Who's Getting In? A Look At The Playoff Race

This is one of my favorite posts to do as we're only 3 weeks away from the Fantasy Football Playoffs and technically nothing is concrete as far as playoffs go. In my opinion, there are still 10 teams that have some kind of shot to make it to the top 6. I've divided those teams in to tiers and here's how those 10 teams playoff outlook looks.

Basically In

Leland (No Soup For You)

Current Record: 7-3

Key Guys On Bye:  James White (Week 11) Nick Chubb (Week 11) Robert Woods (Week 12) Kareem Hunt (Week 12)

Remaining Schedule

Matt

Albert

Dad

There’s no doubt Leland’s getting in. He leads the league in points and tied for best record. He’s basically a lock for the playoffs and a shoo in for a bye. The slight concern would be Leland has a number of prominent players still having bye weeks, but Leland’s team is deep, he can seriously cover them all. Conservatively, one win should lock a playoff spot and with that schedule there’s no doubt he’ll get at least one.

Mark (Shock The Monkey)

Current Record: 7-3

Key Guys on Bye:  Tyreek Hill (Week 12) Travis Kelce (Week 12) Sammy Watkins (Week 12)

Remaining Schedule

Mike

Ryan

Drew

As the only other 7-3 team in the league, Mark’s on here by default. He’s coming off a high scoring week, but his season points are not great in the least for what his record is. He has a middle of the road schedule and already, this week is going to be a bigger fight than anticipated with Mike. Like Leland, one win should be enough to get him though there could be problems if he does somehow drop this week to Mike. Ryan's team isn't nearly as bad as his record shows (plus Mark will be down his 3 Chiefs in week 12) and Drew's team is suddenly a powerhouse I wouldn't be 100% confident in playing against. Regardless, I’d be surprised if Mark doesn’t get it by wins and take just one of those matchups, but in the event he drops 3 straight, it might be a little tough to get in points wise, but even then his record might come in to play if that happens.

Almost But Quite Not There

Eugene (Rocket Man)

Current Record: 6-4

Key Guys On Bye: Matt Breida (Week 11)

Remaining Schedule

Me

Kenny

Mike

So losing this past week has kind of opened up the small possibility that Eugene might be in trouble. Key word is “might” because I still think he ends up ok. His schedule is kinda rough, and the lack of A.J. Green doesn’t help (though it's looking like Green could be back as early as next week). It’s entirely possible Eugene drop all 3 weeks, but I seriously doubt that happens. With his points in tow, I believe one win should be enough to get the job done and make the playoffs. I just can’t see this team losing out.

The Next Three in

Honestly, after those three “near locks” it becomes damn near hard to speculate who can get in, especially with the new 6^th seed scoring rule in effect. Here’s my opinion on who’s going to get in and get the final 3 spots.

Kenny (Scott’s Tots)

Current Record (4-6)

Key Guys On Bye: Julian Edelman (Week 11)

Remaining Schedule

Drew

Eugene

Matt

It’s crazy that I think the 6^th seed is damn near closer to being locked up than the 4^th and 5^th seeds. So why do I give Kenny the edge over the rest of us? Out of the teams that I believe will be competing for the 6^th seed via points, he has a comfortable nearly 30 point lead. With only 3 games left and the way his team is playing, I just don’t see him losing the points lead. He even still has an outside shot to just make the playoffs via record if he can win outright to get to 7 wins, though admittedly that schedule is pretty tough and Aaron Jones has already put him in a big hole against Drew. He could actually end up losing all 3 just as much as he can win them. Still having the points to fall back is very crucial and could be his ticket into the playoffs.

Matt (Light’s Broken Bots)

Current Record (6-4)

Key Guys On Bye: Josh Gordon (Week 11) Rob Gronkowski (Week 11) Duke Johnson (Week 11) George Kittle (Week 11) Frank Gore (Week 11) Tom Brady (Week 11) Patrick Mahomes (Week 12)

Remaining Schedule

Leland

Me

Kenny

Had Matt not lost to Alex this past week, I think he would’ve been on the near lock stage, but there’s gotta be a little bit of concern here as Matt does have a pretty tough schedule. Another thing hurting Matt is so many late season bye weeks. A lot of his team is on bye against Leland for Week 11, while in Week 12 he’ll have no Mahomes against me. I still give Matt the edge here because he can actually afford to drop 2 and still have a chance thanks to his points, but it wouldn’t be crazy at all if he dropped all 3 matchups and got stuck on 6 wins.

