Conflict of Interest: Wes Welker edition

It’s crunch time in the fantasy football season.

I’m lucky enough to not be completely out of it in either league, but I NEED to win games from here on out if I want to go to the postseason.

That means I’ll be hoping all of my players in both leagues have solid games because I can’t really afford to tank ANY games.

This week, I face Wes Welker in my Yahoo League where I’m 5-4 and clinging to the final playoff spot, but I own him in my Yahoo Plus League where I’m 4-5 and fading fast.

The natural inclination would be to hope Welker has a monster game for me, so I can climb back to .500 in my Yahoo Plus League. However, receivers don’t get nearly as many points in the Yahoo Plus League as they do in the Yahoo League. So if Welker has a big game, he’ll get me considerably less points than he’ll get my opponent in my other league.

Since Welker is arguably the most consistent receiver in the league, I’m hoping he has a typical (as opposed to extraordinary) game. So…

Dream statline: 7 catches for 79 yards and 0 TDs.

Conflict of Interest: Brandon Jacobs edition

Both of my fantasy football teams are 4-2, so I can’t really complain.

I’m not going to let that stop me.

Though my teams have thankfully been injury-free (searching frantically for a piece of wood to knock on), there have been a couple of letdowns, none bigger that the underwhelming performance of Brandon Jacobs. Panthers wide receive Steve Smith is a close second, but he’s dealing with a crappy quarterback and the fact that defenses can put two or three guys on him each week.

What’s Jacobs’ excuse for not producing? He’s on a good (great?!) team that runs the ball very well (teammate Ahmad Bradshaw has been more effective and productive). Part of the problem is Eli Manning’s success in the air this year, but this is still a team that scores a ton and Jacobs has not been good at all.

I own him in my Yahoo Sports league, and my opponent/league commissioner has him in my Yahoo Plus League. As I mentioned, my record in both leagues is identical, so I don’t really NEED a win in one league over another. (Obviously, I’d still like to win both matchups.)

As a result, I’m going to think long-term. I’m going to hope for a relatively big game from him if for no other reason than to see if he has a pulse and can help me the rest of the season. (The season started in September, Brandon – you’re welcome to start balling whenever you’re ready.)

Dream statline: 22 rushes for 101 yards and 2TDs, and 2 catches for 13 yards.

Conflict of Interest: Steve Slaton edition

No, I haven’t been slacking off. (Not this time, at least.)

It’s just that after a week 2 that featured FOUR fantasy football conflicts of interest, my life had been blissfully conflict-free for the last couple of Sundays/Mondays.

Well, all of that is over thanks to Mr. Steve Slaton. I own Slaton in my Yahoo Football PLUS league, while I’m facing him in my Yahoo Football (Regular) squad.

I’m 3-1 in both leagues and, obviously, I’d like to win both matchups. I’m actually going to hope Slaton has a strong game on the ground, and here’s why:

The team I’m facing in my Yahoo Football (Regular) league is called the Keyboard Cats, but they might as well be called the Keyboard Texans, because the owner has Slaton, QB Matt Schaub and WR Andre Johnson on his squad. I’m not naïve (or optimistic) enough to think Arizona is going to shut all three of those guys down, so I’m going to hope they double (or triple) team Johnson and generally guard against the pass, leaving the semi-struggling Slaton with enough room to run. (Emphasis on RUN: I don’t want him doing too much damage in the passing game either.)

Dream statline: 20 carries for 97 yards and 1 TD, and three catches for 20 yards.

Conflict of Interest: Witten/Johnson/Smith/Bowe edition

I’ve never been so conflicted.

This week, I have no fewer then four conflicts in my two fantasy football leagues! Actually, I had five, but I’ve decided to bench Lee Evans in favor of Earl Bennett. (For some ungodly reason, Jay Cutler loves to throw Bennett the ball – they were college teammates – while I don’t trust Lee Evans, and I believe Bills QB Trent Edwards will spend at least 60% of their game against the Bucs trying to placate Terrell Owens.)

Still, despite the fact that I’ve never had this many conflicting players – Jason Witten, Larry Johnson, Steve Smith and Dwayne Bowe – I’m actually not too conflicted at all. (I also like the fact that "Witten/Johnson/Smith/Bowe" sounds like a law firm.)

