The Syndicate

G-Man wrote:Wow. I'm surprised none of you picked Miami's offense. They're considered a wildcard contender at the very least. I almost went for it but I decided to get a little crazy. I wouldn't mind their defense either but they play against both of my offenses.

Miami was who I was tossing up with NY to pick.

I feel most sorry for Miami of those left.

Obviously:

Civvies = golden, G-Man, MM, MP
Baddies = epi, DH, TH, leggy

Although leggy is a wild card for me because I don't really know her in a mafia context.

I'm beginning to be pretty sure MM has never rolled bad in his entire mafia career. I haven't seen it.

Golden wrote:

G-Man wrote:Wow. I'm surprised none of you picked Miami's offense. They're considered a wildcard contender at the very least. I almost went for it but I decided to get a little crazy. I wouldn't mind their defense either but they play against both of my offenses.

Miami was who I was tossing up with NY to pick.

I feel most sorry for Miami of those left.

Obviously:

Civvies = golden, G-Man, MM, MP
Baddies = epi, DH, TH, leggy

Although leggy is a wild card for me because I don't really know her in a mafia context.

I'm beginning to be pretty sure MM has never rolled bad in his entire mafia career. I haven't seen it.

Not true. I play bad all the time when I'm civ.

Golden wrote:

G-Man wrote:Wow. I'm surprised none of you picked Miami's offense. They're considered a wildcard contender at the very least. I almost went for it but I decided to get a little crazy. I wouldn't mind their defense either but they play against both of my offenses.

Miami was who I was tossing up with NY to pick.

I feel most sorry for Miami of those left.

Obviously:

Civvies = golden, G-Man, MM, MP
Baddies = epi, DH, TH, leggy

Although leggy is a wild card for me because I don't really know her in a mafia context.

I'm beginning to be pretty sure MM has never rolled bad in his entire mafia career. I haven't seen it.

The only time I've ever won a game was a baddie

Golden wrote:MP ran right out of Texan teams to select.

I did! San Antonio doesn't have a football team.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

Golden wrote:MP ran right out of Texan teams to select.

He should have picked the Houston Oilers Tenessee Titans.

Ah! Didn't know that. Bummer.

I got the three teams I wanted.

This means I will lose.

Golden wrote:

G-Man wrote:Wow. I'm surprised none of you picked Miami's offense. They're considered a wildcard contender at the very least. I almost went for it but I decided to get a little crazy. I wouldn't mind their defense either but they play against both of my offenses.

Miami was who I was tossing up with NY to pick.

I feel most sorry for Miami of those left.

Obviously:

Civvies = golden, G-Man, MM, MP
Baddies = epi, DH, TH, leggy

Although leggy is a wild card for me because I don't really know her in a mafia context.

I'm beginning to be pretty sure MM has never rolled bad in his entire mafia career. I haven't seen it.

Team Civilian.

Epignosis wrote:I got the three teams I wanted.

This means I will lose.

But what about you saying you will lose? That might make you win.

I'm pretty sure a team of me, DH, TH, and leggy could grease you all.

Of course, we'd be matching your number to begin with, but whatever.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Golden wrote:MP ran right out of Texan teams to select.

I did! San Antonio doesn't have a football team.

You should have just drafted the Spurs. They are looking pretty good offensively.

Conferences have been established. I will post the season schedule at lunch today.


BADDIE CONFERENCE:
DharmaHelper
G-Man
MovingPictures07
Turnip Head


CIVVIE CONFERENCE:
Epignosis
Golden
Leggyorlyb
MetalMarsh89


Teams play each of their conference opponents three times. Six of your nine conference games will be Weeks 1-3 and Weeks 12-14 because that helps a majority of conference games avoid being skewed by bye week shenanigans. Conference records will be our tie-breaker, making those games more important.

You play each non-conference opponent once plus there will be one non-conference "random rematch" to give us 14 weeks. Weeks 15-17 of the NFL season will be our playoffs. Since there are so few of us this year, we all get in.

