FP Yahoo Fantasy Football Championship Breakdown: 1. mikesteelnation1 vs. 3. iwatt

[Trumpetbdw]

Quarterback

After making a mistake last week by playing Andy Dalton , mikesteel will be going with Ben Roethlisberger this week. The Bengals have actually allowed fewer points to QBs over the past 5 weeks than any other team, but Roethlisberger knows their defense well, and completed 73% of his passes against them earlier this year for 278 yards. iwatt is countering with Drew Brees, who's coming off a 4 TD performance last week, and is facing a Cowboy defense that has been friendly to QBs this year.

Advantage- iwatt


Running Back

Mikesteel had the first pick in the draft this year, and wisely invested in Arian Foster. Foster has been a consistent force this season, trailing only Adrian Peterson in RB scoring, and should have another solid day this week against Minnesota. Knowshon Moreno has proven to be an excellent waiver wire addition, and has been a very consistent performer for Denver over the past 4 games. iwatt ended up with arguably the best value on draft day, by grabbing Doug Martin in the middle rounds. Martin has a nice matchup this week vs. St. Louis, but just last week, put up a massive stinker against the sieve known as the Saints defense. Speaking of the Saints defense, DeMarco Murray gets to test his mettle against that {suddenly stout outfit} this week, and should be in for a good day.

Slight Advantage- mikesteelnation1


Wide Receiver

The most consistent performer for mikesteel over the 2nd half of the season has been Cecil Shorts. Jacksonville will be forced to throw a ton this week to keep up with NE, making Shorts an excellent option. Victor Cruz is the #1 WR for mike, and has a matchup vs. a vulnerable Ravens secondary, while Pierre Garcon has been excellent since returning from injury, and will once again have RGIII dealing him the ball. For iwatt, Randall Cobb has been solid, and has another nice matchup this week against Tennessee. Wes Welker and Torrey Smith each also have nice matchups, but are also both listed as questionable this week. If either or both can't go, both Mike Williams and Kenny Britt have the chance to be excellent fill-in options. Williams in particular has a nice matchup against St. Louis, since it's likely that the Rams top CB, Cortland Finnegan will be shadowing Vincent Jackson.

Advantage- mikesteelnation1


Tight End

For mike, Vernon Davis was supposed to be one of the top TEs in the game, but has greatly disappointed. Thankfully, Heath Miller has stepped in, surprisingly producing as a top 3 option at the TE position. Miller has made a living destroying the Bengals throughout his career, including 53 yards and a TD against them earlier this season. iwatt counters with Jason Witten, who has been much better in PPR leagues than standard leagues (this is a standard league) due to his high catch volume, and lack of TDs, but Witten has still been plenty productive. Against the Saints, Witten has an excellent matchup.

Push


Kicker

mikesteel is rolling with Blair Walsh this week, who has a tough matchup against Houston, but at this time of year, kicking in a dome is huge. iwatt has Sebastian Janikowski, who has been very inconsistent this year, but is coming off a 5 FG performance against KC.

Slight Advantage- iwatt


Team Defense/Special Teams

mikesteel has the Texans defense, who get to face Christian Ponder, the fantasy gift that keeps on giving. The problem is, with Ponder comes AD, and the Texans will have their hands full with Adrian Peterson. iwatt has a Bears defense that has regressed in recent weeks, but gets an Arizona team that has been the 2nd friendliest against opposing defenses over the last 5 weeks. Ryan Lindley vs. an angry Chicago defense may be the single biggest mismatch in the NFL this season.

Advantage- iwatt


Verdict

Yahoo has installed iwatt as the favorite, predicting a 116-100 victory. However, mikesteel finished as the #1 seed for a reason, and with Arian Foster, as well as a very solid WR corps, I'd put mike as around a 5 point favorite heading into the matchup. This looks to be a relatively even matchup, but I'll predict that mikesteel comes out on top.

[mikesteelnation1]

The yahoo estimated points is a complete joke. I ignore it as any type of indicator. 3 days ago I was a 3 pt favorite, and the only change I made was Moreno over Bryce Brown. My point total should have gone up, not down given McCoys return. On the flip, I don't think iwatt changed a thing yet gained more than 10pts on yahoo's {estimate}.

As long as my star studded wr crew lives up to its billing, I should win. They sure didn't last week. Thank God heath, the Texans d, and Walsh went off!

I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't though. My wr corps has been spotty this year. I went wr heavy (3wr start league, no flex, standard , scoring) and my original trio of Cruz, jordy nelson, and garcon have left me a little disappointed due to injuries. But the slick acquisition of shorts has been money plugging the dam.

Hoping foster is as steady as he always is, heath abuses the Bengals, my wr corp puts up like they should, and Walsh continues to boom the long kicks.

I think Ben's going to have a big game. He has to do so for the Steelers to win. I also don't trust Dalton vs the Steelers. He's been a huge turd for fantasy scoring vs the Steelers d.

I also think the d's are a wash. Perhaps slight edge to iwatt. Both opposing qbs suck enough to throw pick 6's.and get sacked a lot.

Also hoping for a Brees pick a palooza melt down. Everyone but a junk Tampa d has had them lately.

[Trumpetbdw]

I agree on the terrible projections from yahoo. The positional advantages had nothing to do with their projections, just my analysis.

The fantasy law of "what goes up, must come down" has me believing that the Bears defense goes off this week. But as I said in the verdict, I think you're the favorite, and will come out on top.