Evans World 2010 - Week 4

BAH! Enough of this losing shit! If only Angi had agreed to my trade request! Why do the fates hound me so? Why must victory be so near my grasp only to be lost in the squishy goo that is Eli Manning? Eli's hitting the bench this week. For the past three years I've had Eli on a handful of FF teams, and each time it's more stressful than helpful. See how you like the bench, Eli, and bite me.

WHO KNEW?
Could anyone have guessed after the draft that Berk would be alone at the top of the league at Week 4? Nah, no chance in hell. Even Berk didn't seem that excited at the prospect. But there he sits atop Olympus, at least for a week. Also, after a rocky start Nathan has climbed back into the ranks and in case you didn't notice has a huge point advantage. I know, I know. I hate how good he is too. In good universal fashion, the two of them will meet up in Week 5 and determine who is the best at this point. I hate to say it but this time next week Nathan will have crawled his way back into Zeus' throne.

ALAS, POOR GARY
Feeling slightly responsible for the poor performance of Cold Cutters this week, I asked Gary last night if he had benched Calvin Johnson for Marques Colston after I'd suggested last week that he swap one of his bench players for a starter just before the matchup begins. Well, ok I didn't feel responsible at all I was just curious. Anyway, Gary gives me a serious look and says "It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Every team that played me this year has scored over 100 points." I checked. He's almost right. Only Mike scored less than 100 points at 91. Even still, Gary's opponent averages 110.74 points. Pretty good news for Kevin who plays him in Week 5. Let's see if this bizarre trend continues. I, for one, don't blame Gary for benching Calvin Johnson against the Pack with Shaun Hill at QB, and he is a runner-up for the Unfortunate Bench Award this week. Keep fighting, Gary. At some point your good karma has got to start taking effect.

DAMN YOU, MARSHALL (not Evans)
For the second straight week, Brandon Marshall has decided the matchup for Berk. In a much closer matchup this week, he scored just enough points to put Berk over the then league leader Mike. Good thing for Nathan since he's on bye in Week 5, but I still say keep an eye on him. I think we all made a mistake in downplaying the FF impact he'd have after moving to Miami. It's clear he's still a huge FF WR. Good pick, Berk.

A COMPLIMENT FOR TOM
Hard to believe I'd ever write those words. Even after starting Garcon for the second straight week (did everyone get the text Saturday afternoon that Garcon wouldn't be playing?), Tom is riding the Mendenhall train to success. I like Mendenhall as a FF RB, and I think he was ranked poorly pre-season. I had him last season when he really broke out, but he's a great rushing and receiving back who has at least 2 huge games a year. Week 4 was the first one for Tom and led to a really huge win over Kevin. Nice win, Tom.

JASON GETS A WIN!
At last Jason is rewarded for a great performance! I don't know why I think his point total should be higher so far this year, because it seems like he's done really well each week only to lose to a team having a monster week. Even still, it's got to feel good taking out the #2 team in the league going into Week 4. If nothing else, it's always fun to beat a Bears Fan (or so I've heard).

