FOURTH & FOREVER: AFC NORTH PREVIEW

Johnny J

Last year's Super Bowl champs found a sense of urgency in the playoffs. Losing four of the last five games heading into January, Ray Lewis chose to inform his team that this was going to be his last season in the NFL. So how does everybody want to go out? As a champion of all champions. The Ravens rode the back of Lewis and he brought the Lombardi Trophy to the AFC North. I can just imagine how the other teams in the AFC division feels:

"Out of all teams, why them?" 

It shouldn't be a great feeling for the other teams in the NFL to see someone else hold the trophy, especially out of the AFC North. Teams such as the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Cincinnati Bengals are not real threats. Do the Browns have what it takes to make the playoffs behind second year quarterback, 29 year-old Brandon Weeden? This use to be the Steelers' division. Haven't heard from them since Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" song came out three years ago. They look old and slow. Maybe they know something I don't know. The Bengals look like a promising team this season after making the playoffs in back to back seasons. I could have sworn head coach, Marvin Lewis was always in the hot seat. It's hard to let go of a coach when his team gets good at the right moments. On another note, the Ravens will have the toughest road back to the playoffs after the solid championship team became depleted this offseason. Throw that on top of tight end Dennis Pitta being out for the season.

The Cleveland Browns started last years season 0-5. It was safe to say they weren't going to make the playoffs one month into the season. They finished 5-11 overall, winning only once on the road. As we all know, you have to win in those tough environmental places to even be considered a playoff team. Can they turn it around in one season? The answer is no. They remind me of a team who uses their best player until they run them in the ground. No, I'm not talking about running back Darren McFadden, but running back Trent Richardson. The Browns ran the ball 40 percent of the time, but in order to win I think they need to increase that to 60 percent. This should be a running team and not a throwing team. Weeden is a betting man. He likes to try and force the pigskin into his over-covered receivers. "I bet you I can squeeze the ball inside three people around my receiver." That sounds like something he would say. The result is a QB with a 3.18 INT thrown percentage on passing plays, which ranked 27th in the league. Instead of  huddling around Weeden, they should look for Richardson and ask him what he wants them to do. Being ranked 24th in rushes per game is just not going to cut it. Feed the man, until the defense stops him. Then bring in play-action or throw check-down passes. Do not let Weeden let it fly past 20 yards.

Steelers where you at? This defensive team needs to have an offensive balance. The Steelers let wide receiver Mike Wallace walk in free agency as well as running back Rashard Mendenhall. Can you name an offensive player on this team besides "Womanizer"/"I'm always hurt" QB Ben Roethlisberger? I never have seen this quarterback as a super bowl champ, but he is (two-time champion to be exact--Ed). This slow, hard to bring down, injury prone, I hired body guards to protect me from being a "Womanizer," quarterback is getting slower every year. Last year, the Steelers missed the playoffs ("Playoffs? Playoffs! I'm talking about playoffs!) with a disappointing 8-8 record. Big Ben missed three games; It's reasonable, but when you lose the games you play on top of the ones you don't play, then it becomes a problem. They have Antonio Brown as the number one receiver on the depth chart and Emmanuel Sanders as the second option. Nothing like over the top, big play WR Mike Wallace on board, or even old reliable Hines Ward. This offense is going to miss that big haymaker, knock-out punch. They drafted running back Le'Veon Bell out of Michigan State. He is a decent pick, but since I'm a Wisconsin Badger fan, he is no Montee Ball. Tight end Heath Miller is an "ok" tight end. He is a great check down, third down source to haul it in, but this is a athletic, tightend game now. He is slow. I could probably power walk faster than his burst of full-speed. I still like the defense minus linebacker James Harrison. Time to rely on senior citizen Lamar Woodley. Good secondary though in Troy Polamalu, Ike Clark, and Ryan Clark. Maybe they'll win nine games this season.

