Factoid

November 02, 2023

Dead cat bounce

Will coaching change spark the Raiders?

The Raiders fired their coach on Tuesday night and are plugging in a rookie picked in the fourth round at quarterback. And they’re still favored. That’s how bad the Giants are this year. But to me, I like the look of the line.

Aidan O’Connell was very impressive in the preseason. He was in command of the offense, outperforming the three quarterbacks picked at the top of the draft. It occurred to me at the time that O’Connell might be better than Jimmy Garoppolo.

It’s surprising to see Josh McDaniels’ tenure end this quickly. He put together a credible offense last year, with the team finishing 12th in scoring and 12th in yards. But it clearly wasn’t working, and I don’t think things can be any worse without him.

If history is any indication, the Raiders might get a modest spark from the shakeup.

This is the 40th in-season coaching change in the last 20 years. The previous 39 teams went 16-23 in their first games with a new head coach. They averaged 20.4 points in those games, which was almost 4 more than in their final games under the fired guys.

I think for those holding the likes of Davante Adams and Josh Jacobs, this coaching switch should be seen as a positive.

Only slight pause is that McDaniels tended to put together the most concentrated offenses in the league. That is, Jacobs got almost all of the touches at running back, and Adams and Jakobi Meyers sucked in almost all of the receiving production. With a new group taking over, we could see more of an effort to get others involved. (I will be interested to see if Zamir White now starts getting a half dozen carries per game.)

But sign me up for the Raiders on Sunday. I’ve got Adams in a couple of leagues, and I’ll be using him. And I think they’ll probably win the game.

TEAMS IN FIRST GAME WITH INTERIM COACH, 2000-
Year	Team	Opponents	Result	Prev Game
2003	Atlanta	at Indianapolis	L 7-38	W 20-14
2004	Cleveland	New England	L 15-42	L 48-58
2004	Miami	at Seattle	L 17-24	L 23-24
2005	Detroit	Minnesota	L 16-21	L 7-27
2005	St. Louis	at Indianapolis	L 28-45	L 31-37
2007	Atlanta	at Tampa Bay	L 3-37	L 14-34
2008	• St. Louis	at Washington	W 19-17	L 14-31
2008	Oakland	at New Orleans	L 3-34	L 18-28
2008	San Francisco	Seattle	L 13-34	L 17-29
2009	Buffalo	at Jacksonville	L 15-18	L 17-41
2010	• Dallas	at NY Giants	W 33-20	L 7-45
2010	• Minnesota	at Washington	W 17-13	L 3-31
2010	• San Francisco	Arizona	W 38-7	L 17-25
2010	Denver	at Arizona	L 13-43	L 6-10
2011	• Kansas City	Green Bay	W 19-14	L 10-37
2011	• Miami	at Buffalo	W 30-23	L 10-26
2011	Jacksonville	San Diego	L 14-38	L 13-20
2012	New Orleans	at Denver	L 14-34	W 35-28
2013	Houston	at Indianapolis	L 3-25	L 20-27
2014	Oakland	San Diego	L 28-31	L 14-38
2015	• Miami	at Tennessee	W 38-10	L 14-27
2015	• Philadelphia	at NY Giants	W 35-30	L 24-38
2015	• Tennessee	at New Orleans	W 34-28	L 6-20
2016	• Jacksonville	Tennessee	W 38-17	L 20-21
2016	Buffalo	at NY Jets	L 10-30	L 31-34
2016	LA Rams	at Seattle	L 3-24	L 14-42
2017	NY Giants	Dallas	L 10-30	L 17-24
2018	• Green Bay	Atlanta	W 34-20	L 17-20
2018	Cleveland	Kansas City	L 21-37	L 18-33
2019	• Washington	at Miami	W 17-16	L 7-33
2019	Carolina	at Atlanta	L 20-40	L 21-29
2020	• Atlanta	at Minnesota	W 40-23	L 16-23
2020	• Detroit	at Chicago	W 34-30	L 25-41
2020	• Houston	Jacksonville	W 30-14	L 23-31
2021	• Las Vegas	at Denver	W 34-24	L 9-20
2021	Jacksonville	Houston	L 16-30	L 0-20
2022	Denver	at Kansas City	L 24-27	L 14-51
2022	Indianapolis	at New England	L 3-26	L 16-17
2022	Carolina	at LA Rams	L 10-24	L 15-37
2023	Las Vegas	NY Giants	?	L 14-26

—Ian Allan

Older

Newer

My dad and I have subscribed since I was 10 years old and I am 38 now. We canʼt go a season without it.