Though I hope I win my in my Yahoo Football Plus league, I HAVE to win in my regular Yahoo Football League because that’s where I’m playing my nemesis. Yes, I have an actual real-life nemesis, and he’s beaten me 3 out of the 4 times over the last two years. I hate this guy. He’s been my friend since high school, and the list of things I can’t stand about him is too long to list. (I don’t know why, but one of the things that REALLY gets on my nerves is the fact that he writes like a fourth grader. Ugh!) He’s the kind of guy who’s so annoying that you’re a little surprised no one’s killed him yet (or at least roughed him up). By the way, I kid, I kid. (Mostly.)

As a result, I need for my Yahoo team to win. My nemesis has Jason Witten and Larry Johnson on his team, and I own these guys in my Yahoo Plus league. I’m hoping these guys get mostly shut out. On the flip side, my opponent in the Yahoo Plus league has Steve Smith and Dwayne Bowe, but I need them to step their games up from last week if I want to crush my nemesis. So…

Dream statlines:

Witten: 5 catches, 45 yards, 0 TDs.
Johnson: 17 carries, 60 yards, 0 TDs.
Smith: 7 catches, 105 yards, 1 TD.
Bowe: 5 catches, 80 yards, 1 TD.

Conflict of Interest: Brandon Marshall edition

I guess you could say it’s been an interesting offseason for Brandon Marshall.

If you follow football, I’m sure you’ve heard about all of it, so I won’t bore you with that. Instead, I’ll bore you with my fantasy football teams!

He’s my first conflict of interest. For the newbies, here’s how it works. Whenever I have a conflict on my two fantasy football teams, I’ll come on here, fret about it and put up the numbers I hope the player posts. Marshall is the first player this season I own in one league, who I’m facing off against in the other.

The Thursday night Titans/Steelers game threw in an interesting wrinkle. In the league where I own Marshall, I’m pretty much 30 points behind because my opponent has Santonio Holmes (who went crazy on Thursday). Meanwhile, in the league where I’m facing Marshall, I have a decent lead already thanks to different scoring rules (my opponent there also has Holmes, but he only earned 12 points from him, as opposed to 25 in the other league) and my Tennessee defense getting me a nice amount of points for me.

As a result, I’d like to see Marshall have a relatively big game so I can catch up in the league where I’m behind. I think this is a possibility because he’s playing the Bengals and he seems relatively sane. For now.

Dream statline: 8 catches for 115 yards and a TD.

Conflict of Interest: Wes Welker/Playoffs edition

Playoffs?! You kiddin' me?! You wanna talk about...playoffs?!

Yes, for the first time in my two seasons playing fantasy football I can talk playoffs since both my teams are in.

Of course that means, I'm facing a team with good players leading to a conflict.

This time it's New England's mighty mite wide receiver Wes Welker who also happens to be the league leader in receptions. While teams are busy double covering teammate Randy Moss, all Welker does is run around the middle of the field and make about 10 catches per game.

I have Welker in my Yahoo Sports league (where I'm playing the 1 seed), and my opponent has him in my NFL.com league (where I'm also the 4 seed). Obviously I'm playing two really good teams, so I'm going to go right down the middle and hope Welker has another Welker-y game.

Dream statline: 10 catches, 125 yards, 0TDs in a win vs. Oakland.

Conflict of Interest: Andre Johnson edition

Ok, so here's the deal.

It's money time in the fantasy football season as the regular season comes to a close in both my NFL.com and Yahoo league.

I literally mean it's money time since I'm tied for the division lead in my 12-team NFL league and division winners get $50, which is the cost of the entry fee. Meanwhile, I'm one game out of my Yahoo league's playoffs, but I have more total points than both of the teams I'm chasing. So I need to win there and hope one of them loses. If I win and both of them lose, then I'm likely a 3 seed. If I lose, then be on alert for flying remote controls.

The conflict this week is Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson, who was underrated up until this past Monday night when Ron Jaworski and Tony Kornheiser said his name approximately 200 times. He's also the league leader in catches and receiving yards, so he's obviously been a big-time fantasy presence.

