Misery Loves Misery...Or Something Like That

Let’s start with real life football…the Redskins, only 6 games into their schedule, are for all intents and purposes done this year. After losing on the road to the Panthers, they fell to 3-3. Maybe even more important than that was the manner that they lost…and their ever-growing body-count. I still stand by my previous statements that I like the moves they made this offseason, and I think the roster is improved even if it won’t necessarily show in terms of wins and losses this year. Having said that, if everything broke right for them this year (as it did for the most part through the 1st 4 games of the year) they could perhaps surprise people and make a push for 1 of the last playoff spots in the NFC…a big “if” though. Along with the obvious questions at quarterback, the roster still lacks depth along the offensive line and proven offensive playmakers that defenses have to account for week in and week out. Part of getting breaks is making your own breaks though. Through the 1st 4 games, Washington ran the ball fairly well, forced turnovers on D, avoided injuries for the most part, and made enough big plays at key moments to overcome mediocre quarterback play and give themselves a 3-1 record. The last 2 games showed just how little room for error this team actually has. Interceptions doomed the Skins last week against Philly. Mounting injuries during both of the last 2 games seem to be handicapping this team for the long haul though. Stud left tackle Trent Williams will probably be out at least a couple more weeks with a sprained ankle. Starting left guard Kory Lichtensteiger and running back Tim Hightower have been lost for the season with torn ACL’s. Chris Cooley was also put on Injured Reserve today. Santana Moss is out basically indefinitely with a broken hand. So, who exactly on the Redskins offense strikes fear in the heart of opposing defenses? Is there anyone there that defensive coordinators will look at and say, “Hey, we need to account for that guy at all times?” Fred Davis has promise, but isn’t consistent. Roy Helu and Ryan Torain both seem capable, but it’s hard to expect a lot out of them behind a makeshift offensive line. Jabar Gaffney? No. The quarterbacks? Oh wait…they are stopgaps for next year anyway. Yep, that pretty much should do it.

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I have had both bad and unlucky fantasy teams in the past. I think even the best fantasy players have years where a star running back gets hurt or something…but I can’t think of a year that I have felt more scorned than this year. Last year was an embarrassment of riches for me. My team was good enough to have 2 out of my top 3 or 4 draft picks get hurt or just plain underperform, and my team was still head and shoulders above the others in our league. This year, I have had no such luck. This week, I sweated out my potential waiver wire pickups, as my 2 best players (Vick and Fred Jackson) were on bye weeks. I actually was able to claim someone who I thought might save my week, DeMarco Murray. Little did I know he would rush for the all-time single game rushing record in Cowboys history. Still, I was forced to sweat out the Monday Night Football Game between the Ravens and Jags. I went into the game down 12 with only Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff left to play (the team I was playing had no one left at that point). 12 points is a lot for a kicker, but given that the Ravens were favored to blow out the Jags it was still within the realm of possibilities. Of course, Baltimore played a stinker of a game, playing pitifully on offense, and managing only 7 points for the whole game…in case you didn’t do the math already, that would give me 1 (count ‘em, 1) point for Cundiff’s output. Making me even angrier in hindsight, the loss basically hinged on the matchup of our kickers and defenses, where he outscored me a combined 27-4 (or something like that). Now, if you look below at the snapshot of our league standings through 7 weeks, you should notice a few things…

The season is slowly slipping away.

1st, you will notice that I am 2-5, on a 2 game losing streak, and in 9th place in a 12 team league. You will also notice that in terms of total points scored, only 3 teams have more. But in terms of total points scored against my team, no one has a bigger number than me…so, week in and week out more points are scored against my team than any team in the league. I have had to scramble to pick up guys in light of bye weeks (Finley and Starks…sad that I am even relying on James Starks as a key player in my lineup anyway) and injuries (Hightower) again this week, so I could really use a week where the team I play just completely chokes and has like 60 total points…but that doesn’t seem to be the way things are going for my fantasy team this year.