Here we go, the NFL season kicks off tonight and with it of course means that fantasy football is finally back! I am looking forward to another exciting year! So let’s not delay and get right to the previews!
Pack Attack (0-0) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (0-0)
Pack Attack and 16hrs have been battling it out since the league started back in 2004! That makes this one of the oldest rivalries in the league. 16hrs is coming off a disappointing 4-9 season and really have had a disappointing last 6 seasons as there last playoff appearance was way back in 2010… Hey coach… you only had 1 kid at that time! Pack Attack will be looking to defend their title and it starts this week against 16hrs!
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Pack Attack holds a 12-3 edge in their 15 regular season meetings. So I said oldest rivalries… maybe not best!
Big Papa (0-0) vs teamAlaska (0-0)
Big Papa is coming off one of their best seasons ever as they finished with 10 wins and made it all the way to the championship game only to see their dreams of a championship squashed by that Pack Attack team. The Super bowl losing teams have typically struggled the following year for whatever reason but Big Papa has been adamant about not letting that happen and Big Papa coach will be quick to tell you they had according to Yahoo the best draft in the league with an A+ grade. While that is certainly better then a D grade this isn’t grade school and I have heard it said that the C and D students like to beat up on those A students! I guess we will see. TeamAlaska is coming off a decent season in which they finished in the #7 spot and one spot out of the playoffs. They will be hoping to build on that this season and get back to the playoffs again which is a place they haven’t been for 5 straight years!
Prediction:
I am not sure any team is more affected by the Dolphins / TB game being canceled then teamAlaska as they will be without J. Winston and Ajayi. That is good news for Big Papa and I expect them to come out with the big win this week.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
Interestingly enough these two teams matched up week 1 last season and teamAlaska was able to knock off Big Papa that week. Big Papa holds a 9-5 edge overall.
BIGBOY! (0-0) vs Sportsfreak (0-0)
Sportsfreak like Big Papa is coming off one of their better seasons. In fact, I think it would be safe to say last season was in fact their best regular season ever. They finished with 11 wins (a personal best), 1746 pts second only to their 1822 points scored way back in the 2004 season when scoring was a bit different and their was fewer teams and they finished out the regular season with the #1 seed in the playoffs. If they would have finished that off with a championship there is no doubt it would have been their greatest season instead though they finished 3rd and will be looking to finish the job this season with that first ever championship. BIGBOY! is coming off a really solid season as well as they finished with 9 wins and their third consecutive post season appearance. I think though it is time for them to make some noise in the playoffs. They have become a regular to the playoffs and their coach puts in the work to keep their team competitive every year but they need to take that next step and start making some noise in the playoffs. We have BIGBOY, Sportsfreak and Big Papa all solid teams, all expected to be fighting for playoff spots but now can one of them separate themselves and be the first with the Lindgren last name to be able to hold a trophy!? I am looking forward to finding out.
Prediction:
BIGBOY! will be without Landry in this one which hurts simply because they don’t have a lot of depth to make up for it. I think the match ups favor Sportsfreak and for BIGBOY to have the type of season they are hoping for I think they will need Newton to get back to his MVP self. For this week I am going with Sportsfreak to start off with the W in a close match up.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Sportsfreak holds a 5-2 edge over their little brothers team in BIGBOY! That is the worst record BIGBOY has against any of the teams in the league. Last season Sportsfreak dominated this matchup beating BIGBOY! by 59 points!
Bossman (0-0) vs. PackerFANatic (0-0)
Another season, another playoff appearance for Bossman. There is no doubt that Bossman is a regular in the playoffs and at this point you just expect to see them there come playoff time as they have 7 playoff appearances which is the second most of all time! So the question becomes what have they done this year to get not only back to the playoffs but win another championship. It was just two seasons ago that they won their last championship and I know they want more. They will be starting off there season against a Rookie coach and GM in PackerFANatic. It will be fun to see how PackerFANatic fairs in his first season as a coach. He has been running his own team and helping for a few years now so he isn’t a rookie to fantasy but is to this league. So your welcome to the league gift is that you get to play against one of the most established / accomplished teams in the league in week 1. Good luck!
