Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Week 12

Now THAT was an interesting week. Our playoff picture got a lot clearer, we saw two games come down to the wire and we had five teams score more than 100 points for the first time this season! Let's get right down to the action.

Dustin v. Bill

Holy smokes! Talk about a revenge narrative! For those who haven't been paying attention, Bill and Dustin previously faced each other back in week 2 - a matchup that Bill won by a score of 137-106. The next highest scoring team that week was Andrew with a measly 86 points. And yet despite having at least 20 more points than any other team in the league (besides the one he was playing) - Dustin took the loss AND the Catcher Award for the largest margin of defeat. Ouch. Dustin would then go on to lose 6 of the next 8 games as he more or less watched his season go down the drain. Did the loss to Bill actually cause any of that? Well no, obviously not. But we're talking about a narrative here. Duh. Anyway, the stage was set for an epic rematch this week between these two teams who's seasons have followed drastically different courses.  But nobody (myself included) could've expected what was to follow!

Bill set the bar early with big turkey day scores from QB Case Keenum (25pts) and WR Keenan Allen (26pts) while Dustin go a big fat goose egg from TE Vernon Davis. His week had only just begun and yet Dustin found himself in a 54 point hole.

Then came the early Sunday games. Dustin's first round keeper - WR Julio Jones (45pts!!) - finally lived up to his reputation, dropping 268 yards from scrimmage and 2 TDs on the hapless Bucs. Maybe this thing would be a lot closer than we thought? Or maybe not, since Bill's RB Tevin Coleman (21pts) logged 97 yards and 2 TDs of his own against those same hapless Bucs while hiw TE Rob Gronkowski (20pts) went for 82 yards and another 2 TDs in his game against the equally hapless Dolphins. Throw in a handful of single digit scores from a bunch of players on both teams as early games gave way to late games and not much looked like it was going to change. Bill ended up with 119 points at the conclusion of those 4pm games and looked to have the win in the bag, since Dustin would need a total of 47 points from his remaining two players if he wanted to get his revenge. (And since I'm the kind of guy who would check - adding the previous 2 best weeks of those players together came just short at 44 points - though one of those scores came with some guy named Rodgers throwing passes to him.)

To a make a long story slightly less long - the improbable happened! WR Davante Adams (17pts) came just one point shy of his season best while QB Ben Roethlisberger (30pts) beat his previous high score by 4 points in the waning second of the fourth quarter to put Dustin up 120-119 and complete one of the most dramatic comebacks in Sports league history. Did it get Dustin any closer to making the playoffs? Nope. He's mathematically eliminated. Did it take $5 out of Bill's pocket, more or less? It sure did. And did it make Bill a little less confident about his odds of winning it all this year? Probably not. Have you talked to that guy this year? He thinks his team is unbeatable.

Bill will try to get back into the win column before his first round playoff bye when he faces Tim in week 13 while Dustin will hope for another revenge win that doesn't mean anything as he faces Andrew.

Jeremy v. James

Following the theme of teams that started their week with a bang but then couldn't hang on, James had a great chance to play spoiler against Jeremy... but predictably fizzled out and faded into obscurity once again.

Yes, James had three players celebrating Thanksgiving Day on the gridiron: RB Latavius Murray (14pts), WR Marvin Jones (24pts) and TE Hunter Henry (13pts). Those were seasons high scores for the two of those three players. You have to love jumping out to a 51 point lead, right? But what you don't have to love is your RB1 (Jordan Howard) and your WR1 (Demaryius Thomas) both putting up one single point a piece. After his Thursday splash, James had just two other players put up double digit scores on his entire roster - causing his projection to drop from 107 points all the way down to his actual final score of 86 points. Womp.

Jeremy, on the other hand, only saw his projection climb as RB Joe Mixon (24pts) finally lived up to the hype, putting up his best score of the season by more than doubling his previous best. QB Russell Wilson (23pts) also put up his seventh 20+ point score of the season, just in case there was any doubt who the MVP of this RBP team really is - especially on a day where RB Mark Ingram (3pts) more or less got left by the wayside. Add in 16 points from RB Dion Lewis (the biggest RB trade steal since Todd Gurley) and 15 points from WR Nelson Agholor (who got his 2nd TD of the day when Jay Ajayi fumbled into the endzone) and you have a winning recipe for Jeremy in week 12 and possibly well beyond that, if this team keeps playing up to expectations.

