Last week we were wondering who of the seven 4-3 teams were going to separate themselves from the pack. The answer was 5 of them as we now have five teams with 5 wins on the season. With 5 games remaining in the regular season now is the time for teams to get hot and punch their tickets to the playoffs. I think we all know who has that #1 seed but who gets #2 and the other first round bye? Remember…. 8 wins most every year gets you in and usually there is a 7 win team that sneaks in as well. So the target is 8 wins!
Pack Attack (3-5) vs PackerFANatic7 (1-7)
It has been one of those forgettable years so far for PackerFANatic7 as they can’t seem to figure out ways to put together a winning week. It is definitely not for lack of effort as this team has made the most moves in the league (31 moves). They have yet to find the right combination and it appears that it is too late for this season. I fully expect them to not go out quietly these next 5 weeks and not to mention they want nothing to do with that last place talk!
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 2
- Record: Advantage PackerFANatic7 at 2-0
- PPG Avg: Advantage PackerFANatic7 132.72 to 96.60
teamAlaska (4-4) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (1-7)
This is a big game for a number of reasons. teamAlaska at 4-4 is looking to keep pace with the group of 5-3 teams ahead of them while 16hrs just wants a shot to get out of that last place spot! Bye weeks are definetly a pain and this is one of those weeks where they will for sure have an effect on favored teams not looking as dominant. In this meeting 16hrs will be without their top RB in D. Freeman and teamAlaska will be without Brees. Can 16hrs pull off the upset?
Prediction:
I don’t think so… D. Watson, A. Cooper and K. Allen would have to have monster games for 16hrs to come away with the win. Which all three of these players are certainly capable of doing so but to pick a team to win being so reliant on three players…. that doesn’t seem likely. Look for teamAlaska to get solid production from the top 5 guys in their lineup and win this one while scoring 115pts.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 14
- Record: Advantage teamAlaska at 8-6
- PPG Avg: Advantage teamAlaska 114.28 to 106.72
PackMan12 (5-3) vs Big Papa (4-4)
There are three games on the slate this week that I consider slightly “bigger” then the others and this is one of them. I think all of the 4-4 teams are looking at this week as a big week regardless of opponent given that they don’t want to fall below .500 while the 5-3 teams are looking to create some breathing room as they work their way to towards a playoff spot. Big Papa is coming off a tough loss and they will be looking to get back over .500 on the season against a PackMan12 team that has shown flashes of being really good and then also flashes of a team that would struggle to beat 16hrs! (No offense 16hrs). Which one will show up this week?
Prediction:
The answer is… I don’t really know since the GM is clearly trying to not show their hand to their opponent as they have 3 players in their starting lineup who won’t be playing this week. They also have a potential 4th player in James Conner who may not be playing. Big Papa will be without Gurley and Mahomes (likely) for another week and that is tough when you have relied so heavily on Mahomes all season. This might be the lowest scoring game of the week and another defensive battle which certainly works in Big Papa’s favor. So.. I guess I am going to go with Big Papa with the win even though this is a complete toss up.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 8
- Record: Tied at 4-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage PackMan12 117.83 to 107.61
U Don’t Know (5-3) vs BIGBOY! (2-6)
U Don’t Know sneaked away with the win last week and now they get to go against BIGBOY! who has really been struggling so far this year. A win here would all but eliminate BIGBOY! from any shot at the playoffs and would put U Don’t Know in a prime position to get back to the playoffs for the second year in a row which is noteworthy considering last year was only their second playoff appearance in their 13 seasons played! I am interested to see what kind of fight BIGBOY! comes out with this week. Have they already conceded the season and have begun sleeping with that trophy as they know their time with it is about up? Or will they come out strong and hang onto hope for at least one more week? U Don’t Know is close to getting three guys back from injury/suspension (D. Jackson, AJ Green & K. Hunt) how much they contribute may go a long way towards how this season ends up for U Don’t Know. They have a team that is winning but I am not convinced they have a team that can compete with the likes of Rapids Plungers and Bossman.
