Monday, October 16, 2017

Fantasy Football Sucks & Other Stories

I played myself.  I mean in Fantasy Football.

I took Giants rookie TE Evan Engram early, got frustrated when he did jack shit, and cut him, only to see him go off last night against Denver.  And I spent all of last week waffling over which Defense to play, Washington at home against San Francisco or Houston against Cleveland.  Ultimately, I came down on the side of Washington after Houston took so many key injuries.

Well...


I also picked up Denver's kicker on waivers early in the week.  Do you know how good he's been up until now?

I'll top that by noting that my quarterback, reigning NFL MVP Matt "Matty Ice" Ryan, threw a pick against woeful Miami, sealing both his team's loss and mine.  Because, why not?

Ugh.

Yesterday's NYC area games were Patriots/Jets and Jaguars/Rams late opposite Steelers/Chiefs.  Steelers/Chiefs was miserable.  Somehow, the Chiefs gained, like, 10 yards of offense total... in the entire game.  Pats/Jets started okay, but then the Jets did what they do.  Not really surprising, but yuck, especially when the Pats spotted them 14 in the first quarter.  

So I got into Jags/Rams.  The Jags are my favorite underdog story of the year, and really, I wanted to watch RB Leonard Fournette pound the rock.  I'm not the biggest fan of the modern world's high-flying offenses.  I wanted to see a hard-fought, old-school football game.

Alas, the Jags are nigh unwatchable.  They pound Fournette between the tackles every play, and their O-Line is just not up to the task.  Their defense did okay, but they gave up two big plays on special teams, including a blocked-punt-touchdown, and QB Blake Bortles is less accurate passer than Army QB Ahmad Bradshaw.  That is saying something, but... I mean, Bortles is just awful.  The Jags would get more yardage out of a speed-option offense with two running backs and no quarterback.  At least then they might get the ball to Fournette in space occasionally, and that might spring him for a touchdown every once in a while.  As it is, the Rams put eight or even nine guys in the box, and the Jags ran right at that shit--relentlessly but without effect.  

Even then, they still had a chance.  But Bortles threw an interception late, and that was your ball game.  Dude was just not up to the task of running the two-minute offense.

*sigh*

It takes real courage to be a Jaguars fan.  Like, Real Courage.  For real.

Meanwhile...



Yeah, Army had a decent sports weekend.  It's been some 200+ days since Navy beat Army in anything, and with Volleyball's win accompanied by the draws for Men's and Women's Soccer, West Point now needs just three stars to clinch the series.  Honestly, I never pay attention to the Star Series, but that is amazing.



Volleyball came back from two sets down to win a thriller.  That is some clutch play.

And yeah.  One other team won, too.


Navy football finally took a loss this weekend at Memphis.  They've been playing very well this season, and Memphis is not exactly a pushover, but that's not the point.  I want to show you something.

No, it's not what you think.


Two things, really:

1.  How good are these highlights?  I don't give two shits about the American Athletic Conference (AAC), but man, they put together some excellent highlight reels.  You really get a feel for the flow of the game.  I also watched the UConn/Temple highlights, and they were completely instructive as well.

Bravo, AAC.  Very well done.

2.  I don't know if you've noticed, but QB Zack Abey is Navy's entire offense.  I heard Coach N. on the SiriusXM College Sports channel last week while I was getting ready one morning, and he said that Abey carried thirty times in their win against Air Force.  Thirty times!

Is that unusual?  No!  In six games, Abey has 183 carries, for an average of 30.5 carries/game!

By way of comparison, Navy FB Chris High--the best player on their offense, really, and the second-leading rusher by number of carries--has 89 carries or 14.8/game.   Bradshaw has 106 carries in one additional game, for an average of 15.1/game.

But yeah.  It's the shoes, right?

Seriously, though.  Let's all remember these numbers if Abey somehow breaks his foot or something a little later in the season.  I mean, I don't wish the guy ill, but that is some straight pounding the rock with the most important player on your offense.  Sure, you can do it, but it's generally not recommended for the poor bastard's long-term health.  

Why do you think Army rotates through four different fullbacks?

Anyway, Memphis seems to have tumbled to the reality that stopping Abey means stopping Navy, and here we are.  Abey himself gave up five turnovers, and his team lost.  Really, the fact that they still had a chance to win late is impressive.  Nevertheless, the book is out, and I would hope that some more people read it.

That's all I've got.  Happy Monday, everyone.
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