Fantasy Football Spotlight Game: Week 8

Before I get to this week's picks... I have gone 4-2 all three weeks I've done the picks. I wish I could pick real NFL games like this... and now I've jinxed myself to a .500 or below week.

#8 Team Parzych (3-4) vs. #11 A-Fraud (2-5)

This week there is not a single game featuring two teams with winning records. Where do we turn, then, to find our game of the week? How about a pair of teams playing a de-facto playoff game. Team Parzych and A-Fraud have both been toiling at the bottom of the standings and without capitalizing on a weak opponent this week, all hope may be lost.

So I just went to look at these team's rosters... each has 4 players in their lineup that will not play because of bye or injury. A-Fraud doesn't have QB to put in. Team Parzych will have to start Chester Taylor and Leon Washington and doesn't have a tight end right now.

Screw trying to write this up. I retract my previous statement... both teams are beyond repair.

ESPN Prediction: A-Fraud (-4) over Team Parzych

Commish Pick: Assuming he picks up a QB to put in his lineup, I guess I'll take Team Parzych since he actually has a few player worthy of being in a normal lineup.

The Rest of the Action:

#1 Keyser Soze (7-0) over #9 Cincinnati Rockers (2-5)

#7 Serenity Now! (3-4) over #2 Staven Broncos (5-2)

#5 Orlando Mendez-Valdez (4-3) over #10 Manny's Dreadlocks (2-5)

#3 Roethlisburgh Suspense (5-2) over #6 Chief Noc-A-Homa (3-4)

#4 Chapel Hill Rainmakers (5-2) over #12 Cardiac Kids (1-6)

Last Week: 4-2

Season Total: 16-8

Fantasy Football Spotlight Game: Week 7

#2 Roethlisburgh Suspense (5-1) vs. #5 Staven Broncos (4-2)

Statement games (in very different ways) for both teams in the only game featuring two winning records, again. Roethlisburgh Suspense needs a win to keep pace with the thus-far untouchable Keyser Soze and assert himself as a level above the rest of the above .500 squads. A loss and he joins the mob lurking just a game back. Staven Broncos is the lowest of the 4-2 group by way of having scored the fewest points. A win and he solidifies his place with the big boys. A loss and he's suddenly just a game up on the clusterfuck* of many teams currently sitting at 2-4.

*Sidenote: Seriously??? Six teams sitting at 2-4 right now? I don't know that I've ever seen a league so bunched in mediocrity.

Injuries continue to haunt the Staven Broncos. McFadden might be back, which would be a boost over the pathetic Mike Tolbert, Gates is banged up, DeSean Jackson is out for a few weeks, Mark Clayton is on the IR and I'm not totally convinced that Clinton Portis isn't dead. Combine that with McNabb facing a stout Bears defense and MJD heading into a revived Arrowhead, off a poor game and a short week... scoring doesn't look good for the Broncs.

Roethlisburgh Suspense is trending the other direction. The squad is healthy and full of playmakers throughout the lineup. Steve Smith (NYG) remains a decent WR2 in this PPR format, Marcedes Lewis is finally living up to his early-career hype and Big Ben didn't take long to knock off the rust to the tune of 20 points last week.

Both teams are at full strength and it will take a Roethlisburgh Suspense letdown combined with herculean efforts from Roddy White, Antonio Gates and MJD, combined with an effective return for Run DMC to keep it close.

ESPN Prediction: Roethlisburgh Suspense (-34) over Staven Broncos

Commish Pick: Roethlisburgh Suspense locks it up even before Steve Smith plays on Monday night.

The Rest of the Action:

#1 Keyser Soze over #10 Manny's Dreadlocks

#3 Orlando Mendez-Valdez over #7 Serenity Now!

