Jammed Up

Switching divisions again, here's another look at a franchise, the venerable Tiiite End Jammers!

Historical Record
For most of the early years of CTDB, the Tiiight End Jammers were one of the scariest teams on the planet. In fact, the Jammers are like the Bears of the NFL, glorious champions that once dominated the landscape with fantasy MVP's like Kurt Warner and Priest Holmes but are now looking for answers. In 2001, as the newest owner on the block, Lei showed everyone how to play this game by leading off with three straight playoff appearances that culminated in a sterling 11-2 Super Bowl winning campaign in 2003. Even before that they were a force to be reckoned with and responsible for knocking out the high powered Chunky Monkeys two consecutive times -- creating quite the rivalry in the process.

Since that glory year however, the Jammers have been hobbled by slow starts and despite one more playoff appearance in 2006, they've been only mediocre. The worst season for them turned out be 2005 when they had to rebuild wholesale and try to get over the ineffectiveness of their once legendary running game. Even still, the Jammers have to be considered one of the premier franchises around. Four playoff seasons, one championship, and only finishing more than one game out of the post-season race once. That's a high standard for success.

The Jammers have proven to be resilient and with GM Pan at the controls, they're already showing their ability to fight back. Now that all their veterans have left the team -- one sits in jail -- new stars like Tony Romo and Joseph Addai are ready to step up and lead the Jammers back to glory.

Core Roster
Any discussion of the Jammers has to begin with their running attack. While other teams have had stellar running back duos, it's arguable that none have had greater success than the pairings of Priest Holmes and Ricky Williams (2001/2002) and Priest Holmes and Ahman Green / Tiki Barber (2003/2004). Lei got all four players while they had their best statistical seasons and used them to bludgeon opponents. In Year One, QB Kurt Warner and RB Priest Holmes shared Co-MVP honors as they both tore the roof off the fantasy world. Keep in mind, Priest was the very last pick in the draft that year. THE VERY LAST PICK. James Stewart was supposed to be the Jammer's number two back. Not so much.

For the first few two years, it was the Kurt, Priest, and Ricky show as the best receivers on staff were Easy Ed McCaffrey, Jerry Rice, Keenan McCardell, and a whole succession of flameouts. The primetime trio was enough to keep things very competitive but when Warner's game slid, the passing attack fell too and the Jammers needed help, something QB replacements like Brian Griese and Drew Bledsoe couldn't quite provide. Luckily, things wouldn't stay static for long.


The identifying trait of Lei's team has always been his willingness to wheel and deal. In fact, he was part of the first trade ever in CTDB history, acquiring RB Terrell Davis for WRs Johnnie Morton and Keenan McCardell. His biggest coup came in 2003 as he moved Ricky Williams, Joe Horn, Charles Rogers, and Drew Bledsoe for Michael Vick, Marvin Harrison, and Ahman Green. Vick and Green had stellar seasons (as Ricky began his slide into a weed haze) and the Jammers had a championship. Much forgotten in that tale is how sixth months before, GM Pan had the foresight to move David Boston for Joe Horn, also creating a hugely favorable trade for himself.

After that dream season, the Jammers suffered the traditional CTDB Champion's Curse despite getting a Top Five back for free through the draft (Tiki Barber, waived by the Dirty Birds) and finding Jimmy Smith and Plaxico Burress to pair with Marvin Harrison for a stellar passing attack. As the Jammers struggled with Priest, Ahman, and Vick all slowing down the next season, their fortunes turned. By 2005, they had fully tanked to a 3-10 record. But champions don't stay down for long.

The drafting of RB Joseph Addai in 2006 was a sign of hope and the new WR receiver trio of Marvin Harrison, Darrell Jackson, and Javon Walker looked very promising. Even without another stud back to pair with the young Addai, the Jammers were on their way back up. The traditional running attack was changing into something more orientated to the forward pass as Tony Romo came on to finally give the Jammers some stability after some difficult years with the run-first Vick. The addition of the still effective Clinton Portis in 2007 was also a step forward.

It's sometimes overlooked in a division of champions how dominant the Jammers were in CTDB's early history. They continue to be defined by the success of their earlier teams even as they've quickly retooled for a bright future and another championship run. The Jammers have been a proud franchise for many years and continue to excel with their intelligence and passion for the game.

