FanHouse ConnorBarth

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Conclusion of the Butt Chiefs. That lousy 2-14 Chiefs squad from 2008 has nowhere to go but up from here, so they will no longer be the butt of everyone's joke. Remember that explosive offense for the NFC Champion, Arizona Cardinals. Well, former offensive coordinator Todd Haley assumes his first head coaching job this season in Kansas City. In other words, the Chiefs offense just became very relevant for fantasy football owners. Sure, Haley still faces a massive challenge in terms of personnel, but you can rest assured that this season, the Chiefs' offense will make plays just like Haley's Cardinals did.

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Ryan Succop's draft journey to the 256th-overall selection, and Mr. Irrelevant status at the 2009 NFL draft, certainly won't rank up there with Babe Ruth's famous called home run or Joe Namath's Super Bowl guarantee, but it's interesting nonetheless.

The former South Carolina kicker hoped to hear his name called on the draft's second day, preferably by a team that might give him a shot to win its starting job. So when Succop glanced through the selection order for rounds three through seven, and compared that to the list of teams he had worked out with, he found one spot that made sense.

It just so happened to be the final spot in the draft.

If you didn't catch the Chiefs-Chargers game yesterday, here is what you missed.

With 1:13 left in the game, the Chargers were down 21-10. Game over, right? Well, Philip Rivers hit Malcom Floyd over the middle to score a four-yard touchdown and tighten the gap. 21-16, gotta go for two. The Chargers failed on the two-point conversation and set up an onside kick.

Ball bounds towards Dwayne Bowe, he looks like he should wrap that thing up like Jesus in swaddling clothes, but Bowe can't hold it ("I think sometimes he takes his eye off the ball," said Chiefs coach Herm Edwards) and the Chargers recovered. With 1:11 to go, Rivers drove the team down the field, hooking up with Vincent Jackson for the touchdown. 22-21, gotta go for two again. The Chargers failed to score on the two-pointer and with no time left on the clock, Connor Barth missed a 50-yarder for the win to keep the Chargers playoff hopes alive.

Whew. Okay, enough of the recap. Here is the big mystery.

At 6-8, San Diego still has a chance to make the f-ing playoffs. No, seriously. Denver had a chance to clinch on Sunday but forgot that they were playing the best team in the NFL (no prob, Brinson), losing 30-10 against the DeAngelo Williamses, setting up the possibility of a Mediocrity Bowl if Denver losses next week and San Diego wins.

North Carolina will have the upper hand in at least one of the three phases in the game against Clemson Saturday: Special Teams.

The Tar Heels are tops in the ACC in kickoff coverage (4th nationally) and place kicker Connor Barth seems to have found his groove again, having already converted two of two field goal attemps from over 45 yards.

Clemson, by contrast, has struggled mightily in both the punting game and kickoff coverage, which could swing the field position battle in the Tar Heels' favor come Saturday.

UNC also gets back their top safety, Kareen Taylor, who missed the Furman game with an ankle injury. Tar Heel Blue's Adam Lucas reports, however, that Taylor may have lost his special teams spot due to the strong play of freshman Jordan Hemby in Taylor's absence.

Will the real Connor Barth please stand up?

Although only a junior, North Carolina kicker Connor Barth has already experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows during his two year tenure for the Tar Heels. Barth burst onto the national scene as a true freshman when he booted a 42 yard game winning field goal to knock off powerhouse Miami as time expired in what was perhaps the Tar Heels' biggest upset ever.

His sophomore season was dramatic for more forgettable reasons as the ever-confident Barth proceeded to miss eight of his first 11 field goal attempts. Kickers approach their game much like golfers. If there's a hitch in the swing, then the ball's not going to go where it's supposed to. So it comes as no surprise that Barth spends a lot of time listening to Tiger Woods and observing his approach to the game.

Barth believes he's worked out the kinks this year, and the free-spirited "surfer dude" from Wilmington, NC is reaping dividends from the refined mental approach he's taken over the summer and into fall practice. "Right now, it's just flowing. I've been inconsistent in that follow-through, kind of wrapping around it. But as long as I do that, it's straight every time."

Keep your head down and hit 'em straight, dude.