With the win, Jeremy sits at 7-5. And that, coupled with his 1029 total points for thus far this season, is good for third place overall at the moment. Jeremy is a lock for his first postseason appearance in league history! He'll face Earl in the final matchup of the regular season, hoping to play spoiler to the Upper Decker's playoff hopes.

James, well he sits at 3-9: tied for dead last with Matt and still way out of playoff contention. He is kind of looking strong for a run in the consolation bracket, though! That counts for something, right?

Jared v. Kevin

This one also stayed tight for a little while - but it ended up nowhere near as close as either of the first two matchups.

The early Sunday games were certainly not kind to Jared with QB Cam Newton (13pts) decidedly not living up to expectations, especially coming off of a 35 point masterpiece in week 10, and TE Travis Kelce (3pts) also failing to impress against the recently vulnerable Buffalo defense. But then in the 4 o'clock games Jared had four double digit scores, headlined by a second straight 30 point week from WR Antonio Brown (32pts), putting him well out in front of Kevin.

Yes, heading into MNF, Kevin found himself down by 37 points - thanks to just three double digits scores up until that point: RB Isaiah Crowell (10pts), WR Devin Funchess (12pts) and the Carolina Defense (11pts). We'd already seen one dramatic comeback this week - would this be another one? Well, no, I already spoiled that in the first sentence of this matchup recap. (My bad.) Kevin did get a decent night out of WR DeAndre Hopkins (14pts) but WR Jeremy Maclin (0pts) came up empty. (Plus Jared had the Baltimore D, who added another 10 pts to his total.)

This game didn't really mean much, though when coupled with Bill's loss is does move Jared into 1st place over all with a record of 10-2. He'll try to hold onto that #1 seed in a week 13 matchup with the occasionally potent James.

Kevin, however, is now officially out of the playoff race. But he does get one last chance to make his mark on the playoff race as he faces Nick next week. If Kevin can somehow pull off a win, he'll knock Nick off of the playoff bubble and down to the consolation bracket with the rest of the rabble. Fingers crossed!

Eric v. Andrew

Ah, yet another close matchup that ended up with an upset! It was a bad weekend to be a fake football manager with the surname Reese, that's for sure.

Thursday yielded mixed results for the matchup as WR Jamison Crowder (24pts) posted his best score of the season for Andrew while RB Samaje Perine (15pts) put up his second straight week of 100+ rushing yards for Eric. It wasn't all good news for Andrew, though, as QB Kirk Cousins (9pts) got beat up in the same game and posted his fifth single digit score of the season. Sure, Andrew did get good days from his pair of Eagles - WR Alshon Jeffrey (11pts) & TE Zach Ertz (18pts) - but otherwise had all single digit scores, leaving his total for the week at 85.

Of course, Eric didn't exactly tear it up the rest of the week either. (Especially with the usually helpful Jags D only contributing 11pts.) He did have another good day from QB Jared Goff (18pts) and a fluky TD thrown by WR Mohamed Sanu (15pts), but heading into MNF he still found himself down by 3 points with a score of 82. So obviously, as if on cue, WR Mike Wallace scored exactly 4 points to give Eric the (mostly meaningless) win.

The loss probably hurts Andrew's ego a little, but it doesn't hurt his playoff odds as even in defeat Andrew locks up a place in the postseason - no matter what happens in his week 13 matchup with Dustin. And while the win probably boosted Eric's self esteem at the end of a pretty miserable season - it doesn't boost him into worthwhile position in the standings; he's eliminated from the good side of the postseason and will have to settle for the possibility of continued success in the consolation bracket. (Well, you know, if he actually sets his lineup for those games and doesn't just quit after his week 13 matchup like he did last year.) Eric faces Matt in the final week of the season for no reason whatsoever.

