Category: NFL

0-11. How Shocking.

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Another one down.  5 losses to go.  We are well on our way to 0-16, and each week it gets more miserable.  This past week the Browns traveled to Cincinnati for their annual beating.

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This game came down to the Browns being fucking IDIOTS at the worst possible time.  Penalties, missed blocks, drops, turnovers.  The list goes on. It’s another game, where in the third quarter the outcome was on the table.  One team had to go out and get the win.  Of course, it was the Bengals who stepped up.

The Browns kicked off the scoring with a Zayne Gonzalez field goal early in the first.  DeShone Kizer moved the offense 66 yards in 11 plays.   Andy Dalton came right back, and lead the Bengals to a TD.  Dalton hit Tyler Boyd for an 8 yard score.

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In the second quarter the Bengals added three straight field goals to make it 16-3, but the Browns never quit god love em.  Towards the end of the half Kizer lead a 75 yard 11 pay drive ending in a Browns field goal.  The score was 16-6 going into the half.

In the third, the Bengals added another field making it 19-6.  Kizer again drove the Browns into scoring range.  Zayne Gonzalez added another field goal making it 19-9.  After a big defensive stand Kizer marched the Browns 89 yards on 15 plays.  He capped it off with a 3 yard touchdown run.

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With a chance to tie the game or take the lead with a stop, the officials called one of the most BRUTAL targeting penalties I have ever seen.  It came on 3rd down, and Andy Dalton threw a deep sideline pass to Josh Malone who caught it.  Peppers came over and leveled Malone causing the ball to pop free incomplete.  The officials flagged Jabrill 15 yards extending Cincinnati’s drive.  It was the most egregious 15yard could I’ve seen since Terelle Pryor was flagged 15 yards for dropping the ball after a catch.  Peppers struck Malone right in the chest.  It was a clean hit, and it would’ve given the Browns the ball back with a chance to tie the game, or even take the lead.  It was for not, the officials fucked us.  The game was officially over after that call.  Joe Mixon finished off the Browns with an 11 yard run for 6.  30-16 was the final.

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5 positives:

  1. DeShone Kizer put in his best day as a pro in my opinion.  He lead the team up, and down the field all day.  The Browns couldn’t capitalize when they needed to most.  He ran for a score, and had a beautiful TD pass taken away from him because Corey Coleman couldn’t close his arms.
  2. With injuries to major pieces on defense (Ogbah, Collins) the Browns defense can still keep them in games.  One side of the ball is nearly figured out.
  3. Theres only 5 more games left this season.
  4. Josh Gordon comes back next week.
  5. Josh Gordon hasn’t failed any drug tests this week (Knock on wood).

Tune in this Sunday to catch the return of Josh Gordon to NFL action.  Hopefully it leads to a few wins.  It won’t, but a guy can dream.  The Browns take on the Los Angeles Chargers.  They’ll likely kick the shit out of us, but hey Josh is back. Lets go Brownies!

Tom Brady Wins Record-Breaking 10th AFC Offensive Player of the Month

The ageless wonder does it again, this time capturing his 10th AFC Offensive Player of the Month which is good for the most ever.

The 40-year-old has been lighting it up this season and would be a runaway MVP candidate had it not been for Wentz and the resurgence of the Eagles. He finishes November with a 128.1 QB rating going 73-99 for 833 yds, 10 TD, and 1 INT.  He managed to do this while playing the Raiders & Broncos on the road (and at elevation) and a division rival in the Dolphins. All games were won by at least 17 points and the Patriots look like they are back in peak form.

Much credit of this has to go to Brady, who should be #1 in MVP talks.  He leads the league with 3,374 yds and has the best TD-INT ratio at 26 TDs and 3 interceptions. Can’t forget about him on the ground either with 21 attempts for 24 yards. Kidding obviously but what TB12 is doing is unprecedented and should be appreciated even more than it already is.

Office Chatter Episode 5

The guys are back after the holiday break to bring you Episode 5 of the self-titled podcast. Sticking mostly with NFL this week — we breakdown the benching of Eli Manning, whether or not Michael Crabtree needs to retire, and predictions for some of the close division races. We also debut a new segment — “Jackass of the Week” — where we all pick the week’s most boneheaded move.

