ESPN NFL

Congrats to Wing Kong Exchange for running away with the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge title.

Putting up 173 points in Week 17 could mean only one thing. Our champ had Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson going for Detroit against Green Bay. So did ChampLeonard, who scored a league-high 205 points in the final week to finish 13th out of 1,720 entrants.

Way to go, guys.

Congrats, also, to NFC East blogger Dan Graziano for winning our head-to-head matchup and joining me in crushing -- and I mean crushing -- a certain NFC West blogger's significant other (see chart below).

.

The week nearly got away without a 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge update.

That would have been a little self-serving after NFC East blogger Dan Graziano moved past my team in the standings this past week. Way to go, Dan. My team tanked with the lowest-scoring week (74) I can recall having.

A few things I've done this week in an attempt to stop the bleeding:

• Roll the dice on Tebow. Tim Tebow faces the New England Patriots' defense. Tebow's price remains relatively low among quarterbacks. I've already got big money invested in Aaron Rodgers. Tebow was the choice in the other QB spot. Our Gridiron Challenge columnist, Tom Carpenter, also points to Tebow as a decent value this week.
• Take aim at the weaklings. I've gone with Chris Johnson and the Tennessee Titans' defense because both face Indianapolis in Week 15. I've gone with Arizona's Beanie Wells and Jay Feely because they face the Cleveland Browns.

Best of luck to you and your team this week.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge heading into Week 14:

• Leader: msclemons67, again, after getting 24 point from Rob Gronkowski, 23 from the San Francisco defense and 19 from 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. msclemons67 had to adjust at quarterback after losing Jay Cutler to injury earlier in the season.
• High score of the week: Marino's FF&S and Dan E. Bones are coming off 180-point weeks. Both had Aaron Rodgers, Arian Foster, Gronkowski and the 49ers' defense.
• Lowest score on first page of leaderboard: 90 points, by Go Get Me a Juicebox!. Five total points at running back and a six-point game from Joe Flacco proved costly.
• My team: tied for 425th place (77.5 percentile) after an 118-point week featuring only seven points from the very pricey Frank Gore. Michael Crabtree proved to be a bargain, scoring 15 points despite a modest price tag.
• My wife's team: tied for 815th place (54.6 percentile) after getting only 27 total points from her running backs, wide receivers, tight end and kicker. My heartfelt sympathies.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 521st place (73.1 percentile) after a 116-point week featuring 24 point from Maurice Jones-Drew.
• Note of the week: I'm sticking with Crabtree at receiver and betting on Miles Austin to produce in his first game back from injury. Neither is a sure bet to produce at receiver, but with Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton eating up $16.1 million of my weekly $50 million allotment, prospecting at other positions is a necessity. Crabtree has 17 receptions for 270 yards and a touchdown over the past three weeks. He had 7-120-0 against the Cardinals three weeks ago.

Tom Carpenter's latest Gridiron Challenge advice column points to Rex Grossman as a possible budget pickup at quarterback against the New England defense. The column closes by pointing to the Patriots' defense as a potential value because Grossman is the opposing quarterback. Such are the tradeoffs in a league allowing owners to choose from all players each week.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A few last-minute fantasy considerations heading into the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge for Week 13:

• Romo against the Cardinals: Arizona's defense is improving, but Tony Romo still seemed like a bargain relative to other quarterbacks costing about the same ($6.8 million of our $50 million allotment). I moved him into my lineup over Cam Newton and used the $1 million savings to load up at running back. I considered playing the Cowboys' DeMarco Murray against an Arizona defense that lost nose tackle Dan Williams for the season. Murray was cheaper than the backs I went with (Frank Gore and Chris Johnson).
• Gore against the Rams: We all saw what Beanie Wells did to the Rams' last-ranked run defense in Week 12. I moved Wells out of my lineup late in the week because I wasn't sure whether his knee would limit him. Bad move. Gore has had 10 days between games. He should be fresh and ready to attack the Rams' defense.
• Crabtree as well: With Braylon Edwards hurting, I went with the 49ers' Michael Crabtree at receiver. His low price was appealing relative to his potential against a Rams secondary missing all of its top cornerbacks. The 49ers could get their points on the ground and by targeting tight ends, so playing Crabtree comes with risks. Crabtree did catch seven passes for 120 yards in his last home game, however.

