Oct 1, 2009
One more week and we have officially entered the quarter mark of the season and plenty has occurred around the NFL. An alarming amount of injuries to quarterbacks and running backs alike; a hold out by an idiotic, ill-advised rookie wide receiver, horrible coaching by one Eric Mangini and another head coach calling out one of his players through the media. The Detroit Lions finally were able to shut up some critics as they grabbed their first win since the 2007 season. Mixed into all of that has some people accusing New England Patriots star wide receiver Randy Moss of taking off plays so he can be traded back to the Minnesota Vikings. And speaking of the Vikings, what an impact Brett Favre has had on their organization. He looks as if he is the final piece to a great puzzle.
That is why I love football so much. A few weeks ago everyone thought that they had their fantasy football championships guaranteed after their drafts. Frank Gore was going to have a great season; that took a bit of a turn when he blew out his ankle and will be missing the next three to four weeks. This has opened the gate for rookie Glen Coffee to become the hottest beverage in households throughout the world during this week’s waiver wire period.
Sep 30, 2009
Hello Bruno Boys Nation!
With Week 3 under our belts, the ladies of Girls’ Guide are in it to win it.
I had traveled east to spend Yom Kippur with my parents and got to enjoy some fall foliage up in Vermont. This also meant I was watching football on our 1983 front projection TV. Colorful landscapes and bushels of Macouns (my favorite apple, currently in season) were decent trade offs for lack on HD (to say the least).
Monday Morning Back Patting:
Good call on my part in utilizing LeSean McCoy and Willie Parker as flex starts. While I started both for different reasons, McCoy due to an opportunity against a weak Kansas City Chiefs defense resulting from Brian Westbrook’s injury and Parker because of past success against the Bengals, the results were similar. Both of them scored a touchdown and had over 10+ fantasy football points.
Sep 30, 2009
Once again taking on the task of identifying those over performers and under achievers from the previous week of fantasy football is Ryan Hallam, creator of Fighting Chance Fantasy. So, join Ryan as he takes us through the Week 3 Duds and in case you missed it you can check out the Week 3 Studs by clicking the link. And, remember, if you have any questions for Hallam, you can email him at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for Week 4 fantasy football advice.
Note: All point projections read in this recap are from standard scoring leagues (non-PPR) and are projections made by the Bruno Boys staff
QUARTERBACK - DUDS
Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) – Even the best have an off game every once in a while. Brees was unable to perform his usual magic against the Bills on Sunday as he was just 16 for 29 for 172 yards without a touchdown or an interception. He did, however, turn the ball over on a fumble, which cost his owners two more points. Brees deserved his lofty 25 point projection, but he put up just four. It won’t happen often, but Brees was the ultimate dud in Week 3.
Hallam’s Take: No big deal here. Brees is awesome, he is still the number one fantasy quarterback. The guy can’t throw for three touchdowns EVERY week. It is unfortunate that he didn’t get in the end zone, but he carried your team the first two weeks, hopefully someone else picked up the slack for you this time around.
Sep 30, 2009
Greetings! Now that we have Week 3 of the NFL season in the books, the Numbers Nerd in me is firing on all cylinders. Last week I talked about top running backs after two weeks and what we can expect out them in the future. This week I’ll be looking at receivers (WRs, TEs, and even RBs) and I think the analysis is getting better and better now that we have 3 weeks of data and can start actually calling things trends rather than happenstance.
So this week will be similar to last week – first I looked at the Top 10 Receivers based on yardage alone:
| Rank | Player | Receptions | Yards | Targets |
| 1 | Reggie Wayne | 20 | 325 | 29 |
| 2 | Vincent Jackson | 16 | 317 | 22 |
| 3 | Jerricho Cotchery | 18 | 285 | 25 |
| 4 | Dallas Clark | 18 | 284 | 23 |
| 5 | Randy Moss | 26 | 281 | 39 |
| 6 | Steve Smith | 23 | 277 | 29 |
| 7 | Andre Johnson | 18 | 270 | 30 |
| 8 | Mario Manningham | 17 | 263 | 24 |
| 9 | DeSean Jackson | 12 | 259 | 26 |
| 10 | Brent Celek | 22 | 245 | 27 |
Sep 29, 2009
Once again taking on the task of identifying those over performers and under performers from the previous week of fantasy football is Ryan Hallam, creator of Fighting Chance Fantasy. So, join Ryan as he takes us through the Week 3 Studs and check back tomorrow as he take a look at the Week 3 Duds. And if you have any questions for him, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for Week 4 fantasy football advice.
Note: All point projections read in this recap are from standard scoring leagues (non-PPR) and are projections made by the Bruno Boys staff
QUARTERBACK - STUDS
Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) – In his third win in as many games for the Jets, Sanchez finally had a game for fantasy owners to get excited about. Against the suddenly vulnerable Tennessee Titans defense, Sanchez was 17/30 for 171 yards with 2 passing touchdowns and an interception. Sanchez also ran four times for ten yards and another score. He was projected for another ho hum ten point fantasy football day, but came up with a big 17 points.
Sep 29, 2009
Big D finally got its first win in the new stadium. It was a sloppy game in many aspects, but a win is a win. More importantly, did your players show up tonight to seal the win for you? If not, don’t worry, we’re less than a week away from Week 4. Let’s take a look at tonight’s fantasy action from the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers.
