Zach Piller and fantasy football

So, Titan left guard Zach Piller is out for the season. Just this weekend I was reminded of how much Zach Piller costs the Titans every year in several games because he's a dumbass hothead, a guy who can't ever hold back when he feels he or his teammates have been wronged. This weekend, Piller took a little potshot at Junior Seau after Seau decided that he had just won the Super Bowl after a tackle in the backfield near the end of the 1st half. The Titans were a pass away from getting into field goal range which would have given them a 10-0 lead at the half. Instead, the fifteen-yard penalty that Piller figured was worth the Seau bump took them out of it.

Zach Piller is the Andy Delmore of the Tennessee Titans. He has an upside, but his downside costs games, and frankly, I'm glad he's out for the season. This will give rookie Jacob Bell a chance to shine, and I hope he shines like no one has shone before so that Jeff Fisher will have a difficult time ever putting Piller in a game again.

Fantasy football: people speak of the John Madden curse, the player who gets on the cover of the new Madden football video game gets hurt. How about, the Chris Atkinson Fantasy Football curse, where my best player is often taken out in the first week due to injury, causing me to scramble to find a replacement for the next couple weeks to a month or so. This week, this year, that belongs to Shaun Alexander, clearly the class of my draft who put 34 points on the board for me this week, is out for at least a week, maybe two, after the past game. Last year, it was Marshall Faulk. The year before that, I believe, or at least one of my FF years, it was Jamal Anderson. I also have Chris Brown, who tweaked his ankle.

Also, poor decisions (currently I have a 91-81 lead over Jonathan, who has kicker Ryan Longwell left for this week, and I wouldn't have to worry about him if I had done some simple things): Not putting Tom Brady in against the Colts cost me 20 points, taking TE Erron Kinney out because he was questionable and replacing him with Colts TE Marcus Pollard cost me 6. I'd be at 117 with no worries about Mr. Longwell or the Kansas City defense (they gave up 34 points, and luckily, got some gift interceptions or else they would not have scored any fantasy points).