Month: December 2019

Super Bowl 11 Preview

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Rankings , , ,

Two of the most successful Fantasy Football players in the Best Buy Dream Team League Square Off in Super Bowl 11.

Their resume’ and history speak for themselves. But let’s take a look:

SB1 in 2009: Brad becomes First Super Bowl Champion

SB2 in 2010: Moose becomes Second Super Bowl Champion

SB3 in 2011: Brad wins his second title in 3 years.

SB4 in 2012: Brad loses in Super Bowl

SB5 in 2013: Brad loses in Super Bowl

SB7 in 2015: Moose wins his second title.

SB10 in 2018: Moose wins his third title.

SB11 in 2019: Brad and Moose Square Off.

So in 11 seasons of the BBY Dream Team League either Moose and/or Brad have been involved in the Super Bowl 73% of the time (8/11).

This season began with Brad getting the 9th overall pick and Moose getting the 11th overall pick with Mike and Chase being the gaps in between the turn. Let’s take a look how Brad’s Draft looks today:

9: James Conner, #28 Rb, Traded in CMC Deal

16: Dalvin Cook, #2 Rb, Questionable/Doubtful to play in Super Bowl

33: Chris Carson, #9 Rb, Traded in Tyreek Hill/Christian Kirk Deal, Then Tyreek Hill traded in CMC Deal

40: Chris Godwin, #2 Wr, Questionable/Doubtful to play in Super Bowl

57: Miles Sanders, #14 Rb, Starting in Super Bowl

64: Evan Engram, #12 TE, Season-Ending IR (Missed last 5 weeks, 6 weeks total this season and still is #12)

81: Robby Anderson, #35 Wr, Dropped

88: Matt Breida, #42 Rb, Traded for Allen Robinson in 3-way Trade with JD and Moose. Allen Robinson is #11 Wr and is Starting in Super Bowl

#105 Will Fuller, #45 Wr, Starting in Super Bowl, Known for 50.3 point game against ATL in Week 5, helping Brad to get 187 in a single week. Could also hurt hammy and be dust before the game on Saturday. Or…

Late Picks of Note:

136: Russell Wilson, #5 Qb, Traded in CMC Deal

160: Josh Allen, #8 Qb, Dropped

Now let’s take a look at Mustafa:

11: Nick Chubb, #7 Rb, Starting in Super Bowl

14: Travis Kelce, #1 Te, Starting in Super Bowl

35: David Montgomery, #23 Rb, Could start Super Bowl/On Moose’s Roster

38: Amari Cooper, #8 Wr, Starting in Super Bowl

59: Austin Ekeler, #6 Rb, Starting in Super Bowl

62: DJ Moore, #9 Wr, Starting in Super Bowl

83: Darrell Henderson Jr, #92 Rb, Dropped

86: Marvin Jones Jr, #22 Wr, Season Ending IR, Dropped

107: Kyler Murray, #7 Qb, Dropped

110: Lamar Jackson, #1 Qb, Starting in Super Bowl, League MVP so far

Late Picks of Note:

155: Mark Andrews, #5 Te, Traded to JD for Matt Breida in Three-Way Trade, Then Sent Matt Breida, Michael Gallup (FAAB), Darren Waller (FAAB) for Odell Beckham Jr, #32 Wr.

 

These Two Teams had the most trades. These Two Teams had the most roster moves throughout the season. Always tinkering and adjusting, paying attention and striving to put the best 9 players forward.

Let’s Take a Look at the Super Bowl Rosters:

  1. Brad (9-4)

Qb: #4 Jameis Winston. Brad acquired Winston in part of the CMC deal with Joe. No one could have predicted that Jameis would eventually catch up and even jump past Russell Wilson at this point in the season when the trade went down before Week 8. Winston enters Week 16 coming off back-to-back 450 yard 4+ touchdown performances. A broken bone in his thumb of his throwing hand did not prevent him from throwing the ball 42 times against Detroit. Now he’ll play on a Special Saturday Noon game against Houston. This game should be up-tempo with Houston striving to secure it’s playoff position and division and Tampa Bay striving to get Winston to 5000 yards. He lost key targets Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Scotty Miller to hamstring injuries, so we’ll see if he can continue to sling the rock as much as the past two weeks with less talent around him.

