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BBY 2020 Playoffs Round 1 Preview

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Playoff Preview Round 1

Welcome to the Playoff Preview for the 2020 Playoffs of the 12th year of the Best Buy Dream Team League.  Couple more prepositions and that sentence would have gotten really annoying.   First analysis of the bracket shows that it is a bit lopsided.  1. Kenny (Points For: 1676.4) will play the winner of 4. Brad (Points For: 1637.2) and 5. Katon (Points For: 1506.3).  The average Points For on this side of the bracket is 1606.6.  On the other side we have 2. Trey (Points For: 1504.8) will play the winner of 3. Mike (Points For: 1508.3) vs. 6. Jen (Points For: 1282.2).  The average Points For on this side of the bracket is 1431.8.  Of course, in the Fantasy Playoffs it doesn’t matter how you got there.  It matters that you got in.  Because if you got in then you have a shot.  A shot… at winning a Championship.  Only two teams out of the six have won Super Bowls before (Trey: 2017, Brad: 2009, 2011).  Five teams have made it to Super Bowls before (Jen lost to Trey in 2017, Katon lost to Chase in 2016, and Mike lost to Brad in 2009).  Then there is Kenny.  Kenny has never made it to a Super Bowl, but he comes into the bracket as the #1 Seed and won the Points Leader Title for 2020, winning him some cash in the process.  ($180).  Of course, I would be remiss to not mention how crazy of a season it’s been.  Dealing with suspended games, players unexpectedly going on COVID Reserve lists, on top of another injury riddled season.  It has been challenging to make the right calls and it’s another reminder of how little we control in fantasy.  We control a lot, but luck and circumstance control a lot too.  Best of Luck to the four playoffs teams squaring off this week.  May the odds be ever in your favor.  

Byes: 1. Kenny, 2. Trey

Playoff Resumes’:

Kenny: Appearances: 3, Record: 1-3, SB Appearances: 0, SB Wins: 0

Trey: Appearances: 4, Record: 4-3, SB Appearances: 1, SB Wins: 1 (2017)

3. Mike (8-5) vs. 6. Jen (7-6)

Playoff Resumes’:

Mike: Appearances: 3, Record: 2-3, SB Appearances: 1, SB Wins: 0

Jen: Appearances: 2, Record: 1-2, SB Appearances: 1, SB Wins: 0

Preview: The winner of Mike and Jen will go on to face the 2 Seed Trey.  These two have not met head-to-head in the playoffs previously.

X Factor Players: 

Mike’s x factor player: Christian McCaffrey.  Run CMC was out for most of the 2020 campaign dealing with a high ankle sprain, then when he returns, he injured his shoulder/ribs.  In the three contests he participated in he averaged 27.3 points per game.  He is looking good to be active in this one to the detriment of Jen’s playoff hopes.   

Jen’s x factor player: #6 DeAndre Hopkins.  D-Hop has struggled lately as much of the Cardinals offense has struggled.  In the last three weeks Hopkins has averaged 10.3 points per game.  For the season he averages 15.6 points per game, but he hasn’t been consistent.  He has scored over 20+ points in 5 contests and less than 10 points in 5 contests.  So which Hopkins will show up for Jen?  To advance she needs the 20+, which may be a difficult ask given Hopkins potential shadow coverage from lockdown corner James Bradberry on an underrated Giants Defense.  

Matchup Notables:

Mike- #16 AJ Brown faces a very beatable Jacksonville secondary ranked 30th in OPRK.  He was out the first time the Titans played the Jags and should post solid numbers in this game, which has a weird look of a shootout to it.  #4 Justin Jefferson is at Tampa Bay who gave up 269 receiving yards to Tyreek Hill a couple of weeks ago.  Tampa is coming off of a bye and sometimes teams can be a bit unpredictable following a bye week.  Some come out and look great, others come out and get destroyed.  Will be something to watch.

Jen- #6 Deshaun Watson plays @ Chicago.  Chicago is beatable in the secondary, but they have their moments.  They sit OPRK 9th and have been tough for opposing Quarterbacks; however, in the past two weeks they have given up almost 300 yards passing per game and 7 passing touchdowns.  On Sunday the current weather projection shows a high in Chicago of 32 degrees with a low of 21 degrees.     

Brad’s Final Thoughts:

Looking at the matchups Jen’s chances are slim.  It would be a huge upset for Jen to take out Mike and advance to the semifinals against Trey.  Of course, Mike had some favorable matchups in Week 5 too.  Jen defeated Mike 148.3 to 103.3 back then.  Who wins this one?

4. Brad (8-5) vs. 5. Katon (7-6)

Playoff Resumes’:

Brad: Appearances: 9, Record: 11-7, SB Appearances: 5, SB Wins: 2 (2009, 2011)

Katon: Appearances: 4, Record: 3-4, SB Appearances: 1: SB Wins: 0

Preview: The winner of Brad and Katon will go on to face the 1 Seed Kenny.  These two met in the playoffs in 2016 with Katon defeating Brad 153.5 to 97.9. This is Brad’s 10th playoff appearance in 12 seasons.   

X Factor Players:

Brad- #1 Travis Kelce might be the most valuable player in fantasy this season.  Given how bad the tight end position has been (of course last week there was a bit of an explosion from Darren Waller and other tight ends like Mike Gesicki and Logan Thomas had solid games). His 17.8 points per game is equivalent of having the #5 Fantasy Running Back in the Tight End slot.  He is Brad’s X Factor.  He has a test this week against Miami who is striving to convince the league of their validity as a playoff contender.  Beating the Chiefs might just accomplish that, but is easier said than done.  

Katon- #5 Aaron Rodgers.  In the last 7 games Rodgers has been a model of consistency, scoring between 22.5 and 31.9 fantasy points, and tossing multiple touchdowns in every one of those games.  On the season he averaged 24.7 points per game and should be a solid foundation for Katon’s point total in Round 1.  A dome game at Detroit isn’t a bad thing to keep that production moving forward.    

Matchup Notables:

Brad- His Chiefs Stack of #1 Patrick Mahomes/#1 Travis Kelce faces Miami.  In the last three weeks the Miami defense has given up an average of 7.9 fantasy points to opposing fantasy quarterbacks.  Now those Quarterbacks came from the Broncos, the Jets, and the Bengals.  Their kryptonite has been mobile quarterbacks with Cam Newton (25.7), Josh Allen (39.5), Russel Wilson (23.9) and Kyler Murray (40.8).  Mahomes may need to use his feet more in this one, which he has done some this season.  He rushed for over 25 yards in 6 games this season.  #3 Derrick Henry faces OPRK #29 Jacksonville coming off of a game where the Titans got destroyed (although their comeback makes it look a lot closer than it was) against the Browns last week and will be angry this week.  Derrick Henry facing Jacksonville twice this season was one of Brad’s main motivations for drafting him over Alvin Kamara.  In Week 2 Henry only got 8.4 fantasy points against them.  Brad will need these three to do average or better to have a shot to advance.    

