The one thing about football in general is the unpredictability of injuries. It seems to have really hit hard this season as week after week we've seen superstar after superstar go down. For fantasy football, the playoffs is the worst place it could happen, especially in game injuries. I remember my first trip to the Wane McGarity Bowl, I was done off the bat because in a meaningless game, Tony Romo hit his thumb on a Eagles helmet and as a precaution he was sat the rest of the game. He finished with 0 points. A 0 at the QB position. Killed any hope of winning it all. This year, the injury bug hit my Dad as he lost both Thomas Rawls and Vincent Jackson to early game injuries and they never came back. It's one thing to survive one injury, but two? Just no way. And just like that, Dad's playoff run is over. It's the worst way you can go out. Injuries have also hurt us that are on bye. I'm hoping Greg Olsen's injury isn't serious, and while on bye Eugene lost Mark Ingram, his best running back. The team that wins is the team that survives, and now we're down to 4 survivors. Here are the results of the first round of the playoffs.
Shock The Monkey (9-5) 91.80
BigBadBob (6-8) 72.60
Ugh....the worst way to go out. The ultimate "what if". Would a full game of Thomas Rawls and Vincent Jackson been enough to beat Mark's team, which really wasn't that impressive itself? We'll never know. Even Cam Newton was too good for his own good as he decimated Atlanta so bad that he was benched in the 4th quarter. He led Dad's team with 265 passing yards and 3 Passing TD's. The other problem was that Dad's team just went to shit as well. Outside of Michael Floyd's Thursday performance, nobody showed up for Dad. Nobody scored over 8.2 points. Brandin Cooks, Gio Bernard, Travis Kelce, Larry Fitzgerald, all were terrible. So with that in mind, it's not a given that Dad would've beaten Mark at all. For Mark, his team really wasn't that great, but hey all you gotta do is beat the opponent in front of you and that's what he did. He didn't have one guy score over 20, (Alshon Jeffrey led the way with 6 catches for 107 and a score, Jarvis Landry added 11 catches for 99 yards and Gary Barnidge added 84 and a score and that was basically it). Mark's in a good position to advance to the finals because he faces my shitty team next (newsflash, I would've lost to everyone but Dad, had I played this week, continuing what's been an epic slide from my team). For Dad, just a tough break as I really felt he had a solid shot to win it all. Still, it was a successful season for Dad and he'll look to build on the success next season. He takes on Drew in the 5th place game next week.
Game MVP
Alshon Jeffrey (Shock The Monkey)
6 Receptions, 107 Receiving Yards, 1 Receiving TD, 19.70 Fantasy Points
No Soup For You (9-5) 119.10
Sons Of The Harpy (6-8) 90.74
This is a bit of an upset here as I thought for sure Drew would be able to survive a mediocre Adrian Peterson game and win this matchup. I felt Drew, on paper, had the best team left out of us 6. . It's always a slippery slope when you decide to use multiple position players from one team, especially when your opponent has the QB, but that's what happened this week as Drew had to play 3 Jags this week while Leland had Blake Bortles. It worked out to a point as all 3 Jags scored,(Hurns had 105 along with his TD, and Julius Thomas had 5 for 54 with his) but remember Bortles gets a piece of those TD's as well so for them to good, it means Bortles did good. Allen Robinson was SUPER disappointing. He caught a TD pass, but it was his only catch and it was for 4 yards. Amari Cooper got blanked and Buck Allen did nothing, fumbling and only ending up with 6.3 points. Demaryius Thomas had a good game, but he fumbled as well and couldn't find the end zone. He needed a lot more than the 12.5 Points he got. Even Tom Brady needed one of those Tom Brady super elite performances and he didn't even throw for 230 yards and only had 2 scores. It was one of the good but not great overall games for Drew, and in the playoffs you need a lot more than good to get in, especially against Leland's squad, who I felt had the 2nd best team on paper out of us 6. Leland survived a terrible game from Calvin Johnson (held to one late catch in the 4th quarter) and bad Martavis Bryant game (not even 50 receiving yards thanks to Todd Gurley reemerging (140 rushing yards and two scores, great timing for this) and the aforementioned Bortles (he had those 3 TD's and also added a rushing TD). Zach Miller was also an excellent play with 85 and a score. Even Kenny Stills added a TD to put a stamp on the win. It was a great performance and shows that Leland can definitely win it all, and you have to assume Calvin Johnson won't be that bad again. So Leland advances and he'll take on his brother Eugene with the winner getting to go the finals. For Drew, he narrowly got in, only to be quickly eliminated just like that. It was just the wrong week this week. There's no doubt Drew will regroup and be a factor next season like he always is. He'll take on Dad in the 5th place game next week.
Game MVP
Todd Gurley (No Soup For You)
140 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TD's, 1 Reception, 7 Receiving Yards, 27.2 Fantasy Points
Other News and Notes
I don't even think the competitors themselves know the consolation bracket is going on, but they are and Matt beat Mayra and Alex beat Ryan to advance. Matt will take on Albert and Alex takes on Kenny in Round 2.
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