Alex (SCLSU MudDogs)

Current Record (6-4)

Key Guys on Bye: Isaiah Crowell (Week 11) LeSean McCoy (Week 11) Brandin Cooks (Week 12)

Remaining Schedule

Albert

Dad

Ryan

I still think Alex is one of the more vulnerable teams because of his points, but since he still has at least a game over me and Drew and his schedule isn’t that intimidating I put him as the final team in the playoffs. As thin as his roster is, having any guys on bye is going to be a hurdle, but he’s got the softest schedule of the teams vying for a playoff spot which means he should be competitive enough at the very least (though this week already looks like a lost cause). The way the season has been going for him, I just can't count him out because every time I think he should lose, he wins.  If he doesn’t pick up 2 or more wins though, he’ll be on the bubble because of his low points.

Still In The Hunt

The next tier is basically 2 teams I feel like could have a chance but need help and things to go their way

Drew (I Am Queens Blvd)

Current Record (5-5)

Key Guys on Bye:  Todd Gurley (Week 12)

Remaining Schedule

Kenny

Mike

Mark

I put Drew over me because I just don’t have confidence in my team and though I still have a slight lead in points over Drew, his team is trending upward with the emergence of Aaron Jones and reemergence of Dalvin Cook. Drew’s biggest gun is out Week 12 in Todd Gurley which could be a mild concern, but he’s facing Mike’s struggling team that week so he might be able to overcome it.  Kenny provides a challenge, but Mike and Mark seem like winnable matchups for Drew. I’d say he has a decent chance to maybe get in if he can win 2 out of 3 and get a couple of high scoring weeks under his belt he’ll also need either Matt or Alex to somehow drop out of the picture and lose.

Me (Rigmas Forever)

Current Record (5-5)

Key Guys On Bye: Sony Michel (Week 11)

Remaining Schedule

Eugene

Matt

Albert

After this past week’s shitty loss to Drew, I’ll never do optimism again because there’s never a reason to when it comes to Fantasy Football and my luck. I bet only 1% of total teams in Yahoo miss the playoffs with a team consisting of Cam Newton, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara, but here I am, about to miss the playoffs. Irony, that the playoff structure fucked me so many years (3 out of the 4 years I’ve missed the playoffs, I would’ve gotten in by points, it’s a reason why I wanted the rule change) and now that we finally change the rules, I’ll be the first one to get fucked because in the old system, I’m actually still 6^th place and wouldn’t be as pessimistic about my playoff chances. Under the revised system, I’m “fake 6^th” and really 7^th because Kenny leads in points by a wide margin. So how do I get in? Easy..win out..you know, win 3 in a row, something I haven’t done all season (longest winning streak is 2, and I only did that once). Not to mention my schedule..the 3^rd and 4^th seeded guys in the playoffs back to back, then play a team that sucks, but blew me out and had their best game of the season against me in Week 2. Yeah..this isn’t happening. I’ll probably get a bye…in THE LOSER BRACKET and do my best to win that. Losing to Drew was a HUGE blow to my playoff chances. Because Yahoo is a sick and twisted entity OF COURSE I’m favored to win all 3 matchups! You know just like the other 8 times this year I have been favored (but wait..my record is 5-5 not 8-2?! HOW CAN THAT BE!?). Anyhow should shock of all shocks   Yahoo somehow be wrong in their projections, I can literally only afford to drop 1 game and then I’ll start needing help (Keeping my points up, and needing Drew to drop 1 game, Alex to drop 2 games, Matt to drop all 3 games etc). I wonder who’ll be available next year when I draft #1 overall (who am I kidding, I’ll end up losing that too)

The Longest Of Long Shots

Mike (Trump 2020)

Current Record (4-6)

Key Guys On Bye: Jarvis Landry (Week 11)

Remaining Schedule

Mark

Drew

Eugene

Basically only put Mike on here, because if he wins out he can get to 7 wins, but depending on points that might not even matter. So Mike had a tough start where his team played awesome but his team still lost, then went on a 4 game winning streak and really looked like his team was going to turn it around, before sputtering to a current 4 game losing streak. He’s fallen behind in points, just lost Cooper Kupp to a torn ACL, and has a pretty difficult schedule where he won’t be favored in any of the matchups (though he's starting this week off great after that Davante Adams play). It would take a ton of work and help for Mike to make it, but as small of a chance there is of that happening, it’s still a chance. Never say never.

Albert (Channel 4 News Team)

Current Record (4-6)

Key Guys On Bye: Kenyon Drake (Week 11) David Njoku (Week 11)

Remaining Schedule

Alex

Leland

Me

So Albert, like Mike, can still get to 7 wins, which technically keeps him alive, but he’s in way worse shape points wise than Mike is. Albert’s team is so perplexing, it’s like a poor man’s version of mine, where on paper, he has a crap load of talented guys, they’ve just been disappointing. These past two weeks, injuries and byes have really hurt Albert. His schedule looks Ok , except for Leland in the middle. Me and Alex are definitely winnable matchups (he already beat me in Week 2 with basically the same squad he has now and this week is looking like a shoo in win against Alex) but having to face Leland at his hottest probably will squash any chance he had in the playoffs. Even if he somehow gets survives and gets 7 wins, more than likely his ceiling is a fake 6^th place finish. Still as long as points are the ultimate variable and the 7 wins threshold is still attainable, Albert’s still “in the running” but barely.