Prediction:
You know what!? I think BIGBOY! actually might win this one. Bell, Jacobs, Golladay and Sanders are the 4 players that I think will be counted on to lead them to victory. Murray is the wildcard as he has a tough match up tonight against the 49ers D. If Murray can get somewhere in the 15 point range I would feel really confident in BIGBOY! coming away with the W. Regardless though I think BIGBOY! finds a way to win this week and send U Don’t Know to a very disappointing loss.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 9
- Record: Advantage U Don’t Know at 5-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage BIGBOY! 126.10 to 120.68
Bossman (6-2) vs HHH (5-3)
This might be the game I am most excited about this week and it falls into what I was mentioning earlier of the three games that seem to have a little more at stake then the others. Bossman has been dominant as of late and are looking like they might run away with that #2 seed however HHH is right behind just waiting for Bossman to slip up and now they have their chance. There was a time when I was concerned with Bossman and I wasn’t 100% convinced how good this team really was but they went out and showed me by winning 4 games in a row. HHH has had really two bad weeks on the season in Week 1 (82pts) and week 6 (102pts) both of which amounted in losses but after that their next lowest scoring performance has been 132 points in a week 5 win. I think both of these teams have a shot and I expect them to be two of the teams fighting for that final 1st round bye. A win here by HHH and they likely take over the #2 spot while Bossman with a win can put a two game lead on one of their closest competitors. This should be a fun one!
Prediction:
There is a big ? mark surrounding this game and HHH. That question is whether or not D. Adams will be playing. If he does that would be a huge boost for HHH! I am not entirely sure what HHH’s lineup is going to look like so I am making some assumptions and I think this turns out to be a really close game. If Baltimore wasn’t going up against NE and I knew that Adams was playing I think I would go with HHH but I don’t know about Adams and baltimore is going against NE so I am going to go with Bossman to keep the momentum and pick up their 5th win in a row!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 13
- Record: Advantage Bossman at 8-5
- PPG Avg: Advantage Bossman 110.68 to 108.21
DaUnderdog (5-3) vs Sportsfreak (2-6)
DaUnderdog has won two straight games and 3 of their last 4 to put themselves currently at the # 4 spot. This is a team that we haven’t talked much about from a championship contender perspective but they are only 40 points behind HHH on the season and 10 points behind Bossman. So if HHH were to take down Bossman and DaUnderdog wins along with a monster scoring week they could be sitting at the #2 spot at this time next week. That is a lot of if’s but it is worth pointing out how close this team is right now. They go up against a desperate Sportsfreak team this week that is in a must win situation if they realistically want anything to play for next week. A desperate team is a dangerous team or so I have been told or you could look at it this way and say a 2 win team is a 2 win team and DaUnderdog should be glad to have such a easy match up! For the sake of Sportsfreak I will stick to the “dangerous team”.
Prediction:
Sportsfreak got Kelce from Pack Attack and DaUnderdog got a similarly good TE in Henry from also Pack Attack. That is interesting. For Sportsfreak, they will be hoping for the same production from JuJu and D. Montgomery this week. DaUnderdog will be relying once again on Wilson and Lockett in a really good matchup against Tampa and of course D. Cook should seemingly have another monster game against KC. I think DaUnderdog has too many weapons and should come out on top however I don’t think is going to be a blowout and it wouldn’t surprise me if Sportsfreak was able to come away with the upset. I may had even picked it but once again a baltimore player (L. Jackson) going up against the NE D is going to be tough! DaUnderdog moves to 6-3 after this one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 17
- Record: Advantage Sportsfreak at 11-6
- PPG Avg: Advantage Sportsfreak 113.68 to 98.32
Rapids Plungers (8-0) vs pack slayer (5-3)
As I mentioned in last weeks preview, I am not sure what more I can say about Rapids Plungers. This is the team to beat and it isn’t very close right now. The question is can they run the table and be the first team ever to finish the regular season without a loss!? The other question that starts creeping in is this teams historically bad playoff performances and if they will be able to overcome the notion that this team can’t win the big games when they count. We won’t be able to find that answer out for a few weeks anyway but it will be fun to discuss along the way! pack slayer comes into this one with a 5 win team and that seems about right. I think this is a playoff team but I don’t think it is a championship contending team (right now). A win here however would go along way towards potentially changing my mind!
Prediction:
“Can I play Rapids Plungers this week?” That is what everyone in the league is saying or would be saying if you were looking at their lineup. They will be without these 4 productive players (C. Edmonds, L. Murray, C. Kupp, & A. Kamara). They still have weapons available however which is why this team is the best in the league right now. pack slayer will also be without two star players in M. Ryan and M. Thomas so this meeting has lost a bit of its flair given the stars that are not playing. So let’s all get pumped about watching the dual of R. Fitzpatrick vs R. Tannehill! Virtually every week Rapids Plungers has had a player go off for 27 or more points. In fact they have had 8 different players score over 27 points and if you factor in the players that have done it multiple times you have a total of 12 times they have had a player score over 27 points. To put that into perspective, BIGBOY! has only had three players all season score over 27 points in a week and you now have the secret to winning in Fantasy football. Have lots of good players on your team! 😉 I say all this to justify why I am going to still pick Rapids Plungers to get the win and continue this amazing season!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 8
- Record: Tied at 4-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage pack slayer 130.50 to 117.09