NBD - Week 8 Review B

[Note: I wrote the first half of this post, about trades, on Tuesday night, before any of the brouhaha about trading draft picks and all that emerged. It is with the rosy-colored glasses of nostalgia that I now look back on a time when I thought that a few simple trades might add some joy and excitement to the league.]

I just logged on the league site to see the warning up that our trade deadline is impending: November 12th. That gives you just a week and a half to complete your blockbusters. So far this season, there has been only one trade (discounting the infamous draft day Fasano Incident), when Haller traded me Matt Forte and Matt Ryan for Drew Brees. Ultimately, I think that trade has worked out well for both of us, and trades in general are fun, so I figured I'd help spur things along by taking a look at the rosters and seeing who might be in the market for a trade. Take a look, make a deal:

Sir Lucious Left Fut: Potential WR redundancy with Vincent Jackson returning; could use an RB2.

The Bro Montanas: Could part with blue-chipper Andre Johnson in exchange for help at multiple positions.

Wild Stallions: Have 5-6 reasonable starting fantasy receivers; need another RB to complement Mendenhall.

Buck Stops Here: Might have enough confidence in Matt Cassel to trade away Tom Brady's big name value.

Matt Ryan Loves Dogs: Would have four solid RBs if Mathews would take the reins; could use receiving help with Donald Driver falling off a cliff.

Chris Ivory's Black: Could probably get something in return for back-up QB Eli Manning, but not really in serious need anywhere else.

Sex with a Pharaoh: Too many tops; not enough bottoms.

Get to tradin'! While you're figuring out your blockbuster, a few more Week 8 re-caps:



Woody's Warriors (92) defeat Buck Stops Here (85)
Another week, another loss for big Ray. I normally revel in my father's misfortune, but this season has gone so badly for the Truman Show that I am actually starting to feel the pangs of what I'm told is called 'sympathy.' I didn't even get a chance to do a write-up of last week, when Ray lost by a mere .28 points. This week held a more reasonable margin of defeat, and 85 points is not so much that you would say that Ray "deserved to win," but at the same time he would have beaten seven other teams in the league, which got me thinking: what would Buck Stops Here's roto record be, if we played every team every week?
Week 1: Scored 87 points in a Loss; vs. entire league: 7-4
Week 2: Scored 113 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 9-2
Week 3: Scored 132 in a Win; vs. entire league: 11-1
Week 4: Scored 78 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 5-6
Week 5: Scored 65 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 0-11
Week 6: Scored 88 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 5-6
Week 7: Scored 88 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 2-9
Week 8: Scored 85 in a Loss; vs. entire league: 7-4
So in our league? 1-7, .125 winning percentage. In a roto league? 46-42, .523 winning percentage. You might want to look into switching leagues next year, Chief. This week's loss came at the hands of Woody's Warriors, who benefitted from the return of two players: Matt Stafford (24) played his first football since Week 1 and managed to notch four touchdowns on the miserable Redskins; and Larry Fitzgerald (19) played his first game as Larry Fitzgerald since 2009. Maurice Jones-Drew (15) has also been looking more 2009ish in his last few games, and it only follows the form of the season so far that Woody's boys would step up their games in time for the match-up with Buck Stops Here, which attracts opponent points like Clay Matthews' hair attracts lice. The BSH once again saw solid output from the rejuvenated Terrell Owens (19) and the fabulously consistent Frank Gore (19), but as usual it wasn't quite enough.

The Bro Montanas (87) defeat Matt Ryan Loves Dogs (78)
It's hard to win a fantasy football game when the top scorer on your team is left on the bench. It's also hard to win a fantasy football game when the co-top scorer on your team scores 17 points. And yet Derek Haller managed both of these tasks in Week 8, when he saw Andre Johnson and Michael Bush (on the bench) each go for 17. Ryan Fitzpatrick wasn't quite as outstanding as he had been the previous three weeks, but his 16-point day was pretty well superior to his counterpart, Ben Roethlisberger (7). Even shittier for MRLD was Donald Driver's second straight 0-fer, which at least this week was revealed to be caused by an injury. With no one on Koehler's roster other than the D/ST (Tampa Bay, 20) stepping up their scoring, the lousiness of Big Ben and Driver was insurmountable.