What's the point of the regular season if we all make the playoffs? :P

Turnip Head wrote:What's the point of the regular season if we all make the playoffs? :P

#1 plays #4 in the first round. #2 goes up against #3. Having run this once before (though with more players), playoff positioning can matter quite a bit.

It's not my fault you guys didn't tell more people to sign up.

You'll just have to extol the virtues of my EZ Fantasy Football and get more people involved next year.

I'd be down to make the playoffs longer or something. Especially since Week 17 is usually irrelevant in the NFL since most of the teams have nothing to play for, and the best teams rest their starters. Maybe make each playoff matchup last two weeks? Just spitballing. Feel free to shoot me down.

What about scrapping the "random rematch" game and making it a 13 week season with the playoffs starting in Week 14?

Then give two teams double byes (automatically make it to the Week 16 playoff round) and give two more teams a single bye (they start in Week 15)?

I'm also just spitballing.

Turnip Head wrote:I'd be down to make the playoffs longer or something. Especially since Week 17 is usually irrelevant in the NFL since most of the teams have nothing to play for, and the best teams rest their starters. Maybe make each playoff matchup last two weeks? Just spitballing. Feel free to shoot me down.

The NFL tweaked the scheduling in recent years to keep a few division games at the end of the season so those games matter if divisions are close. Hopefully that's the case this year. I also don't want to shorten the season too much because bye weeks can be a major factor in the middle of the season. Taking a bad loss because one of your teams is on bye week and dominating someone with a team on a bye week isn't an accurate reflection of how good your team really is. Then again, our teams depend on the strength of schedule of the NFL teams we picked. That's one reason I stayed away from Pittsburgh. They have the hardest schedule based on combined opponent records from last season.

I think we're just going to run it the way I did before and we can discuss changes for next year when all is said and done.


PS- that means I already worked up the season schedule :P

Maybe we should all draft a Bye week replacement team :P

Turnip Head wrote:Maybe we should all draft a Bye week replacement team :P

Or we could have a mini draft each bye week for those players down a team. That could help even things out somewhat because someone with their defense off on a bye week probably has a big advantage because the team that loses them points is off. Maybe we can make it so that you can't use the same undrafted team twice?

Then again, that's basically giving a mulligan to those people who didn't check the bye week schedule before picking their second and third choices. It's kind of a fairness v. equality dilemma.

Loading up some images. I'll post them over here in short order.

So essentially you're taking a loss if you have a team on BYE and your opponent is at full strength.

Turnip Head wrote:So essentially you're taking a loss if you have a team on BYE and your opponent is at full strength.

Typically, yes. But you'd be surprised. If your opponent's defense has a crappy game and costs them a lot of points, you could conceivably still win if your defense posts a shutout and your offense is amazing. If your defense is on BYE, then you're actually better off than your opponent. There are so many variables each week because the teams on our rosters play games of varying difficulty throughout the NFL season. There is no such thing as a sure thing.

Looks like Epi, MP, and Leggy each picked two teams that are on BYE week at the same time. Epi is an extra-special case because he also picked an offense and a defense from the same NFL division. Any time those two teams play each other, they wash each other out and he has to rely on his other offense entirely.

It's called EZ Fantasy Football, but it still requires some attention to detail.

Here are the Week 1 match-ups:

DharmaHelper v. MovingPictures07
Epignosis v. Leggyorlyb
G-Man v. Turnip Head
Golden v. Metalmarsh89

Here's the NFL Week 1 schedule in case you want to see who your teams are playing. Who do you think will win the Week 1 games?

Looks like I have the fortune of not playing any teams while their defense is sitting. That's good to know.

I also better win Week 7. My defense is off that week and leggy's Denver Offense is also off that week.

G-Man wrote:Here are the Week 1 match-ups:

DharmaHelper v. MovingPictures07
Epignosis v. Leggyorlyb
G-Man v. Turnip Head
Golden v. Metalmarsh89

Here's the NFL Week 1 schedule in case you want to see who your teams are playing. Who do you think will win the Week 1 games?