Best of luck to you this week.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 12:

• Leader: msclemons67, again, but with Jay Cutler suffering a broken thumb, it's time to search for another quarterback.
• High score of the week: ChampLeonard and The Big Hurt, each with 156 points. Both got 21 points from the San Francisco 49ers' defense against Arizona, as did our leader.
• Lowest score on first page of leaderboard: 89 points, by kcarter617. Fred Jackson's injury was part of the problem. Denarius Moore?
• My team: tied for 463rd and falling fast (76.1 percentile) after an 80-point week featuring three whole points from the receiver position.
• My wife's team: tied for 730th place and falling. Stands in 58.9 percentile.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 493rd and falling (73.7 percentile) after getting two points from his wide receivers.
• Note of the week: It's looking like a rough week for running backs. DeMarco Murray appears less valuable without a healthy fullback. Ray Rice and Frank Gore face tough defenses. Arian Foster and Matt Forte lost their quarterbacks, which could give them more touches in lower-scoring offenses. I'm going with Murray and Rashard Mendenhall because they're reasonably priced and I needed the extra pretend money to buy back Aaron Rodgers and Cam Newton at premiums following their bye weeks. Does Steven Jackson get going against an Arizona defense missing nose tackle Dan Williams?

Best of luck to your team this week. Tom Carpenter's column specifically for the Gridiron Challenge does single out Mendenhall, among others, as potential strong values.

SAN FRANCISCO -- NFC West teams play the late games Sunday. That means I've got no excuses if my Gridiron Challenge again features players named inactive on game day.

Yes, that was Philadelphia's DeSean Jackson leading a season-low 79-point showing for my team last week. Frank Gore finished with zero points. Cam Newton scored only 13. Taking a bargain-basement flyer on Eddie Royal worked out poorly, too.

Gore's status against Arizona stands as the primary fantasy-related issue in the NFC West this week. I've removed Gore from my lineup as a precaution, figuring the 49ers could limit his carries or even hold him out altogether. The team listed Gore as questionable Friday.

We'll get the lists of inactive players about 90 minutes before the 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff. I'll watch Gore during warm-ups and pass along what I see.

We're at that point during the Gridiron Challenge season when bye weeks have forced us to release top players or suffer through a scoreless bye week with them. I released Aaron Rodgers and Adrian Peterson during their bye weeks and have tried to patch with value players, with mixed results.

msclemons67 is our outright leader with 1,398 points, having gotten 80 point last week from Arian Foster, Rodgers and DeMarco Murray alone. But with Matt Schaub suffering a foot injury, roster decisions await for Week 11.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 8:

• Leader: Da Ramzz, for the first time this season, by two points. Da Ramzz has scored at least 130 points in seven of the eight weeks. Very solid. Previous leader mboles52 is only seven points back after leading four weeks in a row.
• High score of the week: Coleyfudge, with 170 points. Getting 31 points from the Buffalo Bills' defense certainly helped.
• Lowest score on first page of leaderboard: Try Not to Suck, with 88 points. This was a calculated gamble or an oversight. Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Sebastian Janikowski and the Green Bay defense stayed on his roster despite having bye weeks. Try Not to Suck remains tied for 31st and in the 98.4 percentile anyway. Not bad.
• My team: tied for 208th out of 1,619 entries, 88.9 percentile. Up from 280th and 83.0 percentile. Cam Newton, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Steve Smith scored 99 of my 131 points in Week 8.
• My wife's team: tied for 679th place, 59.7 percentile. Down from 584th and 64.8. She's been under the weather, but that's no excuse. Mark Ingram was her running back. Olindo Mare was her kicker.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 340th, 80.7 percentile. Up from 408th and 75.1. Lots of NFC East flavor on our NFC East blogger's roster. Michael Vick, Tony Romo, Ryan Torain.
• Note of the week: Buying back Aaron Rodgers at $7.9 million hurt, particularly after getting only 14 points from Joe Flacco as a bye week replacement. I picked up Matt Cassel on the relative cheap and will go with Frank Gore and Matt Forte as my running backs. The St. Louis Rams were a cheap pickup on defense and a gamble, but with the Cardinals' quarterback situation unsettled, it could work out OK.

