Saturday, September 27, 2008

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue IV

Welcome to our fourth-ever edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue III (September 19, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 4 game-by-game
^ Our Top 5 NFL waiver wire recommendations for NFL Week 4, as unveiled on SportsTalkNetwork.com this past week.
^ In hoops and other sports, balance is the key
^ Leveraging fantasy strategy from a non-fantasy source

As always, we urge to you subscribe to this newsletter via the available feed options on Blogger. It has come to our attention, however, that there do not appear to be means to subscribe to this via any aggregate news readers at the moment; if that is true, it is because it is being published on the older Blogger platform. Our sister publication in cyberspace, the all-subjects periodical The FDH Lounge Multimedia Magazine, is on the newer Blogger platform and can be subscribed to in that manner. As such, for the forseeable future, we will publish a link to this newsletter on The Lounge each week so that those of you who subscribe via aggregate news readers can have the content show up in the most convenient manner.

NFL Week 4

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.



SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

(Byes: Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, New England, N.Y. Giants, Seattle)

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m. RB Turner is the only really solid option here; WR White is acceptable, but if you have a comparable player, he is likely to have a better option than this. Stewart and Rosario are the most solid options of the marginal ones for Carolina.

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. Don’t start DA under any circumstances as he will be on a short leash. Now, he may well have another monstrous statistical game against the Bengals as he did the first time last year, but the odds of him finishing the game are not acceptable. Both starting RBs, Lewis and Perry, are only worth a start based on the pathetic nature of the defenses they will be facing. For that matter, the Bengals are all-in against this Browns D.

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m. In this divisional matchup of offenses struggling to find themselves, only RBs Slaton and Taylor are worth starting among the marginal players (and we don’t consider Jones-Drew a marginal player, but rather one that you reflexively start each week).

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m. All-in for the Broncos’ borderline players, including RB Young, who is slowly emerging in more of a dominant role. RB Johnson showed last week that he is still among the players who you really dare not bench lest he explode. Bowe is likely to get some looks against a pass defense that can be exploited – plus, the Chiefs should be down big so he’ll benefit from garbage time.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m. The O’Sullivan/Johnson battery looks really good in this circumstance. For the Saints, the WR situation is a real dilemma – with Shockey joining Colston on the injured list, somebody’s got to go off, but there are no high-percentage players to recommend. Patten is the best of a weak bunch.

Arizona Cardinals at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m. A few QBs have become every-week starters until future notice this year and Warner is one of them. Favre is not, but he is part of our all-in recommendation on marginal starters for both teams.

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m. The Packers are also an all-in recommendation, while the Bucs are not. Don’t be a week behind the curve in jumping on Griese, who won’t duplicate the monster game against the Bears. RB Graham and WR Bryant are both good bets, however, as Galloway’s lingering physical issues will cause these players to be counted on for more.

Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m. This game is the inverse of Cards-Jets: all-out with the marginal players here.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders 4:05 p.m. Like Warner, Rivers is also now an every-week QB recommendation until further notice. For that matter, the Chargers are an all-in recommendation, although LT should be monitored up until game time. For the Raiders, it’s all-out except for Run DMC as the Al Davis drama continues to suck the life out of this team.

Buffalo Bills at St. Louis Rams 4:05 p.m. All-in for the Bills, all-out for the Rams. RB Jackson and WR Holt still aren’t subject to being pulled from your lineup under any circumstance, but each could conceivably get there this year. Don’t make any assumptions about Green being an upgrade over Bulger at QB, because he probably won’t be.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m. This is another exceedingly simple game to evaluate: all-in except Randle El for the Skins.

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears 8:15 p.m. Don’t count on Buckhalter even in the likely event Westbrook gets scratched. WR Brown joins Jackson as somebody who should be in your lineup this week and Forte stands out as the only worthy Bear in this matchup.

Monday night

Baltimore at Pittsburgh 8:30 p.m. Even with Fast Willie on the pine this week, Mendenhall is a bad bet vs. the Raven D. Ward and Holmes look good for the Yinzers, while the entire Raven O is a horrible match against the only other good defense in the division.


FDH Top 5 Waiver-Wire Recommendations for NFL Week 4

These players were all owned in fewer than 40% of leagues on CBSSports.com last week. As always, none of these players should be counted on to serve as a magic bullet if you had a bad draft or auction and any services promising to help magically restore a bad team at this point are, frankly, fraudulent.

1. Antonio Bryant – This guy doesn’t give you guaranteed production – Britney Spears’ teenage videos think this guy’s a tease. But he has undeniable talent that manifested itself in college and fleetingly, at every stop along the way in his pro career. Jon Gruden doesn’t think “retread” is a dirty word – call it his Raider heritage – and having seen Bryant blow up yesterday, he’s going to keep feeding him opportunities. If he catches on for real this time, this could be the waiver-wire pickup of the year. If he doesn’t, hey, you’re probably just cutting a bum to make way for him.

2. Rian Lindell – He was owned in only 17% of CBSSports.com leagues coming into Week 3. The Bills offense is good but not great, which could set up a nice fantasy season for Lindell since they’re strong enough to have a number of long drives but not strong enough to finish most of them. If he ends up being a Top 5 kicker this year, it won’t be the biggest surprise we see.

3. Miles Austin – One great performance does not a career make, but he’s showing the potential to be a matchup problem for defenses who are already stretched thin by what might well be the league’s best offense right now. Not being under the radar anymore and defenses having an extra DB to shut you down are two different things entirely. Can he perform at the level of a 1999 Az Hakim or 2004 Brandon Stokely in terms of a third wide receiver? We shall see.

4. Le’Ron McClain – Like many other Willis McGahee owners, I watched in horror as the Ravens’ fullback stole some goal-line touchdowns from my player. Paul Belfi’s mocking laughter did not add to my good mood, let me assure you. And there may be much more vulturing in the future, at least until defenses prove they can shut him down in short-yardage situations.

5. Steve Smith – No, it’s the “other” Steve Smith we recommend since the Panther flanker isn’t available anywhere anymore. We’ve noted on the fantasy show the past few Wednesdays that #2 wide receiver is the only real hole in the Giants offense in terms of fantasy production and this excellent possession receiver is stepping into that role nicely.