Season Breakdowns
2007: 5-8; Started 1-7 but finished one game out of the playoffs while facing the toughest schedule in the league.
2006: 7-6; Beat out Ante Up for a playoff spot but got beat down in round one by Buffy (140-71).
2005: 3-10; Second to worst record in the league, worst offensive team of the year. Seven straight losses.
2004: 5-8; Went 1-5 to start off title defense and then fell one game short of scratching their way into the playoffs.
2003: 11-2; Super Bowl winner and dominant for the entire season with a ten game winning streak, setting multiple franchise records.
2002: 7-6; Playoff team upset the Chunky Monkeys before eventually losing in the divisional championships.
2001: 8-5; Started off 5-0. A strong playoff campaign and also GM of the Year Runner Up as a rookie owner.

Stats
Highest Avg Game Score, Season: 113.20 (2003)
Most Points Scored, Game: 151 (2002)
Least Points Scored, Game: 47 (2007)
Best Margin of Victory, Game: 68 (2001)
Worst Margin of Defeat, Game: -90 (2004)
Longest Winning Streak, Season: 10 (2003)
Longest Losing Streak, Season: 7 (2005)

Battle Stars

After last year's franchise recap of Ante Up, I've decided to move on to a few other teams. First up, Vu's Battle Nuggets (formerly the Battle Angels). In contrast to recapping the most recent season, I'm just going to vault straight into the past.

Historical Record
The Battle Angels story hasn't always been a happy one. In fact, they've hardly achieved any long lasting success past their inaugural year. Only two winning seasons out of seven, three total playoff appearances, and a tendency to wear down near the end of campaigns. With a veteran laden roster and stars that have often been hit or miss, the Angels have had a tough time staying consistently competitive. They also have had the bad luck of often facing tough schedules. They've found themselves just outside the playoff door many times (2007, 2005) but that's more often had to do with a weak division than anything else.

The good news is that Vu has proven to be a savvy owner and unearthed a few gems along the way -- even if he does have a predilection for big names and old faces. In addition, the Nuggets have at least made a Super Bowl, a claim that half the franchises in CTDB can't make. In fact, the future looks bright for the Battle Nuggets as they've finally found steady franchise players in Drew Brees, Laurence Maroney, Willis McGahee, Steve Smith and Andre Johnson. With a bit of tinkering and foresight, this team could finally do some damage.

It also must dig at Vu that his college roommate, Roger, is a two time champion while he has yet to get his own ring. Here's a matchup between them from 2003.

Core Roster
The Battle Angels have a tendency to skew toward the veterans. Their rosters are always big on name recognition but as their historical record shows, that hasn't always translated to wins. The Angels' philosophy was always more ground based than their name suggested. A tough inside running game with speedster receivers on the outside to relieve the pressure has always the preference of management. The team has always featured strong defenses too (often the Steelers) to control their opponents.

Looking at their first, and most successful, season, we see the prototypical Battle Angels team. Jerome Bettis and Curtis Martin attacking the defense while Randy Moss and Tim Brown played deep threat and possession receiver. Since this was 2001, all these players were feared and respected and perennial All-Pros. However, Brown and Bettis were slipping while Moss was as mercurial as ever. Curtis Martin had some amazing seasons and he represented what the Angels were all about. Often counted down and out but as scrappy as ever.

The first franchise QB for this team was Steve McNair, who had started his career with the Angels behind Brian Griese. Vu also was the first to tap into Tom Brady's mojo, but probably a few years too early fantasy wise. As McNair suffered through some injury riddled campaigns, the QB question wasn't sufficiently answered until the rise of Drew Brees in 2004, who led the Angels to their second playoff appearance.

After a few hard hitting seasons by the Bus and C-Mart, the Angels suffered looking for franchise backs. James Stewart looked like the answer for awhile. Trung Canidate never was. Neither was Julius Jones or an over the hill Eddie George. Oftentimes the Angels would go four wide to cover up their lack of running back production. It wasn't until 2006 and the emergence of rookie Laurence Maroney that the Angels got another Top 10 back on their roster. Even the 2005 trade of Randy Moss for Willis McGahee (and Ashley Lelie) only provided dividends for half a season as McGahee's career cooled down until he got to Baltimore last season.

Over the years, as the Angels have lost their ability to run, they have drafted some stellar wide receivers. Aside from the early seasons with Randy Moss, the Angels have featured Tim Brown, Amani Toomer, the immortal Bill Schroeder, JJ Stokes, Muhsin Muhammad, Curtis Conway, Reggie Brown, and blazer Joey Galloway (2002) who has been the real face of the franchise from a receiving standpoint. While Steve Smith has always been the team's best receiver after Randy Moss was moved, he's been injured often and Galloway has been his stand-in for many years. Last year's drafting of Andre Johnson adds another top playmaker and the Battle Nuggets can look to get down and dirty with a balanced running and passing game and the strongest keeper group they've ever had.