Katon- #12 David Montgomery faces Houston ranked 31 OPRK.  Since the bye week Run D. Monty has averaged 25.5 fantasy points.  Potential smash spot for Montgomery who has been a true workhorse for Chicago the past two weeks.  #5 Keenan Allen also has a great matchup against Atlanta’s 31 OPRK. Atlanta averages 38 fantasy points against them per game to the Wide Receiver position.  Unless Mike Williams or James Guyton steps up, I imagine most of those points heading Allen’s way this week.  

Brad’s Final Thoughts:

Both teams are Top Heavy with a large percentage of their points coming from 3 players.  If Mahomes, Henry, and Kelce are cancelled out by Rodgers, Montgomery, and Allen, then this matchup might come down to everyone else.  Katon has better Rb2 in Nick Chubb facing Baltimore, Brad’s Wr1 Terry McLaurin could be a factor.  Honestly this game is pretty close to a toss up.  But given the matchups I think Katon’s big 3 have more potential to go off than Brad’s big 3.  So I’m inclined to believe that Katon may be favored to win ever so slightly.  

Bottom Bowl Preview:

Let’s talk about what you really came here for.  Balls.  That’s right, lottery balls that can won to increase one’s chance at a higher draft pick.  It worked out well with those with a Top 4 Pick this year.  The draft picks that made the playoffs were 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12.  So either you need to be #1 or get an even number.  Except of course for Scotty at #10 who got Brad’s Draft Grade kiss of death.  I digress, Bottom Bowl!

7. Chase (6-7) vs. 8. Tommy (6-7)

Chase won both regular season matchups against Tommy and they meet yet again.  The winner of this game will be in Game 1 of the second round and will already guarantee themselves 3 or more balls in the draft lottery next year.  So there is a lot at stake.  Chase opens up as a near 29 point favorite.  Had Chase’s luck gone slightly differently in the regular season his team has the potential of a post season run.  That run is still available just to win a potential higher draft pick next year.  Russell Wilson faces the Jets who are decent at stopping the run, but have given up 29+ fantasy points in 5 games this season.  Davante Adams faced Detroit, so 30 points isn’t a bad projection for him.  He averages 23.6 for God’s sake.  Tommy’s team is decent on paper with Top 10 Qb, 2 Top 10 Rb, 2 Top 18 WR, but Zeke getting neutered from the Dak injury, Kareem Hunt crapping out since Chubb’s return, and Kenny Golladay’s hip injury have pushed Tommy to the outside looking in.  And now a tough match against Chase.  A loss would put him in the Game 2 of Round 2, which is the most volatile Bottom Bowl game of the postseason.  Can Tommy pull off the upset and avenge his two losses in the regular season?

9. JD (5-8) vs. 10. Moose (5-8)

Moose won back-to-back titles and was striving for a three peat but wasn’t able to scrape together enough wins to make the playoffs despite scoring the third most points in the league and scoring the most in his division.  The salt in the wound thing about this season for Moose has to be the fact that the three other teams in his division all made the playoffs.  As you know in this league we practice “prima nocta” with the Champion being able to select the first team to be in their division.  JD started off rough, but he pulled off possibly the most lopsided trade in history this year.  Securing #3 Qb Josh Allen and #6 Rb Antonio Gibson for #11 Rb Kenyan Drake and a handcuff.  Unfortunately for JD he won’t have Gibson this week due to a turf toe injury, so he’ll have to rely on someone else to try and get him past Moose and into the coveted Game 1 of Round 2.  His key to victory will be #5 Aaron Jones versus Detroit.  Moose’s team exploded last week and enters this matchup out for blood.  Lamar Jackson @ Cleveland could help with that. 

11. Joe (4-9) vs. 12. Scotty (4-9)

Just realized the symmetry of the Bottom Bowl.  6-7 vs. 6-7, 5-8 vs. 5-8, and 4-9 vs. 4-9.  Joe stacked the Steelers this season and coupled them with Rookie Running Backs.  It looked good and I thought the strategy was going to work.  Then Steelers spread the ball out a lot making JuJu inconsistent and have a capped ceiling.  The rookies were impacted by crowded backfields, with Chiefs signing Le’veon Bell and the Colts relying on a rotation with Nyheim Hines stealing a lot of the valuable touches from Jonathan Taylor.  Scotty just got hit with the injury bug and he got hit hard.  Ekeler, Sanders, Conner, Dak.  Too many assets missing too many games to catch any momentum.  He traded injured Sanders for healthy Godwin and Godwin breaks a finger.  Par for the course.  The winner of this game moves on the volatile Game 2 in Round 2, the loser already is out of a chance at 6 and 5 balls and will secure 4 or less.  

Good Luck Everybody!

BBY 2020: Week 6 Recap & Week 7 Preview

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I apologize for not doing a write up last week.  The week simply got away from me.  This week’s write up was late as well due to a migraine on Tuesday.  All is well. 

Week 6 Recap

Katon (3-3) 84.8 vs. Tommy (3-3) 89.6

Katon got 15.0 points from the New York Giants Defense and 3.8 points from Aaron Rodgers and only lost by 4.8.  Tommy was led by Kenny Golladay’s 15.5.  Difference in the game was Kicker with Katon getting 2 from Stephen Gostkowski and Tommy get 10 from Joey Slye.  Tommy abandoned Stephen Gostkowski and Katon tried to turn him against him. Gostkoswki’s loyalties lie with Tommy. It sometimes comes down to the kicker.

Jen (5-1) 97.4 vs. JD (1-5) 85.7

The other “close” game of the week was Battle of the J’s.  Jen got 35 from Deshaun Watson who accounted for 35.9% of her total point output.  JD 5 starters in single digits and nobody scored over 15.  Another tough loss for JD who falls to 1-5 and has a tremendous uphill climb if he is to make the playoffs. 

