NFL’s Week 15 Winners & Losers Awards.
By Derek Lofland
NFL director and senior writer at Football Maniaxs.com
The NFC playoff picture came into full focus on Sunday. The New Orleans Saints need to beat the 2-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week to secure home field throughout the playoffs.
The Minnesota Vikings clinched the NFC North with a loss thanks to the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But thanks to the Vikings’ horrible showing against the Carolina Panthers, the Philadelphia Eagles are only a game back for a first round bye.
Philadelphia clinched a playoff spot, and the Arizona Cardinals clinched the NFC West. That leaves four of the six spots clinched with only Green Bay, the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants left to fight for the remaining two spots.
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Are the ‘09 Saints better than the ‘07 Patriots?
By Derek Lofland. NFL director at Fantasy Football Maniaxs
One of the trendy topics right now is whether the 2009 New Orleans Saints are a better offensive unit than the record-setting 2007 New England Patriots.
The Saints are undefeated and putting up numbers at a historic pace, so the discussion was bound to come up. I am here to tell you that the New England Patriots were a vastly superior offense, and it really is not even that close.
This is the world we are in today. Someone or some team starts putting up big numbers and it is the best ever. I’m going to remind people how much better the 2007 New England team was on offense by looking at a few statistics and other factors.
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Fantasy Football’s Week 7 Waiver Wire
By John Arias
Week 6 featured outstanding waiver wire pickups including QB Marc Bulger (213 yards, with one touchdown and an interception) and TE Todd Heap (three receptions for 51 yards), with Week 7 approaching, here are the next future stars.
Running Backs:
Justin Fargas: With RB Darren McFadden out, Fargas carried the load on Sunday. He had 22 carries for 87 yards, and one reception for 11 yards.
The Oakland Raiders will host the New York Jets in Week Seven. The Jets defense currently ranks 23rd against the run and is allowing opposing running backs to rush for 115.7 yards per game, which is 21st in NFL. Furthermore, DT Kris Jenkins is out for the year, which is a huge hole for the Jets defense.
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Fantasy Football’s Week 6 Waiver Wire pickups
By John Arias
My Week 5 waiver wire column featured outstanding pickups including WR Austin Collie (8 receptions for 97 yards and two touchdowns) and RB Rashard Mendenhall (15 carries for 77 yards and a touchdown). With Week 6 approaching, here are the next future stars.
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Fantasy Football’s Second-Year Wide Receivers to Breakout
By Chad Samuels
Wide receivers have one of the largest learning jumps from their rookie year to their second year in the NFL. The speed of the game is significantly faster than that of college. Also a lot of wideouts need to adjust from the spread offense used in college to NFL offenses and routes.
These receivers should begin to have the game slow down for them this season.
By the end of the year there should be some statistical signs that they are beginning to progress. That statistical bump may indicate just who will breakout in their "magical" third year in 2010.
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2009 NFL’s Week 1 Power Rankings
By Derek Lofland
Our first power rankings of the 2009 season feature a familiar team at the top of the list. Our rankings are a reflection of the success teams experienced in 2008, combined with the moves they made in the offseason and how they have looked in the preseason.
1. Pittsburgh Steelers (12-4) –Until someone dethrones the Super Bowl champions, they start the season No. 1. While the Steelers did not add any big free agents, they return the best defense in the NFL and almost all of the key contributors from the 2008 team that won the Lombardi Trophy.
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2009 Fantasy Football Rankings: Quarterbacks
Questions abounded when we first released our 2009 Fantasy Football Quarterbacks’ rankings
Tom Brady, the projected No. 1 fantasy QB last year, had missed all but 13 minutes of the 2008 season in January, and rightfully so.
Kurt Warner, who took the Arizona Cardinals to an unprecedented Super Bowl appearance while throwing career second-bests 4,583 yards and 30 TDs, was set to become a free agent and possibly switch uniforms in 2009.
Matt Cassel made it hard for the Patriots to relegate him back to holding a clipboard for Brady with his outstanding season of 3,693 yards and 21 TDs, and the annual questions surrounding the uncertainty of Brett Favre’s retirement and the possibility for Donovan McNabb leaving the Eagles inevitably clouded our ranking process.
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Fantasy Football: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!
By Sean Haugh
The rise of Fantasy Football has a profound influence on how we perceive the real game. As recently as two years ago, most fans would tune out after the Pro Bowl. Fans would watch the NFL Draft in April, but otherwise only return attention to the sport at the beginning of the exhibition season.
These days, interest has increased to the point where, as one of my favorite competitors proclaims: "There is no offseason." Fantasy Football owners stay engaged through OTAs and hunger after every last scrap of information and speculation in preparation for the beginning of training camps.
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Fantasy Football: Average Draft Position (ADP) July Trends
By Garth Gregor.
Average Draft Position (ADP) analysis is a powerful tool for any competitive Fantasy Football owner. It is useful to see where players are drafted across leagues and formats on average. This allows owners to project when to select targeted players and come up with a preliminary draft strategy.
ADP information is based on mockdraftcentral.com data from July 11 and June 5. A comparison is made to identify any significant trends. Players with largest Gains or Losses between June and July are highlighted below:
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Depth Perceptions: Dallas Cowboys’ Wide Receivers/Tight End
"Depth Perceptions" is a weekly look at the depth chart and positional battles all over the NFL.
All the hype, the pomp and circumstance, the camera lights that shine so bright on the Dallas Cowboys were a detriment in 2008. It seemingly accentuated the festering problems of a very talented team that had yet to win anything significant. The disappointment of the 2007 playoffs led to increased pressure and resulted in a 1-3 December that left them scratching their collective heads.
So, owner Jerry Jones decided changes were to be made for the 2009 season not the least of which was the release of Pro Bowler/future Hall of Famer/irritant WR Terrell Owens from his contract. The Cowboys decided to free themselves of the drama king who had accused offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, QB Tony Romo, and TE Jason Witten of conspiring against him in an effort to reduce his stake in the offensive game plan. How very high school of them all to do such a thing. Read more