Tim v. Matt

Speaking of Matt, he lost by 58 points this week! I know, that sounds bad. But hey, it wasn't even his biggest beating of the season. (That came in week 6 when he lost to Andrew by a whopping 71 points.) On the up side: at least he hasn't paid anything yet to have the worst record in the league! (Hint, hint.)

Compared to all the teams who got off to great starts on Thanksgiving - Matt mostly spun his wheels. He got just 13pts from QB Matt Stafford, who also injured his ankle, and that resulted in WR Golden Tate (2pts) having a rubbish day as well. I mean, those scores were at least positive though. The Cowboys D put up a -5 in their game against the Chargers to bring an already low score just a little bit lower. Those two < 3 point scores joined three others on the Islanders starting lineup to round out an all around miserable week for the already eliminated Matt.

Tim, however, showed signs of life after his complete flop against Eric in week 12. (It's a good thing too, as Tim would've been all but eliminated from playoff contention with a loss against Matt.) Not to say that he didn't have his fair share of flops this week again with WR Dez Bryant (3pts) still failing to hit his stride, TE Evan Engram (1pt) getting a case of the drops in his primetime matchup against the Redskins and WR Michael Crabtree putting up a big fat goose egg after getting ejected early in his game for fighting. (He's also suspended for the next two games now. Great trade deadline deal!) Luckily for Tim, he didn't need anything more than QB Philip Rivers (34pts) and RB Alvin Kamara (35pts) to put Matt away this week. But he'll likely face stiffer competition from Bill in week 13.

Yes, for the third time in as many years, Tim will face Bill in the final week of the regular season. And for the second of those three years, this matchup basically comes down to a "win and in" scenario for Tim's playoff hopes. If he can manage to beat Bill, he's definitely in the playoffs. With a loss, he can only advance with a loss from Nick. He'll hope to keep his destiny in his own hands.

Oh, and Matt is still eliminated from the playoffs. But that's nothing new - he was one of the first teams eliminated. Maybe he can pick it up in the consolation bracket and get the first draft choice for a second year in a row? (But probably not.)

Earl v. Nick 

And that brings us to our lowest scoring matchup of the week: an important tilt between two teams that allegedly are competing for the final couple postseason tickets.

Like Tim, Earl needed this win to stay alive in the playoff hunt. He got it - though in a dramatically less convincing manner. RB Le'Veon Bell (16pts), WR Brandin Cooks (15pts) and TE Kyle Rudolph (18pts) all did their part in securing the win for their team. Everyone else - didn't. Most concerning of those letdowns were a second consecutive lackluster day from QB Alex Smith (10pts) and a complete flop from RB Leonard Fournette (3pts) - his second single digit score in the past three weeks. One is forced to wonder - did Earl peak too early in 2017? And will he be able to pick his play back up in time to get back to his rightful 3rd place? Only time will tell.

As for Nick - I think he definitely climaxed early this year. His only starting player with double digit points this week was Carson Wentz (22pts); nobody else scored more than 7 points. Could he have done better with 2 running backs in his starting lineup? Technically - although neither of the two RBs he left on the bench did better than 3 points anyway. But you know what roster decision would've helped? Having Robby Anderson and his 31 points in the starting lineup instead of on the bench. I mean, he'd only scored a TD in each of his previous 4 weeks - posting a double digit score in three of those four games. That only makes him the best WR on Nick's team! Yes, you read that correctly: he has more points than any other non-QB player on the Pig Skins and actually ranks as the #10 fantasy WR in the entire league. Starting a blank slot will almost always get you a BBB in Sports league, but Nick earned his doubly this week by sitting enough points to win a pivotal matchup for a team on the playoff bubble.

And so it is that neither of these teams is definitely in the playoffs and neither of these teams is definitely out... yet.

If Earl wins his matchup with Jeremy - he's in. If he loses - he needs Tim and/or Nick to lose in order to secure a spot in the post season.

If Nick wins his matchup against Kevin - he could still miss the playoffs should Tim and Earl both win their matchups. However, should Nick lose - he's out; no matter whether Tim and/or Earl win or lose.

And so the plot thickens.
Sports. 

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