The Bengals have given Marvin Lewis so many chances; they should just sign the man to a long-term contract and put to rest all of the hot seat rumors. I wouldn't want him to coach the Packers, but he is decent. He just always finds a way to lose close games. Its almost like the opponents coach always finds a way to out-coach him. But I like this team in this division. They are young and talented, and I mean talented. They have a reliable quarterback in Andy Dalton, who seems to be learning the pro level of football each year. I think they call that "developing". I will have to check on that a little later to get the right terminology. Anyway, the Bengals put some good weapons around him. To go along with stand-out, top-tier receiver A.J. Green, they still have pro bowl tight end Jermaine Gresham and they drafted Tyler Eifert in the first round, just in case Gresham might eventually move on after producing two pro bowl years in 2011 and 2012.(Yes drafting a tightend like Gresham in the first round is insurance, partner). The Bengals also drafted running back Giovani Benard to back up Ben Jarvis Green-Ellis. That is a nice 1-2 punch at running back. Someone who rarely puts the ball on the ground and someone who has fresh legs. A nice 2 piece combo. In this 4-3 defense, the Bengals have a good front four, in Carlos Dunlap, Domato Peko, Geno Atkins and Michael Johnson. That is what you call a pass rush, run-stuffing force. Between all of them, they had 212 tackles, 45 tackles for loss and 32 sacks. Now you add James Harrison to that group; this will be a top five defense to go with a top 10 offense.

The Ravens are in the rebuilding stage on both sides of the ball. They lost eight starters from their Super Bowl team. Instead of paying some of the people who deserve the money, they decided to pay fourth-tier quarterback Joe Flacco $120.6 million. The guy who is usually 10-24 in completion to passing attempts ratio. But he got lucky and won the Super Bowl MVP. Go figure! So with Ed Reed going to the Houston Texans and "I didn't spray Deer-Antler on my injured arm last year," linebacker Ray Lewis retired, the defense definitely looks a lot different now. They also still have Ray Rice, who is also locked up long-term for the Ravens. So rebuilding shouldn't be so hard now on the offensive side, but wait, they lost Pitta to a season-ending injury and they signed Visanthe Shiancoe hoping he fills the void. They traded Anquan Boldin which make this offense kind of one-sided. They have great receiver in Torrey Smith and a so so- receiver in Jacoby Jones. If this was a dance contest, Jones would be the top guy, but it's not and he is not a good route runner. The reason why these receivers wont work is because they both do the same thing. They're both deep-threat, down-the-field receivers. You need a deep-threat receiver, an over the middle receiver, and one who gets off the block and can also be a great route runner. Jones is a punt return specialist. He doesn't run great routes. The defense can play two deep shells on them to stop the downfield completions. That's if Flacco has the accuracy that day to even give his receivers a shot. The defense is still decent with Elvis Dumervil and Chris Canty. They can get after the quarterback with Haloti Ngata, Ladarius Webb and Terell Suggs. I hope he is staying away from all basketball activities; We don't want another ACL injury. Oh they also drafted hard-hitting safety Matt Elam out of Florida. The defense is still good, but who is going to emerge as the voice of the defense now that Ray Ray called it quits? Of course, how can I forget...the coordinator.

With the Steelers, Bengals, and Ravens having a top 10 defense; This division winner is going to have to bring an offense for lunch. Unless these defenses are scoring defensive touchdowns, the offense needs to do more than take pictures for the media. The Browns are still rebuilding so I expect them to be around five wins again this year. This is going to be a three-headed race, in which I believe the Bengals will win this division. They have young talents on offense, who should put up some points with a nasty defense that will be top five. The Steelers will come in second. If Roethlisberger stays healthy and this offense can move the ball down the field they can claim second. Antonio Brown has a lot to prove with him being the top dawg now. Neither the Steelers or Ravens have an offense, but the Ravens are in worse shape than the Steelers because they are one-dimensional. Ray Ray gets the ball and then Flacco just lobs it up to Jones or Smith since they both are deep threat receivers. They will find out the hard way when they can't score touchdowns. A solid third place for them. Wow, I picked the Bengals. Boy have times changed from top to bottom in the AFC North. The Steelers and Ravens behind the Bengals in 2013. Like rapper Drake says, "Started from the bottom, now we here."