Kenny (5-1) 78.3 vs. Mike (4-2) 150.1

Kenny’s first loss of the season comes at the hands of a 71.8 point ass whooping from Mike.  Kenny’s worst game of the year corresponded with Mike’s best game of the year.  Kenny had averaged 132.6 per game prior to this matchup.  He was without DK Metcalf (Bye) and Dalvin Cook (injury) and started the wrong Qb Bridgewater (9.4 points) over Ryan (34.6).  Mike was destined to smash in this contest.  His starting lineup put up 150.1, but had he started the right defense and flex he could’ve scored 182.5.  Justin Jefferson got him 38.1, Kyler Murray 28.8, George Kittle 23.4, and AJ Brown 20.1.  That’ll do.

Trey (4-2) 89.4 vs. Brad (3-3) 159.0

Brad rebounds from his 0.1 loss in Week 6 with a near 60 point curb stomping of Trey.  Trey was without his first two picks Josh Jacobs and Chris Carson.  His 89.4 was a noble effort and would’ve beaten half the league this week with 26.3 from Will Fuller and 17.9 from Cam Newton.  Mike Gesicki retired for some reason.  Brad had his first monster outing from Derrick Henry as he exploded with 46.4 points.  Brad went into Monday down by 10.4 points and got a combined 71.1 from Mahomes, Kelce, Drake, and his kicker.  This was capped off by a long touchdown run in garbage time by Kenyan Drake. 

Chase (2-4) 72.7 vs. Moose (2-4) 145.2

Moose exploded for his best game of the year getting 32.7 from Julio Jones, 31.2 from Lamar Jackson, 28.1 from Ronald Jones, 19.9 from Trey Burton, and 16.1 from his $66 man Chase Claypool.  No Alvin Kamara, no Darren Waller, no problem for Moose who has won 2 out of his last 3 games and looks poised to be a problem down the stretch.  Chase was without Russel Wilson, Michael Thomas, and Hunter Henry due to byes and their replacements combined for less than 30 points.  7 starters in single digits and nobody scored more than 14.6.  Where was this last week? 

Scotty (2-4) 86.6 vs. Joe (2-4) 103.1

Scotty’s team has been ravaged by injuries.  He picked up Andy Dalton who struggled mightily against the Cardinals, Miles Sanders injured his knee and missed the rest of the game, and he got a 0 from his Tight End.  Joe got solid performances from CEH with 21.9 and Steeler’s D/ST with 19.  Enough to get the W.

Week 7 Preview:

Brad (3-3) vs. Katon (3-3)

A couple middle of the pack teams fighting to stay in the playoff race.  Brad draws some terrible matchups with his KC Stack versus Denver @ Denver, Derrick Henry faces the Juggernaut Pittsburgh Defense, and Kenyan Drake faces Seattle who has been good against the run.  Terry McLaurin is his one bright spot this week drawing the ghost of the Cowboys team who got torched by the Cardinals last week.  Katon has Aaron Rodgers in a potential shootout against the Texans.  David Montgomery faces the Rams, Amari Cooper in the Washington game.  He has other players with favorable matchups like Mixon vs. Cleveland, Noah Fant vs. KC and Keenan Allen vs. Jax, but they are all questionable for the contest.  In 3 Wins Brad has averaged 147.1.  In 3 Losses Brad has averaged 98.6.  This certainly looks like a 98.6 week and not a 147 week.

Trey (4-2) vs. Chase (2-4)

Trey gets back Josh Jacobs and Chris Carson, which is the good news.  The bad news is Jacobs plays Tampa’s underrated defense who just donkey stomped the Green Bay Packers.  Also there are reports of Raiders linemen getting covid and not following protocols on the bye week, so Jacobs might be getting demolished all game.  Carson is @ Arizona.  In 2 games against the Cardinals last season Carson averaged about 70 rushing yards, 30 receiving yards, and didn’t score in either contest.  Tyler Boyd faces Cleveland again after getting a solid 7-72-1 stat line in their first outing, good for 16.7 fantasy points.  Chase is starting to get healthier, but then trades for another injured player in Miles Sanders.  Chase gets Russel Wilson back and hopes to have Michael Thomas back, but he now is battling ankle and hamstring injuries.  He’s starting two Eagles on Thursday Night Football against the Giants, what could go wrong?  Chase may or may not win this game, but if his team can get fully healthy for the back half of the season he can make a run to the playoffs and beyond.  Wilson-Sanders-Gaskin-Adams-Thomas-Le’Veon sounds dangerous.

Joe (2-4) vs. Mike (4-2)

Joe has some tough matchups this week with Big Ben @ Ten, CEH @ DEN, McKinnon @ NE, and JD McKissic being in Joe’s lineup.  Mike has Kyler Murray in a potential shootout with Seattle.  David Johnson who’s strengths matchup well with GB’s weakness.  This matchup also features some young studs at Wideout with Calvin Ridley for Joe and AJ Brown and Deebo Samuel for Mike.  This should be a good game, but Mike looks to be the early favorite.

JD (1-5) vs. Tommy (3-3)

Tommy lost when he scored 139.8 and won when he scored 89.6.  JD lost when he scored 138.9 and won when he scored 107.8.  So really there’s no telling what the hell is going to happen in this one.  JD’s team isn’t the best, but he has some great matchups.  Josh Allen vs. the Jets, Aaron Jones in potential shootout with Texans, Antonio Gibson in a breakout spot against the shell of the Cowboys, and Phillip Lindsay against KC who will try to keep Mahomes off the field with ball control.  Tommy has Tom Brady @ LV, Zeke @ Washington who’s front seven is highly talented and can take advantage of a severly banged up Dallas O-line, Kareem Hunt is in a smash spot against the Bengals.  He got 23.1 against them in Week 2, his highest point total of the season and that was sharing time with Nick Chubb.  Tommy’s Lions stack of Golladay and Swift face Atlanta’s defense that got Dan Quinn fired.  This has the makings to be a great game with more than likely one of these teams getting another unfortunate loss in a close game.

Moose (2-4) vs. Kenny (5-1)

Kenny was dominating the competition until last week.  Moose was struggling mightily until last week.  Can Kenny bounce back?  Is Moose for real?  Moose will be without Lamar Jackson who is on a bye and Kenny is without Dalvin Cook due to injury/bye.  Moose has Stafford @ Atlanta, Alvin Kamara coming off a bye vs. Carolina, RoJo coming off a monster outing against Vegas, Julio in the Detroit game and Waller vs. Tampa Bay.  Allen Robinson gets his date with Jalen Ramsey.  Kenny has Matt Ryan and Gurley in the Detroit game, Melvin Gordon’s drunk ass against KC, where he also has Tyreek Hill.  Diggs is in a smash spot against the hapless Jets who still haven’t fired Adam Gase for some reason.  DK Metcalf is a monster and Wr #6 post bye week, but will most likely face Patrick Peterson in a fun Wr/CB matchup to watch.  Should be a great game and I can see either team pulling this one out.

