This week we have our second special playoff write-up, this time mostly covering the coming championship match between TDfW and the mullynation. I'll also look into the possible outcomes of our consolation bracket based on the last two weeks' results.
BEST MOVE OF THE WEEK GMMBP had a lot on the line this week. It came into Week Fourteen as an underdog, facing the #1 seed. GMMBP decided to play three WRs this week. This is not unusual, considering the quality of GMMBP's RBs (excluding Forsett). What is unusual, is that GMMBP decided to bench Desean Jackson, Michael Crabtree, Reggie Wayne, and Cordarrelle Patterson, instead relying on a waiver-wire add. He went with Marques Colston. Now Colston hasn't been terrible this year, but one thing he hasn't been is consistent. He's had more bad weeks than good, by far. Still, Colton ended up grabbing a touchdown on his way to 12.5 points this week. Jackson, Crabtree, Wayne, and Patterson COMBINED to score 6.6 points. That's right. Colton narrowly missed scoring twice as much as all of them combined. Nice call, Chris, even if it wasn't quite enough. WORST MOVE OF THE WEEK There weren't any really obvious bad moves this week, so kudos everyone. I'm actually going to take this award myself this week. I chose to play Jamaal Charles (5.3) and Lesean McCoy (6.5) over Eddie Lacy (16.8). I was scared off by the poor matchup with Buffalo and thought that Charles and McCoy had better chances to score. Charles is more forgiveable, and I don't really think anyone else would have predicted his poor game, nor benched him for Lacy. Picking McCoy over Lacy is more egregious. Lacy has simply been better than McCoy this season, as well as offering more consistency. I should have trusted Lacy and left McCoy on the bench, but I didn't do it. When McCoy had three different TDs vultured from him, it made it obvious that Lacy is the better play. McCoy just can't be relied on with the way Chip Kelly is using him. Championship Preview It's been a long season, and it's all ending this week. We've got an all-Wheeler matchup vying for our trophy this week, which is appropriate because I think this is a meeting of our top two teams. I'm guessing Gentry will disagree, but I'm confident most teams can see my point. This match is going to feature plenty of surefire studs. QB: Ben Roethlisberger vs. KC (7th against QBs) Andrew Luck @ Dal (23rd against QBs) I think this is perhaps the most obvious advantage of any of the positions we'll look over. Not only is Luck the better overall player, but he has a far superior matchup. This is an easy advantage for the mullynation, and I'm sure she's hoping it turns out to be a 15+ point difference between Ben and Luck. Advantage: the mullynation RBs: Eddie Lacy @ TB (25th against RBs) + Jamaal Charles @ Pit (12th against RBs) Demarco Murray vs. Ind (26th against RBs) + Mark Ingram vs Atl (32nd against RBs) This one is a little bit closer. Of course I'm speculating about who will end up in the starting lineups, but I think these are reasonable guesses. Lacy is going to have a big day. I see 20+ points in a game where the Packers pull ahead and try to control the clock. Lacy is playing incredibly well, and TB's defense isn't very good anyway. Charles may have a tougher time, though I think he's clearly more talented overall than Lacy. KC could get behind early and have to play catch-up, though that usually isn't bad news for Charles. He's a threat for 20+ in each and every game he plays simply because of how one-dimensional the KC offense is. I think, despite his Monday morning left-hand surgery, Murray will still get 15-20 touches against the Colts. I don't imagine the Cowboys sitting him, and even if they did, the mullynation has both of his backups. I see Murray having a nice 15+ point day against Indy, and Ingram doing the same against Atlanta. If Ingram were a higher quality player I'd guess for more, but I think 15 is doable given Atlanta's awful defense. Advantage: Tie WRs: Jordy Nelson @ TB (29th against WRs) + Odell Beckham Jr. @StL (20th against WRs) + Dez Bryant vs. Ind (5th against WRs) Josh Gordon @ Car (24th against WRs) + Calvin Johnson @ Chi (23rd against WRs) + TY Hilton @ Dal (9th against WRs) Despite the good matchup, I see Jordy having a floor of 12 and a ceiling of about 17 points, since I think the Packers will stop passing the ball once they're way ahead of TB. I don't see Dez or OBJ having issues with either of their matchups, as OBJ is the only option on that offense and Dez will likely be involved in a shootout. These are both great plays. Gordon has been anemic since returning, and Manziel isn't helping. Despite a good matchup, I think Gordon has a similar upper limit as Jordy, though for a very different reason: QB play. A low-scoring week is very possible. Calvin will obliterate the Bears awful defense, and I would honestly be surprised if he doesn't score at least 20. TY will also have a nice day, as he'll be facing the awful Brandon Carr in a high-scoring game. 10 is his floor. Advantage: TDfW TE: Rob Gronkowski @ NYJ (28th against TEs) Jimmy Graham vs. Atl (5th against TEs) This is the other obvious advantage, along with QB. In this case though, TDfW