Ugh. I just lost my first fantasy football playoff game in three years. I won both leagues last year, and I won my one league the year before. Alas, Kung Fu Treachery puts upba respectable score, but loses by three points. I wonder what would have happened had Fred Davis not been suspended. Perhaps against that abysmal NE secondary, he could have been the difference. Oh well.

Lessons learned: 1. Never ever carry a second kicker. Kickers are way too random to make it worth holding one during the bye week. 2. Don’t think you are set if your depth lacks talent. I thought I was set with Jackie Battle, but he didn’t have that much talent. So, it shouldn’t have been a surprise that he faded. I should have been more aggressive in the RB market. Or rather, I never should have dropped Tolbert. That was my biggest mistake.

My best move was trading Pierre Thomas for Antonio Brown. PT didn’t do much, while Brown was consistent. And he scored me a bunch of points this week.

Aside from the best, TE’s are a crap shoot. You either get a touchdown or you don’t. And touchdowns are way too random. Here are the only TE’s I’d consider grabbing early next year: Gronk, Graham, Gates, Hernandez, and Fred Davis. Not too many TE’s can get good yardage. Gronk may be worth an extreme premium next year (as early as third rd… Maybe even 2nd). I suspect that because of his injury history these past two years, Gates may be available at a steep discount. If you don’t get the top tier TE’s, you can wait until the very end of the draft.

I am still trying to figure out tiering with WR’s. It seems like receiving yardage is so variable, that I am not sure what the difference is between a WR2 and a WR3. This is something I will need to look up. I traded Roddy White for Reggie Bush and Tolbert right before White finally started having games where he scored 10+ points. He was getting consistent points before, but nothing spectacular. He stopped dropping so many balls after I traded him. I don’t regret the trade at all, though. Bush has played well and I don’t think Brown was a huge downgrade. I did have a Djax for Jacobs trade that got cancelled before I could accept. My internet was out because AT&T sucks. Djax was my biggest headache this year. I thought he would do well when I drafted him. Oh yeah, another lesson: Avoid headcases.

The Slap Kings won this week and earned a number 1 seed. It is time for a 3-peat.