We are at the point in the season where rampant, drug-fed optimism and a calculator finally cannot convince everyone that they have a shot for the playoffs. Eight games in and there are plenty of teams in every league that are 2-6, 3-5 or even 1-7. There has to be. And while sure, it could be that the team owner littered his roster with retired players and Injured Reserve residents, most likely it is that they merely got “the team”. Face it, every year only about half of the players have a repeat of the previous season and someone will always end up with the surprise dogs. And the season-ending injury players. Yeah, it hurts. Yeah it is going to happen and even to the best of them eventually.

So what do you do when you reach the end much earlier than most of your league?

First off – run your team faithfully. No tanking, no “let it ride because it doesn’t matter”. It does matter, just not so much for your team. You are a member of a league, not just a team owner ready to take your ball home and quit. To ensure that all teams play competitive games, every owner needs to play hard until the end. No free rides to the playoffs!

Secondly – be a good loser. Remember why you play fantasy football. Winning is great, trophies are wonderful, a bit of scratch at the end is rewarding. But you also play because you love football and enjoy the sense that you are integrated into NFL games with a vested interest. Make sure you congratulate the winner – they’ll return the favor when you get it next year.

Third – there is still plenty to learn if only for next year. Players continue to develop and you will learn more from a bad team than you ever will from landing the magic player for the year that makes winning a foregone conclusion. Heck, I’ve won plenty of championships over the last 19 years but the league I remember the most is when I went 1-12 on the season and my only win happened literally at the end of the Monday night game in the 13th week against a playoff bound team.

It is never fun to lose a game and much less reach the point where your season is over. But do everyone including yourself a favor – play it out, play your best and get ready for next year.

Every year at this time, there are players plucked off the waiver wire that end up being fantasy relevant. I don’t have a good enough crystal ball to come up with any running backs for you, but here are some WR sleepers for that second half run. Many of these guys were drafted this year, or rostered at some point, but most are available on waivers this week in all but the deepest of leagues.

Sidney Rice: Has not played much at all due to injuries up to this point. If he can finally shake the bad luck, this guy showed last season that he has some potential. He is probably available even in many deep leagues and is definitely worth a shot.

Mike Walker: Here is another guy that has been unable to stay healthy. But he is allegedly close to returning now, and it coincides with the point in time that Matt Jones is likely to be suspended for a few games. Add that to the fact that Jerry Porter has been the bust most of us knew he would be and you have at least the potential for something to happen here.

Brandon Stokley: Stokley got knocked out a few weeks ago with yet another concussion and was promptly dropped by many (including me) before his bye week. Stokley isn’t going to lead you to any championships, and isn’t an every week starter, but it seems to me that a possession receiver on a team with a defense as horrible as the Broncos should be on a roster.

Mark Bradley: The Chiefs were desperate for another receiver, and Bradley was desperate for another chance. Last week it worked out pretty well for both parties. Bradley has never been able to stay healthy (notice the theme) so I would rate his chances fairly slim. But as for now he is the starting wide receiver on yet another AFC West team that seems to play from behind a lot.

Patrick Crayton: What? Yeah, with the arrival of Roy Williams Crayton was promptly dropped even in some deep leagues. Things look bad right now, with Romo injured, and the plethora of receivers available to him when he returns. But Crayton, as the 4th option on the Cowboys might be better than some #2 guys when it is all said and done. Roy Williams has never been a master at staying healthy himself. And the guy Williams lines up across from is getting up in years, and could melt down at any second. Meanwhile Witten has cracked ribs, we don’t know how that is going to play out. If you have a pretty good receiving corps already, and have a spot available I would definitely consider rostering this guy just in case. That advice would hold particularly true for Williams owners.

Aundrae Allison: And if Sidney Rice (or Berrian) keeps missing time with injuries, Allison’s chances for playing time continue to increase. This is the deepest of the deep sleepers here. But this guy does have talent, and he has shown a few flashes this season. Not a guy you need to rush out and get, but just keep an eye on that Vikings receiver situation. If injuries push him into a larger role, I think he could make some noise.

Okay, I’m going to eat it. I said Ryan Grant would be a good fantasy player this season, and he isn’t. I was wrong.

The holdout, the hamstring, the change at quarterback. I told you not to worry about any of it.

Little did I know the real danger was that the Packers would suddenly decide to refuse to throw passes to Grant, and in fact take him out on most passing downs in favor of Brandon Jackson. Almost without exception. That, and an inexplicable knack for NOT getting in the end zone has turned Grant into a fantasy team disaster.

That being said, about me being wrong and all, Grant does come off his best game of the season where he finally sniffed the end stripe. And the Packers seem to be coming around in general so I still have some hope for Grant. Unfortunately my dynasty team is already toast due to my dependance on Grant as a starter through most of his horror movie of a season. I have some teams that are kicking it this year. But Grant has not showed up for the party.