 

Eli Manning Officially Benched by the Giants

 

 

For the first time in 13 years, Eli Manning will not be the starting QB for the New York Giants. Who is their backup you ask? Well…

Geno Smith everybody. What a fantastic idea by Coach McAdoo. As if he wasn’t digging his grave already, he goes and makes Geno Smith the starting QB.

 

Manning was given the option of starting against the Raiders to keep the streak alive, but declined.

“Coach McAdoo told me I could continue to start while Geno and Davis are given an opportunity to play,” Manning said. “My feeling is that if you are going to play the other guys, play them. Starting just to keep the streak going and knowing you won’t finish the game and have a chance to win it is pointless to me, and it tarnishes the streak. Like I always have, I will be ready to play if and when I am needed. I will help Geno and Davis prepare to play as well as they possibly can.”

 

Have to give credit to Eli here. The Giants only have two wins and have severely under-performed and Eli takes some of the brunt of that. I totally understand why he wouldn’t want to be benched mid-game and would rather just let the other two play to save face. Have to wonder here if this is the last time we see Eli in a Giants uniform, with rumors swirling that Coughlin would like to have him back in Jacksonville.

Sounds like the Giants are ready to move on without him if they see any promise from either of these back-ups (they won’t). Manning finishes 87 games short of Brett Favre’s all-time QB starts in a row streak at 210.

Top Fantasy Performers of Week 12

Week 12 is officially in the books and although the week wasn’t full of crazy endings, it still was very entertaining. There were a few players in particular that busted out and hopefully won you your match up this week.

The top 2 QBs this week were Ben Roethlisberger and Philip Rivers.

Big Ben threw for 351 yards, 4 touchdowns and ran for 25 yards. Although he threw 2 interceptions, he still managed to put up 38 points in most leagues.

Philip Rivers and the Chargers lit up the Cowboys on thanksgiving, throwing for 434 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rivers put up an average of 35 points.

Hats off to Josh McCown, he threw for over 300 yards and 3 scores. Not to shabby for a 38 year old journey-man QB.

The top 2 RBs this week were Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams.

Kamara had his best performance of the season and as usual, he did it on the ground and through the air. He rushed 5 times for 87 yards and a TD, he also caught 6 balls for 101 yards and a TD. Kamara put up an average of 36 points.

Jamaal Williams came out of nowhere and did his best to help his Packers beat the Steelers but fell a little short. He rushed 21 times for 66 yards and a TD, he also caught 4 balls for 69 yards and a TD. Williams put up an average of 28 points.

Shout out to the owners that played Rex Burkhead over Dion Lewis. Dion has been getting most of the national media love, but Rex had a big day, scoring 2 TD’s and racking up 19 points.

The top 2 WRs this week were Julio Jones and Antonio Brown.

Julio played out of his mind catching 12 balls for 253 yards and 2 TD’s and rushing once for 15 yards. He was a man amongst boys yesterday and overall had the best fantasy week putting up 50 points.

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before — Antonio Brown caught 10 balls for 169 yards and a TD. It feels like he puts up these numbers every single week. Brown put up an average of 40 points.

Robbie Anderson came up a few points short of Antonio this week, but I feel compelled to congratulate all of the owners that started him this week. It was a risky move but he payed off by putting up an average of 32 points.

The top 2 TEs this week were Zach Ertz and Rob Gronkowski.

Ertz had one of his better games this year catching 10 passes for 103 yards and a TD. The Eagles blew out the pathetic Bears and it was partly because of the Wenz-Ertz connection. Ertz has finally become the fantasy player we thought he would be, if you have him as your TE, you are sitting pretty. He put up an average of 26 points.

Gronk had himself a day, catching 5 passes for 82 yards and a 2 TD’S. As usual, he helped carry the Patriots to another win and blowout against the Dolphins. Gronk put up an average of 22 points.

An honorable mention is Kyle Rudolph, he caught 4 passes for 63 yards and 2 TD’s. It was a big TD week for Tight-ends, so no matter who you started they probably did well.

 

 

The Browns Found A Way to Win Today

 

Andddddddddddddddd it moved.  Seriously though.  All along there was always this notion that it was too good to be true.  This was an annual thing, I had seen it before.  Josh Gordon post rehab, clear mind, clear blood stream.  It was always for not.  Generally ending in an indefinite suspension.  Last week, when Hue Jackson announced Josh was on course to practice on 11/22, I almost didn’t believe him.  The mentality I took each year was let me see it, and I’ll believe it.  Well today, my wish was granted.  Josh returned to the practice field for the first time since training camp in 2015-16.  All I needed was visual confirmation.

