Year End Awards: All Waiver Wire Team/Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year

Waiver Wire Pickups are essential in fantasy football. Teams are constantly scouring free agents looking for the next gem to help ride their team to a fantasy championship. Every year a handful guys break out from fantasy irrelevance to fantasy superstardom. Here's the best of this year's crop. Drafted players who were cut and then picked back up do qualify for this team.

QB

Ben Roethlisberger (Dr. Light's Robots)

4,952 Passing Yards, 32 Passing TD's, 9 INT's, 27 Rushing Yards, 3 2 Pt Conversions, 5 Fumbles Lost, 310.5 Fantasy Points

QB Rank: 6

Overall Rank: 9

 

Originally a 9th round pick, Leland dropped him and I picked him up off waivers only to end up trading him to Matt for an 8th round pick. Roethlisberger ended up as the #6 ranked QB. Not too bad for a guy who was not only the 15th QB taken off the boards but actually available to be picked up on waivers.

WR

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

91 Receptions, 1305 Receiving Yards, 12 Receiving TD's,  35 Rushing Yards, 1 Fumble Lost, 248.5 Fantasy Points

WR Rank: 5

Overall Rank: 30

 

No surprise here. Drafted in the 13th round as a hail mary pick, Kenny quickly dropped him as he was hurt and needed the roster spot. Matt would end up picking him up and the rest...as they say is history. Top 5 receiver even after missing 4 games..you can pretty much telegraph who's winning Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year.

WR

Brandon LaFell (Winter Is Over)

74 Receptions, 953 Receiving Yards, 7 Receiving TD's, 13 Rushing Yards, 1 Fumble Lost, 173 Fantasy Points

WR Rank: 22

Overall Rank: 69

 

LaFell is the first 100% pure waiver wire pickup on the squad. He went undrafted and after a slow start for the Patriots offense as a whole, he finally developed chemistry with Tom Brady and became a very dependable receiver for Alex's playoff squad. Not bad at all to get a top 25 receiver off the waivers.

WR

Jordan Matthews (The Bad Robofies)

67 Receptions, 872 Receiving Yards, 8 Receiving TD's, 168.5 Fantasy Points

WR Rank: 25

Overall Rank: 72

 

Matthews was a 10th round pick by Drew, but after a couple weeks Drew dropped him and then Kenny picked up and HE DROPPED HIM and then Dad picked him up and because Dad's receivers were kind of weak..Dad ended up using him weekly and it worked out pretty well. Matthews finished as a Top 25 receiver and helped keep Dad in playoff contention despite losing Brandon Marshall for the season.

RB
Justin Forsett (JTG'S Warehouse)
1,266 Rushing Yards, 8 Rushing TD's, 44 Receptions, 263 Receiving Yards, 1 2 PT Conversion, 211 Fantasy Points
RB Rank: 8
Overall Rank: 32

Bernard Piece, not Justin Forsett, was supposed to be the main beneficiary of the fallout over the Ray Rice fiasco, but at the end of the day, it was Forsett who took the opportunity and ran with it....literally. Forsett had an amazing season, with nearly 1300 rushing yards and 8 rushing TD's while holding off Pierce and rookie Lorenzo Taliaferro, who was just chomping at the bit for when Forsett would eventually slip. He never did. There's a solid chance Forsett doesn't replicate this kind of success again in his career, but for 2014, he was definitely one of the better waiver wire pickups of the season.

RB
C.J. Anderson (Arturo's Beans)
849 Rushing Yards, 8 Rushing TD's, 34 Receptions, 324 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 184 Fantasy Points
RB Rank: 11
Overall Rank: 42

It's a damn shame Anderson wasted his talent on my shit team, because on the right team, he seriously could've challenged Odell Beckham Jr. as Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year. It took injuries to shitty Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman for Anderson to finally get a crack at the starting job and look at the game log..it's damn amazing. When you consider he was basically irrelevant THE FIRST 9 WEEKS OF THE SEASON...HE STILL OUTSCORED LESEAN MCCOY FOR THE YEAR! That's INSANE. Imagine a full year of Anderson in that offense. From Weeks 10-16 he had 5 games of 23 or more points and he never scored under 10 points in that span. So basically 7 games catapulted Anderson into a top 12 back. Now the pessimist in me worries about drafting him high next year because who knows if the Broncos STILL believe in Montee fucking Ball and Ronnie Hillman is still there, but if given the chance to be the main back..no doubt Anderson can be an RB1 in that offense yet again.


TE
Coby Fleener (Woe Is Me)
51 Receptions, 774 Receiving Yards, 8 Receiving TD's, 143.5 Points
TE Rank: 6
Overall Rank: 59

Fleener was your typical waiver wire guy..dropped and picked up by various teams throughout the year. You might be surprised though that he actually put up a great season for a tight end. He finished as a Top 60 play overall, and finished in the top 6 at the position. Again..it's a shame he was wasted away on Kenny's ragtag team, but it doesn't erase the fact that Fleener was actually a pretty good tight end in a historically weak position.

Waiver Wire Pickup Of The Year
Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

Seriously, the most important Waiver Wire Pickup in league history as of today. No Brainer winner of this award.

 

 

 

Year End Awards: Michael Wiley All Dud Team/Dud Of The Year

Busts, Disappointments, Duds, they all mean the same thing in the world of fantasy football, and it's always inevitable that for some reason or another, players just don't live up to their wildly high expectations. For those who drafted them, it's a near death blow that can cripple your franchise for the season. Here's a look at the Dudliest of the Duds. I took into consideration, the player, the reason, the relative draft position, and how it affected the team that had them. Here's the Michael Wiley All Dud Team.

QB

Matthew Stafford (Rocket Man)

QB Rank: 15

Overall Rank: 26

4,257 Passing Yards, 22 Passing TD's, 12 INT's, 93 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TD's, 3 Fumbles Lost, 1 2 PT Conversion, 257 Fantasy Points

Acquired: 5th Round (49th Overall) By Me. Traded to Eugene along with Randall Cobb and Chris Johnson for Cam Newton, Victor Cruz, and Jeremy Maclin.

 

QB is always going to be skewered because they are always the top scorers in Fantasy Football so when you look at the #26 overall ranking you think "how can you consider Stafford a bust?. Relatively speaking though..he was a big time bust. Every year people assume Stafford's going to "get it together" and put together a dream season that would rival those of Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers...every year IT NEVER HAPPENS. He was the 5th QB selected and a top 50 pick. 14 QB's outscored him making him not even a  QB1 in a 12 team league! He also comes up the smallest year after year when it matters the MOST..at the end of the fantasy season and playoffs. Stafford was one of numerous underachievers that sunk my team. I ended up trading him to Eugene, but because I ended up trading Aaron Rodgers to Eugene as well later, Stafford became nothing but bench fodder. Despite weapons galore (and yes..Calvin was hurt but still) Stafford managed to put together a super mediocre season. You won't see Stafford going that high in drafts next season, that's for sure. 

WR

Calvin Johnson (Rocket Man)

WR Rank: 14

Overall Rank: 52

71 Receptions, 1,077 Receiving Yards, 8 Receiving TD's, 190.5 Fantasy Points

Acquired: Keeper Pick (Kenny). Traded to Eugene along with a 10th round pick for Markus Wheaton and a 3rd Round Pick.