Dad and Ryan are the only two teams that are 100% out of it. They can only get to 6 wins if they win out and they don’t have the points to compete for the 6^th seed.

Thursday Night Overview: "The Guy"

 

Almost every year in fantasy football there's always an "X Factor". A guy who comes outta nowhere late in the season and takes the league my storm. In the fantasy football world he's deemed a "league winner". The biggest example of this was during Matt's remarkable title run back in 2014. Matt had a middle of the road team, not horrible, but not really a championship caliber squad, until one guy, who started the season hurt made a HUGE difference. That guy was Odell Beckham Jr. He literally changed the landscape of our league and helped Matt pull off the biggest upset in our league's history taking out Mayra's undefeated team. This year...it's looking like Aaron Jones is "that guy". After a 4 game suspension and then weeks of splitting carries with both Ty Montgomery and Jamaal Williams, the past 3 weeks it seems like Aaron Jones has finally taken the reins of Green Bay's starting running back and he's not letting go. Drew's team has struggled most of the season, thanks to Dalvin Cook's hamstring injury, but Todd Gurley had taken Drew's team on his back and the very least kept Drew in playoff contention. Aaron Jones though..looks like he can not only help Drew make the playoffs, but win it ALL. Drew's 3 headed monster of Gurley, Aaron Jones, and healthy Dalvin Cook could might end up being the best stable of running backs this league has. Jones did not disappoint as he had nearly 25 points and has given Drew the early upper hand against Kenny for the week in a must win game for him. The scary thing is...it SHOULD'VE been much more, but for some idiotic reason, the Packers abandoned the run in the 2nd half, limiting Jones touches. If Drew is able to make the playoffs...watch out. A matchup that just got a little bit more interesting is Mike/Mark. I kinda had written off Mike but after Davante Adams set a career high in yards with 166 yards on 10 catches, this is now looking like a legit coin flip of a matchup. That could have a HUGE trickle down effect as not only would keep Mike's small playoff hopes alive, but Mark wouldn't be such a shoo in for that 1st round bye after all. It could open up numerous possibilities. Also if Albert doesn't beat Alex this week I should just give Alex the 1st place money right now, because there's no logical way he can win this week. He's already burned 3 plays (Tyler Lockett, Mike Daivs, Jamaal Williams) and none of them did anything. They combined for a measly 16.2 points. He's on pace to score 73 points. All Albert's guys have to do is play mediocre and he should still blow Alex out. That's obviously huge as well as Alex losing will really hurt him because of points. I hope I'm wrong, but I think it's a bad omen that after proclaiming Leland would never lose again this season, he starts off the week with a dud play in Marquez Valdes-Scantling. MVS was held to 1 catch for 8 yards. Aaron Rodgers was good for Leland with nearly 24 points, but it's not enough to mask the disasterous MVS performance. Leland is still in the driver's season as far as projections go...but his win margin has shrunk a bit. And finally in the "Irrelevant Bowl" it seems like Dad has the upper hand after Doug Baldwin scored and basically had his best game of the season  with 14.7 points. That combined with Ryan losing Jimmy Graham to injury has Dad in the driver's seat as he tries to stay away from being last place.

Week 10 Recap/Week 11 Matchups and Predictions

 