Graziano is keeping on the pressure. Can't see him leaving Torain in his lineup against San Francisco's defense.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 7:

• Leader: mboles52, for a fourth week in a row, but only by one point over msclemons67, who came on strong with 172 points in Week 7. mboles52 got no points from Darren McFadden and one point from Miles Austin during a 127-point week.
• High score of the week: Untouchable, with 185 points, thanks to 40 points from Arian Foster, 31 from DeMarco Murray and 21 from Tim Tebow. Well played.
• My team: tied for 280th out of 1,596 entries, 83.0 percentile. Up from 306th and 81.5 percentile. I'm tied with a team called "SandoBlasters" and took notice upon learning that "blongdin99" was this Sando-blasting team's owner. blongdin99 would be Brett Longdin, one of our editors at ESPN.com. Brett lays out MVP Watch, How they voted and other NFC West blog staples when he's not plotting my Gridiron Challenge demise. Speaking my demise, my team managed a middling 118 points despite zero points from McFadden and two bye-week filler pickups from the NFC West, Doug Baldwin and Lance Kendricks.
• My wife's team: tied for 584th place, 64.8 percentile. Down from 512th place and 68.9 percentile. She got 10 total points from her running backs and appears to be in a free fall, hopefully.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 408th place, 75.1 percentile. Up from 466th and 71.3, which was up from 624th and 61.3. Graziano is making a run. His team tied mine with 118 points.
• Note of the week: Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers head into their bye week, forcing difficult decisions for owners looking to maximize value. I added Rodgers for $6.5 million of the $50 million allotment before the season, cutting him this week even though his value had climbed to $7.9 million. It's tough taking zero points from a quarterback in any week. Advice from Tom Carpenter: "If you are just competing with a group of friends, maybe you can take the zero this week for the long-term benefit of maintaining his low contract value. If, however, you are aiming for the top score in the entire Gridiron Challenge, then you may need to move on."

I'm going with Joe Flacco and Cam Newton at quarterback this week. Flacco faces Arizona's struggling pass defense. If he tanks, my decision to cut Rodgers will be a costly one.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 6:

• Leader: mboles52, for a third week in a row. His scoring has fallen from 173 to 158 to 129 to 122 in recent weeks, but mboles52 still leads by seven points. Picking up Wes Welker to replace Andre Johnson did not pay off immediately. Welker scored 10 points.
• High score of the week: bbeebe2, with 155 points, a more than twofold increase from a week earlier. bbeebe2 got 25 points from Aaron Rodgers, 25 from the New York Jets defense, 21 from Devin Hester, 21 from Drew Brees and 20 from Rashard Mendenhall.
• My team: tied for 306th out of 1,568 entries, 81.5 percentile. Down from 246th and 85.0 percentile. Getting a combined seven points from Carolina's Steve Smith (6), the New York Giants' Victor Cruz (1) and San Francisco's Vernon Davis (0) wasn't what I had in mind last week.
• My wife's team: tied for 512th place, 68.9 percentile. This was the week I'd been waiting for. She left Steven Hauschka in her lineup on a bye week, got minus-four points from the Minnesota defense and plummeted nearly 200 spots in the standings. She has now gone from 17th place to 66th to 233rd to 512th place over the last month.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 466th place, 71.3 percentile. Up from 624th place and 61.3. Looks like Dan's making a midseason push. He got solid production from just about every position in scoring 121 points, 23 above the median score.
• Note of the week: Danny Tuccitto's Insider column shows which teams have the easiest and hardest remaining schedules against run and pass. Cleveland, Arizona and Seattle face the toughest pass defenses on average from here on out. The St. Louis Rams face the second-toughest run defenses on average, with two four games remaining against San Francisco and Seattle.

That last note explains why Kevin Kolb's name made it into the headline. He faces games against Pittsburgh (home) and Baltimore (road) over the next two weeks, with two games against the 49ers scheduled for later in the season.

