Thursday, October 14, 2010

National Friday League, Week 6

My wife and I have been playing this game where we invent unreal choices, and see what we would choose. I call the game "The Vikings, but..."

Essentially, you ask questions like this:

"The Vikings win the Super Bowl, but Seinfeld was never a TV show. Do you take it?"

"The Vikings don't ever win the Super Bowl, but you are given X dollars: how high does X need to be before you take the money?"

It's a fun game for long car rides and waiting in line. You start to really think about your priorities, and with any luck, you start to really hate yourself.

Vikings-Cowboys Preview
2010 Cowboys
When the Vikings created bad blood with the Cowboys in last year's 34-3 playoff win, and we knew the Cowboys would be playing the Vikes in 2010 regular season, I envisioned Tarvaris Jackson as our quarterback and the pissed off Cowboys throttling the hell out of our mediocre team. I did not picture Brett Favre still here, Randy Moss added, but both teams 1-3 and fighting to save their season.

Defensively, the Vikings can beat the Cowboys the same way they did in that playoff game: the Minnesota defensive line beats the Dallas offensive line on virtually ever play, and the pass rush prevents Tony Romo from getting anything accomplished. And that will have to be: if Romo does get time, the Vikes might be cooked by the likes of Miles Austin, Roy Williams, and Jason Witten, all receivers capable of big downfield plays, especially against a secondary that to me has looked very, very vulnerable. Maybe, just maybe, it's time for Jared Allen to actually be noticed in the 2010 season.

Before Viking games, one of the important things I check is the opponent's rank against the run (by yards per attempt). This week the number bodes well: Dallas ranks 26th, allowing 4.5 yards per attempt.

I think the game favors the Vikings, but I usually do and you see what happens.

1-3 sucks, and we're in a hole, but if you're looking for some hope...
The Vikings' current NFC North record: 1-0.
The Vikings' current NFC record: 1-1.

The games that are really going to determine whether the Vikings make the playoffs haven't happened yet.

Other Intriguing Matchups
Week Six Schedule

Dolphins-Packers
The Dolphins are one of the league's secretly enjoyable teams: a couple good running backs (Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams), a couple good wide receivers (Brandon Marshall and Davone Bess), a surprisingly exciting defense, and terrible special teams. Their games become interesting to watch. I will enjoy rooting for them to beat the Packers Sunday.

Ravens-Patriots
Interesting game. I've got nothing to say.

Chiefs-Texans
Jamaal Charles is wicked good fun.

Steve Falcos-Eagles
I've decided to call Atlanta the Steve Falcos, for the sheer hell of it.

Seahawks-Bears
Alright, I'm interested in the outcome, but I don't really want to watch it.

Colts-Washington
The Colts are on TV all the bloody time, which I like.

Titans-Jaguars
Because look out for the Titans, says Chase Stuart.

"When you're a Jet you're a Jet..."
I don't understand why the New York Jets don't adopt the song from West Side Story as their theme song.

NFC North Box
I was tooling around looking for evidence that the Bears are a secretly awful team. I found that evidence at Football Outsiders, where the Bears rank #24 in DVOA. I thought I'd find something similar confirmed at Advanced NFL Stats, but didn't: they rank #8 in Brian Burke's Efficiency Rankings. Interesting. Both systems find the Bear defense to be good (#6 at Football Outsiders, #4 at Advanced NFL Stats). So I don't think the Bears are secretly awful, because a good unit on one side of the ball might just be enough to get the Bears to 9+ wins.

Ancient Records
Interesting look at why Norm Van Brocklin still holds the single-game passing yardage record at pro-football-reference.com. Interesting too that Tom Fears held the single-game reception record for over 50 years. I think those Rams knew how to throw the ball.

Fantasy Box
I get emotionally attached to players on my team, and it's sort of a problem. There are only two ways that I would trade Mike Wallace: either straight-up for Randy Moss or straight-up for Adrian Peterson. So basically, Mike Wallace isn't leaving my team. I'm too confident that when Ben Roethlisberger returns this week, Wallace is going to start making 40+ yard catches with regularity, and I want the chance to just go ape-shit every time it happens. The guy is about to go crazy on the league, so get ready for that fun.

Weekend
Have a good weekend, everybody. Except Packer, Bear, and Cowboy fans.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:26 AM

    like the one or two other strengths on the vikings the pass defense contains several vexing weaknesses.


    rk

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  2. Anonymous11:55 AM

    Here is what I enjoy about your posts each Friday: Finding out which one of your fantasy players you are going to incorporate into your post. I knew the Mike Wallace was coming, but Davone Bess? Seriously, a good receiver? Yes, but does he make Miami an enjoyable team? No. He is another 2nd WR like all the other 2nd WRs in the league.....fantasy has tainted your reality.

    -Your Pal in Winona

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  3. Anonymous12:34 PM

    Cowboys whine about Vikings running it up. A couple thoughts:
    Stop somebody!
    Why continue to blitz? Including on the TD pass. It appears you were still trying to win the game, as were we.
    I hope it is 50-0 at half-time and we get several shot of Jerry Jones holding his chin and looking to see if he is on the big screen.

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  4. Your cause and effect is backward, Winona: I'm not writing about Bess being good because he's on my fantasy team, but I added him to my fantasy team just this week because I think he is good. Granted, he had his best game of the year in the most recent game I watched, but outside of one outlier game, he's been a consistent target, and I enjoy watching him make things happen in the short passing game. True, he's a #2 WR, but with Marshall as a #1, I think that makes them a fun duo to watch (at least they have been in a couple of the games I watched). And I am looking forward to watching Dolphins-Packers at noon, which is more why I'm writing about the Dolphins at all here.

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  5. If you want further evidence of my cause-effect re: fantasy (that I like players, then try to get them, not vice versa), and that I enjoy watching the Dolphins independently, ask Jerod how often I badger him about Ronnie Brown.

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  6. Anonymous1:38 PM

    Difference is Ronnie Brown has done something and IS exciting. Bess is not worthy of any mention for making the Dolphins and exciting team.

    But I also just like giving you crap.

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  7. J'Rod5:32 PM

    It's true. He's averaging 2.3 offers for Ronnie Brown per week.

    PV, you've got me high on Mike Wallace too. I've got to great lengths to get him on my team in other leagues. It better pay off.

    ReplyDelete
  8. J'Rod5:33 PM

    gone to*

    Also, I think Anon 12:34 forgot to enter his screen name: 4gotmorethanyouknow

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  9. I picked up Wallace because of your post, thank you PV!!!!

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