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      Strength of Schedule: Playoffs, Week 1

      January 3, 2011 /

      For those of us playing fantasy football (in one form or another) during the NFL playoffs, I thought it would be worthwhile to calculate end-of-year strength of schedule. I won’t be updating the SOS data throughout the playoffs, but I should be able to post a table each week with updated matchups.

      What am I looking at?

      Below you’ll see a table with a list of team names on the left and a list of positions (including PPR data) along the top. If a square is pink, it means that the matchup is tough. If it’s green, it means it’s a favorable matchup.

      It’s important to note that this is NOT straight fantasy points allowed. I removed the bias of schedule by looking at the opponents of each defense and how they fared in their other games. For example, if a particular defense faced a series of great QBs, then that is taken into account in these tables.

      For those of us who are going to play fantasy football through the playoffs, I thought it would be worthwhile to calculate strength of schedule for the first week of the playoffs. I’m not going to be updating SOS throughout the playoffs, but I should be able to post an updated table each week with SOS data updated through W17.

      How do I use SOS?

      Generally speaking, I use strength of schedule as a tiebraker between two similarly ranked players. Let’s say I’m trying to decide between starting BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Cedric Benson. All else being equal, these two players are very close in my mind. But if BGE has a great matchup and Benson has a bad matchup, the choice is clear. In fact, if BGE just has a mediocre matchup while Benson has a bad matchup, I’d probably go with the Law Firm.

      Be careful not to read too much into these tables. You aren’t going to bench Chris Johnson in a bad matchup unless you have a bona fide RB1 with a good matchup waiting in the wings.

      Obviously, all the Saints are good starts this week, and you’d want to stay away from most of the Eagles given their matchup with a stingy Packer defense.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      There needs to be less talk, more action in the NFL CBA discussions

      January 3, 2011 /

      NFL commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to the league’s fans on Monday, assuring them that the owners and players will be able to come to an agreement on a new CBA deal by next season.

      This is what he said in his letter (via ESPN.com):

      “I know we can and will reach an agreement,” Goodell wrote. “My goal as commissioner now is to help our teams and players find a solution that is fair to everyone and ensures that football becomes more popular, accessible, and fun. We want the next decade to be the best yet for our fans, and I’m ready to work day and night to make that happen.”

      What Goodell wrote is all well and good but fans don’t need a letter, they need a football season next year. There seems to be a lot of talk coming from Goodell about how a deal can be worked out, yet it’s January and a new CBA contract is still not in place.

      As the situation currently stands, there will be a lockout later this year. That’s the only thing that matters right now. And until the owners and the NFLPA can come to an agreement, the only football that fans will be able to enjoy is the 11 games that remain in the current season.

      I’m still of the mindset that the two sides will agree to a new deal and there will be football again next year. But it would be nice to see a little less talk out of guys like Goodell and more action.

      External Sports, NFL

      Looking for a fantasy football fix during the NFL playoffs?

      January 3, 2011 /

      Check out PlayoffBlitz.com. League sizes are unlimited, and you can set it up so that the commish pays $20 and invites owners for free, or you can set it up so that each league member pays $5. (The first option is a better deal for leagues with more than five members.) There are no prizes, but if you have your own league, you can probably set up dues/prizes offline and just use the site to handle the rosters and results.

      Anyway, the game goes like this: Each week, you pick one QB, two RBs, two WRs, a TE, a K and a DT to start. Once you use a player, he’s gone for the remainder of the contest, so it takes a little strategy to ensure that you have good options for the entire run.

      Scoring is fairly standard, though they award six points for passing TDs and one point for every two receptions (for WRs).

      Mike Farley, who writes those NFL award power rankings which post on the weekend, has set up a league and everyone is welcome to join. (It’s free.) Just hit this link and set up your profile. It looks like the site is waiting for the final playoff rosters from the league. Once those are in, we can set up our lineups. Here’s your chance to beat me (and Anthony Stalter) in a game of skill.

      External Sports, Fantasy Football, NFL

      Edsall leaves UConn in a bad situation, becomes Maryland’s next head coach

      January 3, 2011 /

      Some Connecticut fans will criticize Randy Edsall for leaving the program to become the next head coach at Maryland. But that’s not fair. Edsall must have believed he went as far as he could go at UConn and Maryland offers him a new challenge and a different opportunity.

      Ask yourself this before you criticize his decision: If you were given the same opportunity in your career, would you make a move as well? People often point out that loyalty doesn’t exist anymore in sports and while that’s true, times have changed. Even in a down economy, there’s more money to be earned and now more than ever, you don’t move up the corporate ladder by staying in one spot.

      That said, I think it’s open season on Edsall for how he left Connecticut.

      If the reports are true and he gave almost no indication to anyone at UConn that he was leaving the program, then ditched his team to hop a plane to Maryland after the Fiesta Bowl, then I don’t blame anyone associated with UConn for being a little salty right now. Fans will forever be grateful for what Edsall did for the Huskie program (and not just for what he accomplished this season), but they won’t soon forget how he ditched them for a bigger conference but not necessarily a better team. (Nobody would have blamed Edsall for going to the SEC to coach someone like Kentucky. But Maryland? Come on.)

      The timing of Edsall’s departure makes sense for him. His stock will never be higher than it is right now after leading the Huskies to a BCS bowl and if he didn’t want to coach at UConn for the next 10 years, now was the time to leave.

      But he certainly didn’t do the Huskies any favors on the way out. They just lost by four touchdowns on national TV and if Edsall didn’t inform AD Jeff Hathaway that he was leaving until he signed the dotted line at Maryland, then it’s not like Hathaway is prepared to find his replacement quickly. It’s a bad deal all the way around for Hathaway.

      Selfish is probably too strong a word to use here, but Edsall definitely didn’t have UConn’s best interests in mind when he hopped a plane to College Park following the loss to Oklahoma. And if he never parlays the Maryland gig into a bigger job, then I wonder if he’ll regret ever leaving the friendly confines of East Hartford.

      College Football, External Sports

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