Regular Season Recap...and some thoughts

So much to say, so little time 

Lots of stuff on the plate this week. Before I flog myself publicly (and demonstrate why everyone else's ideas are stupid) we need to examine the upcoming Wild Card matchups. And talk about the ridiculous Week 13 that got us here. 

If you've been following along (and why wouldn't you have been?) then you know that we went into the final week of the regular season with most playoff slots filled but having a logjam for the last two. The Kuhlmann Division was up for grabs and the second Wildcard spot was destined to come down to the last game of the week.

Everyone involved in this mess, the Flyers, Giants, Blizzard, and Strawmenn, needed a win obviously. Not only that, but the Bliz needed to outscore the Smenn by 64, a tall but not impossible order. Doing that would give them the division, their only way in due to tiebreaks.

Through Sunday the Bliz had shaved their deficit to 10 behind Padilla's crew which had laid an egg at the worst possible time with 75 points and a loss. But Paz was going to have to wait for Amari Cooper to play on Tuesday to pull it off. Ironically, Cooper's projected points amounted to exactly 10. We'll get back to that drawn-out drama in a bit.

The Flyers, meanwhile, had taken care of business with a big lead and all-but-official win over the Holes. They needed to have the Giants lose to the Nats for a chance to squeeze into the #6 seed. And going into Monday's two NFL games, the Nats were leading. Not by a ton, but leading. And the players remaining to play for those two clubs seemed to favor Dan. Those Nats players included Benny Snell of the Steelers. Things were pretty rosy in Flyerland.

Then, in the second quarter of the Steelers-Washington game, this happened:

First and goal, Steelers at the Washington five...Snell runs it, stopped at the one, darn. 2nd down...Big Ben throws to Snell, short, incomplete. Flag on Washington, first and goal, again. So...Snell to the right, stuffed. Shit. Second and Goal...Snell to the right, stuffed. Gawdamnitanway! Third and goal, Ben tries a pass to some guard, Short. Fourth and goal...Snell up the middle, yup, stuffed. Oh for fuck sake.

At that point, I gave up and went out on the deck for a beer. Rick's Giants pulled ahead in the Bills-49ers game. The Nats made it interesting but the result was clear. Giants in, Flyers (who had had a shot if there had been a 3-way tie at 7-6) were toast. On to Tuesday and the Bliizad's attempt for the near-miraculous. 

As noted it was all or nothing for both teams by now. Neither the Bliz nor Smenn could get the wildcard. The division title was the only path to the playoffs. And standing alone on that path was Bliz/Cowboy receiver, Amari Cooper.

I watched the beginning of the game, tracked a bit longer on the phone app, and then watched a movie. Andy Dalton was playing very Andy Dalton-ish. And Cooper was picking up a point here and there but it wasn't very impressive. He had four at the half with a couple of catches for 20 yards and a ten-yard end-around. That was after not getting so much as a sniff in the first quarter. He had another catch in the third quarter that got him to five.

He was quiet until the Cowboys got close to the endzone with four minutes on the clock. Seemed like now-or-never when Dalton threw one high from the two on fourth down. Cooper went up, grabbed it, and came down in bounds with six points for America's Saddest Team, seven points for the Paz and a division title for the Bliz. Look how close he was to being OB on this catch.

Crazy 'bad beat' for the Strawmenn. Then again there is a team that outscored the #1 team and beat the #2 seed twice and spent multiple weeks sitting in the #2 Seed slot and is now sitting this dance out. Fantasy football can be brutal.

Games to come, starting Thursday!

We have two wildcard matchups, the Legends take on the Blizzard and the Holes face the Giants. I'm out of the prediction business but if you want some insight check out the scoring for the second half of the season:

So, you tell me. I haven't the time to do much research other than quick glances at my records but I can tell you that of the six playoff teams, only the Giants are back from last year's postseason. They are also the last team to win a Hughes Bowl as a wildcard (2012)...the Sticks broke a three year run by not being the Kuhlmann champ...the last time the Heroes won the Lombardi was 2003(!), congrats Ben!...

League Stuff and Coming Attractions

If you are playing on you need to remember that we require a tie-break player from here on out Without one your tiebreak score is zero. 

Other things to know... 

I was going to bring up the mess I made of the playoff projections last weekend. but that's pointless now. I really need to do a full Excel Permutations before I publish anything. Post-It-Note-based thoughts don't cut it. It was a mess and I apologize again. I am critical of the commissioners in some of the other leagues I'm in for not being communicative. Maybe there's a lesson there for me.

You will be locked out of transactions (actually just claims) once your team is done for the year. 

If you are over 19 players (including IR guys) you'll need to make moves to get to the limit. If you don't do it I'll do it for you. I'd start at kicker and next, I'll move your highest scorer to my roster. 😇

Any players picked up via waivers by playoff teams will not be eligible to be keepers and any player cut for them can't be a keeper either.

Finally, this is your yearly reminder that the brackets are not reseeded after each round. What you see is what you'll get. For a short time last night, the bracket had the Holes and Bliz seeded incorrectly. This was due to an error in how the seeding priorities were ordered. I went in and fixed it manually. 

Changes in the wind...

I can say without much hesitation that we will make a few changes for next season. I touched on many of them briefly in previous posts and emails. The draft is #1 on my list, followed closely by playoff qualifiers. Keepers, encouraging trades, a Taxi Squad, and roster limits will also be up for discussion along with any ideas that get thrown my way.

I'm going to reach out to a few folks who have had input in the past. If you'd like to put in your two cents just let me know and I'll send you anything that goes out to the informal 'committee' in the coming weeks.

I had intended to open up some of these topics in this post but the thing is too long as it is and I'm ready to put it online. Good luck to the guys playing this week. It's Rams-Pats on Thursday night so if you have Brady or Gronk ...errr... any of the bums Belichick is rolling out there these days, you better get to work on your lineup.