has the better play. Gronk is miles ahead of any other TE this year, and he has a cupcake matchup. Graham has had some uncharacteristic struggles, and faces a stingy defense. I'm hoping Gronk can earn me back 10 points here. Advantage: TDfW Miscellaneous: JJ Watt + Seahawks D/ST @ Ari + Matt Prater [Insert DP here] + Rams D/ST vs. NYG + Dan Bailey Watt trumps any defensive player the mullynation will pick up now that Joe Haden is injured. The Seahawks benefit from the Cardinals losing their starting QB and RB, though the Rams also have a nice matchup against a NYG team that has been very prone to turnovers. Bailey offers a higher floor and more upside than Prater, being on a team that is simply higher scoring and more efficient. Advantage: the mullynation Overall, I think that Andrew Luck is going to prove to be the difference. I see Gronkowski and OBJ keeping TDfW close, but Luck's production is not going to be easily overcome. I predict TDfW will lose by less than ten points to the mullynation, and the Quest for Three will come up just short. Consolation Bracket Analysis: I'll bet you guys thought I forgot about you! Well I certainly didn't, and I've been keeping tabs on your tournament so I can lay out the possible endings to this entertaining round-robin. The results thus far are as follows: Merman Pop, Mer-Man: 2-0 with 231.4 points Forgot About Tre: 1-1 with 215.5 points 38% Chance of Victory: 1-1 with 192.2 points I'm Just Gonna Shake It Off: 0-2 with 131.2 points MPM is currently our front-runner for the jersey. MPM is 2-0 in its first two matches and has scored 231.4 points. Don't forget that our tie-breaker is total points scored, not head-to-head record. This means that MPM can secure the jersey simply by winning this week, but also by scoring a high total in a loss. MPM plays T-Swift this week, so FAT and 38V better hope that T-Swift performs better than it has in the past two weeks. They both need MPM to lose, coupled with a win of their own. On top of that, FAT would need to outscore MPM's total by 16.0 points, while 38V would need to outscore MPM's total by 39.3 points. Both are certainly possible, but it all starts with T-Swift beating MPM. If that doesn't happen, then MPM will be getting a jersey of his choice, guaranteed. T-Swift unfortunately is almost certainly going to be the financier of the aforementioned jersey, no matter who earns it. The only remotely possible scenario in which T-Swift avoids last place would be if they beat MPM while also outscoring a losing 38V by 61.1 points. Oof. That's a tall order. I think it's most likely that MPM (despite placing last in our regular season rankings) will win the jersey, and T-Swift will be footing the bill. This is obviously still up in the air, and we'll have to see what happens.
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Hey everyone! I've decided to do two special write-ups for our playoff weeks. I'm starting with a "What If" write-up this week, and then next week I'll do a breakdown of the impending championship game and also the possible consolation bracket outcomes.
I will no longer be doing the Power Rankings because they don't really apply like they used to. These are going to be a little different. BEST MOVE OF THE WEEK The Best Move of the Week goes to 38V for sticking with Charles Johnson after last week's 4.1 point performance. He responded in a big way this week earning 14.3 points by way of 103 yards and one TD, though I think everyone knows that his score was about 6 inches away from being eight points higher. Had Johnson not fumbled at the goal-line, he would have not only gotten two points back for the non-fumble, but he would have had another TD. This was very very close to a huge 22.3 point game from a guy that 38V just picked up off waivers a couple weeks ago. Nice get, Mike, and good call on playing him despite his poor Week 13. WORST MOVE OF THE WEEK Our Worst Move of the Week is a shoe-in. PMotr has been scratching and clawing all season to get to the playoffs, and they did it. They were in! Sure, they were an underdog in the first round, but everyone knows that underdogs can certainly pull an upset in one-week matches! Just ask 302 about that. The problem is that PMotr would need solid contributions from all its main guys to earn an upset. What happened next? Andre Ellington was ruled out the the Cardinals 3:25pm Sunday game. When did that happen? Friday at 11:38am. Why oh why then was Ellington still in PMotr's starting lineup on Sunday, costing him a valuable RB slot? Since PMotr also started Joique Bell (25.3) and Marshawn Lynch (15.3), he could have replaced Andre with anyone (RB or WR) on his bench. Sammy Watkins (11) and Steve Smith (13) were probably the most likely candidates. Though PMotr ultimately fell by 17, meaning neither would have won the match, playing Sammy or Steve would have been the smart call. It's tough to understand putting in all this work to get to the playoffs only to leave an open roster spot in your first playoff match. Big time bummer. What If: This is going to be a special section regarding the fluidity of the playoffs. I'll highlight a couple things along the way in the season that could have majorly