So you are in the Championship (1 Viewer)

[GiantsRule]

Made it to the Super Bowl for the 2nd straight year to defend my '08 title in my 16-team, 5-keeper league. Proud to be there but have almost no shot at repeating (opponent has sick matchups across the board including Rodgers hosting Seattle, Gore hosting Detroit, Andre Johnson at Miami, and finishes the massacre with AP at Chicago on Monday night. Meanwhile, I go in with Kaeding already limited to six points thanks to the Titans' crappy defense, my best player (Jamaal Charles) having an impossible matchup at Cincy, and starting two waiver wire picks in the championship game (Jermichael Finley as a #2 WR and the Browns DT/ST).

Here's my thoughts on how I got here (keepers going in were Brees, Turner, Grant, Kevin Smith, Steve Smith (Car))

What went right

* Trading up in the 9th round to grab Jamaal Charles who I felt could possibly be a nice bye week fill-in at the worst.

* Trading Kevin Smith after his first injury for Steve Smith (NYG) and Braylon Edwards (still a Brown at the time, and whose 1st matchup on my team was a 0 point effort during a shootout with Cincy)

* Surviving a 2-4 start and ending the season on a 7-game win streak and the #3 seed. #2 or #3 was critical as the #1 (who I would have faced last week) crushed all would be opponents by scoring an insane 145 points. 2nd highest scorer? 106 points.

* Trading Steve Smith (Car) and a 2010 6th round pick for Ricky Williams 20 minutes prior to RW's debut as the starter in a Thursday night game vs. Carolina (a 150-yard, 3 TD effort)

* Missing out on getting Josh Cribbs off waivers in Week 15 who I likely would have started. Despite his 2 return TDs (which are worthless for offensive scoring), he finished last week with a giant goose egg which would have bounced me out of the playoffs.

* In the semi-finals, being up a scant 11 points with just Smith (NYG) left vs. DeAngelo & Jacobs, DeAngelo gets hurt in the 1st quarter after getting just 1.5 points for my opponent and doesn't return. Monday night, Jacobs has an adequate start but gets both red zone TDs vultured from Ahmad Bradshaw. Both scenarios show once again how much luck plays into fantasy football.

What went wrong

* Trading up in the 1st round to grab Darren Sproles who I was convinced was going to be SDC's latest "Michael Turner." Got one good game out of him (vs. Baltimore) and benched him last night as he went off for 24 points. I'll end up putting him back in the draft pool next season and he'll probably go on to be a Top 3 starting RB.

* Losing Michael Turner just as he was ripping up defenses week after week (111 yards vs. Carolina in the 1st quarter when he hurt his knee)

* Losing to the worst team in the league in Week 5 because I didn't have an adequate backup for Drew Brees during his bye week (TBB's Josh Johnson).

* Not paying attention early on when the CJ owner put him up on the trade block

* Not securing more wide receiver depth (Smith - NYG is my #1, Chambers was my #2 until Bowe came back, Braylon my #3, and now Finley off the waiver as my #4)

What could have been a head smashing against wall disaster that I narrowly avoided

* Almost offered up Charles & Kolby Smith for a fringe player prior to LJ's suspension. I believe Turner was still healthy, Haley was pushing for Kolby as the starter, and I wanted a defense with a good matchup or something silly like that. Pulled the deal off the table before the other owner saw it...because I was sure he'd reject the offer and consider it "insulting"!

 

[Topes]

In one word, Chris Johnson.

Getting ready for the big game this coming week.

I have survived David Garrard throughout the season, after drafting only David Garrard and Shaun Hill (yikes!).

Planned on getting Rodgers or Schaub in the auction, but was the #2 bidder on both.

I tried the wire and trade mart at QB. My backups are Cassel and Freeman. I have started Garrard, Cassel, Hill and Freeman, but Garrard got over ten starts.

Chris Johnson has been the anchor for my team. Marion Barber, Knowshon Moreno, LeSean McCoy and Tim Hightower have split time at #2. (We only start 2 RB.)

Reggie Wayne and Brandon Marshall are a solid pair. Biggest regret here is Sidney Rice went undrafted. I could have drafted him at the end, when I was the last guy, picking dollar guys off the board. He was up on my list, but I went all RB Sleeper this yer, and nabbed james Davis and Bernard Scott, over Sidney Rice. (I had reservations on Rice, thinking he might be the second coming of Troy Williamson, so I was wrong on that count.)

Jason Witten was a huge disappointment. I wish I could say having Finley has been a good thing, but every time I start Finley (Thanksgiving and again last week), Witten has come up huge.

John Carney was solid all season. Bummer.

Drafted the Ravens DST, and soon picked up the Saints DST. Ran the Saints out every wheek when they were hot there, but have reverted to strictly playing matchups down the stretch.

I made mistakes, but tried not to overreact to (or overcorrect for) any, and instead keep my focus on going forward. Not being able to admit mistakes to myself, and justifying them to myself through further flawed action, has caused much failure in the past. (That goes for life, as well.)

List the keys to your success

In one word, Chris Johnson.

In two words, Luck.

 

[Topes]

Oh, probably my biggest mistake: when down to dollar players in the draft, the guy I'm facing this week asked me if Jamaal Charles was still the #2 in KC, cuz he was thinking of picking him up. I said he was, and suggested he was a solid pick. He was on my list. I wasn't getting him. I was getting James Davis and Bernard Scott, at the expense of Jamaal Charles and Sidney Rice. Urp.

