Week 1 - NFL and Survivor picks; NFL season picks
Who will win, step up and get beat down in Week 1 of the NFL season...
These game predictions do not reflect the opinion of FFToolbox.com but just a solo fantasy writer who promises to do better with his predictions or your money back...As a reminder, email any questions, be it about lineup fantasy decisions, trades, strategy or free agents, to podcast@fftoolbox.com or send tweets to @benstandig. Also download the weekly FFToolbox.com podcast - hosted by yours truly with guests from the Rotoworld, CBS Sports, NY Times and the National Football Post. Scheduled for Tuesday's and Thursday's at 7 p.m. or anytime via ITunes and that's where you will find this week's fantasy angles...
Home Team in CAPS
Atlanta 23 CHICAGO 21 (+2.5)
HOUSTON 31 Indianapolis 23 (+9)
KANSAS CITY 24 Buffalo 20 (+5.5)
Tennessee 27 (+1) JACKSONVILLE 17
CLEVELAND 28 (-6) Cincinnati 17
ST. LOUIS 24 (+4) Philadelphia 21
Pittsburgh 20 (+1) BALTIMORE 17
Detroit 27 (+1) TAMPA BAY 23
SAN DIEGO 34 (-9) Minnesota 21
WASHINGTON 20 (+2.5) NY Giants 17
ARIZONA 24 (-6) Carolina 14
SAN FRANCISCO 22 Seattle 17 (+5.5)
NY JETS 24 (-5.5) Dallas 17
New England 23 MIAMI 17
DENVER 28 (-3) Oakland 24
GREEN BAY 35 (-4) New Orleans 30
Last week: Straight, Spread; Overall: Straight, Spread
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Survivor picks
Entry 1 - Houston
Entry 2 - Kansas City (but I'm tempted to go with Cleveland)
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NFL season predictions
NFC Division winners: Philadelphia, Green Bay, New Orleans, Arizona
NFC wild cards: Atlanta, Detroit
NFC Champion: Green Bay
NFC Championship game: Green Bay over New Orleans
AFC Division winners: New England, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, San Diego
AFC wild cards: New York Jets, Houston
AFC Championship game: New England over San Diego
Super Bowl: Green Bay over New England
Regular season MVP: 1) Philip Rivers 2) Aaron Rodgers 3) Tom Brady
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On the FFToobox podcast and elsewhere I've been yapping about fantasy football players I love and those I loathe, both overall and relative to their draft day rank. Here is the compilation of those rants and my final stance on all heading into the 2011 NFL season. And yes, I was down on Peyton Manning waaaaaay before his neck injury became a doom and gloom scenario...
Quarterbacks
Loving - Aaron Rodgers, Philip Rivers, Tony Romo, Matthew Stafford
Liking - Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Chad Henne, Vince Young
Loathing - Peyton Manning, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Matt Cassel, Andy Dalton
My fave - Matthew Stafford, if of course- say it with me - he can stay healthy
Don't get the fantasy hype - Sam Bradford, unless you tell me which of his receivers will definitely emerge
Running backs
Loving - Ray Rice, Chris Johnson, Jamaal Charles, Stephen Jackson, Darren McFadden, Jahvid Best, Reggie Bush, Ryan Mathews, Ben Tate, Delone Carter, Roy Helu Jr.
Liking - Arian Foster, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew, LeGarrette Blount, Shonn Greene, Fred Jackson, Mark Ingram ,Tim Hightower, Brandon Jacobs, Kendall Hunter
Loathing - Michael Turner, Peyton Hillis, Frank Gore, Ryan Grant, C. J. Spiller, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Marshawn Lynch, Daniel Thomas, Donald Brown, Ryan Torain
My fave - Darren McFadden. Beast.
Don't get the fantasy hype - Felix Jones, seeing as the one year he stayed healthy he lost his game-breaking pop. Until it all happens in the same season, can't see why he was getting picked in round two or three...
Wide Receiver
Loving - Larry Fitzgerald, Hakeem Nicks, Vincent Jackson, Greg Jennings, Brandon Marshall, Dez Bryant, Jordy Nelson, Jacoby Ford, Eric Decker
Liking - Mike Wallace, Mario Manningham, Julio Jones, Santana Moss, Lee Evans, Mike Sims-Walker, Plaxico Burress, Emmanuel Sanders, Jabar Gaffney
Loathing - Marques Colston, Reggie Wayne, Brandon Lloyd, Dwayne Bowe, Steve Johnson, Johnny Knox, Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree, Donald Driver
My fave - Jordy Nelson. Beast in the Super Bowl, has best chance to be the number three target in unreal passing attack.
Don't get the fantsay hype - Marques Colston/Steve Johnson. Colston way inconsistent for where he gets drafted and let's see Johnson perform without Lee Evans and defenses keying on him.
Tight End
Loving - Jermichael Finley, Jason Witten, Vernon Davis, Jimmy Graham, Jared Cook
Liking - Antonio Gates, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Pettigrew, Aaron Hernandez, Greg Olsen
Loathing - Marcedes Lewis, Tony Gonzalez, Chris Cooley, Visante Shiancoe
My fave - Graham/Cook. The pair could lead their respective teams in receptions.
Don't get the fantasy hype - Tony Gonzalez (there might not be hype, but people continued draft him like it's 2004)
Defenses
Loving - Green Bay, Detroit, St. Louis, Arizona, teams that play against Andy Dalton and the other rookie passers