#4 Chapel Hill Rainmakers over #8 Cincinnati Rockers

#9 Team Parzych over #12 Cardiac Kids

#6 Chief Noc-A-Homa over #11 A-Fraud

Last Week: 4-2

Season Total: 12-6

Fantasy Football Spotlight Game: Week 6

Keyser Soze (5-0) vs. Staven Broncos (4-1)

The only game featuring two above .500 teams this week also happens to include #1 and #2 in the rankings. A win by Soze could give them a real leg up on the coveted top seed as the league passes the halfway mark. A win by the Broncos and we have the potential of five teams tied atop the standings (all other 4-1 squads play teams with losing records) and a mad dash to the finish line.

Soze is sighing relief now that it appears Aaron Rodgers will start for the Packers, even if he will miss his favorite target, Jermichael Finley, for the remainder of the year. Both lineups are pretty stacked, and the difference this week may come down to matchups where there is a large difference and will likely be the deciding factor in the matchup.

Only Donovan McNabb has a "favorable" matchup for the Broncos as the rest of the lineup faces squads in the top half of the league for fantasy points allowed at each respective position. That, along with Mike Tolbert (the only significant hole in either team's lineup) starting, means scoring will be an uphill battle for the Broncos compared to the impressive numbers they have normally been putting up.

On Soze's side of the ball, Frank Gore and Ahmad Bradshaw face the two defenses that allow the most points to runningbacks this year. And while Jermichael Finley's departure may hurt Rodgers a bit, it may cause him to rely on Greg Jennings a bit more. As long as health doesn't knock Rodgers out of this game, it should be a strong overall showing.

ESPN Prediction: Keyser Soze (-39) over Staven Broncos

Commish Pick: Keyser Soze will prevail, but in a game much closer than the 39 point projection. Look for both teams to score between 115 and 130 with the Soze RBs proving to be the difference.

The Rest of the Action:

Cardiac Kids (1-4) over Orlando Mendez-Valdez (3-2)

Manny's Dreadlocks (1-4) over A-Fraud (2-3)

Chapel Hill Rainmakers (4-1) over Serenity Now! (1-4)

Roethlisburgh Suspense (4-1) over Team Parzych (2-3)

Chief Noc-A-Homa (2-3) over Cincinnati Rockers (1-4)

Last Week: 4-2

Season Total: 8-4

Fantasy Football Spotlight Game: Week 5

Keyser Soze (4-0) vs. Chapel Hill Rainmakers (4-0)

Selecting this weeks game was pretty easy as the two remaining undefeated squads go toe to toe. The biggest difference is that Chapel Hill comes limping in with eight players showing up on their team's injury reports. That, along with some key bye weeks, it'll take a herculean effort from CHR to knock off the reigning champ. CHR still needs to find a QB with Vick out and Brady on a bye. Even if he plugs the current holes, it doesn't look good and Keyser should once again take control of the league.

ESPN Prediction: Keyser Soze (-62) over Chapel Hill Rainmakers (who currently has multiple projected zeroes in his lineup)

Commish Pick: Consistent double digit scoring across the board and a couple of big numbers propels Keyser Soze to an easy lead and the outright lead of the league.

The Rest of the Action:

Cardiac Kids (1-3) over Roethlisburgh Suspense (3-1)

Staven Broncos (3-1) over A-Fraud (2-2)

Serenity Now! (1-3) over Team Parzych (1-3)

Cincinnati Rockers (0-4) over Manny's Dreadlocks (1-3)

Orlando Mendez-Valdez (2-2) over Chief Noc-A-Homa (2-2)

Season Record: 4-2

Baseball Season (Finally) Over

Well, the long baseball season is in the books and Keyser Soze is finally on top after falling just short in 2009. With a truly dominating performance, the outcome at the top was not of much question for the final weeks of the season. The win also launched him from the bottom half if the standings to just two points out of the overall money.

Below that, however, thing tightened up significantly. Orlando Mendez-Valdez was securely in second for most of the stretch run with Team Manciero behind in third. After that, there was much jockeying throughout the ranks with final positions being decided for some teams on the final day.

At the top of that heap in the middle is Serenity Now! who helped his case in the overall standings with a huge 9 point lead and just two events left.

Delinquents... PLEASE PAY ME!!!