Icy NFL Week 14

Prologue: The ice storms in central Illinois kept me and the family home from church today. I'm still hoping we are able to attend our small group meeting tonight. In the meantime, I'm going to keep a running commentary on the NFL action this Sunday afternoon. I'll be focusing on the following story lines (from most likely to least likely): The Vikings getting above .500, Winning both of my fantasy football playoff match ups, The Patriots losing their first game of the season, and The Dolphins winning their first.

A quick word on my fantasy match ups. I'm the 5th seed in both my college and work league. I had a convincing win to solidify my college spot, but the in the other league I backed into the playoffs with a 3 game losing streak. I made a terrible call Thursday night by playing Adrian Peterson (the lesser) in both leagues: 3 pts. Yuck. The most intriguing aspect of these playoff games is how the players mix. I'm both starting and playing against Tony Romo & TJ Houshmanzadeh. I'm so confused on who to root for and against, except for the following: I'm starting Earnest Graham twice and facing Chad Johnson in both matchups. Go Earnest! (Is that what people really call him? Really?) Down with Ocho Cinco!

12:00: Let the games begin! Miami @ Buffalo. College Fantasy: Stephen 2 North Saints (4.4) vs BZ Gmen (0). Work Fantasy: Verse Challenge Vikings (3) vs I Can't Wipe My Cowboys (0). Our college league uses Foxsports, something I would recommend against. They have had far too many technical issues. The work league is using ESPN, which I highly recommend. I just uploaded a profile picture on ESPN (id: pheaney2). I hope that my gleaming face can snap my recent skid.

12:29: I'm checking in between lunch and a home remodel project. Ryan Grant (playing for the S2N Saints) already has 47 rushing yards with 2 minutes to go in the first quarter. I just picked him up off the waiver wire. Feeling good about that match up. Miami's already down 7 to nothing. There's a reason I put their first win as the least likely thing to happen today.

1:17: Alright, I've decided to keep a 'dirty diaper' count for the day as well. Jackson, my 15 month old son, is already at three and counting. Earnest has 9 and the Packers D has 12 for the VC Vikings. I'm carrying a 33 - 17 lead after the first half of games. Ryan Grant continues to be a stud as I've got a bigger lead in the other league: 38-19. Buffalo is up 31 - 7 with 8 minutes to go in the 2nd. I think that storyline is over. I'm officially burying it here.

1:44: I was just helping my wife with the Sunday Chicago Tribune crossword. Several of the clues have to do with the NFL. Monsters of the Midway and The Purple People Eaters have been two of the answers. What are the 1980's Jets Eleven known as? I had to look it up: The New York Sack Exchange. Now that's a great team nickname. This year they could be called the Stink Exchange.

2:20: Two girls walked by while I was chipping ice off my driveway. The totally ignored me. I always feel that a polite wave deserves something in return. (Even a simple nod to acknowledge your existence). It must have been my Vikings hat. It is Bear country after all, and Adrian Peterson (the greater) ran all over them in their last match up. Speaking of which, I just realized that my work opponent as able to sub in Adrian Peterson (the greater) prior to the start of the second wave of games. Not good.

2:56: The Vikes game is 10 minutes from game time. I'm calling either a) a Vikings blowout or b) a repeat of last year's 9-3 scrub fest. Let's hope for the former. I'm also not so secretly very excited that Detroit has a 6 point lead on Dallas with 2:30 left. Way to go Kitna. Oh, and I think New England wins it by at least 10.

3:16: Vikings 7, Niners 0. I've got a good feeling about this. Meanwhile the Lions do what they do best: find a way to lose. It's too bad Romo and Witten had to bail Terence Newman out.

4:18: I just saw the Vikings score scroll by while watching the Steelers/Pats game. Vikings 27, Niners 0. That's awesome! Taylor rattled off an 84 yard TD run. Not so awesome: the same opponent who's starting Peterson is also starting Chestor Taylor.

4:44: 80 point lead in my college league. Welcome to the second round of the playoffs. I appreciated the 20+ point efforts from Romo, Graham, Lee, Grant, & the Vikings Defense.

5:20: Phil Simms just claimed that the reason the Patriots are throwing so much is because "that's how you beat the Steelers." No, the Patriots throw so much because they have the best QB in the league, the best WR in the league, and a below average running game. Has he watched any other Patriots games? Is this 'throwing' idea new to the Pats? I don't think so.

5:29: TD pass to Welker. Huge for my work fantasy match up. Also huge for the Patriots looking to win yet another.

5:41: That wraps up the afternoon run down. (Small groups are still on despite the ice.) I'll finish with an epilogue after the dust clears tomorrow. Currently the Dolphins lost. The Patriots look like they'll win. The Vikings had better not blow it. And both of my fantasy teams are at least headed for victory.

Epilogue: The Dolphins still lost. The Patriots won (by more than 10!). The Vikings win could probably be called a blowout, even though Adrian Peterson got hammered and they scored ZERO in the second half. I'll take it. We're 7-6 and facing the bad news Bears next week on MNF, (something I can't watch). My fantasy match ups? Golden. Two wins by a combined total of 70 points. Of course, there is a chance that Jerious Norwood could go off for 55 fantasy points and hand me the loss, but I'm not banking on it.

The biggest question at the end of the day is this: With 3 big wins (Vikings and Fantasy Playoffs x2) can I really not do this same thing next week?