The NFL season is winding down and the Seattle Seahawks are nowhere near the playoff hunt. After winning four NFC West division championships in a row, 2008 has been a bust in Seattle.
Injuries have ravaged the hometown 11, not to mention they have played just plain terrible in most of their games. But that’s just par for the course for Seattle sports teams this year.
Not only do the Seahawks suck, but the Mariners suck, the Huskies suck and the Sonics no longer exist — which sucks too.
Adding to the overall “suckiness” of the area’s sports scene is the fact that my fantasy football team sucks. And that is a way, way bigger concern to me than the Seahawks, Mariners, Huskies or Sonics.
Sure, I have pride in my hometown sports teams, but I have more pride in “my” fantasy football team. I’m a fantasy football geek, nerd, dweeb or whatever other derogatory term you can throw out there.
During the football season, I’m totally consumed by my fantasy team. It runs my life and I don’t even care. That’s how much I enjoy playing.
But I know I’m not alone.
Fantasy football has grown into a cultural phenomenon in the United States. The “sport” is a billion-dollar enterprise and has cost infinite hours of work at offices around the country, while owners surf the Internet for ideas on who to start and who to sit. Some companies have even gone as far as blocking fantasy football Web sites from their workers. Luckily, the brass down at the Federal Way Mirror has refrained from not allowing a certain sports writer access to Yahoo.com.
It’s a necessity for me to check the league’s Web site multiple times during the work day to make sure I still suck as bad as I really do.
While the postseason is out of the question for the Seahawks, the playoff push is heating up for me and the rest of the fantasy football players around the world. This weekend’s NFL games mark the end of the regular season for most fantasy football leagues, with playoffs kicking off next week.
And, as usual, my team is scrambling to earn a berth. Every year I seem to live on the proverbial bubble in the 12-team league I play in with 11 of my buddies from Auburn High School.
So, I am sort of an expert at squeaking into the playoffs and I have a few simple strategies.
The first is starting players that have something to play for. A lot is made about match-ups against terrible defenses, like the Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders and even, gasp, the Seahawks. But I like starting players in must-win games. I believe bigger numbers are possible if both teams are playing for something, especially at the running back position. Running backs will always see more carries in those types of games, and quarterbacks and receivers don’t see a lot of action in blow-outs, which usually happens against the Lions, Raiders and Seahawks.
The second is to stay away from teams that have already wrapped up their divisions and playoff berths. They have nothing to play for. Teams like Tennessee, Arizona and the New York Giants will rest players in the final weeks of the season.
The third strategy is to watch the waiver wire. Every season a few players emerge in the final three weeks of the season. Teams out of contention play their young guys and teams that have already clinched are more likely to play their backups.
Here are some guys that might turn it on down the stretch:
• Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings and Ryan Grant. The Packers have shown glimpes, but haven’t put it together yet.
• Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb and DeSean Jackson. I know McNabb was benched last week, but that just might be the wake-up call he needed.
• Tampa Bay’s Jeff Garcia and Warrick Dunn. The Bucs play two big division games in weeks 14 and 15 against Carolina and Atlanta.
• Miami’s Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. The Dolphins are fighting for a playoff berth and should lean on their two running backs.
• Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, Michael Turner and Roddy White. The Falcons have made an unexpected jump into the NFC elite and Ryan looks like the real deal at QB.
• Cleveland’s Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow. Anderson is back in the mix after Brady Quinn’s broken finger and proved he is an elite QB last year; he also has proven weapons in Edwards and Winslow.
There’s my two cents. Good luck if you are lucky enough to play in your fantasy football playoffs.
