We have reached the final week of the regular season...and so so so so SO SO SO much is yet to be decided. For the first time ever, not a single team has formally clinched a playoff berth going into the final week. The teams in first place in the respective divisions could very well fall out, and teams as low as 7th in the total standings can still leapfrog the field and claim a playoff berth. This is what makes fantasy football such an exciting pseudo-sport!
On the other hand...we do have several teams at this point we know will most definitely NOT be partaking in the playoff party. We bid their teams adieu:
Caputo's Corner-In one of the few times when predictions actually turned out to be accurate, the commish's horrendous draft came back to bite him with essentially a lock at the #1 pick in 2014.
Bo Knows Techmo-In the hunt for the #1 pick this year, JP more than likely avoided that dubious distinction with a Week 13 win, but not for lack of trying (along with unloading Reggie Bush at the trade deadline).
Giovani Versace-MIISFFL's commissioner in crime along with Caputo's Corner had some moments of brilliance, but a season sweep at the hands of the commissioner himself sealed his fate.
Unknown Quantity-Too much of that desert air in Dubai and New York Giants homerism at the draft cost Sean after having the first pick of this year's draft.
Kinda Runny-Yes folks, a moment of silence as once again we will not have a repeat champion in MIISFFL. Thank you, parity. Patrick is already on his way to the trophy store with tears in his eyes like Knowshon Moreno to engrave the name of his successor.
Since the playoffs are coming up, it is best to remind everyone of the tiebreaking procedures we will be using:
1) Head to head results (which does put Kent in 1st place overall because of his head to head win over Eddie (sheesh)
2) Division record-Only applies to teams within the same division (duh)
3) Total points scored
4) Total points allowed
5) Coin toss
Any questions about tiebreakers, just ask, but this is exactly the same format we used last year. If you recall, I had to make just such a point adjustment to allow Tom to qualify due to a head to head sweep over I believe it was Dewey (who ended up winning the scoring title). Just like last year, the two division winners automatically qualify with the top two seeds followed by two wild cards. The two wild cards do NOT have to come from opposite divisions.
Let's get to the match recaps for Week 13:
Kent rose to the top of the heap in the Greene Turtles division, taking advantage of the curious commissioner as the trades made between the two come back to haunt the latter. Although I must admit when Brees got strip-sacked on New Orleans' second possession last night, I had visions of a Drew Brees epic meltdown that would annihilate the record for futility set by Jay Cutler 2 years ago. Throw in a few Garrett Hartley chip shot misses, and all of a sudden my robust 82 points comes back to win. Well, that pipe dream lasted all of 2 seconds as I struggled just to match Kent's total...from Thursday! And yes...Kent's 41 point slaughter includes leaving Eric Decker on the bench.
Which could prove to be a foolhardy move down the stretch (at least in terms of the scoring title) as Eddie and Jeff matched each other point for point to end up with the two highest scores of the week (161-152). Well, somebody had to lose and it ended up being Jeff as he looked to be in decent shape with Jimmy Graham and Darren Sproles going on Monday night. It turns out that Graham's lone goal post dunk was but a mere consolation prize as Jeff did just about all he could, but instead falls to the cluster of squads in at 7-6. Only 2 of those teams can make the playoffs as once again Eddie finds himself in fine position atop the Pub Dogs Division...or as Eddie calls it, the "Man's Division."
Also in the mix at 7-6 is Tom, who showed that his season is not quite over in following a Monday Night comeback win over a lamenting Dewey, who falls to 5-8. While Brees threw up a stinker, Russell Wilson ran roughshod over the New England pseudo-defense to the tune of 36 points, turning a 31 point deficit into a 5 point win. This includes the rather dicey play of the Washington Redskins defense, a move that was lamented among league members, but ultimately did not cost Tom as they were able to net 10 points for the Extreme Team. Now if Tom had had the chain gang on his squad...well, that might be a different story. As it stands, Tom right now needs a win and get some help, but at least he's got a pulse, which is more than I can say for the teams we mentioned at the top of this Mashup.
Three other teams had a shot at improving to the top spot at 8-5...and none of them did the job. We start with Gaz who trailed Patrick's Redskins by 8 points, holding a Monday night hammer in perennial fantasy stud Marshawn Lynch. All Gaz needed was for Lynch to get the ball, but the way Wilson was playing for Tom, that just wasn't going to happen. The hammer was there, but didn't drop as the defending champion narrowly escapes joining Dewey in the 5-8 pool with a 108-107 win. Gaz now is in the carousel at 7-6 looking to get his win and see where the chips fall around him. For Patrick's part, he survived in spite of a -2 from Denver's D and only 11 points combined from Woodhead and Marshall (Alshon Jeffrey was the Bear to own from that game, right Eddie?)
There was not enough Cabernet Savignon in the world that could have cheered up Zach as he blew his chance to solidify his playoff chances, falling in an upset loss to Sean (who did not seem to remember to sub out Andre Ellington after he was deactivated). Sean's roster blunder was negated, however, after Jarrett Boykin put up a donut of his own on Thanksgiving. Boykin didn't get the memo that donuts are not part of a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Carolina Cam tried to pick up the slack with nearly 30 points, but the gap was too big for Andre Brown to close on his own on Sunday night. With the win, Sean seals up the fact that he will NOT have the first pick in the draft 2 years in a row.
Finally today, JP joined the upset train by dishing out a 44 point beatdown to a whamboozled, and Chipped Up Andy. His entire squad underperformed, so much so that he would have lost to anyone in the league this week (including me!). JP's squad didn't exactly impress either, only Gronk cracking the 20 point mark, but he did have 7 of his charges reach double figures, including CJ 1/2 K. Andy still has an outside shot at the division title, but he needs a win and a lot of help next week...in the form of his Parkville Partner Tom.
OK...here it is. The final week of the regular season is here, and just when we thought the playoff picture was coming into focus. Week 13 happened. Here are the matchups for Week 14. I promise, somebody HAS TO WIN!
Kent-Tom (Tom goes for the season sweep over Kent which combined with an Andy loss would give him the division title. Kent controls his own destiny).
Andy-Nick (If Andy takes care of business against the commish, and Kent loses to Tom, Andy will take the division having the best record among 3 tied clubs)
Eddie-Patrick (Eddie controls his own destiny. Patrick's enjoying his final days with the trophy.)
Zach-Gaz (Zach owns the tiebreaker over Eddie. So does Gaz. The winner of this one is rooting for Patrick big time).
Jeff-Sean (Jeff holds no tiebreakers in the division, but has a healthy points lead should it come down to that).
JP-Dewey (Two Bucs fans singing Kumbaya together...how cute).
OK, since Yahoo does NOT consider head to head in their tiebreaking scenarios, and we do, there might be some figuring to do once Week 14 plays out. I will do my best to be fair to everyone involved. Hopefully it will work itself out. I am enlisting Dewey's help (as a fellow commissioner in another league) to help me figure it out should it be necessary, which is nice since neither one of us have a dog in this fight. Let's just hope that nothing fluky happens this weekend. And may the best fantasy team win. Good luck to everyone!
Nick
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