Viva Murillo!
It's easy to be thankful when you're 10-2 and leading your division by two games, or you have Matt Ryan as your third quarterback in a dynasty league. But regardless of your record or your team's overall outlook, there are always little reasons to be thankful. I think half of Thanksgiving is recognizing those little reasons (in and out of fantasy football) and appreciating the time spent with friends and family.
The other half is eating like you're storing up for winter and watching a couple of NFL games (or three, if you get the league infomercial known as the NFL Network) before searching for the best Black Friday deals and eventually deciding it's not worth fighting a mob to save 40 percent on remote control cars that your children don't really want. And if there is something good on sale you can bet that they have maybe three of them in the entire store -- all of which have been snapped up by the employees who didn't want to be working that day anyway-- so the people in line are spinning their wheels for nothing. Assuming you can even park within 200 yards of a store that has a decent supply of items, you'll show up only to realize that some folks (who don't watch football, obviously) have already been there for hours and are way ahead of you. Then you get home and realize you could have bought a lot of the same things online, except now they're sold out because half of the people in line are using their stupid "smart" phones to surf the web while they're waiting and take everything for themselves.
Wait, what was this column about again? Oh, yeah. Being thankful. Here are some other people who should be very thankful after this week.
DeAngelo Williams owners. When the Panthers-Falcons game had been decided, Williams had 76 yards rushing. But while the game was pretty much over, the clock was technically still running and Williams picked up another 25 yards (to finish with 101) on the most garbage-y garbage-time stats you can compile. If those runs (or were they uncontested wind sprints?) helped you win a game, give some extra thanks.
Baltimore defense owners. Donovan McNabb played a pretty rotten game against Baltimore, but Kevin Kolb actually looked worse. The interception he served up as the Eagles were driving for a score was a nice bonus (on top of all those turnovers) for those who started the defense.
Anyone who was forced to start Derrick Ward before knowing Jacobs had been deactivated. It's one thing to start a backup who gets a fair amount of work, but it's quite another to get a full game out of him once the starter went from "probable" to "out." In PPR leagues Ward was especially effective.
Anyone who was forced to start Tim Hightower. Hightower put up a ridiculous 21 yards on 11 carries Sunday against the Giants, but he crossed the endzone twice to save his fantasy day. If he saved yours as well, he deserves a toast at the dinner table.
Anyone forced to start Shaun Hill. Hill had a pretty unimpressive game -- less than 200 yards passing, no touchdowns and an interception-- until the Cowboys fell asleep on defense. On his last two drives, Hill picked up more than 100 yards and two touchdowns, making his 300/2 stat line another reason to be thankful.
Anyone who won because of their kicker. Buffalo's Rian Lindell scored more fantasy points than Brandon Marshall and Reggie Wayne combined. That includes PPR leagues. Five kickers at least a dozen points while several scored less than five. I'm not one of those owners who thinks kickers are all the same, but if yours outscored your opponent's by two touchdowns, you'd better be thanking someone.
Anyone who has Lance Moore because he was dropped by another team when Marques Colston became healthy. I'm not feeling very thankful about this, since I'm an owner who dropped him. But he's been a great story this season and his long run after the catch on Monday night was a real highlight.
Really, anyone with a fantasy team (or a favorite NFL team) still in the hunt for a championship has reason to be thankful. Enjoy the games and good luck this week.
Youtube Clip of the Week: Be thankful that this isn't the game on television this Thanksgiving. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq23M12i1EQ
You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.
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