Calling our Shots: Week Eight
Fantasy football can at times be a very funny place to seek help when you need it most. One week, a so called “expert” will tell you to start “Player A” because “Player A” is a “can’t miss” starter who will blow up that week. A week later, that expert will deny giving that advice to their readers or followers but will be more than happy to tell you to start “Player B” this week. It would be almost comical in some instances if it wasn’t so tragic for the people who take the advice of these charlatans.
As a staff member of DLF, I can tell you that everyone affiliated with this site both loathes and detests this behavior. Every staff member on the DLF team constantly tries to learn and better ourselves so we may be of better help to you. Part of that process is being accountable for our successes, as well as our failures. We’re doing that each and every week as we’re offering personalized lineup advice as part of our premium content. We’re answering every question posted in a timely manner and helping out as best we can – those answers are public knowledge and we’ll stand by them every week.
We’ve also decided to roll out this series entitled, “Calling Our Shots.” The premise of this series is to get some predictions for the upcoming week. Some writer’s predictions are bold, some are solid, while others, well, we wouldn’t place too much money on them in Las Vegas!
When we’re right, we’ll share our successes. When we’re wrong, it should present a great way for our loyal readers to give us a good (and hopefully friendly) ribbing. The point is we don’t hide from the advice we give or the predictions we make.
We also want to give you the same chance.
Our community is an essential part of the success of DLF. This weekly series also asks YOU, the readers, to post your own shots in the comments below. We all have that coach in our league who says, “Yeah, I could have told you not to start that guy” and perhaps that’s even you who thinks that! Well, here’s your chance to make those bold predictions when they count – before the games are played. We invite everyone to blow up the comments section again today and make any player predictions you want for the week – this will give you a perfect opportunity to officially say, “I told you so,” or offer a brutally embarrassing piece of ammunition for your opponent to use against you next week. Either way, this is a great way for the community and the writers to have some good old fashioned fun each and every week!
Every person who is featured in subsequent weeks will be put into a drawing after week 17 for a free yearly membership or their renewal to our premium content and a free DLF T-shirt!
Week seven saw several absolutely amazing performances, maybe the best all-around week the NFL has seen this year. In the passing department, Josh Freeman threw for a jaw-dropping 420 yards against the Saints, his opposing quarterback in the game, Drew Brees threw for another 377 yards making them the first and second leading passers of the week. Chris Johnson, a regular target of disgruntled fantasy owners, threw down 195 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns, silencing his critics for at least one week. The leading receiver of the week was Freeman’s favorite target, Vincent Jackson who collected 216 receiving yards off of seven receptions, one of which went for a touchdown.
Would the amazing offensive performances of the NFL rub off on the DLF staff and restore them to the season high of shots called? Sadly, no, the DLF staff were only able to muster 12 correct shots called for Week Seven. Of those 12, TheFFGhost was able to pull down six of the correct shots and claim the Week Seven crown. The correct staff shots are as follows:
TheFFGhost – Chris Johnson goes over 75 total yards.
TheFFGhost – Brees will throw for over 350 yards.
Eric Hardter – Both teams will account for 900 yards of total offense in a shootout.
Eric Olinger – Cam Newton throws less than 275 yards with at least one INT.
TheFFGhost – Foster out-rushes Rice as Baltimore’s defense looks dramatically different.
TheFFGhost – Finley continues to stink up the joint with less than 50 receiving yards.
Andy Miley – Cobb has another 100+ yard game.
TheFFGhost – Two players will have multi-sack games, one of them will be Allen.
Andy Miley – Jared Allen has his 1st multi-sack game of 2012.
Eric Hardter – Adrian Peterson shreds the Cardinals D for over 100 yards, and finally finds the end zone once again.
TheFFGhost – Heath Miller will pull down another 5+ receptions.
Eric Hardter – Heath Miller gets another receiving TD.
The DLF staff just missed on another five shots which were as follows:
Jaron Foster – Lance Moore returns with 75+ yards and a score.
Chris Rohrer – Felix Jones runs for 60 yards, 0 TDs, and a pulled hamstring.
Eric Olinger – Jordy Nelson, James Jones, and Randall Cobb all score TD’s of some sort.
Eric Olinger – Jared Allen registers at least 2.5 sacks versus the turn style that is the AZ O-line.