 

Before the blasphemy of calling Calvin Johnson a "bust". Think about the high expectations. He was supposed to be a cornerstone along with Demaryius Thomas that Kenny built his team around to win this year's championship and Week 1..he looked like the same old Megatron with 31 Fantasy Points. Then...total shit. Some of it due to injury..he ended up with 24.5 points in the next 4 games combined than missed 3 games with an injury and completely helped derail Kenny's season. Kenny sold high and picked up an extra 3rd rounder for next season. He's not even the highest scoring receiver on his team, Golden Tate was. Calvin's reign as #1 receiver looks to be done and it can be argued he's not even a top 5 receiver anymore. When he came back, he was very inconsistent..one week being the Calvin of old..and the next week just looking old. I'm not writing him completely off yet, but there are at least 4 receivers I'd rather have than Megatron and I thought I'd never say that. To have 13 receivers finish ahead of you when you're supposed to be a top 3 receiver qualifies as a major bust in my book. Especially since Calvin was the only guy to make the Wane McGarity All Stud Team all 3 seasons previous. 

WR

A.J. Green (Channel 4 News Team)

WR Rank: 24

Overall Rank: 71

69 Receptions, 1,041 Receiving Yards, 6 Receiving TD's, 2 Fumbles Lost, 170.5 Fantasy Points

Acquired: Keeper Pick (Albert)

Damn..the receivers look like it this should be the list for All Stud Team..but it's not. A.J. Green was another no brainer top 5 receiver who ended up for the most part being terribly disappointing. Again..it's hard to knock him for injuries, but it is a part of the game and Green became very injury prone all season. He, like  Calvin, started the season off with a great game, and then missed game 2 right off the bat with an injury. He ended up missing 4 total games and was basically knocked out of a 5th one. He barely eclipsed 1000 yards and had only 6 TD's. It's insane to think someone kept as a 1st round keeper was outscored by 23 other wide receivers, injured or not. Again..he had a couple of nice games that showed why he is an elite talent, but the expectations were far from met, and this season with so many great receiver seasons, he was just lost in the shuffle. He also came up as small as possible in Albert's semi-final game against Matt where he tied him and lost. Hopefully it's not the beginning of the end for Green but Albert might have to seriously consider whether it's worth keeping him next season.

WR

Brandon Marshall (The Bad Robofies)

WR Rank: 34

Overall Rank: 95

61 Receptions, 721 Receiving Yards, 8 Receiving TD's, 1 Fumble Lost, 148.5 Fantasy Points.

Acquired: Keeper Pick (Me). Traded to Dad along with a 6th Round Pick for Torrey Smith and a 3rd Round Pick. 

 

This seemed to be a common theme with Marshall this season. Hobbled with various ankle injuries and then a season ending collapsed lung and broken ribs..his season was terrible before that as it was tied to the Bears disappointing team as a whole. Marshall had two great games to start the season, but his troublesome ankle would bother him and he would go on a 6 game streak where he only posted one double digit point game (that was only a 14 point performance). Again..he helped really sink my season. Luckily I sold on him early and not only got a receiver who was ended up being way better than Marshall (Torrey Smith) but picked up Dad's 3rd round pick as well. He had a couple of nice back to back 20+ point games for Dad in early November, but never scored double digits again after that and basically helped sink my Dad's season as well. It's obviously his worst season with the Bears and with the Bears looking to start back from scratch combined with his age and injuries, I don't know what Marshall's fate is in the fantasy world for next season.

RB

LeSean McCoy (Next!!!!)

RB Rank: 12

Overall Rank: 45

1,319 Rushing Yards, 5 Rushing TD's, 28 Receptions, 155 Receiving Yards, 3 Fumbles Lost, 184 Fantasy Points

Acquired: Keeper Pick (Me). Traded to Leland along with Mike Evans, James Starks, and Cam Newton for Aaron Rodgers and Ben Tate.

 

"But he finished with over 1400 total yards". SO FUCKING WHAT. McCoy looked like SHIT most of the season and far from the MVP of both the Wane McGarity Bowl and Regular Season last year. I did not see this coming  whatsoever. He was supposed to be my anchor of another championship run. Instead, after two okish games, he went on a slump that killed me DEAD. 3 games with 11 points COMBINED. That was IT. He was beyond awful..he was not nearly involved in the passing game as had been before and Darren Sproles and even CHRIS POLK ate into his workload and goal line work as well. His yards per carry SUCKED beyond belief. The MAIN reason I had the worst season of my Fantasy Football career. He went from arguably the best running back in fantasy football to a borderline RB1 at best. The Sproles signing ended up being the WORST thing that can happen to him. I had to do the unthinkable and UNLOAD him to try to salvage my season. 5 TD's?! All year?! Inexcusable. He had zero 20 point games. None. For the #1 overall player in our league..that's just not going to cut it. Can he bounce back? Sure..but you know when RB's start declining it's not pretty. I'd assume Leland bites the bullet and keeps him still, but it's not nearly as much as a slam dunk as it was last year and I really won't be surprised if McCoy is thrown back in the draft pool. 

RB

Montee Ball (Shock The Monkey)

RB Rank: 90

Overall Rank: 2430

172 Rushing Yards, 9 Receptions, 62 Receiving Yards, 1 Fumble Lost, 31.5 Fantasy Points

Acquired: 2nd Round (13th Overall) by Mark

Fuck Montee Ball and fuck the analysts who thought this fucker was the real deal. Just because you become the #1 running back in an offensive machine like Denver doesn't mean you're automatically going to be an elite fantasy superstar. You need talent..and this clown has NONE. I'm sorry, but it burns me when fantasy know it alls proclaim the next big thing and fall completely flat on their faces and get zero blame and still get paid big bucks for their "opinions". Was he worth a speculative pick based on upside? Of course..1st pick of the 2nd round..HELL NO. He couldn't even beat out KNOWSHON MORENO last year and looked pretty mediocre last season. Yet there were the fantasy experts.slurping him up. It was enough for Mark to bite the bullet and pair him with  Forte for a potential running back dream team. Ball was horrific in 4 games before ending up hurt and put on IR. He CRUSHED Mark's chance of doing anything from the get go. The funny thing? Ronnie Hillman came in..BOOM...performed great...than he gets hurt and C.J. Anderson takes over and performs at a legit RB1 level. Evan Juwan Thompson looked better than this ass. So when C.J. Anderson, Juwan Thompson, Ronnie Hillman, and Knowshon Moreno (plus the rest of 89 RUNNING BACKS THAT WERE BETTER THAN THIS GUY) outperform you..yeah you fucking suck. For C.J. Anderson's sake...I hope Montee doesn't fuck him over next season. Can't see Ball being drafted next season at all. This probably erases C.J. Spiller as worst early round pick in league history.

TE

Vernon Davis (Next!!!)

TE Rank: 36

Overall Rank: 251

26 Receptions, 245 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 49 Fantasy Points

Acquired: 6th Round (72nd Overall) by Me. Traded to Leland for Michael Floyd.