JOHNNY JAX TOP 5 SUPER BOWL XLVII PREDICTIONS

RAVENS v 49ERS! LET'S DO THIS!!!
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Johnny J

We asked Johnny J to come up with 5 Super Bowl Predictions for our gambling fans who like to make bets on the outcome of football games and are especially addicted to prop bets.  Here are his prophecies.  

1. The Baltimore Ravens will win 13-10, thanks to a late fumble, by Frank Gore. Gore will get hit by Mr. Banned-Substance-Himself (the Morphed, Half-Man-Half Deer, Ray Lewis--Ed) going up the middle in a 4-minute offense.

2. Jim Harbaugh, will continue to spit on anyone within a 10-foot radius of him and the refs. He will eventually run past his brother, by-passing any handshakes and immediately look for Jim Schwartz.

3. Ray Lewis, will be sobbing all over the field, with the media asking about the PEDs that accelerated his recovery from a triceps injury in time for the NFL Playoffs. His arm will be oozing from a gash that his teammate Ed Reed gave him (allegedly). Reed was not fined. Did I mention his arm was oozing needles, creams, sprays, and ointments (and so will his tear ducts--Ed)? Ray Lewis will continue to avoid answering those sorts of questions and will continue to sob as he points towards the sky, spewing out unintelligible, random things.

4. Joe Flacco will throw a touchdown pass to Torrey Smith. He will go 17-38 with 2 Ints and a fumble. He will continue to think he is elite and will no doubt, get elite-money. Ray Rice will cough up the football twice, losing one. He will still think he is immune to coughing up cold and phlegm, but not footballs.

5. That guy who made the locker room speech to the 49ers in the commercials, will be making that same speech after the game. "It's because I care Patrick [Willis]."  Jim Harbaugh will walk to the locker room spitting at reporters. He decides to throw his infamous red marker to the crowd. He will later ask the league to do a random drug test on Ray Lewis.

Put some money on this and run with it!  If you want to show some appreciation, please put money in my PayMyFriend account @makejohnnyjrich.  Good luck to you gambling fiends out there.

More NFL content is available, here. 

For more on this upcoming Super Bowl, click here. 

SUPER BOWL PARTY SCENARIOS

Super Bowl Party!
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Donny R

Felipe M

Dan Bernstein’s wrote an advice column on watching the Super Bowl, where he essentially warns you to not attend any party whatsoever as people tend to ruin the experience of the NFL Championship Game.  Donny Rodriguez and Felipe M, on the other hand, warns readers to know beforehand what exactly to expect at these Super Bowl parties and what you can do to make best of the following situations.  

Scenario #1:  You know someone at the party you will be attending, usually a girl, will make a point to say, “I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.”  Your friend’s fiancée will reply, “I know!  Me too!”  And they will go on and on swapping stories about the commercials from past years and how they went online and already had a sneak peek at some of the more, marquee advertisements.  And as they discover that they both have so much in common in terms of their knowledge of Super Bowl commercials, their chatter volume will grow louder and higher to almost unbearable shrieking levels and constant responses of “Oh my God, right?  Like, me too!” 

Best Possible Move: You and your buddy will both despondently glance at each other and take a swig of your brew of choice.  If you’re hoping that more people who want to talk football come and rescue you, you will be disappointed as women usually dominate these parties.  If anything, more women who have not watched a single game all season long will join in the Super Bowl commercial conversation, which ultimately leads to Halftime Show performances where about 5 minutes will be devoted to Beyonce and the rest of the night, they will be singing the praises of Brittney Spears and Madonna’s legendary performances at this event.  Hope this party has plenty of your favorite beer.  I feel sorry if you’re stuck drinking Light beers.

Let me guess?  They have nothing, but Lite Beer
at this party, huh?
(photo courtesy of Gabe Ponce)

Scenario #2: Guess what?  The group of people who have talked up a storm about the commercials and Halftime Shows are also waiting on the Puppy Bowl. If you arrived early because you did not want to miss the pregame narratives on how Ray Lewis benefitted from ‘deer antler' spray pills (oxymoron?) to grow into a beautiful mammal, you’re out of luck because these people want to watch a different kind of animal—puppies!  So guess what you’ll be watching instead of #52’s great fight from morphing into a woodland creature? 