I am going to own up to the fact so far that I was dead wrong about Ryan Grant up to this point. The lack of touches in the passing game is what is most perplexing to me, and I’m not seeing any evidence that is going to change, so while I still think Grant will have a much better second half, he just won’t be a huge factor unless he starts getting those passes….and touchdowns.

Now, if you feel like hating on me for being wrong let ‘er rip. But keep in mind I am sitting on a 1-6 dynasty team that I convinced myself was going to take the league by storm. I depended on Grant to carry the load at RB for that team, and instead have found myself benching him for waiver wire pick-up Sammy Morris. Yes, I have suffered my sins.

But then, that is why we play more than one league. I also have a 6-1 redraft team that is destroying the league. A 5-2 keeper team, a 4-3 redraft, and a 3-4 redraft. I have five teams, with common players in many, yet I am all over the place in the standings.

My 6-1 team was drafted from the 12-hole (my personal favorite) and I chronicled that draft in an earlier blog. My first 6 picks were Fitzgerald, A. Johnson, Graham, Witten, R. White, and Chris Johnson. There is an old adage that you can’t win your league at the draft. But that is just about as close to a perfect draft as I have ever had…so far.

And the funny thing is, I got exactly the players I had targeted before my draft started. I had a “dream team” in mind and it fell right into place. I just love it when a plan comes together. But more importantly when it stays together.

And yes, a lot of it is luck. If you look at that core of players there is a common theme, other than ass-kicking numbers. Not much in the way of injuries. That is something that is rare these days as you well know. Luck. That dirty four letter word.

I did a lot of talking about waiting to draft your RB’s this season, in favor of stud WRs. That was a strategy I employed in most of my drafts, with mixed results as you can see. But as I predicted when I wrote about that draft, a crucial key was the performance of Chris Johnson. I drafted Johnson in hopes that he would be a viable #1 RB, and with a ranking of 11th in PPR leagues he is indeed serviceable RB1 quality.

The weekly Lendale White/Chris Johnson bludgeonings appear to have no end in sight. As it turns out, drafting either of those backs was a pretty wise move. The only concern I have of Chris Johnson now is that he might hit the “rookie wall.” I’m not so sure that applies like it used to for running backs. With this tandem sharing the duties, maybe Johnson will continue to do it all year. The Titans sure look the part of a true contender right now.

I am very interested in a couple of games this week. We are going to find some things out. And the Colts at Titans game is one that is going to tell us a lot. The Colts need this one. I mean, let’s get real. The Colts are not going to climb out of a 4 game hole. Not with 9 games left. The Colts would have to go 7-2 and the Titans 3-6. Yes, the Colts could go 7-2. That would get them to 10 wins. But it is hard for me to envision the Titans crashing and burning to the tune of 3-6.

The Colts need this one but I’m afraid they aren’t going to get it. Even after a good rest I just don’t think the Colts are going to be able to hang physically with the Titans. The Colts can’t stop the run. All the Titans do is run. Run the ball and run clock. And keep opposing quarterbacks on the sidelines. I can’t think of a better style of play to beat the Colts with than that. Monday night could signal a changing of the guard in the suddenly “ordinary” AFC.

Another game that I am very interested in is the Falcons at the Eagles. So far the Falcons have been a good little story, but I don’t really think they have convinced anybody they are capable of winning a road game like the one they have coming up at Philadelphia, despite the fact they did it just a few weeks ago at Green Bay. Yet they find themselves a 9 point underdog at Philly? Hmmm.

Matt Ryan has shown a great ability to read defenses, and he will no doubt face the wrath of a rested Eagles defense this Sunday. Still though, everybody thought the Packers would hand it to them at Green Bay and Chicago would hand it to them at home a couple of weeks ago. I’m trying to convince myself the Falcons aren’t for real, but not really getting it done.

If the Falcons pull this one off, it is a huge statement game for them and we will have no choice but to take them seriously.

I am also interested to see how Pierre Thomas and Aaron Stecker share Deuce’s leftovers in the absence of Reggie Bush. I drafted Pierre Thomas on most of my teams this year, and did not drop him even after it became clear that he was going back to special teams only. So we will see if that pans out for me. Look, I have told people that I think Deuce was done earlier this season. I did so in the Huddle forum where innocent by-standers ask for fantasy advice, only to be assaulted with my faulty reasoning. Ok, another admission of guilt. Wrong…so far.

So far Deuce has held up. He has not been spectacular by any means though, and hasn’t had a whole lot of carries. And I am still thoroughly unconvinced that the guy is going to be able to pull the cart for any sustainable length of time. I still think Thomas is going to be a factor for this team.

I picked up Josh Morgan in most of my leagues earlier this year. Got impatient and dropped him in all of them a couple of weeks ago. Brilliant.

Having bright ideas is great. Being patient enough to let them pan out is even better.