MovingPictures07 over DharmaHelper
leggylorlyb over Epignosis
G-Man over Turnip Head
Metalmarsh89 over Golden

G-Man wrote:Epi is an extra-special case

There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:Looks like I have the fortune of not playing any teams while their defense is sitting. That's good to know.

I also better win Week 7. My defense is off that week and leggy's Denver Offense is also off that week.

Looks like I got lucky with that as well. I also see that I play MP07 on Week 6, which is when both of his offenses are off on BYE week. Ouch. Guess I can pencil that one in for a win. I'll have to remember not to brag about that one because that is such a cheap win.

Epi and Leggy are lucky in that their 2-teams-on-BYE weeks take away an offense and their defense.

Epignosis wrote:There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

This is what I'd like to do. I don't even care that I get last pick, losing automatically isn't very fun

I guess that could work. One more draft round?

Turnip Head wrote:

Epignosis wrote:There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

This is what I'd like to do. I don't even care that I get last pick, losing automatically isn't very fun

The only problem with simply doing one more draft round is that it won't prevent everyone from being down a team. Epi, Leggy, and MP07 will all be down two teams at some point, so one more draft round doesn't take care of the whole problem.

I like the idea of using the damaged goods that nobody wanted to draft. Since I'm running the show, here's what I propose:

Each BYE week, the players who are down one or more team will have a mini-draft, where they get to select a team from the eight that were left over from the draft. We'll make a rule where you can only use a non-drafted team once, forcing us to use a few different teams to supplement our BYE week needs.

How would you prefer we handle the mini-drafts- random selection or by record (worst to best) ?

G-Man wrote:It's call EZ Fantasy Football, but it still requires some attention to detail.

NOW he tells us.

G-Man wrote:

Turnip Head wrote:

Epignosis wrote:There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

This is what I'd like to do. I don't even care that I get last pick, losing automatically isn't very fun

The only problem with simply doing one more draft round is that it won't prevent everyone from being down a team. Epi, Leggy, and MP07 will all be down two teams at some point, so one more draft round doesn't take care of the whole problem.

I like the idea of using the damaged goods that nobody wanted to draft. Since I'm running the show, here's what I propose:

Each BYE week, the players who are down one or more team will have a mini-draft, where they get to select a team from the eight that were left over from the draft. We'll make a rule where you can only use a non-drafted team once, forcing us to use a few different teams to supplement our BYE week needs.

How would you prefer we handle the mini-drafts- random selection or by record (worst to best) ?

You're right. I just would have picked a team that had a bye week the same week my defense did. :P

If it would worked.

I like the mini-draft idea. Everyone should have to go in to every matchup with three teams.

G-Man wrote:

Turnip Head wrote:

Epignosis wrote:There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

This is what I'd like to do. I don't even care that I get last pick, losing automatically isn't very fun

The only problem with simply doing one more draft round is that it won't prevent everyone from being down a team. Epi, Leggy, and MP07 will all be down two teams at some point, so one more draft round doesn't take care of the whole problem.

I like the idea of using the damaged goods that nobody wanted to draft. Since I'm running the show, here's what I propose:

Each BYE week, the players who are down one or more team will have a mini-draft, where they get to select a team from the eight that were left over from the draft. We'll make a rule where you can only use a non-drafted team once, forcing us to use a few different teams to supplement our BYE week needs.

How would you prefer we handle the mini-drafts- random selection or by record (worst to best) ?

What if, if you have an offense and defense both on bye, then you just use both the O and D of your replacement team? Does anyone have two offenses on bye the same week? That's the only problem I can see with doing it this way.

I'd prefer to not have a draft every week there's byes... it takes the EZ out of EZ Fantasy :P If it must be done, I don't really have a preference for whether it's random or by standings.

And yeah, I suppose this does require attention to detail... attention to BYE weeks, which is generally the least fun part of fantasy football!