Best Possible Move: Just watch the Puppy Bowl and continue to drink your light beer.  16 of those will get you drunk enough to loosen you up and somewhat enjoy the casual fans’ dominating presence.  Just don’t get too drunk that you actually forget to tell someone to flip it to the damn game.  Besides, can you really endure 1-2 hours of “deer antler” references?

Scenario #3: As you start watching some of these new commercials, in your drunken stupor, no less, you are probably mildly exacerbated and indignant.  You’re feeling that you are marching towards a belligerent state.  You can’t get there quick enough because, again, you’re drinking nothing, but light beers.  You’ll probably start thinking to yourself:

“these advertisers lack so much creativity.  They’re literally just parrots, echoing what we all say and think is funny or cool.  ‘Oh wow, here’s a commercial with someone getting tackled;  oooohhhh, here’s one where an animal is talking; here’s one where a former celebrity attempts to resuscitate his/her career; Nuh-huh, this one stars a black guy you’ve never seen in real life outside of Wicker Park.  Sort of like this guy’”:

Best Possible Move: Just remind yourself that if you wanted to help in producing these commercials, you would have majored in Business/Marketing/Advertising instead of earning your phony, Liberal Arts degree from Gudger College.  Just remind yourself to breathe and keep drinking your light beer.  After 1 hour of pregame ceremonies and a 6 minute rendition of the National Anthem, they will eventually begin the coin toss.  Look at the bright side: you’re only an hour away from a 50/50 chance of winning a prop bet. 

Hello, Donny?  Some of us are still living
that fantasy football season.
(photo courtesy of Felipe M.)

Scenario #4: You finally made it to your 12^th lite beer (a whole case?  Congratulations!) and you finally got a good buzz going.  Unfortunately, the game is a snooze-fest as both teams are playing ridiculously conservative and both quarterbacks are proving to be more inaccurate than an unclean AK-47.  Heck, even that girl who was irritating you with all her talk of commercials is starting to look kind of cute.  And she even seems sort of cool too.  So what if she doesn't care about the Super Bowl?  Your fantasy football season has been over for six weeks and you could care less which slot receiver caught the ball (Was it Anquan Crabtree or Jacoby Ginn Jr.?).  You have no rooting interest and you have no shot at winning any squares.  Maybe, just maybe, you too don’t care about the game, just like the girl whose only interest is the glitzy commercials.  

Best Possible Move: Hello?  There’s only one move to pull here.  During—err, scratch that—before halftime, you might want to start calling her out about her “unnatural obsession” with these ads.  While you’re at it, give her the business about the Puppy Bowl and the upcoming Beyonce, lip-synching extravaganza that should start in about—hmmm, let’s see, they’re in the 2 minute warning—1 hour or so.  Why pick on her like an elementary schoolchild?  Nonsense!  This is the 21^st century, guy!  If there’s a better way to flirt with someone of the opposite sex, I would love to hear all about it…

Scenario #5: I guess at this point, we should probably mention something about the game.  You’re probably nearing your 20^th lite beer of the evening, but with all the food available to you, the beer is having no effect on you.  It’s like your drinking water at this point.  That means you should be coherent enough to pay attention to the game.  You’ll see the following events occur in this game:

• Ray Rice has just as many receiving yards as rushing yards.
• Randy Moss proves he’s the “best Wide Receiver in the game” by making two catches on three targets for 24 yards.
• The 4^th quarter comes down to the final drive, but you are apathetic at this juncture of the game.

Why?  Well, the Super Bowl, unless your hometown team is participating, is just a time to get together with those you hold dear and watch football for the last time until September.  It’s like Christmas or Thanksgiving, but without the awkwardness that only certain family members bring: because you can actually be more selective in terms of whom you want to see at the Super Bowl party.  You’re not forced to tolerate anyone at these festivities.  Ok, you do have to tolerate the game and the players who constantly point to the sky as if divine intervention stepped in and helped them win the football game.  Just one more drive is holding you back from putting this God-forsaken season in the books and getting out of this party so you can drive home and go to sleep because you have to get ready for work on Monday.

