Calling our Shots: Week Fourteen
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 new 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!
It’s Week 14 and I’ve sensed a great disturbance in the fantasy football force. It’s as if thousands of fantasy football teams screamed out in pain and then went silent. Yep, it’s that time of the year, playoff time. Either you’re in or you’re out. For those in, keep fighting, win it all! For those out of it, honestly, do the same. Keep fighting; win it all, next year. This is dynasty football; we don’t stop just because the season is over!
Let’s review what occurred in Week 13. Honestly, it was a nice week but wasn’t overly amazing. We saw Andrew Luck lead all quarterbacks with 391 passing yards and four touchdowns, not too shabby! We also saw Adrian Peterson rush for 210 yards and a touchdown. For many Adrian Peterson owners, Week 13 was a main reason why they drafted him with a high draft pick. Meanwhile, Calvin Johnson caught 13 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. Pretty much a normal day at the office for Megatron this season.
One word for how the DLF staff did in Week 13 – nice! We managed to double our correct shots called from each of the last two weeks with a grand total of 23 correct shots called! The lead shot caller amongst the DLF staff for Week 13 far and away was Jacob Feldman who had eight correct shots called. Jacob’s effort was extraordinary and is absolutely his best performance of the season. Our best game of the week came from the Minnesota vs. Green Bay game in which we called four shots correctly. Here were DLF’s correctly called shots for Week 13:
TheFFGhost – Cecil Shorts scores but Blackmon does not.
Jacob Feldman – Shorts leads the Jags in yards again this week.
Jacob Feldman – Marshall has double digit targets yet again with 100+ yards.
Andy Miley – Brandon Marshall has 7+ catches and 90+ yards.
Jacob Feldman – Bradford struggles with under 250 yards of passing.
Eric Olinger – Welker and Edelman combine for 10+ catches.
Jacob Feldman – Hernandez comes on strong with 5+ catches and 70+ yards.
Jacob Feldman – 5+ turnovers in this game, mostly because the QBs are so bad.
Andy Miley – Both teams combine for less than 400 passing yards.
Jacob Feldman – Calvin Johnson catches 6+ for 120+ yards and another score. That slow start is a distant memory.
TheFFGhost – Rudolph will pull down at least five receptions.
Eric Olinger – Adrian Peterson rushes for 100 yards.
Jacob Feldman – Peterson tallies more yards than any other RB/WR.
Eric Hardter – Adrian Peterson makes the team bus on time and has another standard day at the office: 130+ total yards and a TD.
Eric Olinger – Jake Locker has over 300 total yards.
Eric Dickens – Cam continues his multi-TD games with 3 combined versus the Chiefs.
Andy Miley – Charles goes over 125 combined and scores.
Eric Olinger – There will be a defensive TD in this game.
TheFFGhost – Weeden has his best passing game of the year.
Eric Olinger – Josh Gordon scores a long touchdown.
Eric Hardter – Denarius Moore does little to calm the fears of his fantasy owners, getting shut down by Joe Haden to the tune of under 40 receiving yards.
Eric Olinger – Ahmad Bradshaw rushes for over 100 yards.
Jacob Feldman – RG3 struggles with under 300 total yards and only 1 TD.
Eight more shots were just outside of being correctly called by the DLF staff. Here are those shots:
Eric Hardter – Marcedes Lewis stays involved with 50+ yards and a TD.
Eric Hardter – Wes Welker torches his former team for 8+ receptions and 120+ yards.
Eric Hardter – Jake Locker exploits a suddenly suspect Texans D with 230+ yards passing, 30+ yards rushing and at least three total TD’s.
Jacob Feldman – Cam stays hot against a terrible defense. 250+ passing with 3+ total TDs.
Eric Hardter – Even with Jonathan Stewart’s likely absence, DeAngelo Williams doesn’t top 60 rushing yards.
Eric Olinger – Danario Alexander has 80 yards and a TD.
Jacob Feldman – Dez stays hot with 7+ catches and 100+ yards.
Eric Hardter – Tony Romo continues his hot streak, scorching the Eagles for over 320 passing yards and two scores.
Come on down Trevor, you’re our Week 13 reader shot caller! Trevor was able to correct predict the outcome of five shots out of the seven he submitted. Several of the shots Trevor called were fairly unique as well which helped him gain this week’s crown. Here are his correctly called shots:
-JAX @ BUF: CJ Spiller busts loose a long TD of 30+ yards (air or ground)
-SEA @ CHI: Marshall overcomes shutdown corners to 75+ yards and 7+ receptions
-IND @ DET: 700+ combined passing yards for both teams.
-CLE @ OAK: Josh Gordon scores a TD for the first time since week 7.
-PHI @ DAL: The Bryce continues to be right as he goes for 125+ combined yards and finds the end zone.
It’s playoff time; let’s see the shots the DLF staff shared:
St. Louis @ Buffalo
Eric Dickens – Steven Jackson gets 2 rushing TD’s, doubling his output on the year.
