[UMTerp]

NE, DAL, and SEA are the three that are closest to slam dunks, but most people have used these already (I'm in a pretty huge pool, and 13.5% have DAL left, 24.2% have NE, and 52.3% have SEA.)

There are four other games on the board that look like possibilities to me, and I think you're nuts if you take any of the others:

WAS vs. ARI
CIN vs. NTJ
NYG vs. SF
NO vs. ATL

**NOTE** My analysis is based on a large pool, where you're going to have to go very deep (15+ weeks) into the season to win. If there's <10 people left in your pool, what I say may not apply.

In these larger leagues, "survive and advance" isn't always the best tactic, since eventually you're going to run out of premium teams before the pool gets whittled down enough to where you'll have a good chance to win. So you have to look ahead a bit.

Taking each of the four teams I mentioned above, here are the other spots in the season that look usable right now (these can always change too... the NFL is funny like that):

WASHINGTON: 7 vs. ARI, 13 vs. BUF
NEW YORK GIANTS: 7 vs. SF, 12 vs. MIN(?)
CINCINNATI: 7 vs. NYJ, 11 vs. ARI, 14 vs. STL, 16 vs. CLE(?)
NEW ORLEANS: 7 vs. ATL, 10 vs. STL, 15 vs. ARI

Looking at the above, I'd personally throw out Cincinnati and New Orleans as Week 7 plays. They both appear to have plenty of usable spots down the road, and why not wait until these teams are in better form to use them? (Yes, the Saints looked good last night, but that's just one week.)

Washington and the Giants are both playing well right now, and their spots throughout the rest of the season are limited. They're also both playing west coast teams flying across the country for 1:00 games. I'll be on one of them (and I haven't made up my mind as to which yet.) Slight lean to the Redskins at the moment because of the Cardinals' QB situation, and the fact that the Niners have 14 days to prepare vs. the Giants' 6.

** As another aside, often if I'm torn between two teams, I'll pick the one that I think will have less support throughout the rest of the pool. It's always better to be "against the norm" in these things, all other aspects being equal. That doesn't really apply this week though, as I'd imagine the picks will be all over the board.

Any other thoughts on WAS/NYG for Week 7?