Hard to really judge what kind of shape he’s in considering I’m a disgusting slob, but that looked pretty good! Seems to be the general reaction from the team after today.  Hue Jackson was quoted in saying, ” He’s something.  It was a good first day….”.  The sounds coming from the media, and coaches echo what I have been saying about this guy.  Dude is a natural talent.  The rumblings from the beat writers that troll this team are that Josh was easily the best receiver on the field in practice.  It’s just practice but, my god am I excited to have a real offensive weapon to watch!!

Say what you want, but today was a win for the Browns.  They get a guy back who could be a massive difference maker.  Hopefully Josh is the spark the offense needs.  Josh coming back should take some pressure off Kizer in the 5 or so games he is eligible to play.  He forces defenses to devote extra man power in stopping him, leading to other wide receivers being open, or more opportunities to run the ball.

Josh is eligible to play in his first game next week against the San Diego Chargers.  The remaining schedule looks like so:

 

Week 13:  @

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Week 14: 

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Week 15: 

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Week 16:  @

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Week 17: @

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It’s so great to have Josh back for the playoff push.  You heard me:

In all seriousness, this is not the easiest slate of games especially since we suck.  Hopefully Josh can help bring us a few wins.  We’re getting into, “JUST ONE WIN PLEASE” territory.  I’ll say Josh brings the Browns 3 wins.  Gordon, Coleman, Duke, Crowell, Njoku, Devalve is a unit of skilled offensive players that should be able to win 1 or 2.  Lets get rolling.

Welcome back Josh!!!!!!!

Fantasy 101: Preparing for Playoffs

It’s that time of year, the temperature is getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and most importantly, it’s almost Fantasy Football Playoffs time.  At this point, you should know if you are in the running to make playoffs, and I have a few pointers from lessons learned that are important to remember as you prepare your army for battle.

 

#1: Don’t Get Cute

Every year I see people try to out-think the playoffs, and it hurts them in the end.  You need to Start your Studs, and rely on their talent.  Do not over-weigh the match-ups.  Here is a prime example.  I have Tom Brady as my starting Quarterback.  I do not love his match-up against Pittsburgh in the playoffs, but there is no chance that I am sitting the greatest quarterback of all time to dodge that match up.  I will be enraged if I lose because of a streaming Quarterback such as Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jay Cutler, or Tyrod Taylor (I actually think Tyrod is a great streaming option, but he is not a better QB than Tom Brady).  If I’m going to lose, I’m going to do it with my best players.

 

#2:  Have a Plan

You at this point should know who is reliable, who you want to ride through the playoffs, and who is the next man up.  Depth of people who are mediocre as long term investments or name value only are no longer valuable.  Play your studs and handcuff them where you can.

There is a caveat to this, and that is if you have been streaming options week to week.  As an example, I have not had a consistent and reliable second running back all year, every week I piece together the best option I can.  This is not an ideal situation, but is sometimes what you must do to give yourself the best chance to win any week.  If this is the case, it is even more important have a rough-plan for the playoff weeks so you don’t get stuck in a bad situation during the most important weeks!

 

#3: Cheer Loud

Fantasy is a hard thing to win every week, so if you are running in the playoffs, congratulations!  This means that you have a team that can win in any given week, and that’s all you need in the playoffs, a few wins.  At this point, you’ve set up your team as best as you can, now you just need a little luck.

 

Fantasy playoffs are an exciting precursor to the actual NFL playoffs.  If you are in the playoffs, Don’t Get Cute, Have a Plan, Cheer Loud, and good luck!

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Holy Shit, This Really Sucks!

Oh dear lord.  I can’t really tell if I have a gut feeling, or reaction to this news.  I’m numb at this point.  La Canfora Reports, “Browns owner Jimmy Haslam’s interest in having Peyton Manning join his franchise in a prominent team president/top executive role is very strong and sincere, league sources said, with the owner desperate to find ways to put a winning football operations and coaching staff together. The Browns are winless this season and have just one victory since the start of the 2016 season, when coach Hue Jackson was paired with general manager Sashi Brown, and Haslam is hoping his long relationship with Manning can lead him to Cleveland.”