So just going to give a recap of Week of 10 before getting to the matchups and predictions. So yes, just as I predicted on the Thursday Night Overview, my team once again can't seem to get it together when facing a far less superior team and I suffered a huge blow to my playoff chances by losing to Drew. It's probably going to end up costing me a playoff spot. Despite a mean tease in the first half of games that had me at about a 40 point favorite, my guys did nothing in the 2nd half of the early games and Drew finished me off with Todd Gurley and Aaron Jones to win by 9 points. So fucking frustrating. It's why I hate this fucking game so much because nothing ever seems to go my way when I need it. My loss gives Drew 2nd life after his team was looking like it was a dire straits, but if Aaron Jones is going to be THIS good and if Dalvin Cook is actually BACK...holy crap is Drew's 3 headed RB monster scary with Gurley the leader of that group. Drew's going to be a scary team to deal with if he can end up making the playoffs. He's got a difficult matchup against Kenny coming up, while all I have to do is beat Eugene, who's coming off a rare loss. Ha..like that's happening..gimmie a break. It was crazy seeing the lowest scorers of the week for the longest time being Leland and Eugene, but then Leland ended up with a 30+ Zeke play and Eugene ALMOST ended up making a crazy comeback with a nearly 27 point Matt Breida play, but came up just a tad short. So Leland basically has his shittiest week in a good long while and STILL WINS. He's not losing again folks. This shit is wrapped up and the rest of the league is really just playing for 2nd place (wish I was part of THAT group). Leland takes on Matt next, while Eugene gets to bounce back against me, because I mean who doesn't bounce back against me? So tell me if you've heard this story before. I rip Alex's team as weak and say that his opponent "should" easily win only for the football gods to prove me wrong and Alex to somehow come up with yet another win. It's the 6th time we've heard this story, but THIS week was the most bizarre. Alex's team actually put up the 3rd most points of the weeks and get this, he could've been #1 but he for some inexplicable reason SAT LESEAN MCCOY. Are you serious..he GETS AWAY WITH IT?! That would NEVER work in my favor that's for sure. It's not even that Matt's team played bad, he actually outscored his initial projection, that's usually the recipe to beat Alex, but THIS WEEK..Alex actually scored POINTS. He still has no Le'Veon Bell.he still has the worst points in the league by far, he still has 6 WINS and is prime position to make the playoffs, while my loaded team STRUGGLES. Did I mention how much I hate this bogus luck filled piece of shit game? Well..I do. Alex takes on Albert next, and the way Albert's team has been playing, it's not a slam dunk Albert wins. I know I concentrated on how Alex's win affects me (because it's my blog dammitt) but let's not lose sight how much of a bad loss it was for Matt. Matt's schedule is rough and it's none of his matchups are locks. He also has tons of byes and faces Leland next. There are two teams that have gone into a downward spiral the last few weeks and one of them is Albert. Albert had a cush 2 week schedule to get him back on track and blew both of them losing to my Dad and Ryan on consecutive weeks. Another low scoring effort for Albert and Ryan basically had this wrapped Thursday Night after Big Ben and Connor's performances. After weeks of NEAR HEARTBREAKING losses, Ryan FINALLY gets one in the win column and it was a blowout. Ryan's team is NOT as bad as his record suggests and he's not going to be the "easy win" people are thinking if they still have him on their schedule. Ironically though, his matchup next week is totally irrelevant, he faces Dad and both are out of playoff contention. For Albert, he's got another winnable matchup against Alex and a loss here would basically put an end to his season. The other team on a downward spiral is Mike. I really thought Mike's team was going to be a major player in the playoffs but his team has been a disappointment and he's currently carrying a 4 game losing streak. It didn't help matters he was facing Kenny and there was just nothing he could do as Kenny's guys just went completely off, just like when Kenny went off against me. Huge win for Kenny, as he extends his points lead for the 6th seed while also still keeping open the possibility of his team just making the playoffs by record. I think Kenny's a lock to make the playoffs because he's not going to lose that points lead with 3 weeks left. Mike's not completely done, but he has a difficult matchup against Mark, and a loss there, pretty much seals his season, while Kenny has a difficult matchup himself against Drew. And finally, Dad's season basically came to an end this week as Mark's team just throttled him and Dad just stood no chance. It's a disappointing end to what I thought would be Dad's best chance at championship. It also really showed just how brutal it was for Dad to keep Devonta Freeman over Devante Adams. That would've made a HUGE difference. For Mark, a couple of weeks ago, it seemed like his team had finally caught up with him, but he has second life now with back to back wins and basically is a shoo in for the playoffs. I still don't fully buy his team, because like Alex, his team scores relatively low, but he'll get in by wins and he faces a Mike's reeling team next while Dad and Ryan basically play for pride next week. Onto the Week 11 Matchups and Predictions

Rocket Man (6-4) vs

Rigmas Forever (5-5)

Yahoo Says: I win

I Say: AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA......BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA

AHHAHAHAHAHAA...WHAAAHABABABAHWHWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

Yeah..fucking right I'm ever picking myself again and FUCK YAHOO for projecting to score 125+ points. What a JOKE. I HATE YAHOO PROJECTIONS..I WISH YOU COULD TURN THEM OFF..THEY ARE ALWAYS SO OFF BASE IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY. So yeah...nope..not winning because my season is O-V-E-R.

I Am Queens Blvd (5-5) vs

Scott's Tots (4-6)

Yahoo Says: Kenny wins

I Say: Drew wins. You know what? I was going to pick Kenny, but I think Drew pulls off the win here. Why? Well the #1 reason, it indirectly fucks me because I need Kenny to win, but here's the kicker, it's going to fuck me all over, because I think Drew beats Kenny in a HIGH SCORING AFFAIR..which means the only real loser will be ME, because Drew will catch me in wins and points and Kenny will extend his points lead even more.

