Pyrite - Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins RB.  Miller has been the mirage of fantasy running backs for years now.  I remember the first time I nabbed him a few years ago: it was after a very similar effort to last week - 60+ yards rushing, 20+ yards receiving and a touchdown.  I thought to myself "wow, this guy is versatile, he could be a huge help."  Daniel Thomas then proceeded to out-rush him for a couple weeks.  It may be tempting to nab Miller, especially now that we know Knowshon Moreno is out for the year.  However, unless you're desperate, I wouldn't do it.  I don't have any clever, in-depth analysis for why he won't produce, I just know he has a history of burning fantasy owners.  Plus, Daniel Thomas is somehow still employed by the Dolphins.... 

Questions, comments, smart remarks? Log in to your Gmail account and leave feedback below.  For last week's Tuesday Morning QB, click here.

Tuesday Morning QB, Week 6

Tuesday Morning QB is weekly feature on The Full Court Press, reacting to the past week’s happenings in NFL Football.

On the Road

I was at the Texas State Fair Thursday night and out of town this weekend, driving back on Sunday afternoon.  So the first meaningful NFL plays I saw were in the second half of the Sunday Night game, which was all but over at that point.

To be fair, Sunday afternoon only gives me 3 games to watch, which only adds up to 6 games when combined with the prime-time broadcasts.  But I think most football fans agree that when you're in your living room on Sunday afternoons, flipping back and forth between games, getting in-studio updates on the out of market games, and have your laptop handy to watch the league scoreboard and hit "refresh" on your fantasy match-up, you pretty much feel like Adam Schefter. 

So, I'll admit I'm kind of "winging" this week's Tuesday Morning QB, which is based almost entirely off highlights I saw on NFL Network's NFL Gameday Final (which I would strongly recommend as a Sunday night alternative to SportsCenter). 

Impish or Admirable?

This is a recap of teams that are either looking good, or need help.  This is not a playoff projection. I call it impish or admirable.  

 Impish - Atlanta Falcons.  Remember that week 1 game-winning field goal in OT against New Orleans?  Remember that Thursday night national TV curb-stomping of the Tampa Bay Bucs?  Remember how being on HBO's Hard Knocks was supposed to solve their lack of toughness mentality?  This team is a shell of what used to be an NFC contender.

 Impish (tie) - Cincinnati Bengals/Carolina Panthers.  Now is probably a good time to remind everyone that in my inaugural Tuesday Morning QB, I said "Impish or Admirable" was a week-to-week snap shot of the league.  In other words, things change.  Both these teams were my original "Admirable" winners, and yesterday they stumbled to a 37-37 tie.  A tie?  I can hear Donovan McNabb right now (ironically also against the Bengals).  I know it happens from time to time in the NFL, but ties are ridiculous.  Even the NHL, which traditionally found a way to half reward teams for a tie with their goofy points system, abolished the tie years ago.  Nobody wants a tie.  Especially Adam "Pacman" Jones.   

 Admirable - Cleveland Browns.  As much as it pains me to say this as a Steelers fan, the Browns are playing good ball right now.  Honestly, if they hadn't got out to such a slow start in week 1, they would be 2-0 against the Steelers this season.  And if it weren't for a last-second field goal from New Orleans, they would be 5-0 overall.  I'm not about to say they're division or playoff contenders just yet, but they're winning games.  

 Admirable - San Francisco 49ers.  They're back, but I'm not sure they were ever gone.  The fact that they've been as competitive as they have been thus far with so many key players out for disciplinary or injury reasons is remarkable.  The scary thing is, a lot of those missing players will be making their way back soon.  It should be an interesting next couple weeks for the NFC West.  

Fantasy Watch

A look at players worth having on your fantasy football roster, who needs to be cut, and who has deceptive stats.

Like - T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts WR.   It's been a steady ascent this season for Hilton, and Thursday's 223 yard performance was his coronation as a must-own in all fantasy leagues.  Averaging nearly 10 targets a game from fellow fantasy stud Andrew Luck is a promising sign for the young wide receiver, who has 65 points through 6 weeks in standard scoring formats.

Dislike - Matt Asiata, Minnesota Vikings RB.  Just when it looked like the Vikings had a capable, temporary fill-in for Adrian Peterson (who now is unlikely to play the rest of this season) in Asiata, he touched the ball 3 times on Sunday, rushing for negative 5 yards.  With Jerick McKinnon getting the bulk of the carries and a rookie QB trying to stay healthy while figuring out the offense, there are just too many questions marks to feel safe starting Asiata, even in the flex spot.

Pyrite - Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens QB.  Is he a winner?  Yes.  Does the Baltimore offense look formidable right about now?  Yes.  But let's not kid ourselves, from a fantasy standpoint, Flacco is not Peyton Manning.  He's a useful bench tool, but he won't throw for 300+ yards and 5 TD's every week.  So if you had him filling in for Alex Smith or Drew Brees bye-weeks, well done.  If he's your every week starter, see if you can work out a trade on a buy-low QB right now (like, say, Drew Brees?).