Honorable Mention: Brian Griese had a huge day against a great defense – probably his high-water mark for the year, but he’s a fine backup at the very least

AND

Brandon Lloyd, who is the #1 receiver in Chicago right now. Albeit, that’s kind of like being the best investment bank on Wall Street these days, but you take what you can get.


In hoops and other sports, balance is the key

On the fantasy show Wednesday night, we spent our first real chunk of time on basketball this fall. We tied in our discussions to what we had already gone over with hockey in previous weeks: namely, the need to compile your team with supremely balanced players whenever possible.

Dany Heatley was our poster child for balance this year in hockey with excellent stats in every major hockey category – including penalty minutes, which is rare for a top star. As we indicated, there are no Heatleys in the NBA; players are going to have defined strengths and weaknesses by position as you will never find a guard with elite rebounding stats and you will not find any frontcourt players who are tops in assists – well, except for Lebron, but he’s a unique specimen in so many regards.

What you want, though, are players who are capable of doing as well as they possibly can at a position’s non-traditional points of strength. A guard with pretty good rebounding numbers, like last year’s leader in Jason Kidd with 7.5, helps in that regard. And a forward like Lebron with 7.2 APG last year really helps you to build balance as well. Players who are super-studly in more limited areas do have some value as well, but in more limited instances. One such example is Marcus Camby, whose whopping 13.1 RPG and 3.6 BPG more than negate his 9.1 PPG.

We’ll certainly be breaking down the stars of the hardwood much more as we lead up to our mock draft on the program on October 8 and our unveiling shortly thereafter of FANTASY HOOPS DRAFTOLOGY 2008, a joint production with our pals at Sportsology.

Leveraging fantasy strategy from a non-fantasy source

By Rick Morris

We want to thank our friend and “creative consultant” The FDH New York Bureau for hooking us up with ESPN baseball writer Jayson Stark for a November interview for The FDH Lounge. It’s going to be a real treat to talk baseball past and present with one of the finest diamond scribes going today.

While our conversation is bound to drift into the 2008 season, which will have ended shortly before we speak, the focus of our discussion will be his great book THE STARK TRUTH: THE MOST OVERRATED & UNDERRATED PLAYERS IN BASEBALL HISTORY. The book shines the light the top five overrated and underrated at each position in baseball throughout history.

Now, we shouldn’t be giving away any specifics as to where players are slotted on the lists, lest we tick off Mr. Stark and the publishing house. It’s not cool to give away those kinds of details here, but we need to put a few things out there so that you can understand how the book translates to fantasy in an odd kind of way.

Players such as Sandy Koufax, Bob Feller and Rogers Hornsby find themselves on these lists, which leads to the question of how any of them could conceivably be considered overrated or underrated? Aren’t they all too good to be considered overrated and too well-known to be underrated?

The answer to both questions is yes, which leads to why you have to apply Stark’s definitions of overrated and underrated – definitions very similar to how we define overvalued and undervalued players, because they relate exactly according to value.

Stark takes great pains to paint the context that he is using when he says “overrated” or “underrated.” “Overrated” means “good or great, but not at the level we commonly regard him.” “Underrated” means “good or great, but even better than we commonly regard him.”

On a very similar basis, in our draft guides for different sports, we have “overvalued” and “undervalued” lists by position based on how a player rates on our draft board versus our “experts’ draft board,” which is a compilation of many other prominent draft boards in the industry. Hence, we may end up calling a great player like Ichiro overvalued, but that just means that we disagree with the conventional wisdom about how high he should be slotted on your draft board.

Sometimes, it can be a challenge to communicate with people using these words. I remember a few years back on an STN program exploding with anger when an emailer accused me of referring to Mark Prior as “underrated” and he had a part of the email that read something like “How can you call him underrated? We all know who he is. Do you think we’re all stupid?” I bellowed into the mic (and later apologized for my manner in doing so) that I didn’t call him underrated, I called him undervalued (which was my mistake, since he got hurt again that year) and that there was a substantive difference between the word I used and the word the emailer thought he heard.

Stark’s book reminds us of the usefulness of evaluating players in the context of whether or not they are better than the public generally believes that they are – a lesson as well-suited to the fantasy world as it is to the baseball historical scene that serves as his backdrop.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

FDH Insider/Goon Squad September 24

Tonight’s FDH Wednesday night on SportsTalkNetwork.com features more of the sports variety we have long delivered.


First on THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EDT), we revisit our Top 5 Week 4 waiver-wire recommendations and other FDH updates for your edification and recommend to you a NON-FANTASY sports book to help you with your strategizing going forward (for once, we’re promoting something completely unconnected to us!) before we segue into our Week 4 game-by-game fantasy previews in our second half-hour. This will carry us all the way up to the last 20 minutes of the show, when we delve into fantasy hoops for the first time this year and point out the strategic similarities between what we’ve discussed with hockey the past few weeks and how to compile your hoops team.


Then, on THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EDT), we refer once again to our FREE new download publication FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008, a joint production of FDH and Sportsology. We’ll stay on the topic of fantasy briefly as we emphasize to you an important article in our guide that deals with the factor of the schedule when assembling your team in your hockey pool. Then, toward the bottom of the hour and the rest of the way through the show, we examine the FDH standings predictions in the guide and talk about how we think the 30 teams in the league will fall out this year.


Be sure to join us for a Wednesday night that is jam-packed as always, brought to you by your friends at FDH!

Friday, September 19, 2008

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue III

Welcome to our third-ever edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. In case you missed it, here are the previous issues:

^ Volume I, Issue I (September 4, 2008)
^ Volume I, Issue II (September 13, 2008)

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 3 game-by-game preview
^ SportsTalkNetwork.com host/analyst Ben Chew's Super-Sleepers for Week 3 and beyond
^ Our Top 5 waiver wire recommendations for NFL Week 3, as unveiled on STN earlier this week
^ The pursuit of value across fantasy sports, as exemplified by our brand-new FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008, a FREE download

As always, we urge to you subscribe to this newsletter via the available feed options on Blogger. It has come to our attention, however, that there do not appear to be means to subscribe to this via any aggregate news readers at the moment; if that is true, it is because it is being published on the older Blogger platform. Our sister publication in cyberspace, the all-subjects periodical The FDH Lounge Multimedia Magazine, is on the newer Blogger platform and can be subscribed to in that manner. As such, for the forseeable future, we will publish a link to this newsletter on The Lounge each week so that those of you who subscribe via aggregate news readers can have the content show up in the most convenient manner.