Best Possible Move: Again, remember to breathe, and as the game dwindles down, start game-planning how you’re going to plan your goodbyes.  Try to time your exit to sync up with that one girl who likes the commercials.  You probably have a good shot at getting her phone number.  Who knows, you might go to a sports bar next Friday where both of you are sipping your drinks rather bunglingly for an hour as both of you stare at the establishment’s flat screen.  And in between conversations, both of you will watch the commercials and you will think to yourself, “I’m really glad I went to that Super Bowl party.”

Check out Donny Rodriguez's Chicago Bulls Mid-Season Review.

More NFL content is always available, here. 

2012 NFL PLAYOFFS: COLTS V. RAVENS--Welcome Back, Ray Lewis!

Johnny J

Ray Lewis played and danced in his final game at M&T Stadium with a win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wild Card game. While I can sit here and talk about Ray's dance and how electrifying his moves were to pump up the fans, I need to add that I was hoping to see him chase Paul Rudd around the field. It didn't happen, but, regardless, the Ravens' defense welcomed their defensive coordinator of 2011, Chuck Pagano, back home. The welcome was so warm, that they beat his new team 24-9.

The middle linebacker played in his first game since tearing his triceps in mid-October. Lewis looked dominant with his robotic arm (Oh, wait... its just a harness that made Lewis appear as some sort of half-man, half-Transformer), leading the defense with 13 tackles.  The defense played vintage, Ravens' football that ranked in the top ten as opposed to ranking 22nd, in terms of "weighted defense." The Ravens entered play giving up a total of 350.9 yards per game (ranked 17th) and 122.8 being rushing yards (ranked 20th). That doesn't sound like the viciously, terrifying, hard-hitting Ravens' defense that we know.

But that's what happens when your future Hall-of-Fame linebacker misses 10 games (makes me want to create a dance at work--maybe it will get my team pumped-up to reach, what should be, attainable metrics and goals). Now that he's back, I guess Ed Reed doesn't need to go out of his way to make "illegal" hits on opposing receivers in an attempt to terrorize them (I can hear him now: "Me and my wallet thanks you for coming back, Ray!").

Lewis has been the face of the Ravens' franchise for years and now, in his 17th season, he is calling it quits. He couldn't have picked a better time to make the announcement--win or go home--so why not try to ride this emotional, do-or-die, "win one for the gipper," adrenaline rush all the way to the Super Bowl? (think Ray Bourque when he played for the Colorado Avalanche--Ed). 

This game had implications on both sides. Besides Ray Lewis announcing his retirement as soon as the Ravens' season was completed,Chuck Pagano returned to Baltimore as the head coach of the Colts. It was an emotional sight to see the Ravens' defense showing their old coach support and love.  Pagano coached his second game after coming back from his Leukemia treatment that forced him to miss the majority of the 2012 season. Pagano, along with offensive coordinator, Bruce Arians (who might be the Chicago Bears' coach in 2013?--Ed), revived a Colts' team that went from 2-14 last season to going 11-5 this season and making the playoffs as a 5th seed. 

A lot of the reason for their success is, while they went 2-14 last season, last year's struggles helped them obtain the number 1 pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, in which they drafted Andrew Luck--who is pretty good (a lot better than "good"--Ed). I mean I drafted him in my fantasy league and sometimes even started him over Peyton Manning, which says a lot about the rookie's ability. In his first year, he threw for 4,374 yards breaking Cam Newton's record for a rookie. Newton threw for 4,051 yards (Hey, Cam--it looks like that kid really did warm up his arm!).

In his first playoff game, Luck threw for 288 yards and an interception (and it could have been 2 INTs if Ray Lewis' robotic hands could have cradled a tipped pass in the 2nd quarter--Ed). Luck had a hard time against the Ravens' defense only connecting on 28 of his 54 pass attempts. Reggie Wayne had 9 of those catches for 114 yards. Even though the Colts lost, they have a lot to look forward to as they try and build a team around Andrew Luck.