Turnip Head wrote:

G-Man wrote:

Turnip Head wrote:

Epignosis wrote:There's 8 more teams. That's enough for each of us to have one backup team that subs in whenever there is a bye.

This is what I'd like to do. I don't even care that I get last pick, losing automatically isn't very fun

The only problem with simply doing one more draft round is that it won't prevent everyone from being down a team. Epi, Leggy, and MP07 will all be down two teams at some point, so one more draft round doesn't take care of the whole problem.

I like the idea of using the damaged goods that nobody wanted to draft. Since I'm running the show, here's what I propose:

Each BYE week, the players who are down one or more team will have a mini-draft, where they get to select a team from the eight that were left over from the draft. We'll make a rule where you can only use a non-drafted team once, forcing us to use a few different teams to supplement our BYE week needs.

How would you prefer we handle the mini-drafts- random selection or by record (worst to best) ?

What if, if you have an offense and defense both on bye, then you just use both the O and D of your replacement team? Does anyone have two offenses on bye the same week? That's the only problem I can see with doing it this way.

I'd prefer to not have a draft every week there's byes... it takes the EZ out of EZ Fantasy :P If it must be done, I don't really have a preference for whether it's random or by standings.

And yeah, I suppose this does require attention to detail... attention to BYE weeks, which is generally the least fun part of fantasy football!

Here's a break-down of the BYE weeks and how they affect us:

WEEK 4:
G-Man (1 offense off)

WEEK 5:
DharmaHelper (defense off)
Epignosis (1 offense off AND defense off)

WEEK 6:
MovingPictures07 (BOTH offenses off)
Turnip Head (defense off)

WEEK 7:
DharmaHelper (1 offense off)
Golden (1 offense off)
Leggyorlyb (1 offense off)
Metalmarsh89 (defense off)

WEEK 8:
G-Man (offense off)
Golden (defense off)

WEEK 9:
DharmaHelper (1 offense off)
G-Man (defense off)
Leggyorlyb (1 offense off AND defense off)
Metalmarsh89 (1 offense off)
Moving Pictures07 (defense off)

WEEK 10:
Metalmarsh89 (1 offense off)
Turnip Head (1 offense off)

WEEK 11:
Epignosis (1 offense off)
Golden (1 offense off)
Turnip Head (1 offense off)


So MP07 does fall victim to having both of his offenses off during the same week. I still lean in favor of the mini-draft during BYE weeks because each of us only has to deal with it three times (some of us only twice). I can send out PM's right after the Monday night game or first thing Tuesday morning so we can get the mini-draft over with before the Thursday night game (if none of the 8 undrafted teams are in the Thursday night game, then we can let the draft run longer).


I guess for next year we can do one of three things:

1) Repeat a mini-draft or supplemental draft to help players cover their BYE weeks
2) Add a safeguard that disallows people from drafting two teams that share a BYE week
3) Be cold and unfeeling people and make people lie down in the bed they've made

Okay, I guess I'm down to do a mini draft each week. Still better than an auto-loss.

My predictions:

G-Man wrote:DharmaHelper v. MovingPictures07
Epignosis v. Leggyorlyb
G-Man v. Turnip Head
Golden v. Metalmarsh89

While I think DH's roster looks solid, I think the Baltimore-Denver game is going to a tight one. Both defenses seem ready to make statements this year, which will hold the Ravens back a little for DH. I expect Chicago to be a shaky to middle-of-the-pack team this year, so I don't see them fairing well against one of the league's best in Green Bay. DH's defense should do well though. MP's offenses are taking on weak teams, so he should have a nice lead when all is said and done.

Smart money is on Leggy but I still think Denver may be stifled by Baltimore's defense. St. Louis was no slouch last year on defense and they could keep the Seahawks contained for one or two quarters. Not sure how her defense will do against San Diego. Detroit lost some defensive prowess with Suh departing for Miami. Epi could pull out the upset though because his defense is up against the Jaguars. If they're still the joke they were last year, he could even post a shutout. I don't see the Saints racking up tons of point against the Cardinals defense but is San Francisco is as big a mess as everyone thinks it is, the Vikings could clinch the win for Epi now that they've got Peterson back.