changed how the playoffs are unfolding. #1 What if the Seahawks DST had outscored Steven Hauschka in Week Five? Picture this: SI vs. TDfW. The score is 109 - 108 favoring SI. The only game remaining is the Monday Night Football match of Seattle @ Washington. The only players remaining are Steven Hauschka (SI) and Seattle DST (TDfW). The game reaches the fourth quarter and the fantasy counterpart is neck-and-neck. In real life, the Seahawks are easily in control, up 24-10 with only four minutes left. Suddenly, the Redskins start moving the ball and score a late TD, meaning the Seahawks DST loses points. The Seahawks get the ball back, kill the clock with a three-minute drive, and kick a 40+ yard field goal as time expires. The MNF game ends with the DST earning just 5, and Hauschka earning a nice 11. SI beats TDfW. At the end of the year they both end up 9-4, with SI holding the tie-breaker. What if the Seahawks defense holds the Redskins out of the endzone, and Hauschka never gets the opportunity to kick a last-second field goal? TDfW wins the Week Five match-up. At the end of the season TDfW is 10-3 (#2 seed), while SI is 8-5 (#3 seed). #2 What if the mullynation had bid on Cam Newton instead of Andrew Luck? Allyssa went into this draft knowing one thing: she was either going to draft Andrew Luck or Cam Newton. I can't be sure, but I think she had allotted a bit more money for Luck than for Newton, but she acknowledged that she would be happy with either. Tom Brady was the backup plan, I later learned. She ended up spending $12 on Andrew Luck (a ridiculously great move that I highlighted specially in the Draft In Review, if you'll recall), and with him as the #1 fantasy QB, she's our #1 seed. What if the bidding on Luck had gone in the Brees/Rodgers region and the mullynation had bowed out, instead spending her money on Cam Newton (who went for $15)? In Week One Cam Newton had broken ribs, and she would have had to find him a replacement. Since then though, he's played. He's played mostly poorly. Here's an interesting stat about Cam: He has scored 33.3 points and 34.1 points, but he has NEVER scored in the 20's. Not once. He's either low-to-mid teens, or a 30+ point game. That's it. Looking at how poorly TDfW fared QB-wise with Newton at the helm, I find it incredibly unlikely that the mullynation would have earned a Top 2 seed and a bye. The playoff landscape would be quite different, and we have no idea who would have ended up with the jackpot that is Andrew Luck. #3 What if GMMBP played TDfW in Week 10 instead of Week 11? The way ESPN generates the schedule at the beginning of the season is supposedly random. I think this creates a multitude of different What If scenarios, including the aforementioned GMMBP-TDfW question. In Week 11 GMMBP and TDfW faced off, with TDfW winning 119.4 to 92.2. There weren't any interesting bench-start critiques to make, so instead I looked at Week 10. Technically, it was just as likely for GMMBP to face TDfW in Week 10 as it was Week 11, so what if that had happened? What if the schedule randomizer had opted to have TDfW play against GMMBP in Week 10? First of all, GMMBP would have won the match-up 142.4 to 132.4. That would have been one hell of a game. This would mean that GMMBP would hold the tie-breaker over TDfW due to a 2-0 head-to-head record (remember that ridiculous drubbing in Week Two?). It's impossible to speculate how this would have changed other match-ups on the schedules, but it would guarantee one fewer win from TDfW. With the tie-breaker also in hand, GMMBP very well may have been our #3 seed. #4 What if GMMBP had never traded Golden Tate and Brandon Marshall for Reggie Wayne and Michael Crabtree? GMMBP has gotten by this year with excellent play from the QB position and also a strong, deep WR corps. GMMBP boasts Emmanuel Sanders (#7 WR), Desean Jackson (#17 WR), and Mike Wallace (#27). Those are a pretty nice trio to have! The RB position has been a struggle all year, though Justin Forsett has absolutely been a god-send. Really, the RB2 position has been a struggle, if I'm being more clear. Currently Trent Richardson is there, though it has also been filled by Darren Sproles and Shane Vereen at times. What if GMMBP had decided not to trade away Golden Tate and Brandon Marshall before Week Five? GMMBP would have had a WR corps of Sanders, Tate (#14 WR), Jackson, Marshall (#20 WR), and Wallace. Wow. He could have easily traded that same considerable WR talent for a nice RB2 or even an RB1. Crabtree (#37 WR) and Wayne (#55 WR) have not contributed very much to GMMBP's efforts. Securing an RB1 would have made GMMBP's team pretty fearsome, with a lineup of: Rodgers, [INSERT RB1 HERE], Forsett, Wallace, Jackson, Sanders, Gates #5 What if Adrian Peterson would have played this year? We've all made a joke here or there about the caliber of 38V, or really Team Kanne, since Mike has done a great job since taking over. Team Kanne had some struggles this season, and it really all comes back to losing Adrian Peterson. AD only played Week One, then he was gone. Actually he was worse than gone; he was maybe gone. This forced Team Kanne to keep him on the team way longer than he deserved, taking