This is a first.  I actually got one of my Gametime Decision calls wrong.  Imagine my surprise, sitting in traffic on 101, as the radio described Clinton Portis running out of the tunnel after I listed him as a ‘Not Playing’ that morning.  That was fun.

Otherwise?  Jeremiah and I didn’t disagree on anything in the chat (other than the Niners’ wide receiver corps’ future) so we tied with a perfect score.

On the Start/Bench front…well…I believe mixed is the word.  Bench won but both were up and down.  Three players on All-Start combined for 49 of the team’s 77 points, while four players on All-Bench combined for 76 of the team’s 86.

On to the numbers.  First the chat then the Start/Bench:

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I’ve attempted to post this three times in the last two days and every time it has failed, so I’m too annoyed for jokes and commentary.  I’m just going to click publish again and hope for the best.  Wish me luck.

Team: Game (Season)
All-Start: 118 (846)
All-Bench: 46 (653)

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Inconsistent week on the Start/Bench front.  While I nailed both All-Start running backs (combined 59 points by two players) the wide receivers weren’t quite so hot (19 total points among three players).  But really, who expected Steve Smith, the good one, to get shut out against the Raiders?

However leave it to the Lions to post the first negative score of the season on either All-Start or All-Bench with an impressively bad -3 points.

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After a late night at the Contra Costa county elections office last night I’m a bit too tired to be witty or analytical, so I’ll just get to the point: All-Start had a pretty good showing with a nine-point win.  Not as commanding as in recent weeks but good nonetheless.  Warner led the charge despite being about 68 years old, carrying the underperforming DeSean Jackson and Brandon Marshall.

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I just finished a conversation with our friend Danny about his initial reaction to the Rams’ drafting of Avery. Like many of you, it consisted of one word: “Who?”
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280 yards, three touchdowns, 23 fantasy points.

Matt Schaub, ladies and gentlemen.

For those of you who for whatever crazy reason don’t attend our online Q&A on Thursdays, this last one revolved around one Mr. Matt Schaub.  He became our Joe the Plumber.  Our favorite player.  The center of our attention.  Our hero.  So naturally Jeremiah and I were convinced he would tank this week, but he made us look like geniuses with 23 points.

Other than Matt Schaub, All-Start once against trounced All-Bench 116-61, but the point prediction formula didn’t exactly back up a surprisingly accurate debut.  For every player whose score it predicted exactly (Chris Cooley, Detroit defense) there’s one who scored exactly twice as many points as the prediction (Santana Moss, Phil Dawson) and one that scored exactly half as many (BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Greg Camarillo).  But the good news is that’s good for the average; All-Start’s total was only 5% lower than the prediction and All-Bench was only 15% off.

Anyway, on to the scores:

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Reminder: Larry Johnson is not playing.  He’s healthy, he’s not suspended, but it’s been announced that he’s benched.  So keep him out of your lineup.

Playing

Clinton Portis
Anquan Boldin
Chris Chambers
Joey Galloway
Derrick Mason
Jericho Cotchery
Justin McCareins
Justin Gage

Not Playing

Steven Jackson
Darren McFadden
Joseph Addai
Deion Branch
Reggie Brown
Sammy Morris
LaMont Jordan

Too Close to Call

Warrick Dunn

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately, but after Schaub’s performance the last few weeks, I was compelled to make my return.

The Texans signal-caller has made good on many predictions that this would be his breakout year, passing for more than 900 yards and six touchdowns in his past three games.
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Incorporating math into my Start/Bench predictions was apparently just the shot in the arm the All-Start Team needed.  After a two-week slump All-Start surged to a 118-64 win over All-Bench.  Not only that but the predictions were surprisingly accurate, with the All-Start predictions averaging 0.89 points above projections and All-Bench averaging just 1.67 over projections.

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Let’s start with the prediction that was most likely to come true…

You saw that right.  Peyton Manning.  All-Bench Team.  I am predicting the worst game of Peyton’s career.  Which means, considering what happened last week, he’s going to throw for eight touchdowns and rush for another three.

I wasn’t completely right of course, he only passed for three touchdowns, but putting him on the All-Bench Team pretty much guaranteed he was going to have the best game of his season against what was previously the best defense in the NFL.

Even taking that into account I was on pace to have a pretty good week until last night’s game.  All-Start’s New York defense turned in a -1 while All-Bench’s Braylon Edwards got an amazing 23, giving All-Start its second loss of the season and putting All-Bench within three of an overall point lead.  It’s not looking good for our heroes.

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