Season Breakdowns
2007: 5-8; Ended the season on a four game losing streak to take them out of playoff contention.
2006: 6-7; A playoff season, although it might have more to do with the poor play of his division mates.
2005: 5-8; Once again settled into second to last place after losing five in a row at one point of the season. Tied with Phreaks for playoff spot but was edged out by head-to-head matchups.
2004: 8-5; Finished second in the division and won a first round playoff game.
2003: 5-9; Second to last finish and a three game losing streak to finish the season.
2002: 3-10; The worst team in the entire league after a high flying first season. A putrid offense doomed them.
2001: 8-6; Despite facing the toughest schedule in the league, they were the division champs and advanced to the Super Bowl.

Stats
Highest Avg Game Score, Season: 103.13 (2004)
Most Points Scored, Game: 143 (2004)
Least Points Scored, Game: 49 (2007)
Best Margin of Victory, Game: 77 (2001)
Worst Margin of Defeat, Game: -69 (2001)
Longest Winning Streak, Season: 3 (2005)
Longest Losing Streak, Season: 6 (2002)

Super Bowl VII

What is this? A tie in the Super Bowl? 105 - 105?!?

Well, something about having Greg in the Super Bowl tends to make for very exciting games. In 2004, Super Bowl IV, Buffy and the Green Team faced off with Greg narrowly losing a championship by only two points (99-97). His loss made Buffy the only two time champion.

Green Team's roster back then was Brett Favre, Thomas Jones, Reuben Droughns, Eddie Kennison, Hines Ward, and Antonio Gates. While Droughns and Ward are still on the roster, neither were standouts this year. Then again, the now re-named Gang Green has never relied on superstars and instead has always patched together fearsome teams from the waiver wire and through savvy drafting. Quick, name one player that you'd associate with the Greenies. None right? Have they ever had a top five talent on the roster? Hard to say right?

But in the last four seasons, Gang Green has won three divisional titles and advanced to the Super Bowl twice (including this year). It can be said that Greg's team has been the best team from the Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses. Nobody has gotten more out of "no-name" talent than Greg, and we say that in the most respectful way possible. This year, they made two draft day trades -- one for Jerricho Cotchery and another for Randy Moss. The two wide receivers combined for 44 points in Super Bowl VII.

In fact, the top four players for Gang Green this season were all wide receivers. Moss, Cotchery, Bernard Berrian, and Hines Ward were all more consistent than the running backs (Brandon Jacobs, Ronnie Brown, Cedric Benson, Reuben Droughns) and the quarterbacks (Philip Rivers and Eli Manning). Even without researching, I'm sure there's no way that has ever happened before. Going into the big game, Gang Green was severe underdogs but stepped up to the plate to create the greatest game ever in Catch the Damn Ball playoff history. But more on that later. Let's look at where the Dirty Birds have come from.

Since capturing their Super Bowl title in 2002 (Super Bowl II), the Birds have been a wreck. The trade for Ricky Williams the following year -- in exchange for Michael Vick, Marvin Harrison, and Ahman Green -- devastated the team as Ricky started his sojourn into oblivion. The Bird have had three losing seasons since and while they've made the playoffs twice, they've been swiftly eliminated each time. Despite fielding a very deep team in 2002 (Vick, Harrison, Green, Corey Dillon, Plaxico Burress, Jerry Rice, Chad Johnson, Koren Robinson) the franchise has hit upon hard times.

However, this year, everything clicked as a stable of outstanding WRs emerged. Braylon Edwards, Wes Welker, Larry Fitzgerald, Plaxico Burress, and Greg Jennings enabled the Bird to go run-and-shoot every week -- dubbed the "Red Gun" in homage to the Andre Rison / Michael Haynes offense of the 1990s -- even as the running game (Steven Jackson, Rudi Johnson, Adrian Peterson) struggled with injuries. More importantly, Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Hasselbeck provided stability at the quarterback position.

For the last three years, the Birds have had great teams on paper, but have always been hobbled by a bad locker room culture and a hole at quarterback. This year, they ripped off seven wins in a row en route to a 10-3 record and a second place finish in the Inscrutable Drama Kings Division. Even trading away the best QB and WR in the land during the draft didn't stop them from turning in a stellar all-around season.