Scotty (2-4) vs. Jen (5-1)

Jen in Forrest Gumps voice, “I just kept winning…”  Scotty has been ravaged by injuries, he has Wentz versus the NYG on TNF, Conner @ Tennessee in a marquee AFC matchup, Justin Jackson versus Jacksonville, Jared Cook vs. Carolina, Brandin Cooks versus Green Bay.  So between the Jacksons and the Cooks Scotty is hoping to get a win in the books… Jen loves the D.  Meaning of course that most of her players names start with a D.  Deshaun, Devin, Devery, DeAndre, and DJ are going to battle it out and try to move Jen within 1 game of playoffville population 6.  Scotty makes a trade with Chase to bring in some reinforcements but loses his Miles Sanders in the process.  Now Scotty just has to make the correct starting lineup decisions.  I like Jen’s chances in this one. 

As always, best of luck everyone!

-Brad

BBY Week 2 Recap & Week 3 Preview

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Week 2 Recap:

Moose (1-1) 112.2 vs. Katon (1-1) 132.3

Moose has had 5 touchdowns scored from his opponents Rb1 Slot in the first two weeks.  After Trey went off for 134.3 last week, Katon gets 132.3 this week bringing Moose’s average Points Against to 133.3 in an 0-2 start.  Katon’s team was solid all around with 7/9 starters getting to double digits.  You know it’s bad when even the Bears Running Back gets 20 points.  Moose on the other hand appeared to have drew a stinker of a week prior to MNF.  Even the incredible Lamar Jackson had a pedestrian 17.4 outing.  Moose had 6 players score in single digits.    When your players in your Rb1, Rb2, Wr1, Wr2 slots combine for 21.6 you’re going to have a bad time.  Moose entered MNF down by about 80 points.  Darren Waller and Alvin Kamara combined for 59.2 points and winning Brad $17 on DraftKings Showdown slate. 

Jen (1-1) 95.1 vs. Trey (2-0) 147.6

The biggest story for Jen is obviously her losing Saquon Barkley in this one.  #2 Overall pick looking like he tore his ACL and will be done for the year.  Jen’s Wideouts Hopkins, DJ Moore, and CeeDee Lamb carried her team combining for a solid 53.3 points.  Just didn’t have enough for Trey’s team.  Trey got 37.5 from Cam Newton, 18.3 from Chris Carson, 15.4 from Odell Beckham, 15.7 from Hayden Hurst, 14.7 from Mark Ingram, 19 from Bal D/ST, and 15 from Justin Tucker.  Trey outscored Jen’s peripherals 49.7 to 15.7.  This was even more impressive considering Trey got 0 from Will Fuller, who unsurprisingly pulled a hammy in the game.  Trey has now started off the season with games of 134.3 and 147.6, averaging 140.95 and is in 1st place.      

Bradley (1-1) 139.6 vs. JD (0-2) 119.4

This was a hell of a comeback victory for Brad.  JD came out swinging with a MONSTER 48.6 point explosion from Aaron Jones.  After the early afternoon games at 3:07pm Central time Brad was down 90.8 to 10.9.  ESPN at that moment projected JD to win 140.6 to 95.3.  Brad had drafted Derrick Henry so he can smash Jacksonville and they held him to 25 carries for 84 yards.  Luckily for Brad his 2nd and 3rd Round pick combo of Kelce-Mahomes combined for 49.9 points.  He also got much needed reinforcements from McLaurin and Edelman who combined for 49.9 points as well.  Harrison Butker added two 58 yard field goals and amazingly Brad wind up winning by 20.2 points.  JD couldn’t ride Aaron Jones into the sunset due to four starters getting single digits and everyone else on his team scoring 13 points or less.    

Joe (1-1) 112.0  vs. Kenny (2-0) 134.5

2-0 K-Dub!  This is a classic scenario.  Someone gets excited about Thursday Night Football.  They want to watch their player play because there is nothing else going on.  So they start someone that they probably shouldn’t.  Joe threw in AJ Green into his flex spot.  Green got an impressive 13 targets, but only caught 3 of them for a paltry 29 yards.  Meanwhile come Sunday Calvin Ridley went off for the 2nd week in a row to the tune of 29.4 points on Joe’s bench.  Joe had a pretty solid outing otherwise with 21.2 from Big Ben, 21 from Jonathan Taylor who looks like the real deal in Indy, 22.9 from Mike Evans with Chris Godwin out.  Kenny followed up his 134.1 week 1 with a 134.5 week 2.  Matt Ryan got 28.4, Dalvin Cook got 16.1, Tyreek Hill got 21.3, Metcalf got 19.2, and Melvin Gordon sans Philip Lindsay got 15.4 against a tough Steelers defense.  Kenny’s team is for real. 

 Mike (2-0) 140.9 vs. Chase (1-1) 103.3

Yikes.  Chase has now had the following lost to injuries this season: Picks 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9.  That is just awful luck.  Chase was still able to eclipse 100 points this week with about a third coming from Russel Wilson’s 33.3.  Raheem Mostert started the game with an 80 yard touchdown, but didn’t do much more after that  and didn’t play the second half due to a knee injury.  Davante Adams pulled a hammy.  Chase’s peripherals combined for 35.3, but even that was outmatched by Mike’s 53.4 peripheral performance.  Mike got 32.1 from Kyler Murray who is doing it all this season.  Mike also got 22.8 from Christian McCaffrey who also succumbed to the injury bug.  He injured his ankle and couldn’t finish the contest.  A glimmer of hope left for Chase lies in Leonard Fournette who seemed to have taken over the Bucs starting running back duties with a 28.6 point explosion on Chase’s bench.  And he has Devonta Freeman who very well may sign with the Giants to take over their lead back duties after the loss of Saquon.  Chase is one of the best managers in the league, but it appears this season he will be tested with some early adversity. 

Tommy (0-2) 98.4 vs. Scotty (1-1) 137.5

Tommy’s picks of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkoswki look to be his kryptonite.  The dusty old timers combined for a pathetic 8.6 fantasy points this week.  Tommy almost got to 100 total points mainly due to Zeke and Kareem Hunt combining for 42.3 points.  Scotty’s team exploded this week.  It was good to have Miles Sanders back in his lineup to the tune of 18.6 points and he looked good doing it.  Ekeler is splitting time with Kelley with Ekeler getting 57% of the snaps and Kelley getting 52% (yes there were a few plays with both of them on the field).  Scotty benched James Conner after a terrible Week 1 and he looked as though Week 1 never happened with 22.1 on Scotty’s bench.  Of course, the main man for Scotty this week was Dak Prescott who scored 4 total touchdowns including 3 rushing touchdowns for a total of 44.8 fantasy points outscoring Tommy’s top two scorers combined.  It hurt Tommy even worst seeing Dak get all those goal line scores considering Tommy had Zeke.  What could have been. 