Questions, comments, smart remarks? Log in to your Gmail account and leave feedback below.  For last week's Tuesday Morning QB, click here.

Throwback Thursday - Boo Berry Cereal Reviewed

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time (I'm talking to about 12 people right now), you know the Full Court Press ranges in a variety of topics.  If you've been reading the blog's recent weekly feature of Tuesday Morning QB (now I'm talking to like 5 people), you know I promised in the inaugural post that I would still blog on other things from time to time.  Believe it or not, finding the time to write a blog when it's not your paid job can be very challenging, thus my last four posts have been all football.  To make up for that - and I'm cheating a little here - I thought I'd dig into my archives and share one of my masterpieces from my college years.

Before I started the whole Tuesday Morning QB thing, I blogged on the awesomeness of the pumpkin. Pumpkins are just one of many reasons I love fall.  Every October, General Mills re-releases it's "spooky" cereals: Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry.  My personal favorite has always been Boo Berry. A buddy of mine in college had his own website (back when having .com after your name was a quasi-impressive accomplishment), and one of the sections was cereal reviews.  As I ranted to him about Boo Berry one day, he asked me to do a guest review for his website, and that review can be read in it's original, unedited version below.  Since the website is no longer running, I do not have a post date, but we can safely assume sometime between fall 2004 and spring 2005.

Today, very few people can identify Boo Berry Cereal.  However, a true child of the 80’s can easily tell you he was one of Count Chocula’s “spooky” friends.  Although not marketed as much today as everyone’s favorite chocolate vampire, Boo Berry is still being produced along with his buddy Franken Berry.  I last remember seeing them both about ten years ago. Thinking they were out of circulation, I was shocked when my roommate, returning from a trip to his hometown of Honey Brook, PA, walked in a few weeks ago with a box of Boo Berry.  Apparently they can still be found in remote, back-woods hick general stores.

Looking at the box brought me back down memory lane.  I was an avid consumer of all of the General Mills monster cereals in the late 80’s.  I always felt Boo Berry was sort of the “forgotten” cereal.  Think about it: Count Chocula was always in the spotlight, Franken Berry demanded attention due to his not-so-ambiguous diva qualities, and Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy (which was the same cereal) lived off the hype of being out for a limited-time only.  Meanwhile, nobody was paying attention to the droopy blue ghost offering a delicious alternative to chocolate and strawberry.  For this reason, I automatically had an affinity for Boo Berry, the Rudy of cereals.

Now that you’re all up to date about the back story of General Mills’ first family of spooky cereals, let’s take a look at the actual cereal.  The texture is very unique.  Many times, cereal pieces such as Fruit Loops and Cocoa Puffs are delicious, but I can’t help but wonder if they would be better with marshmallows.  Then there are cereals with good marshmallow pieces, but the cereal pieces suck (e.g. Lucky Charms).  Boo Berry is one of those unique cereals with a blend of delicious cereal and marshmallows.  And it’s blueberry flavored, who doesn’t like blueberry?  There’s blueberry muffins, pancakes, and pie… it’s only natural to put it in cereal form!

My recent consumption of Boo Berry cereal was a great nostalgic experience.  Next on the list: Urkel-O’s and Flutie Flakes! A-

Tuesday Morning QB, Week 5

Tuesday Morning QB is weekly feature on The Full Court Press, reacting to the past week’s happenings in NFL Football.

Pink Out

Week 5 marked the first week of October games in this NFL season, or more commonly referred to in recent seasons as "Pinktober," in honor of breast cancer awareness month.  But there was a noticeable decline in the volume of pink items at games this past weekend compared to other Pinktober games in recent years, which apparently was planned.  There has been much speculation over the reason for the decline - some think the league's recent mishandling of domestic violence cases makes the Pinktober promo look hypocritical, others think it stems from criticism that only a small percentage of pink gear revenue actually goes towards breast cancer research.  Regardless, this weekend was a more modest showing of pink goal post covers, wristbands and shoelaces.  Despite the decline of on-field products, that didn't stop the NFL from sending me this email at the beginning of last week:

In other news, if for no other reason that to satisfy my own amusement, Green Bay Packers receiver Davante Adams caught his first career touchdown on Thursday, and it looks like someone at Lambeau Field forgot to put the "Caution: Wet Floor" sign in the end zone:

In case you're wondering, yes, I did stop my DVR and rewind so I could film that, and no, I did not have anything better to do on Thursday.  I laughed out loud, and I make no apologies.  If you would like to see a sharper picture though, click here.

Impish or Admirable?

This is a recap of teams that are either looking good, or need help.  This is not a playoff projection. I call it impish or admirable.  

