Week 1 Preview

I meant to get this out yesterday, but it feels a lot better now that the Patriots are alone with the worst record in the NFL. What doesn't feel so good is looking at my matchup and realizing that Steve Levine hates me. Off the fantasy field, Levine voted against every single one of my proposed rule changes during the offseason, without sending a single email backing up his opinion. I can only assume this would be his reaction when asked why he voted the way he did:

On top of that, my last two fantasy matchups have been against him. Last year in the playoffs, LeVeon Bell put up 47.8 points, the highest individual score of the season, to knock me out of my first playoffs in five years. This year in the first game of the season, Kareem Hunt puts up 43.1 points, which could also be the highest individual score of the season. It ain't over yet, but it certainly doesn't look good.

Which brings up two questions. 1) Levine, why do you hate me? We're the only two Dolphins fans in FALAFEL so we should be sticking together. And 2) After Hunt's 5-reception game, how do you like that half-PPR now?


Trade Recap
Marco Receives Tevin Coleman, Jarvis Landry, Cole Beasley
Weissbard Receives Dez Bryant, Josh Doctson

This was one of the more obvious trades even before the Miami game got postponed. Marco was way too top-heavy at WR at the expense of literally everything else, while Weiss had RB depth but seemingly forgot about the WR position. I'm on record as a huge Tevin Coleman fan, but with Shanahan gone and Freeman healthy, his ceiling is limited. Still an upgrade for Marco, but I have to give Weissbard the edge here.

Marco Grade: B+
Weissbard Grade: A



Biggest Matchup of Week 1 - Zacherman vs. Ajay

It's hard to predict much about the relative importance of a fantasy matchup heading into Week 1, but this year there is a slightly added importance on the divisions than there was in the past. Ajay vs. Z is one of three intra-division matchups this week, and with Zeke's one week stay of execution, it has added importance because it's one of 6 weeks that Z will get to use his prize RB. We all assumed Z would get out to a good start last night when it looked like Gronk pulled in a nice TD, but the call was reversed, and he was mostly held in check the rest of the game. This looks a lot like a toss up, and could easily come down to Brees vs. Demaryius on MNF. I like Zacherman's matchups a little bit better, so I'm picking Brees to slightly hold off DT for the win.
2017 Biggest Matchup Record: 0-0


Gambling Corner

Because I don't have a ton to write about this week, and because I just put down a lot of money on a Latvian betting website, I thought I would list my bets for this week/season to hopefully inspire more degenerates in this league than there already are. I'll keep doing this if people find it interesting, and if y'all don't then refer to the image above.

2017 NFL Season Bets
Carolina Panthers win Super Bowl (28:1)
Pittsburgh Steelers win Super Bowl (10:1)
Cam Newton MVP (25:1)
Isaiah Crowell Leads NFL in Rushing (50:1)
Arizona Cardinals over 8.5 wins
Chicago Bears over 5.5 wins
Cincinnati Bengals under 8.5 wins
Denver Broncos under 8.5 wins
Detroit Lions under 8 wins
Houston Texans under 8.5 wins
Los Angeles Chargers over 7.5 wins
Los Angeles Rams over 5.5 wins
New York Giants under 9 wins
Oakland Raiders under 10 wins
Tampa Bay Bucs under 8.5 wins

2017 NFL Week 1 Bets
Chicago Bears (+7) vs. Atlanta Falcons
Detroit Lions (+2) vs. Arizona Cardinals
Oakland Raiders (+2) at Tennessee Titans

2017 NCAA Week 2 Bets
North Carolina (+10) vs. Louisville
South Carolina (+3) at Missouri
Stanford (+6) at USC
Record: 3-0