This week could be a perfect storm against TH because his offenses are both playing teams with very good defenses and his defense plays a strong offense. I think my defense will benefit from the Texans being mediocre offensively and the Eagles-Falcons game could get ugly for the Falcons and pretty for me. I'll be cheering against both of my offenses all season long but I think I'll win this one by double digits.

Gotta go with MM over Golden. I can see Green Bay clobbering the Bears but I think the Giants are serious underdogs against the Cowboys. Buffalo will have a tough task in containing Luck and the Colts but they continue to beef up their D, so who knows. MM has San Diego, who could have an average game against the Lions but I think Arizona will probably run away with the game over the Saints. His defense (Cincinnati) has a softball match-up against the Raiders and that makes all the difference.

Yeah I'm totally losing this week. I think my offenses will still put up respectable numbers, but the Steelers will lose to the Pats and the Eagles will run rampant against Atlanta.

Here are the scores heading into tonight's game.



Golden needs the Giants to score 35 points to win. MP needs a pretty big showing from Dallas to win as well. Both teams play tonight.

I am already assured a win over Turnip Head despite my other offense not playing until tomorrow night. Epi has a great chance of winning over Leggy due to the Baltimore-Denver game being such a low-scoring affair and her defense erased all the points her Seattle offense scored and then some.

Fuckin' jokers picking MP to win over me.

DharmaHelper wrote:Fuckin' jokers picking MP to win over me.

You scored about what I expected for your roster. Had MP's defense (Houston) played to last year's form against the Chiefs and their mediocre offense, he could easily have been in striking distance. He needs 40 points which isn't impossible if the Giants play as bad as they did last year.

G-Man wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:Fuckin' jokers picking MP to win over me.

You scored about what I expected for your roster. Had MP's defense (Houston) played to last year's form against the Chiefs and their mediocre offense, he could easily have been in striking distance. He needs 40 points which isn't impossible if the Giants play as bad as they did last year.

He should have listened to me and picked the Titans. Marcus Mariota man.

Got that W

My little ponies embarrassed me today. Hope Indy gets their shit together.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

G-Man wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:Fuckin' jokers picking MP to win over me.

You scored about what I expected for your roster. Had MP's defense (Houston) played to last year's form against the Chiefs and their mediocre offense, he could easily have been in striking distance. He needs 40 points which isn't impossible if the Giants play as bad as they did last year.

He should have listened to me and picked the Titans. Marcus Mariota man.

Dang. Was not a good sports weekend for me... first Federer loses to Djokovic and now this.

Metalmarsh89 wrote:

G-Man wrote:

DharmaHelper wrote:Fuckin' jokers picking MP to win over me.

You scored about what I expected for your roster. Had MP's defense (Houston) played to last year's form against the Chiefs and their mediocre offense, he could easily have been in striking distance. He needs 40 points which isn't impossible if the Giants play as bad as they did last year.

He should have listened to me and picked the Titans. Marcus Mariota man.

Yeah, but how is he going to look when he's got a top-rate defense coming after him? Specifically, how wide will Mariota's eyes get when he sees J.J. Watt burst through his offensive line at top speed? I think the only thing this game told us is that last year's second-worst team in the league re-tooled better than last year's worst team in the league.

Tennessee's defense was actually ranked #16 in 2013 and their offense was ranked #19, so maybe they got back a few players that were hurt in 2014.

MM and I had a remarkably close matchup across the board.

Full game recaps here.

Week 1 Scores:



League Standings:



Week 2 Games:
DharmaHelper (1-0) v. Turnip Head (0-1)
Epignosis (0-1) v. Metalmarsh89 (1-0)
G-Man (1-0) v. MovingPictures07 (0-1)
Golden (0-1) v. Leggyorlyb (1-0)

Predictions?