Rb1: #1 Christian McCaffrey. CMC has averaged 27.6 fantasy points per game, which means he basically counts as a Rb and a Wr, but taking up 1 position on the Roster. Only one other person in the league has scored so much to be considered 2 players and we’ll talk about Moose’s Qb in a little bit. CMC faces @ Indianapolis in Lucas Oil Stadium. Colts Defense has been really good in stopping the run this year, averaging 17.3 points per game against as opposed to league average 20.6 points per game to opposing fantasy rubbing backs. Another factor is the change at Qb in Carolina, with Carolina moving from Kyle Allen to Will Grier. These leaves a lot of unknowns surrounding the game. But one thing we do know, CMC is a monster and anything can happen.

Rb2: A spot reserved for #2 Fantasy Rb: Dalvin Cook until last week, when Cook reinjured his shoulder, in comes #14 Miles Sanders. Sanders is coming off his best fantasy outing of the season, a 34.6 point explosion against Washington. I wouldn’t anticipate a repeat performance as the Eagles are squaring off against Division Rival Dallas for the NFC East Crown. This is a playoff game. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tailor Sanders back some to reduce the risk of the rookie making a mistake in such a critical ball game. Dallas limited Rams rushers to 20 yards on the ground last week and seem to be getting healthier and better as the season progresses. Important to watch to see if Jordan Howard will be active for this game as this could reduce Sanders projection by quite a bit.

Wr1: A spot reserved for #2 Fantasy Wr: Chris Godwin until last week, when Godwin injured his hamstring, in comes #11 Allen Robinson. Robinson is coming off a solid fantasy performance of 18.3 points on an incredible 14 targets. He’ll be squaring off against a KC defense that has done a great job at limiting opposing fantasy wideouts. KC averages 6.5 less points allows to fantasy wideouts than NFL average, good for #2 OPRK. Of course, with KC’s ability to score this game could result in a pass-heavy script for Chicago, increasing Robinson’s ability to receive another week of high targets. Wouldn’t expect the same success on those targets though.

Wr2: A-Rob’s previous spot, now paves the way for #45 Will Fuller. At this point we all know who Will Fuller is. He’s capable of pulling a hamstring on the first play of the game and missing the contest (or missing the contest all together). And he’s capable of catching 14/16 targets 217 yards and 3 touchdowns in a single game for 50.3 fantasy points. That game accounted for 45.4% of Fuller’s total fantasy output so far this season. In comes Tampa Bay’s defense, the worst against opposing wideouts. Tampa Bay has been deemed a Pass Funnel by Fantasy Analysts. They stop the run and opposing teams pass all over them. They average 38.9 fantasy points against opposing fantasy wideouts compared to NFL average 27.5 points, a whopping 11.4 point difference. This is a potential Smash-Spot for Fuller, who will most likely be owned by close to 50% of DFS players playing on Saturday’s Slate. Bradley’s hope for a 3rd Title very well could rest on the hamstring of Will Fuller.

TE: Undecided. Brad picked up Cameron Brate, #2 Tight End on TB given the up-tempo game script of the Saturday Noon contest (with the over/under being 3rd highest of the week at 49). Winston will need someone to throw to. With Evans, Godwin, and Scotty Miller out, that leaves the best targets for Winston to be 1. Breshard Perriman 2. OJ Howard 3. Watson/Brate 4. Towel Boy. Brad also has a couple MNF options if he decides against Brate.

FLEX: Undecided. As of right now, Brad has #39 Christian Kirk in. He’s the best vertical threat on a pass heavy Cardinals team who would love to play spoiler against the Seahawks in Seattle. This game features the highest over/under of the week at 51 points. Cardinals had fun last week against the Browns, but Seattle is an actual good team. I’m sure they’ll send Kyler Murray out to have some fun, but whether that fun translates to bankable Kirk points that remains to be seen. If Cook is listed as Out by Thursday or Friday then Kirk would be the likely flex play for Brad.

D/ST: #2 Steelers D/ST. Only outscored by NE D/ST. Steelers are in a position to potentially make the playoffs despite playing with their 3rd Qb, missing Connor for multiple weeks, and missing their #1 Wr JuJu Smith-Schuster for multiple weeks. They have scored double-digits in 11/14 games so far this season. 11 of their last 12 including 20+ points in 4 of those games. They travel to the Jets, a team that has been widely inconsistent. They blew out Dallas and lost to Miami, so we don’t know what Jet’s team will show up. We do know that Le’Veon Bell will be playing his best game of the season. Running against the Steelers might be the way to go to slow down the deadly pass rushing group that’s accumulated 49 sacks so far this season, tied for 1st in the NFL.