Pagano took over for Jim Caldwell last season who is the new offensive coordinator for the Ravens after Cam Cameron was fired late in the season. Caldwell was hired as the quarterbacks coach (Yeah I thought it was a joke when he was hired for that position as well--"Hey Flacco let me show you how to be like Curtis Painter and Kerry Collins."). No wonder Joe Flacco is garbage: his passing completions and attempts are far apart! He reminds me of Allen Iverson's shooting numbers: 9-25 from the field, but he did score 30 points because he shot the ball 25 times (Joe Flacco is the Allen Iverson of today's NFL? Unlike Iverson, Flacco can pass the ball.--Ed). Flacco was better today though, he was 12 for 23 for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ray Rice finished with 2 fumbles to go along with 70 rushing yards.

If the Ravens want to help Lewis finish his career with a Super Bowl ring, they're going to have to go through Denver and their defense ranks 2nd in total yards and 4th in points allowed. In order for that to happen, they need a combination of Ray-Ray: Ray Lewis and Ray Rice. I'm not worried about Lewis doing his part, but with Rice suddenly being a fumbles machine, I think that puts a lot on Joe "Sacko"--err-- I mean Flacco. Hey, maybe Lewis can do his dance in the locker room for motivation.

For more on the 2012 NFL Wildcard Weekend, click here.

Please welcome our newest contributor, Johnny J.  Even though Johnny is one of "Chi-town's finest," he is a Green Bay Packers' fan, roots for the Detroit Red Wings, follows the Seattle Mariners, and--the biggest sin of all--he bleeds orange and blue as he cheers on the New York Knicks.  Feel free to say "hi" to him on the comments section. 

Braggin' Rights 2012: Felipe Wins a Fantasy Football Title

I am the Champion!
I AM THE CHAMPION!
(photo courtesy of Felipe M)

Felipe M

The following is a recap of my 2012 Championship-winning fantasy football team, Baraka Obama from a universal point of view.  The hope is that fantasy football owners would be able to relate. 

Despite the fact that I missed my league's draft this year, I was pretty confident of my team's chances when I saw what the draft-bot did in my absence.  However,what looked to be a stacked team after the draft, was turning into a frustrating, 4-3 bunch after a Week 7 (midway point of the 13 game regular season) collapse at the hands of a lesser team (vs. Domination) who happened to have the Bears' defense complete the comeback victory on a Monday Night game vs. the Lions when they were running on all cylinders. 

Struggling with mediocre Quarterbacks, an overworked running corps, underachieving WRs, and a revolving door at Defense, the team entered the 2nd half of the season with virtually no shot at the Division title (team MacAttack was running away with that honor and looked to be the season-long favorite to win-it-all) and their playoff hopes dwindling.  What happened in the next 6 weeks of the regular season finished off one of the wildest regular seasons anyone could ever imagine. 

I will now divide my team into their respective positions and split the season into three parts in terms of roster during those portions of the season.  Let's look at the QBs to kick things off:

QUARTERBACKS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Phil Rivers>>>Phil Rivers>>>> Russell Wilson
2. Sam Bradford>>> Brandon Weeden >>>>Sam Bradford
3. N/A>>> N/A>>> Phil Rivers

In 2009, I had won a championship with Phil Rivers so when I saw that he was on my team, I was pretty satisfied that the draft-bot was smart enough to select him in the 7th round after it had filled out my RB and WRs slots first.  I knew that Rivers' arrow was going down, but was hoping that veteran guile would make up for a lack of weapons in San Diego.  After 7 games, I quickly found out that the 2009 Rivers would not be available this season and instead I got stuck with an inconsistent QB who seemed to throw more INTs than TDs and was looking to run for his life more often than looking for open receivers. 

Even worse was the backup QB position which it seemed that I was constantly holding open auditions for that slot. Even worse, it also seemed that every QB I wanted to insert for backup was getting hurt the following week: Alex Smith and Jake Locker were the other QBs that made a cameo on my team only to be cut the following week due to injuries.

It wasn't until December 5th that I received a gift when Russell Wilson was scooped up by me after another team cut him.  During that time, I was looking to make a trade for a QB, getting offered Matt Ryan, Andy Dalton, and Mike Vick. However, as I shall explain later, my running backs were the heart and soul of my 2012 team and decided that I couldn't afford to trade any of them for QBs with tough upcoming schedules and inconsistent play. 

