Week Two Preview

Rich Liberal Trendy Cause (1-0, T-1st) Starting Lineup
Tom Brady, QB
CJ Spiller, RB1
"The Law Firm" BenJarvis Green-Ellis, RB2
Hakeem "The Dream" Nicks, WR1
Randall Cobb, WR2
Shonn Greene, Flex RB
Jimmy Graham, TE
Patriots D/ST
Matt Prater, K

Draft and Draught Dream Team! (1-0, T-1st) Starting Lineup
Aaron Rodgers, QB
Maurice Jones-Drew, RB
DeMarco Murray, RB
Trent Richardson, RB
Jordy Nelson, WR
Robert Meachem, WR
Vernon Davis, TE
Bengals D/ST
Stephen Gostkowski, K

Well, well, well. If it isn't my eternal real-life football foe, Brian, and his misfit Cowboys-loving "fantasy team." Ok, I'm still bitter about Giants/Cowboys last weekend. Furthermore, Brian is the defending league champion, so The Cause are not lacking in motivational billboard material for this game.

Tom Brady is a match-up nightmare against almost any team in the DDL. However, this is not one of those games; Aaron Rodgers is still the top dog for fantasy quarterbacks. If Brady outscores Rodgers, I will be VERY happy.

At running back, suddenly the Cause have found a team strength - The Law Firm, CJ Spiller, and yes, even Shonn Greene, had marvelous Week One performances, and they all share that rarest of running back qualities: opportunity. I don't want to be too optimistic after just one week of play, but my draft strategy was to throw darts at the running back dart board, and it appears so far that the Cause have hit three bull's-eyes.  The DDDT, meanwhile, have some great upside at running back, with MJD and DeMarco Murray in particular looking solid, but Trent Richardson remains somewhat shaky.

I'm taking a bit of a risk at wide receiver by starting Green Bay's Randall Cobb over Antonio Brown, but there are a couple of good reasons to do so. First, he looked spectacular last week, converting all nine of his targets. Second, Green Bay starter Greg Jennings is hurt and may not play at all, which means Cobb should get more work in the prolific Green Bay passing offense. This, of course, means a bump for the DDDT's WR1, Jordy Nelson, as well. But Brian's WR2, Robert Meachem, is a longshot play at best, so I think the edge at wide receiver goes to my team.

Jimmy Graham is a clear favorite at tight end over anyone not named The Gronk. And Vernon Davis is not named The Gronk.

At D/ST, the DDDT take a gamble by starting the Bengals, who looked atrocious last week against the Ravens. However, they are playing against the inept Cleveland offense, so they have a lot of potential. I chose to swap out the Eagles for the Patriots, simply because the Eagles offense looked so incompetent that their defense may be asked to do a lot more against better competition.

Overall, I'm very confident heading into Week Two. A win here would send a clear message to the league that The Cause are a force to be reckoned with as the season moves on.

(note: I am following the European football convention of using the plural form of the verb "to be" when it refers to the singular name of a team, i.e. "The Cause are..." rather than "The Cause is...". This, I feel, better captures the concept of the whole being a collection of individuals ,which is fitting in a fantasy league format. If you don't like it, then don't read about English football, because you won't like that, either.)