K: Younghoe Koo. Signed by Atlanta before Week 10, Koo has been averaging 11 fantasy points per game including 4/6 in double digits. Koo faces Jacksonville in Atlanta’s last home game of the season.

 

#4 Mustafa (9-4) (Defending Champ, Only 3 Title Winner in the BBY Dream Team League)

Qb: #1 Lamar Jackson. MVP-front runner leading the best team in the NFL right now, the Baltimore Ravens. Lamar is both a Qb and a Rb. Scoring for 2, while taking up 1 position. Look for Baltimore to come out guns ablazing this week @ division foe Cleveland. Ravens lost to Cleveland in Week 4. By winning they clinch the #1 seed, a critical thing considering they’d much rather have the AFC Championship game at home opposed to at Arrowhead or at the Patriots. A revenge game and a #1 AFC seed clinching scenario and the Browns are minus Myles Garrett this go-around. This is a smash spot for Jackson. He scored 24.4 against them the first time they played. I anticipate a 30+ point outing this time. If he accomplishes this, it would be his 8th 30+ point game this season. Just incredible.

Rb1: #7 Nick Chubb. Chubb is also featured in the same Baltimore game. Baltimore’s Defense has gotten better and better as the season has progressed, but Chubb destroyed them back in Week 4. Easily his best game of the season with 20-165-3 and 3-18 stat line for a whopping 42.5 fantasy points. Baltimore will look for vengeance on the defensive side of the ball too and with a stacked secondary to counteract the stacked wideouts of the Browns, the trench battle will be interesting to say the least. Will Chubb strike again? Or will Raven’s Defense resurgence, the growing discontent amongst the Brown’s players, and Kareem Hunt’s return result in a back-down-to-Earth showing for Chubb?

Rb2: #6 Austin Ekeler. The Chargers Offense just looks better when Austin Ekeler is in at running back. He’s explosive, shifty, and get him in space… look out. The Chargers insist on feeding Melvin Gordon a bunch of carries. Gordon smashed the Raiders last game in Week 10, while Ekeler was held to a modest 11.6 fantasy points. We all know that any given play he can strike, so Moose can start his lightning bolt with confidence against the Raiders that just lost a disappointing game in their last home game in Oakland.

Wr1: #8 Amari Cooper. Amari Cooper was just shut down by Jalen Ramsey last week, so look for a monster bounce back performance this week in the crucial battle for the NFC Least. The last time they played Philly in Week 7 Cooper caught 5/5 targets for 106 yards (15.6 fantasy points). Philly has had a decent run defense, but they are extremely beatable via pass. Look for Dak Prescott to put the team on his shoulders and let a rip. The game is @ Philly, but current weather predicts a sunny and cool day (about 39 degrees) making it perfect football weather.

Wr2: #9 DJ Moore. Moore has been great for Moose this season. Double digit fantasy points in 10/14 games this season with 5+ in 14/14 and one game 30+. He faces Indianapolis @ Indy who was just destroyed by Drew Brees and Michael Thomas on MNF. They are coming off a short week, but the Panthers have made a Qb change. Will Grier will start over Kyle Allen, so it’ll be interesting to see if the DJ’s target distribution remains as steady and consistent as it has been or if Grier can help or hurt his value in this matchup. IBM Watson has Moore a 19% Bust candidate (9.4 or less) and a 23% Boom candidate (22+).

TE: #1 Travis Kelce. A true difference maker. Preseason Value Based Rankings had Kelce as a first-round pick based on value. Moose’s second round investment appears to have paid off handsomely as Kelce is the one and only #1 Tight End. He’s coming off a 11/13 142 game against Denver in the snow and now will travel to Chicago. His 13-point average looks solid week in and week out.