NFL Week 3

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Kansas City Chiefs at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m. LJ’s not yet off the “play every week” list, but he’s edging ever closer after last week’s debacle. Burner Turner is worth a go at RB, but better defenses than KC are going to be effective against him when they collapse in to stop the run with a rookie QB at the helm.

Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m. Michael Bush should pick up where he left off with last week’s strong effort off the bench. This is going to be a great spot start for QB Edwards if you’ve got him in a rotation or have a so-so starter in front of him on your roster.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m. This is an absolutely horrible game for fantasy production. Forte isn’t a great play, but you could go with him – he and Galloway are the only players really worth a look here.

Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m. For Carolina, already surprisingly strong without Steve Smith and now getting him back, it’s an all-in game for their marginal fantasy players (i.e. anybody not named Steve Smith). For Minnesota, it’s all-out on the marginals as we wait to see what the Gus Frerotte era will look like for the purple folks.

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m. It’s pretty easy to sum this one up for the non-gimme fantasy players here: all-out for Miami (actually all out on ANY of their players since they have no gimmes at this particular moment in time) and all-in for New England.

Cincinnati Bengals at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m. Like LJ, Carson Palmer is edging ever-closer to not being an every-week starter. If he can’t produce numbers this week once his team falls behind by a few TDs, it’s a grim sign. Stay away from RB Perry until he starts to show something. For the Giants, like last week, it’s an all-in recommendation with the exception of whoever you might envision as their #2 WR right now.

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m. Wait for the Houston RB situation to crystallize a bit before you give credence to any of the contestants. For Tennessee, RBs Johnson and White (purely in a vulture role) are the only feasible candidates.

Arizona Cardinals at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m. All-in for what could be an excellent shootout – except for Randle El, who still has to demonstrate his ability to break plays open in this new offense.

New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m. For the Saints, continue to pass on playing any of their WRs in the absence of Colston until any of them show more consistency. The Cutler/Marshall/Royal combo should play every week until further notice in Denver; none of the RBs should play until further notice as the rotation could still break a couple of different ways.

Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m. Avoid RB Smith here as his pro adjustment has been mediocre thus far (but should improve in subsequent weeks). Kitna is a solid play, as is WR Williams if you consider him to be somebody on your bubble at the moment (you probably shouldn’t). For the Niners, for the first time quite possibly since the Steve Young era, it’s an all-in recommendation.

St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m. RB Jackson probably isn’t on your bubble yet – and he shouldn’t be. WR Holt might be – and he probably shouldn’t be, at least not yet. He merits a start here in any case. For the once-mighty Hawks’ offense, it’s an all-out recommendation with the exception of RB JJ.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens 4:15 p.m. Although you can smell the Browns’ desperation through your monitor as you’re reading this, QB DA is not a worthy start this week as his early-season woes continued against Pittsburgh and don’t figure to get much better against this defense. Don’t smirk, Ravens fans – your team earns the “all out” fantasy designation this week as the RB situation isn’t bad overall collectively but lacks predictability at this point in terms of individual production.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts 4:15 p.m. As with Steven Jackson, RBs Taylor and Jones-Drew probably aren’t on your bubble yet, and shouldn’t be – and should start this game regardless. We said last week that Indy would continue to get better offensively – they won’t be especially explosive in this game, but they’re an all-in team until further notice.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles 4:15 p.m. Both Pittsburgh WRs should continue to be looked to for production, especially off a short week for the Philly “D.” Desean Jackson is now officially a fantasy gimme, but only the “gimme triumvirate” for the Eagles should play.

Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers 8:15 p.m. Crayton hasn’t shown it yet, but he could become a gimme starter at some point this year if the offense continues to play at such a high level. At any rate, start him here, thereby making Dallas an “all-in” team this week. For Green Bay, monitor the injury report, but lean towards RB Jackson over Grant as of right now.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

N.Y. Jets at San Diego Chargers 8:30 p.m. As a deep threat, Cotchery is a natural fit for Favre’s gunslinging approach, and he should start here. So should Stuckey, for the same reasons. Monitor LT’s status and consider Sproles (a complete boom-or-bust option) if the megastar can’t go. WR Jackson looks like the better option for San Diego’s receiving corps and Rivers is edging towards becoming an every-week play.



Ben Chew's NFL Week 3 Super-Sleepers

As heard on THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EDT, Wednesdays, SportsTalkNetwork.com) ...

^ Brian Griese

^ Gus Frerotte

^ Koren Robinson

^ Justin Gage

^ Owen Daniels

^ Chanci Stuckey


FDH Top 5 Waiver-Wire Recommendations for NFL Week 3
This is reproduced from our commentary on this subject, which now runs early each week on SportsTalkNetwork.com ...

These players were all owned in fewer than 40% of leagues on CBSSports.com last week. As always, none of these players should be counted on to serve as a magic bullet if you had a bad draft or auction and any services promising to help magically restore a bad team at this point are, frankly, fraudulent.

  1. JT O’Sullivan. The Martz effect at QB is working again. While anyone reminded of Kurt Warner’s path from grocery bagger to Super Bowl MVP is getting carried away right now, once again Mike Martz has found an unheralded quarterback who can execute his system. His most likely upside at this point remains as a spot starter in fantasy, but that’s got to sound pretty good right now to any Carson Palmer or Matt Hasselbeck owners looking for another option.
  2. Bryant Johnson. While his more accomplished counterpart Isaac The Bartender Bruce is generally more widely owned, and is getting lots of love for a great game this past weekend, in 2008 it’s Johnson whose game is more closely tailored to the Martz offense. He’s got a lot less city miles on that chassis than Ike does.
  3. Darren Sproles. He’s one of the 2 or 3 most dangerous players in the league in space, though like Reggie Bush last year he’s going to get exposed if he has to play for a prolonged period of time and has to try to run inside. Physically, he might look like Hornswaggle’s little brother, but any time he touches the ball he’s a threat to score and LT’s injury situation opens the door for him. He’s certainly worth a look if you have an open roster spot.
  4. Michael Bush. From complete afterthought to potential starter – the McFadden and Fargas injuries have given an opportunity to this bruiser from Louisville. He’s unproven at the NFL level, but he was the best 3rd running back in the league and he’s a monster to bring down. It will take some adjustments to the offense to accommodate his pure north-south game, though, and Lane Kiffin is already a bit, shall we say, distracted these days.
  5. Pierre Thomas. As the gravy-train, goal-line vulture back of the moment in New Orleans, Thomas is showing signs of becoming a latter-day fantasy version of Leroy Hoard. Deuce who?

HONORABLE MENTION goes to Kerry Collins, who has the same garbage receivers Vince Young was saddled with, but who has the confidence of the coaching staff and team. He’ll be in the lineup for quite awhile and he makes a decent fantasy backup at this point.


VALUE: THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT IN FANTASY SPORTS


On Wednesday night's GOON SQUAD program on STN (9-10 PM EDT), we had a great discussion with our good friend Russ Cohen of Sportsology, the fine website that we partnered up with for our brand new FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008 publication -- which you can download for free here. Our 100-page guide goes beyond fantasy (encompassing among other things, this summer's NHL Entry Draft, a look back at past drafts, a preview of this fall's hot new hockey video games and a look at the offseason), but since this is the fantasy newsletter, we'll keep it on that topic for now.

We agreed that it was ludricrous that the NHL Yearbook rates 23 centers (or centres, for our Canadian readers!) among the top 50 non-goalies this year. With center serving as the deepest position, by definition it cannot be the heaviest-represented among the upper ranks, because acceptable depth players can be found later here than at any other position. For more thoughts specifically on the application of value in fantasy sports, read our mission statement on value drafting.

Where we really got into a fun, free-wheeling discussion with Russ was when the subject turned to specific players. For example, he differed with FDH's draft board slotting of Henrik Sedin, feeling that the Swedish star was penalized far too much for his lack of goal scoring and not rewarded nearly enough for his superlative assist tallies. It's hard to do justice to the breakdown of how the participants thought Sedin fared against Steve Stamkos, goal-scoring phenom Johan Franzen and Brad Richards, so we urge you to listen to the archives. This discussion fell in the last quarter of the program. The pros and cons of the different players, laid out head to head by our debaters, shed light on the evaluation process that fantasy analysts must use to compile their draft boards -- and in that sense, it made for useful listening for fantasy players in any sport, not just hockey.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

FDH Insider/Goon Squad September 17

Tonight’s edition of THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) focuses largely on the developing landscape in fantasy football. We start by reviewing the FDH Waiver Wire Commentary for NFL Week 3; these can now be heard on the SportsTalkNetwork each week as you are beginning your preparation for the following weekend. From there, we revisit last week’s issue about Week 1 and sample size and we check to see where Week 2 diverged from Week 1 – and where it was consistent. We will also take a look at the short-term Matt Cassel era in New England and about how our advice from last week was correct – and more importantly, why.

In our second half hour, we will start our process of breaking down each and every NFL game on the slate this weekend from a fantasy perspective. Toward the end of the show, we will examine some fantasy concepts regarding scarcity and value at different positions in the context of our brand new FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008, a joint production of FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology.

On THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EDT), we continue our examination of this brand-new guide and how it will help you in your hockey pool this year. We’ll look at some of this year’s overvalued players and undervalued players and also some specific insight for this year’s roto landscape. Then, in our second half hour, we break down the FDH season preview for the 2008 season from the draft guide and see where our hosts agree and disagree with the placement.

Be sure to join us tonight for all of the wide-ranging content you have come to expect only from the FDH Wednesday night lineup on STN.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue II

Welcome to our second-ever edition of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter, as we continue to bring you weekly fantasy sports updates in addition to our usual content on FantasyDrafthelp.com. If you missed it, we urge you to check out our premier edition from last week right here.

In this week's edition:

^ NFL Week 2 fantasy coverage
^ Tom Brady's injury: the somber truth
^ Other Week 1 NFL notes
^ Your first look at our brand-new fantasy hockey guide for 2008.

As always, we urge to you subscribe to this newsletter via the available feed options on Blogger. It has come to our attention, however, that there do not appear to be means to subscribe to this via any aggregate news readers at the moment; if that is true, it is because it is being published on the older Blogger platform. Our sister publication in cyberspace, The FDH Lounge Multimedia Magazine, is on the newer Blogger platform and can be subscribed to in that manner. As such, for the forseeable future, we will publish a link to this newsletter on The Lounge each week so that those of you who subscribe via aggregate news readers can have the content show up in the most convenient manner.

NFL Week 2

NOTE: Our advice, as it does on our FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER weekly program (Wednesdays, 7-9 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com), is based on helping you determine which of your marginal starters are worth a play this week. Hopefully, your initial draft/auction efforts were successful, because frankly, “playing the matchups” is far from an exact science regardless of what you will be told by other advisory services claiming to possess a crystal ball. But our weekly game notes are designed to try to help you maximize the potential of your situation. We will post this preface to the notes every week to remind you of the context of our advice. Also, each of our game previews links to the page for that game on CBSSports.com, with statistical information and a video preview of each game.


Sunday games

Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m. Forte is not yet an every-week back based on the still-unproven passing game and the likely 8-in-the-box defenses he’ll be facing unless the WRs step up soon. Rosario is already somebody who merits a look here and likely almost every week upcoming.

Tennessee Titans at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m. Johnson is almost a legit #2 RB already and he’ll really clean up here – although don’t be too disappointed when he gets vultured by White on the goal line. For the Bengals, don’t overreact yet to Week 1 and bench anyone who you wouldn’t otherwise have benched, but if Perry (or somebody else) can’t get it going, this offense will really sputter this year.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m. Rogers proved during Week 1 that he is a legitimate starting option from time to time and this is one of those times. Detroit WR Johnson showed already that he should be considered an every-week option.

Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m. As far as what we said in the synopsis just above: consider Edwards a slightly poor-man’s Rogers fantasy-wise right now. This isn’t a good place to put him in the lineup. For the Jags, don’t draw any conclusions one way or another from what happened Week 1. This isn’t a good game for marginal plays.

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m. All-out in terms of starting Raiders, while Bowe is the marginal play worth playing for KC. LJ should bounce back well from Week 1 here, while Huard at QB should help, at least slightly, Gonzalez and Bowe.

Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m. This is a strange game, because notwithstanding some big surprises in Indy Week 1, everyone on both teams should still be slotted just about where you had them going into the season. All-in on the marginal players for Indianapolis, all-out for the marginals on the Vikings because the passing game is still finding itself.

N.Y. Giants at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m. Go all-in with your Giants, except for anybody you envision as your #2 WR – because that position is still in flux. All-out on St. Louis after the debacle last week until this team can prove they are not as pathetic as they were in ’07.

New Orleans Saints at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m. While the Saints’ WR situation is upside-down without Colston now, don’t bite on any of their starters nobody’s even proven worthy of #2 WR fantasy status yet. Also, don’t start any New Orleans RBs except Bush. And don’t start any marginal ‘Skins until they sort out their new offense.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m. TE Davis is the only marginal play worth a look from either team in this game, including Hasselbeck. Beware of him, with his injuries and his WRs continuing to drop like flies.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4:05 p.m. RBs Turner and Graham are now just about every-week plays. Galloway is the only other marginal play worth chasing in this game.

Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m. All-in for the Cardinals, all-out for the Dolphins … but monitor Arizona, inasmuch as USA Today Sports Weekly correctly pointed out this week that Warner only really gets into a groove when the team deviates from its’ preferred run-pass balance.

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos 4:15 p.m. Stay with just the gimmes for San Diego inasmuch as the offense will probably be large ground-based against Denver. Royal and Marshall should obviously do very well together, but beware the RB platoon until somebody takes a more definitive lead role.

New England Patriots at N.Y. Jets 4:15 p.m. Try to put the Brady drama aside and treat all of your other Pats starters as you normally would, as the team won’t collapse overnight. For the Jets, only Favre looks good out of the non-gimmes as the team got off to a good start against Miami but still has much to prove.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns 8:15 p.m. All-in for the Steelers (based on both the Steelers and Browns Week 1 games), while it’s DA yes, Lewis no for the Browns (based on Lewis being banged-up and the likelihood that the Browns could be playing from way behind).

Monday night

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans 8:30 p.m. With a paucity of good offensive options for both teams and both defenses showing the capacity to play strong (notwithstanding Houston’s Week 1 bed-crapping against Pittsburgh), this is simply an all-out game for marginal players.


Philadelphia at Dallas 8:30 p.m. All-in for an East shootout!



Tom Brady: The Truth Hurts
We use that headline as a tribute to FDH Lounge Dignitary Bob Glassman, a good friend of ours. Essentially, if you have Tom Brady on your fantasy team, you almost certainly won't win your league this year.

The truth hurts. We have Brady on one of our fantasy teams. But football, as the fantasy sport most dependent on the production of one or two megastars per team and the one therefore most hostage to good and bad luck, is set up this way. Now, if your backup QB (let's say Kurt Warner) turns out to have the success of 1999 Kurt Warner and you drafted Darren McFadden and he turns out to have the success of AP last year ... well, then this somber note might not apply to you. But we always try to bring you the truth at FDH and the fact is that there is an extreme likelihood that your team will fall short this year in the absence of Brady. Other sites might blow smoke up your tailpipe and tell you that they can help you attain absolute glory even without him, but we never will. Frankly, most of your team's destiny for a season is shaped on draft or auction day and you can't make up for top picks that were spent on glaring holes. Tom Brady just became a glaring hole.

Keep trying, though, and keep checking FDH for more help. There is no shame in persevering on and making the most of what you have. There is complete and utter shame in lying down and abandoning your team and throwing off your league's competitive balance just because you suffered misfortune. Keep fighting. We certainly will!

Other NFL Week 1 Notes

^ As we told you on the fantasy show this week, keep in mind the nature of the sample size. Few things are ever as great or as horrible (with the exception of Tom Brady's 2008 production!) as they appear after the first game. We've already had a question put to us by a Laurence Maroney owner who is experiencing the "Here we go again" feeling after Week 1. That may well turn out to be justified, but how miserable would you feel if you cut him and he started to live up to his potential? Plus, the Pats will surely be more conservative without Brady, so that should accrue to Maroney's potential. That is a perfect example in a nutshell of why you should reserve judgement after one week.

^ Michael "Burner" Turner took the biggest stride towards becoming an every-week RB in the first week. Matt Forte is not quite there yet, inasmuch as the Bears need to prove they can establish the pass at some point to keep the talented youngster from facing 8-in-the-box the whole way.

^ Eddie Royal is for real, and our Senior Editor Jason Jones called it first!

Fantasy Hockey Draftology 2008

In conjunction with our friends at Sportsology, today we released our fantasy hockey guide for this season. This 100-page page bad boy contains info relating to the 2008 NFL Entry Draft and some other great non-fantasy content (including previews of the year's two hottest hockey video games and an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at one of them).

As a sneak preview of what we've got in there, check out our 2008 Fantasy Overview from Page 95:

^ As was the case in the FantasyDrafthelp.com 2008 mock draft (Pages 99-100), Crosby and
Ovechkin are going 1-2 in a great many drafts this year. Crosby is a slight bit better in allaround
production, but you really can’t go wrong with either or with any of the upper-first
round talent. When you get towards the end of the round, there’s a bit of a dropoff in value,
as is the case by the early third round as well.

^ PIM is always scarce for top players; we at FantasyDrafthelp.com have long compared
power forwards to the so-called “five-category studs” in baseball, because the combination
of grit and scoring ability is about as rare as the speed/power combo in baseball. Now, contrary
to the trend in baseball that is seeing stolen base value decrease relative to falling
power, there are even fewer players with high PIM this year towards the top of most draft
boards. Adjust accordingly.

^ Another trend that has something in common with baseball: the influx of youth towards the
top of many draft boards. Take a look at any baseball or hockey board for this year and
compare it to one from three years ago. We’re in the consolidation stage of a generational
changing of the guard.

^ Ottawa’s decline from the ranks of the Eastern Conference elite accelerates as key players
continue their migration from Ontario. Redden’s absence will hurt more than Chara’s did, at
least in a fantasy sense, because of everything he brings to the power play. This accounts for
the drop that you will see with the Sens’ “Big Three” on many draft boards this year.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

FDH Insider/Goon Squad September 10

Autumn begins tonight in earnest as the FantasyDrafthelp.com Wednesday night returns to its usual form on SportsTalkNetwork.com.

On THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER (7-9 PM EDT), we review the horrible Tom Brady injury and examine what, if any, lessons are to be learned here. Also, we’ll examine the concept of Week 1 and sample sizes before moving on to our NFL Week 2 game-by-game fantasy breakdown. We’ll start that by looking at a few games before the bottom of the first hour and move past the bottom of the second hour. At that point, we’ll preview our forthcoming FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008, which is to be released this Saturday as a free download at STN as well as the two partner sites involved, FantasyDrafthelp.com and Sportsology. We’ll give you a sneak peak at some of the material in the guide that will help you to win your hockey pools this year.

Next, on THE GOON SQUAD (9-10 PM EDT), the program makes its season debut with a review of our off-air fantasy hockey mock draft – which you will be able to find in FANTASY HOCKEY DRAFTOLOGY 2008. Our entire program will be devoted to this examination of our mock draft. What do the results of it tell us about the fantasy hockey landscape in the fall of 2008? We’ll tell you.

Be sure to join us tonight for the greatest three hours you will find anywhere, only on STN!


Thursday, September 04, 2008

FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume I, Issue I

Welcome to the initial issue of the FDH Fantasy Newsletter! Through this organizational structure, we will make the content on our fantasy sports blog more predictable and thus of more use to you, our loyal readers. In this, our first-ever issue of this weekly newsletter, we will focus on the following:

^ NFL Week One game-by-game fantasy notes
^ Our review of the aptly-named "BS Report" with Bill Simmons and Matthew Berry
^ Some fantasy hockey notes to get you hyped up for the forthcoming pool season
^ An early look at next year's fantasy baseball first-round probables
^ The NFL schedule for every week beyond this one

To be honest, we've been compiling content for this debut for several weeks now, so it may well end up being a bit bigger than our subsequent editions will be. We urge you to subscribe to this newsletter via our available RSS feed. On with the show ...

NFL Week 1

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4

Washington Redskins at N.Y. Giants 7:00 p.m. We don’t really like anyone from the ‘Skins yet with the exceptions of gimmes Portis and Cooley, although Moss is acceptable if you need to use him. Eli’s still a situational play, but he looks good here, as does Boss – who played against Washington late last year.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7

Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m. Detroit’s WRs are gimmes, and so is Michael Turner, so there are no real marginal plays in this one aside from Kitna and Roddy White. Notwithstanding Detroit’s abysmal pass defense, we can’t in good conscience recommend Matt Ryan in his pro debut. Regardless of what is said publicly, Kevin Smith is on thin ice with Rudi Johnson now in Motown.

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m. T.J. Housh and Ocho Cinco look ready to go, and they’re beyond obvious as plays if they are, but keep tabs on that leading up to gametime. Same goes for the banged-up McGahee, who is somewhat less likely to play; if he sits, Ray Rice is a must start against this terrible defense. Heap also may not play, and if he doesn’t, there’s nobody else worth recommending in the Baltimore lineup. Chris Perry is a marginal play at best against this defense.

Seattle Seahawks at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m. Both QBs are hurt and should play, although only Hasselbeck is a really good option between the two. Julius Jones and Nate Burleson are not great options, while Buffalo’s gimme tandem of Lynch and Evans are the only worthy starters for now.

N.Y. Jets at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m. Ricky Williams has always played well against the Jets, and is actually a better option for now than Thomas Jones. Wait and see on anybody else from Miami right now, while Favre and Cotchery are the “sometimes” plays who merit a look for the Jets.

Kansas City Chiefs at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m. Trust nothing that is said publicly about Brady’s condition – monitor until game time. Welker’s value depends on whether Brady plays or not; if he does, the weak Chief secondary will have to double-team Moss and Welker will prosper. Croyle and any Chief WRs not named Bowe must prove themselves before even being considered as marginal plays.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m. This is our first all-in game of the season in terms of marginal players. The Deuce should be healthy and Galloway always feasts on the Saints, so even those who had had injury question marks look good here.

St. Louis Rams at Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 p.m. We’re still wary on DeSean Jackson as a starting WR right off the bat, but this looks like a good situation to play him if you are thin at the position and you must make a gamble of some sort. At least Curtis and Brown won’t be in there to take away opportunities from him. This is a good week to sit Bulger if you can inasmuch as he’ll be facing a great secondary. This is actually a pretty weak game for marginal plays.

Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 p.m. Don’t sweat Andre Johnson or “Fast Willie,” they’ll both be in there. As for non-gimmes here, Holmes and Ward should be good matchups, while the Houston RB situation should be given a wide berth until the dust settles.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m. Beware either Tennessee RB right now, as the picture is unsettled and the opponent’s defense obviously tough. Frankly, the Titans look like the rare “play nobody” team, with the exception of Bironas. TE Lewis is a great sleeper for Jacksonville, as he has done well against Tennessee. David Garrard isn’t a great play yet until his WR picture gets a chance to gel a bit.

Dallas Cowboys at Cleveland Browns 4:15 p.m. With Cleveland’s secondary looking so atrocious at the moment, Crayton is one of the best marginal plays of the week – but with Lewis and Anderson looking ready to play and Cleveland probably airing it out quite a bit once they fall behind, this looks like another “all in” game.

Carolina Panthers at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m. We don’t like any marginal plays in this game, although Rivers and his WRs Chambers and Jackson probably come the closest under the circumstances.

Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m. Don’t drink the Kool-Aid on O’Sullivan yet; only the gimmes of Gore and TE Davis should be in for San Fran. Warner and James are the marginal Cardinals who should get a look, although owners the Hightower situation should be monitored closely.

Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts 8:15 p.m. This Super Bowl 41 rematch in prime time will be notable for the Bears meriting “all out” and the Colts deserving “all in” – assuming Manning plays, and all indications are that he will.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8

Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers 7:00 p.m. Beware the banged-up Berrian, and for that matter, any Viking not named “Peterson.” For the Pack, Rogers and both of his starting WRs look good here.

Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders 10:15 p.m. Beware the Eddie Royal hype for right now, as it seems a bit overheated. Fargas and McFadden are good situational plays against this “weak sister” defense.



“BS Report” review

This podcast can be found on Bill Simmons’ home page on ESPN.com. It contains our various notes and observations about the conversation between Simmons and Matthew Berry.

^ Berry hasn’t read another fantasy columnist in 2 ½ years. I imagine FDH would have heard from him by now if he had!

^ Simmons referenced 2nd year WRs as a cliché – it’s actually 3rd year WRs. Duh!

^ Berry called a Torry Holt bounceback year – we actually really agree.

^ Berry says take Steven Jackson at #5 – we disagree (7), but not wildly.

^ Berry doesn’t want # 6 -- LT, Westbrook, Addai, AP, Jackson in his book, then a big dropoff – Simmons doesn’t want #8. In actuality, late-round is worse because of the falloff in talent that occurs in the early third round.

^ Berry is down on Frank Gore (1,109 total yards for a Martz lead back on average over the past few years – BUT – that includes the crappy Detroit backs!).

^ Berry’s next few picks in 1st round: Brady, Portis, Marion Barber!!! Apparently, he’s never heard of Felix Jones if he thinks Barber is going to play as much as other consensus first-round backs.

^ If picking 9 or 10 in a 10-team league, Berry takes Moss or TO and a RB.

^ “Is it too early?” Berry says, “It’s your team, if he won’t last until you’re up next, then take him.” To him, there is no objective absolute truth and you should reach for whoever you want because it’s your own team. What a copout in terms of trying to legitimately, honestly help people out. Value matters, son.

^ Berry says Romo’s a 1st round pick – Simmons puts him ahead of Manning!!! Don’t quit the day job, chowd.

^ Berry says go RB/WR first time around, then Brees, then Roethlisberger alone on the next tier!!!

^ Berry has Garrard 8th on his QB rankings, notwithstanding still no front-line WRs.

^ Berry has Peyton Manning #30 overall on his board!!! Classic “shock value for the sake of it” from Matt Berry, a lot like when his boy Simmons embarrassed himself by saying the Cleveland Cavaliers would miss the playoffs altogether last year.

^ Berry has Braylon Edwards #3 at WR, Reggie Wayne at #4, Colston #5 – sounds about right to us.

^ Berry’s big comeback sleeper is Donovan McNabb, with Marc Bulger and Torry Holt fitting the bill also, as well as Hines Ward and the Steelers’ passing game overall.

^ Berry is high on the Jets!!! Loves Cotchery and Thomas Jones (what else is new?). He’s such a bandwagon boy.

^ Berry is high on the Redskins!!!

^ Berry three biggest sleepers: Chris Johnson, David Garrard, Matt Schaub, Steve Slaton – others: Ted Ginn, DeSean Jackson (#1 Philly WR in his book!!!), Darren McFadden to be an excellent #2 RB in his top 20 at the position!!!, Troy Smith, Patrick Crayton, Tony Scheffler.

^ Simmons would want to be picking in the #1 spot if possible, with #10 as a second choice!!! So at least he’s consistent about being random.

^ Berry wrote about the death of the 2 RB in 1st 2 rounds Theory – only 7 of 30 top points-scorers last year on ESPN system were RBs – I’m sure he apologized for steering people that way!!! That’s sarcasm right there, folks.

^ ESPN does have an auction version of a fantasy setup this year.



Fantasy Hockey Notes
^ With all due respect to the fine folks at the 2009 NHL Yearbook (an otherwise sterling publication), their fantasy rankings are a mess. They rank the Top 15 goalies together and the Top 50 non-goalies together. So far, so good -- but the problem is in how they do it. 23 of the top 50 non-goalies are from the center (centre to our fine Canadian readers!) position, which is ludicrous. As is the case many years, the center pool is the deepest in terms of impact players; hence, the value of all but the top few players is minimized at least a bit proportionally because of that. In other words, you can wait awhile during the draft for your top center if you miss out on Crosby or Malkin and you can certainly wait on your #2 center. Positions of greater scarcity need to be represented much stronger in the Top 50 forwards/defensemen; by our reckoning, no more than 14-16 centers could even remotely be considered in that grouping. Time to apply some of the universal precepts of fantasy value and strategy, NHL Yearbook!

^ However, the NHL Yearbook comes up strong in comparison to The Hockey News Fantasy Guide, because AT LEAST THEY HAVE SOME SEMBLANCE OF A DRAFT BOARD! You heard our screaming correctly; THN's fantasy guide still does not carry an actual draft board, merely their projections for players and a statistical recap of their recent production! In no other sport have we run across a publication that purports to be all about fantasy sports that is so fundamentally and embarrassingly lacking in the most basic and elementary of advisory tools. Get it together next year, THN, you're better than that.


2009 Fantasy Baseball First-Round Probables


At this time last year, we were touting Hanley Ramirez as an early first-round lock for 2008, a position that most other touts subsequently agreed with and locked in as industry conventional wisdom. In what seemed to be the vast majority of drafts this past year, ARod went #1 and Ramirez followed at #2.

Those two will certainly be Top 5 picks again in 2009. Who are the likeliest to join them in the first round?

^ Albert Pujols is still, well, Albert Pujols.

^ Chase Utley was #3 on our board this year, more or less by default as we saw a big dropoff after the "Big 2." That was certainly no disrespect to him and he continues to cement his status as one of the premier hitters of his generation at one of the weakest positions. Health permitting, mark him down for the first round for the next five years, minimum.

^ After years of being frankly overvalued in the fantasy sense, Grady Sizemore finally lived up to the billing with a 30-30 season that could yet become 40-40. Like Carlos Beltran, though, he's still a four-category player at best as batting average remains a lagging area of production, but he's now a legit first-rounder.

^ Matt Holliday could hit 30-30 as well and proved that he was no fluke in terms of being drafted as the first outfielder in many leagues this year. Like Utley, good health is the only issue for years going forward.

^ While many in this business remain wary of recommending catchers in the first round, we are not afraid if the circumstance warrants it. Brian McCann's ascention to the title of "Best-Hitting Catcher Since Mike Piazza In His Prime" warrants it.

^ Ryan Braun's career trajectory places him in the first round as well, even if he can't get you dual-eligibility next year.

^ In terms of pitchers, Johan Santana has to get the nod on the cumulative basis of a run of dominance that recalls that of Randy Johnson and before that, Greg Maddux. With a greater supply of legitimate ace pitchers in the game in recent years, the value of other candidates takes them out of the first round (see fantasy hockey value analysis in this newsletter).

That's about it for the gimmes, although Jose Reyes with his steals and his (past) power production is right on the periphery of that status.


NFL Regular Season -- Weeks 2-17

Week 2

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Chicago Bears at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4:05 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos 4:15 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at Houston Texans 4:15 p.m.

New England Patriots at N.Y. Jets 4:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cleveland Browns 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Philadelphia Eagles at Dallas Cowboys 8:30 p.m.

Week 3

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21

Kansas City Chiefs at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Baltimore Ravens 4:15 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts 4:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Philadelphia Eagles 4:15 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 22

N.Y. Jets at San Diego Chargers 8:30 p.m.

Week 4

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

(Byes: Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, New England, N.Y. Giants, Seattle)

Atlanta Falcons at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m.

Denver Broncos at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders 4:05 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at St. Louis Rams 4:05 p.m.

Washington Redskins at Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at Chicago Bears 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh Steelers 8:30 p.m.

Week 5

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 5

(Byes: Cleveland, N.Y. Jets, St. Louis, Oakland )

Tennessee Titans at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

Washington Redskins at Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 p.m.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals at Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m.

New England Patriots at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Jacksonville Jaguars 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6

Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints 8:30 p.m.

Week 6

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12

(Byes: Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tennessee)

Chicago Bears at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 p.m.

New England Patriots at San Diego Chargers 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 13

N.Y. Giants at Cleveland Browns 8:30 p.m.

Week 7

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 19

(Byes: Arizona, Atlanta Jacksonville, Philadelphia)

San Diego Chargers at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Houston Texans 4:05 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers 4:15 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Washington Redskins 4:15 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20

Denver Broncos at New England Patriots 8:30 p.m.

Week 8

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 26

(Byes: Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Green Bay, Houston, Minnesota)

Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Dallas Cowboys 1:00 p.m.

Washington Redskins at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at New Orleans Saints (LONDON) 1:00 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Jacksonville Jaguars 4:05 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27

Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans 8:30 p.m.

Week 9

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2

(Byes: Carolina, New Orleans, San Diego, San Francisco)

N.Y. Jets at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at N.Y. Giants 4:15 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 p.m.

New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 3

Pittsburgh Steelers at Washington Redskins 8:30 p.m.

Week 10

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6

(Byes: Baltimore, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Washington)

Denver Broncos at Cleveland Browns 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9

New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at Oakland Raiders 4:05 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia Eagles 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10

San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals 8:30 p.m.

Week 11

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13

N.Y. Jets at New England Patriots 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16

Denver Broncos at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at Washington Redskins * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17

Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills 8:30 p.m.

Week 12

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 20

Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23

Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys 1:00 p.m.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

Chicago Bears at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

Washington Redskins at Seattle Seahawks 4:15 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at San Diego Chargers * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 24

Green Bay Packers at New Orleans Saints 8:30 p.m.

Week 13

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 27

Tennessee Titans at Detroit Lions 12:30 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 30

San Francisco 49ers at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m.

Baltimore Ravens at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m.

Denver Broncos at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at San Diego Chargers 4:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at New England Patriots 4:15 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m.

Chicago Bears at Minnesota Vikings * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 1

Jacksonville Jaguars at Houston Texans 8:30 p.m.

Week 14

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4

Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7

Washington Redskins at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Chicago Bears 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Houston Texans at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m.

Cincinnati Bengals at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at Buffalo Bills (TORONTO) 4:05 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at San Francisco 49ers 4:05 p.m.

St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.

New England Patriots at Seattle Seahawks * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers 8:30 p.m.

Week 15

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11

New Orleans Saints at Chicago Bears 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

Denver Broncos at Carolina Panthers 1:00 p.m.

Washington Redskins at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m.

Green Bay Packers at Jacksonville Jaguars 1:00 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at Miami Dolphins 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

Minnesota Vikings at Arizona Cardinals 4:05 p.m.

New England Patriots at Oakland Raiders 4:15 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Dallas Cowboys * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15

Cleveland Browns at Philadelphia Eagles 8:30 p.m.

Week 16

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18

Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars 8:15 p.m.

SatURDAY, DECEMBER 20

Baltimore Ravens at Dallas Cowboys 8:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21

Cincinnati Bengals at Cleveland Browns 1:00 p.m.

New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at Kansas City Chiefs 1:00 p.m.

Atlanta Falcons at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Arizona Cardinals at New England Patriots 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at N.Y. Giants 1:00 p.m.

San Francisco 49ers at St. Louis Rams 1:00 p.m.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Tennessee Titans 1:00 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Redskins 1:00 p.m.

Buffalo Bills at Denver Broncos 4:05 p.m.

Houston Texans at Oakland Raiders 4:05 p.m.

N.Y. Jets at Seattle Seahawks 4:05 p.m.

San Diego Chargers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers * 8:15 p.m.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 22

Green Bay Packers at Chicago Bears 8:30 p.m.

Week 17

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28

St. Louis Rams at Atlanta Falcons 1:00 p.m.

Jacksonville Jaguars at Baltimore Ravens 1:00 p.m.

New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills 1:00 p.m.

Kansas City Chiefs at Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 p.m.

Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers 1:00 p.m.

Chicago Bears at Houston Texans 1:00 p.m.

Tennessee Titans at Indianapolis Colts 1:00 p.m.

N.Y. Giants at Minnesota Vikings 1:00 p.m.

Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints 1:00 p.m.

Miami Dolphins at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.

Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles 1:00 p.m.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers 1:00 p.m.

Oakland Raiders at Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 p.m.

Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers 4:15 p.m.

Washington Redskins at San Francisco 49ers 4:15 p.m.