Week 3 Preview:

Katon (1-1) vs. Trey (2-0)

First place Trey enters Week 3 on fire.  He tries to move to 3-0, but standing in his way is Katon who just out Moose.   Katon has Aaron Rodgers against New Orleans, who just let Derrick Carr (pukes) throw for 282 and 3 touchdowns.  Rodgers will hope to have Davante Adams to throw to in this one.  #9 Rb Nick Chubb faces Washington who has done a decent job against the run to start the year.  Chubb played last Thursday, so a little extra rest might set him up for success.  Mixon faces Philly who is also decent against the run.  Amari Cooper plays @ Seattle, a should-be shootout.  Robert Woods gets a tough draw against Buffalo, in what might also become a shootout.  David Montgomery should do okay against Atlanta.  49ers D/ST looked a lot better two weeks ago.  Some significant losses on the defensive line will make it interesting to see how they play against Barkley-less NY Giants.  Trey has #3 Qb Cam Newton vs. Las Vegas, #4 Rb Josh Jacobs in the same game.  #7 Rb Chris Carson is in the Dallas @ Seattle game.  This game will come down to Monday Night Football with Trey having Mark Ingram and Raven’s D/ST going up against Kansas City. 

Moose (0-2) vs. Jen (1-1)

Moose hasn’t started 0-2 since 2016 when he went 7-6 and wind up missing the playoffs.  He’ll look to avoid 0-3 against Jen this week.  He has Kamara in his flex due to the late start time, so Rojo and Joshua Kelley are holding down Rb1 and Rb2.  Rojo looks to have been usurped by Leonard Fournette this past weekend.  Would not be surprised if Moose looks elsewhere this week and beyond.  #23 Rb Joshua Kelley appears to have taken the Melvin Gordon role and looks good doing it.  Carolina was just gashed by Buga, so look for Kelley and Ekeler to both have success.  Julio Jones faces Chicago, Allen Robinson is @ Atlanta, #3 TE Darren Waller is @ NE, and #2 Rb Kamara faces GB.  Kamara fell to Moose after Brad picked Derrick Henry.  A decision we will continue to monitor.  Jen is rolling out a barn burner of a Rb1 and Rb2 combo herself with Devin Singletary and Devery Henderson.  Henderson balled out last week and with injuries to Cam Akers (ribs) and Malcolm Brown (finger) look for Henderson to get the bulk of carries versus a solid Bills team.  #4 Wr DeAndre Hopkins has an incredible 22/25 reception to target ratio to start the season.  Kyler Murray’s hot start has helped skyrocket Hopkins value and further dunking on Brad’s draft grades.  Jen also has DJ Moore who is setup for a revenge game against his former manager.  He looked great last week when Carolina was playing from behind catching 8 of 13 targets for 120 yards.  Chargers defense is formidable, but Moore’s floor is reassured.  😊CeeDee Lamb has outscored Michael Gallup and is currently Wr#24.  His matchup against Atlanta is sexy and is setting this up to be a very good matchup.

Brad (1-1) vs. Joe (1-1)

Both Brad and Joe enter Week 3 after receiving beat downs courtesy of Kenny.  This game is for 2nd place in D2.  Brad features the #1 Fantasy Qb Josh Allen… on his bench.  Which I’m okay with.  He’s not dropping 35 points per game for any of you idiots.  #8 Patrick Mahomes rebounded nicely from his Week 1 stinker with a 30 point performance against the Chargers.  This week he’ll battle it out versus Lamar Jackson and the Ravens.  The last two times Mahomes has faced the Ravens he has averaged 375.5 passing yards, 2.5 touchdowns, and 0.5 interceptions.  Joe features #13 Qb Big Ben who faces the Texans.  This could be a shootout or a blowout, as Houston’s defense has looked pretty bad the first two weeks.  Houston started this season against the Chiefs-Ravens-Steelers, which is absolutely brutal.  But good for Joe’s Big Ben-JuJu-Steelers D/ST stack.  This battle might be decided by Rookie Running Backs.  Joe has Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jonathan Taylor.  Brad has Antonio Gibson or JK Dobbins or someone else, he’s a mess.  Which one would you rather start:           

Player A: 10 Touches, 83 yards, 2 touchdowns

Player B: 25 Touches, 96 yards, 1 touchdown

Brad has #18 Derrick Henry who is already feeling the TD regression this season.  His choice of Henry over Kamara and CEH is looking worse and worse by the week.  Terry McLaurin and Julian Edelman had nice outings last week.  They’ll look to continue with Terry facing the Browns and Edelman facing the Raiders.  Joe has Mike Evans against the Broncos and #1 Fantasy Wr Calvin Ridley vs. Chicago.  Maybe one day the #1 Qb and #1 Wr will actually be in their teams’ starting lineups.  Should be a great game.    

Kenny (2-0) vs. JD (0-2)

Put some respect to his name!  Kenny has come out smoking hot.  Averaging 134.3, 1st place in D2 and #2 overall in the standings.  He faces JD who couldn’t capture a victory last week even with Aaron Jones 48.6 point explosion.  Kenny features #6 Qb Matt Ryan vs. Chicago, #8 Rb Dalvin Cook vs. Tennessee, #15 Melvin Gordon against Tampa Bay, and Todd Gurley.  JD has #1 Rb Aaron Jones @ New Orleans, #25 Kenyan Drake vs. Detroit.  As of right now JD is riding with Daniel Jones at Qb, but after averaging on 12 points per game he may turn elsewhere either via trade or waiver wire.  Kenny also has #6 DK Metcalf who is looking more and more like this year’s Kenny Golladay.  This game will come down to Monday Night Football with Kenny’s Tyreek Hill and Justin Tucker versus JD’s Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and Mark Andrews.  Should be fun to watch!