FLEX: Undecided? As of right now he has #32 Odell Beckham Jr. starting against Baltimore’s vaunted secondary. In their first matchup Odell only caught 2/7 targets for 20 yards and that was before Baltimore added Marcus Peters and got Jimmy Smith back from injury. IBM Watson predicts Odell having a 6% chance to bust and a 24% chance to Boom, which doesn’t add up based on my calculations. Odell has busted 4/14 weeks this season and has been a huge disappointment. But Moose traded three people for Odell and has been waiting for a payoff. Could this be it? Could the trade earlier this season all lead up to him using Chase’s 2nd round pick against Brad to win his 4th Title? OR Does Moose turn start Double Tight Ends? OR #23 Rb David Montgomery against #30 OPRK KC Chiefs Defense? If Cook and Mattison are both ruled out for MNF, he could throw in recently acquired Mike Boone. Will be something to watch.

D/ST: Undecided? As of right now he has #8 Chiefs D/ST which has scored game of 15, 21, 12, and 12 the past 4 weeks and now squares off against Mitchell Trubisky on SNF. During that stretch they’ve held their opponents to 11.25 points per game. Dominating efforts. Moose could turn to Atlanta’s D/ST who he just picked up off free agency against a Jag’s offense that has struggled mightily the past few weeks.

K: #19 Robbie Gould. Brad dropped Robbie after underperforming met with injury and he made the switch to Koo. Most known for the MNF game where Brad had a chance to break the single game scoring record of 191.9 points and Gould missed 3 field goals resulting in the record standing. Moose picks him up and he’s scored 13 and 11 points the past two weeks. He faces the Rams who just gave up 18 fantasy points to Kai Forbath. (In my work league I had Lamar Jackson and CMC, but lost by 0.26 to Kai Forbath last week, so fuck this guy).   If Robbie is the difference maker for Moose against Brad, this will most likely break Brad.

So there you have it. A lot of information that means absolutely nothing until injury reports come out on Friday, games are played on Saturday and we see what happens.

 

Bottom Bowl Preview:

Round 3:

Game 1: Tommy vs. Mike. Congratulations to both of you. The winner gets 6 balls in the lottery. The loser gets 5. You’ve both already won!

Game 2: Jen vs. Trey. The winner gets 4 balls. The loser gets 3. You’ve both won multiple entries in next year’s draft lottery.

Game 3: Katon vs. Chase. The winner gets 2 balls. The loser gets 1. The loser is also known as the Loser of Losers. A title Brad is happy to relinquish from 2018.

Good Luck Everybody!

Round 1 Recap & Round 2 Preview

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Rankings , ,

Round 1 Recap:

BYES: 1. Scotty, 2. Brad

  1. Kenny (8-5) 115.7 vs. 4. Moose (9-4) 127.7

Kenny was hanging with Moose for awhile there on Sunday until Austin Ekeler decided that Moose was going to the Final Four. An explosive 36.9 points carried Moose one step closer to defending his title. Kenny wind up being down 44.6 heading into Monday Night Football with Zach Ertz and #1 Overall Pick Saquon Barkley. Ertz showed out with a solid 24.7, his best game of the season, but Barkley disappointed, only getting 7.9, leaving Kenny to lose to Moose by 12 points. Great season Kenny!

  1. Joe (7-6) 63.8 vs. JD (9-4) 87.6

JD sweeps Joe in an low scoring affair. Might as well have been a kicker bowl. In that scenario, JD would have still beat Joe 4-3 with Lambo outscoring Greg Zuerlein. Joe’s highest scorer was Cole Beasley and that’s all you really need to know about this one. JD has a down week, but survives and moves on the Final Four. Great season Joe!

Bottom Bowl:

Tommy (6-7) 145.7 vs. Mike (7-6) 133.5

These teams showed out! Tommy advances to Game 1 of the 2nd Round meaning he automatically will qualify for 6,5,4 or 3 balls in the lottery next year. Congrats Tommy! Mike moves to Game 2 of the 2nd Round.

Chase (3-10) 56.3 vs. Trey (6-7) 96.3

Jesus. Chase moves to Game 3 of Round 2, which means he can only get 4, 3, 2, 1 balls in the draft lottery. Trey wins, meaning he’s guaranteed 6,5,4 or 3 balls in the lottery like Tommy. Congrats Trey!

Jen (2-11) 94.5 vs. Katon (2-11) 121.5

Katon wins the rubber match! He moves on to Game 2 of the 2nd Round. Jen moves to Game 3 in Round 2.