Wilson's arrow looked to be going up so I went ahead and rolled the dice with him and inserted him into my playoff lineup.  The move would obviously payoff as Wilson made plays with both his arm and his legs: in three games started at QB, Wilson passed for 6 TDs and ran in another 3 TDs while only committing 2 turnovers.  Conversely, Rivers passed for 18 TDs, but was accounted for 20 total turnovers in 12 starts for the club.  I mockingly referred to Wilson as the second coming of Seneca Wallace (the former Iowa St. product who also played for the Seahawks back in 2009) throughout the year, but Wilson came up big in the clutch and without a doubt, was the X-factor my team needed to win the championship.  

RUNNING BACKS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Ray Rice>>> Ray Rice>>>Ray Rice
2. Trent Richardson>>>Trent Richardson>>>Trent Richardson
3. Adrian Peterson>>>Adrian Peterson>>>Adrian Peterson
4. Steven Ridley>>>Steven Ridley>>>Steven Ridley
5. David Wilson>>>N/A>>>N/A

As I mentioned before, the heart and soul of this team were my running backs.  Despite the fact that I did not attend the draft, no owner was willing to take a chance on Adrian Peterson as he lasted into the 3rd round. Had I attended, I would have snatched him up in the 2nd round.  Combined with Ray Rice, I had a dream backfield.  What I did not expect was Trent Richardson making the squad as my #2 running back. I was not too high on Richardson (especially when legend Jim Brown publicly criticized the Browns for selecting what amounts to be an "ordinary" player), but I was still excited about Richardson because of the opportunity he would get in Cleveland as the feature back.

Already possessed with a "Trio" of featured backs, the draft-bot selected Steven Ridley and David Wilson whose role on their respective teams were up in the air.  I immediately cut Wilson and held on to Ridley hoping that he can step in admirably during bye weeks, but his job was always in jeopardy. Nevertheless, Ridley survived the entire year on my squad, playing in four games and rushing for 348 yards and rushing for 3 TDs.

The "Trio" would finish the season accumulating 1,547 total yards  and averaged approximately 9 TDs among the three of them. In 41 games played, the "Trio" went on to average 113.2 total yards per game.  Adrian Peterson, without a doubt, is the MVP of the year, Ray Rice proved once again why he is still a dual threat, and Trent Richardson did indeed leave a mark in Cleveland and proved to be anything, but "ordinary."

WIDE RECEIVERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Steve Smith>>>Steve Smith>>>Steve Smith
2. Demaryius Thomas>>>Demaryius Thomas>>>Demaryius Thomas
3. Percy Harvin>>>Percy Harvin>>>Mike Williams
4. Robert Meachem>>>Mike Williams>>>Josh Gordon
5. Mike Williams>>>Josh Gordon>>>Chris Givens
6. Davone Bess>>>Chris Givens>>>N/A

Steve Smith being selected as my #1 WR was not what I was hoping for, but I expected him to have a bounce back year in Carolina. I was very excited about Demaryius Thomas and Percy Harvin, but questions still remained if they could emerge as #1's themselves.  Mike Williams, despite the presence of Vincent Jackson in Tampa, was a pleasant surprise and eventually emerged as the team's 2nd best WR.  

Nevertheless, as much as my young corps had upside, it was even more frustrating to see them produce pedestrian numbers sometimes.  It could be because all the other teams had elite WRs or because my running game was carrying the squad, but in the end, my receiving corps did a solid job contributing to this Championship squad. 

Thomas was clearly the best WR accumulating 1,312 yards with 9 TDs, but it was frustrating to see Eric Decker steal his touches.  Nevertheless, Thomas did indeed emerge as the #1 receiver I was looking for.

On the other hand, Harvin once again solidified his reputation as being a fragile player as he only played in 8 games for my team (675 total yards and scored 4 total TDs in that span). Smith and Williams finished with 930+ receiving yards each. 

Givens and Gordon are interesting because it seemed like they were able to survive on my squad for most of the season as role players.  Givens played 3 games, gained 263 yards and scored 2 TDs. Gordon played 7 games and gained 394 yards and also caught 2 TD passes.