up a precious roster spot. Team Kanne was thrust into a bad position right off the bat. Their draft was... questionable... choosing to only take three total RBs (one a backup). Losing Adrian made Knile Davis a starter, but that wasn't going to work out in the long run. Team Kanne needed RBs and it needed them badly. When Arian Foster hurt his hamstring, it was time for Team Kanne to panic. His hand was forced. He traded Jordy Nelson, his one good asset (at the time) for Donald Brown (the supposed heir to the Chargers' throne with Ryan Mathews out), Alfred Blue (to handcuff Foster), and Greg Jennings (to make up a modicum of Jordy's production). This trade didn't work out well, and that comes down to Donald Brown. Brown was supposed to be the big piece in the trade for Team Kanne, being an RB2 for 6+ weeks until Mathews returned. When Brown immediately got injured, his value went into the toilet. Look at what Brandon Oliver's production in that offense did for GMMBP! He pulled GMMBP from the #10 seed to the playoffs. That was supposed to be Brown with Team Kanne. Mathews only just came back to the Chargers, so Team Kanne would have had a nice run with Brown, plenty of time to find another long-term solution. Meanwhile Blue has actually been pretty useful since Foster has been occasionally banged up, and Jennings surprisingly has been Team Kanne's most consistent WR. It's still not enough though because of the loss of Brown, and Team Kanne struggled all year to fill the RB position, ultimately missing the playoffs. What if Adrian Peterson had never been put on the Commissioner's Exempt list, and had had a productive, healthy season? A duo of AD and Foster would have undoubtedly been one of the best in Just Win, Maybe. It's highly unlikely that Kanne would have traded away Jordy Nelson if his RB position was solid. Adding Jordy Nelson (#2 WR) to that RB combo would have been a really nice core to build around. Sure, the rest of the WR corps is horrible, but Delanie Walker and Jay Cutler have been decent, so this could definitely have been a playoff team. I'm guessing it would have been around a #4 seed with average team management. Cutler (26.5), Foster (20.8), and Nelson (26.6) just had enormous Week Fourteen totals, so I'm guessing this team would be in our Final Four right now. How's that for a difference? Furthermore, GMMBP would have missed out on all of Brandon Oliver's production, meaning he likely would have not had his 5-game winning streak in the middle of the season (largely hinging on Oliver). GMMBP misses the playoffs. First of all, I'd like to take a moment and just thank you all for being such awesome, active participants in this league. I think this is the most fun I've had during any regular season in any league I've been in, and it's in large part to this great group of competitors. Everyone is active on the waiver wire, diligent about setting lineups, and we're even starting to get a bunch of trades going! This is a great league, and I'm so glad that we've got such a solid group together. Kudos everybody. Also, I'd like to just focus on our four non-playoff teams. Guys, it would have been so easy for each of you to mail it in after you were eliminated from the playoffs several weeks ago, but each and every one of you has kept grabbing free agents, tinkering with your lineups, and trying to win every week. That's awesome, and it really makes the league more fun and balanced. Nobody gets easy wins in Just, Win Maybe. You guys make sure of that. So thanks again, and good luck to all of you with your jersey competition! Lastly I'd like to address our playoffs. As is the new rule, the highest active seed in the playoffs gets the privilege of choosing their opponent. In the first round, that #3 seed happens to be TDfW. I can choose from PMotr, GMMBP, and 302. In the next round, the mullynation will be our highest seed, and she'll pick her opponent. I'm excited to see how this goes, as I think it will make our playoffs more fun, intense, and memorable. Similarly, I've decided to do a high-seed reward for the consolation bracket. This is for the #7 seed only. The #7 seed will get the opportunity to choose which week they will face their three opponents. That may not be much of an advantage; I'm really not sure. But anyway, Hayden, you have two days to text me with your decisions, otherwise you'll forfeit that option. Finally, the moment you've all been waiting for...my opponent choice: For this week of the playoffs, I'm calling out PMotr! Come and get some, Dan. Also, I've compiled similar data to our previous halfway point review. It's included below: This is a cluster of three tables of raw data. First table you've already seen. It's point totals for the first 7 weeks. Second table includes weeks 8-13. The third table is the yearly total. These are the percentages by team for weeks 8-13. These are the league scoring patterns for weeks 8-13. Similar pie graphs, but for the year totals. Similar bar graphs, but for the year totals. This is an illustration of the last four weeks of scoring. It's intended to show how teams are performing immediately prior to the playoffs. Check that blue line, people. Three-peat incoming!
