Week 13 Results: Road To The Championship Begins

Well, as predicted it was a pretty non eventful week 13 as the teams had been basically set the week before, it just needed to become a formality. The only intriguing thing that happened, was Drew's decision to bench Ryan Tannehill and DeMaryius Thomas to slip to the #6 seed so he could avoid Mayra's bracket until the championship should he make it. It's the "Kenny Bybee" strategy (which I allow as long as it doesn't affect a) who gets in the playoffs and b) who gets the bye). It worked for Kenny last year as he made it all the way to the finals, we'll see if it'll work for Drew this year. So the playoff turnover is ABSURD this year. 5 of the 6 teams are new (though technically Alex did take over Mike's playoff team from last year). Eugene makes his playoff debut, while Albert is back for a 4th time in 5 years, Mayra's back for her 2nd straight playoff appearance, Drew makes it for the first time since Year 1, and Matt's back for a 3rd time, hoping it's a charm after not placing the last two times he was in the playoffs. Mayra's side of the bracket is TOUGH as Alex and Eugene are both in. I honestly believe the winner of that bracket wins it all. On the other side, it's just as much as a crapshoot with Albert, Matt, and Drew duking it out. Should be a very interesting finish the season. Here are the Week 13 results.

Rocket Man (7-6)                  157
Arturo's Beans (3-10)            125.5

Raise your hand if you want to play THIS team in round 1? Yeah....Eugene is the scariest 5th seed ever with the proof being this week as we finally got to see what his team is fully capable of. Not one player scored under 11.5 points led by Calvin Johnson and his 31.5 point performance. It's also a relief to FINALLY see Julio Jones come back to elite status as he had 10 catches for 189 yards and a TD for 29 points. Even Lamar Miller added a rushing TD and Aaron Rodgers was typical Aaron Rodgers with over 360 passing yards and a couple passing TD's for 24 points. Despite the low seeding, Eugene has to be considered one of the favorites to win it all. Hey self high five to my team who put up a remarkable effort and ended up with the 3rd most points of the week. Tre Mason and Keenan Allen stepped it up big time. I was impressed despite the loss. 157 points is lofty but if Eugene can get a constant 125 or more from his squad it's going to be tough to beat him. He'll take on Alex in what should be a close battle. How's this for irony...last year Kenny vs Me was the finals of the Wane McGarity Bowl...this year..it's a Round 1 matchup in the Michael Wiley Loser bowl....how the mighty have fallen.

Game MVP

Calvin Johnson (Rocket Man)

11 receptions, 146 receiving yards, 2 receiving TD's, 31.5 points

 

Shock The Monkey (4-9)                    93.5

Next!!! (3-10)                                      73.5

Surprising win for Mark here as he easily dispatches Leland for win #4. DeAndre Hopkins had an AMAZING performance that will unfortunately be overlooked thanks for it not being too relevant in our league. He had 238 yards and 2 TD's for 39.5 points. Not really much else to say here as both guys will face each other again next week in Round 1 of the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl. 

Game MVP

DeAndre Hopkins (Shock The Monkey)

9 Receptions, 238 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 39.5 Points

Winter Is Here (8-5)             110.5

The Bad Robofies (6-7)         57

Though it wouldn't matter since I lost to Eugene, it has to be disappointing that Dad's team went out with such a whimper and didn't even bother to put up a fight. Nobody showed up for Dad, especially Jimmy Graham who had 0 catches despite Drew Brees throwing 5 TD passes!!  It's the first year Dad doesn't make the playoffs. For Alex he has to love the fact that Drew Brees is FINALLY getting it going. 30 points this week, breaking the season high he set last week. Definitely a good sign for Alex as he needs his superstar players like Brees to really step up considering what bracket he's in. Everyone else had solid double digit scoring games except for Percy Harvin who was awful again with only 27 rushing yards and a reception. That along with DeSean Jackson's health are a couple of things Alex should be a little worried about, but he actually has solid depth behind those guys as he can always insert Kenny Stills and Brandon LaFell in his lineup. Alex has a super tough test right off the bat as he takes on Eugene in Round 1. For the 2nd straight year, Dad has a bye, unfortunately though it's in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl this year.

Game MVP

Drew Brees (Winter Is Here)

257 Passing Yards, 5 Passing TD's, 30 Points

 

Woe Is Me (4-9)                 65
JTG's Warehouse (7-6)       62

So after scoping out what happened during the afternoon games, Drew saw that the playoff seeds were sewn up and decided to strategically bench his last two players in order to lose and end up as the #6 seed so he can play Matt in the easier bracket. Ironically he did it against the team who did that same exact thing last year in Kenny. So Kenny picks up a cheap win, while Drew slides to #6 in a bracket where he feels he has a better shot at winning. It's a calculated gamble and far from a sure thing, but it would be even harder for Drew to survive in Mayra's bracket. Drew's main concern is Andre Ellington but if he misses he can slide Kelvin Benjamin right back in. It'll be a cousin vs cousin 1st round showdown, while Kenny takes me on in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl.

Game MVP

Coby Fleener (Woe Is Me)

4 receptions, 127 receiving yards, 2 receiving TD's, 26 Points

Bigger Balls (13-0)                      137
Channel 4 News Team (10-3)        80

And Mayra completes the running of the table and goes undefeated in the regular season by just beating the shit out of Albert this week (who's the 2nd seed). She's head and shoulders the favorite to win it all. There are no more byes...even when guys like Dez and Forte suck..Andrew Luck (5 Passing TD's, 32.5 Points) Antonio Brown (2 TD's 97 yards, 27 points) Le'veon Bell (254 total yards and a TD for 34 points) pick up more than the slack. It's too loaded of a team, though to me the top 3 teams are in one bracket..so it's definitely not going to be a walk in the park but I still put Mayra's squad as the overwhelming favorite. Albert's teams usually have a knack for stepping up in the playoffs and he can definitely handle the teams in his bracket, but it's not entirely crazy to think he'll get bounced in the 2nd round, especially if they play like they did this week. Peyton Manning had his worst fantasy game of the season and while his main guys (Foster, Green, Jeffrey) did well, that supporting cast isn't too much to get excited about. His team has really slowed down here recently and having to rely on Steve Smith, Anquan Boldin and Frank Gore is just a little to risky in my opinion. Both of these teams have the week off.

Game MVP

Le'Veon Bell (Bigger Balls)

95 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD, 8 Receptions, 159 Receiving Yards, 34 Points

 

Dr. Light's Robots (9-4)              82.5

Hoosier Daddy (4-9)                   25.5

I don't care HOW it happened (Ryan played an inactive Roddy White) my name is OFF the record books for lowest points scored in a game in our league's history because Ryan put up a miniscule 25.5 points. To put that in perspective, DeAndre Hopkins beat Ryan's team by 14 points by himself. Even had Ryan subbed Roddy White for Wes Welker, Ryan still would own the record. For Matt it's quietly his 4th straight win, but there's not too much else to gauge here except for one glaring weakness. Daniel "Boom" Herron has pretty much relegated Trent Richardson useless, but Matt has nobody really behind him to use. Lack of an RB#2 is HUGE and might end up the reason Matt has another short playoff run. He's got a tough matchup in Drew, while Ryan gets a bye in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl.

Game MVP

Ben Roethlisberger (Dr. Light's Robots)

435 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TD's, 2 INT's, 2 2 PT conversions, 26 Points