 

Round 2 Preview: The Final Four

  1. Mustafa (9-4) vs. 1. Scotty (10-3)

In all of sports there are moments that define a generation. Michael Jordan’s Flu Game, the 1980 US Men’s Hockey team upsetting the Soviet Union, and here in our 11th season we have another opportunity to make history… I present to you:

“The Tight End Cock Block Game”

Moose spent $10 on Noah Fant, $7 on OJ Howard, $7 on David Njoku. Then when he awoke and checked the waivers to see that Scotty did not pick up a tight end, he continued. He picked up Darren Fells, Hayden Hurst, ALL while having #1 Travis Kelce and #7 Jared Cook. Some will say this was genius. Others will argue it was petty. Regardless of your stance, we will all remember this moment. (Or at least Scotty, Moose, and myself)

At Qb: Moose features #1 Qb Lamar Jackson vs. NYJ on TNF. Scotty features Drew Brees vs. IND on MNF. Lamar is overcoming a Quad injury that he says is minor. Brees will be playing in the Dome on MNF against a banged up Colts D.

At Rb: Moose has #5 Austin Ekeler vs. MIN and #7 Nick Chubb @ Arizona. Scotty features #17 Alvin Kamara in that same Colts MNF game, and #4 Aaron Jones vs. Chi. Jones faces Chicago in Week 1 and was stuffed even after Jamaal Williams left due to injury.

At Wr: Moose has #6 Amari Cooper vs. LAR and #31 (Pukes) Odell Beckham Jr. @ Arizona. Scotty has #11 Stefon Diggs @ LAC and #16 Courtland Sutton @ KC with Drew Lock now slinging the football.

At TE: Moose features #1 Travis Kelce or #7 Jared Cook or #11 Noah Fant or #12 Darren Fells or OJ Howard or David Njoku or Hayden Hurst. Scotty features #31 Jonny Smith. I will literally piss my pants laughing if Jonnu Smith scores a touchdown this weekend. Literally PISS MY PANTS laughing. But regardless, ruthless, but effective strategy.

At Flex: Moose has #10 DJ Moore vs. Sea, Scotty has #8 Rb Leonard Fournette @ Oakland.

AT D/ST: Moose has KC D/ST against a red-hot Drew Lock led Denver Broncos team. Scotty has #1 D/ST NE vs. CIN. Cincinnati’s offense has been doing better and New England’s Defense hasn’t been as good as of late. But I can definitely see this defense taking over in this one. Could be a difference maker in who makes it to the Super Bowl.

At K: Moose has Robbie Gould and Scotty has #7 Matt Prater vs. TB.

Only 1 team can move on to Super Bowl 11. Moose has won 3, Scotty has won 1. Both itching to get back. Best of luck gentlemen.

  1. JD (9-4) vs. 2. Brad (9-4)

At Qb: JD has #3 Dak Prescott vs. LAR. Prescott is a little banged up and plays a suddenly red-hot Rams team that has been dominant the last couple of weeks. Dak is fighting to keep Dallas’s playoffs hopes alive in the NFC East. Brad has #5 Jameis Winston (maybe) @ Detroit. The matchup looks incredible on paper, but Winston broke a bone in his thumb on his throwing hand. Somehow he finished the game last week. Somehow they are saying he’ll play this week. He was spotted in a cast this week meaning he probably won’t practice at all. Strange situation to monitor, Bucs could rest him or since it’s his contract year, could let him try to kill himself to hit 5000 yards on the season. Brad has Gardner Minshew as a backup facing Oakland if Jameis can’t go

At Rb: JD has #44 Damien Williams (maybe) vs. Den and #9 Mark Ingram vs. NYJ on TNF. Brad has #1 Christian McCaffrey vs. Seattle and #2 Dalvin Cook @ LAC. If Damien Williams can’t go, JD will have to throw in Peyton Barber against Detroit or go free agent hunting. McCaffrey is averaging 27 fantasy points per game, but over the last two weeks has combined for 30.9 or 15.5ish per game. They may not try to run him into the ground for a lost season, so despite his high average, 15ish points per game is much more likely this week. Cook played through his hurt shoulder last week and scored 14.3, so he should get normal workload against Chargers team that’s finally getting healthy on Defense.

At Wr: JD has Davante Adams vs. Chicago and DK Metcalf @ Carolina. Brad has #2 Chris Godwin @ Detroit and #12 Allen Robinson @ GB. Godwin’s value will be one to watch as the Bucs lost Mike Evans for the year. This could increase Godwin’s targets, but could also increase the talent level of the opposing corner back. It could also see more safety shadow in this scenario. Couple that with Winston’s uncertainty, and this team is looking a lot more shaky than it’s points leader and win streak give on.