Prediction:
Both teams come into this one with question marks around their top WR’s. D. Thomas for Bossman and OBJ for PackerFANatic. I expect both will play but will they be 100%? This is a tough one to call and I like the Yahoo predictions expect this to be a close matchup. I expect it to come down to the last games of the week. Look for PackerFANatic to take the lead from a solid game from Dalvin Cook in the 6PM monday night slot but for Bossman to come back and ultimately win thanks to a solid 17pt effort from D. Thomas in the 9PM slot on Monday night.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
N/A
DaUnderdog (0-0) vs Rapids Plungers(0-0)
Rapids Plungers is another one of those teams that you just expect to be in the playoffs each year. Last year was no different as they had another solid 9 win season which was good enough for the #4 spot in the playoffs but that is where the struggle seems to come for Rapids Plungers as they continue to have a hard time winning when it really matters in the playoffs. In fact for a team that holds one of the highest regular season winning percentages in the league it is hard to understand how they could then have a embarrassing 1-9 record in the playoffs. Yes, I did use the word embarrassing Rapids Plungers! I think it is time for this team to make a run that involves a playoff win or two! Will this be the year? DaUnderdog is on the other side of the spectrum where they have struggled just to make it to the playoffs. They are coming off another tough season (4-9) but in looking at their team I was impressed that there was only two Green and Gold on their roster so it tells me maybe they were drafting a little more with their head vs heart! Now the question becomes will that pay off? I think the initial look of their team would tell you there is potential there. Will they make it back to the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons? We will find out!
Prediction:
Rapids Plungers took a gamble on a couple of players (Luck & Elliott) which could make or break their season. The good news is that Elliott will be playing this week but after that remains a big question mark. Rapids Plungers is also relying heavily on two rookie RB’s (McCaffrey & Hunt) which in a 14 team league you have to take some risks I see 4 of them on Rapids team. DaUnderdog will be relying heavily on McCoy from a RB perspective as there isn’t a lot of depth outside of that but their WR group looks to be solid and and should make up for it. They also have the highest paid player in the league on their team so they need to hope he plays like his salary suggests! Alright my prediction… this is another tough one but I actually like DaUnderdog in this one. There are a few to many question marks right now on Rapids team.
Historical Look at this Match-Up
Rapids Plungers holds a 7-2 edge in their 9 regular season meetings with Rapids winning 137-105 in week 8 last season.
HHH (0-0) vs PackMan12 (0-0)
PackMan12 suffered through their worst season ever last season and it really wasn’t that bad which tells you how consistent this team has been since joining the league back in 2011. They missed the playoffs by one game and only recorded 6 wins which is a down year however I expect them to use that as motivation as they learned that watching the playoffs from the sidelines is not very fun! They will be looking to get back to their winning ways against HHH this week. Speaking of HHH, do you remember that grade school analogy I used earlier and the Yahoo draft grades? Well, for HHH and their draft grade I would think their parents would be called and they may even be grounded for awhile. Good thing this isn’t grade school and Yahoo really has no idea how the season will go so for HHH there is hope. They will be looking to make the doubters look silly and get back to the post season for the first time in 6 seasons!
Prediction:
PackMan12 drafted a really solid team and it is hard to find too many holes. There are certainly question marks just like everyone has this time of year but overall this has to be one of the better opening day starting rosters in the league. HHH actually has some guys that I think will outplay their projections quite easily this week but I am not sure that will be enough. I do think this will be a close game as Brees will struggle against MN but I think PackMan12 gets the win in this one.
Historical Look at this Match-UP
PackMan12 has dominated this dominated this match up with a 6-1 record in their 7 regular season meetings. PackMan 12 won last seasons week 12 matchup by a score of 107.91 – 100.11.
pack slayer (0-0) vs U Don’t Know (0-0)
pack slayer comes into this season after having a down year by their standards in 2016. They like a number of other teams field a solid team each week but come playoff time they seem to struggle and last year they missed out on the playoffs all together. They will be looking to have a comeback season and to get back into that playoff / championship picture. U Don’t Know.. well a lot of people don’t know them because they seem to continue to not be a threat each year. Their playoff drought has now reached 9 seasons which is the largest in the league by 3 seasons. It doesn’t seem to be because of lack of effort however I think they need to make some changes to their strategy as you know what they say… Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results in the definition of insanity! Looking forward to seeing if U Don’t Know can bring some relevance back to their team this season!
Prediction:
U Don’t Know’s strategy seemed to be like this… Well I like the Packers… they have a lot of good players.. Might as well draft them. And they have two of the top ones in Rodgers and Nelson which that combination could lead them a long way! The supporting cast around those two is the big question mark that we may not know for a few weeks how it will turn out. pack slayer went with some old reliables on their team. The problem becomes upside when you do this. I expect them to be solid this week and in the coming weeks but solid usually doesn’t win championships. Another one that I am not sure where to go with so I am going with the team that has the most players I like and picking U Don’t Know! 🙂 *** I can predict wins with my heart vs my head right? ***
Historical Look at this Match-Up
pack slayer holds a 4-2 edge in their 6 regular season meetings. These two teams met in week 1 last season with pack slayer winning a defensive battle, 103.47 – 94.98.
Enjoy the games everyone!