NBD - Week 7 Review A

Due to a combination of travel, family time, the Redskins playing on Monday night, the start of the NBA season, job interviews, the arrival of Bill Simmons' basketball book to my Kindle, and the onset of fantasy b-ball season, I've been a bit derelict in my duties of late. I'm going to try to plow through three game re-caps today and three more tomorrow. Here goes:

Burke City Giants (113) defeat The Death Panel (84)
In the month of October, I've already posted 27 blog entries. I check in on each of my three fantasy football teams every day of the week. This Sunday, instead of my usual perch atop a bar stool in Manhattan, I watched the games from my sister's house, with full access to a laptop, where I was monitoring my team's progress throughout the first half. And yet somehow, despite all this, I managed to not start a Defense for the second time this year (the first was in another league). Fortunately, the Saints' missing 19 points did not technically cost me the game, as I lost by a larger margin than that, but you have to wonder if the other players in the game for the Death Panel took a look at that empty roster spot and wondered why they should even bother if their owner wasn't even going to complete his line-up. Certainly that seems to be the attitude taken by Matt Forte (5), Mario Manningham (5), and Tony Gonzalez (4). Speaking of Gonzalez, I also traded away his "back-up" Vernon Davis last week. That's the same Vernon Davis who scored three touchdowns on Sunday. Not a good week for the Panel. My opponent, on the other hand, had a very solid week, repudiating my criticism of his recent blockbuster trade. Peyton Manning (21) led the team, as he so often does, and his output was matched by the Philadelphia Defense. The Patriot twins kicked in 24 points, Steve Slaton had his third 19-point game in the past four weeks, and the much-ridiculed acquisition Brandon Jacobs (15) held his own. Congrats, Michael. I hope to see you again in the playoffs, with no injuries, bye weeks, or sat defenses for either of us.

This Guy Here is Dead (94) defeats Smegma Amuse Bouche (53)
Yuck. The highest scoring SAB player this week was Hakeem Nicks (14), and his second highest was a kicker. The tight end on his bench, the afore-mentioned Vernon Davis, scored more than half of his starters' total. As noted previously on this blog, Papkin's team is highly dependent on the Steelers' passing game, and the Vikings managed to shut that down pretty well this weekend, leading to anemic outings by Roethlisberger (11), Miller (4), and Ward (0). Derek had his fair share of shitters as well, but a few big performances saved the day. Tony Romo (28), having finally gotten over Jessica Simpson and Carrie Underwood, appears to have finally found a new soulmate in Miles Austin. The San Diego Defense (22) had a predictable romp over the worthless Chiefs, and Marshawn Lynch (11) was adequate enough to secure the victory.

Who Gonna Check Me Boo? (104) defeats Matt Ryan Loves Dogs (95)
I am happy to report the return of Koehler's traditional team name, Matt Ryan Loves Dogs. Two years deep, I (and I alone?) still find it clever, or at least preferable to a reminder of the Redskins' record. Unfortunately, it didn't help him achieve a victory this weekend against the top power-ranked team in the league. Colly's squad was led once again this week by Miles Austin (29), who has proven to be, at the very least, a two-hit wonder, and possibly much much more. Owen Daniels (18) also contributed nicely, as did Marques Colston (13). After an early season marked by minimal free agent movement, Colly has clearly decided to dive into the acquisition pool lately, heeding Brad Evans' Shocker Special advice to little effect last week (BenJarvis Green-Ellis, 1) and spending a whopping $42 NBDollars on Shonn Greene this morning. I'm not gonna poop on that acquisition just yet, but it does seem like a pretty penny to spend on a guy who will still be presumably the #2 running back the rest of the season behind Thomas Jones. Then again, Colly has had success in the past with rookie running back keepers, and maybe the Greene pick-up will pay off dividends in 2010. Still, I bid $10. I wonder if anyone else even approached Colly's bid.