At TE: JD features #3 Darren Waller, the target share monster. With Foster Moreau getting injured, this could increase Waller’s red zone targets as Moreau had 5 td’s on the season. Brad has #9 Evan Engram (maybe) vs. Miami. There’s been questions on whether or not the Giants will shut down Engram for the rest of the season to prevent further injury to their stud tight end. He looked like he would be active for the MNF game against Philly and they decided to rest him. So if Brad doesn’t have Engram he’ll turn to Ian Thomas if Greg Olsen continues to be sidelined due to a concussion. If Olsen is active and Engram is not, then Brad will have to bottom feed on the crumbs of tight ends left on the free agency pool that Moose left behind. Moose may take out Scotty and Brad with one stone… a stone called “Operation Tight End Cock Block”

At D/ST: JD features 7. Bills D/ST @ PIT. Brad features 2. Pit D/ST vs. BUF. This will be a fun SNF game. These will be both teams last players to play for either team, meaning the matchup could literally come down to which D/ST outscores the other. We’ve had kicker bowls in the past, but a D/ST Bowl? Interesting…

AT K: JD has #9 Josh Lambo @ Oakland and Brad has Youngshoe Koo @ San Fran.

A lot to monitor in this one. ESPN opens Brad up as a 27.8 point favorite, but don’t let past success be a predictor for future outcome. This will be a close game and either team can make it to SB11.

Eliminated: 6. Joe, 5. Kenny (1 ball each in lottery next year)

 

Bottom Bowl Round 2 Preview:

Game 1: Trey vs. Tommy

Winner moves to Bottom Bowl Championship Game and is guaranteed 6 or 5 balls, loser moves to Game 2 of Round 3 and is guaranteed 4 or 3 balls. Both are in a good position.

Game 2: Katon vs. Mike

This is the biggest game of Round 2. It’s a rivalry game, but there’s a lot at stake. The winner moves on to the Bottom Bowl Championship winning either 6 or 5 balls. But the loser… they move on to Game 3 of the Bottom Bowl, meaning they either win 2 or 1 ball in the lottery next year.

Game 3: Jen vs. Chase

The winner moves on to Game 2 of the 3rd Round and guarantees 4 or 3 balls in the lottery. The loser moves on to the Bottom Bowl and guarantees 2 or 1 ball in the lottery next year.

Good Luck Everybody!

Week 13 Recap & Round 1 Preview

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Rankings , ,

Week 13 Recap:

D1:

Brad (9-4) 103.1 vs. Moose (9-4) 96.3

From Bottom Bowl to Bye Week, Brad gets just enough to squeak by Moose for the D1 crown and take Points Leader. Brad wins $180.

Jen (2-11) 119.4 vs. Katon (2-11) 117.3

Jen did it! With an incredible MNF, come from behind victory (giggity), Jen gets 20.3 from Chris Carson to pass up Katon and get her second win of the year!

D2:

Tommy (6-7) 138.7 vs. JD (9-4) 119.1

JD got the bye with a win, but Tommy’s red hot team kept surging with Wentz getting 27.4, Henry getting 24.8, and Edelman getting 21.3.

Joe (7-6) 122.5 vs. Chase (3-10) 90.7

Joe needed to win and for Trey to lose. He got both!

D3:

Scotty (10-3) 81.5 vs. Kenny (8-5) 70.9

Scotty gets a bye week after winning despite scoring 81.5 points. These two teams got their stinker game out of the way, so they can concentrate on the playoffs.

Mike (7-6) 93.9 vs. Trey (6-7) 93.8

Jesus… Trey needed to win and he was in. He held the tie breaker over Joe. James White got a long catch in garbage time to put his total at 32.9 and put Mike up by 0.1 with Lockett left. Lockett goose eggs and Trey misses the playoffs by 2 yards. Ridiculous. In Week 10, Trey and Tommy faced each other. Trey had won 3 in a row. Tommy had lost 5 in a row. Ever since, including that game, Trey lost 4 in a row and Tommy won 4 in a row bringing both their records to 6-7. This one stings.

