msaint Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 (edited) Unless you have the Ravens or one of those tops D's, do you typically play matchups? Lately, I've been stalking the Bears and picking up whoever is playing them (got some nice pts out of Dallas last week; might grab Vikes this week). Do you find that the "matchup" strategy is a good one for D's, or do you prefer to stick with one D through the up's and down's of the season? Edited December 2, 2004 by msaint Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furd Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 If I got a good one, I'll stick with it. But, if a team displays a particularly dismal offense (like the Bears or 49ers) I'll "stalk" that team too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glabra Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I've been playing matchups pretty much all year and it's worked fairly well, although it has backfired a couple of times. The best situation is to obviously pick up a fundamentally sound defense with a good matchup, e.g., Giants or Buffalo. That's the ideal situation. A little riskier is picking up an aggressive defense that has the potential to score but gives up lots of points, e.g., Arizona or Chicago. You have to pick and choose your spots wisely. The riskiest is when you pick up a crappy defense like Minnesota or St Louis purely for the matchup against a Miami, SF or Chicago. While defenses playing Chicago can be assumed to pretty much be a lock for a good game, those other lesser offensive teams often will find a way to frustrate your hopes for a big scoring day. I'm seriously mulling picking up Minnesota right now. They'll surely get some bonus points for keeping Chi under 10 pts, and will have 3-4 sacks to go with it. Their secondary is not very good at getting picks, and Winfield and Henderson are the only solid guys back there. Both are capable of creating FFs but overall, it's not a very aggressive defense at all. What makes them attractive is the fact that Hutchinson is starting. I'd probably look for NYG, Buffalo or Detroit before I look for Minnesota this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I play the matchups regardless. I've benched the Ravens two or three times against teams that aren't prone to turn the ball over (the Eagles and the Pats last week). Shockingly, doing so hasn't bit me in the ass yet. And on my other team without the Ravens, I've probably started 7-8 different Ds this season already. With Ds, I honestly think its the best way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msaint Posted December 2, 2004 Author Share Posted December 2, 2004 Not to turn this into a "which defense do I pick up?" post, but Buffalo (vs. Miami) is another FA D/ST I'm considering. I HAD been starting the Jets most weeks, but while they're a solid real defense, they were getting me surprisingly few FF points (a la Falcons). Dumped NYJ for Dallas last week which worked out, and, as I said, am considering "stalking" the Hutchinson factor this week w/ the Vikes. Just seems to me that unless you have a Ravens-level D, you might as well roll the dice with a potentially great matchup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glabra Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Not to turn this into a "which defense do I pick up?" post, but Buffalo (vs. Miami) is another FA D/ST I'm considering. I HAD been starting the Jets most weeks, but while they're a solid real defense, they were getting me surprisingly few FF points (a la Falcons). Dumped NYJ for Dallas last week which worked out, and, as I said, am considering "stalking" the Hutchinson factor this week w/ the Vikes. Just seems to me that unless you have a Ravens-level D, you might as well roll the dice with a potentially great matchup. 586559[/snapback] Of those 2, I'd go with Buffalo. Not that this is a WDIS thread or anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whomper Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 If I dont get a first round bye I will have to face the colts at home in the first round of the playoffs with My Ravens D who Ive started all year.I was thinking about picking up Houston just in case since they play the Bears week 15.This kind of ties in with the never bench your studs debate but I just might do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Sure, I play matchups, because I never draft a top D, I'd rather go for a sleeper pick who could work out, like a M Clayton. So, I usually have 2 D's to pick from, and play the matchups, and of course try to follow the worst offenses I can find. Now that you mention it, there is a lot of room for improvement in FF as far as how defensive scoring goes. In my BOTH league, we use DMD's , er, the Huddle's "perfect Scoring System". For defenses, this is the best scoring system I've ever seen (unlike how the TE scoring is) . Most defenses will cost you points in that system, instead of being positive point generators. So, a team with a "good NFL defense" like the Jets or Atlanta hold thier value. Cincy is a very good FF D in most scoring systems, and they suck, NFL-wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donutrun Jellies Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 For the Jellies, I drafted Dallas thinking I'd play them all year. I'm a dope. Then I traded for Washington before the ends fell off. Hate it when that happens. Then I traded for