 Impish - New York Jets.  The annual drama in New York started heating up in a loss to the Lions last week.  I think we all knew it would only be a matter of time before the traditionally impatient New York fan base started calling for Geno Smith's job, and let's just say, he did not react well when it finally happened.  I talked to a Jets fan this week that actually said he thought if anything, it was encouraging to see Geno get a little fired up and show that he cares.  If you're the Jets, you know the state of your franchise is desperate when your players can curse your fans out, and they see it as an improvement.  Well, fans got their wish on Sunday, as Geno was benched in the middle of a 31-0 thrashing from the San Diego Chargers.  Michael Vick was 9-20 for 47 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT.  We learned on Monday that Geno Smith missed a team meeting on Saturday.  He claims he was at the movies because he miscalculated the time change (they were the visiting team on the west coast).  My wife's response:

 Impish - Tennessee Titans.  Wow.  It's one thing to lose to the Browns.  It's another thing to give up a 25-point lead en route to Cleveland setting a record for largest comeback in a road game.  Charlie Whitehurst threw 2 touchdowns after subbing for an injured Jake Locker.  With a 14-3 lead, I'd bet the coaching staff would have been happy as long as he just didn't put his helmet on backwards.  Defying all odds, he somehow threw 2 more touchdowns. TWO! And they still LOST!  That week 1 win over Kansas City seems like a long time ago, in a football league far, far away.

 Admirable - Indianapolis Colts.  It was a rough first two weeks for the Colts - falling short in a week 1 comeback bid to the Broncos followed by blowing a week 2 fourth quarter lead to the Eagles.  So what's the best antidote for a losing record?  Some AFC South divisional contests to the above-mentioned Titans and hapless Jaguars.  On Sunday, they had a stiffer test to break .500 against the Ravens, and they passed exceptionally.  Andrew Luck is continuing to work his way into the conversation of elite NFL QB's.  The committee backfield of Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw is working surprising well, as they both average over 4 yards per carry.  And after a rough first half and disappointing second half against Denver and Philadelphia respectively, the defense is making big stops.

 Admirable - Dallas Cowboys.  If you've been reading the Tuesday Morning QB segments, or just know me a little bit personally, you know I'm eating a huge slice of humble pie on this one (which I've happily washed down with 4 consecutive "Cowboys Win, You Win" free coffees at Dunkin Donuts!).  Who would have thought that giving Tony Romo Wednesday practices off would result in a more reliable Sunday QB (you know Allen Iverson is freaking out somewhere)?  Dez Bryant is a stud.  And I don't know what's a bigger surprise - DeMarco Murray leading the league in rushing, or the defense not folding like a cheap card table.  Either way, this team is playing great ball right now, and they're fun to watch.  My only red flag is Tony Romo's press conference after the Houston game.  In case you didn't see it, here's a brief transcript: I was a little surprised at the number of Houston fans in attendance... It was the first time I needed to go to a silent count for an entire home game... I think we need to do a better job as a team and a fan base to understand the importance of home field advantage.  Tony, a little advice - don't throw your fans under the bus after a win... but no hurt feelings on my end - I started you on one of my fantasy teams this weekend!

Fantasy Watch

A look at players worth having on your fantasy football roster, who needs to be cut, and who has deceptive stats.

Like - Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers TE.   What an addition for the Carolina Panthers!  Sometimes, a change of scenery breathes a little extra energy into players, and that is the case with Greg Olsen. Only a quarter of the way into the season, and he has already accumulated half of his fantasy point total from last season.  With 40 targets through 5 games, it's a safe bet that Cam Newton will continue to go to him often as the season progresses, especially in the red zone.

Dislike - LaShean McCoy, RB Philadelphia Eagles.  Yeah, I'm not really sure what happened either.  The first two weeks we might have attributed to Darren Sproles going off.  "Surely," we thought, "LeSean will eventually start to see the majority of touches and claim some of those big plays."  But Sproles has been quiet the last three weeks, meanwhile McCoy still has yet to find the end zone.  I wouldn't encourage dropping him.  You might try to trade him, but I doubt there are many interested buyers in your league, and you're only likely to get a player who has hit his ceiling in return (see Zac Stacy).  Stick with him, but consider benching him if he goes against a top-10 rushing defense.

Pyrite - Andre Ellington, Arizona Cardinals RB.  I hope this is a temporary label, because I really like Ellington.  I had him on my wish list in every league, but he got snatched up before I could claim him.  While he had a monster week last week, if you remove his two touchdowns, he gained less than 30 yards rushing and 40 yards receiving - good for 7 points in standard scoring leagues.  Now that the QB situation in Arizona has become even muddier, there's a chance that opposing defenses may stack 8 in the box and either force Ellington to try to run through them, or challenge rookie QB Logan Thompson to beat the secondary in one-on-one match-ups (ironically, his only completion was a touchdown to Ellington on a pass that should have never been thrown).  Couple that with his nagging foot injury, and it might be a long couple of weeks for Ellington.

Questions, comments, smart remarks? Log in to your Gmail account and leave feedback below.  For last week's Tuesday Morning QB, click here.