Playoffs Round 1 Preview: The Quest for Super Bowl 11 Starts Here

Intro:

4/6 teams in this year’s playoffs have won 70% of the titles in the first 10 seasons. Brad (SB1, SB3), Moose (SB2, SB7, SB10), Scotty (SB6), and Joe (SB5). Kenny and JD are both on a quest for their first title and will have to navigate through landmines of experience in order to obtain it.

1.Scotty (10-3) BYE, 2.Brad (9-4) BYE

3.JD (9-3) vs. 6. Joe (7-6)

JD and Joe square off to see who makes the final four and will face Brad’s team. How poetic would it be for Joe to face Brad in the semi’s after their blockbuster trade that led to Brad getting #1 Rb Christian McCaffrey and going on a 5-1 run including a 5 game winning streak end the regular season. Joe has been peppering the message board asking for a kicker bowl, but considering JD swept Joe in the regular season matchups, I don’t think he’s down for that. In those two games, Joe averaged a paltry 67.3 points per game while JD averaged 109.4. Joe hopes to have James Conner and Austin Hooper back from injury to try and help him advance to the Semi’s. He’ll have #3 Qb Russell Wilson @ LAR who he torched for 29.8 fantasy points earlier this season. At Qb, JD looks like he’s having trouble deciding between inconsistent Sam Darnold vs. Miami at home or starting #2 Fantasy Qb Dak Prescott @ Chicago. The ultimate question. Matchup vs. Skill. At Rb1 and 2: Joe has #32 Duke Johnson vs. Denver and (possibly) #26 James Conner @ Arizona. JD has (possibly) #43 Damien Williams @ NE, and #9 Mark Ingram @ Buffalo. Both teams have question marks on starting running backs with pretty rough replacement options if they can’t go. Joe has Raheem Mostert (who looked great last week), but faces a good run stopping New Orleans team in the Super Dome. JD has Peyton Barber against Indy. He also had a nice game last week, but was due to 2 short touchdowns. Both will need to be monitored. One thing about Mark Ingram vs. Buffalo. According to Fantasy Analyst Evan Silva, they can be run on and this matchup proves favorable for Mark to get a bulk of the carries in a neutral game script. At Wr1 and Wr2: Joe features #6 Cooper Kupp against SEA. In Week 5 he had 24.3 fantasy points against Seattle, but that was when Rams offense was competent. They finally showed up again last week against a terrible Cardinals defense, can he deliver again? #30 Tyreek Hill @ NE. Last year New England did a good job containing Hill except for one pass that Hill took for 40 yards against them in the playoffs. They’ll try to take him away again this go-round, but New England is coming off a game where they surrendered 4 passing touchdowns to Deshaun Watson. JD features #31 Davante Adams vs. Washington and #27 DK Metcalf @ LAR. Adams is coming off a 2-td performance against the Giants and is averaging 18 points per game since his bye week, getting much needed rest for the previously injured toe. Metcalf got a touchdown last time these teams met, but this time he might get the Jalen Ramsey shadow. It’s going to be tough for him to build on the 2-44-1 line from the first meeting. At Tight End: Joe hopes to have #4 Austin Hooper back, but he has *checks notes* 3 tight ends on his bench in case he’s unable to go. JD will feature #3 Darren Waller vs. Tennessee. At D/ST: Joe has #13 Panthers D/ST @ Atlanta and JD has #14 Vikings D/ST vs. Detroit. JD just acquired Vikings for $17 FAAB hoping they can exploit David Blough in his second start. At Flex: Joe has #48 Dede Westbrook vs. LAC and JD has #23 Tyler Boyd @ Cleveland. At K: Joe has #7 Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein in that same Seattle matchup. JD has Josh Lambo for the Jags vs. LAC. JD bitch slapped Joe the first two meetings. But this intradivisional playoff matchup looks extremely even on paper. It will most likely come down to who starts the right person and which team winds up the healthiest. Best of luck gentlemen (this week only, not next week 😉)

#4 Mustafa (9-4) vs. #5 Kenny (8-5)

