We have completed our first week of our 2012 postseason, and our matchups have pared down two winners to face our division leaders next week. Thus, there are four people that can fill three winning spots. But now I am getting ahead of myself. Here’s how the matchups ran down this week.
TGD @ NSUE
Let’s be real. NSUE had this in the bag by 12:30 p.m. PST. Despite a whole season’s worth of warnings, TGD neglected to start a TE and a substitute for LeSean McCoy. On top of that, Eli Manning got shut down and Roddy White’s broken finger proved to be too difficult of an obstacle. Meanwhile, NSUE had yet another crazy day from Adrian Peterson, and James Jones got her 3 TDs. NSUE moves on to play JOHN next week. She also becomes the fourth member of the league to break 200 points and this week’s high score. Congrats NSUE! Let’s give her a round of applause.
SCMB @ VSTR
VSTR started out fairly strong. While Bryce Brown only brought her a paltry 4, points, the Bengals D/ST forced a number of turnovers and gave her 28 points. Then Peyton Manning and Eric Decker connected for a 51-yd TD and a number of other passes besides. But alas, both Eric Decker and Reggie Wayne had TDs overturned due to offensive penalties. Meanwhile, SCMB had TDs from everyone on her primary starting line except Ridley and Josh Gordon. Moreover, a 61-yd TD reception to Dennis Pitta in garbage time put her over the top and pushed in into the next round, wherein she faces GTYE for the third time this year. Expect lots of Tolkien-themed trash talking. Like this:
And if you don’t know what I’m talking about…
Also a fun fact, SCMB adds yet another casualty to her curse. Ryan Mathews broke his clavicle and is done for the season, bringing her “players with a long term injury” list to 11.
CI @ BDAS
This matchup started out supertight! All through the morning games, these two girls were projected just 2-4 points apart. But alas! Sore and vengeful from their historic shutout at Seattle last week, the Cardinals held BDAS’s Matt Stafford to just 2 points. And Bilal Powell, a sweet waiver wire pickup in the last few weeks, somehow only score 4 points (it’s hard to get field time when your QB throws 4 interceptions). CI takes the win and moves on to the upper level of games in the consolation bracket next week.
BLN3 @ LEUN
This was the only matchup to extend to Monday night, and boy did this come down to the wire! BLN3 has been on fire lately with his players. It looked as if perhaps he’d have this in the bag. That was before the Falcons vengefully shut out the Giants, relegating Victor Cruz to only 3 points. And then Danario Alexander, a consistent double-digit fantasy player since he first got the starting job, somehow only gained -1 points. Add to that LEUN’s 31 points from Brandon Lloyd, and LEUN is only down 1 point come Monday morning. Surely, Kenny Britt would get more than one catch! He didn’t though, and LEUN and BLN3 were tied for the entire Monday night game. It came down to whether or not Kenny Britt would get a point for the team win or lose a point for the team loss. Sadly, the Jets lose yet again and LEUN moves on to face CI in the upper level of the consolation bracket next week. BLN3 get the crown for most closest shaves this season.
Next Week’s Bracket
The matchups next week will go something like this:
1) SCMB @ GTYE – Winner moves to championship matchup, loser competes for 3rd/4th place
2) NSUE @ JOHN – Winner moves to championship matchup, loser competes for 3rd/4th place
3) TGD @ VSTR – Winner gets home field advantage next week
4) CI @ LEUN – Winner competes against winner of matchup 5
5) BDAS @ BLN3 – Winner competes against winner of matchup 4
Sorry to the Breganios, who have now been booted to the consolation bracket. But it’s not all bad. They get to take their off-season vacation early (and get some extra time to spend on Fantasy Basketball).
Kristine and Donna’s teams now get to go on vacation, and they’ve gone fishin’!. Of course, Donna wasn’t paying attention, so she didn’t even show up.
Congrats to the Dacumas for all making it into the the playoffs. COLLUSION? Has this entire season been a scheme?! (It hasn’t.)
Deep Thoughts by JJ Dacuma
Contrary to what you may think, my football mind isn’t always saturated scouting fantasy waiver wire adds. Sometimes, my thoughts are a little more…out there. For instance, after seeing Colin Kaepernick play the last two weeks, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, he looks like Squidward.” There are a few people on the internet who agree, but it’s not a very common sentiment, so I thought I’d post some pics of NFL Look-Alikes and see what you think.
Colin Kaepernick and Squidward Tentacles
Matt Flynn of the Seattle Seahawks, and Matt Damon? This is too eerie.
Tim Tebow and Jesus? Ok, maybe not so much.
League Announcements
You’ll get an email reminder about this, but this week we do NOT have a Thursday night or Monday night game. However, the Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions play at 5:30 EST on Saturday. Everyone else plays at some point on Sunday. Please be sure to start your players accordingly.
Also, at the end of the season, the League Managers get to fill out a survey for ESPN. If you have any feedback about how the lleague is run, the LM notes, the ESPN charts and platforms and such, let us know! If anything, we can change things for next year or at least give ESPN your feedback.
Good luck in Week 16!
The Jay Cutler Van Club 