So, how many freshmen in here clocked my Week 1 picks at 1-8. Ok, now, how many sophomores had it at 2-7? Most of you? That’s what I suspected. Let’s review just the MNF Primetime Combo.
With the people having already taken the Sunday nighter, we knew the House was taking one of these two sides, right? I should see everyone’s head nodding, yes? Can ya hear me in the back! Hello?! Good. That should have been a given.
Class is in session. Keep reading for more of SBJ Primetime picks.
3-6. Brutal. Probably shouldn’t have gloated about the Labor Day run. Serves me right. In the words of the mother of the 41st President of the United States…”Don’t gloat…
I think me and Cam could both take a lesson from this insightful woman to heart. Hear her, Cam? No elaborate celebrating after every time the chains move. No premeditated dances you’ve spent an entire offseason choreographing in front of your mirror. No lame post game sideline group shots pointing to the left, right, and whatever other nonsense you have planned this year. It’s not likable behavior, it’s tacky, and it reeks of a rookie having never been in the end zone before.
Week 1 is in the books. It was an exciting week for sure with a lot of high scoring action. We had a short glimpse into the future here, as we embark on a Peyton Manning and Tom Brady-less NFL, but Drew Brees certainly reminded us what elite quarterback play looked like, as did Andrew Luck in his long awaited return to the field.
Keenan Allen was the first to upset fantasy footballers as he once again saw his season come to an early end. Jamaal Charles and Gronk were on the sidelines, and right now don’t look too good for this week. So, who do our experts see as some smart plays?
The other day, The Thread and myself were debating once again on Matt Ryan. They came to his defense with the excuses that normally are linked to Matt Ryan, which in his defense, all are justified. The Falcons have long struggled to establish a consistent running game, they have had a porous offensive line in the past (hopefully that changes this year) and annually wheel out a pretty unacceptable defense.
It made me think, people always make excuses for good quarterbacks that never seemed to achieve the greatness of Super Bowl glory. Justified or not, there is simply always an excuse. Dan Marino never had a running game, Jim Kelly was just unlucky whether it be from missed field goals or some of Thurman Thomas’s worst games of his career. The lack of a Super Bowl trophy haunts some quarterbacks, and sometimes, it was never their fault.
It’s the same the other way, too though, right? For every excuse you make for as to why a quarterback can’t win, can’t you do the same for the quarterbacks that have won. Couldn’t you make the case that Joe Montana is the most overrated quarterback ever? If Matt Ryan struggles because of the deficiencies around him, didn’t Joe Cool thrive because of the seemingly lack of any weakness in San Francisco? He had an offensive style no one had seen before devised by one of the most brilliant head coaches ever to play the game, added to a top five defense every season he won, with one of the most unheralded running backs to ever play the game and a wide receiver that years later made Rich Gannon an MVP (Go Blue Hens!).
Nomi said I was ridiculous. Does that mean that I think Montana is not a Top 10 quarterback? Of course not, but is Montana the GOAT that many thinks he is? Maybe not.
So, after Jimmy Garapollo defeated one of the NFL’s elite defenses in his first career start — a start that saw not only his top target, but arguably one of the NFL’s best targets, on the bench — it made me wonder… just how good is Tom Brady?
Anyone catch the Panthers/ Broncos game on Thursday night? Good. Did anyone bet it? No, right? Why not? Because we don’t trust Thursday night betting trends, as I went over in our list of important lessons taught in SPORTSBOOK 101, correct? Well, you should have taken the BRONCOS +3(-125) without even hesitating a second. ‘How’, you ask? Wouldn’t taking action in that game fly directly into the face of the third lesson listed in my last post? Well, sort of.
See, that wasn’t really Thursday Night Football. That was the NFL Kickoff Game, which was the first chance for gamblers to take action on a relevant NFL game in seven months. So, much like a junkie going though withdrawal, sports gamblers can’t wait to collect on their first winner of the year, especially after such a long layoff. Which means, the betting trends had more action, or at least the equivalent of action that is usually bet on any given Sunday night or Monday night game. I probably should have clarified that in the SPORTSBOOK 102 introductory post, but I didn’t.
Now you know the difference between Thursday Night Football and a Thursday Night Kickoff. And just for future reference, I’ll add this rule: If Al Michaels is announcing the game, then you can trust the betting trends.
Read more for what SBJ says about Week 1’s Prime Time games.
Let me begin by saying that if this is your first sports betting course I highly recommend skimming a few posts (NFL Sundays with SBJ & NFL Rundown with SBJ) from last year. Get very familiar with the SBJ NFL SUNDAYS GLOSSARY terms, which can be found on the home page search icon. I have a slew of high profile future sharps who rode with me for the entire season in our SPORTSBOOK 101 class, and I owe it to them to not regurgitate the same novice lessons we went over in the introductory course.
SBJ is back. Keep reading for his insights on the coming season.
STOP THE PRESSES. There was actually another quarterback in the news this past week? While most of America seemingly wants to send Colin Kaepernick far away for practicing his constitutional rights in a disrespectful way, everyone is feeling sympathetic towards the Minnesota Vikings Teddy Bridgewater.
Teddy Bridgewater vows to come back strong. pic.twitter.com/UGxugKp8hL
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 1, 2016
Seeing Bridgewater go down was awful, but the Vikings need to get back to business and play football. 36 year old Shaun Hill — who, 15 years into his career, is still one of the better backups in the game — is being thrust into just his third starting stint in his decade and a half career, the most recent coming with an eight game run for the Rams in 2014.
Unless, of course, the Vikings explore the free agency market, or possibly even a trade.
Yesterday, our fantasy football experts brought you Part I of our fantasy draft prep, taking a close look at the MVP choices, top rookies and breakout performers we expect to play a role in 2016. Today we bring you Part Deux, taking a look at big comebacks, bigger busts and sneaky sleepers.
Keep reading for Part II of your fantasy football draft prep.
Fantasy football drafts are upon us. With many people’s first drafts (oh come on, you know you have more than one team) commencing this weekend, it is time for Wayniac Nation’s Third Annual Busts, Breakouts, Sleepers and MVPs Spectacular!
This year, we go in two parts. Part I will take a look at the MVP choices of our panel, the breakout candidates as well as the top rookies to choose from in 2016. Be sure to come back tomorrow for Part II, featuring the top comeback candidates, biggest busts and everyone’s favorite, sleeper central!
Continue reading for some sneaky picks for 2016 Fantasy Football.
It’s that time of year, my fellow sports world Dungeon and Dragoners. Preseason football is underway, there are magazines on the super market shelves, and the Sirius/XM Fantasy radio station has nixed baseball and gone directly to all fantasy football all the time.
The good news is for those that have followed our growing fantasy network — with the top Starts and Sits each week, weekly player analysis and last season’s addition of FanDuel Fee breaking down DFS — are all back. Saucy T, J.D., Teddy Ballgame, Dunton, FanDuel Fee, The Wifeyiac as well as our other guest columnists have all signed on for yet another year of the best FREE fantasy football advice on the World Wide Intraweb.
Now that we got the niceties out of the way, let’s get to it.
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