Underdawg (3-7)

Hoosier Daddy (3-7)

Yahoo Says: Dad wins

I Say: Dad wins. Eh why not..this matchup is 100% irrelevant and has no bearings on the playoff picture whatsoever. Whoever wins won't be last place.

No Soup For Your (7-3) vs

Light's Broken Bots (6-4)

Yahoo Says: Leland Wins

I Say: Leland wins. I don't see how Leland loses again this season. Not to mention Matt's got a ton of guys on bye. Leland punches his playoff ticket officially this week.

SCLSU MudDogs (6-4) vs

Channel 4 News Team (4-6)

Yahoo Says: Albert wins

I Say: Albert wins. I just can't...I just can't pick Alex. As bad as Albert's team is it's still better than Alex's this week. If Alex wins again, I just give up on this pick em shit.

Shock The Monkey (7-3) vs

Trump 2020 (4-6)

Yahoo Says: Mark wins

I say: Mark wins. Mike's team is just a mess right now, and with Jarvis Landry on bye and no Cooper Kupp, it seems like Mark will have no problem winning and also punching in his playoff ticket.

Thursday Night Overview: You Can't Stop The Inevitable

 

Nothing pisses me off more than being right in such an unpredictable game like Fantasy Football. For reasons unexplained, my team ALWAYS craps the bed against teams that on paper, look way less talented then mine. It's why I can never trust my team. One week, I'm scoring 125+ and beating a solid team, the next I'm losing to a team by 20 that I should've beaten by 30 and my team doesn't even put up 70. It happens EVERY TIME I'm a big favorite. So naturally, I roll into this week a 27 point favorite against Drew and whaddya know..right off the bat we get a BIG major underperformance from one of my top guns, Cam Newton. It was a mean tease because Newton drove the ball and threw a TD pass in the first 4 minutes of the game, but then the Panthers went to complete garbage and got destroyed. Newton only threw one more TD pass and just like that that 27 point spread is down to 10 and it's just the beginning. I just have a gut feeling my team is going to crap the bed YET again against a team I should just easily beat and it's going to of course cost me in the most crucial time of the year. So fucking frustrating. I have 0 confidence I'm winning this week now. I already see T.Y. Hilton and Tarik Cohen scoring less than 5 pts a piece and guys on Drew's team like Dion Lewis, Christian Kirk, and Josh Doctson over achieving and right back to mediocrity at 5-5 while also opening up everyone's chances like Albert, Mike, Drew and Kenny. Unbelievable and one of the reason I hate this game so much. I really wish Yahoo would just get rid of projections. I really do. I'd be 96-3 if projections were ever right since the majority of the time I'M THE FAVORITE. Anyways, it was a beat down of epic proportions but Kenny still got a masterful performance from Christian McCaffrey who has just been unbelievable these past few weeks. I scored 3 more TD's and that combined with Antonio Brown's great game (90+ and a score) and Kenny's not only gonna distance himself more in the points race but a win would be huge standings wise and it's not inconceivable that he's out of the wins race to the playoff either. Other teams that started Panthers weren't so lucky. Newton was mediocre, for Ryan D.J. Moore was medicore, for Dad it was Greg Olsen, and Albert Devin Funchess. Ryan though had Big Ben (5 TD's) and James Connor (decent yardage game and a TD before he was sat for concussion protocol which is something to keep an eye on) against Albert which masked the D.J. Moore performance and Ryan might finally get a W to snap his 6 game losing streak, while Albert's team continues to plummet being hampered by injury and inconvenient bye weeks. Matt got nearly 18 points off the bat this week with Juju and in a week without Adam Thielen that's HUGE and I'm basically already calling this as Matt will get to win #7 which should basically punch of playoff ticket.

Week 10 Matchups and Predictions

We are down to 4 weeks left in the regular season and this is the week we can see teams basically at the very least lock in a playoff berth. Not officially, but there's a couple of teams who if they get to 7 wins are a slam dunk to make the playoffs regardless if they win another regular season matchup. Also, losing in Week 10 for some teams will be a crushing blow to their playoff hopes so this week is definitely full of high stakes. Here's this weeks matchups.


Rigmas Forever (5-4) vs
I Am Queens Blvd (4-5)

Yahoo Says: I win
I Say: I win. I HATE picking myself because it rarely works out it seems like, ESPECIALLY being such a heavy favorite, it's just begging for a let down, but yes, on paper, I should win. Gurley and Brees are heavy hitters and are more than capable of carrying Drew's team to victory, but I should have more firepower to overcome that, especially with Drew being without John Brown and Dalvin Cook. This is a pretty huge matchup for both of us as a win for me gives me a little bit more breathing room in the playoff race, plus I have two straight difficult matchups coming up so getting this win would help soften the blow of a worse case scenario 2 game losing streak. For Drew, a win keeps his playoff hopes alive at least win-wise and possibly points wise if he scores enough points. A loss here, would make it a lot harder as it would basically mean Drew would have to run the table just for a CHANCE to make the playoffs.

