The naysayers didn’t think it would happen….but your Commissioner managed to put out the Statistically Speaking article every week of the 2011 Season….To get my ass back in gear….we kick off the 2012 Season with a little game of BAT-tleship….
At the start of the 2011 TBFL Season, Team of the Decade owner Kevin Beveridge made a series of predictions about the year to come in a Message Board post found HERE. To get the 2012 TBFL Season off to a fun start, I have treated the list as a game of BAT-tleship….every prediction will be examined here (with some spelling corrections of course) as then will be graded as either:
a HIT 
or a MISS 
Lets get started!
Harry Douglas will out score Julio Jones.
MISS – Douglas managed 90 points on the year compared to Jones’s 171. They did tie on 1 occasion, but Douglas only outscored Jones head-2-head 2 times….it is even worse when you consider Jones missed 3 games due to injury and outscored Douglas 69 to 6 in the critical Playoff Run of Weeks 14-16….
Darren Sproles will be the steal of the draft.
YOU SANK MY BATTLESHIP! – No argument on this….His 239 points makes him the 11th best position player for 2011….taken with the 202nd pick in the draft….
Arian Foster will miss 5 games this year.
MISS – Foster only missed action in Weeks 1 and 3….then carried Hurricanes to their 3rd Buccaneer Division title in their 4 year history….
Michael Vick will miss 4.
CLOSE – The K9 Killa missed 3 games in 2011….I will call this a HIT since the 3 games missed were the crucial Weeks 11-13 making up the TBFL Divisional Gauntlet run….
Brandon Marshall will rebound from last year.
MISS – Marshall basically managed to put up the same numbers in 2011 as he did in 2010 averaging 14.8 points per game versus 14.2 in 2010….Still off the 17.8 per game average he put up in 2009….
Jordy Nelson will replace Donald Driver in the starting line-up by midseason.
HIT – Nelson was the dominant target for the Android all year long while Driver was ignored on the TBFL Waiver Wire….
Peyton Hillis still looks beastly in pink.
HIT – You can’t argue this….
The winner of the Bandit Division will have a losing record.
MISS – 3 Games over .500 thank you very much….although a losing record from the Bandit Division did win the Fantasy Bowl….
He will also look good in Pink.
Hey now….
Playground will realize this is a PPR league by Week 4.
MISS – The Legends kept ignoring their receiving corps….even running the Rhino Backfield package 3 times in 4 weeks after Week 8 including a Week 10 roster that managed 0 points scored from the WR position….
By then he will also know his season is already over.
MISS – It came down to a Week 13 loss in a Win-And-In game against Armed N Dangerous before the Legends were out of the Playoffs….
RNT will trade Matt Ryan by the deadline.
MISS – Ryan remained on the Throsers roster and put up his 5 highest scoring games for the year in the back half of the season….
Tom Brady will get hurt the following week.
MISS….
He won’t care because he still has the hottest cheerleader on his team page.
HIT – I guess….No one ever challenged him with a Cheerleader Bet….Not a single Fat Bitch tag was played for last year either….
Felix Jones will have his best year ever.
MISS – Injuries and the emerging potential of DeMarco Murray made sure that did not happen….
He will still miss at least 3 games.
HIT – 4 games missed in the middle of the season….and then 3 games he should have just missed as he ended up with a COMBINED SCORE of 7 points….
Brandon Lloyd (and all involved with the Bronco passing offense) will realize he has a new coach who loves to run the ball 80% of the time.
HIT – While Lloyd still managed almost identical Target (150 vs 153) and Reception (70 vs 77) numbers….the Broncos short-field game plan left him missing 500 yards and 5 touchdowns from the 2010 season….The Broncos made 153 fewer pass attempts leaving all the other receivers to fight for fantasy scraps….
All owners of Jaguar players are screaming that their fantasy season took a big hit.
HIT – The Jaguars scored fewer Fantasy Points on the season at every position managing only 21 touchdowns on the year….
However, they are not screaming as loud as Colts owners.
HIT – Although did any of us really think they would be that bad….
Austin Collie will suffer yet another concussion.
MISS – Did not miss any games….but had none worth rostering him either….
Dallas Clark will wish he had.
HIT – Struggled with other injuries all season….
Ray Rice will prove to be worthy of the #1 pick overall.
HIT – Rice outscored every player in the TBFL who did not have a QB designation after their name….and will likely repeat the honor of the #1 Selection in the 2012 TBFL Draft….
Mike Sims Walker will be dropped 3 times this year, by 3 separate teams.
MISS – I appreciate the reach attempt here, but only the Warriors were daring enough to roster Sims-Walker last year for 5 weeks before cutting him without ever getting a start….
1 of those teams will be the Rams.
MISS – Ahh….I mis-read the above prediction then….Sims-Walker did manage to stay only on the Jaguars roster till he received an Injury Settlement release from his contract in December….Interestingly, he has visited 2 other teams camp this off season (Texans, and Titans) and has been ‘let go’ by each of them….but not the Rams….
Reggie Wayne will return a 4th round value.
HIT – Taken in the 2nd round, Wayne managed only 173 points on the year….the exact same production received from 4th Round pick Shonn Greene….and well below other eventual 4th round picks Wes Welker (317), Ryan Matthews (225), and Marques Colston (202)….
