Last week I posed the question, whether or not to sit Brian Westbrook. In week 13 I left him on my bench due to injury concerns and he punished me by racking up 130 total yards and scoring 4 touchdowns. That’s 37 points I left on my bench. Performances like that don’t happen every week- so when week 14 came I saw that he was playing the Giants, a stout run defense that currently ranks 5th against the run only allowing 89.6 rushing yards per game; no runs over 40 yards; and at the time only 6 rushing touchdowns. It didn’t look like a great matchup and I did have other options (I own Westbrook in the ridiculous six-team league where I own an all-star team of RBs.) So I gave him a ride on the bench and he got angry. Last week he scored 2 touchdowns while earning over 200 total yards.
I have been clearly punished for breaking a cardinal rule of David Dorey (author of my bible, Fantasy Football The Next Level: How to Build a Championship Team Every Season.) The rules is this: The top players at each position are bigger than the schedule.” That means I even though it’s a tough matchup for Westbrook- he’s a stud and he’s a stud because he’ll perform in the toughest of situations. He clearly did last week.
However I’m quick to start hot players on my bench. That’s a lesson I learned from benching Adrian Peterson last year. This week you’ll see Brian Westbrook front and center as I enter the playoffs… now watch him score zero points.
TMG Sportsline League (11-3)
Pho Sho vs. Washington Generals
I decided to open today with a rant on Brian Westbrook- but this story came in a close second.
Last week’s matchup with Peter looked dire as the last game of week 14 started. I was down 24 points and I only had my kicker Matt Bryant and wide receiver Antonio Bryant left to play. I thought there was no way I was going to win this matchup. I didn’t even bother to watch the game. At midnight Monday night I decided to log on and see how bad I lost and I was pleasantly surprised. While the kicker Bryant only racked me 5 points, Antonio had a monster night scoring 2 touchdowns on 200 receiving yards. the 37 points I scored from those two players helped me topple my intern.
Now I’m in the playoffs with the best record in the league playing against my other intern, David. Right now things are going ok but once again I left major points on my bench. Pierre Thomas, a pickup to bolster my playoff roster scored a cool 25 points in the Thursday Night Game. Good thing I kept him on my bench- those points will certainly not hurt me in the end.
If I’m lucky I’ll be able to move on to the championship game- I say luck cause you never know what other points I’ve already left on my bench.
Yahoo! League (8-4-1)
Pho Shizzle vs. Victorious Secret
Last week of regular season play in this league and I’m going up against Wendi. Last time we played we tied in a McNabb like performance. It was the battle of the NO wide receivers in this matchup- I am playing Lance Moore and she played Marques Colston. She won this battle as Colston scored a TD and 84 yards. Moore stunk with only 5 receptions for 27 yards. Oh ya had Pierre Thomas on the bench in this league too.
I’m kinda nervous about Tony Romo, despite his secret relationship with Jason Witten that’s got T.O. mad, he has tough matchups for the rest of the season. I picked up Tyler Thigpen (I guess I’m wiggy for Thiggy) as a backup. Now is Romo a stud that will perform in the face of the Giants, Ravens, and Eagles?
Diet Yahoo! League (9-5)
Donte’s $37 Million vs. FantasyFB Is Stupid
Despite losing big last week (guess who had to play against Antonio Bryant as well as own him) I am in the playoffs with the first seed. This appears to be the league where I get punished for decisions I make in other leagues. Last week I started Antonio Bryant to win a game in one league and I play against him to lose a game in this league. This week I sat Pierre Thomas in two leagues and now I’m down 38 points thanks to playing the guy who started him in this league.
Once again with a 6 team league you never know what’s going to happen, too many people own too many stars that may or may not perform.
My respects this week go out to Matt Cassel’s family, I hope if he does decide to play this week he has a great game in memory of his father.
Related posts:
[...] Last week I wrote about how fitting it would be if Brian Westbrook scored no points when I finally start him after he scores billions of points on my bench. Well that’s exactly what happened. I lost the first game of my playoffs by 4 points thanks to a single point game from him and I now battle this week for 3rd place. It only makes sense. Well this week I make another tough decision with my studs. As I write this I am about to bench my start quarterback Kurt Warner. Outside my window here in Massachusetts it is snowing and has been all weekend. With snow and rain fore casted for the game in Foxboro, it doesn’t look like Warner will be throwing much or effectively. Plus I really don’t want to root against the Patriots by any means. Now watch him throw 3 TDs. Also guess who I have as my #2 quarterback- you guessed it, Tyler Thigpen. [...]