Trevor T. Sparks, Nev.

You guys are great - if you look at my account, I believe I have been a subscriber for around 20 years! Unfortunately, a few years ago a couple of other owners found the same publication (they didnʼt get it from me; I always disguised the sheets while at the draft!)

Michael B. St. Charles, Mo.

I have purchased your magazine since my first fantasy football season ever 12 season ago and love the insight you offer. Thank you for the great service, I look forward to many many more years of enjoying your subscription!

Paul L. Mequon, Wisc.

The magazine is exactly the same as last year, which is perfect. Boys, we have a chance to repeat in the 33rd year of the NWFFL. I am counting on you to help pull it off. FI has been a league staple for decades, one of my guys has every edition. A few years ago, we devised a clever way to use one of your lists to draft a team for an absent owner, the sob won it all. We love you guys. Peace!

Glenn S. Olympia, Wash.

Hi, received my copy over the weekend and I think it's the best work you guys have done (I've been reading your publication since 1988). The writing is terrific and full of good humor, along with more substance than anybody else has.

Keep up the great work!

John L. Madison, Wis.

I'm in 3 leagues. All have different formats. I bought one magazine, the same magazine for 30 years. I keep the Fantasy Football Index handy and refer back to your preseason reports throughout the season to help me evaluate roster moves in every format. This week I'm in two championship games and a semifinal. Did I tell you I'm in three leagues? Three playoff teams! Best fantasy season ever. Thank you.

Henry G. Bartlett, Ill.

Thanks for another great season of Fantasy Index, you avoid group-think and form your own opinions, and always have. I've been using your products since 1992, and you've always been a cut above the rest.

Rob D. Wellington, Fla.

Thank you for all you do and what your team does. Been playing since mid 90s and your mag has been there every year. The mailer I get with the questions on the front is what I consider the beginning of the fantasy football season. Get the updates and listen to the podcast. I write a weekly column for the newspaper I work at and always appreciate the work you put in to produce as much as you do. Just a fan saying thanks and will keep up with you and the site through the season.

Jason C. Tulsa, Okla.

A little feedback from a long time customer.

Our fantasy pool is entering its 25^th year and I have used multiple books and on-line tools over the years.

I have locked on to Fantasy Index as my go to for the last 5 years and have won the pool 3 of those years and finished no lower than 4^th.

Interesting to see how much more accurate you were at the end of the year compared to other books my competitors used.

Having it in a format that allows me to work the forecasts to match our scoring system and then receive updates as the season approaches is invaluable. Whoever your sources are for the forecasts are the best. Hang on to them. Thanks for the help!!

Peter M. London, Ontario, Canada

I did receive the updated draft ranking from you guys in plenty of time for my draft that night. My draft report gave me an A+ and predicted me to go 14-0 and win my league! I just want to say thank you for the excellent customer service that your company provided me. When I first started playing fantasy football more than 15 years ago, I used to buy as many fantasy football magazines as I could find. It wasnʼt long before I only purchased Fantasy Football Index each year. It is by far the most comprehensive, well written fantasy football magazine on the market. Also, I almost always rank in the top three in my fantasy football leagues, and won my league last year. Thank you to you and all of your great team. You have a customer for life!

Trey C. Fort Worth, Texas

Thank you for all the updates etc. In the last 14 or 15 years, we have placed in the top three 9 times winning it all 4 times. I have been a customer of yours for many years. Our success is partially due to luck, but I think your magazine with all of the good stuff has been a real contributing factor. Keep up the good work. Will be a customer until the time I can't read anymore.

