I'll admit that I read Matthew Berry's column. But I'll read anyone who's commenting on fantasy football. I'm interested in hearing what other people have to say and many of them watch a lot more football than I do (we don't have the satellite tv package allowing us to watch every game -- hell, we don't even have cable ... no ESPN beyond the streaming videos I watch on my laptop).
With that said, it's amazing how often they get it wrong when it's their DAY JOB. A perfect example: pundits referring to the choice of a kicker as a coin flip.
Today, Mr. Berry fielded a question from a viewer who wanted to know which kicker he should start. Berry chose a kicker (Dan Carpenter of Miami) randomly, dismissing the question entirely. Carpenter scored exactly 2 points today (extra points in Miami's 14-9 victory over the 49ers).
Meanwhile, our team went with John Kasay of the Carolina Panthers. Heading into this week, I was fairly confident that the Panthers would score 4 or 5 touchdowns and there would surely be a stalled drive or two -- even against a porous Bronco defense that pretty much acts like a turnstile. The Panthers won 30-10 -- three extra points, two 40+ field goals (4 points each in our league), and one 30+ field goal (3 points) from Kasay. That's 14 points on the day.
The difference between Kasay and Carpenter? 12 points. And our lead heading into Sunday night's action? Exactly 12 points.
These decisions do matter. I did a quick count of our kicking production on the season and found that our kickers had produced 114 points over 14 weeks. Btw, that would've only been good for 8th best in our league.
Do you know how many fantasy WRs eclipsed 114 points heading into this week? Exactly four in our league: Boldin, Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson and Jennings.
Granted, we're in a league that devalues receiving yardage somewhat (only 1 pt per 15 yards), but your kicker is as important as a #1 wide receiver. And our kickers (anyone from Nick Folk at the start of the year to Jay Feely, Shawn Suisham, Ryan Longwell, John Kasay, Joe Nedney, etc.) have outproduced the likes of Randy Moss, Terrell Owens and Reggie Wayne.
While Berry and his co-host prattled on about who was a sleeper in the #20-30 wide receiver rankings, I wondered why they were skipping kickers entirely. And they devoted little time to team defense (in our first round playoff victory, the Indianapolis Colts D accounted for 26 of our 73 points ... that was more than Drew Brees and our entire WR corps - Wayne, Moss, Colston - combined).
Defense and kicking -- these are the difference makers, especially when your QBs, RBs, and WRs fail to show up.
Speaking of which: if we lose tomorrow night, it will be because of a kicker. We currently have a 78-64 lead (Terrell Owens' game is still in progress, but he only has 31 yards right now ... only good for 2 points) and still face the Eagles' David Akers tomorrow night.
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