Chase (1-1) vs. Scotty (1-1)

Yikes.  Chase’s injuries have included Michael Thomas or as he refers to him “CGM” which is from his twitter handle “Can’t Guard Mike”, Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, Le’Veon Bell, Raheem Mostert, Brandon Auyik, Jerry Jeudy, etc.  Any who it looks like he’s starting #14 Rb Leonard Fournette and #27 Rb Myles Gaskin.  It helps that he has #2 Russel Wilson against Dallas.  Third shootout to start the year?  Yes please.  Chase is hoping CGM, Adams, and Godwin are all available this week otherwise he’ll have to get creative.  Scotty has the other Qb in the Seattle-Dallas game in #4 Dak Prescott.  He also has Miles Sanders against Cin and Austin Ekeler against Panthers.  Both Miles Sanders and James Conner looked great last week after both sitting Week 1 (pretty much).  This should be a great game and it’ll be interesting to see how Chase’s team plays out up until Sunday kickoff.    

Mike (2-0) vs. Tommy (0-2)

Mike tragically lost Christian McCaffrey to a high ankle sprain leading him to start David Johnson and $75 FAAB money (cough cough) I mean Latavius Murray against Green Bay.  We’ll see if his Rb2 gets swapped out tomorrow.  😊  Mike is hoping to have AJ Brown and George Kittle back in his lineup, but he might be digging for starters as Sunday approaches.  Tommy is wheeling out the Ghosts of Fantasy Past with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski still somehow implanted into his starting lineup.  Must be that sexy 15.6 fantasy points per game they are averaging together.  He has #5 Zeke @ Seattle, #10 Kareem Hunt vs. Washington, Adam Thielen vs. Tennessee and John Brown vs. the Rams.  Mike is hoping #5 Kyler Murray’s juicy matchup with Detroit and TY Hilton squaring off against the hapless “why haven’t they fired Gase yet” Jets.   This is another matchup who’s starters could look a lot different come Sunday. 

As always, best of luck everybody!  I look forward to seeing how much yall drop in FAAB money tonight!  (Probably too much)

Super Bowl 11 Preview

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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

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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

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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!

 

Week 11 Recap & Week 12 Preview

bradleybertoniere Fantasy Football, NFL, Rankings , , ,

Week 11 Recap:

D1:

Brad (7-4) 114.4 vs. Katon (2-9) 96

Brad chose the right Qb, starting Josh Allen (33.8) over 4-INT Jameis Winston (17.7) a difference of 16.1. Brad won by 18.4. CMC and Cook combined for 40.2, their lowest combined score since Brad acquired CMC from Joe 4 weeks ago. (53.2, 54, 52.6, 40.2). Katon started the right Qb as well, picking Matt Ryan (19.4) over 4 INT Philip Rivers (15). Unfortunately for Katon, Robert Woods was a late, healthy inactive for the SNF game against the Bears for a “personal issue”. Had Katon caught it at the last minute he would have had to drop someone on bye, Woods himself, or maybe his precious Gronk. We know the last one wasn’t going to happen. Brad still has playoff hopes alive.

Jen (1-10) 87.1 vs. Moose (8-3) 121.3

Jen held a slight lead heading into MNF, but Moose got a solid 19.4 from Ekeler and 18 from Kelce to put Jen away and finish as the week’s #2 scorer. He widens his lead for points leader to 26.7 points with two weeks to go. It appears to be a two-horse race for the Points Leader crown, but not sure if Brad has the matchups to catch up to Moose. Jen pulled a Jen this week. Her first round pick got 0, her flex play left on a stretcher. Her starting Qb had his worst game of the season. This is setting up her Week 12 upset over Brad very nicely!

D2: We wish I was talking about Might Ducks 2

Tommy (4-7) 140.5 vs. Joe (6-5) 48.3

Tommy apparently stole Trey’s winning streak and has been running with it. Jimmy G and Le’Veon Bell combined for 50.7, enough to beat Joe this week. Gurley showed up, Saints D/ST and Lutz combined for 32 and Tommy rolled Joe who had 8/9 starters score 6.5 or less this week. His D/ST scored 33% of his teams total points. Rudolph was hit in the head by a helmet, Connor left with an shoulder issue, Hill left due to a pulled Hammy, Sanu went from 10 targets in Week 10 to 2 targets in Week 11. Joe is hoping Russell Wilson can provide a spark coming off bye this week.

JD (8-3) 94.5 vs. Chase (3-9) 89.6

Last week I described JD scoring on average 4.6 points per game more than Chase on the season. So naturally JD will defeat Chase by 4.9 points this week… Neither team had a great showing, but Dak Prescott went off for JD, getting 36.4 against Detroit. He also got a solid 21.7 from Mark Ingram, but 4 starters scored 2.9 or less this week. Chase got 21.4 from Michael Gallup and 15.1 from Mark Andrews, the prior Moose team members combined for 36.5 of Chase’s 89.6 points (40.7%). JD punches his ticket into the playoffs and will compete for a bye, Chase punches his ticket to the Bottom Bowl.

D3:

Mike (6-5) vs. Kenny (7-4)

Mike gets the W to stay alive! Mike got 3.8 from starting Qb Deshaun Watson and still scored 118 total points with three huge games from his wide receivers. Mike Thomas got 23.6, DJ Chark got 28.6 and Deebo Samuel got 19.6 combining for 71.8 points. Mixon got in on the fun, scoring his first rushing touchdown of the season. Kenny was without Barkley and Howard and despite a solid 25.7 from Kirk Cousins, he had the rest of his starters capped at 11.9 or less including 0 from Jack Doyle, who he started in the Flex. That’s right, Kenny went double tight end in this one. Cue video of Mike dancing in his car to the sound of “Staying Alive! Stay Alive! Ah, hah, hah, hah… Staying Aliiiiiiiivvvvveeeeeee!!!!”

Trey (6-5) 98.1 vs. Scotty (8-3) 112.9

Scotty punches his ticket into the post season, now he sets his sights on a Division Title and a potential bye week. Trey’s name of Flopkins is appropriate as he has now dropped two straight. One of the bright spots for Trey was Marlon Mack’s 19.9 and his awesome double spin move run. But unfortunately he fractured his hand. His peripherals disappointed with a meager 16.3 including 0 from his kicker. He’ll try to turn things around for the final two games. He faces Mike (6-5) and Kenny (7-4), so his destiny is still in his hands, so to speak. Scotty only got 16 from his peripherals but it didn’t matter. He got 21 from Brees, 16.2 from Kamara, 25.1 from Diggs and 18.7 from Sutton.

Week 12 Preview:

D1:

Katon (2-9) vs. Moose (8-3)

Katon is playing to pull an upset. Moose is trying to lock down the D1 crown, points leader and a first-round bye. Katon has Matt Ryan facing pass funnel Tampa Bay. Zeke is @ New England and I think I know who they will be trying to take away from this one. Katon has Rivers, Gordon, and Allen all on bye this week, leaving Katon with limited options that hurt his teams floor and ceiling. Moose comes in with incredible matchups for a few of his stars including Nick Chubb and Odell versus Miami, Montgomery vs. NYG. Lamar Jackson is matchup-proof. Amari Cooper may struggle against New England, but it honestly doesn’t look like it will matter. Moose heavily favored in this one even with Ekeler and Kelce on a bye.

