NFL Fantasy Football 2012: Week 12 In Review.

So I've arrived at week number 12 of the fantasy football season. As the home stretch of the fantasy football season is nearing, there is so much that I can reflect upon. Besides this being the first time that I've ever managed three different teams, I can say without a doubt that this fantasy season has been a roller coaster ride thus far. I started off sucking badly in two leagues that I'm in playoff contention for, and I've found myself sliding in the standings in the one league that I had been dominating. So much to discuss and so little time to do it. Here is my week 12 review of my fantasy football season. I hope you enjoy.

If there has been a common thing for me in this particular league, it's been injuries and consistently poor play at the running back slot. Jacksonville running back Rashad Jennings had been a hotly targeted waiver wire pickup after starter Maurice Jones-Drew went down with an injury. After snatching up Jennings in this league, I received poor production for him; which eventually led to him being replaced in real life by another backup, Jalen Parmele.

I took my chances starting Parmele in week 12, and although he done well in the limited time he played, the move didn't payoff much for me. Parmele ended up getting injured during the favorable match up against the Titans, and would leave the game with 4 fantasy points. Being that I was on a win streak in this league and facing the number 2 ranked team in the standings, I definitely viewed a win in this week as a test to determine how I would fare in the playoffs. I knew it wouldn't be an easy task winning, and it appeared at the beginning that I didn't have much of a chance.

This particular week was the week of Thanksgiving, which meant that several games were taking place. Both my opponent and myself had several players from our fantasy teams playing on this day. One of the games that I was paying a lot of attention to was the Washington Redskins vs. Dallas Cowboys game. The attentiveness not only came from the fact that the Cowboys are my favorite football team, but also because I had a couple of players in this game on two of my fantasy teams. One of of those players was Cowboys receiver Miles Austin.

Austin was predicted to do fairly well against a weak Redskins secondary, but unfortunately he left the game early with an injury. The even more unfortunate thing is that Austin failed to record a catch, which meant zero fantasy points. Another big Thanksgiving game taking place was the Houston Texans vs. Detroit Lions. Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson was a beast in this game, and earned 18 fantasy points for me. The final game that took place on Thanksgiving was the New England Patriots taking on the New YorK Jets. As many of you may be aware of, this game was a huge blowout. However, it played a huge role in this week for me fantasy wise.

My regular fantasy starter Tom Brady had a huge game against the Jets, and put up 40 fantasy points. This made Brady the leading scorer in fantasy for week 12. Since the Patriots dominated the Jets, it could only mean that the Patriots defense done extremely well, which is exactly what the case was. Unfortnately for me, my opponent had the Patriots defense on his team. The Patriots defense put up 26 fantasy points, which cut my lead down significantly. I must admit that I was very nervous about my prospect of winning on this week.

I ended up dodging a bullet and got my fifth straight win with a 115-105 victory. Things were very close, but a good game by Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks on Sunday Night Football helped stretch my lead heading in the Monday night game. The only player my opponent had left to play was Carolina receiver Steve Smith, and Smith only produced 6 fantasy points. The win moved me from fifth place to third place in the standings. All I can say is what a turnaround from earlier in the season.

After ringing off an eight game win streak in this league, my run was cooled off with a loss in week 11. Similar to the instability in the ESPN league I'm playing in, there has been very inconsistent performances with my team from a fantasy standpoint. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who I drafted with my first pick in the draft in this league, hasn't been the fantasy football stud we're used to seeing. Inconsistent play as of late from other players like Jimmy Graham, Doug Martin, Vincent Jackson, and Dwayne Bowe has me looking for answers even more now than before.

After losing in week number 11, my fantasy team in this league pretty much stunk up the place again in week 12. I really wish that there was another way that I could put it, but it is what it is. I lost by the score of 92.00-143.50. To my opponents credit, he had several players that performed very well in his blowout victory over me. Two of those players were Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, and Houston Texan receiver Andre Johnson. It's clear that he had the better lineup on this week, so I'll give credit where it's due.