Sep 28, 2009
Another week has nearly come to a close here in the NFL, and with it, as per usual, has come another batch of story lines to examine. In Whooley’s Weekly Words, I, Bruno Boys Whooley, tackle just a few of the more interesting items to catch my eye from the weekend. This week, I’ll be discussing the quarterback as I look at the mediocrity of Tom Brady, the magnificence of Peyton Manning, the quarterback controversies brewing around the league, and the 0 TDs thrown by Drew Brees in week three.
Tom Not So Terrific?
A 15 point fantasy day - not bad, right? Typically, no, but when you’re talking about Tom Brady, his owners were looking for more, especially since he was coming off a performance of just 6 fantasy points in week 2. You see, Tom Terrific never has two so-so games in a row.
Despite coming off a lost 2008 season due to injury, Brady was still considered a top-4 quarterback option, at worst, in fantasy drafts this off-season. After all, the last time he was on the field, he set the record for most passing TDs in a single season with 50 back in 2007. However, the pay off Brady has given his owners has not matched the investment they made in the QB. Through three weeks, Brady has just 3 passing TDs, and really, if it weren’t for Leodis McKelvin and his fumble in week 1, he’d be sitting with two.
So, what’s the problem? Many believe that part of Brady’s struggles could be due to the absence of one of his favorite targets, Wes Welker, these past two weeks. But, Brady has thrived without Welker before, and wide receiver, Julian Edelman has done a decent Welker impersonation in Welker’s absence. No, the problem is with Brady himself. Just watch a Patriots’ series or two and you’ll see Brady is missing windows he hit frequently during his record-breaking 2007 season. Whether a ball is overthrown just slightly or thrown behind his target, Brady is just off a smidge. And, a smidge can often be the difference between a 1 TD outing and a 3 TD day. As his timing and confidence in his knee grows, Brady should improve; however, his owners shouldn’t be surprised if Brady is only mediocre at times till those things happen.
Sep 28, 2009
Week 3 is in the books, and now after three weeks, this is the first time when I think you need to take a step back and evaluate your squad. Look at the matchups in the week ahead, as now you can get a better glimpse of who are the strong and weak defenses. Look at how your opponents are doing, see what their strengths and weaknesses are. Today we saw Mark Sanchez quiet the critics for the third straight week. We saw a defense that was finally able to slow down Drew Brees, and we saw Maurice Jones-Drew finally do what his owners have been waiting patiently for through the opening weeks of the season. Congrats to those of you that are 3-0, and for those of you who are 0-3, it might be time to do something drastic before your season gets away from you. Let’s take a look at Week 3.
Baltimore Ravens 34 vs. Cleveland Browns 3
The Cleveland Browns forget to show up today. I hope every owner of Ray Rice and Willis McGahee plugged these guys into your lineup today. It was predicted that they would have a nice afternoon, and they did not disappoint. McGahee found the endzone twice and had 67 yards rushing. Rice got a TD and had 48 yards rushing and 27 yards receiving. McGahee’s career resurrection has to be frustrating Rice owners a bit, but the Baltimore Ravens have a found way to get this offense clicking and both should produce nicely. Talk about their offense, Joe Flacco throws for 342 yards with a touchdown, and that TD went to Derrick Mason. You remember him as the guy that wanted to retire this summer. Mason continues to be the No. 1 option in this passing attack. He went over the century mark in addition to his touchdown. Now for the Cleveland Browns, things are going in the opposite direction. It seems we may have another QB controversy on our hands again, which only hurts owners of Braylon Edwards. Edwards finished with just 35 yards receiving today. Combine that with Jamal Lewis being inactive today and possibly on the verge of losing his job atop Cleveland’s depth chart, and suddenly, having anybody on the Browns on your team seems like a bad idea.
Sep 26, 2009
Throughout the off-season, the Bruno Boys peered into their Crystal Ball to provide you out there in Bruno Boys Nation with a look into what the future held for specific players for the 2009 season. Now, we shift our focus and utilize our psychic powers to provide you with a breakdown of all the NFL games on the docket for this Week 3 of football action as Bruno Boys Kyle presents Week 3 - Game Previews (Fantasy Style).
Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions: Combined, these two teams have averaged 33.0 points per game – or 13.5 fewer points per contest than the New Orleans Saints have scored this season. Many pundits are predicting that the Lions get off the snide and win a football game for the first time since 2007, which would make Washington head coach Jim Zorn’s situation even more untenable. Fantasy Prediction: Matthew Stafford throws more interceptions than touchdowns for the third straight game.
Sep 25, 2009
With Week 3 of the NFL season fast approaching, it is once again time for the Bruno Boys to pick a Game of the Week, with a fantasy football twist. Each week we will choose one NFL game that we feel will have a large amount of impact on the fantasy football world.
This week we will head to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA, where the New England Patriots will host the Atlanta Falcons. Both of these teams heading into the season are thought of as possible representatives for their conferences in the Super Bowl. After two weeks of NFL action the Falcons post a 2-0 record, while the Patriots are sitting at 1-1. Each team possesses an explosive offense and this game should feature a significant fantasy football impact.
