NFL Fantasy Football 2012: Week 3 In Review.
Fantasy Football: Week 3.
Week number three of the still young NFL season ended with quite the controversy. The ending of the Packers vs. Seahawks game on ESPN's "Monday Night Football" had a climatic and unjust ending. For all of you fantasy football players out there, I hope the outcome of your week wasn't determined by that one play. Although the game between the Packers and Seahawks will be talked about for weeks and maybe years to come, that's not what this article is about. This is another weekly review of how I done in the three fantasy football leagues that I'm participating in for 2012. I was finally able to get my first win of the fantasy football season during week number three. However, I've still yet to win a game in the two other leagues. Which league did I get that first win in? Read on to find out.
Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles had a huge day against the New Orleans Saints.
ESPN: The Screwshop 2012 Week 2 Review.
After suffering two close losses during the first two weeks of the season, I was hoping to get that first win in this highly competitive league. If I remember correctly, the original projections had me picked to win by 5 points. However, most people who play fantasy football know that projections are often not met. Somebody in this league dropped Green Bay Packers running back Cedric Benson before Sunday's games. I went ahead and snatched up Benson from free agency to help with my depleted running back situation. Benson got his first score of the season in the Monday night game against the Packers, and provided 11 points for my team. Other top performers for me in this league during week 3 included: Tom Brady, Andre Johnson, and Miles Austin. All three of these players finished in double digit points. The biggest contribution I got came from the Chicago Bears defense and special teams. They were able to lock the St. Louis Rams down, which resulted in 24 fantasy points for my team. It was looking like I was going to get that first and crucial win that I needed. However, the opponent I was facing had Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles on his team. Yes I said Jamaal Charles. Remember last season, Charles suffered a season ending ACL injury in week number 2. I know that I won't forget, because I had Charles on my team in this same league last year when he went down. However, that's all in the past, as Charles had a huge game against the Saints -- running for over 200 yards and scoring a touchdown. Charles's 36 points in this league helped put my opponent over the top. The final score was 93-97, with me being on the losing end of the stick. This is the first time that I've started 0-3 in this league since I first started playing in 2009. I feel like I'm coming up short every week, and that first win feels like it's eluding me. Kinda frustrating indeed.
Fantasy Football players were happy if they started the Chicago Bears defense.
NFL.com: The Turf 13.
Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers was a top five pick in most fantasy football leagues. The year is still young, but Rodgers has failed to live up to his top five predictions fantasy wise so far. I started Rodgers again in this particular league, and only received 9 fantasy points from him. I won't hold it against him though. Green Bay faced a very good Seattle Seahawks defense on Monday Night Football. If you read my week 2 review of my fantasy football season, you know that New York Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw, would be inactive this week. This meant that I had to plug in someone else to replace him. That running back would be Buffalo Bills running back, C.J. Spiller. Spiller has been impressive this season in Fred Jackson's absence. However, Spiller only gained 42 rushing yards against the Cleveland Browns in week 3, but he was able to find the end-zone -- which helped push his fantasy score to 12 points for me in this league. Similar to The Screwshop 2012 league, the majority of my help came from the Chicago Bears defense and special teams. In this particular league, they Bears managed 32 fantasy points. My opponents defense(Texans) only managed 10 points against the Denver Broncos. As bad as Aaron Rodgers was for me numbers wise, my opponents quarterback Tony Romo was worse. I really hate to say that since the Dallas Cowboys are my favorite team. Although the Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 3, Romo struggled mightily. Romo only earned 3.50 fantasy points for my opponent in this league, which resulted in my first win for the season. The final score was 93.50-63.50 in favor of me. It definitely wasn't pretty, but I'll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.
The Arizona Cardinals defense made things rough for Michael Vick.
Yahoo: Da League.
Coming into week number 3 in this league, I was confident that I would get that first win based off of two factors. One, the person I was playing against had yet to win(just like me). Two, the projected rankings had me picked to win this week. I mentioned in last week's review that I was considering sitting Tony Romo, and starting Robert Griffin III. I made the switch with about ten minutes left till the first wave of Sunday's games. Boy am I glad I did. As I mentioned previously, Romo had a terrible week and although Griffin and the Redskins lost to the Cincinnati Bengals, Griffin still managed 23 fantasy points -- two points above his projected number. Every position was pretty evenly matched between myself and my opponent from a points perspective; except for one, defense. Everything came down to one game; The Philadelphia Eagles vs. The Arizona Cardinals. I had the Eagles defense/special teams, while my opponent had the Cardinals defense/special teams. If you saw the game or checked out the highlights, you know that Arizona destroyed the Eagles in a 27-6 win. Eagles quarterback, Michael Vick had multiple turnovers, which greatly helped the Cardinals defense from a fantasy perspective. The Cardinals defense put up 41, yes I said 41 points in this league. The Eagles defense only managed 13 fantasy points, which is a 28 point difference. This was a difference that I was unable to make up, and resulted in a 131-108 loss for me. I'm still win less in this league at this point, and the prospect of making the playoffs is not looking good at all.
Final Thoughts.
I was happy that I was able to get my first win of the fantasy season in week number 3 in "The Turf 13" league. However, I'm very disappointed to start out 0-3 in my other two leagues. There is still time left to turn things around, however, the chances of making the fantasy football playoffs diminishes with every passing week that has a loss. I'm really hoping that I can get that first win in the other two leagues this week. I feel that I have a good shot in "The Screwshop 2012" league based on the projections. However, it's going to be an uphill battle in "Da League" this week. I have a couple of players that will be on bye weeks, and the person I'm playing against team is stacked. Regardless to what happens, you all will know how it turned out when the dust settles. Thanks for reading, and good luck to all fantasy football players in week number 4.