Faduco Semi-Final Preview #2: Bill vs. Larry
Contrary to the belief of some, I was always planning to do a preview of the 2nd semi-final. I just didn’t want to saturate the blog yesterday. Anyway, my boss told me to take the rest of the day off, but I’m staying in the office till I get this done. Merry Christmas to all. As you can tell, I’m not offended by that greeting despite reading liberal rags and being non-Christian.
QB: Shake-n-Jake vs. Baby Manning. Not very impressive for both teams, though Plummer is facing a listless Raiders team that has nothing to play for while Eli is facing a very pissed-off Redskins defense out to prove that they got screwed over with the pro bowl selections. Eli – meet Shawn Springs and Sean Taylor, who have legit gripes to being passed over by overrated DeAngelo Hall and Roy Williams respectively. Bottom line, Plummer won’t hurt Larry because he’s not an INT machine (wow, did I just say that?) , while the wheels have the potential to fall off with Eli lately. Slight advantage to Larry.
RB: Both teams have an ultra-stud RB playing for high stakes. Bill’s Ladanlian Tomlinson is playing a big game at Kansas City, both teams need to win and will go all-out. KC historically does well at home against SD, but then again, Marty S. historically doesn’t go for it on 4th down, which he did plenty at Indy last week. LT hasn’t produced those 20 pointers lately, but that may just mean he’s due for a big explosion this week. As for Larry’s Shaun Alexander, the man is going for Priest Holme’s TD record and the NFL rushing title, which was denied to him last year because his coach called a QB sneak on the last play of the season. So he’s got plenty of motivation for this game. Expect both to deliver the goods. Which brings us to the #2 RB for both teams. Larry’s Michael Bennett is facing a Ravens defense that somehow is playing better without Ray-Ray. It’s an outdoor game, that’s going to hurt the Vikings. Meanwhile, Bill’s Ryan Moats is going to get quality minutes facing the Cardinals in warm Tempe. My view is that Moats is better than any of Hai’s or Tuna’s RBs at this juncture in the season. Moats may actually have keeper potential for Bill, that was a great pickup. Moderate advantage to Bill, as Moats is a top ten fantasy playoff RB.
WR: This is a case of reliability vs. explosiveness. Both Larry’s WRs are good for at least 6 pts, and are pro-bowl worthy. Holt is healthy and facing the 49ers, and Boldin is a yardage machine. Bill’s WRs demonstrate Bill’s ability to spot talent, they were overlooked at the start of the season and are both comeback of the year candidates. They can give Bill either 20 points or just 2 points with equal likelihood. I like Glenn’s chances better because Carolina will shut down Dallas’ running attack while Tampa may run more against a soft Atlanta run defense. Still, Larry’s WRs on paper and with their respective matchups will give him a slight advantage here.
TE: Like the #1 RBs, both teams have the top 2 players at their position. Gonzalez is the old fading vet, and Gates is what Gonzalez was 5 years ago. They face each other in real life, and the young upstart will be motivated to prove that the student has now become the master. Gonzalez is going to do more blocking, to try to contain a Chargers pass rush and to pave the way for another Larry Johnson monster game (inserting my obligatory LJ plug here). So Gates is going to win this matchup fantasy-wise.
K: Bill has a slight advantage, due to the fact that Jeff Wilkins will be kicking a lot of extra points while Kaeding may have to attempt more than 3 field goals.
DST: Larry has deserved his #1 managerial efficiency this year by astute shuffling of his defenses. I am not going to question why he is starting Cleveland over other "name" defenses like Atlanta and a pissed-off Redskins D. Bill has the best defense in the NFL and fantasy this season and Da Bears are almost good for 2 more points WEEKLY than the 2nd best defense. Moderate advantage to Bill.
In summary, I think this is going to be a very competitive and relatively-high scoring affair. Both teams’ star players will play up to their expectations, and it will be a very exciting affair. Bill seems too reliant on the Chargers, so Larry is going to be KC fan #1 this weekend. If I had to bet, it would be on Bill due to the presence of Moats and the Bears, but Larry has proven me wrong lots of times this season when he’s not playing me. At least for this week, the Caucasians look better than the Asians.