TheFFGhost – Interceptions outnumber passing touchdowns in this game.
Jacob Feldman – Steven Jackson produces a 100+ yard rushing game. That’s only his third on the season.
Andy Miley – F-Jax and Spiller both go over 100 combo yards.
Jaron Foster – Givens with 80+ yards and a score.
Dallas @ Cincinnati
TheFFGhost – Romo and Dalton both pass for over 250 yards.
Jacob Feldman – Dez continues to produce and posts another 100+ yard game.
Andy Miley – Romo will have another 300 yards game w/ 3 TDs.
Kansas City @ Cleveland
TheFFGhost – Weeden passes for over 300 yards once again.
Jacob Feldman – Bowe does not lead the Chiefs in receiving yards.
Andy Miley – Charles and Richardson will both go over 125 combo yards.
Tennessee @ Indianapolis
TheFFGhost – Chris Johnson goes over 110 rushing yards.
Jacob Feldman – Luck throws for over 300 yards and 2 scores.
Andy Miley – Hilton goes over 100 yards again.
Chicago @ Minnesota
Eric Dickens – Brandon Marshall tops 100 receptions on the season, picking up 9+ in this one.
TheFFGhost – Forte outrushes Peterson in this game.
Jacob Feldman – Peterson has more carries than Ponder has completions.
Andy Miley – Forte has 100 combo yards and a TD.
Philadelphia @ Tampa Bay
Eric Dickens – Riley Cooper & Jason Avant both have 10+ FP’s in PPR leagues.
TheFFGhost – Philly will lean heavily on Brown and as such he will outrush Martin.
Jacob Feldman – Bryce Brown looks a bit more human with under 125 rushing yards and another fumble.
Andy Miley – Dallas Clark goes over 50 yards and 2 TDs.
Jaron Foster – Martin bounces back with 125+ total yards and a score.
Baltimore @ Washington
TheFFGhost – Flacco passes for over 250 yards, RGIII does not.
Jacob Feldman – Ray Rice posts over 125 combo yards and a score.
Andy Miley – Torrey Smith and Pierre Garcon both go over 100 yards and score.
Atlanta @ Carolina
TheFFGhost – Three Atlanta receivers outperform the top Carolina receiver.
Jacob Feldman – Both White and Jones have 5+ catches and 75+ yards.
Andy Miley – D-Will has 100 combo yards for the 1st time this season.
Jaron Foster – Matty Ice finally returns to a multi-TD game.
NY Jets @ Jacksonville
TheFFGhost – God this game will be dreadful, each side will get at least three sacks a piece.
Jacob Feldman – Henne has another good game with 250+ passing yards and 2+ scores.
Andy Miley – Montell Owens goes over 75 combo yards.
San Diego @ Pittsburgh
Eric Dickens – Denario Alexander gets targeted 7+ times as he continues his run as their WR1.
TheFFGhost – Both tight ends catch 4+ receptions a piece.
Jacob Feldman – Big Ben makes the Steelers WRs useable again with 300+ yards passing.
Andy Miley – Rivers throws an interception, fumbles once, and gets sacked 3 times at least.
Miami @ San Francisco
TheFFGhost – The top passer, rusher and receiver will all come from San Francisco.
Jacob Feldman – Crabtree has more receiving yards than anyone else in this game.
Andy Miley – Crabtree goes over 100 receiving yards.
Arizona @ Seattle
Eric Dickens – Doug Baldwin has 75+ receiving yards.
TheFFGhost – Total passing yards will be under 400 yards.
Jacob Feldman – Fitz goes over 65 yards for only the 5th time this season. Pretty sad for one of the best to ever play the position. (Keep him on your bench)
Andy Miley – Marshawn Lynch rushes for over 100 yards and scores a TD
New Orleans @ NY Giants
Eric Dickens – Ahmad Bradshaw has 100+ rushing yards.
TheFFGhost – Manning will pass for over 250 yards, Brees will pass for over 350 yards.
Jacob Feldman – Brees bounces back from the 5 INT game with 3+ TDs and over 300 yards.
Andy Miley – Eli and Drew combine for over 750 yards and 7 TDs.
Detroit @ Green Bay
TheFFGhost – Both quarterbacks pass for over 300 yards in a shootout.
Jacob Feldman – Megatron will continue his streak with another game of 100+ yards and a score.
Houston @ New England
TheFFGhost – Welker is the leading receiver in this game for New England, Andre Johnson for Houston.
Jacob Feldman – Hernandez posts his best game of the season with 100+ yards and a score.
It’s the home stretch and this is where we separate the men from the boys (or women from the girls). If your playoff hopes have been dashed then dig down deep and throw some shots up this week. Focus your frustration and win week 14. Thank you to everyone who supports this column every week and a big congratulations to Trevor, our week 14 winner, great job Trevor! We are entering you in for our year end drawing where the winner will take home a full year of DLF Premium and an always stylish DLF t-shirt! Good luck everyone in your fantasy games and in your shots this week!
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!