BEST MOVE OF THE WEEK This week the mullynation broke our high-score record for this season with a staggering 165.2 points. A large part of that was due to a herculean performance by the Rams DST, who earned 37 points. How does a defense earn 37 points you ask? I'll tell you. Earn six sacks. Grab three interceptions. Force two fumbles. Score one touchdown. Allow ZERO points. There you have it! That's how a defense scores 37 points. How does this relate to the mullynation? Well she picked up the Rams DST on waivers this past week and played them against the Raiders. Not a particularly taxing decision, given the Raiders, but she was the only one to do it. So for that reason, she gets the award. WORST MOVE OF THE WEEK This is kind of a weak Worst Move of the Week, I'll freely admit. These last couple weeks have been tough because there's not really a ton at stake in most of the match-ups (excluding seeding), so there haven't been too many super costly errors. There was, however, one particularly stirring match-up this week. That belonged to MPM and 38V, who were duking it out to avoid the ignominious title of worst team in Just Win, Maybe. Funnily enough, both teams were 3-9 and they just so happened to play in Week 17. It's like this was from a movie. 38V won the first round, but given the same record, it truly came down to this week. Our Worst Move of the Week is the move that cost MPM the privilege of naming his team next year: choosing to bench Ryan Mathews for Chris Ivory. Sure, Mathews was playing the stout Baltimore defense, but Ivory was also playing the stout Miami defense. That's pretty much a wash. And when you think about it, Chris Ivory simply isn't the caliber of player that a healthy Ryan Mathews is. Ivory is a nice FLEX play most weeks, but Mathews is an RB2 with easy RB1 upside. Choosing Ivory (6.2) over Mathews (10.2) cost MPM dearly as he lost by just 1.2 points. Enjoy your new name next year Alex! Power Rankings: #1 the mullynation (10-3) +1 What a turnaround. After giving me hell for two weeks for being relegated to the #2 spot, the mullynation backed up her case for #1 with an astonishing 165.2 point explosion. This is the highest score any team has reached all year, and it put an exclamation point on an incredible regular season run. Now it's time for the playoffs though, and every week can send you home. Well not this week, I guess, as the mullynation has earned the luxury of a bye week. Frankly, this week was already a bye week of sorts, as she already had the #1 seed locked up even with an SI or TDfW win. No matter. Mark Ingram rebounded from his dreadful game last week against Baltimore, running for a healthy 122 yards against the 13th-best RB defense. Murray (17.3) was, as usual, a stud. TY Hilton (14.5) and Calvin Johnson (26.6) both came up big with TDs, and Andrew Luck (32.8) looked more like the Luck we saw for the first 11 weeks of the season. Interestingly, Jimmy Graham was not targeted a single time. Not once. He finished the game completely healthy, yet without a target. The Steelers tactic certainly removed him from the game, but I don't know that it will be copied very often because their constant double and triple teams on Graham left other receivers open for five TDs, resulting in the Steelers losing. Who would have thought that the Saints would score their highest total of the year without Graham earning a target? I think this, like Ingram last week, is an anomaly. This is Jimmy Graham. He'll be fine. Also, the Rams defense did okay I guess. 37 points isn't that much, right? Even with an average (8-10) defensive performance though, the mullynation would still crack 130 easily. This was a week that showed what the mullynation can do, and it can do a whole lot. #2 Turn Down for Watt (9-4) -1 I was just getting comfortable at the #1 spot! Despite moving down a spot, TDfW performed very well in Week Thirteen, capping off an excellent four-game winning streak to close the season. Four games ago, after being defeated by SI to fall two games (plus tiebreaker) behind, the season was a bit shaky. That's a distant memory as TDfW has surged in its last four games, coming even with SI record-wise but being unable to get past that pesky tiebreaker. SI did a good job taking care of business in Week Thirteen, but I'm glad I didn't miss out on the #2 seed because of a TDfW loss. That would have been more disappointing. This past week highlighted the all-around talent on TDfW. It's not often you break 125 points with only one 20+ point scorer (much in contrast to the mullynation this week). No one turned in a performance for the ages, but everyone quietly handled their business. McCoy (19.9), Charles (11.9), Lacy (11.5), Jordy (11.3), and Gronk (9.8) all had solid games. Dez Bryant was really the only lackluster performer, but he still earned a mediocre 7.3 points. The end of the lineup was particularly strong this week, though