Tim Hightower will be the best pre-draft day steal.
MISS – Franchised in the 4th Round by the Warriors, his 58 points before losing the rest of the season to injury was lower than every other Franchised Player through Round 10….
Miller stole him from me 4 years ago.
HIT – Stolen….pick pocketed….swerved….out-maneuvered….
I have yet to mention a sleeper pick to him since.
HIT?
Hakeem Nicks will be the number 1 receiver in the NFL though the first 6 weeks of the season.
MISS – After 6 Weeks, Nicks was #10 in Points (95), #8 in Yardage (485), #11 in Receptions (31), #12 in Targets (51), and tied with 20 other players at #15 in Touchdowns (3)….
He will miss 3 of the next 9 games.
MISS – But just barely….Technically Week 7 he did not play (BYE), He went 6 for 67 in Week 8, then missed Week 9 due to injury….
By Week 3 X-Factor will realize he has the best WR corps in TBFL.
MISS – It took till Week 6….by then he had 3 of the Top-10 receivers and ran Run-N-Shoot formations almost half of his remaining games….
He will also realize he has the worst RBs.
MISS – After 3 Weeks X-Factor had 2 of the Top-10 and 3 of the Top-15 Running Backs
Ben Roethlisberger will not rape anyone until Week 11.
MISS – Ben Roethlisberger raped X-Factor in Week 4….scoring his lowest point total of the entire season (10) in a 1 point loss to the Thrashers….a loss that ultimately cost them their playoff spot to the eventual Fantasy Bowl Champs….
All owners of Browns and Bengals receivers will soon realize that they have no one to throw them the ball.
HIT – Andy Dalton and Colt McCoy both ended up outside the Top-15 Quarterbacks on the year….both of their scores combined (420) still would not catch Android Rodgers (437), and just barely ekes past Drew Brees (412)….
Cedric Benson will spend more time in jail than on the field this year.
HIT – 20 days in jail is 480 hours versus 16 Games played at a generous 4 hours per game puts him on the field only 13.3% of the time spent behind bars….
Carson Palmer will play football this season.
HIT – Palmer kept his NFL Legacy alive playing in 10 games for the Raiders and starting 7 games for the Fudgie Whales….
Randy Moss will not.
HIT – After catching balls for 3 different NFL teams in 2010, Randy ‘retired’ for the 2011 season….
Bubba Army will never take a NY RB ever again.
MISS – New York teams love to pound the rock….I will fall for their wily charms again for sure….
The same goes for their QBs.
MISS – If I were to field a team tomorrow….I would make Eli Manning my first phone call….
He will also wish he took Mathews over Greene.
HIT – The idea of complimentary Running Backs to pick up the points the Quarterback misses out on in blow out games….yeah….over thought that….
Andre Johnson will be his usual awesome self.
HIT – Of course….he is money….
For about 12-13 games.
MISS – I wish….only got half that many out of him last year….
He will start Cam Newton at least once this year.
HIT – Although over half of the times he was started one of the NY Quarterbacks outscored him that week….
Miller’s yet to be named 4 TE set will carry him to a playoff birth.
MISS – While Armed N Dangerous did manage to win the Storm Division and make the TBFL Playoffs….The ultimately named “Moose Package” of four Tight Ends never saw the field in any game….
He will lose in the first round.
While this should technically be a MISS because he did not play in the First Wildcard Round….I know the proud Storm Division does not consider anything before the Quarterfinal Divisional rounds to be Real Playoffs….so it is a HIT….
And lose his shot at Rodgers next year because of it.
HIT ?….With the 7th pick in the 2012 Draft Armed N Dangerous will most likely have missed on reuniting with the Android….but there is still plenty of time left to make some crazy trades to move up and have the shot to reconnect….
Hurricanes is the best pre-season team in the league.
HIT….
The pre-season best team in the league has not won it all in over 7 years.
HIT – Make it 8….
Steve Smith will have his worst season as a pro.
MISS – While still nothing spectacular…his 2011 outing was better than any of the previous 3 seasons….
That Steve Smith too.
HIT – Yep….his worst ever….
LeGarrette Blount will out rush Turner and Mendenhall this year.
MISS – Turner rushed for the 6th most yards in the league in 2011 (1168)….Mendenhall is the next best on that list at 21 (890) and then Blount (769)….
He still won’t catch more than 15 balls.
HIT – He was targeted 21 times on the year….but only managed to convert 12 times (57.1%)….
Kerry Collins will do much better than the experts expect.
MISS – The 2-Time Pro-Bowler ends his 17 year career as #10 on the all-time passing list with 40,922 yards after a concussion in Week 3 started the Curtis Painter era….
He had better because…
Peyton Manning will not play this year. Book it!
HIT – Peyton got paid big money to ride the pine for the entire year….and then they shipped him off to Denver….
As always these are just for fun….so enjoy and prove me wrong.
28 HITS, 26 MISSES….Going .518 on predictions was almost as good as his .538 coaching record last season….maybe doing it in a weekly column would raise the average….I mean I did build 3d Models of the game pegs and all….
Commish