WEEKLY AWARDS
Fantasy MVP - 49ers DEF. I think I stand alone in the league when I defend the true value of a FF DEF. It's true that only a small handful of defenses in any season I've played FF have been consistently solid. The Bucs, the Ravens, the Steelers, the Bears. We can all look at the past ten years and see ups and downs in their performances. But no one can question that a defense can still impact a matchup any week. This week is no different. The 49ers, Chargers, Giants and Packers all had huge impacts in their matchups. I don't regret taking the Steelers DEF as early as I did, and it will continue to pay off for me all season (except this week of course). The 49ers helped lift Chris way out of reach for me to beat him this week. Many of you may not care, but I do.
Honorable Mention - Terrell Owens paid off for me this week finally. I had a feeling that he'd take a lot of catches away from Ochocinco, and this week he did in fine form. He reminded me of the best days in Philly when he was the best in the game (at the time). The erratic play of Carson Palmer is the real question mark for success in the future for Owens and all Bengals players. I see them drafting their next franchise QB this coming spring, because at this rate they're going to fall one game short of the playoffs in a tight AFC race. Which is too bad. I've always been an admirer of the modern Bengals because I can remember how bad the "Bungels" were in the 90's.
Unfortunate Bench - I've already mentioned Calvin Johnson, and it would be easy for me to berate Mike Sims-Walker for letting my precious Angi down for yet another week. Instead, I'll enjoy my annual rant about how annoying it is for coaches to hold off on announcing players who will sit for games until the last second. Chris got screwed, as every owner for the past four years has been, when Andre Johnson was benched just before the game. Turns out Chris didn't need him, but even still some points are better than 0 points (right, Gary?). I'm not saying coaches should be mindful of FF owners ... no ... strike that ... they should! I think there should be a rule that final injury reports are due 1 hour before a game starts and they are final. At least then FF owners, oh yeah and opposing coaches, have some time to make adjustments before a game.
Best Owner Move/Choice - This one goes to Nathan for picking up the Chargers defense. Sure, he didn't care how they did, nor do I think he predicted them to do as well as they did, but see above for what I think about FF DEF.
Lawrence Phillips Award - I wanted to give this to Arian Foster for blowing any chance to play by missing a friggin meeting, but then saw him score 24 points anyway. I wanted to give this to the Titans coach who is $40K poorer this morning because he flipped off the refs. But then I saw a great video clip of Ahmad Bradshaw from the Sunday night game that I had missed. Bradshaw had broken away and was racing down midfield towards what should have been an easy touchdown when suddenly a Bears defender gently popped the ball out of his hand. Why was it such a surprise to Bradshaw? Because he was looking at himself on the big screen TV! LMFAO! What an idiot! Not only was he so vain that he had to watch himself on the screen, he still didn't see the defender approach to deny him (and Kevin) another TD. Sad, and in part a truly Lawrence Phillips thing to do.
Average Score - 88. What I find most interesting is that after the first set of games Sunday, there was no matchup that was more than 10 points apart. After the second set of games, it was about the same. I love close matchups like that!

RANDOM THOUGHTS ABOUT WEEK 4
- I agree with all the commentators when I say how shocked and impressed I was by Philadelphia's warm welcome for Donovan McNabb. I expected a wave of boos and curses that would make Jets fans blush. Instead, they showed a class and appreciation that they NEVER show during a game. Kudos to the fans and the town for a single moment of brightness in your dark and bitter existence.
- I don't think I've ever felt as sorry for a QB as I did for Jay Cutler Sunday night. The poor guy was just getting pummeled by the Giants DEF. I think his concussion started to take effect long before the end of the half. I thought he was just sitting down on some of the last sacks. Turns out, he was probably so groggy that he couldn't help but fall down. That offensive line owes him big, and Mike Tice is in big, big trouble.
- As Chris rightly texted to me Sunday afternoon, the Lions are no longer an easy game in the NFC North. Granted I did not watch the Packers-Lions game, but all accounts I've seen and read clearly account that the Lions have showed up to play four games now, and any of them could have been won but for a few key plays. I only hope they continue to improve when Stafford returns and Best is fully healthy. It's about time we had a good game on Thanksgiving.
- I don't understand commentators who are surprised to find the Chiefs the only undefeated team after week 4. I've been saying it since last year, this Chiefs team is totally different and could be great! They have the best coaching staff in the game today, a staff that has taken nobodies (i.e. Brady) and turned them into Super Bowl legends. The only difference now is that they have a solid running game. This week is the real test for them facing Indy on the road. If the Chiefs win, or better yet win big, I think the nay-sayers will go away very quickly and turn into "Wow, we should have listened to Brad all year."
- If John Fox is the Carolina coach in Week 12, I'd be amazed.
- I hate it when the Browns win.
- I think the Huskers can beat Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship. But, we've got to beat Texas first, which I now know is very doable. They looked like shit on Saturday, and I have to admit ... I loved to see it.

Good luck to all in Week 5! Watch those byes, check your texts and enjoy the matchups! I know this week's blog was pretty lame, but I'm so drugged up on anti-histamines that I'm lucky I could type any of this at all. Going to switch to the Irish whiskey treatment ...