Chris Rohrer – Antonio Brown redeems himself after a subpar week six and has his first 100 yard effort of the season.
Here comes the part that most of you check in for weekly, which of our readers was the top shot caller for Week Seven? This week we’d like to congratulate Nicholas DePinho who called the following shots:
-CJ0k first TD of the season.
-Under 75 yards receiving by Fitzgerald.
-Shonn Greene runs for less than 60 yards Pats win big.
-Justin Blackmon catches 2 balls or less.
-Brandon Marshall more receptions and yards than Calvin.
Congratulations Nicholas DePinho – we’ve entered your name into the year end drawing for a chance to win a free year of DLF Premium as well as a DLF t-shirt, both of which will make you the envy of any fantasy football league function. Good luck!
The DLF staff have gone back to the huddle and have received a pep talk. We’ve let our fans down but we’re determined to come back harder and stronger, focused on kicking butt on our predictions. Ready or not here are the shots we’re calling for Week 8:
Carolina @ Chicago
TheFFGhost – Cutler, Forte and Marshall will lead in passing yards, rushing yards and receiving yards in this game.
Eric Olinger – The JStew led “new power running scheme” in Carolina leaves a lot to be desired. Stewart fewer than 75 yards rushing.
Andy Miley – BMarsh has 100 yards and 7 receptions.
Eric Hardter – Matt Forte has 130+ total yards.
Chris Rohrer – Forte rushes for over 100 yards.
Ken Kelly – The power running game sputters as Stewart posts less than 10 fantasy points. Newton says something stupid at a press conference.
San Diego @ Cleveland
TheFFGhost – Each quarterback will have at least two turnovers.
Eric Olinger – Ryan Mathews over 100 total yards and a TD.
Andy Miley – The two QBs combine for over 550 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Eric Hardter – Josh Gordon continues his TD streak.
Chris Rohrer – Hardesty finishes with more total yards than Richardson.
Ken Kelly – Antonio Gates scores a touchdown in the second consecutive week
Seattle @ Detroit
TheFFGhost – Broyles will emerge as the PPR machine some of us remember with at least 5 receptions.
Eric Olinger – Calvin and Stafford hook up for their first score of the year.
Andy Miley – Mikel Leshoure gets to 90 combined yards and a score.
Eric Hardter – Ryan Broyles and Titus Young step up, combining for 120+ receiving yards.
Chris Rohrer – Calvin Johnson redeems himself after last week with over 125 yards and a touchdown.
Jaron Foster – Wilson with 250+ yards and 2+ TDs.
Ken Kelly – Ryan Broyles leads the team in receptions, but not yards
New England @ St. Louis
Eric Dickens – New England finds their offense, totaling over 550 yards.
TheFFGhost – The Rams defense collects more turnovers than the Patriots.
Eric Olinger – Welker gets 8+ catches for 100+ yards.
Andy Miley – Gronk and A Hern each score and have 180 yards receiving between them.
Eric Hardter – Brady leads the Patriots to 40+ points.
Chris Rohrer – Tom Brady gets 300+ yards and three touchdowns.
Jaron Foster – Gronk doesn’t understand a word the locals are saying.
Miami @ NY Jets
Eric Dickens – Brian Hartline catches 7+ against the Revis-less Jets.
TheFFGhost – Bush goes over 120 total yards.
Eric Olinger – Dustin Keller leads the Jets in receiving.
Andy Miley – Reggie Bush makes Rex cry as he accounts for 150 total yards and a score.
Eric Hardter – Jeremy Kerley has another successful outing, with over 85 yards receiving.
Chris Rohrer – Devone Bess records the most receptions for either team.
Ken Kelly – We’re reminded that Shonn Greene is still terrible as he fails to post 75 yards
Atlanta @ Philadelphia
TheFFGhost – Ryan passes for over 300 yards, Vick gets 250+ total yards.
Eric Olinger – Tony Gonzalez 5+ catches and a TD.
Andy Miley – McCoy has over 125 combo yards and a score.
Eric Hardter – Both QB’s have over 280 passing yards in a shootout.
Chris Rohrer – Jeremy Maclin has at least seven catches for 90 yards.
Jaron Foster – Julio gets held under 50 yards by Nnamdi, White puts up 80+ yards and a score.
