I've been watching NFL football since the mid 80s. Elway, Marino, Montana, Kelly, Favre, Brady, Manning... I've seen them all.

I have never seen anything like Tim Tebow.

His current run is something I have never seen before. It's simply unbelievable. Looking back at these past seven weeks has been something truly amazing. John Fox, Denver's headcoach who has spent his entire life coaching, hasn't seen anything like this either.

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If you've been an Ohio State football fan for a long time you will understand my frustration with Jim Tressel's style of football. Jim Tressel was a small town, mediocre coach playing small ball football in the big ten and winning on superior talent alone. He was continuously out coached, under prepared, and out game planned in nearly every big game he was a part of and never delivered big wins.

Ohio State kept him around because he dominated the big ten and beat Michigan every year. It was frustrating to watch his brand of football. Three yards and a cloud of dust, punt, punt, punt, and was never creative or aggressive on offense. Not only did he lose nearly every big game, he almost lost so many games to inferior programs. Youngstown, Toledo, Troy State, Ohio University... the list goes on and on. How many games did you watch and want to gauge your eyes out?

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I was really hoping to be able to take the doors and roof off the jeep this weekend. But the 40 degree weather (down from 95) wasn't conducive to taking it apart. Instead, I decided to share some pictures of what it would look like if I were to take it all off!

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Who would have ever thought that we'd be sitting here in week 10 and not a single team has more than 7 wins. There aren't any undefeated teams, no one really stands out.

In fact, there isn't a single division where the division leader is ahead by more than one game. Every number 2 team in each division is only behind by a single game or less. That is unbelievable!

The ultimate in parity! Wow! This is what the NFL dreamed of when they enacted a salary cap and free agency. No dominant teams.

They should just cancel the NFC this year and have all 12 playoff teams come from the AFC. I can't think of one NFC team that is better than the 5th or 6th best AFC team. Whoever wins the AFC will win the Super Bowl this year! We gotta get it back. New Orleans was an aberration.

The strongest teams in the NFL now are the Jets, Ravens, Colts, Patriots, Titans, Steelers, Chiefs, Chargers, and then I would include New Orleans, Green Bay, Atlanta and maybe Vikings and Chicago. It's gonna be a long season. I don't think I have ever seen this much parity in the NFL. It seems like there are going to be a lot of 9 and 10 win teams in the playoffs this year. In fact, out in the NFC west, the first to 5 wins may make it.

Have we ever had so many 2-2 teams? I think it's amazing that we only have one undefeated team. What's even more amazing is that it's the Chiefs. Last year we had so many undefeated teams still in week 4, this year is a different animal. Heck, Minnesota, Indy, and New Orleans, NY and NE have all lost. All were playoff teams. Indy is 2-2. I certainly thought they were better than that. I guess not.

What a weird week. I don't think anyone would have guessed that the Steelers, Chiefs, and Bears would be undefeated and that the Colts and Saints would already have a loss. Are the Chiefs, Bears, and Steelers playoff bound? I don't know. In the case of the Steelers and Bears, maybe. But probably not the Chiefs. I think it's funny that the Chiefs are recreating Boston in the midwest with Charlie Weiss and Romeo Crennel.

Why do some teams go for it on fourth down more than others? Should more teams be going for it on fourth down?

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots have undergone some serious criticism and scrutiny in recent weeks for their decision to go for it on fourth down against the Colts (and other games). Is this warranted?

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I watch almost every NFL game every Sunday. While I wasn't able to do so this weekend, here are some observations and thoughts from week 1.

Overall, I think offenses started out very slow... or not at all. So many offenses stalled or took till the second half to get going. While defenses ruled the day. Defenses are easier to get up to speed and get playing well compared to offenses. This seemed like preseason week 5 more than real NFL football.

Team: Malo's Broncos
Manager: Dr. Mohammed S. Alo

You can read about how I prepared for my draft here. Then come back and see how I did. In all my mock drafting and research, I realized that this year you could wait on a QB and TE and still do very well and have a tremendous team. That was my plan going into the draft. Other then the top 2-3 TEs and QBs, the rest were fairly interchangeable and you could get some later round guys that could easily finish in the top 5. 

We start 1 QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 1 TE, 1 Flex (WR/RB/TE), 1 PK, 1 DEF. All touchdowns are 6 points, 0.25 points per reception. As you can see, our league heavily favors running backs and diminishes WRs. Keep that in mind while reading this.

So how do you prepare for a high stakes fantasy draft? There are lots of resources available and I will go through how I prepare for my draft. It doesn't always work out this way, but if I had unlimited time, this is what I would do.

First and foremost, know your league, the managers, and the scoring system. This will impact your draft more than anything else.

My draft preparation began long before the draft. This year, I decided to go back three years and analyze all of the drafts our league has had. I went back through the first 9 rounds of every manager for the years 2007 through 2009. I looked at what draft slot they drafted from and what place they finished the regular season in. I also analyzed what position they drafted in each round. If they drafted a running back, I put in RB. If they draft a quarterback, I placed QB in that slot. I did this for every year, every round, every manager for the last 3 drafts.

Nothing is more exciting than the week leading up to fantasy football heaven, known as THE DRAFT. Twelve guys, one room, lots of food, lots of beverages, lots of talking and yapping, but most importantly.... it's draft time! The day is finally here! Best day of the year!

Saturday August 29th will be my draft. We've been doing this for 8 years now and it gets more and more exciting every year. When we started doing this a lot of us were still in college and lived close to each other. We all have jobs now, wives, children, and very few of us still live near each other. Four live in Washington DC, 1 in Columbus, 2 in Chicago, 1 in Syria (imagine that), the rest live in the wasteland known as Michigan. Nonetheless, we are all connected by this one annual event and the message board that keeps us all in tune to each other's lives, thoughts, and ramblings. Facebook also helps, but two of our neanderthals haven't figured out how to get on facebook yet.

The 2009 Denver Broncos started out 6-0, but went 2-8 down the stretch to end up 8-8. A lot of key injuries affected the team, but the 3 down lineman on defense really is what did in the defense giving up 755 yards on the ground in the last 4 games. The offense never really got going last year. Orton started out playing 3 games with a broken finger, then finished up playing on a messed up ankle. He still had his best year statistically, but they couldn't really get going. Losing two of your best offensive linemen didn't help either. They just played flat after the 6-0 start. 

Every year, myself and 11 of my best friends get together to have our fantasy draft and some great food. I always try to go into each draft with a strategy and a plan so as to not be caught off guard. I mock a few dozen times, until I feel that I have a good feel for how this year's draft will go. I look back at drafting tendencies of the other 11 and try and figure out what they are going to do, then I go through different scenarios. I also like to look at what the top 6 teams that made the playoffs did draftwise, or in-season adjustments.  I highly recommend you read the link below to understand my league first, before reading this year's strategy. More...