Channel 4 News Team (4-5) vs
Hoosier Daddy (2-7)

Yahoo Says: Tie
I Say: Ryan wins. This is tough, Yahoo actually has them at a standstill, but more than likely with nothing to lose Ryan will end up trotting out Fournette which projection wise would give him the upper hand against Albert. Ryan's record is deceiving, he's pretty much been in EVERY loss this year only to lose on the final plays of the week. He's just out to play spoiler and he could definitely do some damage to Albert's playoff run. Since Albert's points are pretty low, 8 wins is probably the only way he gets in to the playoffs. That means he'd have to run the table. A loss here obviously stops the momentum before it even starts.

Light's Broken Bots (6-3) vs
SCLSU MudDogs (5-4)

Yahoo Says: Matt wins
I Say: Matt wins. Alex's team FINALLY took a loss as his team didn't even put up 80 points last week against Eugene. That was without Andrew Luck, but even with him back and with Adam Thielen on bye, I think Matt should still have enough to win what might be a 3rd straight close victory. A win here for Matt gets him to the coveted 7 wins and though I wouldn't call it a shoo in just yet, it basically means he'd only need to win 1 more game out of 3 weeks to make the playoffs. For Alex, it's a MUST WIN. The more wins, the better his chances are of making the playoffs because he WON'T get in via points. He's dead last there. In my opinion, he needs 8 wins to have a shot, so he can only afford one more loss before his playoff hopes are dashed.

No Soup For You (6-3) vs
Rocket Man (6-3)

Yahoo Says: Leland wins
I say: Leland wins. Who's going to stop Leland, who has absolutely destroyed everyone after starting 0-3. Although this definitely could be a preview of the Wane McGarity Bowl, Eugene will be without A.J. Green (injured) and Lamar Miller (Bye) and that's pretty crucial when taking on Leland at full strength. If Leland wins here, just 100% punch his ticket into the playoffs, he's in no doubt. He leads the league in points and there's no way he won't make if he doesn't get to 7 wins. For Eugene, I'd almost say the same thing, he's not as far ahead as Leland in points, but still has the 2nd most points in the league and there's no doubt he'll end up in the playoffs somehow, a win here would just fast track it. The only real negative thing here is a loss from either one, opens up the coveted #2 bye spot as Matt and Mark are both in the running for that.

Shock The Monkey (6-3) vs
Underdawg (3-6)

Yahoo Says: Mark wins
I Say: Mark wins. Man the unexpected Week 9 win did WONDERS for Mark's playoff chances. I really thought he was on a downward slid, but that win combined with having Dad as an opponent this week should provide Mark with an ultimate opportunity to climb the standings at least one spot since he'd be at 7 wins and the loser of Eugene/Leland stays at 6. My dad pulled the upset off last week against Albert, but can he do it again this week without DeAndre Hopkins? I'm going to go with Mark here as his quest to repeat as champion is alive and well.

Trump 2020 (4-5) vs
Scott's Tots (3-6)

Yahoo Says: Kenny wins
I Say: Kenny wins. Just like me, everytime I think Kenny's a shoo in to win, it goes the other way. This is a SUPER important matchup for both guys as a mere 4 pts separates them in the race for 6th place. A win definitely would create points separation either way. If Kenny does lose though, it basically means points are his absolutely only chance at making the playoffs as there's no way a 6 win team gets to the 5th seed. A loss puts a dent in Mike's chances too, just not as bad as Kenny's. This is a definitely a matchup to watch.

Week 9 Recap: There is no "Easy Win"

 

I seriously don't know of a more frustrating game to play than Fantasy Football. It tries to play like a game of skill, and to a small degree it is..I mean you have to know a LITTLE bit about the game at the very least, but for the most part, it's just pure dumb luck..good and bad. Year after year we go through the same spiel and yet..it never gets any less agonizing. I know my problem is, I take it personally, like I FAILED..even though I don't step on the field, I can't control anything..i just put a lineup of guys on different teams out there and hope they outscore someone else's random guys on different teams. What am rambling about? My biggest motto when it comes to matchups..."PROJECTIONS DON'T MEAN SHIT". Hell if they did, I'd probably be a 6 time champion because I'm pretty sure I'm favored in about 90% of my matchups the last few years. But projections just don't matter. It doesn't matter if you're a 20 point favorite or a 2 point favorite, projections are just that..projections. So this week, Kenny had what looked to be a slam dunk win against Mark's team who was just decimated with byes and a couple injuries. Kenny even made a trade with Mark and gave him a couple players to use in exchange for Golden Tate and his #3 Waiver (ended up being DeVante Parker) and even one of THOSE players (Keke Coutee) was ruled out for Mark. Mark had to resort to using Chris Ivory and Alfred Blue as his starting running backs. Yes...CHRIS IVORY AND ALFRED BLUE. Kenny, fresh off scoring nearly 150 points, was rightfully feeling confident about picking up a key win. And then Week 9 rolled around and the games were actually played and projections went out the window and because this is fantasy football, Mark ended up coming away with the unbelievable yet believable upset win. Upsets aren't exactly a rare occurrence in fantasy football, hell Alex built a 4 game winning streak off of them. It just goes to show you that there's no such thing as a "free win" and nothing is over until 0:00 in the 4th quarter (or overtime) of Monday Night Football. Here are the Week 9 results.