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I think I should probably be excited by this potential move, but I’m not.  I’m more or less thinking of ways it would fail.  A lot of the time, the ol’ player turned front office executive fails miserably no matter the franchise.  Peyton would certainly bring a healthy resume on the field, but it’s as an executive that he’s done absolutely nothing.  That worries me.  I would hope that Peyton would not be diving head first into GM duties.  I would feel more comfortable with him as “Director of Football Operations”, or some other bull shit label.   Give him a position where he has input on personnel decisions.  I have zero doubt in my my mind that Manning knows what it takes to win, and the qualities winning teams need to possess.  His input would be extremely beneficial.  As long as he wouldn’t have final say on roster decisions.

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Last week, it was Mike Singletary coming into Cleveland with interview binders and now we got the goober Peyton himself rumored to be on his way.  It’s well known that Browns Owner, Jimmy Haslam is a prominent booster for the University of Tennesse.  While his relationship goes way ack, and brings some validity to this rumor, I think there is less than zero percent chance he would come here.  I would feel so much better about the QB, but this just seems so outlandish.  I doubt Peyton is going to leave his cushy advertisement gigs, to have his named tarnished in Turd Brown.

 

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0-10.

0-10!  Perfection baby!   Another Sunday, and yet another loss for the Cleveland Browns.  Chalk this up as another game they could’ve, should’ve won.  The Browns defense did their part.  Hue Jackson, DeShone Kizer, and the rest of the Browns offense are 100% to blame for yet ANOTHER loss.

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The game started off mellow enough with the Browns forcing the Jaguars to punt after an anti-climatic opening possession.  Directly after the punt Kizer threw his first pats DIRECTLY to Jaguars linebacker, Melvin Smith.  Smith intercepted the ball around the Jaguar 45 yard line, and returned it all the way back to the Browns 30.  A few plays later Blake Bortles floated a 10 yard touchdown pass to veteran tight end, Mercedes Lewis.

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After exchanging three-and-outs, DeShone Kizer decided to throw on his big boy pants, and lead a fast touchdown drive.  The drive was capped off by a Duke Johnson 27 yard touchdown catch.  From here on, there is absolutely nothing to write about.  The offense couldn’t do dick.  70% of the game was played at a 10-7 score, and these fucking stiffs couldn’t manage three fucking points. Couldn’t even tie the game for a measly few minutes.  Hell I’d take a tie at this point.

After Kizer’s impressive TD drive, the Browns offense was done for the afternoon.  Kizer finished the game 16 of 32, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions.  The game ended with Kizer getting strip sacked at his goal-line, and the Jags falling on the ball in the end zone.  19-7 was the final.  0-10 we go.

Much like the all the previous losses, this one hurt bad.  I mean, your defense battled it’s ass off to win.  They put you into position to win a football game, and you shit down your leg.  Granted, it’s a fantastic defense in Jacksonville.  They attack the QB with lineman, linebackers, and defensive backs.  I understand it was going to be tough, but you couldn’t manage another 3?  This game just screams, “GET US A VETERAN”.  Imagine if the benched Tyrod Taylor played today?  I guarantee the Browns make it up the mountain to score at least 3 more points.  It is frustrating to watch.

 

5 Positives:

  1. Myles Garrett is a goddamn specimen.  His partner Emmanuel Ogbah is an absolute freak as well.  Both caused a lot of trouble for Blake Bortles.
  2. Kizer only threw 2 interceptions.  So far, Nathan Peterman has thrown 5 for the Buffalo Bills.  #Tyrod2Cleveland? 😉 Related image
  3. Corey Coleman was back this week.  He also didn’t get hurt (yet).  8 catches for 80 yards is solid.  We had 1 real life wide receiver dressed today!
  4. Duke Johnson continued to impress.  Overall he was the best offensive player today. Johnson caught 4 passes, for 56 yards, and 1 touchdown.
  5. The Defense is legit overall.  Continue to add depth via the draft, and watch that unit grow.

Week 12 brings the Bengals.  Currently, they are up 13-7 on the Broncos.  Again, the Browns can win this game, but likely won’t.

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^^^ Fire the man.^^^

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Shut up.  Let a guy dream.