Kaepernick in particular.
I was venting my morbid curiosity about how bad the Niners look and how I just can't see why Colin isn't lighting it up. After watching guys like Rodgers and Brady and Peyton and well . . . just about anyone else, I noticed a trend. I noticed that when a QB has time in the pocket and open receivers, that seems to help a lot.
Now, of course they make their money pushing an oblong ball through tight holes . . . (that was a testicle joke), but having time in the pocket and open receivers makes more sense.
My pops disagreed.
He said, the thing about those guys is they THROW their receivers open.
Meaning that they get the ball out of their hands quickly (assuredly) and place the ball with such laser-beam accuracy that puts it in the hands of guys like Nelson and just out of reach of guys like Revis.
Intrigued by this idea, I watched for things like that.
And okay, yeah, sort of.
But you know what I saw much much much more of?
You guessed it.
Time in the pocket and open receivers.
I also felt strongly that the Niner play calling wasn't, hmmm, well, it wasn't working. They huddle, go to the line of scrimmage, get set, CALL KILL, and rearrange the play to something else. I found out later that Kaep calls two plays in the huddle and then picks the one he likes based on the looks the defense is giving him.
I'm not saying that's a bad idea, I mean . . . what the shit do I know . . . but if your offense is adjusting each play to what the defense is showing you . . . isn't that what a defense does?
Watch any game, even the ones that the Niners have won and you'll see it pretty clear. They're playing defense on the offensive side of the ball.
Again . . . I'm not saying that's a bad idea . . . it just doesn't seem to be working . . . and you know . . . hasn't really worked since September.
If I owned a refrigerator that hadn't worked since September, I don't know . . . but I'd probably have a new refrigerator by now.
THE BIG NEWS:
The Raiders look like a football team. (Okay, maybe not Week 13, but you know) Carr threw for 254yrds and 3TD's hitting 7 different receivers and got sacked six times less than Kaepernick. Latavious Murray ran for exactly 76 yards on 23 carries (not great, but not McFadden) and the Oakland Defense sacked Colin 6 times.
Those stats say a lot of things about a lot of things, but it warms my Bay Area heart to see at least one of my teams moving in a non-embarrassing direction.
INJURIES AND BAD DECISIONS:
Bad week to be a receiver. All I can really say is get well everyone.
WHAT TO WATCH:
So last week I predicted the Dallas/Chicago game to be the offensive barnstromer with Murray lighting it up and Cutler being a garbage time Magician. Called it.
Arizona and Kansas City being the defensive watch. 14-17, but Michael Bush got dropped before the game even began, so I get half points. Though who the hell was thinking Kerwynn Williams would go for 100 yrds?
And the WTF game? Yup. Niners vs Oakland. And all I gots to say is . . . WTF?
This week: Offense going to Dallas/Phillie. McCoy has his best game. Murray gets frequent flier miles from TWA. Defense, Vikings/Lions. Gonna be a good day to own Golden Tate. And the WTF Game goes to the The Saints vs. The Bears, the two teams with all the offensive weapons imaginable (sans Marshall) and no idea how to win games.
FANTASYLAND:
ForFuns League 7th place (Highest total score)
ForReals League 5th place (3rd highest total score)
Well . . . I'm out of contention. Too bad really. I was very proud of my ForReals Team. They just got out played.
For next week (Possibly my final 40ft POST this year) I'm gonna do a total Fantasy Breakdown, from draft theories and results, to waiverwire darlings, so I won't go into it too terribly much now.
However, there were some fun results (aside from fodder for this blog) that I thought were worth mentioning.
First: Out of the two leagues, and twenty six head to head match-ups, the were only two games where a bench choice would've made the difference in the game. One in each league. That could mean that I had a terrible bench, or I picked the right guys.
Aftter further review . . . I just usually picked the right guys . . . except for that time when I loaded up Crabtree instead of Golden Tate and the time I went Kaepernick instead of Tannehil, but you know, that happens.
What I was looking for was "That One Decision" that derailed my games and there just weren't many to choose from.
On the other hand, I can look at the "If only" moments and there I found something funny. There was one game where (ForFuns) I lost by a fraction of a point. Had I won that particular game, i would've made the playoffs and the first round. That happened to be the game where I had Percy Harvin loaded up and he had three (count 'em) three TD's called back. One single dubious holding call reversed and I'd be the league leader. Funny. Haha. LOL.
Now this week - a game I lost by twenty points - (damn you Leveon Bell) there were actually four things that went sour. 1. It was the Julian Edelman Game when I had Lafell (Cause . . . The Patriots). 2. The Panthers dominated time of posession against The Saints rendering Kuechly unformidable. 3.Lavonte David went out early with a concussion and 4. Without a single mention anywhere, from TV to every iPad Ap, D'Onetello Hightower didn't play, like . . . at all. (Damn you Belechick). No notes from CBS, Yahoo, NFL, nothing. I couldn't even find news of it after the fact. He just didn't play.
Now, had two of those four things not happened, I might have won, but alas, cookies are bound to crumble.
Speaking of Crumbling Cookies
TRADEFUN:
So just as a refresher, I did some massive trading with my brother this season. Trading that might have looked crazy. Stupid crazy. But aside from how much fun it was texting back and forth, wheeling and dealing like Billy Bean at the GoFish Championships, it turned out to be a wash.
I gave him McCoy, Gordon, & Kaepernick for Kuechly, L. David, Blue, and Maclin.
He got what he wanted, I got what I wanted, we both had good games, we both had bad games.
The trade got both of us into the playoffs, and we both lost in the first round.
Total Plus Points for Me ended at 46 over five games. (I didn't calculate his +/- because I can't read his mind and know who he would've gone with otherwise)
But that turns out to be a little over 9 points per game.
That's like an extra TE.
Think about that next year.
anyway . . .
CRAZYSTUPID PREDICTIONS LAST WEEK:
Colt McCoy throws 350 and 2TDs. (199, 2int, 2 sacks, 1 fum, Injury) Bad Call.
The Leading Receiver in NE vs SD will not be a TE (Julian Edelman, 141yrds.) Good Call
CJ2K rolls another 100yrd game (53, but Ivory went 73, Damn You RBBC) Bad Call.
ATL vs GB is a 73pnt game and Jordy and Julio go nuts (80pts, JD 146, JJ 259) Damn Good Call
Matt Shaub throws a Pick 6 (Nope. Unfortunately his dog ate his car keys and he was unable to make the game.)
CRAZYSTUPID PREDICTIONS THIS WEEK:
SF Beat Seattle because Gore sends Harbaugh a lovely gift basket of scented bubble baths and fruit carved into the shape of flowers and Jim decides it's time to let Frank off his leash.
JJ Watt spends so much time with his arms wrapped around Andrew Luck that they decide to open up a cupcake kiosk in the Houston airport.
Kerwynn Williams rocks another 100yrd game.
Johnny Football gets pulled in the 3rd quarter because he can't seem to throw open Josh Gordon.
That's enough for today folks. Storm's a coming and I got stew to prep.
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