 

[Mr. Know-It-All]

Keys to success -

1. Grabbed best qb available at 1.6. In a 6 pt td league, with minimal yardage bonuses this is the key.

2. Got one solid rb early (Gore), then went after WRs heavy (Welker, DeSean Jackson, Driver).

3. Got one stud IDP at each position and then filled in IDPs late after my starting offense was taken.

4. Didn't get burned on ANY of my free agent moves. For the first time they all worked out -

Mike Sims Walker turned out to be a GREAT WR3.

Louis Delmas more than made up for the inuury to Polomalu.

Mike Bell scored every game I played him in (all two games I used him)

5. The few trades I made didn't blow up on me.

traded Roethlisberger, Driver and Mendenhall for Ricky Williams, Matt Ryan and Greg Jennings. These deals also included landing me Michael Lewis and Shaun Ellis right when I had needs at those positions.

6. Relative health.

Started off with a huge week 1, then lost 3 of my next 5 games as I suffered through some early injuries to Welker and Gore. However, once healthy the team didn't get nicked up the rest of the way and only suffered one more loss in the regular season.

7. Playoff bracket worked out perfectly.

Drew the #2 seed. The best teams by far were #1, 2, 4, 5, 6. My side of the bracket I had to beat #7, then #6, then #5. The other side of the bracket tore each other up. Leaving me to face #5 in the title game.

 

[Johnny Detroit]

2nd year ever playing FF. Last year had #1 pick and took Brady. Tons of bad decisions and basically was out of it after week #1 between Brady and not knowing what the hell was going on. Played again this year in a $1000-12 man-$10 transaction league and picked up the #1 pick again. Some key draft picks (started 7-0):

Great picks:

Rodgers for QB

Peterson for RB (duh, #1, but he was kind of a disappointment from what I was expecting with the #1)

Clark for TE

Colston, Driver and Ward for WR

*Draft night everyone kept cracking jokes I was drafted the "nursing home team"

Busts:

Larry Johnson for RB

Once I knew I was basically a lock for the playoffs, I picked up ARI and CIN defense to end the season with the Lions and Rams.

Two other keys that won me close games were picking up Finley for TE when GB played DET in DET, Beanie against DET and the 49ers D the week they scored like 30 points. Anyone can be a STUD when playing the Lions I guess.

Honestly, following advice and tips from people in this forum was a MAJOR HELP. Last night I was down 11 with AP to go and finished the night winning the league + 25% of the transaction money for longest win streak.

 

[L2004]

1. Draft players you want to get hurt, they probably won't.

2. Draft a QB high

3. Never look at matchups

3a. Play who got you there, never overthink yourself

QB - Brady (2nd Round)

RB - M. Barber (3rd Round)

RB - A. Peterson (1st Round)

WR - D. Jackson (7th Round)

WR - C. Ochocinco (6th Round)

WR - D. Mason (11th Round)

TE - J. Witten (5th Round)

K - Gostkowski (8th Round)

DEF - Baltimore (9th Round)

* Had V. Davis (17th Round)

M. Prater (19th Round)

on my bench, but never played them over Witten or Gostkowski due to sticking to my guns of playing those who got me to the playoffs and championship.

As you can tell, my worst hated teams are New England, Cincinnati, Dallas and Baltimore. So I went with this approach, and no one was injured. I've lost I don't know how many times in the past due to injuries and overthinking. It's also a miracle that my starting lineup was based on my draft and not on ANY pickups. This is the first time I've won my league's championship in 12 years, and I went into the season with the 4 points above and stuck to my guns.

 

[BuckeyeBrigage]

I believe the key to my success was my strength at RB and QB that has carried me the whole year. I drafted RB's early and went with strong QB's early. My guys have been pretty consistant most weeks. I scored the most points for the whole league was 9-5 for the year and in third place for the season. I hate Week 17 Championship but this league has always done this and this is the second time in 4 years I am in the championship. I hope most of my guys will play and I should do alright here are my starters. Good Luck to everyone in their championships.

QB1 McNabb

QB2 Romo

WR1 Ochocinco

WR2 R White

RB1 Rice

RB2 C Benson

RB/WR Flex MJD

TE V Davis (got him off waiver wire in about week 4)

K Crosby

DEF Saints

Def Player P Willis (wife dropped him during a bye week)

Bench

Forte, Lynch, Cotchery, Burleson

 

[thecardiackid]

1. Draft players you want to get hurt, they probably won't.2. Draft a QB high3. Never look at matchups 3a. Play who got you there, never overthink yourselfQB - Brady (2nd Round)RB - M. Barber (3rd Round)RB - A. Peterson (1st Round)WR - D. Jackson (7th Round)WR - C. Ochocinco (6th Round)WR - D. Mason (11th Round)TE - J. Witten (5th Round)K - Gostkowski (8th Round)DEF - Baltimore (9th Round)* Had V. Davis (17th Round) M. Prater (19th Round)on my bench, but never played them over Witten or Gostkowski due to sticking to my guns of playing those who got me to the playoffs and championship. As you can tell, my worst hated teams are New England, Cincinnati, Dallas and Baltimore. So I went with this approach, and no one was injured. I've lost I don't know how many times in the past due to injuries and overthinking. It's also a miracle that my starting lineup was based on my draft and not on ANY pickups. This is the first time I've won my league's championship in 12 years, and I went into the season with the 4 points above and stuck to my guns.

interesting strategy and glad it worked out. sounds like you just talked yourself out of chasing last weeks points (on you bench or the WW). however it must have been painful watching V Davis killing it on your bench. (fellow less than satisfied witten owner)i just hope some Browns players can make the hated/soon to be injured list soon.