I don't like relying on that. It's tough to not rely on JJ Watt however, as he CAUGHT his third TD of the year (to go with 2 defensive TDs), earning 13.1 points. Amazingly, this is his fifth 12+ point game, and second of his last three. That's a positional advantage (like Gronk) every single week. Now that the Seahawks are healthy again, they're playing more like the defense that people expected them to be. They've allowed a total of 6 points combined in their last two games (Ari and @SF). TDfW is still going to be using a defensive rotation because the Seahawks have been quite inconsistent this year, but if the Hawks have now sorted their defensive woes out, that bodes ill for the other playoff teams. #3 Staff Infection (9-4) --- SI had a fantastic send-off to the regular season. After scoring 93, 102, and 96 points in their three previous matches, SI looked like the team it used to be with a nice 125 point outing. In a must-win week, SI got it done. The team namesake, Matthew Stafford, scored his highest total (21.9) since Week Four. Le'Veon Bell followed up his 28.2 point Week Twelve with a 31.4 point Week Thirteen. Right there, that's a good start. Gio is still clearly banged up, with eight fewer touches than last week and just 5.6 points. That's still a concern, but with Bell scoring like he is, the RB position is still good. Demaryius outscored Emmanuel Sanders for the second straight week, and his 12.3 points is a solid total. Jeremy Maclin is still waiting to have a monster game since losing Nick Foles, though his 10.8 this week was good production. Jason Witten is a total loss at the TE position, but there are few teams with a solid, productive TE. That's not the worst thing in the world. The starters came to play this week, and they absolutely got the job done. There's very little to criticize here, but if I had to, it would be the bench depth in the case of an injury. SI is trying to re-establish itself as a championship-caliber team along with the mullynation and TDfW (and maybe 302), and the depth is a bit light. If TDfW loses a starter, OBD takes his spot. For the mullynation, she's got Kelvin Benjamin ready to step in. For 302, Jonathan Stewart is starting to gain some traction (two 11+ point weeks out of the last three). Those are three legit FLEX-or-better players, just waiting on the bench in case things don't go as planned. When you look at SI's bench, it's basically bereft of starter-quality players. There's not one I'd want starting. VJax and Gore are underperforming headaches. White and Murray are injured. Then there's the curious collection of backups: Joseph Randle, Knile Davis, and Pierre Thomas. Gio may not be starter-quality anymore, and SI could end up needing someone to take his spot. The trade of DeAndre Hopkins for Frank Gore is looking pretty rough in hindsight. None of this matters this week though, as SI can rest on his laurels and enjoy the bye week that comes with locking up the #2 spot. Congrats. #4 302 Cadets (7-6) --- After falling flat with 77.3 points in Week Eleven, 302 has now responded with 117.5 and 127.6 point games in Weeks Twelve and Thirteen, respectively. 302 must have championship aspirations with their current lineup performing the way it is. Drew Brees scored 28.3 last week and followed that up with 30.3 this week. 30 points from the QB spot is such a nice luxury to have, and it offers a cushion for other positions. In this case, Jeremy Hill. The Bengals simply didn't play well against Tampa Bay, who does have a tough defense. The Bengals only mustered 14 points, so their skill position players suffered. The good news for Hill is that he continues to out-touch Gio Bernard. Hill got 18 touches to Gio's 11, though neither did much of anything against the Buccaneers. Hill started the game over Gio, and it appeared that Gio was brought on the field as more of a change-of-pace back than a bell-cow. Hill is the guy. Rashad Jennings had a stellar day (21.4), well until he got injured, that is. Apparently he injured an ankle and left the game, though preliminary reports from New York say it isn't a huge concern. Antonio Brown (23.7) also had a fantastic fantasy game, benefiting greatly from 2 garbage time TDs. One came with 2:34 left in the game, and the other as time expired. That's 12.7 points pretty quick. The Eagles DST is, like JJ Watt, a weapon at a position where there are almost no consistent weapons. I've accepted that fact. The Eagles DST is scoring like mad, and with another 19 point outing, they're one of the most consistent scorers on 302. Cody Parkey is much the same. Everyone else starting on 302 had a lackluster week: Andrew Hawkins (2.4), Brandon Marshall (4.2), and Travis Kelce (3.6). #5 Forgot About Tre (4-9) +3 FAT (hehehe) turned in its second best performance of this season, earning 116.3 points. That's the highest total for FAT since Week Five when FAT beat the mullynation 