Mikey D

I've been enamored the past couple of days with fantasy stats since Matt Cassell decided to have his best game of his career (probably at any level) on Thursday night.

I discovered that each and every week I've played either the top scorer for the week, or the 2nd highest scorer, in all nine of my losses. It doesn't upset me anymore as the season is lost for me, but now it just amazes me how it happens week in and week out, and thus far in Week 11 it appears it's going that route again.

But I delved in a little deeper into the stats of our league this year, and found some interesting things- well to me, because I'm a gigantic dork. Although Kevin probably spent hours making a fantasy video about Vince Young, so maybe that just makes me a dork.

I started looking at the FPA (Fantasy Points Against). Here's the list of the total points scored against each team thus far:

Mike: 996.88
Kevin: 891.08
Stacey: 846.77
Amber: 792.07
Grace: 770.54
Dave: 744.39
Brian: 732.17
Adam: 711.14

What to take away from these stats? Well, I've been scored on over a 100 points than the next highest person, for starters! But besides that, I was surprised to see that Kevin and Stacey were the next in line, given their overall records. What it means is that they are winning despite getting scored upon, which translates to their teams legit and good. If they play you and you have a down week, they are probably going to beat you.

Also, the top two teams in our league are Adam and Dave, and they're in the top 3 in least points scored against. Coincidence? Maybe. But it doesn't hurt when trying to win in fantasy. In looking a little deeper I was amazed to see Adam's schedule. No team all year has scored over 87.06 points against Adam! In fact, only two teams have broken 80 against Adam all year!!! And the two teams that did have given Adam his only two losses. That's some great luck with the schedule, but to Adam's credit his team has capitalized with good performances to take the wins. Luck and skill is a tough combination to beat.

One last curiosity...Brian's team, despite my record, is the worst team in the league. Despite being scored on the 3rd least, he's the worst in the amount of points he's scored. His team does not put up points, but because of bad weeks by other teams he's somehow pulling out a 4-6 record.

Another thing I noticed was the point differentials (points scored minus points scored by opponent). Look at the list:

Dave: +147.49
Adam: +81.77
Grace: +33.11
Amber: +19.27
Kevin: -37.83
Brian: -38.28
Stacey: -42.34
Mike: -163.21

Dave and Adam have taken care of business. Again, I think it's telling that Kevin and Stacey's teams have a negative differential but are right there in the playoff mix. If you had to project the four playoff teams right now, you'd have to Dave, Adam, Kevin, and Stacey. They have good squads. Me? Not so much.

Also, when looking at trades done this year, Adam is involved in most. So? When you push the action, good things happen. Well...most of the time. I'm the second most active, and it hasn't worked out so well. But in my three other leagues I have been active and it's brought much success. I'm sure Adam would agree trading and being active is a key part in fantasy success. Here's the list of trades and the winners:

-L.T. and Holt for Barber and Colston (Adam and Mike, slight advantage Mike based on points scored thus far)
-Dallas Clark for Tony Gonzalez (Mike and Amber, advantage Amber)
-Steven Jackson for Marshawn Lynch and Felix Jones (Mike and Stacey, advantage Stacey)
-Greg Jennings for Kellen Winslow (Adam and Kevin, advantage Adam)
-Kyle Orton for Laverneous Coles (Adam and Mike, advantage Adam)
-Peyton Manning for Muhammed and Rodgers (Adam and Brian, advantage Adam)

Adam recognized weaknesses in his team and then made it better. Remember he started the year with Hasselbeck and Anderson as his two starting QBs, and while he was fortunate A. Rodgers bailed him out, he is starting Peyton Manning and the surprising Orton (most of the time) now. Upgrade. And sorry Kev, but he got a stud #1 receiver when he needed it (with Moss' value down) for a tight end, an absolute steal. And with LT being a usual second half star, there's no reason to think he won't win our initial trade that began the year. I love the trades he made; that's what makes him good.

But enough love for Adam. I hope the rest of your team sucks this week you stupid fucker.

~Mikey D