 

Vernon Davis started the season with a 44 yard two TD game in week 1 against the Cowboys for 18 fantasy points. He ended up scoring 31 points THE REST OF THE SEASON. Funny how 4 of these guys on this team were on MY TEAM. That's how bad my team was this year. You know you have to fucking suck major dick to have 35 other tight ends outscore you. Tight End is a weak position to begin with so to be the 36th best...good god.....how embarrassing. Davis has so many zeroes that I don't know if it's because of injury or just sucking. He also has a ton of games under 4 fucking points. Just AWFUL. Worst pathetic excuse of a tight end in a longgggg while.

Michael Wiley Dud Of The Year

Montee Ball (Shock The Monkey)

Fuck Montee Ball..

 

Year End Awards: All Rookie Team/Rookie Of The Year

It's time to announce the Year End Awards for our league. Now the criteria is specifically for this league only. To be considered eligible you had to have been a significant player used in our league. First up will be the All-Rookie Team.

QB-Pretty much like last season...this year's QB's class was irrelevant to our league. I'd have to go back and verify this..but outside of me starting Johnny Manziel in a meaningless consolation round matchup, I don't think any of the rookie QB's were ever used, not even as a spot start.

RB

Jeremy Hill (Hoosier Daddy)

1124 Rushing Yards, 9 Rushing TD's, 27 Receptions, 215 receiving yards, 2 fumbles lost, 196.5 points

RB Rank: 10

Overall Rank: 38

Acquired: 8th Round of Draft By Ryan (89th Overall)

 

The only running back making the team this year, Ryan got a hell of steal here, and who's to say he's not a darkhouse to be kept? Originally thought to be primarily a timeshare running back, with Gio Bernard getting most of the work, an injury to Bernard opened up an opportunity and Hill made the most of it. He impressed so much..that basically the roles were reversed and Hill became the Bengals primary back and he ended up being the 10th highest scoring running back in the league. You still have to wonder exactly where Gio fits into the equation, but Jeremy Hill more than proved he can be an elite  fantasy back when given the opportunity.

WR

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

91 Receptions, 1305 Receiving Yards, 12 Receiving TD's,  35 Rushing Yards, 1 Fumble Lost, 248.5 Fantasy Points

WR Rank: 5

Overall Rank: 30

Acquired: 13th Round of Draft (155th Overall) Waived by Kenny. Picked up by Matt

 

We just witnessed the emergence of an elite fantasy star right before our eyes. Beckham was an afterthought pick by Kenny (boy..in hindsight..that must STING) but after weeks of inactivity, Kenny couldn't afford to hold on to him and released him to open a roster spot up. Matt took the chance on him, and after missing the four weeks of the season..Beckham just absolutely  TORE UP the league in ridiculous fashion. What he was able to accomplish in an abbreviated season was beyond amazing, and he still finished as the 5th best receiver in the fantasy game despite MISSING 4 GAMES. Unbelievable after unbelievable catch...big time speed, he has it all, and Matt's Championship Run can be mostly credited to Beckham's championship play. Because Matt has Jordy Nelson and Jamaal Charles, it's not a 100% lock Beckham will be kept. If he's not, expect him to become a highly coveted draft pick next season with teams foaming at the mouth to acquire his services. 

WR

Kelvin Benjamin (JTG's Warehouse)

73 Receptions, 1008 Receiving Yards, 9 Receiving TD's, 1 Fumble Lost, 188.5 Points

WR Rank: 17

Overall Rank: 56

Acquired: 8th Round (95th Overall) By Drew

 

 Benjamin was better than advertised in his rookie season as he helped Drew get into the playoffs with over 1000 yards and 9 scores. Those WR2 numbers aren't bad for a guy drafted at the end of the 8th round. Of course Beckham's emergence overshadowed the great season Benjamin had, he still was a vital cog in Drew's playoff run and help solidify Drew's WR corps. 

WR

Mike Evans (Bigger Balls)

68 Receptions, 1051 Receiving Yards, 12 Receiving TD's, 211 Points

WR Rank: 10

Overall Rank: 39
Acquired: 9th Round (97th Overall) By Me. Traded to Leland along with LeSean McCoy, Cam Newton, and James Starks for Ben Tate and Aaron Rodgers. Traded to Mayra along with a 12th round pick for a 6th Round Pick and Marques Colston.

 

It's amazing this guy was moved around by 3 different teams this season. Unfortunately for me, I was in win now mode and basically had to gift him away for a chance to survive. Leland then got him and kinda didn't use him the first couple of weeks he went off after his injury before finally using him and the flipping him for a 6th round draft pick. Evans was amazing and took over V-Jax's spot as Tampa's primary receiver. Mayra has way too much talent so there's no way Evans is kept, but he should definitely be a hot commodity next season.

TE-Tight end position sucked in general and there were definitely no rookies worthy of a spot.

Wane McGarity Bowl Rookie Of The Year

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

  

Shouldn't be a shock whatsoever...hands down the runaway winner of this award. I have feeling we'll be seeing more of Mr. Beckham in upcoming Award Posts.

 

The Wane McGarity Bowl Recap: "One Time"

 

"Even if those Cowboys are better than you guys..even if they beat you 99 times out of 100..that still leaves.....ONE TIME."-Danny O'Shea Little Giants

The most fitting quote for a final ever in the history of our league. Nobody gave Matt a chance in hell of beating Mayra in the finals. He barely got through the previous round against Albert via a tiebreaker and scored a measly 78 points. How in the hell was he supposed to compete against Mayra's team loaded with stars at every position?? Well...let's just say that's why games are played on the field and not on paper.