116.9 to 111.4. It's funny that FAT's top two weeks came against our #1 team, but this time around, he wasn't as fortunate. No one all year would have beaten the mullynation this week, and FAT was our proverbial lamb at the slaughter. FAT was boosted nicely this week by dynamic performances from Tre Mason (34.4!) and Julio Jones (24.9). Is Julio officially back in business? It may be too early to tell, but after scoring 13.1 last week (with a TD) and 25 this week, Julio is certainly nearing the value that he was drafted to have. It was painful to watch DeAndre Hopkins (35.8!) and Keenan Allen (24.4) sit on the bench, but at least we know the talent that FAT possesses. If you do the math, that means that FAT could have started a WR corps that earned a ridiculous 85.1 points. Holy crap. I'm not going to check, but I'm guessing that would be the best potential WR-or-RB corps at any week this season. Sure Romo (3.9) and Forte (5.8) had uncharacteristically bad games, but that's just exactly it. It was uncharacteristic. Both are usually reliable fantasy commodities, and I expect them to bounce back for the consolation tournament. I don't think it's a stretch to say that FAT is likely the favorite to win the jersey, the way things are looking. Two closing weeks at 115+ will do that. #6 Merman pop, Mer-Man (3-10) -1 Man, this week's loss is kind of tough to handle. MPM had pretty uniformly solid production excluding the RB position, which is often the position that matters most. Brady (17.7), Jeffery (19.1), Green (12), and Bennett (10.9) were all very productive, and the Dolphins DST (10) and Caleb Sturgis (11) put MPM in the position to maybe crack 120. Alas, it wasn't to be. Alfred Morris had a mediocre 8.3 point outing, though it really wasn't his fault with Indianapolis surging to the lead right off the bat. Along with Morris, Chris Ivory turned in a pedestrian 6.2 point showing against the Dolphins DST, which is really not super surprising. The Dolphins have been incredibly stingy against RBs, and Monday Night Football proved to show just that. This team, just like last week, had a pretty decent showing while losing. Hopefully MPM can get some better RB production from Mathews, AlfMo, and Ivory going forward. If so, they'll be a tough team to beat in the consolation bracket. I'm just going to mention a tough little detail regarding the Miami DST on Monday Night Football. They actually got their hands on a Jets punt, but since the punt still traveled past the line of scrimmage, it's counted as a tipped punt rather than a blocked punt. Tipped punts are not tracked in ESPN scoring, so they are not worth any points. Blocked punts however, are indeed worth points. Thus, this loss came down to the punted ball traveling past the line. If it does, MPM loses, as we saw. If it doesn't cross the line, MPM gains some additional points and gets a win. It's a game of inches. #7 I'm Just Gonna Shake It Off (5-8): -1 T-Swift goes as Peyton goes (like PMotr with Lynch), and this week, Peyton had his worst fantasy game of the season. He passed for only 176 yards, 2 TDs, and one turnover, earning just 12.6 points. That's okay because his RB, CJ Anderson, is also owned by T-Swift. Anderson topped his career-best rushing outing in Week Twelve with another career-best rushing outing in Week Thirteen. Anderson has now scored 50 points in two games, and he has to be considered a major weapon on T-Swift. Pairing him with LeGarrette Blount worked last week, but Blount only mustered up 5.8 points this week. Randall Cobb had a decent 9.3, but we know he can do better than that. Boldin (1.8) and Terrance Williams (4.1) also disappointed. Coby Fleener though... In a horrible year for TE talent, T-Swift goes and grabs Fleener off the waiver wire and he puts up 24.7 points. This was basically the only thing that prevented T-Swift from a 50+ point loss against TDfW. On another, more fortunate, note, Doug Martin is alive! After getting twelve touches last week, he got nineteen this week, earning 12.1 points. Amazingly, that's his highest total of the season. Other than when he scored 11.6 points in Week Four, Martin has not broken 7.6 points all season, averaging 1.9 points per game over that stretch. But, he might be back. And it would be just in time for the consolation tournament! How considerate of Doug. I'm sure T-Swift is pleased with another RB option. #8 Gin Makes Me Bum Pucker (7-6) -1 After last week's miracle Monday Night Football victory, GMMBP fell back down to earth. Without another episode of Justin Forsett's divine intervention, this team could only put together a 77.5 point campaign. Sure, there was really nothing to play for this week; the playoff spot was sealed with last week's win. But it just feels good to head to the playoffs on the back of a nice performance from your team, and GMMBP couldn't quite get it together against 302. Hilariously, they lost by 