...And It May Have Cost $1,000,000

OK so the great Vince Young gamble did not work out as planned. Vince had a solid outing for the Titans and led them to their first win of the season, but I picked a bad week to drop Sanchez and start Young (Sanchez passed for 2 TDs and ran in a 3rd).

It was a gamble that may have cost a championship birth for team HELLMUTHofFF1 in the ffoc. I still managed to go 1-1 by finishing top 5 in my league, but I lost the heads up matchup by only a few points when Drew Brees failed to outscore Marques Colston by 9 points in last week's matchup. This team still sits in 3rd place and will face 2nd place next week. The Young/Sanchez blunder means not only must I go 2-0 week 9, but my opponent must go 0-2. With some teams abandoned at this point it's unlikely the current 2nd place team won't finish in the top 5. I guess this team may be destined to dominate the First and Goal bracket.

BUT WAIT!

NEW FOR 2009! Las Vegas Bracket and 1st & Goal Bracket Promotions: Each week, beginning with Week 11 bracket standings and ending with Week 14 bracket standings, the top team with the highest weekly point total for the current week in the 1st & Goal Bracket will be promoted to the Las Vegas Bracket during the Contest, and the top team with the highest weekly point total for the current week in the Red Zone Bracket will be promoted to the 1st & Goal Bracket.

This means that even a team currently in LAST PLACE in its league could put up the top score week 11....and then put up the top score again in week 12...and find itself in the running for $1,000,000!! I would wager that no matter how bad a week 1-9 point average is, the way the ffoc game is structured with week 11-15 weighted heavier, pretty much any team that put up the top score week 11 and 12 would jump close to the top of the Vegas Bracket leaderboard.

Don't give up hope! It's crunch time. SET YOUR LINEUPS!