Dr. Light's Robots (1-0-1)            119

Bigger Balls (1-1)                         113.5

Yeah...this was NOT how everyone had this ending. Week after week of nothing but destruction. 14 weeks of undefeated dominance. No real challenges, just the best damn team in the league doing it's job. There was one more hurdle though..but it was Matt and his Dr. Light's Robot squad. She had just finished destroying Eugene and his much more talented team..Matt shouldn't be a problem right? Matt's decision to play Toby Gerhart over Trent Richardson ended up being the most  crucial decision of the game. He loses if he stays status quo. So what happened after that..well after that, the start Saturday was typical. Matt got a 1 point play from Jordan Reed and Mayra got 24.5 points from Antonio Gates. I mean right there..it just looked like the writing was on the wall. Gates is like her worst player in her lineup and he just went for almost 25 while Matt's tight end got 1? The 1st wave of games wasn't any better..it was the patented BARRAGE of Mayra's guys going off. Forte...TD...Wallace...TD...Antonio Brown...TD..Le'Veon Bell TD....Wallace AGAIN...TD. It felt like a knockout blow while Matt's guys (with the exception of Jordy Nelson, who managed to somehow have the most quiet 21.5 points I've ever seen) did NOTHING..especially Matt's BEST PLAYER..JAMAAL CHARLES who for the 2nd straight week was dogshit with only 6.5 points (he even fumbled). When I talked to Matt on the phone he had all but conceded that this matchup was over and he was content with tripling his money at $150. Then the afternoon games started....and ALL HELL BROKE LOSE. Matt quickly got TD's from Odell Beckham Jr. and Sammy Watkins. Dez actually would have a TD called back due to a penalty on DeMarco Murray, but he would score on the next drive, so at the time nothing much was thought of it. That looked like it would be the end of Matt's "mini comeback" but then something strange was going on in the Cowboys-Colts game. The Cowboys were DESTROYING the Colts and more specifically just totally eliminating Andrew Luck and the Colts offense, who were just in disarray all game. I kept waiting to see Luck turn it on and rack up some points but it just never happened and by the time it was total blowout in the 3rd, the Colts, with nothing really to play for, did what something that cripples most fantasy owners...they benched Luck and he was done for the day. His final point total...1 point. Just a KILLER...in the Finals no less. The double edged sword of it was with the Cowboys up so much..the passing game was basically phased out rendering Dez useless in the 2nd half. Totally a lose-lose situation and as the Luck benching was going on..who else but Odell Beckham Jr, Matt's Savior, scored an 80 yard  TD and all of the sudden the blowout was turned into a somewhat manageable margin. Thanks to some extra yardage, Matt was able to get the lead dwindled to 16.5..with Mayra out of players and Matt left with one play left...on Monday Night...and it was Emmanuel Sanders. You couldn't ASK for a better scenario with the championship on the line. Here's Matt, the underdog of all underdogs, who look to be just completely knocked out silly, all of sudden with a chance to actually do what no one had done alllllll season...get a win against Mayra. Now 17 points is NOT easy. It wasn't a given at all. Emmanuel Sanders though was very capable of that kind of game so it wasn't unthinkable. When the game finally started, Sanders caught a 21 yard pass on the 2nd play of the game. It looked like it would be a sign of things to come. But then......NOTHING...THE REST OF THE HALF. At halftime Matt was down 15 still, and the Broncos offense was just looking absolutely awful. Once again..it seemed like things were slipping away and the big magical comeback was going to be stopped dead in its tracks. Then...it started gaining traction again. A 30+ yard bomb to Sanders led to a short yardage Sanders TD and all of sudden Matt was only down 2.5 points with over 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. It was basically a given that Matt would complete the unthinkable. Of course the agony of waiting for a player to score 2.5 points in any game, much less a CHAMPIONSHIP one had to just be the most helpless feeling ever, and the next drive, the Broncos were driving with NONE of it going to Sanders. Then...once again...Sanders with a 2nd TD sealed the deal. Matt had slayed the giant. In hands down the most shocking upset in our leauge's history...Matt became the one who put the 1 in 14-1. All year...Mayra's team had just dominated, obliterated, an decimated all challengers in front of her. We all tried...we all failed...miserably. It didn't look like anyone could stop the machine. Then there's Matt, who quietly finished 3rd place and then made the finals on a tie breaker technicality after only scoring 78 points. Just such a hopeless mismatch. Except once again..it's the old adage of "Games aren't played on paper...they're played on the field". For Mayra...I can't imagine how the sting feels. It doesn't take away from what was a truly historic season. She broke a ton of records in the process and though it was a bitter bitter ending..she still gets 2nd place and $150. Also it's not like she got blown out...that game was hers to win..if Andrew Luck just has a BAD game she wins (to me a Bad game is 8-10 points..what Luck did was just so beyond pathetic..there's no way she keeps him now)..he just had the worst game you can possibly have. She STILL only lost by 5.5 points despite that. The Luck play would've DESTROYED most normal teams. That's how strong her team was. She did nothing wrong..the right players were played..no wrong decisions or anything. It's just how the cards fell. Fantasy Football is mostly about luck...with some skill involved. It's unpredictable, no matter how much research and effort you put into it. It's going to sting, but hey..next year..she'll have two solid keepers, and she'll be ready to go next year and take another shot at Fantasy Gold. For Matt...what a story..you couldn't write it any better. Matt, an "Original 8" member, was the only active member from that group who hadn't even PLACED. Matt's been a 1st seed only to fall in the next round after getting a bye and then getting bounced in the 3rd place game twice. He knows the feeling of playoff disappointment. All that...is gone now...he's a CHAMPION. And like Albert, Leland, and myself..that's something that can never be taken away from him. He's in that elite group and it's a well deserved win. Just like the quote on top...Mayra's team is better than Matt's. If they played 99 more times...no doubt Mayra's taking them all....but all it took was one....one time...that's all it took and those two words are now immortalized into Wane McGarity Bowl Folklore. Congrats again Matt..you are offically the Champion of The Wane McGarity Bowl.

Wane McGarity Bowl MVP

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

8 Receptions, 148 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 30 Points

 

I don't think there's ever been a bigger waiver wire pickup in our league's history than Odell Beckham Jr. He's the main reason Matt finished the 3rd and the main reason Matt won both semi finals and now finals. It's going to be interesting to see what Matt does with him next year as he also has Jordy Nelson and Jamaal Charles to think about, but there's no doubt Matt won this finals because of Odell Beckham's 30 point finals performance. He came up so huge when it was needed. 

Other League Notes: Eugene easily dispatched of Albert to take 3rd place so in the end Dante Moncrief did indeed cost Albert $150. Kenny took home the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl title for the 2nd time in 3 years by beating Ryan. And now...the final standings of the Wane McGarity Bowl for the 2014 Season.

Champion-Dr. Light's Robots (Matt)

2nd Place-Bigger Balls (Mayra)

3rd Place-Rocket Man (Eugene)

4th Place-Channel 4 News Team (Albert)

5th Place-Winter Is Over (Alex)

6th Place-JTG's Warehouse (Drew)

7th Place-Woe Is Me (Kenny)

8th Place-Hoosier Daddy (Ryan)

9th Place-The Bad Robofies (Dad)

10th Place-Shock The Monkey (Mark)

11th Place-NEXT!!! (Leland)

12th Place-Arturo's Beans (Me)

I'll be posting year end awards in the following days throughout the next couple weeks. 

Thursday Night Overview/Round 2 Awards

 

Look, when you as big of an underdog as Matt is you have to be willing to make a couple of gutsy calls. Instead of plodding out Trent Richardson for the umpteenth week and getting 4-6 points, Matt decided to roll with Toby Gerhart. You might remember him..Mark's 4th round bust of a pick. Well with Denard Robinson out, Gerhart got more of a roll and believe it or not the gamble actually paid off a little bit. Gerhart ended up with 53 rushing yards and a TD before leaving the game with an injury. At first glance 11.5 points doesn't seem too significant..but it is. Had this been a bust play..Matt would've been dead in the water before Mayra had her first player even play. Instead, by performing just above the projection, it gives Matt a good start and puts a little pressure on Mayra's players to perform. We'll see at the end of the day just how impactful the Gerhart play ends up being. Here are the Round 2 Awards.

Wane McGarity Stud Of The Week

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

 

When you tie and win by a tie breaker every single point matters, so every single one of  Odell Beckham's 36 points were crucial to his advancement to the Finals. Beckham's a huge reason Matt's on a 6 game winning streak and playing for The Wane McGarity Bowl.

