Welcome back, all 16 games! No bye week means that the only roadblocks you have to navigate through are injuries. One of the aspects that non-FF players don't understand about the obsession is that fantasy team management does allow for great strategy application.
I like to look at the fantasy football season as having four phases. Phase One is drafting for early season success. While in Phase One, you should be preparing for Phase Two: Bye Week Management. We're now getting into Phase Three: Managing Matchups where you hopefully have aligned your roster to take advantage of matchups against week defenses. Phase Four, of course, is the playoffs of Weeks 15 & 16, which is basically Extreme Matchups.
Heading into the season, we were able to round up four leagues worth of interested owners to populate BTB-themed leagues. Via Yahoo! Sports fantasy leagues, 48 individual owners are working towards undying popularity and accolades as we move towards the playoff chase. There is even a fifth "BTB Only", a dynasty league where owners had to navigate current and future stars to build the perfect roster.
Well, as appreciation for your participation, we will take a look at the franchises in playoff positioning heading into Week 10. With five weeks to go, there are plenty of other squads with a chance to make a late run, but this chart details the teams that have their heads above water; at least a 5-4 record. That's in honor of where the Cowboys will be after this coming Bills game.
Follow the jump for the standings, injury updates and fantasy resources.
Don't forget to submit your entries in 10 for 10. Go here.
| FEAR THE STAR | FEAR THE STAR RELOADED | FEAR THE STAR REVOLUTIONS | FEAR THE STAR ANIMATRIX | DYNASTY | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Name | Record | Team Name | Record | Team Name | Record | Team Name | Record | Team Name | Record | ||||
| Kegbearer Clan | 7-2 | Fergie3108 | 8-1 | Ron Mexico's Pharmacy | 8-1 | Olivia's Daddy | 8-1 | mindmuggaz dc | 8-1 | ||||
| Magic | 7-2 | WINNING! | 6-3 | Motherwell Manstars | 7-2 | El Diablo Vaquero 2 | 7-2 | BEAST3N | 8-1 | ||||
| Road Warriors | 6-3 | Static | 6-3 | Ballz Deep | 7-2 | Dynamic Uno | 6-3 | Stellar Immortals | 7-2 | ||||
| The Hams | 6-3 | Phoenix Kings | 5-4 | Team Jamery | 7-2 | The Right Kind | 6-3 | Rackham | 7-2 | ||||
| Fighting Lissies | 5-4 | Cowboy_In_Me | 5-4 | Therapists | 5-4 | Chuck Norris | 5-4 | ||||||
| KD Wins. Always. | 5-4 | Not Dead Yet | 5-4 | ||||||||||
| The Autobots | 5-4 |
Full disclosure, I italicized my two squads if you were wondering how I've been doing. The premiere league has some great owners, and I'm two behind Kegbearer. I'm not sure whom the team owner's are in the Dynasty league (I'm in it but don't run it), but 7-2 ain't bad at all.
INJURY NEWS
Patrick Daugherty of Rotoworld.com has the skinny on the latest injury updates. I'll quote the games of major interest to Cowboys fans.
BILLS at COWBOYS
* Rian Lindell (shoulder) could miss up to six weeks. Dave Rayner is now the Bills kicker.
* Stevie Johnson (illness) should be fine after a bout with the flu.
* Miles Austin (hamstring) will miss the first of what could be four games. Laurent Robinson is worth a look during his absence.
* Felix Jones (ankle) will again be watching helplessly from the sideline as DeMarco Murray puts a stranglehold on Dallas’ starting job.CARDINALS at EAGLES
* Todd Heap (hamstring) is once again questionable, and probably 50-50 to miss his fifth straight game. With Rob Housler (thigh) doubtful, blocker Jim Dray would likely be forced to start at tight end if Heap can’t go.
* Kevin Kolb (foot) won’t play after failing to practice all week. It’s up to unimpressive second-year signal caller John Skelton to figure out Philadelphia’s elite secondary.
* LeSean McCoy (shoulder) will be ready to rock and roll.GIANTS at 49ers
* Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) is out, with his return date still up in the air. D.J. Ware will back-up Brandon Jacobs against the league’s (by far) top run defense.
* Mario Manningham will join Hakeem Nicks (hamstring) as a game-time decision after surprisingly showing up on the Giants’ Saturday injury report with a knee issue. Nicks (hamstring) sounds better than 50-50 to play, but Manningham’s forecast is ominous. A big dose of Victor Cruz appears to be in order.
If you're in the bad position of relying on a Redskins QB, your season is probably already over. However, note that Rex Grossman split first team reps with John Beck and a quick hook could be in order. That might bump up Leonard Hankerson to 'my opponent will laugh but I won't embarrass myself' status. On second thought, never mind.
RESOURCES
Gregg Rosenthal's Start/Sits | Rotoworld
Matthew Berry Love/Hate | ESPN