Week 2 News and Notes

NFFL Week 2 recap

A week that saw half the league bit by that mysterious injury bug saw some surprise results and some unfortunate results on our standings…highlights:

*Curran’s second straight league leading week moved him to the top of the board

*Lee tied atop the standings with the tenth highest total points tally

*Four teams remain winless as the bye weeks loom

Lee 86, Sean 80

We start in sad-sack city- the Big D- well represented here and a number of players that crisscross rosters as a result.  The Romo injury was a big one here and in any six-point loss it could be termed the deciding factor.  Lee will consider that fair exchange for the loss of leading receiver Bryant…to which Sean may counter that Lee’s beloved ‘Davantes’ Adams had no value until Nelson went down.  Tough times, indeed.

Overall, Lee was able to sneak away with a handful of shaky calls- Williams had just five touches as a RB2 and Foles put up just ten points at QB.  The luck is likely run out soon…Sean will need to pick up the pieces as arguably his top three guys- Nelson, Romo, and Hyde- are all out or ready to sit.

Arbo 113, Nemo 105

The Coach and defending champion find the win column with a gutsy display against Nemo’s 3^rd scoring team.  Sitting Allen Robinson was a move that did not bite back and gives Arbo another intriguing option going forward.  The status of QB Stafford will be a big story for a team lacking a backup QB.

Nemo was poised to move to 2-0 but should be encourage with another strong outing.  The starting lineup will continue to be menacing barring injury (barring injury!!!) so look for Nemo to remain a tough out early on.  What happens when that bug comes biting, or perhaps even just a series of bye weeks comes in, remains to be seen and depth will certainly need to be addressed to maintain a top four challenge.

#1 Curran 126, DFlam 95

Curran retains top spot with another league leading week.  Behind his outstanding QB play, Curran is almost a widely regarded lock for a top-four finish and is the current favorite among the bookmakers.  However, the early struggles of Hill and Jennings are cause for some alarm- there is not much behind those guys at RB.  Rumors of a Lewis-Palmer swap are being started in this sentence but should pick up steam moving forward…

Flam is our first of four winless squads but he has been OK so far.  Goose eggs from Allen and Abdullah hurt while Sankey returned to his 2014 form.  Fitzgerald presented himself as an option last week and could see a switch to a four-receiver set as soon as this week.  Despite the tough start, solid QB play and three top receivers mean Flam will likely sit tight and ride out a tough start.

Concannon 97, Malinn 85

There have been some good late-night battles over the years here but it was not to be thanks to the return of Luck to 2014 AFC Championship game form.  The commish saw injuries to non-essential personnel continue to mount but hung on thanks to fifteen from the late-sub Decker.  With the QBs clicking, league-leading depth elsewhere should allow the good times to continue.

Malinn would have expected more from his team after two weeks and the 0-2 start is surely cause for some concern.  With an extra QB at his disposal thanks to the Weeden ‘investment’- I think a deal is almost a guarantee before next week. 

Thompson 90, Tighe 71

Thompson ascends to 2-0 after a strong start.  With possible rookie breakout candidates in Jones and Johnson- could Thompson be the dark horse in the league after two weeks?  The QB play remains the only question but with signal callers dropping left and right- who is to say that Thompson is not among the well positioned at the moment?

Tighe drops to 0-2 and the injuries at the moment are not helping- all three RBs this week were impacted.  Freeman is the only other option here and his ascension in the wake of the Coleman injury could provide a temporary boost.  The slow start for Bradford might be of concern if things do not change and soon- however, Sanchez proved a capable deputy last season and could repeat those heroics, fantasy-wise, if a switch was made.

Chessman 105, TMac 82

The rolling dumpster fire barrels through TMac, sending the latter to 0-2.  Sideman has now started Parker for two straight games and the player has responded to his coach’s show of faith by tallying zero total points.  Depth does remain a minor issue here.  As long as Derek Carr can continue to approach thirty points per game- things should be just fine here.

Tmac will need to consider some emergency measures if the declines for White and Wallace have not been over exaggerated.  The Cutler injury is a minor cause for concern but with Picks-Patrick  ready to step in, the impact might be reduced.  TMac had to have been hoping to sneak a couple of wins, pre-Foster, but it looks like those hopes are quickly being dashed.

That damn injury bug!

We all hate that stupid bug…but who has caught it the worst?

Honorable mention must go to my sorry squad- although no major injuries outside of the gimpy Alshon Jeffrey- by my count thirteen players have been impacted, slowed, or stopped by injury so far in 2015- Wtten, Decker, Jeffrey, Coleman, Bell, White, Gurley, Mason, Cruz, Quick, Turbin, Herron, Ajayi.  That is half the roster!  Caveats must be made for those selected despite knowledge of said injury and, again, the lack of any impact guys going down- so we’ll sit here with honorable mention.

Third prize goes to Lee…the sheer volume of week one woes left us shellshocked.  Ellington, Hilton, and Bryant are key guys while Bell going down…oh, you mean he was not hurt?  Never mind him.   The Adams injury this week bears watching- all four guys starters on a team with a paper thin WR corps…

Second prize goes to Tighe- his squad struggled through a very targeted assault by said bug, with starting RB trio Lacy, Anderson, and Miller all impacted this week.  Low quantity, high quality could see the likes of Matt Asiata summoned in the worst case scenario this week.

And the winner…going going SLOD to Sean as the ROMO ROMO ROMO ROMO ROMO effect takes full hold.  The Nelson one was a tough break, the Hyde injury you hate to see to such a promising guy, but ROMO ROMO ROMO ROMO ROMO has long been a buyer beware around these parts and I am sure his injury came to the surprise of zero league members.

Waiver wire roundup

Lots of activity on the wire this week…

*Matthews to TMac- TMac picks up a sneaky option here ahead of Malinn and Tighe.  With 13 targets over two games, Matthews could be in the range of six to eight points over the next couple of games provided he maintains that early pace.

*Benjamin to Thompson- big activity on this bid as Thompson edges Sheckels, TMac, and Tighe.  Benjamin is very much a ‘boom or bust’ type here and with the QB situation in flux it remains to be seen how much value any Browns WR could carry.  A speculative gamble at that price.

*Gillmore, Crocket to DFlam- Twenty one bucks says I can be fantasy relevant again, any takers?  Gillmore returns to the scene after a brief cup of tea with Malinn last year.  Flacco’s preference for TEs makes this an interesting pickup going forward.

*Clausen to Sean- Sean picks up some extortion insurance here for a fee…but…

*McCown to DFlam- Flam makes an uncontested pickup here and at $58 to boot…needless to say, at $21 Flam now is at the bottom of the FAAB standings.  Can McCown step in and do a decent Brees impression?  If so, the price is right here as that would lock him in as a strong QB2 in this league.  However, the decline of the Saints offense has been alarming and significant.  Stay tuned.

 Week 3 preview- One o’clock games

Arbo v DFlam / Chessman v Tighe / Nemo v Sean

2-0 v 0-2

TMac v Lee

Malinn v Thompson

A pair of contests sees 2-0 squads battle winless opponents in games that could create some real definition in the standings.  Wins from Malinn and TMac should arrest early slumps while Thompson and Lee look to keep the good times rolling

Game of the Week

Concannon v #1 Curran

Generally, not a big fan of tooting my own horn in this space but a clash of 2-0 squads with the #1 ranked unit involved is generally not to be missed.  Curran has topped the scoreboard on two straight occasions but the commish has had the touch so far in 2015- yet another fine chapter in the Brady-Manning rivalry to be written this weekend (perhaps).