Michael Wiley Dud Of The Week

Aaron Rodgers (Rocket Man)

 

Aaron Rodgers picked the WRONG week to have his worst performance of the season. Not only did he not throw a TD pass, but he finished only 6 points....6!! It's a miracle Randall Cobb still got 13.5 points out of that game. One of the biggest killers of Eugene's chance at the Championship Game.

Tony Romo Bad Decision Award

Albert Plays Donte Moncrief over Anquan Boldin

  

This actually ties Mike Posey's curious decision last season to use Jason Campbell over Tony Romo in the same round as one of the worst decisions in league history. I'd still give Mike the edge on that, honestly, because I still don't understand why he went that way. At least there was SOME reasoning by this as Colin Kaepernick has been BEYOND awful and Boldin was facing the Seahawks Defense. Boldin wasn't even good. He had two catches for 23 yards and 3 points. Donte Moncrief...WAS WORSE...he got NOTHING. A big zero. A bad gamble at the worst possible time. So instead of playing for the title..Albert has to face  Eugene in the 3rd place game. That one play cost him the finals.

The Wane McGarity Bowl Preview

 

After all the craziness that was this season...we're finally down to the final two teams that are vying for the ultimate prize..The Wane McGarity Bowl Championship. For me, Leland, and Albert...we know the feeling on sitting on top of the mountain alone..as a champion. By next Monday either Matt or Mayra will be able to claim that same title and etch their names into the record books. Now this is the ULTIMATE David vs Goliath matchup. You have the undefeated powerhouse in Mayra who's team is just beyond loaded with more talent than you can ever imagine against Matt's underdog team led by Jamaal Charles, Jordy Nelson, and now waiver wire MVP Odell Beckham Jr. On paper it looks like a complete mismatch as Mayra's team just looks like the more dominant team. But that's why they play the game on the field and not on paper. Can Matt pull off what would be the biggest upset in our league's history? He's gonna sure damn try. Here it is folks...the Wane McGarity Bowl.

Wane McGarity Bowl V

"David Vs Goliath"

Bigger Balls (Mayra) 

vs

Dr. Light's Robots (Matt)

Mayra Lopez (Bigger Balls)

#1 Seed (13-0)

How She Got Here: By simply keeping the best players possible (Antonio Brown and Dez Bryant) and having quite honestly the best draft we've seen in a single season. The 3rd round pick of Le'Veon Bell was a gamble that paid off more than anyone could ever imagine. Bell solidified himself as a top 3 back and has had an amazing season so far. Andrew Luck in round 5 was great as well, and later draft picks such as Antonio Gates and Ahmad Bradshaw help round out this deep roster. Of course you also can't overlook the big Matt Forte trade where she traded her 3rd rounder for him and Mike Wallace.  Add a late season trade for Mike Evans and there is seriously not one weakness on this squad. There's a reason she hasn't lost a game this season and outside of Week 1..none of her matchups have even been close. Mayra easily dispatched of Eugene last week to reach the finals after having a 1st round bye. 

Matt Gonzales (Dr. Light's Robots)

#3 Seed (9-4)

How He Got Here: Very quietly and under the radar. Seriously between Mayra and Albert dominating the top..and the talk of Eugene's star studded team being a scary lower seed team and the abomination that was the bottom of the league..nobody noticed Matt piling up the wins and finishing an impressive 9-4. Matt's actually on a 6 game winning streak right now including the playoffs so his team is hot at the right time. Matt also hit a home run with his keepers as Jamaal Charles and Jordy Nelson have had terrific elite seasons so far. The only black eye on Matt's season was that consistent lack of a true RB #2. His 3rd rounder, Zac Stacey was a total bust and in the 6th round, Trent Richardson wasn't any better. Matt gambled on Emmanuel Sanders in Round 5 and he was rewarded handsomely as Sanders has been great in Denver so far. QB play and TE play have been inconsistant as well, but the biggest move of the season for anyone was Matt's addition of Odell Beckham Jr off waivers. This pretty much propelled Matt to the top 3 as Beckham has been producing like a #1 receiver ever since he came back from injury. Matt's a feel good story as he's the last of the active members of the "Original 8" to place in a season. He beat Drew pretty handily in Round 1 before taking a tie breaker in an all time classic against Albert. Matt's not going to just take a loss and be happy with 2nd place prize money..he'll give it all he's got...the question is will it be close to enough?

Matchup Stats

All Time Record: Series is tied 2-2

Last Matchup: Mayra beat Matt 111.5-79 in Week 3 of the 2014 Season

Position Matchups

QB

Andrew Luck (Bigger Balls)

vs

Ben Roethisberger (Dr. Light's Robots)

Overview: Even though Luck is coming off a pretty average game.he's obviously the better QB here as he's been lights out most of this season. Big Ben has had his moments..but he's had his share of lowlights too. Unfortunately for Matt, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown tie to his QB so he almost needs them to be good to succeed. Mayra's got the obvious advantage here.

Advantage: Mayra 

WR

Antonio Brown (Bigger Balls)

Dez Bryant (Bigger Balls)

Mike Evans (Bigger Balls)

Mike Wallace (Bigger Balls)

vs

Jordy Nelson (Dr. Light's Robots)

Emmanuel Sanders (Dr. Light's Robots)

Odell Beckham Jr. (Dr. Light's Robots)

Sammy Watkins (Dr. Light's Robots)

Overview: This is probably the only position Matt matches up pretty well against. Watkins is a wild card, but the way Nelson, Sanders, and Beckham have been playing it's one of the best receiving groups in the league. On the other side though you got Dez and Antonio Brown which is pretty damn dominant. Add in Mike Evans and Mike Wallace and I think I'd slightly give Mayra the advantage here but not by that much. 

Advantage: Mayra 

RB

Le'Veon Bell (Bigger Balls)

Matt Forte (Bigger Balls)

vs

Jamaal Charles (Dr. Light's Robots)

Toby Gerhart (Dr. Light's Robots)

Overview: Jamaal Charles is great..but this is basically a 2-1 here and the 2 on Mayra's side Bell and Forte and like top 4 backs. For Matt to be playing Toby Gerhart just shows how bad Matt's running back situation is. Big time advantage here for Mayra.

Advantage: Mayra

TE 

Antonio Gates (Bigger Balls)

vs

Jordan Reed (Dr. Light's Robots)

Overview: Well the "weakest" spot on Mayra's team but I'd still rather have Gates than Jordan Reed so even here Mayra gets the advantage. 

Advantage: Mayra 

Final Predictions

Yahoo Says: Mayra wins 127-108

I say: Mayra wins. As fun as the storybook ending would be for Matt..I just can't see it happening. No one's been able to knock her off yet and though the addition of Beckham does make Matt intriguing at the end of the day it's just too much to overcome. I don't even think Matt's last play of the matchup Emmanuel Sanders is going to matter. Mayra's going to easily take the title and complete what has been a truly historic season.

 

   

 

 

 

 

Round 2 Playoff Results: Last Two Standing

OK, so basically we went from having two paint by the numbers no suspense matchups for a shot at the championship round to one that stayed true to form and another that will go down as the most heartbreaking, unbelievable loss in our league's history. You'll see what I'm talking about in a second. Here are the results for Round 2 as we now know who will be facing each other for the coveted Wane McGarity Bowl.