Ken Kelly – The Falcons sack Vick at least four times and Nick Foles enters the game for at least a snap.
Washington @ Pittsburgh
Eric Dickens – Jon Dwyer goes for 75+ all purpose yards.
TheFFGhost – Big Ben has more total yards than RGIII.
Eric Olinger – Wallace makes up for his drop plagued game from last week by going over the century mark.
Andy Miley – Ben throws for 370+ and 4 touchdowns. RG3 gets less than 200 combo yards.
Eric Hardter – Heath Miller throws up another TE1 stat line of 4+ catches, 50+ yards and a TD.
Chris Rohrer – Pittsburgh defense gets at least 3 turnovers.
Ken Kelly – Alfred Morris posts 100 yards against the vaunted Steelers defense
Jacksonville @ Green Bay
Eric Dickens – Rashad Jennings totals less than 50 yards.
TheFFGhost – Rodgers absolutely ravages the Jacksonville secondary for 400+ passing yards.
Eric Olinger – Rodgers scores 4 total TDs.
Andy Miley – Cobb out-scores and out-gains the entire Jax team.
Eric Hardter – Jacksonville is held to single-digit points and under 220 yards of total offense.
Chris Rohrer – Jermichael Finley gets angry at all the negative talk about him and gets his second touchdown of the year.
Ken Kelly – Back to the touchdown board for James Jones
Indianapolis @ Tennessee
Eric Dickens – Andrew Luck throws for 3+ TD’s and rushes for another.
TheFFGhost – Chris Johnson builds on his performance last week and goes over 100 rushing yards again.
Eric Olinger – Reggie Wayne goes over 100 yards and a TD.
Andy Miley – CJ and Britt both top 100 yards and score.
Eric Hardter – Kenny Britt gets a receiving TD of 40+ yards.
Chris Rohrer – Kendall Wright has the first 100 yard receiving game of his career.
Oakland @ Kansas City
Eric Dickens – This game is ugly.
TheFFGhost – Palmer will pass for 300 yards, the Chiefs quarterback (Quinn whoever they pick out of the stands) will pass for less than 200 despite every opportunity to do so.
Eric Olinger – Jamaal Charles pops off for over 130 total yards.
Eric Hardter – Carson Palmer toasts the Chiefs for over 300 yards and 2+ TD’s.
Chris Rohrer – McFadden finally has above a 3.0 YPC.
Ken Kelly – Brady Quinn actually makes the fans wish they hadn’t cheered the Cassel injury with no touchdowns and at least two picks.
NY Giants @ Dallas
TheFFGhost – This is a shootout with both teams combining for over 600 yards.
Eric Olinger – Romo throws for over 300 yards and 2 TDs.
Andy Miley – Manning and Romo combine for 650 yards and 6 touchdowns.
Eric Hardter – Felix Jones gets hurt at some point during the game, and is held to under 60 total yards.
Chris Rohrer – Eli comes through in a Manning fashion with a game winning drive.
Ken Kelly – Dez Bryant drops another important pass.
New Orleans @ Denver
TheFFGhost – Colston tops all receivers with over 100 yards receiving.
Eric Olinger – Willis McGahee tops 80 rushing yards and a score.
Andy Miley – Colston, Decker, D Thomas all have 100 yards and a touchdown.
Eric Hardter – Lance Moore comes back down to earth with under 65 receiving yards.
Chris Rohrer – Both quarterbacks throw for over 300 yards and and multiple touchdowns.
San Francisco @ Arizona
TheFFGhost – Each quarterbacks throws for less than 250 yards.
Chris Rohrer – Gore goes for over 100 yards and a touchdown.
Ken Kelly – John Skelton makes Brady Quinn look good in some way, shape or Form as Fitzgerald owners give up on the season.
There you have it, another week of “Calling Your Shots”. Most fantasy seasons are now over half done and we now have seven readers in the drawing to win a free year of DLF Premium and a t-shirt. Will you be next? Possibly, but you need to leave some shots to get your chance. We have seen some brilliant winners this season and we look forward to finding several more before the season is done. Let’s see what you’ve got, good luck to everyone!
Don’t forget, if we select your entry we’ll enter you into a drawing for a full year of DLF premium content and a free DLF t-shirt!
