This year's playoffs may have well come down to an act of God: the slushy weather of this past week's Monday night had huge playoff implications. The ultra-low scoring conditions allowed Victor and Kevin to get by their opponents, both of whom were playoff contenders. For Kevin, it clinched a playoff spot for him, though he still is not mathematically the division champ yet. For Victor, it gave him a slightly better than 50-50 chance of making the playoffs. Andrew has momentum, but the final game vs Victor may be big for both teams. PJ will pretty much need to win both of his games against the very tough teams of Donny and Hai. Katy and Hai will need to sweep their games and have Andrew and PJ get swept, but only one of the two will make it. With the 5 teams competing for the 2 remaining playoff spots, there are too many combinations for me to assign probabilities. I may try to do so later, if I have the time. Now on to a brief run-through of the power rankings. By the way, after this week, Asians have a winning record vs. Caucasians, so things may be coming back to normal.
1. Tuna - Tuna's team bleeds, after all. Patriots still face tough Ravens and Steelers D, but the good news is that this is during the regular fantasy season. However, if the Pats lose one of those games, they may end their jihad against the league and rest Brady and Moss during the regular season. More ominous for Tuna is the state of his running back corps. He has to hope Marshawn Lynch returns by the time of the fantasy playoffs.
2. Kevin - Two straight less-than-impressive weeks, but Kevin skates by with a win in one of them. Defense a weak spot, but Kevin should return to his 70+ points way soon, his players are too good to not do so. However, Kevin arguably has the toughest schedule left, facing mega-spoiler Donny and then having a rematch vs. #1 Tuna. Kevin has a fleeting chance to pass Tuna, but it is very unlikely that Tuna will lose both games. Kevin is pretty much locked into the #2 or #3 playoff spot.
3. Andrew - Beat the #1 team, be in charge of your destiny. Such is the way of the Sith. Andrew could afford to lose one of his two games and still make the playoffs. However, his running back corps has also been ravaged, and Marvin Harrison still is MIA. There are too many gaps for a sustained push, but Romo and Devin Hester (aka Bears D) are too explosive to count Andrew out.
4. Victor - Gets a relative break in facing Larry in week 13, but this team goes as its Defense and Quarterback go. The return of Frank Gore thanks to the addition of an offensive "guru" to the SF coaching staff comes at a good time, but Victor probably has the worst WR corps after Andrew amongst the playoff contenders.
5. PJ - Points and breakdown-wise, he's the third-best and second-best team respectively. Unfortunately, there's the record, which means PJ needs help to make the playoffs. The curse of Ricky Williams may have literally dragged PJ's playoff chances down to the mud. Or maybe PJ jinxed himself with a 1st and 11 devoted to his week's opponent. Whatever curse is happening, things are not going to get easier. Whoever loses the match between PJ and Hai will be eliminated. Then if PJ survives that, he gets the hottest team in the league: POD.
6. Donny - True, POD is not going to make it to the playoffs. But he is the current owner of the largest winning streak in the league and has scored better than 70 points in his 4 victories. The Favre-Jennings combo has been as lethal as Brady-Moss these last few weeks, and POD's prized young guns Bush and Megatron are becoming fantasy mainstays. POD's icon of Charlie Brown should be changed, since he's no longer a failure.
7. Hai - Kept his faint playoff hopes alive, and has the deepest set of RBs in the league. However, with a low points total due to extended absences from Rudi Johnson and Steven Jackson, and a 6-6 record, Hai needs some help. Having all those good RBs may be too much of a good thing, as there will be strong managerial efficiency pressure to start the right ones each week.
8. Katy - Fading, but not out yet. However, has currently the weakest set of RBs in the league. If this team could start 4 WRs and no RBs, it would. If Santonio Holmes is out any much longer, however, say goodbye to the playoffs.
9. Bill - Lost a close one to POD, thereby wrapping either the #1 or #2 (or both given trade history) draft picks. I think Bill will start watching whatever bowl game Arkansas plays in very closely.
10. Larry - Can't say anything bad at the risk of jinxing my week 13 match.
1. Tuna - Tuna's team bleeds, after all. Patriots still face tough Ravens and Steelers D, but the good news is that this is during the regular fantasy season. However, if the Pats lose one of those games, they may end their jihad against the league and rest Brady and Moss during the regular season. More ominous for Tuna is the state of his running back corps. He has to hope Marshawn Lynch returns by the time of the fantasy playoffs.
2. Kevin - Two straight less-than-impressive weeks, but Kevin skates by with a win in one of them. Defense a weak spot, but Kevin should return to his 70+ points way soon, his players are too good to not do so. However, Kevin arguably has the toughest schedule left, facing mega-spoiler Donny and then having a rematch vs. #1 Tuna. Kevin has a fleeting chance to pass Tuna, but it is very unlikely that Tuna will lose both games. Kevin is pretty much locked into the #2 or #3 playoff spot.
3. Andrew - Beat the #1 team, be in charge of your destiny. Such is the way of the Sith. Andrew could afford to lose one of his two games and still make the playoffs. However, his running back corps has also been ravaged, and Marvin Harrison still is MIA. There are too many gaps for a sustained push, but Romo and Devin Hester (aka Bears D) are too explosive to count Andrew out.
4. Victor - Gets a relative break in facing Larry in week 13, but this team goes as its Defense and Quarterback go. The return of Frank Gore thanks to the addition of an offensive "guru" to the SF coaching staff comes at a good time, but Victor probably has the worst WR corps after Andrew amongst the playoff contenders.
5. PJ - Points and breakdown-wise, he's the third-best and second-best team respectively. Unfortunately, there's the record, which means PJ needs help to make the playoffs. The curse of Ricky Williams may have literally dragged PJ's playoff chances down to the mud. Or maybe PJ jinxed himself with a 1st and 11 devoted to his week's opponent. Whatever curse is happening, things are not going to get easier. Whoever loses the match between PJ and Hai will be eliminated. Then if PJ survives that, he gets the hottest team in the league: POD.
6. Donny - True, POD is not going to make it to the playoffs. But he is the current owner of the largest winning streak in the league and has scored better than 70 points in his 4 victories. The Favre-Jennings combo has been as lethal as Brady-Moss these last few weeks, and POD's prized young guns Bush and Megatron are becoming fantasy mainstays. POD's icon of Charlie Brown should be changed, since he's no longer a failure.
7. Hai - Kept his faint playoff hopes alive, and has the deepest set of RBs in the league. However, with a low points total due to extended absences from Rudi Johnson and Steven Jackson, and a 6-6 record, Hai needs some help. Having all those good RBs may be too much of a good thing, as there will be strong managerial efficiency pressure to start the right ones each week.
8. Katy - Fading, but not out yet. However, has currently the weakest set of RBs in the league. If this team could start 4 WRs and no RBs, it would. If Santonio Holmes is out any much longer, however, say goodbye to the playoffs.
9. Bill - Lost a close one to POD, thereby wrapping either the #1 or #2 (or both given trade history) draft picks. I think Bill will start watching whatever bowl game Arkansas plays in very closely.
10. Larry - Can't say anything bad at the risk of jinxing my week 13 match.
Comments
My college team sucks, eagles are either bad or unlucky, can I at least can some unbiased opinions from VG?