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 5:

• Leader: mboles52, for a second week in a row. His scoring peaked with 173 points in Week 3, coming down to 158 and a season-low 129 over the last two weeks. A rough week from Darren McFadden hurt. Also, mboles52 was among those forced to make a roster move following Andre Johnson's hamstring injury. He picked up Wes Welker. I went with Carolina's Steve Smith.
• High score of the week: mdubb2006, with 184 points. This marked a 99-point improvement from one week to the next for mdubb2006, who also had to replace Johnson at receiver. He went with Pierre Garcon instead and got 24 points from the Indianapolis receiver. He also replaced Scott Chandler with Vernon Davis at tight end, and Chris Johnson with Arian Foster at running back. Those moves paid off big. Getting 24 points from the San Francisco 49ers' defense also helped.
• My team: tied for 246th out of 1,530 entries, 85.0 percentile. Up from 481st place and 68.8 percentile. Sticking with the 49ers' Davis after a slow start paid off with two touchdown receptions in Week 5. And even though I foolishly predicted an Arizona victory at previously winless Minnesota, I wasn't foolish enough to remove the Vikings' Adrian Peterson in my lineup. His 30 points keyed a 147-point week for me, a season high.
• My wife's team: tied for 233rd place, 85.8 percentile. Down frrom 66th place and 95.7 percentile last week, which was down from 17th place just a few weeks ago. Around the house, we call this a downward spiral. By the way, upon request, we've added her team name to the featured leaderboard on the main NFC West Gridiron Challenge page. The hope is that she buckles under the added pressure.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 624th place, 61.3 percentile. Up from 650th place and 58.1 percentile. Something tells me Dan has found better things to do with his life. Houston's Johnson and San Diego's Antonio Gates have remained in his lineup for weeks despite their injuries. Wait, this just in. Gridiron Challenge sources say Graziano has a new tight end in his lineup this week. It's on.
• Key decision of the week: What to do at wide receiver. Those who went into the season with Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald will likely have two other receivers going in Week 6. Johnson is out, of course, and Fitzgerald is on his bye week after a disappointing stretch of games. I've replaced Fitzgerald with the New York Giants' Victor Cruz, which saved enough money to pick up Green Bay's defense against St. Louis.

How are you handling the situation at receiver?

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 4:

• Leader: mboles52, who overtook two-week leader Billy Shears. His lineup: Aaron Rodgers (47 points), Drew Brees (19), Adrian Peterson (8), Darren McFadden (11), Calvin Johnson (21), Andre Johnson (3), Jimmy Graham (19), Nick Folk (5), Ravens defense (25).
• High score of the week: digitool, with 184 points. Lineup: Rodgers (47), Michael Vick (31), Beanie Wells (31), Maurice Jones-Drew (8), DeSean Jackson (17), Steve Smith (18), Vernon Davis (10), David Akers (6), Green Bay Packers (16).
• My team: tied for 481st place out of 1,508 entries, 68.8 percentile. Down from 418th place and 71.2 percentile last week. Johnson's hamstring injury proved costly, limiting the Houston Texans receiver to three points.
• My wife's team: tied for 164th, 89.5 percentile. Down from 66th place and 95.7 percentile. She got a combined eight points from Mike Wallace and Rob Gronkowski. Sorry to hear about that.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 650th, 58.1 percentile. Another shutout at tight end with Antonio Gates in the lineup.
• NFC West matchup to watch: Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian and the Minnesota Vikings' receivers against the Arizona Cardinals' defense. The Vikings haven't been a big-play passing team. Harvin and Berrian have no receptions longer than 22 yards. The Cardinals' defense has allowed 23 pass plays of at least 20 yards, the second-highest total in the league behind New England's 30. Something figures to give.

Who is your fantasy sleeper play of the week?

Inside the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge after Week 3:

• Leader: Billy Shears, for a second week in a row, this time with 486 points. He's gotten 42 points from Rob Gronkowski over the past two weeks. Basically, teams with Gronkowski are lighting it up.
• High score of the week: Walladaraida, with 188 points. Lineup: Tom Brady (31), Ryan Fitzpatrick (22), LeSean McCoy (19), Darren McFadden (29), Mike Wallace (20), Calvin Johnson (22), Gronkowski (22), Ryan Longwell (11), Oakland defense (12).
• My team: tied for 418th place out of 1,459 entries, 71.2 percentile. Up from 693rd place and 53.3 percentile last week. Sticking with Vernon Davis against Cincinnati worked out well.
• My wife's team: tied for 66th, 95.7 percentile. Down from 17th and 98.7 percentile. She also had Gronkowski.
• Dan Graziano's team: tied for 619th, 60.0 percentile. Down from 595th and 59.6. He's had Antonio Gates in his lineup the last two weeks.
• NFC West matchup to watch: Michael Vick and McCoy against the San Francisco 49ers' defense. The 49ers' run defense has given very little ground this season. Making the Eagles one-dimensional would put additional pressure on Vick, who keeps taking too much punishment. I suspect the 49ers will have a tougher time limiting turnovers in this game, putting their defense in tougher positions.