I own him in my Yahoo league, while my opponent has him in my NFL league. Since I NEED to win to even have a chance of making the playoffs in my Yahoo league and to preserve the health of my TV remote, I'm going to hope AJ has a relatively big game. I'm also just going to hope the team I share the division lead with simply loses because I also like cash.

Dream statline: 7 catches for 85 yards and 1TD in a loss to Green Bay.

Conflict of Interest: Bo Scaife edition

Ok, so I didn't even know what a Bo Scaife was before this season and I suspect you didn't either.

Well, he's the starting tight end on the undefeated Tennessee Titans and, thanks to their, how you say, "poopy," receiving corps, their best pass catcher. More importantly, he's my conflict of interest this week.

I own him on my NFL.com league and my opponent has him in my Yahoo sports league. Here's the bottom line: I'm kinda sinking like a stone in my Yahoo league. Two weeks ago I was second in the league with a 6-2 record, now I'm 6-4 and in a four-way tie for two of the league's four playoff spots. For extra fun, I'm playing the top team in the league this week.

So despite the fact that I could pretty much punch a playoff ticket with another win in my NFL.com league (where a few people are threatening to do their Cleveland Browns impression and quit on the season), I'm gonna go ahead and root for Scaife to have a subpar game so I can right the ship in my Yahoo league and pick up a win I desperately need.

Dream statline: 4 catches, 35 yards, 0 TDs in a win against the Jaguars.

Conflict of Interest: Mason Crosby edition

Ok, as soon as you stop laughing, I'll tell you why a kicker is my conflict of interest for this week.

It turns out that a kicker can be a sort of silent assassin when it comes to fantasy football. In almost all leagues, they get one point for an extra point and three points for a field goal (and up to five points for longer field goals). As a result, a kicker that puts up three field goals and an extra point (not too much to ask) can give you 10 points, which is the same amount of points you'd get in certain, non-points-per-reception leagues (like my NFL.com league) from a 100-yard receiver or a 100-yard rusher with no touchdowns.

This week, I have Crosby (pictured, right) in my NFL league, while my opponent owns him in my Yahoo league. Don't get me wrong, I always want to win, but I REALLY want to win both games this weekend.

If I win in my NFL.com league, I go to 8-2 and inch closer to clinching a playoff spot. On the other hand, I'm 6-3 in my Yahoo league (3rd out of 10 with four teams going to the playoffs) and I'm playing my nemesis. At least, he considers himself my nemesis ever since I "tricked" him into trading me Drew Brees after week one and he decided to send me death threats each ensuing week.

Fortunately, his (Brees-less) team kinda sucks, while mine kinda rocks. I'm going to ahead and guess that I can beat his team even if Crosby has a big day. So here's hoping the Vikings can make the Packers settle for more than a few field goals this weekend.

Dream statline: 4 FGs, 2XPs in a loss to the Vikings.

Conflict of Interest: Steve Slaton edition

This week's conflict of interest is Steve Slaton (pictured, left), the first-year Texans running back who will be in the running for offensive rookie of the year (if Atlanta QB Matt Ryan completely goes in the tank).

I own Slaton (I KNOW it sounds weird) in my NFL league, but my opponent has him in my Yahoo league matchup. I'm going to tempt the (fantasy) football gods again by saying that I think I have an easier matchup in my NFL league, which I hope to win even if Slaton doesn't have a great game. Meanwhile, in my Yahoo league I'm playing another owner who's at 4-2. Presently, he's 3^rd overall and I'm 4^th overall in a 10-team league where only the top four get in the playoffs. I want that win to stay in prime playoff position.

So I want Slaton to have an average-to-bad game. Unfortunately, he's playing the awful-to-bad Lions, so my hopes aren't too high.

Dream statline: 16 carries, 57 yards and 4 catches for 28 yards and 1 TD in win against the Lions.

Conflict of Interest: Chris Johnson edition

This week's conflict of interest is one of my favorite finds of the season and a guy that wasn't even drafted in a 10-team, 20 round draft and who I scooped up on the waiver wire the next day — Titans running back Chris Johnson (pictured, right).