Seven weeks into the NFL season, you’d think we’d have a pretty good feel for the contenders and the pretenders.

Tell that to anyone who thought the Week 6 Colts or Saints or Chargers or Browns would be showing up in Week 7. Or anyone who wrote off the Giants, Patriots or Panthers after subpar Week 6 performances.

Is a little consistency too much to ask for?

Over the past three weeks, 22 of the league’s 32 teams have either lost a game they were expected to win or won a game they were expected to lose; five have done so twice, while three have managed to both exceed and fail to deliver on expectations in that time frame.

Sigh.

The 10 predictable teams include the Bengals, Lions, Chiefs, and 49ers—teams who play down to lowly expectations on a regular basis. Other bastions of consistency include the Broncos, whose Monday night egg against the Patriots wasn’t quite what fantasy owners were expecting from Jay Cutler & Co. Speaking of the Pats, didn’t Philip Rivers and the Chargers expose them as ordinary just one week earlier?

That leaves the Texans—who were five minutes away from joining the “upset special” club until Sage Rosenfels fumbled away a win against Indy—and three teams with similar styles: the Panthers, Bucs, and Titans. All play extremely good defense, and all use a two-pronged backfield to run the ball effectively.

That’s not exactly what fantasy owners want to hear—unless you’re fortunate enough to be holding both the Titans, Panthers, or Bucs backs on the same squad.

What does this mean going forward? Uncertainty, unfortunately. Just when you think the game has changed to the point where matchups are king and the “Never Bench Your Stud” theory no longer applies… Peyton Manning throws three touchdowns against the Ravens and Steven Jackson rushes for 160 and three against the Cowboys. So you roll with Drew Brees and Frank Gore despite tougher opposition—only to see them outperformed by matchup plays like Jeff Garcia and Mewelde Moore.

Sigh.

Maybe the solution is to go out and acquire a bankable backfield like Graham and Dunn or Stewart and Williams (odds are the asking price on Johnson and White is a little steep coming off their Week 7 performances). Better still, you could load your roster with matchups against the teams who don’t disappoint in their disappointing performances. It’s worth noting that both the Colts and Dolphins face two of the four consistent doormats during the fantasy playoffs.

That assumes, of course, that the dregs remain the dregs. And this season, that’s hardly a given.

I drafted Roy Williams in one of my leagues. So far I have not been very happy with that pick, and his trade to the Cowboys only brightens my perspective slightly. There is always some hype and interest when a player switches teams at mid-season. It happens so rarely in the NFL. And unlike in baseball ,where you can plug a player into a position and it has minimal effect as far as continuity, a change at mid-season for a football player is a whole different issue. In a sport where meshing with the players around you is so important, it isn’t so easy to just “insert player” and have a smash hit on your hands as did the Dodgers this year with Manny Ramirez.

That being said, I understand where the Cowboys are coming from and going with this move. Owens is a ticking time bomb. He needs yet another player to lessen the defensive pressure he is experiencing. And even since he got one, if things don’t start going his way we all know the meltdown is always lurking. The Cowboys need T.O. insurance. I get that.

But is Roy Williams that guy? I thought so when I drafted him in the 4th round this year. And I’m sure the Cowboys think so after unloading the Brinks in his backyard. At this point though, I am not really buying in. I tried to trade Roy Williams after he was traded to the Cowboys. Haven’t got it done yet.

The pie is only so big in Dallas, and it will be smaller slices until Romo takes the field again. And despite what you have heard this week about an early Romo return, I would be extremely skeptical about that. Romo uses that pinkie. That pinkie is the last thing that touches the ball as it leaves his hand. Without that pinkie, it is going to be chaos. The old, “tape it to the next finger” trick probably won’t be effective enough to get him through. I would be very surprised if it did anyway.

Another problem, a more long term problem is that Williams himself has a lot to prove in my eyes. He has been a disappointment to me, considering his potential. Maybe the change in scenery will turn Williams into the player we thought he could be instead of the player he has been. Maybe the huge burdon of playing for a team with a losing tradition that matches no other weighed him down. Made him drop passes. Made him not fight for the ball. Made him get jammed off the line and put off his routes.

Maybe being magically dropped in the middle ot Superbowl contention will ignite Williams. It could happen. Maybe that fat paycheck will fatten up his desire. Maybe. Though trends would point against it.

All he has to do is consume an entire new offense, and get used to the habits of two new quarterbacks over the next couple of weeks. Put up with the spotlight and constant scrutiny that goes along with suiting up with “America’s Team.” Oh yeah, and he also has to adjust and learn to cope with what life with T.O. is like. Let’s not forget that now. Williams went from loserville to nutville.

I guess we will find out what Roy’s got over the last half of the season. Maybe playing with losers makes you a loser, and playing with winners makes you a winner. One thing is for sure. Now he has everything he needs except for excuses.