The Results

Rigmas Forever (5-4)                            126.28

Trump 2020 (4-5)                                    88.34

No Soup For You (6-3)                         122.46

I Am Queens Blvd (4-5)                          94.24

Underdawg (3-6)                                   108.04

Channel 4 News Team (4-5)                   66.76

Shock The Monkey (6-3)                       104.50

Scott's Tots (3-6)                                     96.40

Light's Broken Bots (6-3)                       112.30

Hoosier Daddy (2-7)                                 94.70

Rocket Man (6-3)                                      103.36

SCLSU MudDogs (5-4)                              75.32

Top 5 Scorers

Drew Brees (I Am Queens Blvd)                35.44 Pts

Michael Thomas (Rigmas Forever)            33.10 Pts

Jared Goff (Underdawg)                             32.84 Pts

Kareem Hunt (No Soup For You)              32.60 Pts

Matt Ryan (Shock The Monkey)

Top 5 Scorers (Non QB)

Michael Thomas (Rigmas Forever)            33.10 Pts

Kareem Hunt (No Soup For You)              32.60 Pts

Alvin Kamara (Rigmas Forever)                31.60 Pts

Christian McCaffrey (Scott's Tots)            30.20 Pts

Tevin Coleman (Rocket Man)                   30.10 Pts

Top 5 Duds

Derek Carr (Trump2020)                        7.34 Pts

Tarik Cohen (Rigmas Forever)               1.80 Pts

Mike Evans (Rocket Man)                      2.10 Pts

Kirk Cousins (Channel 4 News Team)   8.36 Pts

Mark Ingram (Scott's Tots)                     2.10 Pts

Highest Scoring Team

Rigmas Forever (126.28 Pts)

Lowest Scoring Team

Channel 4 News Team (66.76 Pts)