Dr. Light's Robots (1-0-1)          78
Channel 4 News Team (0-0-1)   78

You read that right..a tie. This review might go all over the place so bear with me. We're actually going to start at the end...which was Monday Night. Matt entered the night with a 15 point lead. Albert still had Alshon Jeffrey left. The Bears were just ATROCIOUS all night. Beyond Pathetic. It looked like there was no way Albert was getting his points. To makes matters even worse..when the Bears FINALLY scored, Alshon Jeffrey was WIDE OPEN but Cutler went to rookie Marquess Wilson for the TD. He couldn't even get THAT. With the game bascially over and 5 minutes left I decided to say fuck this Matt won..and head to bed. A couple minutes later I get a BARRAGE of texts which at first I thought "I'll read em tomorrow morning". Then my Dad lets me know the news....ALSHON JEFFREY SCORED A TD...ALBERT JUST TIED MATT. I was in shock. I don't know what happened...or how..all I know is I got multiple people in our league texting me asking "WHAT HAPPENS NOW".  It's insane that a trip to the championship game is now decided by a TIEBREAKER. That tiebreaker is Head to Head matchups which Matt won becuase he beat Albert by 3 FUCKING POINTS IN WEEK 11! Crazy doesn't even begin to describe what happened. Matt's in the finals (heaven forbid stat corrections happen..that would be super mean) due to a tiebreaker. For Albert..to add salt in the wound..there's one player he'll never forget the name of....DONTE MONCRIEF. Albert benched Anquan Boldin for him. Moncrief-0 points....Boldin-2. That decision cost Albert a guaranteed $150 bucks at the least. Brutal. In all honesty...the matchup was kinda of bad and if this is what's gonna happen next week..Mayra's winning by like 80 points. Neither team was very impressive but for Matt..once again Odell Beckham Jr was a godsend with yet another magnificent performance. Beckham had 12 catches for 143 yards and 3 scores for 36 points. If Matt doesn't keep him (and it's tough with Jordy and Jamaal Charles) Beckham is going to be a super hot commodity in the draft next year. Seriously though outside of that and a 14 point Big Ben game...nothing. Jordy, Emmanuel Sanders and Jamaal Charles combined for a pitiful 19.5 points and the rest of Matt's team did nothing of note. That RB #2 spot continues to kill Matt. Albert's team wasn't any better. Peyton Manning had another bad start and besides Alshon Jeffrey only Greg Olsen had good stats. Just a total letdown from both teams, but at least Matt fights on to see another day. For Albert, it's the first time that he's made the playoffs but not made the finals and the 3rd place game isn't a easy task either. It was a good season, but it has to feel underwhelming considering the expectations and 2nd place regular season finish. He has keeper questions and no 3rd rounder next year (thanks to the Alshon Jeffrey trade) so it'll be interesting to see what happens next year. DONTE MONCRIEF.......never forget....

Game MVP

Odell Beckham Jr (Dr. Light's Robots)

12 Receptions, 143 Receiving Yards, 3 Receiving TD's, 36 Points

Bigger Balls (1-0)                     139.5
Rocket Man (1-1)                        88.5

And from that to THIS. Not even CLOSE...ever. Eugene's team puts on one of the most disappointing performances in league history as his loaded all star team couldn't even put up 90 points. You can't blame Julio Jones being out...Harry Douglas performed well in his absence (10 for 131 yards). Aaron Rodgers picked the WRONG time to have his absolute worst game ever and Calvin Johnson was mediocre as fuck. Only DeMarco Murray decided to show up (2 TD's, 81 rushing yards). For Mayra...it's the same song and dance. For every bad Andrew Luck performance (14.5 points) There's Dez (114 yards, 3 TD's) and Le'veon Bell (119 Total Yards, 2 TD's) to pick up the slack. Only one player scored under 10 points (Mike Evans with 8..but he STILL scored a TD). Mike Wallace and Antonio Gates added TD's,  and Antonio Brown had a great game yardage wise. Again..Matt Forte sucked..and Mayra STILL put up 139.5 points. It's insane. This is the best assembled team in league history and I'm sorry to be a downer but there's just no way Matt's winning next week. Not....a....chance. Mayra's taking this in dominant fashion and going out undefeated which is unbelievable. For Eugene...just a bad way to go out and next year he's out a few top picks. Hopefully he can at least salvage the season and get 3rd place. Definitely not where he'd hope he'd be after all the trades he made.

Game MVP

Dez Bryant (Bigger Balls)

6 receptions, 114 receiving yards, 3 receiving TD's, 32 Points

 

Other League News

I do this but no one gives a fuck. Alex beat Drew in the 5th place game which is basically the worst game to be in on the playoff side of the bracket. That officially means Alex and Drew are done for the season. Let's seeeeee the good news? Kenny's been in the finals 3 straight years! The bad news? Two of those years he's been in the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl. He beat my Dad and will now take on Ryan to see who wins the "coveted title". Mark and my Dad will face off in the ultra irrelevant 9th place game and to top it alllllll off....I decided to add the last cherry to this fucktastic shitfuck of a season and lose to Leland in the 12th place game. That's right...from 1st the last. What an honor. THANK GOD this miserable pile of shit season is OVER WITH FOR GOOD. What a nightmare. 

 

Round 1 Playoff Awards

For the first time in forever..there's no need to even recap the Thursday Night Game (unless you really love seeing the plunge of my once championship team continue all the way down to 12th place because Tre Mason only scored 1 fucking point right off the bat) so it's straight on to awards of Round 1 of the Playoffs.

Wane McGarity Stud Of The Week

Julio Jones (Rocket Man)

 

It's going to be a shame that more than likely Eugene won't have Julio Jones at his disposal in the most important game of his season. Considering his reemergence the past couple of weeks as an elite WR..his injury might be the main reason he loses to Mayra. He was INSANE last week with 11 catches for 259 yard and a score. You can't just replace that kind of upside with a bench player. Tough Break.

Michael Wiley Dud Of The Week

Drew Brees (Winter Is Here)

 

Alex's Saints trio all disappointed..but none more obvious than Brees who after a pretty mediocre season by his standards had started to pick it up recently only to revert back to disappointment when Alex needed him most. His 11.5 points helped ensure Eugene would win by a comfortable margin. The question now becomes whether or not Alex keeps Brees or moves on to someone else.

I'm not giving out a Tony Romo Bad Decision Award because in all honestly the way Harvin's been playing, Alex was justified in benching him and the whole Giants backfield situation, Drew was justified starting Rashad Jennings over Andre Williams.

There was also no Drew Bennett Sneaky Surprise Award.

 

Wane McGarity Bowl Round 2 Matchups and Predictions

Here we are...down to the final 4. Mayra, Eugene, Albert, and Matt. One of these four is going to be the next champion of the Wane McGarity  Bowl. Of these 4, only Albert has tasted the sweet success of being a champion. Will he get another chance to claim his 3rd title? Will Matt finally breakthrough the final 4 to get to the finals? Which powerhouse will be sent packing..Mayra..with her undefeated season on the line....or Eugene who mortgaged next year away to get here. We'll find out this week...here are the matchups and predictions.