Contrary to the belief of some, I was always planning to do a preview of the 2nd semi-final. I just didn’t want to saturate the blog yesterday. Anyway, my boss told me to take the rest of the day off, but I’m staying in the office till I get this done. Merry Christmas to all. As you can tell, I’m not offended by that greeting despite reading liberal rags and being non-Christian.
QB: Shake-n-Jake vs. Baby Manning. Not very impressive for both teams, though Plummer is facing a listless Raiders team that has nothing to play for while Eli is facing a very pissed-off Redskins defense out to prove that they got screwed over with the pro bowl selections. Eli – meet Shawn Springs and Sean Taylor, who have legit gripes to being passed over by overrated DeAngelo Hall and Roy Williams respectively. Bottom line, Plummer won’t hurt Larry because he’s not an INT machine (wow, did I just say that?) , while the wheels have the potential to fall off with Eli lately. Slight advantage to Larry.
RB: Both teams have an ultra-stud RB playing for high stakes. Bill’s Ladanlian Tomlinson is playing a big game at Kansas City, both teams need to win and will go all-out. KC historically does well at home against SD, but then again, Marty S. historically doesn’t go for it on 4th down, which he did plenty at Indy last week. LT hasn’t produced those 20 pointers lately, but that may just mean he’s due for a big explosion this week. As for Larry’s Shaun Alexander, the man is going for Priest Holme’s TD record and the NFL rushing title, which was denied to him last year because his coach called a QB sneak on the last play of the season. So he’s got plenty of motivation for this game. Expect both to deliver the goods. Which brings us to the #2 RB for both teams. Larry’s Michael Bennett is facing a Ravens defense that somehow is playing better without Ray-Ray. It’s an outdoor game, that’s going to hurt the Vikings. Meanwhile, Bill’s Ryan Moats is going to get quality minutes facing the Cardinals in warm Tempe. My view is that Moats is better than any of Hai’s or Tuna’s RBs at this juncture in the season. Moats may actually have keeper potential for Bill, that was a great pickup. Moderate advantage to Bill, as Moats is a top ten fantasy playoff RB.
WR: This is a case of reliability vs. explosiveness. Both Larry’s WRs are good for at least 6 pts, and are pro-bowl worthy. Holt is healthy and facing the 49ers, and Boldin is a yardage machine. Bill’s WRs demonstrate Bill’s ability to spot talent, they were overlooked at the start of the season and are both comeback of the year candidates. They can give Bill either 20 points or just 2 points with equal likelihood. I like Glenn’s chances better because Carolina will shut down Dallas’ running attack while Tampa may run more against a soft Atlanta run defense. Still, Larry’s WRs on paper and with their respective matchups will give him a slight advantage here.
TE: Like the #1 RBs, both teams have the top 2 players at their position. Gonzalez is the old fading vet, and Gates is what Gonzalez was 5 years ago. They face each other in real life, and the young upstart will be motivated to prove that the student has now become the master. Gonzalez is going to do more blocking, to try to contain a Chargers pass rush and to pave the way for another Larry Johnson monster game (inserting my obligatory LJ plug here). So Gates is going to win this matchup fantasy-wise.
K: Bill has a slight advantage, due to the fact that Jeff Wilkins will be kicking a lot of extra points while Kaeding may have to attempt more than 3 field goals.
DST: Larry has deserved his #1 managerial efficiency this year by astute shuffling of his defenses. I am not going to question why he is starting Cleveland over other "name" defenses like Atlanta and a pissed-off Redskins D. Bill has the best defense in the NFL and fantasy this season and Da Bears are almost good for 2 more points WEEKLY than the 2nd best defense. Moderate advantage to Bill.
In summary, I think this is going to be a very competitive and relatively-high scoring affair. Both teams’ star players will play up to their expectations, and it will be a very exciting affair. Bill seems too reliant on the Chargers, so Larry is going to be KC fan #1 this weekend. If I had to bet, it would be on Bill due to the presence of Moats and the Bears, but Larry has proven me wrong lots of times this season when he’s not playing me. At least for this week, the Caucasians look better than the Asians.
Comments
Looks like I get use of your software program next season. Runner up in pick-em.