50.1 points (thanks to the Cardinals DST scoring -1), so GMMBP is in for yet another name change courtesy of Derek. We can't forget that it was Derek who coined the name GMMBP as punishment for Week Four's 76 point drubbing. We also can't forget that GMMBP then went on a five-game winning streak, dicing his way through the schedule until eventually losing to his brother. Is another winning streak in order? It's not possible to win five more games in a row (this year at least), but three would be grand, huh Chris? As for the players, Rodgers (22.9) was Rodgers, Forsett (12.3) was solid, and DJax (14.4) surprisingly led all non-QBs in points. Gates also had a nice 8.3 point game. Emmanuel Sanders (7.3) had his second-worst game of the year. That was a bit of a shock. It was his first single-digit game since Week SIx, which was his worst outing of the season (3.8). The loss of Julius Thomas in that Denver offense is very interesting. Reggie Wayne was similarly unproductive, but he's just unreliable. DST is rarely worth mentioning, and in this case, playing the Cardinals against Atlanta seems like a smart move to me. The negative 1 point is tough to handle though, given the 50.1 point loss. We've had so many 49 point losses this year, and this should have been one of them. #9 38% Chance of Victory (4-9) +1 He's done it! Mike took over 38V and earned a regular season victory before season's end. 38V has got to feel excellent about avoiding last place and keeping his naming rights for next year. This has been a tough team to turn around, but I think Mike has done an admirable job. Still though, I can't justify a huge jump up the power rankings based on one week. Mike, I hope you understand, and I'm guessing that the new W in your record is enough to soothe what ails you. 38V earned a win this week on the back of three players: Arian Foster (16.5), Kendall Wright (19.9), and Torrey Smith (18.5). Those three, along with contributions from Teddy Bridgewater (12.7) and the Lions DST (12) proved enough to push 38V past MPM ever so slightly. There's still work to be done if 38V wants to avoid losing the consolation tournament, but at least they've got one W to their name. Isaiah Crowell turned in his worst performance in the last four weeks (4.4), Charles Johnson got nice looks but couldn't get in the endzone (4.1), and Delanie Walker couldn't remotely match his 15.5 points from last week (0.6). Those are the downsides, but the positives were sufficient to get 38V into the triple digits for the first time since Mike took over. Interestingly, a nice game from the DP, Bradly Fletcher (6.3), may have been the real difference maker in this match-up. 6.3 is a pretty nice day from a DP, and 38V certainly enjoyed that narrow 1.2 margin of victory. #10 Poppin Mollies on the reg (7-6) -1 It may be time to hit the panic button. PMotr followed up 71.6 and 79.1 point games with a 58.1 point stinker. For the third week in a row, the only strong performance was from the Bills DST, who earned 21 points against Cleveland. Lynch scored 11.1 which is a solid total, but not a "strong" outing. Are we ready to look at everyone else though? Parents, you may want to avert your children's eyes. Eli Manning: 9.9 Andre Ellington: 1.2 (And he sustained a hip pointer... Huge bummer.) Denard Robinson: 5.4 Michael Floyd: 3.6 Steve Smith: 0.2 Julius Thomas: 0.0 Stephen Gostkowski: 2 The only good news is that this week didn't mean a whole lot, and the bench actually performed quite well! Joique Bell (22.7), Brandon LaFell (15.8), and Matt Ryan (20.8) offered a bit more than their starting counterparts, but it's the inconsistency that kills this team. Next week, Ryan might lay an egg while Eli rolls. Joique could go back to looking like the RB4-5 he's been all year. LaFell could fall victim to the Belichick game-planning that makes owning most Patriots players so frustrating. It's impossible to know what next week will bring for PMotr, and that uncertainty, combined with three dreadful weeks, is what causes a slide down to our tenth and final spot. Sorry Dan, I don't know how I could justify not doing it. Predictions: I will no longer be making predictions for the playoffs, so this section is going to be removed from now on. Last Week’s Picks: (4-1) Overall final record: (41-24) |
By: Hayden HansonMr. Hayden Hanson (Editor in Chief) is an Accountant-extraordinaire, as well as an aspiring writer. He has written several moderately-successful self-help books, the most famous of which is "What Do You Mean You Can Smell My BO?" Gustav Travers of the New York Times praised the book as "A vulnerable, courageous look into the mind of a man who has literally no sense that other people exist. And also no sense of smell. Nope, he definitely doesn't have that either. Just musk, like a hog that's gotten into the cabbage." Archives
September 2019
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