Richard M. Imperial, Neb.

I just wanted to send everyone at Fantasy Football Index an apology. Since 2003 (Ricky Williams cover), I've protected my source of information and have gone out of my way to hide Fantasy Football Index from my leagues prying eyes. I've won championships in leagues and money playing Daily Fantasy and your Training Camp updates are the highlight of my summer and a recurring order for me every single season. I just wanted to Thank You and everyone there (customer service, the writers, janitors, secretaries and assistants) for your hard work and dedication.

You are appreciated and valued part of my Fantasy Football Operations department even if i never speak your name in fear that others in my league will discover the wondrous bounty of knowledge contained in your pages…

From the bottom of a champion's heart,

Dave M. Elma, N.Y.

I wanted to send a quick note and thank you for your great magazine! The information you provide, has allowed me to win my league 3 years in a row!

The payoff in the league is not bad, six hundred dollars to be exact, but it is those all important bragging rights that really make it fun!

I epically enjoyed this last issue because you included all the covers for the past 30 years, I did not buy 87, and 88, but all the rest I have purchased.

All I have to do is read and then plug and play, thanks again for doing all the work so I don't have to, except for cash the check of course! Lol.

I will be continue to purchase your magazine, and recommend it to others, although I don't like to give away my secret!

I typically don't write emails to magazines, but after 3 wins in a row, and others which I did not list, I felt like you would like to know.

Thanks again to you and your staff,

Darrell W. Holt, Mich.

I wanted to let you know I finished my season going 16-0 winning my league, breaking every record in our 19 year history along the way. A special thank you to FI for the insightful knowledge as it provided me much help along the way.

Ryan M. Lynnwood, Wash.

You guys do a great job. I got laughed at by a few people at the draft but they're not laughing now. I'm leading the league in record (8-1) and PF thus far.

John W. Aylett, Va.

And a side note… we've got a re-draft 16-team, 20 players drafted league (drafting water boys by the 17^th round) that I've won 2 years in a row. Nobody's ever done that in 21 years… using your cheat sheet. it's an old school league that used to draft out of piles of magazines.

Thanks again,

Todd S. Grand Junction, Colo.

This is my ninth year competing with my two very savey adult children and their 11 regulars to make it a 14 team draft with a $200 bid limit. Your SuperFanatic package has put me into the 6 team play- offs 4 out of the 8 years and there is no way I could compete with these guys without my cheat sheets! They still have no idea how I can be so lucky every year :-) Cheaters do prosper!!!!

Robert A.

I wanted to thank you for such an amazing product and your customer service. I ordered the wrong date for my update and called to correct the mistake. Your customer service person was very kind, helpful and took care of the issue immediately.

I have used your product for the past 18 years or so… Every now and then I will be tempted and look at what other magazines have to offer, quickly realizing no one comes close.

In addition to the magazine, I started buying the weekly updates years ago when my dad taught me a lesson. The draft came and dad was sitting in the 12 hole for his pick. He told me he felt very comfortable about who he was going to select but would not tell me who his prized gem was to be. I was doubtful. The pick? Priest Holmes (his first dynamite year). I remember telling my dad, "that is a decent pick but they plan to pull him at the goal line." Ever the teacher, dad explained he had purchased the Fantasy Football Index update and read Holmes would get the goal line carries. "Update?", I asked. That was 2002 and Holmes had 21 rushing TDs and Dad won the title! Lesson learned.

By the way, I have made the title game for the last 5 years in a row. Thanks for the detailed, hard work and an great product!

David R. Queen Creek, Ariz.

Fantasy Index

Customer Service

Factoid

Dead cat bounce

Today's Trivia

Mailbag

Member updates

Follow

Why Choose Fantasy Index?

Quick hits

Your Stuff

In-Depth

Resources

All Products

Help & Support

Fantasy Index

Customer Service

Customer Service