Moose’s chance to defend his crown will go through Kenny in Round 1. The winner will face #1 Scotty in the Semi’s on their quest for Super Bowl 11. These teams met in Week 9 with K-Dub taking down Moose 120.2 to 117.7 in a heart-breaker. Kenny had several players go off on his bench and Moose would have won had he started Marvin Jones or DJ Moore over Odell. But that’s in the past and we must look at the future. ESPN opens up this game with a line of -0.1 in Moose’s favor, without Moose having . As close as it can be. At Qb: Kenny will feature #10 Kirk Cousins vs. Detroit, a juicy ass matchup. Moose will feature #1 Lamar Jackson, but @ Buffalo. Buffalo has been great at limited Qb production and have a strong linebacker group. I imagine Jackson will get a lot of short runs that raise his floor, but his ceiling is capped somewhat. At Rb1 and Rb2: Kenny has #19 Saquon Barkley @ Philly. Moose faced Dalvin Cook in Week 13 on MNF and lost. This week he’ll have to watch another stud Rb have a chance to take him out. Philly’s run defense has been pretty good though. Kenny also has #14 Philip Lindsay @ HOU. Houston was just torched by James White. Moose features #5 Nick Chubb with a great matchup against Cincy. He just has to hope Kareem Hunt doesn’t take too many of Chubb’s points. #7 Austin Ekeler is @ Jax. At Wr1 and Wr2: Kenny has #4 Kenny Golladay @ Minnesota, a very beatable secondary. Golladay hasn’t showed signs of slowly down regardless of who’s throwing the football for Detroit. He also has #15 Jarvis Landry against Cincy’s lack of a defense. Moose has #5 Amari Cooper @ Chicago. Cooper has battled through injuries all this season and continually put up strong numbers, but in the last three weeks he’s only scored 16.7 points averaging 5.6 points per game including a 0 against NE. Moose needs his star Wideout to show up against da Bears. Moose also features #25 Odell Beckham Jr vs. Cincy. Landry has outscored Odell in every game since the bye week (in Week 7) by an average of 7.2 points more per game. Can this streak end to propel Moose to the next round? Or will Jarvis continue his hot streak? At TE: Kenny has #5 Zach Ertz against NYG. Last year against the G Men, Ertz averaged 7-67-1 stat lines. Moose has #1 Travis Kelce @ NE. Last year in two matchups against NE, Kelce combined for a 8-84-1 stat line. At Flex: Kenny has #38 Kenyan Drake vs. Pit as of right now. Moose has #10 Wr DJ Moore who’s been an excellent starter for Moose over the past 5 weeks, averaging 19.1 points per game. He’s been targeted an incredible 57 times during that stretch. With Greg Olsen potentially to miss time, that number should continue. At D/ST: Kenny has #4 BAL D/ST @ BUF. Moose has #9 Jets D/ST vs. Miami. Miami has surrendered double digit fantasy outings to opposing D/ST in 10/12 weeks with an average of 13.6 points per game. Last week they scored all over Philly who only wind up with 2 points as a D/ST unit, surely upsetting optimistic streamers out there. Or in our case, Kenny. Had Kenny started LAR D/ST he would have won against Scotty. At K: Kenny has #2 Harrison Butker vs. NE. I expect a lower scoring game, but Butker should be money. Moose picked up #18 Ka’shimi Fairburner vs. Denver.

 

Bottom Bowl Round 1 Preview:

#7 Mike (7-6) vs. #8 Tommy (6-7)

Tommy comes surging into the Bottom Bowl red hot! Mike wins by 0.1 but needed Joe to lose in order to sneak into the playoffs as the 6th seed. Usually 7 wins is enough, but not this year. Tommy finished 6-7 for the third time and his Bottom Bowl streak extends to 3 seasons. The winner of this game guarantees 3-6 balls in next years lottery.

#9 Trey (6-7) vs. #10. Chase (3-10)

Trey drops from a potential 6th seed all the way to 9th thanks to 2 mother f%&king yards. Chase goes from Points Leader and #1 Overall seed in 2018 to 10 losses and a #10 seed in the Bottom Bowl. Chase is one of the best managers in the league, but couldn’t overcome the 12th pick draft position and Sony Michel’s awfulness. These teams own the worse two losing streaks, Trey at 4 and Chase at 5. One of these streaks will come to an end. The winner will be in the crucial Game 1 of the Second round, meaning if they win this they already are guaranteed 3-6 balls in next years lottery. The loser of this game moves on to Game 3 in Round 2, which means they are already eliminated from winning 5 or 6 balls in the lottery and are destined for 1-4 balls.

#11 Katon (2-11) vs. #12 Jen (2-11)

Rubber Match! Katon won Week 3. Jen won Week 13. Who is better? Find out this week!

 

Good Luck Everyone!