Biggest Blowout

41.28 Pts (Underdawg vs Channel 4 News Team)

Closest Game

8.1 Pts (Shock The Monkey vs Scott's Tots)

Week 9 Notes: So this is why I'm always real hesitant to overreact to one Thursday Night Play. The way my Sunday started seriously couldn't have started any worse. After Mike's 7.4 pt play at QB, I felt I'd have a huge QB advantage considering I had Cam Newton against the atrocious Bucs defense. Well...the day started out as frustrating as frustrating can be. First of all, I had a TD taken away from me as Kyle Rudolph had fallen on a Latavius Murray fumble and was credited the TD only to have it taken away a couple minutes later. Then, the Panthers quickly scored 28 points on the Bucs...BUT NONE OF IT WAS CAM. It was two McCaffrey TD's, a random RB TD and a Curtis Samuel Rushing TD. I was IRATE...I couldn't believe that there was a real possibility Cam was either gonna barely score over what Carr had or even worse SCORE LESS. Luckily the Panthers D let up some points and Cam turned in a respectable performance but still, Kyle Rudolph sucked again and Tarik Cohen couldn't even put up 2 points. To end the shitty start, Julio Jones scored his first TD of the season (surprise! against me!) and Mike was the projected favorite going into the afternoon games. Then...once again Michael Thomas and Kamara SAVED MY ASS. They combined for over 60 points and Kennan Allen also had a solid game to solidify my lead and I got the important W. The points also help immensely. I feel like just looking at my own schedule (it's tough) and others around me that my ceiling is going to end up being 5th-6th seed. It's nice being 5th with a little bit of a buffer, but I gotta keep those points up if I end up dropping down. For Mike the roller coaster continues as after a crap start (2 losses) and a great rebound (4 wins) he's back on the downswing again with a 3 game losing streak. Next week's matchup with Kenny is crucial in not only wins but points. For me, well I feel like I have to beat Drew as I'll be a heavy favorite because my last 3 matchups are super tough. We talked about Mark's win as  just how. Don't know how he does it. Undermanned and facing a way better team on paper, Matt Ryan and Travis Kelce luckily had great games to get him the big W. It's a huge win for Mark, because his team had been trending down and another loss could've been really hurt his playoff chances, but at 6 wins and a relatively soft schedule Mark's back on track on the playoff hunt. For Kenny..just a terrible loss and basically it really seems like his only way in is going to be points based. The good news is he currently has the points to make him the 6th seed so as long as his team scores consistently high, wins won't really matter. Kenny takes on Mike next, who's he only like 4 points ahead of so that's a pretty huge matchup for both. Mark on the other hand gets what should be a pretty winnable matchup against my dad. Speaking of Dad, his role has been basically reduced to spoiler this season and he did his job against Albert. Not only beating him, but getting blowout of the week against him. Injuries and byes just killed Albert and not only did Albert get the Blowout of The Week but also lowest points of the week which is an absolute KILLER. Just the wrong time to have injuries and byes hit your team. Albert will try to bounce back against yet another "spoiler" team, Ryan, while Dad takes on Mark and tries to spoil his playoff hopes. I think it's getting pretty clear who the overall favorite is to win it all. Leland is just DOMINATING points wise and picks up another easy win as he blows out another opponent in Drew. It seems like nobody has even come close to beating Leland. It's hard to think Leland won't finish with the #1 record and most points in the league. He'll take on his brother Eugene next week in what could possibly be a Wane McGarity Bowl preview. There was nothing Drew could do, Leland just has the better team. Drew's playoff hopes are slowly fading and he'll need a huge win against me next week to keep afloat. Alex, it's been a hell of a run, but it FINALLY predictably stopped this week. Look, this is meant as no disrespect, but this is how I basically expect Alex's team to perform, especially with no Andrew Luck this week. I feel like the only way Alex makes the playoffs is by wins because his points are DEAD LAST in the entire league. To me he'll have to win 3 of his next 4 to have a solid chance, and I just think it's going to be really rough to accomplish. Eugene picks up yet another win to solidify his #2 seed but the big news is A.J. Green's toe injury. He's going to miss 2 games at  least and that's a pretty big blow to Eugene's roster. He still has tons of firepower, but Green will definitely be missed. He'll take on his brother next week, while it doesn't get any easier for Alex as he takes on Matt next week. So Finally, Ryan once again loses another nailbiter, this time on Sunday night against Matt. Ryan was even briefly projected to win after Jimmy Graham scored a TD, but Matt's guys rallied and Josh Gordon but a nail in the coffin with a 50 yard TD as Matt picks up win #6. Matt's team is for real and it's crazy that the top 3 seeds (Leland, Eugene, Matt) have won a combined 13 straight matchups. They have obviously separated from the pack by wins and points. and Matt will look to build on that lead next week against Alex, while Ryan takes on Albert.

Thursday Night Overview: Embarrassing Raiders

 

Really not a lot to talk about as this wasn't really a game where a ton of teams were going to use players. I had to bite the bullet just because I couldn't wait until Sunday night to find out the status of if Sony Michel was going to play or not so when I heard some dude named Nick Mullins was starting for San Francisco, I thought the Raiders would easily take card of the 49ers to the point that game script would favor Martin. DEAD....WRONG. Mullins was amazing, partly because the pathetic Raiders weren't even remotely trying to win. It was embarrassing to watch the complete lack of effort as the Raiders put up a measly 3 points against a TERRIBLE 49ers Defense that looked like the 85 Bears Defense against this sad sack Raiders team. Martin was actually not bad, but game script basically ended up fucking him over and I only 7.4 points from him. Now normally I'd be pretty upset, but Mike's decision to play Derek Carr over Philip Rivers ended backfiring big time. When Carr wasn't getting sacked, because his O-Line was shit, he looked like shit himself. It got so bad, Jon Gruden threw in the towel in the 4th and let A.J. McCarron play. Carr ended up with 174 empty yards and 7.34 points. Like I said before, this means NOTHING because it's one play and my play wasn't anything special either. Posey has 4 dangerous receivers who are all capable of blowing up so in no way is this matchup over. I'm just glad Carr flopped. The only Raider that got played was Jared Cook and even though he sucked for Leland, it really shouldn't affect his matchup against Drew's injury riddled team. On the 49ers side, Matt's basically on his way to his 6th win as George Kittle was awesome, proving it doesn't matter who the QB is. He had an amazing 70+ yard catch and ended up scoring a TD and finished with nearly 19 points. Kittle is helping Matt recover from the first round bust that is Gronk.  The only other play was Dad sticking to his guns with Marquise Goodwin and thought the 49ers offense was rollin, Goodwin did nothing of note. Already an underdawg...literally, that performance certainly didn't help matters as Albert should have no problem picking up a win this week.