Atlanta and wired Denver and SD and am playing matchups. It's working okay ... thanks in large part to advice and stats here in the Huddle ... Over on the salary cap Bavarians, I'm wicked matchup sensitive and am taking a flyer on Minnesota DEF so I can afford TO this week at WR ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brewer Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I've always played the matchups, as I never can bring myself to draft a D early enough to get one of the pre-season favorites. Sometimes it bites me in the arse, but usually, I don't feel that it has hurt me. As someone already mentioned, I'd rather take a sleeper WR/RB in the draft, try to pick up a surprise D on the waiver wire, and then play the matchups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'canes2004 Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I usually wait on drafting a Def until the very end. I would rather stock my roster with key back-ups then draft a Def too early. Because of this I have no choice but to play match-ups when selecting a Def. Depending on your leagues scoring, a Def can add from a few to a decent amount of points to your teams' total. One of the first things Ill do is check out what Def's are on the wire and who they are playing. If I find one with a promising match-up, I'll pick them up and play them for the week. Sometimes getting those few extra points can be huge as we all have found out in our FF lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeler Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Yes I play the matchup with my defenses and have been pretty happy with the results. I would grab the Buffalo D immediately if not sooner if they are still available. Their schedule from week 13-16 is unbeleivably soft. Buffalo plays @MIA (2), CLE (5), @CIN (11), @SF (1).. now three of those games are on the road but the offenses of those teams are giving up fantasy points very generously. In fact, the number in parenthesis next to the team is the offense rank in fantasy points given up to the opponent's D. Add the fact that Buffalo's offense has come around and this D will be very, very solid during the playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeler Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Very interesting! I just quickly reviewed my season in Huddler's Refuge to see how my choices at defense fared and found that I should be more than "pretty happy", I should be elated. Here is what I found: I played the defensive matchup game in this league and played the best defense on my roster 8 of the 12 times for 66% rate which is pretty good I think. Of the 4 weeks that I picked the wrong D only one time was it significant (I would have won had I started the right D) when I left 8 points on my bench. The other three weeks I left 2, 2, and 4 points on my bench which isn't too bad. In addition, there were 4 times I picked up a defense from the WW for a particular matchup and it was the correct play over the current defenses on my roster. Finally, the total points scored for the defensive teams that I started is 128, which ranks 3rd overall in defensive scoring in that league. Baltimore 139 Pittsburgh 132 My Ds 128 Chicago 126 That is a successful season of playing the defensive matchup game Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeler Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I played the Defensive matchup game in OUTRAGED as well... here are the results: 66% efficiency in starting the correct defense. I started the correct D 6 of 9 times. I only played the matchup game for 9 weeks in this league because I needed the extra roster space or whatever... so in week 10 I began to carry only the Buffalo defense. Total points: 134 Rank: 5 Another success Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I play the match game with D's sometimes...I typically get burned. "X" should be great this week, look who they're playing...only to have it backfire on me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeler Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 Third and final league...BOTNH.... defensive matchups game.... yada yada yada. Started the correct defese 7 of 12 times for 58% efficiency which is still pretty good. In addition, two of the 5 times I started the wrong D the difference was only one point so not too big of a deal. Total points for the defenses I started: 145 Rank: 2nd A trifecta of successful defensive matchup play This is something I recomend if you don't get a chance to draft a stud defense.... unless you are in one of my leagues... please don't do this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.D.Morrison Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 It's all about the matchups....... I've grabbed the Lions and hoping they feast on rookie blood......I NEED THIS WIN...or it's over for me !! although it was tough not to grab Giants vs Skins...but the giants D has lost alot of guys.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steeler Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 I play the match game with D's sometimes...I typically get burned. "X" should be great this week, look who they're playing...only to have it backfire on me... 587008[/snapback] I use DMD's Defense Allowed Stats to help pick the offenses I want to play defenses against. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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