TIGHT ENDS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Brandon Pettigrew>>>Brandon Pettigrew>>>Greg Olsen
2. Coby Fleener>>>N/A>>>N/A

Brandon Pettigrew was a disappointment, but with a famine of TEs available in free agency, I was stuck with him for the majority of the year (491 yards; 2 TDs in 10 games played).  It wasn't until someone cut Greg Olsen and was welcomed with open arms on November 14th did I finally feel good about the position.  Even though both players ended the year with similar numbers on my team, the fact that Olsen was more likely to get more targets and had the ability to make big plays was the peace of mind I was looking for.  Pettigrew also was credited for losing two fumbles, so at least Olsen would be able to secure the ball and not lose any more points for my team. A Pettigrew injury sealed his fate and was cut from the team, making Olsen the sole TE on the club.  

KICKERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1.  John Kasay>>>Phil Dawson>>>Shayne Graham
2. Garrett Hartley>>>Justin Tucker>>>Matt Bryant

All that matters is that Shayne Graham scored 19 points in the Championship Game.

INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE PLAYERS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Patrick Peterson>>>Lance Briggs>>>Paul Posluszny
2. Ray Lewis>>>Patrick Willis>>>Jerod Mayo

Nothing is more frustrating than having to insert a defensive player into your starting lineup. Jerod Mayo played the most games at that spot this season, but when it was time for the playoffs, I went with tackles machine, Paul Posluszny.

DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS (DRAFT, WEEK 7, FINAL ROSTER)

1. Seattle>>>Minnesota>>>Carolina
2. Dallas>>>Kansas City>>Cincinnati 
3. Denver>>>San Diego>>>Washington
4. N/A>>>Tampa>>>N/A

In retrospect, I should have stuck with the Seahawks, but I wasn't very confident in that defense. They would emerge as one of the most physical and unforgiving defenses in the league, but that's neither here nor there.  The Vikings carried me mostly around the midway point of the season, but cut them when the matchups got too hot for them. Despite the carousel at the position, the Bengals emerged as a solid group and carried me throughout the 2nd half until I switched out in the Championship game and went with the Panthers' defense, which proved to be unnecessary because the Bengals took care of Pittsburgh during Championship week. 

RESULTS

My team was able to surge into the 2nd half with a 5-1 record and finished the season with the most Points For in the league with 1,794.24. Was also awarded a bye week despite finishing in 2nd place in the division to MacAttack, who also got the bye week, finishing the year with the best record. MacAttack also proved to be the biggest challenge on my quest to the title, led by:

• Tom Brady
• Dez Bryant
• We Welker
• Doug Martin
• Eric Decker (grrrr!)
• David Wilson (so like that team to pick up my trash!)
• C.J. Spiller

After taking care of DaRocks (183.50-128.86) in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, I was game-planning for my next opponent, which seemed to be the pesky MacAttack.  However, MacAttack would be upset in the Divisional Round to VictorysAddiction2ME. MacAttack had Chris Johnson, Alfred Morris and Dennis Pitta on the bench who had big games during the Divisional Round. Had they gone with any of those players, MacAttack would have won and would've had a good chance at winning the Championship Game.  Instead, the best team in terms of Win-Loss record gave one of their worst performances of the year at the wrong time and VA2M did enough to win and punch their ticket into the Championship Game.

In the Final, VA2M got off to a quick start and even was able to pad his lead early on in the second half of the game.  However, big performances by Thomas, Rice, and Wilson sealed the game for my squad, with the final score 150.24-105.80.  MacAttack would go on to win the 3rd place game, 162.68-137.60, trying to take out his frustration on DaRocks.  Of course, had my team and MacAttack played in the final with our rosters intact, I would be writing about a different story, but as it goes, I patiently await my trophy which was earned because of patience, perseverance, and plain-ole-luck.

To paraphrase Steve Young, "No one can ever take this away from me. NO ONE!"

To read about another fantasy sport--basketball--click here.

Feel free to share your 2012 fantasy football results on the comments section of this article.