Here's a pep talk, and one I forgot to tell you guys last week.
The story of how I beat Chris Johnson, the Goliath RB of the NFL.
Now, you may or may not know of CJ, the Titans RB, who in our league alone, while sort of a "boom or bust" player, (as evidenced by his 4 sub-10 pt games) is still one of the most feared players to see starting against you in fantasy. As of the last month, he has put up bomb numbers to the tune of 4 consecutive 100-yd games, along with 2 TD to go with 'em. Dude, I hear this guy's new nickname is "CJ 4.24" (his 40 speed). For the season, he has 4 game totals that are of at least 25 pts, ranging up to the stratospheric total of +45 pts he displayed early in week 2. And this coming week, he'll face the same team again in which he put up such an outrageous stat line.
And no kidding, I beat the dude.
This was in my CBS Sports league. The same league where I had (arguably) the worst starting drafted team of all of my 5 or 6 teams in which I actually did a live draft. I started out with 2 losses early in the season, yet, somehow, miraculously, I haven't lost since, notching a best record of 8-2. And I did this with mediocre, mostly waivered WRs, two bust 1st-rounder RBs, and Carson Palmer.
Here's how it played out: The week before, someone dropped Jay Cutler after his really good performance at home against the Cardinals, and I thought, "well why not pick him up and see if he can duplicate that performance". Claim was sent, and I actually got him, despite my 12th ranked waiver priority. Plugged him in for the Thursday slate at San Fran., and boom, 5 INT game, nets my team all of 2 points from what is supposed to be my "money" position.
I absolutely believed that one performance killed my entire team's chances at a win, and then, when I go to check on how my opponent is doing, I freakin' notice he's the owner who is touting Chris Johnson, fantasy meteorite.
Forward to Sunday: we go all out, as all of our players (save for Cutler) played last Sunday. My three saving graces were: 1) that I actually picked up Beanie Wells the same week as Cutler, and I had no other choice but to play him Sunday because Slaton was his on his bye. 2) Ladanian has been a staple of my 1st RB slot, not because he has been exceptional, it's just that he's all I've got. He proved to be a huge difference maker, along with 3) my plug-in DEF of the week, the Tennessee Titans. My regular New York Giants DEF was also on their bye, but I hadn't played them in over a month. The week before I accurately assessed what the Falcons were able to do defensively to Drew Brees on Monday Night, and thought they could manhandle the 'Skins (exact thought: "Oh! Campbell has no chance!") the following week. I was right. But, even though they were to play the Panthers the following week after two dominat defensive performanes, I was not at all confident that they could post 3-straight good performances, and coax Delhomme into his innate nature to turn the ball over--trap game. I got rid of the Falcons (smartly, as they posted a -2 pt total last Sunday), and picked up a Titans DEF primed after a win, and facing an inept offense with a recovering QB (concussed Edwards) and little consistency in the ground game.
See how it shakes out...
His team:
T. Romo QB 251 PaYd, PaTD (9), PaInt, 16 RuYd, FL
13 pts
C. Johnson RB 132 RuYd, 2 RuTD (28,1), 100 ReYd
35 pts
K. Moreno RB 97 RuYd, 7 ReYd
9 pts
P. Harvin WR 7 RuYd, 53 ReYd
5 pts
T. Holt WR 24 ReYd
2 pts
J. Maclin WR -6 RuYd, 76 ReYd, ReTD (5)
13 pts
K. Winslow TE 102 ReYd
10 pts
J. Carney K 4 XP
4 pts
Cardinals DST 20 PA, 472 YDS, 2 Int, 4 SACK
12 pts
Total 251 PaYd, PaTD (9), PaInt, 246 RuYd, 2 RuTD (28,1), 362 ReYd, ReTD (5), FL, 4 XP
20 PA, 472 YDS, 2 Int, 4 SACK
103 pts
My team:
J. Cutler QB 307 PaYd, 5 PaInt, 2 RuYd
2 stinkin' pts
L. Tomlinson RB 96 RuYd, 2 RuTD (3,20)
21 pts
B. Wells RB 85 RuYd, 2 RuTD (10,13), 32 ReYd
23 pts
D. Bowe WR 91 ReYd
9 pts
V. Jackson WR 10 ReYd
all of 1 whole point
M. Sims-Walker WR 49 ReYd, ReTD (26)
10 pts
B. Celek TE 47 ReYd, ReTD (6)
10 pts
N. Kaeding K FG (29), 4 XP
7 pts
Titans DST 17 PA, 296 YDS, 2 DTD (26,31), 2 Int, 2 SACK
24 pts
Total 307 PaYd, 5 PaInt, 183 RuYd, 4 RuTD (3,20,10,13), 229 ReYd, 2 ReTD (26,6), FG (29), 4 XP
17 PA, 296 YDS, 2 DTD (26,31), 2 Int, 2 SACK
107 pts ... winner winner, Chris Johnson killer :twisted: