Category Archives: NFL

NFL, Sports

WATT HAPPENED? NFL Week 12 Top Story Lines

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Yes, I am a die hard Houston Texans fan. Yes, I am extremely biased. But YES, J.J. Watt is the best player in the NFL. Watt scored another touchdown on the offensive side of the ball in what continues to be an MVP season in his fourth year. He already has a Defensive Player of the Year Award in his trophy case, and he may very well bring home another. His play has the Texans, not even a full year removed from a 2-14 season that ended with FOURTEEN consecutive losses, at .500 and in second place in the AFC South by just one game.

There have been some interesting moves off the field before Week 12 has even started. Adrian Peterson was suspended for the remainder of the season for not even attempting to cooperate with the NFL in regards to the child abuse accusations earlier this season. LeGarrette Blount was released by the Steelers for basically being a little cry baby. Seriously, the dude gets pulled over with Le’Veon Bell for being high as hell and doesn’t get released, he should be happy he still had a job. Instead, he threw a temper tantrum and stormed off the field because he wasn’t given any touches while Bell was setting Pittsburgh Steelers’ records rushing for over 200 yards. Ben Tate was released by the Cleveland Browns. As a Texans’ fan, I knew this was a bad deal. Tate had one good season, and it came running behind an offensive line that sent THREE players to the Pro Bowl. Other than that one year, Tate couldn’t stay healthy and any Texans’ faithful could tell you he wasn’t made to be a featured back. Lastly, Jason Avant was actually released by the Panthers for questioning their play calling at the end of the Falcons game. No one on the Panthers clearly reads Wayniac Nation, because I have been questioning how Ron Rivera has a job for awhile.

Continue on to Power Rankings and Games of the Week!

Basbeall, NBA, NFL, Sports

The Wacky Week in Sports

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Another week is in the books, folks. It’s hard to believe there are only six weeks left in the 2014 year. That means you are six weeks from the First Annual Wayniac Nation Wacky YEAR in Sports. I know, you can hardly contain yourself.

The MLB helped begin to wrap some stuff up as it’s year-end awards had one superstar doubling up on some shiny new hardware. College football saw some history, a few upsets and the return of a once Heisman hopeful. College hoops kicked off their season and Syracuse is undefeated! Six teams with at least seven wins saw action in the NFL on yet another crazy Sunday and Kobe Bryant proved that you can in fact miss shots you don’t take, and thousands of more that you do.

Continue on to this week’s wackiness

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 11 Starts and Sits

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Week 11. It is a pretty big week for most people, but for me it’s a bit different. You see, in my BFFL, acclaimed member of The Thread, Kid Robot thought it would be an interesting idea to have my fiancé join his fantasy team. Last year was her first year doing fantasy in her own league and she is pretty darn stout. She asked for my tutelage prior to her 2013 draft and learned the rest on her own. Last year, she made the playoffs. This year, in her FFFL, she is in first place. This week I play her. Win or lose, she is one of the biggest Patriots fans there is and I have Tom Brady and Shane Vereen going against her Sunday night. I know that is tearing her up inside.

Last week, we were a few experts short because of busy weeks. Ted Reed was really busy in particular. I want to give a huge shout out and big congratulations to the newest dad on the Wayniac Nation staff. Congrats, Ted, and welcome back. You only have so many leaves of absence during the fantasy football season.

The experts that were here knocked it out of the park. Fee hit on everything. Justin Forsett went off for 112 yards and two touchdowns, Kelvin Benjamin went for 70 yards and two touchdowns and Matt Ryan had a decent enough day. His sit, Ryan Tannehill, had a whopping 10 points. J.D. was right about Mychal Rivera and his 20-point performance, although he missed on Jeremy Hill who fell back to reality with a 6 point day. He told you to sit Odell Beckham, Jr. who somehow performed well against the Seahawks, but told you not to be duped into starting Bobby Rainey against a weak Falcons defense because Charles Sims was healthy and would steal carries. Sims did just that, with two more carries and 9 more yards. Me? I definitely missed telling you to start that soulless ginger Andy Dalton, but Denard Robinson (20 points), Mike Evans (32 points) and the Packers defense (17-20 points depending upon format) cleared my name. Sitting Jay Cutler and Vernon Davis and his huge 8-yard catch in a week short on tight ends and quarterbacks hopefully helped you as well.

This week, aside from the Dallas Cowboys offensive stars, there isn’t too many relevant people on a bye. Of course, if you are starting any Jets or Jaguars on a regular basis, you need way more help than my experts can give you anyway. But we will certainly do our best!

Week 11 Starts and Sits!

NFL, Sports

Top 3 Stories For Week 11 in the NFL

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I can’t believe it is Week 11 already, folks. It seems like we wait an eternity after the Super Bowl for the NFL to kickoff and then it’s gone quicker than a bottle of Fireball at a sorority social. Now, Ryan Mallett is the starting quarterback of my favorite football team. His first task is against the daunting Cleveland Brown defense, the first place Cleveland Browns mind you, at the Dawg Pound. The big thing that Mallet has going for him is that he can’t be any worse than Ryan Fitzpatrick. Well, at least I hope he can’t.

The Wayniac Nation Power 5 takes a bit of a scramble this week. Last week, the Arizona Cardinals flew high to the number one spot. They won again this past weekend against a very tricky St. Louis Rams team to get to an NFL best 8-1. They lost, however, Carson Palmer for the year. The Cards have already played three games without Palmer this year and Drew Stanton went 2-1 in his stead. How far will they fall off with the sixth toughest remaining schedule? The Wayniac still thinks they take the very formidable NFC West, however, they take a step back this week.

THE WAYNIAC NATION POWER 5: 1.Denver Broncos, 2. Arizona Cardinals, 3. New England Patriots, 4. Detroit Lions and 5. Philadelphia Eagles

Luckily the Cowboys are on a bye this week, so we won’t have to hear about how great they are, especially after that impressive monster win in London over the… Jacksonville Jaguars (also on a bye). For those of you unfamiliar with the Jacksonville Jaguars, they are a team that the best High School football team in America could beat. The New York Jets and Baltimore Ravens also take a seat this week. The good news for NFL fans is that those are pretty crappy teams, so there should be some interesting games to watch this week. At least you would think. Somehow the football powers-that-be felt the Washington Potato Skins versus the Tampa Bay Suck-a-neers, the Atlanta Falcons versus the Carolina Panthers and a Monday Night Football matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans was good scheduling. Don’t worry though, there are still several important story lines to follow this week.

Continue to see the 3 biggest Games of the Week in the NFL

NBA, NFL, Sports

The Wacky Week in Sports

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It was certainly another interesting week in the world of sports. It turns out that everyone’s favorite baseball player Alex Rodriguez is a total liar. The Memphis Grizzlies, The Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors are the three best teams in the NBA and that has me freaked out a little bit. There were a few more big upsets and nail-biters in college football on the heels of Division I’s first playoff season. And the Bears played some solid defense in prime time on Sunday Night Football.

Continue on to all that was wacky

NFL, Sports

Three Big Story Lines for Week 10 of the NFL

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Week 10. Man, the season is flying by isn’t it? As everyone knows by now, Peyton Manning once again fell to Tom Brady and the scorching hot New England Patriots in the 16th edition of the Brady/Manning Rivalry. That means there are only two 7-win teams in the NFL. One is the aforementioned Patriots and the other is the 7-1 Arizona Cardinals.

I can’t quite figure it out, but with all the teams essentially at their halfway point, the Arizona Cardinals have the best record in football. They have a sick secondary, yet their defense is still only 19th overall. They have a steady offense, but they are ranked in the bottom third of the league. To be fair, Carson Palmer and Andre Ellington are finally looking healthy, and Larry Fitzgerald is finally looking like the Fitz of old. Whatever the case is, they are locked down at the top of the Wayniac Nation Power 5.

The Wayniac Nation Power 5: 1. Arizona Cardnials, 2. New England Patriots, 3. Denver Broncos, 4. Indianapolos Colts, 5. Detroit Lions

This week the Pats and the Colts will be missing from action as they are on bye with four other teams. The Houston Texans, San Diego Chargers, Washington Redskins and Minnesota Vikings also get a much needed week off as Arian Foster, RGIII and Philip Rivers (who am I kidding , the whole Chargers team) needs to refresh. Don’t you worry, though. There are still a bevy of not only great, but important games this weekend, including another matchup across the pond. I’m so glad that the Dallas Cowboys marketing department has realized it! As they said themselves on Twitter: #CowboysUK!

Onward to the 3 biggest stories of Week 10!

Basketball, Football, NBA, NFL, Sports

The Wacky Week in Sports

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Well, folks, baseball season is over. The end of the World Series will now bring endless amounts of rumors as to where each big free agent is going to go. College football had some big games and the playoff picture may have gotten a little bit clearer. That’s still weird to hear, huh? Playoff picture and college football in the same sentence? Russell Westbrook proved to be one of the most fragile “superstars” in the NBA and the Dallas Cowboys dropped their second straight loss. Pretty eventful week, huh?

Onward to the wackiness of the week!

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

The WN Fantasy Football Report: Week 9 Starts and Sits

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What do Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffrey, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, Eddie Lacy, Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, Roddy White, Martellus Bennett, Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, Golden Tate, Reggie Bush, Joique Bell and Matt Forte all have in common? Clealry it isn’t that they are all mature leaders on their teams because Jay Cutler is listed in the mix. No, these are all big-scoring guys that all have a bye this week. Picking the right people to start is leaps and bounds more imperative than picking who to sit this week. One of my teams has six people on a bye this week, for crying out loud. What that basically comes down to is if you are on the schedule, you are suiting up for my Fighting Blue Hose.

Last week, I called out our three worst statistical fantasy gurus. I told you that their first half of their rookie fantasy expertise was under par. How did they respond? Dunton was perfect last week as his Start of the Week, T.Y. Hilton, dropped 26 points and his Sit, Marshawn Lynch put up a meager seven points. Fee also went perfect, getting 30 points out of his Golden Tate start and  a mere 16 from his Matt Ryan sit. Ted Reed responded by pulling a Larry Fitzgerald 32-point performance against a tough Eagles defense out of nowhere, and agreeing with Fee on the Matt Ryan Sit of the Week. Six-for-six, folks. If you had doubt in us before, that should erase any left.

Keep on keeping on for your STARTS AND SITS

Football, NFL, Sports

Three Big Story Lines for Week 9 in the NFL

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I told you. The Dallas Cowboys are a joke. I told you they were two weeks ago when every one was on their junk as the best team in football, and I told you last week when they didn’t even crack my Top 5 teams in the NFL. They are a good team. But a good team led by Tony Romo would eventually crumble, as they did Monday night losing to the Colt McCoy-led Redskins. Please refrain from the injury excuse as well, because you know what? Brandon Weeden looked sharp in his fill-in time.

There are a ton of teams on bye this week. The Falcons and Lions get to rest after their trip across the pond. The upstart Bills are off, as are the Bears, Packers and Titans. That leaves 13 games on the slate for this week’s NFL action. Four of the five teams in the Wayniac Nation Power 5 (in order the Broncos, Cardinals, Patriots, Lions and Colts) will see action this week. So what should you pay closest attention to this week? Come on now, you know I got that answer for you!

Continue on to the biggest story lines of week 9!

Fantasy Football, NFL, Sports

Sunday Morning Football Poll: Did You Like It?

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This Sunday, NFL fans experience the earliest game played in football history. I’m very curious on what my loyal Wayniacs thought about the game. Well, not so much the game in particular. I live in Atlanta, I have heard plenty about the Falcons epic collapse in Jolly Old England. Thomas Dimitroff needs to go. He went all in on the Julio Jones trade and has a team that has absolutely no depth. The NFL is a league in which someone gets injured on a weekly basis, sometimes by celebrating a sack (LaMarr Houston, you sir, are an idiot). Mike Smith has no one to turn to on his depleted offensive line and paper thin defense. His coaching calls are a bit peculiar, but so are Ned Yost’s and he is in the World Series. He needs players that play, and maybe this team can return to that 13-3 level they were just a few seasons ago.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

But I digress. I am torn on how I feel about the game. You know by now that I am a total football geek, so a literal full day of football was pretty much like porn. But was it necessary? How many people said screw it and didn’t wake up?  Football is about beer and buffalo wings and none of those go particularly well with 9:30 in the morning. Here in Atlanta, without a special permit, bars can’t serve alcohol until 12:30 on Sundays. Who wants to go to a bar for football when you can’t booze?

It also totally screwed up my fantasy team. I had several running backs on bye, so I had to plug-and-play Bernard Pierce. Pierce was announced inactive at noon, but unlike every other Sunday in the history of time, the waiver wire had locked at 9:30 AM. I couldn’t make a move and had to roll into Sunday’s action down an RB. I know, I know, most people think that the NFL doesn’t care about fantasy football, they care about that dollar bill. Then why does NFL.com, the official site of the NFL, have it’s own fantasy football site with league play and experts? Why does the NFL Network air Fantasy Football Live twice a day? Why do active NFL players tweet about benching themselves and losing? Fantasy football is played by everyone, it is a very real issue in pondering moves Goodell makes. Of course, Goodell doesn’t put much thought into anything, so this shouldn’t be shocking.

So I don’t know how I feel about it. I am a traditionalist at heart. I don’t even like Thursday Night Football even though it gives us an extra day. I remember in my youth after midseason, we had Saturday games. What happened to those? It’s so much better than Thursday because teams have the right amount of rest. Anyhooo…. I think I would rather the normal slate of 1 PM and 4 PM games and never have to watch football before I finished my coffee and eggs again. What do you think?