Menace Mashup: MIISFFL Week 12

In the aftermath of the League Meeting, we enter into that portion of the schedule that makes or breaks teams.  with only 2 weeks left in the regular season, teams seasons are starting to come to an end and contenders are hanging on for dear life...or at least in Ron Mexico's case forgetting that they had a bye week and took a loss instead.  Just when you thought the playoff picture was starting to come into focus, several questions remain unanswered, such as:

-How on Earth did Kinda Runny pull off the upset of the century (TM) over Ron Mexico?
-What was Caputo's Corner thinking by leaving Adrian Peterson in the starting lineup (leaving 30 points on the bench with Roy Helu)?
-How did bomb.com/yourmmom keep it within 12 points despite Drew Brees going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs on Monday night?

These are some very important questions that needed answers, and sadly, week 12 did not answer enough of them.  As of this moment, nobody (including Ron Mexico) has clinched a playoff spot officially.  Only 3 teams have been mathematically eliminated as well.  There is still much on the line as we enter the penultimate week of this heart-wrenching, bowel-twisting saga that is the MIISFFL regular season.  Let's look at the match recaps.

The Supreme Team still has a heartbeat.  Just when you thought the defending champ was dead in the water he delivers the KO of the week drubbing the Extreme Team by 45 points.  Matt Ryan led the way for the Being (acquired in a deadline deal with JP) with 24 points with 23 more from Laurent Robinson on Thanksgiving Day and 30 from the Titans defense.  This is why projected scores never really tell the whole story.  Tom was projected to win by almost 30, but his charges underperformed at just the worst possible time as the Extreme Team is still in the fight for a wild card (with an outside shot at the division title now fading considerably).  Ah, but lest we forget that the Supreme Being is a fan of the 0-11 Indianapolis Colts.  Thanks for the reminder, Tom. 

You would think that the commissioner would know better.  After watching Adrian Peterson leave the game last week on a cart, one would assume that there would be no way he would be in the starting lineup this week, right?  Leave it to your humble correspondent to do just that.  A bagel from a position that could have had as many as 30 points if the roster had been filled out right led to Caputo's Corner's demise.  The beneficiary was Gaz, who puts far more faith in New York Giants than probably I ever will.  It paid off last night as the Giants got steamrolled by New Orleans, but Victor Cruz came through big time with 34 points, overcoming a 45 points deficit going into the Monday night affair.  If Caputo's Corner had started anybody other than AP, I probably would have won (except Denarius Moore who also posted a zero).  My season is officially on life support now at 5-7, 2 back with 2 to play and 3 teams in front (including 0-2 with Aaron Rodgers as my quarterback...kind of a flipped script from last year, yes?)

Speaking of the Pub Dogs division, Pat Deegan no longer controlls his own destiny following the nailbiter of the week, losing to KSo.  Who would have thought that 12 weeks into the season, KSo...yes KSo...live from that island pseudo-paradise that is Guam, would be tied for first place in the division at 7-5.  The margin of victory in this one was only 0.24 points...less than a quarter of a point!  Pay attention this week, because you never know if stat corrections can come into play and swing this result the other way around.  Stat corrections come out on Thursday.  I'm not saying it's going to happen, but it happened to me last year when a close win turned into a close loss thanks to stat corrections.  These two teams were very evenly matched from the get-go, only separated by 2 points in the projected total, and it was neck and neck the entire weekend.  KSo guarantees himself at least a .500 finish for the first time in the history of MIISFFL.  The world is turning upside-down...nuts!

Drew Brees did everything he could for JP, scoring 5 touchdowns before the Saints eased up on the gas Monday night.  JP ended up winning by 12, but since Pierre Thomas and Jimmy Graham were the beneficiaries of 2 of Brees' touchdown passes, Jeff made the score much more respectable than it could have been.  Fortunately for JP, he did not take Jeff's advice and start Alex Smith.  Although Smith was a somewhat viable option playing Baltimore on Thanksgiving, -14 (yes, that's negative 14) points later, Smith's spot on the bench seemed well-justified.  Jeff's demise came in the form of Sidney Rice, who for some reason could not do what the rest of the league has done for the past 6 weeks: and that is abuse DeAngelo Hall like the overrated showboat that he is.  Then again, Tavaris Jackson is stil his quarterback. 

Ron Mexico lost...yeah, that did  just happen, Zach.  And no, that was not a dream.  35 points from Baltimore defense on Thanksgiving helped propel Patrick Small to the upset of the millenium.  12th place KO's first place.  2-9 knocks off 9-2.  While Patrick can thump his chest in triumph this week, he's still looking at drafting Andrew Luck first overall.  On the other hand, Zach can contemplate why 5 of his players scored less than 10 points, including a bagel from Julio Jones.  All of a sudden, Zach's perch at the top of the league is not so high anymore as he is just one game ahead of JP for the Greene Turtles division lead with two games to go.  Perhaps he should have not let DeMarco Murray get away at the trade deadline.  Those things come back to bite you know....

Finally, the not-gonna-be-in-the-playoffs bowl featured Matt falling to Sean in a battle of Pub Dogs division afterthoughts.  With a final count of 138-125, this ended up being a fairly entertaining contest, but so was the Redskins-Seahawks game on Sunday.  What does that mean?  Absolutely nothing. 

So with 2 weeks to go, the playoff picture is as follows:

Division leaders: Zach at 9-3 (GT) and Gaz at 7-5 (PD) by virtue of superior division record over KSo
Wild Cards: JP at 8-4 and Tom at 7-5 who beats out KSo by virtue of superior point total
In the hunt: KSo (7-5), Jeff, Kent, Patrick Deegan (6-6), and Nick (5-7)
Eliminated: Patrick Small (3-9), Sean, and Matt (4-8)

Next week we take a look at:

Kent-Jeff (Elimination game in the Greene Turtles division)
Nick-Sean (Will I start another injured player?)
KSo-Matt (Will KSo take sole possession of first place?  Will pigs fly?)
Tom-Zach (Will Tom join the upset Ron Mexico parade?)
Gaz-Patrick Deegan (Gaz looks to take the division, Patrick looks to stay alive)
Patrick Small-JP (JP looks to clinch a playoff berth with a win)

Lots on the line in every matchup this week so lucky week 13 should be fun to watch.  Until then.

Commissioner of MIISFFL (who will NEVER start an injured player again).