What’s happenin’ Razzballers?  My week 8 matchup left me facing the age old fake football dilemma: who gets precedent, my real life team or my fantasy team? I’m from the Boston area, so naturally my team is the Patriots. When I looked at my week 8 matchup, I realized my opponent had both Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski on his roster. Pretty much killed my Sunday. For everyone who didn’t watch the game, the refs blew a late fourth quarter Brady to Gronkowski touchdown so obvious that my half-blind grandmother was even cheering.  On top of that, Belichick must have forgotten that he hides the challenge flag in his sock because that’s the only reason I can think of as to why he didn’t challenge. The Patriots didn’t score a touchdown until two minutes later. It took the Patriots so long to score after the blown call/non-challenge that when the Pats got the ball back, now down 6, they had to go 79 yards in only 18 seconds. A fumble and a safety later and the game was over.
On the fake football side of life, I was pumped that the Brady to Gronk touchdown was blown; it helped my injury riddled team pull out a win. And it’s not like it was a must win for the Patriots; it was a non-divisional game and the Pats are still 5-2 after the loss. In real life, I feel dirty having to root against my hometown heroes to ensure my fantasy football success. I’m going to be pissed if down the road this loss decides home field advantage in the playoffs. Either way, week 8 is officially over. Here are some major headlines and statistics you can talk about during the wait for the highly anticipated week 9.
The Carolina Panthers are (0-5) when Cam Newton has a turnover.
Alternatively, the Panthers are (2-0) when Cam Newton doesn’t have a turnover. Protect that ball, Cam.
Five teams have allowed over 5 yards per carry on the season – Saints (5.5), Bears (5.2), Lions (5.2), Rams (5.2), and the Eagles (5.0).
If you are have a running back playing one of these teams, you can expect them to have a pretty good day. Evaluating your players skill is only half the battle, you need to evaluate how good the players on the other side of the ball are too. Matchups people, matchups.
An A.J. Feeley led Rams team beat the New Orleans Saints
Talk about your classic post domination hangover. Unfortunately for the Rams, I feel like more news will be going into how the Saints lost the game, as opposed to the Rams winning the game. On a side note, how much worse does this make the already terrible Colts look?
Six teams have allowed a passing TD per 20 passing attempts or fewer – Chiefs (16.33), Broncos (16.75), Rams (16.86), Colts (17.40), Dolphins (17.43), and Eagles (18.17).
I don’t expect the Eagles to stay on this list for long. In their last two games, they have allowed only one touchdown while totaling five interceptions. It seems like the Dream Team’s defense finally woke up. As for the other teams, their pass defense stinks.  Throw on them all day.
Two teams remain winless on the season – Colts and Dolphins.
At least the Dolphins look like they are trying. Colts, meet Andrew Luck; Andrew, these are the Colts.
Only one team has not given up rushing touchdown all season – 49ers.
Yikes! This 49ers run defense is for real. It is true they haven’t played the best rushing offenses, but they do have notable games against the Eagles who are tied for 4th in rushing touchdowns scored and the Bengals with a non-suspended Cedric Benson.  Only allowing an average of 73.4 yards per game on the ground as well makes the 49ers a disastrous matchup for opposing running backs.
The Cowboys got absolutely demolished by the Eagles Sunday night.
Looks like Rob Ryan has to eat his words, along with everything else in sight. I wonder how many humble pies good old Rob has eaten in his lifetime.
Three teams average under 1 passing touchdown against per game – Jets (.57), Ravens (.71), and the Bengals (.86).
The Bengals are the odd team out in this trio. The Jets essentially take away Revis Island’s half of the field from opposing QBs. The Ravens have an insane pass rush and Ed Reed-ball hawking in the secondary. Then there’s the Bengals who have played the Browns, Broncos, Jags, Colts and Seahawks in 5 of their 7 games. Until they start playing better teams, consider me unimpressed.
Only one team has under 500 rushing yards on the season – Tennessee Titans (482)
The Titans are the worst rushing team in the league, and unfortunately for them, it’s not even close. They only have 482 rushing yards on the season (about 69 yards per game) and average a league worst 3.1 yards per carry. They only have 3 rushing TDs on the season (tied for 4th worst) and are 2nd to last in attempts. Chris Johnson needs to stop blaming his offensive line and earn his fat paycheck. Advice for fantasy owners, keep him. I doubt you will get a fair asking price for him after his rocky start. He has too much upside and decently easy schedule ahead. Continue to weather the storm that is Chris Johnson, hopefully better days are ahead.
Tim Tebow looked awful, again.
There is no way the Broncos can bench him at this point. But as bad as Tebow has looked in real life, he is not that bad of a fantasy quarterback. Begrudgingly take the mediocre fantasy passing points and thank him for the gravy rushing fantasy points he brings you each week.
Six teams are allowing less than 20 points per game – 49ers (15.3), Ravens (15.7), Steelers (17.4), Texans (18.1), Lions (18.4), and the Redskins (19.9).
A lot of the statistics have been broken down against specifically the pass or the run. Well, these 6 defenses are defenses that are solid in all aspects of the game. It’s not that they can’t be beaten; it’s just a very rare occurrence. Tread carefully.
Quick Hits
The Ravens defense allows an average of only 1 touchdown per game.
Only the Colts (72.4%) allow opposing QBs to complete over 70% of their passes.
Only the Cardinals (18.82) have allowed a rushing td per 20 rushing attempts or fewer.
The Rams (12.4) and the Jags (12.2) are the only two teams to avg. under 15 ppg.