Sure, he's splitting time in Tennessee with LenDale White, but Johnson got some goal line carries for the first time last weekend and hasn't yet been REALLY unleashed by head coach Jeff Fisher.

I hope he doesn't unleash him this week either. I have him in my Yahoo league in a matchup that I should honestly (searching for a piece of wood to knock on) win quite easily. In that league, we play two QBs and both of my opponents quarterbacks are on byes, so he's only able to field one QB against me — the immortal Joe Flacco.

Meanwhile, my opponent has him in my NFL.com league. Johnson has a tough matchup this week (Baltimore), but he scored two touchdowns against an allegedly impossible matchup last weekend (Minnesota's run defense). Here's hoping the Ravens keep him in check and that he doesn't get hurt (R.I.P. fellow rookie RB Rashard Mendenhall)

Dream statline: 14 carries, 76 yards, 0 TDs in a win against the Ravens.

Conflict of Interest: Jamal Lewis/Clinton Portis/Vernon Davis edition

Each time I've had a conflict of interest this fantasy season, I've won in one league and lost another. Meanwhile, in week 3, where there was no conflict between my two leagues, I won in each league.

This week, I'm going to be a mess of conflicting emotions as I'll face Clinton Portis AND Jamal Lewis in one league, while owning each running back in another.

At what's sure to be my own peril, I'm actually going to dog my opponent in my Yahoo sports league. He's one of those poor souls that had Tom Brady, and his team is a little decimated by injuries and bye weeks. He's starting Donte Stallworth and Mewelde Moore against me this week (I can hear you asking "those guys are on NFL rosters this year?"). He's also got Jamal Lewis (pictured, top left). Meanwhile, my matchup in my NFL.com league is shaping up to be much tougher, so I'm actually going to hope that Lewis runs a bit wild against the Bengals and helps me win on NFL.com because I think I can absorb a big game from him and still win in the Yahoo league.

Dream statline for Jamal Lewis: 24 carries, 115 yards, 2 TDs in a loss to the Bengals.

Clinton Portis (pictured, bottom left), on the other hand, has a tougher matchup against Dallas. Not tough in the sense that Dallas can shut them down, but tough in that the Cowboys could jump all over the Skins and force Washington to abandon Portis and the run. As a result, I'd be perfectly happy with a more modest game from Portis.

Dream statline for Clinton Portis: 18 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD in a loss to the Cowboys.

(I almost forgot to mention that 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, pictured right, is also a conflict of interest for me, but when you talked smack about going to the Pro Bowl at the start of the season, and you have a grand total of 4 catches for 68 yards in three games and you're not hurt, then it's not really worth my time to come up a dream statline for you. Sorry. Play better.)

Conflict of Interest: Marion Barber edition

Last week's conflict of interest was a mixed bag for me.

Drew Brees had a great game, helping me win in one league (and score a $10 bonus), while crushing me in the league where he was my opponent. I tried to resolve that by trading for him after that game, but, of course, Brees promptly screwed the pooch this past weekend (1 TD, 2 INTs). Ugh!

As for this week's conflict, things are a lot simpler (and a lot more depressing). I have no chance of winning the matchup in which I have Barber on my team, while, in my other league, my opponent owns Barber and I'm clinging to a narrow lead.

In short, I want Barber (pictured, right) to have a subpar game — and to stay healthy, of course.

Dream stat line for Barber: 15 carries, 65 yards, 0 TDs in a loss to the Eagles because I still kinda hate the Cowboys.

Conflict of Interest: Drew Brees edition

This is my first year playing fantasy football in more than one league, so, while I'm sure this is old hat for a lot of you fantasy veterans, it's new to me, which is why I'm introducing this semi-weekly feature.

It's the first weekend of the NFL season and I already have my first fantasy football conflict of interest. It's a doozy too:

Drew Brees (pictured, right) is my starting quarterback in one league, while he's my opponent's starting QB in my other league. On top of that, he's playing the Bucs, my favorite/hometown team. Then again, I picked the Saints to beat the Bucs and I like being right with my picks. So what would I like to see happen?

Dream stat line for Brees: 18-30, 205 yds, 2TD, 1 INT in a loss to the Bucs.

If you have a similar conflict of interest, let's hear about it and what you would like see happen.