My starting fantasy quarterback Aaron Rodger put up a meager 11 fantasy points in my stat column. Rodgers numbers were very disappointing indeed, and far from what he was projected to put up. I also chose to start Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte, which turned out to be an unwise decision. Forte would score only two fantasy points in week 12. To be quite honest, Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin, and New York Jets receiver Jeremy Kerley were the only players I started really worth mentioning in this league for week 12. Martin produced 19 fantasy points, while Kerley put up 11.50 in a loss to the Patriots.

Although it was my second straight loss in as many games, I won't be unrealistic and not put some of the blame on myself. Out of the 92 points that my fantasy team scored, 54 of them were left on the bench. Texans quarterback Matt Schaub outscored Aaron Rodgers with 16 fantasy points. Sure it was only a five point difference, but it was still more points than Rodgers managed and If you know anything about fantasy football, you'll know that points count quite a bit. I also left Broncos tight end Jacob Tamme on the bench, and Tamme outscored starter Jimmy Graham by a seven point margin.

Despite those decisions, the biggest disappointment was leaving New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw on the bench. Despite battling injuries all year, Bradshaw mustered up 18 fantasy points, which was 16 more than what Matt Forte managed. Regardless of how I choose to cut through it, there wasn't much hope to win in this league during week 12. However, I felt bad leaving all of those points on the bench. My mistake just provides more evidence that fantasy football in truly a game of luck with no real skill.

Out of the three leagues that I'm participating in, this is the league that I would say that I'm currently having the most success in. Coming into week 12, I had run off 3 straight wins, and gottten myself into third place in the standings. Next up on the schedule was the guy sitting in second place in the standings. A win over him would put me into second place, and closer to a first round bye in the playoffs. The excitement for me was definitely brewing.

As I mentioned previously in this article, key games this week were taking place on Thanksgiving day. I was faced with what I considered to be a pretty tough dillema. I have both Robert Griffin III, and Tony Romo on my team as my quarterbacks. Although I've started Griffin the majority of the season, Romo's fantasy numbers have been decent as of late. The Cowboys have been having to play from behind in their past few games, which means that Romo has been having to throw a lot. The constant throwing in turn had padded Romo's fantasy stats even more. With so much at stake, I made the decision to roll with Robert Griffin III.

Since the Cowboys and Redskins were playing eachother, it put me in a tough predicament. Being a Cowboys fan, I naturally wanted the Cowboys to win. However, I wanted Robert Griffin III to do well from a statisical point of view. Both quarterbacks performed well during the game. Romo finished with 40 fantasy points for me in this league, and Griffin finished with 37. Because of both players stats from the game, I couldn't have gone wrong with either guy this particular week, which is a very good thing.

Although RG3 done well against the Cowboys and helped out my fantasy team a lot, the most surprising numbers came from my two receivers during week 12. Both Julio Jones and Andre Johnson scored over 20 points each in this league for me. Johnson finished with 28 points, while Jones had 27. Both players greatly exceeded their projected points of 12 and 9. The final result of the week was a 145-90 win in favor of my team. Not only did the impressive win move me into second place, it also helped put me on top of the league in points scored. Basically all I need is a win in the final week, and the first round bye would be clinched.

I've been playing fantasy football since 2006, and I don't recall there being a time where I had a bye in the first round. To make it simplier for those of you who may not understand the significance, a first round bye means that you only have to win twice in the playoffs to win the championship. Since I greatly wanted to improve my chances of winning, I'm definitely wanting a statement win in week 13. Things just keep on getting better in this league.

Alright so that concludes my review of week 12 of my three fantasy football teams. A narrow win in the ESPN league proved to be beneficial, while a second straight loss in my league on nfl.com has removed me from my first place spot. Finally, things are continuously get better in the league on Yahoo. Here is how my personal standings look after week 12.

• ESPN: The Screwshop 2012: 7-5 (3rd place out of 10 teams)
• NFL.com: The Turf 13: 8-4 (4th place out of 12 teams)
• Yahoo: Da League: 7-5 (2nd place out of 8 teams

My week number 13 review is on the way so stay tuned. Thanks for reading.