Bigger Balls (0-0) vs
Rocket Man (1-0)

Playoff Record
Bigger Balls: 0-1
Rocket Man: 1-0

Matchup Stats
All Time Record: Mayra leads series 2-0
Last Matchup: Mayra beat Eugene 120.5-93 in Week 10 of the 2014 Season

Key Players
Bigger Balls: Andrew Luck (Texans) Antonio Brown (Falcons) Le'Veon Bell (Falcons) Dez Bryant (Eagles) Matt Forte (Saints)

Rocket Man: Aaron Rodgers (Bills) Randall Cobb (Bills) Julio Jones* (Steelers) Calvin Johnson (Vikings) Demarco Murray (Eagles) Jeremy Maclin (Cowboys)

Wild Cards
Bigger Balls: NONE

Rocket Man: Julio Jones Health.

Predictions
Yahoo Says: Mayra wins 134-116
I Say: Mayra wins..this is the matchup everyone wanted to see in the finals. Well, thanks to a combination of Eugene's team kinda struggling during the season and Drew's tank job in the final week of the season, we get this matchup in Round 2 instead. I believe the winner of this cakewalks to a title. It'll be a bitter pill for the loser to swallow knowing just how much easier either would've had against Albert or Matt. At the end of the day..until I see Mayra's team as a whole struggle, I cannot pick against her. There's always one or two guys on her team that go off and pick up the slack for those underperformers. It's critical that to even have a chance at the win..Eugene NEEDS a healthy Julio Jones. If he doesn't play or is limited..you can kinda forget it. Eugene needs all the firepower he can get to compete. I think Mayra takes it and goes on her quest to complete the perfect season and end it with a championship.

Channel 4 News Team (0-0) vs
Dr. Light's Robots (1-0) (My bad Matt!)

Playoff Record
Channel 4 News Team: 7-1
Dr. Light's Robots: 1-4

Matchup Stats
All Time Record: Albert leads series 4-3
Last Matchup: Matt beat Albert 105.5-102 in Week 11 of the 2014 Season

Key Players
Channel 4 News Team: Peyton Manning (Chargers) A.J. Green (Browns) Alshon Jeffrey (Saints) Arian Foster (Colts)

Dr. Light's Robots: Jordy Nelson (Bills) Emmanuel Sanders (Chargers) Odell Beckham Jr. (Redskins) Jamaal Charles* (Raiders)

Wild Cards
Channel 4 News Team: Difficult A.J. Green matchup. Can the old vets show up? (Boldin, Steve Smith, Fred Jackson)

Dr. Light's Robots: Jamaal Charles Health. No Real RB#2 (Trent Richardson starting). Production of supporting cast (Jordan Reed, Sammy Watkins, Big Ben).

Predictions
Yahoo Says: Albert wins 116-111
I Say: Albert wins. This is going to be tough. First of all Albert's only lost once in the playoffs and that was in the finals of 2012 against Leland. His 7 wins are by far the most in the league. 2nd, here's a crazy fact..Matt's been knocked out of the final four twice before....by ALBERT. Albert has his number in the playoffs. Both teams have obvious weaknesses..and this gets skewered big time towards Albert if Jamaal Charles for some reason misses this week. Matt has absolutely no RB depth behind Charles. I'll go with the guy who had the bye, but it will be a real close one to me.

Round 1 Playoff Results: Final Four Left Standing

The 1st round was actually pretty....anticlimactic actually. Both matchups were decided before the Sunday Night games and we now know who will be joining Mayra and Albert in Round 2 of The Wane McGarity Bowl. Here are the results.

Rocket Man (1-0)                         162
Winter Is Here (0-1)                     112


This was never remotely close despite Alex ending putting up a respectable 112 points.  Eugene's team is ON FIRE at the right time now as he put up a whopping 162 points. We already covered his Thursday plays, but damn..Eugene ended up with 4 players score 25 or MORE (Aaron Rodgers put up over 325 and 3 scores for 27, Calvin Johnson had another HUGE game with 158 and a score for 25, Julio Jones went INSANE with 259 yards and a score for 36.5 points and we talked about Murray's 31.5 points Thursday). Just nothing Alex could do to stop the barrage. That's with Randall Cobb and Ryan Mathews not doing much. Eugene could always go back to Maclin if need be as well. This is what I expected from Eugene's team when he put those trades together. PURE DOMINATION and a legit threat to Marya next week. The ONLY scary thing is the health of Julio Jones. He seemed to seriously injure his hip late in last night's game and never returned. For Eugene's sake..he better hope he'll end up OK because if not..that's a HUGE blow to his chances of dethroning Mayra. For Alex the first wave of games were UGLY. At one point the score was something like 62- -3. He got in a huge hole and was never able to climb out. His Saints guys KILLED him..Brees, Stills, and Mark Ingram combined for 19 points. That's just not gonna cut it and after Brees looked like the Brees of old for a couple of weeks, he was very disappointing when it mattered the most. T.Y. Hilton did his best to salvage the day with 150 yards and two scores, and Gronk and Lacy contributed 18 and 24.5 points respectively while Marshawn Lynch added 16.5. The rest of the supporting cast was just not good and that's not going to cut it against a loaded team like Eugene. For Alex, it still is a successful debut season. He's got legit keeper questions to answer (Gronk, Brees, Lynch, Lacy) next season, but to make the playoffs in your first year is definitely nothing to sneeze at. He'll have a solid start next season whichever guys he decides to keep. Unfortunately he'll be in the 5th place game now, while Eugene takes on Mayra in what many consider the real finals of the playoffs.

Game MVP

Julio Jones (Rocket Man)

11 receptions, 259 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD, 36.5 points

 

Dr. Light's Robots (1-0)            134.5

JTG's Warehouse (0-1)             84

Matt FINALLY gets playoff win #1 and gets it pretty easily and Drew's plan for the easier matchup backfired. Injuries pretty much killed Drew's chances as not only did Andre Ellington not play, but Julius Thomas was active but didn't play, and Rashad Jennings barely played. Demaryius Thomas also came up pretty small with only 2 points. Matt got a great performance for him Big 3 as Jordy Nelson had 146 and two TD's for 30 points, Jamaal Charles had 24 points with 2 TD's and over 100 total yards, and Odell Beckham continues to be such a critical waiver wire pickup as he had 130 and a score. Add Big Ben's 350 yards and 3 passing TD's and it led to a comfortable win for Matt. The problem continues to be that RB #2 slot. T-Rich is AWFUL and isn't worthy of playing but Matt has no choice.  That's gonna be a huge obstacle to overcome against Albert. Matt's gonna have to hope his players play like this again if he wants to have a shot at advancing to the finals. He'll take on Albert next. For Drew..it was worth the gamble...he would've lost to Alex had he not tanked. He'll at least have Demaryius Thomas and possibly Adrian Peterson next year. Demaryius at least is a solid guy to build your team around. Drew will take on Alex in the 5th place consolation game..though I doubt either of them care.