So what the hell happened this weekend? How did this tie occur? Well, on Thursday night, Big Ben and Steven Jackson started things off swimmingly for the Birds by scoring 32 and 17 points respectively. Meanwhile, Hines Ward only caught six passes for 8 points. Even early Sunday, it looked like the Birds would cruise as Braylon Edwards was on his way to another 20+ point day.

However, by the afternoon games, the tide was shifting. Gang Green's two New York stalwarts started going big. Both Brandon Jacobs (26) and Jerricho Cotchery (25) turned in season high performances. Gang Green's Randy Moss caught two quick TDs in the first half -- but ended up with "only" 19 points. Adrian Peterson, Jon's rookie of the year, turned in a Sunday night stinker and the Birds were left only fifteen points ahead with Philip Rivers to play on Monday night.

Rivers has been mercurial this season, as capable of 30 point explosions as he is of 5 point duds. Still, scoring 16 points didn't seem entirely out of reason. As the Chargers kept on racking up the points against the Broncos and Rivers inched toward 15 points, the Birds were destined for a loss. Then, around the third quarter, Chargers coach Norv Turner pulled Rivers; after he'd accrued exactly 15 points. Similar to the conference championship game versus the defending champion Monkeys (when LDT was pulled after just one explosive first half), the Birds were blessed.

What now? The game was over and both teams had scored 105 points. Fans were confused, the cheerleaders didn't have any "We Tied!" cheers, and ownership wasn't sure what to do. A quick meeting was convened between G-o-d, Allah, John Madden, and Bill Simmons and it was decided that in the spirit of the greatest game ever, and the friendship that exists between the two combatants, the Super Bowl VII trophy would be awarded to both the Dirty Birds and Gang Green. It was a King Solomon-like decision and the peasants rejoiced.

So, here are your 2007 Catch the Damn Ball co-champions, Greg and Jon!

Frenemies

Take a look at this snapshot from Week 11, the first time ever in the history of CTDB that good friends Jon and Greg haev both been in first place. Well, a few weeks later, it's happened again. The DIRTeByRDeeZ and Gang Green are champions of their respective conferences and set for a Super Bowl matchup. Both survived and threw down minor upsets, despite an ugly round of games throughout.

Greg, away on his honeymoon, rode the strong legs of fellow New Yorker Brandon Jacobs (17 pts) on the way to a comeback victory Sunday night. The matchup versus the Fobsters provided few pyrotechnics as Tom Brady and Randy Moss were sleeted out and put up only 5 and 9 points respectively. Still, Jimmy's team had good performances by RB Earnest Graham (19) and WRs Chad Johnson (10) and Jason Witten (15). With such a low scoring matchup, that was almost enough as the Fobsters ended Sunday with 63 points. However, Greg countered with Philip Rivers (13 pts) and Hines Ward (11 pts) and while they didn't have spectacular games, it was enough to make up the difference over the Fobsters, preserving their number one seed and a spot in the big game.

The Dirty Birds might have won by almost twenty points on paper (102 - 84) but the game was much closer than that in reality. At the end of the morning's games, they had only scored 90 points total, with Evan's big three of Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Terrell Owens still to play. Well, Oakland "shut down" Peyton to the tune of 17 points, Owens alligator-armed his way to 4 points, and LDT was pulled after putting up two touchdowns and 24 points in the first half. The Monkey's kicker Martin Crosby had 16 outstanding points but that was negated by the stiff Patriots Defense of the Dirty Birds, who had 18 points.

For Jon, it was Steven Jackson leading the way with 24 points and QB Matt Hasselbeck contributing 18. The big difference in the game though, was the quality of the receivers. Braylon Edwards, Larry Fitzgerald, Greg Jennings and Wes Welker scored 45 points combined. Evan's Owens, Brandon Marshall, Roddy White, and Antonio Gates combined for 19 points. In fact, White and Gates didn't score at all thsi week.

So what will happen next week? Well, considering the Dirty Birds have scored 90+ in every weeek this season while Gang Green has only eclipsed that plateau six times (with sub 80 point games three weeks running), this should be a cakewalk for the tremendously talented Birds. However, anything can happen and with all the great mojo generated by Greg this year, might a super upset be in order?

In a post-game press conference, Jon was quoted as saying, "Now that we're both here, it doesn't really matter who wins to me. Sure, I deserve (another) ring but I think it might be nice for Greg to finally win something, especially so close to the holidays and right after he got married. Shit. Who am I kidding? I hope I blow him out Patriots style! Go Dirty Birds! Do this for Vick!"