Who is your fantasy sleeper play of the week?

The first week of the 2011 NFC West Gridiron Challenge has passed and my team sits in 711th place, only 617 spots below my wife's team, which is about right.

Thank you, Dan Graziano of the NFC East blog, for lagging 957th out of the 1,255 teams entered as of Thursday night.

And congrats to chennibus for demonstrating the wisdom, foresight and flat-out blind luck required to set the pace with 164 points.

The rest of us are always one week away from catching up given that rules allow for signing any available players in any week, provided you haven't mismanaged the salary cap too badly.

My thoughts on three NFC West-related notes from Tom Carpenter's Gridiron Challenge fantasy column on ESPN.com:

• Carpenter expects the Pittsburgh Steelers' Rashard Mendenhall to break out against a Seattle Seahawks team he calls hapless. Say what you want about Seattle's overall prospects, but run defense is looking like a strength for the Seahawks. There are plenty of superior fantasy options among running backs in Week 2.
• Even though the San Francisco 49ers' defense scored 23 fantasy points in the opener, Carpenter advises spending Gridiron Challenge resources elsewhere in Week 2. He thinks Dallas will fare better against the 49ers than Seattle fared. Carpenter advises picking up the Steelers' defense, which became more affordable after a rough Week 1. I had the Steelers' defense for Week 1 and suffered for the choice. Seattle's young offensive line doesn't match up well with the Steelers' veteran defense, though, so I'm sticking with Pittsburgh.
• Sam Bradford's price dropped $400,000 on the Gridiron Challenge market. Carpenter thinks the St. Louis Rams' quarterback will have a hard time justifying anyone's investment in Week 2, even at a discount. I agree to the extent that many other quarterbacks are likely to be more productive. However, the Rams aren't the only injury-depleted team playing Monday night. The Giants' defense also has issues. The Rams cannot help but execute better after a sloppy opener.

Good luck with your team this week.

The NFC West Gridiron Challenge is back for another season on the NFC West blog.

This is an easy-to-play fantasy game allowing participants to set weekly lineups without restrictions on player availability.

You want Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers? Sign them. Just realize you will have used roughly one-fourth of your $50 million salary allotment right off the top. Player values change based on performance. The cap rewards those who lock in players before values increase.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb is available for $5.8 million to start the season. Rodgers costs $6.5 million. If you think Kolb will put up better-than-expected numbers, you might consider signing Kolb and then allocating the savings for a more expensive player at another position.

I like this game because there's an opportunity to start fresh each week. If a player on your Week 1 roster suffers a season-ending injury, you'll be affected for that week, but not always so much in the future. Every other receiver in the league would be available to you the following week, provided you had enough cap room.

Dan Graziano of the NFC East blog has added his Gridiron Challenge team to the NFC West competition. My wife plans to participate again after defeating me in the 2010 version of the game. As I noted at the time, "No victory is too small when you're married to me."

The chart shows initial values for the highest-priced players from the NFC West. Quarterbacks cost more in general.

My wife is holding a rolled-up fantasy preview magazine to my head while I type this: Yep, she defeated me in the 2010 ESPN.com Blog Network Gridiron Challenge.

Good for her. No victory is too small when you're married to me.

The big winner, I Own Tim Graham, ran away with first place among more than 3,700 entrants. I do not remember the last time someone else held the overall lead. Way to go, and nice name (note that "Sando's Master" finished tied for 1,116th place with the real Tim Graham).

The chart shows the Top 10 overall finishers, plus a few stragglers, with columns showing point totals for Week 17 and overall, percentile finish and key performers from the final week.

AFC North blogger James Walker finished in the 93.3 percentile and in 351st place. My wife was in the 88.7 percentile and 584th place, a huge gain from last season. I fared OK, while Graham went easy on us.

Special commendation for Week 17 goes to TeamPartyDown, which charged into third place overall with 166 points thanks to three 31-point producers: Tim Tebow, Arian Foster and Ryan Matthews.

By the way, the Playoff Gridiron Challenge starts anew right here..