Jen (1-10) vs. Brad (7-4)

You would think with 7 wins and being #2 in Points Scored, Brad would be feeling good about his chances of making the playoffs. Well, it’s a bit more complicated. Brad lost to Moose (8-3), Scotty (8-3), Trey (6-5), and Mike (6-5). If any of these teams have the same record as Brad they own the head to head tie breaker. Now if more than 2 of those teams have the same record at the end of the regular season then it would come down to points/algorithm and Brad would be potentially okay given he is number 2 in that category. In comes Jen striving to get her second win of the year and take down the commish. She has great matchups and a full roster and can actually pull it off. She has Jacoby Brissett (or free agent acquisition) against Houston on TNF. She also has Colts D/ST @ Houston on TNF (Brad dropped two weeks ago). Unless she picks up another. Derrius Guice is back! Now he gets an awesome matchup against Detroit. #10 Rb Chris Carson has a tough matchup against Philly’s run defense, but he’s been pretty matchup proof. He, of course, was traded by Brad to Jen for Tyreek and Kirk. Tyreek is injured on Joe’s team and Kirk is on a bye week. Brad has previous good matchup Winston-Godwin stack, but all of a sudden Atlanta Defense is looking more like New England’s. After giving up an average of 24.8 fantasy points to opposing fantasy quarterbacks before the bye week, they’ve only given up an average of 11.3 points per game post-bye week. Both New Orleans and Carolina had 300 yard passing games, but neither threw a touchdown and had multiple turnovers. Brad’s lone stud this week CMC faces a New Orleans Saints defense with an #3 OPRK against Fantasy Rb’s. CMC is matchup-proof but has had a couple games of mediocrity. Jen has a legitimate chance to take Brad out this week.

D2:

JD (8-3) vs. Joe (6-5)

JD’s team has a slight edge over Joe talent-wise this week, but matchup-wise Joe has the advantage. That is leading me to believe this is going to be a low-scoring affair. JD has #3 Qb Dak @ NE, Ingram @ LAR, Adams @ San Fran. Waller and Ty Williams face the Jets who are beatable. Bills D/ST will be in a game with the lowest points total to open up a game in a couple of decades I would imagine. Joe gets #2 Qb Wilson @ Philly, who have been great against the run, terrible against the pass, but have been steady improving week over week. Joe is hoping to James Connor in a sexy ass matchup against Cincy. I estimate he’ll blow his load on Bo Scoroborougoh this week.

Tommy (4-7) vs. Chase (3-8)

Chase has half of his rostered players on bye this week. Tommy has some questionable matchups. This game is merely for Bottom Bowl seeding, but even that matters. If you start out in the Top 2 games of the bottom bowl, you have a slightly higher chance of getting more balls in the draft lottery for next season.

D3:

Trey (6-5) vs. Kenny (7-4)

Kenny has his Kicker, Rb, and Qb on a bye week and will most likely be spending some FAAB money this week despite him having three defenses. Trey will have Hunter Henry on bye but has Jacob “Short military-style special teams white-guy grinder” Hollister balling out to plug in. Kenny gets #20 Fantasy WR Jarvis Landry vs. Miami. Trey has lost Marlon Mack for a few weeks. This one is tough to write about as both teams will be looking a lot different come Sunday’s 12pm kick off.

Mike (6-5) vs. Scotty (8-3)

Top Wideouts meet Top Running Backs in this Division 3 Bout. Mike has #5 Qb Watson vs. Indy on TNF, Mixon vs. Pits Defense, White vs. Dallas, #1 Fantasy Wr. Mike Thomas vs. Carolina, #5 Fantasy Wr. DJ Chark @ Tennessee, #10 Fantasy Wr. Tyler Lockett. Scotty has Drew Brees vs. Carolina, #15 Fantasy Rb Kamara vs. Carolina, #3 Rb Aaron Jones @ SF on SNF, and #11 Fantasy Rb Leonard Fournette.   Who wins this week? #TeamWR or #TeamRB?!?!?

 

Apocalypse Scenario:

Jen (1-10) beats Brad (7-4)

Trey (6-5) beats Kenny (7-4)

Mike (6-5) beats Scotty (8-3)

Joe (6-5) beats JD (8-3)

Moose (8-3) beats Katon (2-9)

Causing there to be one 9-3 team, two 8-4 teams, and five 7-5 teams all vying for the 6 playoff spots.

#MADNESS

Good Luck This Week

-Commish

Fantasy Football Brad’s QB Rankings

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Hello all. We are less 10 weeks away from the 2015 NFL Season and I couldn’t be more excited. Here is a list of my Qb rankings for the upcoming season. I will go more in depth in some cases than others and I use the traditional system of 1 pt per 25 yards passing, 4 pts per touchdown, -2 pts per interception, 1 pt per 10 yards rushing, 6 pts per rushing touchdown, and -2 pts per fumble.

1. Andrew Luck (Indianapolis Colts)- I drafted Andrew Luck last year in the 5th round in a league that gives bonuses for 300 yard games. 40 td’s, 10 300 yard games, and a #1 Fantasy Qb ranking later… Luck has arrived. Last year Luck threw A LOT mainly due to lack of running game. In comes Frank Gore and Andre Johnson, which should only help Luck. I think he reduces his interceptions quite a bit and still finishes on top this year. The only tricky thing is where to draft him? Most mock drafts point to him going in the 2nd Round. If you want him, get him. I wouldn’t argue with anybody that drafted Luck with the first pick of the 2nd round. Solidifying fantasy’s top scoring position is one less thing you have to worry about. But keep in mind in Player Value Rankings(PVR)-type rankings they don’t give as much value to Qb’s and they’ll say getting Russell Wilson in Round 3 is a much better deal and I’ll discuss later.

2. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay Packers)- Rodgers finished #1 in standard ESPN scoring averaging 21.4 points per game to Luck’s 21.0. He’s got all the weapons back in Lacy, Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb, D. Adams, etc.  I gave Luck the slight edge due to the fact I think he has room to grow. Rodgers is at his peak and cruising. Another factor is Week 15 and 16 Rodgers faces @ Oakland and then @Arizona. I think Oakland’s defense is under appreciated and the Cardinals had the 4th best passing defense last season. Still, if Rodgers is on your team, you don’t have to worry about the Qb position.

3. Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks)- Wilson didn’t have a single game last season where he threw for more than 2 touchdowns. Yet he still had 3 games with over 30 points. He’s got the wheels. 6 rushing touchdowns and 3-100 yard rushing games. Bring in Jimmy Graham and that can only help. It’s tough to think of all the wideouts and Jimmy going long, Wilson moving in the pocket, Lynch rolling out on for a screen pass. Who do you defend? Plus he could be a value as he is being drafted towards the end of the 3rd round right now.

***Drop Off***

4. Matt Ryan (Atlanta Falcons)- I hate Matt Ryan. To me he’s a little weanie… sitting back in the pocket ready to be pushed over with a faint breeze of a blitzing linebacker, but alas he had a great year last year and this year he looks to keep it going. Kyle Shanahan is going to make Ryan to Julio sound sickening to Saints fans by seasons end. If you’re a PVR enthusiast getting Matt Ryan in Round 7 and Julio in Round 2 sounds a lot better than Luck in Round 2 and Andre Johnson in Round 6. Definitely something to think about.

5. Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints)- He’s short, he’s older, and they are focused on the run this year. How could he possibly finish as a Top 5 Fantasy Qb? Brees has always done better when he’s had the run to set up the pass. Last couple of seasons he was so obsessed with finding Jimmy Graham that he lost that distribution that made him so effective in the past. This season with an improved rushing attack and Jimmy gone, Brees can spread the ball between Spiller, Cooks, Hill, Colston, and some young wideouts with a lot of potential. Brees is currently getting drafted in the 4th Round.

6. Teddy Bridgewater (Minnesota Vikings)- Say what now? His average draft position is 126.1 right now. Adrian Peterson is going to solidify the rushing attack. C. Patterson will have a much better season this year and Charles Johnson will take the DeSean Jackson role and make some huge plays. Bridgewater can make plays with his feet too. Last season the coaches held him back a little bit, but this season if playoffs are within grasp they are going to open the gates and let Bridgewater fly.

7. Ryan Tannehill (Miami Dolphins)- It’s time. Tannehill has steadily improved each of his last three seasons. Compared to 2013, last season he completed 6% more passes (66.4 vs. 60.4), threw for 132 more yards, 3 more touchdowns, and 5 less interceptions. It’s this progression that makes him a Top 10 Fantasy Qb that you can draft in later rounds. Imagine if you are able to draft Bridgewater and Tannehill in later rounds and use your 2nd or 3rd round picks to rack up on the quality Wideouts that are available.

8. Eli Manning (New York Giants)- ODB. Eli was on a tear at the end of last season and you could tell he became more and more comfortable in Ben McAdoo’s system. Sprinkle in Victor Cruz coming back and Shane Vereen catching balls out of the backfield and Eli is poised to have a Top 10 Fantasy Season.

9. Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos)- Yes he has a new coach, yes he lost Julius Thomas, and yes his offensive line woes are extremely terrifying. With that being said, last season Peyton was playing great until he got injured, lost faith in his offensive line, and played scared over the last 5 games of the season. He still finished 4th amongst Fantasy Qb’s. He still has Demaryius and Kubiak will find the running backs room to catch balls out of the backfield, so he can still get the job done at age 39.

10. Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers)- Last season he finished 5th amongst fantasy Qb’s and has all the same weapons returning. So why the drop off? Well he had 11 weeks under 20 fantasy points last season, but what drove up his stats were two weeks in the middle of the season when he had back to back games with 6 touchdown passes. In most leagues his owners didn’t start him.  And even if they started him in the first game he surely wasn’t going to do that the following week against the Ravens… yeah. Most Big Ben owners didn’t get rewarded for those two huge games and I’d choose others before settling for him this season.

11. Cam Newton (Carolina Panthers)- Cam Newton had a weird season last season. Rib injuries and his SUV flipping on a bridge… so he played conservatively and let his defense carry the team. He should be healthy this season and will be looking Kelvin Benjamin and Greg Olsen’s way quite often. Sprinkling in youngster Devin Funchess should only help and he finished 15th last season.

12. Tony Romo (Dallas Cowboys)- If they are able to get the running game going and keep the pressure off of Romo then he’ll turn out his average season (3700 yards and 27 td’s), but if they can’t duplicate what they did last season sans Demarco Murray then Romo will struggle to stay healthy and back injuries/concerns are quite worrisome in this sport.

13. Colin Kaepernick (San Fransisco 49ers)- My thought here is that he can only get better. Last season was a rough one, but he still was a Top 20 Fantasy Qb and did okay averaging 14.6 points per game. I think the addition of Reggie Bush and Torrey Smith and a defense that will struggle, Kaepernick will be slinging it and running it late in ball games, which is good for fantasy.

14. Matt Stafford (Detroit Lions)- He’s just so inconsistent. He also struggled in 5 of his 6 divisional games with his best game coming against Chicago where he scored 21 points.

15. Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens)- He’ll win you some games, but with 5 games with 10 or less points, he’s going to lose you some too.

16. Carson Palmer (Arizona Cardinals)- When healthy he was good for 250 yards and 2 td’s like clockwork. Expect more of the same this season. Averaging 15-18 points could get him in the Top 10.

17. Tom Brady (New England Patriots)- He finished 8th last season and he pretty much missed the first four weeks of the season any way because the Pats sucked to start the year. This is probably too low of a ranking, but even when he comes back from suspension, averaging 17 points per game will barely be top 10.

18. Eagles Starter (Philadelphia Eagles)- Whoever the Eagles start will get similar stats. 12-15 points per game.

19. Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay Bucs)- Don’t expect the Luck and RGIII emergence of a few years ago. I’m thinking Winston will have more of a Teddy Bridgewater type of rookie season.

20. Philip Rivers (San Diego Chargers)- He had a really good year last year, but man some of those games were UGLY. Missing Antonio Gates for 4 games doesn’t help.

21. Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders)- I’m very intrigued by this Raiders team. He averaged 11 points per game as a rookie and I think he got better and the Raiders got better in the offseason. Intrigued.

22. Geno Smith (New York Jets)- In Week 17 last season he showed poise, accuracy, a big arm, and found Eric Decker for both of their best performances of the season. Geno might be worth a flier as a backup or QB2 just to see what happens. New Head coach, new Red Zone threat in Brandon Marshall… this might just be crazy enough to work!

23. Everyone else- Not relevant.

Hope you enjoyed and I’ll be posting my Running Backs Rankings next week!