Game MVP

Jordy Nelson (Dr. Light's Robots)

8 Receptions, 146 receiving yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 30 Points

 

Other League News
 -I'm so pathetic, I can't even beat Kenny's shitty ass team so off to the 12th place game I go. Kenny takes on my dad next.

-Mark gets the bullshit win against Leland so he'll advance to the next round to face Ryan.

Thursday Night Overview/Week 13 Awards

 

Eugene's team seems to be peaking at the RIGHT TIME. Once again..DeMarco Murray showed why he's the best running back in fantasy football by completely embarrassing the Bears Defense to the tune of 179 rushing yards (along with a TD) and added another 9 receptions for 49 yards. Just to make things even more stacked against Alex, Martellus Bennett put up 12 receptions for 84 and a score as well. That's 51.5 points already between two guys...amazing. It kinda feels like this is one is over before it even started..with even Alex admitting that it's not looking real good. The only thing Alex can hang his hat on is that he hasn't had anyone play yet so it's not like he's had an underperforming player yet. This is why I feel Eugene is the best team that can give Mayra a run for her money. For the other 1st round matchup, Drew kept flip flopping between Jay Cutler and Ryan Tannehill all week before finally sticking to his guns and starting Cutler. For a half, it looked like a mistake but Cutler got some good garbage time points and ended up with 25 fantasy points. That's the good news...the bad news is that not only is Andre Ellington out, but it looks like Rashad Jennings as well and quite possibly Julius Thomas again. If that's the case..it might be enough to open a chance for Matt to still getting a win. We'll see what happens Sunday. Onto the Week 13 Awards!

Wayne McGarity Stud Of The Week

Le'Veon Bell (Bigger Balls)

 

Getting Bell in the 3rd round of this year's draft has proven to be one of the best value picks ever as outside DeMarco Murray, Bell's been the 2nd best back in fantasy football. His 34 fantasy points last week helped Mayra's team become the first team to go undefeated in the regular season. Two more wins and she'll achieve the "Perfect Season". If she does that..a lot of credit will go to this guy right here.

Michael Wiley Dud Of The Week

Jimmy Graham (The Bad Robofies)

 

There are no pictures of Graham from the Steelers game because in a game where Drew Brees threw 5 TD passes..JIMMY GRAHAM DIDN'T CATCH ONE BALL. 0 POINTS...unbelievable for a guy who's one of the best at his position. Graham came up as small as can be the last two weeks for Dad and it might be enough of a breaking point that Dad goes another direction and starts over without Graham. 

There are no Drew Bennett Sneaky Surprise or Tony Romo Bad Decision Awards this week.

Wane McGarity Bowl Round 1 Matchups and Predictions

As per usual, I'm not going to waste time predicting the Michael Wiley Loser Bowl, just the REAL playoffs. Mayra and Albert get to take a well deserved break while Alex, Eugene, Drew, and Matt battle it out to make the final 4. Both matchups should be good. Here we go...

Rocket Man (7-6)   vs
Winter Is Here (7-6)

Playoff Stats
Rocket Man: 1st Playoff Appearance
Winter Is Here: 1st Playoff Appearance

Matchup Stats
All Time Record: Alex leads series 1-0
Last Matchup: Alex beat Eugene 110.5-84.5 in Week 12 of the 2014 Season

Key Players
Rocket Man: Aaron Rodgers (Falcons) Jeremy Maclin (Seahawks) Julio Jones (Packers) Randall Cobb (Falcons) Calvin Johnson (Bucs) DeMarco Murray (Bears) 

Winter Is Here: Drew Brees (Panthers) T.Y. Hilton (Browns) DeSean Jackson* (Rams) Marshawn Lynch (Eagles) Rob Gronkowski (Chargers) Eddie Lacy (Falcons)

Wild Cards
Rocket Man: Tough Matchup for Jeremy Maclin. Lamar Miller production

Winter Is Here: DeSean Jackson health. Percy Harvin production.

Predictions
Yahoo Says: Eugene wins 114-103
I Say: Eugene wins. These two just met up two weeks ago and Alex easily dispatched Eugene then. Can he make it two weeks in a row? Well, he certainly has the team to do it. I'm curious where he goes with his receiver situation. Stills, LaFell, Harvin, and Desean Jackson are all viable options (if DeSean is healthy) and it'll be a tough decision to chose two of those guys. Another crazy thing is Eugene has 3 Monday Night Plays while Alex has two Sunday/Monday Night Plays so those last two games are going to be critical to this matchup. I just think Eugene's team is way too loaded and I don't see him putting up another stinker like he did the last time these two met. It'll be a high scoring close affair, but edge to Eugene to advance to the final 4.

Dr. Light's Robots (9-4)   vs
JTG's Warehouse (7-6)

Playoff Stats
Dr. Light's Robots: 3rd Appearance (0-4)
JTG's Warehouse: 2nd Appearance (1-1) (2nd Place in 2010)

Matchup Stats
All Time Record: Series is tied 3-3-1
Last Matchup: Matt Beat Drew 146-80.5 in Week 4 of the 2014 Season

Key Players
Dr. Light's Robots: Jordy Nelson (Falcons) Emmanuel Sanders (Bills) Jamaal Charles (Cardinals) Odell Beckham Jr (Titans)

JTG's Warehouse: Demaryius Thomas (Bills) Rashad Jennings (Titans) Justin Forsett (Dolphins) Julius Thomas* (Bills)

Wild Cards
Dr. Light's Robots: Big Ben Play. No real RB #2. Tough Jamaal Charles Matchup. Productions from rest of roster outside stars.

JTG's Warehouse: QB Play. Andre Ellington likely out. Julius Thomas' Health. Production from Tate/Edelman/Benjamin

Predictions
Yahoo Says: Drew wins 112-101
I Say: Drew wins. Wow..this rivalry has been a real good one. They've met 7 times previous and the series is all tied up at 3-3-1. Family Bragging rights go with this win as well. It's also crazy that although Matt's been in the final 4 both times he's been in the playoffs, he's yet to win a playoff game (he's lost both 3rd place games after being knocked out thus the 0-4 record). Drew's last playoff appearance was our first season in 2010 where he beat me then lost to Albert in the finals. He hadn't been in the playoffs since returning to the league in 2012. He's back though and this is what he wanted. He specifically got himself in this situation so he'd have a better shot at advancing. I believe that's what's going to happen here. Again, both team have their weaknesses and inconsistencies. For Matt, that glaring lack of a RB #2 is critical. There's really nothing he can do as there's nothing out there worth picking up. He needs Big Ben to play like the Big Ben who went a TD barrage a few weeks ago. He needs guys like Sammy Watkins and Jordan Reed to supplement his stars if he's going to win. For Drew..all year it's been QB play. It's been terribly bad. This week..it's back to Cutler again. He is playing against the Dallas Defense so you would think he would be a solid play. Drew's team doesn't really have household stars outside of the Thomas boys really, but Golden Tate, Julian Edelman, and Kelvin Benjamin have more than held their own this season and Drew's going to need that again if he wants to advance. I think that late season trade for Forsett and Jennings was an underrated move as well. I give the slight edge to Drew here. Should be fun to watch.