Playoffs: Conference Finals

Chunky Monkeys vs Dirty Birds
There's a lot on the line here, that's obvious. It's two former champs facing off for the chance to secure a second championship. For the Birds, it's been four long years since their Super Bowl win. For the Monkeys, it's just two more victories until they repeat -- something nobody has ever done. Despite a roster simply brimming with talent, the Birds could have easily lost their first playoff game if heavy underdog Buffy had played Marion Barber (33), Kevin Jones (22), or Willie Parker (16) over the combo of Jamal Lewis (25) and Travis Henry (8). GM Yang would like to take it as a bullet he dodged but the truth of the matter is, the Birds deserved this victory, they needed this victory, and they got the victory.

Looking ahead to a huge conference championship, it'll be the three headed monster of Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Terrell Owens. Even with a first round bye, Evan made his presence known by throwing up 141 points. With the Big Three chipping in 60-70 points a week, it'll take just one more player to step up and give the Monkeys some support. The question is will it be Antonio Gates (great draft day trade), Brandon Marshall (great draft pick), or Roddy White? The one sure thing is that we won't be seeing Monkeys' stalwarts Larry Johnson and Anquan Boldin on the field. Both are injured and in Larry Johnson's case, that's a great thing.

The Dirty Birds are truly taking to the skies this year as they boast a five headed receiving corps of Larry Fitzgerald, Braylon Edwards, Plaxico Burress, Wes Welker, and Greg Jennings. All five are in the top dozen WRs in the league. The biggest question is who to start? Braylon and Wes are no brainers. Larry has been consistent but also injured. Greg Jennings has been a revelation paired up with Brett Favre. Will Plaxico's inconsistency make him the odd man out? This is all assuming of course, that the Birds go run-and-shoot, but they could still pick between Steven Jackson, Adrian Peterson, and Rudi Johnson as their RBs. Did somebody say lineup headache?

The Monkeys have a cake walk of a schedule for all of their major stars and here's hoping Peyton sits out the second half. The Birds have a great chance of knocking off the reigning champs but they'll have to predict the future like Nostradamus in order to do it. We'll call it an even matchup with a coin flip deciding the winner. My heart says (a bit biased) Birds so we'll go with them for a minor upset.

Fobsters vs Gang Green
Do you realize that the first three owners in this year's supplemental draft was Jimmy, Jon, and Greg? And now all three are in the conference finals. Along with Evan, these are the only three teams that had winning records this year too, as the other two playoff participants (Buffy and Fat Jubas) sported losing records. The Fobsters, having a Cinderalla season, wasted no time punishing the Fat Jubas. Sporting the never before seen Three Tight End Attack, Jimmy's team had Jason Witten go for 24 points and Tony Gonzalez pop off for 16. Kellen Winslow was slow with 5 points but he usually does better.

More importantly, Tampa Bay's RB Earnest Graham has 20-16-14-22-25 points in his last five starts, indicating that he's a top five running back over that span. Earnest who? While the loss of Reggie Bush (out for the season) will certainly hurt, he looked better in the lineup than on the scorecard anyway. Behind Graham's 25 and Tom Brady's 45 points, the Fobsters dropped 136 points on the heads of the Fat Jubas. Eric's team could only muster up 94 points behind late season find Ryan Grant (22) and wasn't ever in serious contention anyway.

Who's the Fobsters' opponents this week? How about Greg, just married and out on his honeymoon this week. While he's already the happiest man alive, perhaps a fantasy championship would bring an extra bounce to this step this Christmas season. It'll be tough going though as his team is severly depleted and lacking a running game. Rueben Droughns and Warrick Dunn are Tier 3 running backs at best. Even with the indomitable Randy Moss, flanked by Hines Ward and Bernard Berrian, this team has trouble putting points on the board. It may be time to go run-and-shoot by adding Jerricho Cotchery to the mix. Another area of concern is at QB, as Philip Rivers and Eli Manning are both very average fantasy-wise (and maybe worse real football wise). Who can Greg call upon to drag his team to a championship? Randy Moss can't do it alone; can he?

We're predicting a huge blowout by the Fobsters, not because we want to wish ill will toward Greg but looking at the matchups on paper, who would you rather have as your best player? Tom Brady or Randy Moss? Exactly.

This game should be dubbed the "Thank You Jon for Giving Us These Patriots" game.