Final week of the season and it’s going to be WILD!
CLINCHED PLAYOFF SPOT – PLAYOFF SEEDING AT STAKE
NONE – That’s right NONE. Not one team has officially clinched a playoff spot per Yahoo!
PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
Yeah.. about that! The playoff scenarios are crazy….as I am sure you can imagine considering not one team has officially clinched a playoff spot! So I am going to let each of you look at your team and figure out what needs to happen for you to get in the playoffs. Let me give you a hint… you might want to win!
ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION
1. Pack Attack
2. Sportsfreak
3. DaUnderdog
4. 16hrs Ahead of You!!
5. BIGBOY!
6. pack slayer
Now to the previews for the week!
Pack Attack (3-9) vs teamAlaska (7-5)
This game means everything for teamAlaska and absolutely nothing for Pack Attack. It is simple for teamAlaska they need to win and they are all but assured a playoff spot thanks to having scored 120 more points then PackerFANatic7. They really have struggled these past 5 weeks going 1-4 during that span and they need this week to get some momentum back and not only that oddly enough they still have a realistic shot at one of those first round byes! The playoffs start now for teamAlaska! I am sure that Pack Attack would rather see his brother who coaches teamAlaska in the playoffs then someone else but there is also something to be said about closing out the season winning three of their last 4 games. What is interesting is that this will be the first time all season that they are 100% healthy and starting the top guys that they drafted way back in August. With that said, this is their last game of the year and playing against their brother who happens to be a playoff team right now….yeah, I think this is Pack Attack’s super bowl!
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 17
- Record: Advantage Pack Attack at 10-7
- PPG Avg: Advantage Pack Attack 125.56 vs 113.25
U Don’t Know (8-4) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (5-7)
Another game where it means everything to one team and really nothing for the other. U Don’t Know needs this win and it isn’t about the playoffs! Technically, they have yet to officially clinch a playoff berth but if you look at their points scored it almost impossible for them not to get in. So I am going to consider them as having clinched a playoff berth. The importance of this game is that first round bye! The path to the Super Bowl is a bit easier if they can get the win here. 16hrs saw their season officially come to an end with their loss last week however I am sure they will do whatever they can to get the win and get win #6 on the season. It would be a great way to cap off a solid season by taking down the #1 seeded team!
Prediction:
Week 13 bye? Ugh.. not a great week for one of your star WR’s to be on a bye when you are fighting for playoff positioning but that is what U Don’t Know is dealing with as M. Evans is on a bye this week. The good news is that they have the rest of their lineup in tact and I think that is going to be enough. I expect D. Henry, DK Metcalf and S. Diggs to pick up the slack and lead U Don’t Know to win #9, a first round bye and the #1 overall seed in the playoffs!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 14
- Record: Tied at 7-7
- PPG Avg: Advantage U Don’t Know 101.84 to 100.44
Big Papa (8-4) vs Sportsfreak (3-9)
The third game in a row where it means everything to one team and nothing to the other. This time it is Big Papa that has everything to gain with this win and Sportsfreak who has nothing to play for other then making sure their name isn’t showing up as in last place in the league! Big Papa has made an improbable run all the way to the #2 seed and now they need a win and not only would they likely get the first round bye but they also have a shot at the #1 overall seed with a U Don’t Know loss! Crazy! The best part about this is that it is a Father-Son matchup so even though I said there isn’t much for Sportsfreak to play for (and there isn’t) but beating their Dad and making sure he doesn’t get that first round bye would be kind of fun I am sure! So who wins this one?
Prediction:
I think this one is setting up to be a good game. I think that Sportsfreak has the two players with the highest ceilings in K. Murray and D. Adams but I can see Big Papa getting production from a number of different guys. Sportsfreak seems to find ways to lose while Big Papa seems to find ways to win. Will that be the case this week? I kind of think so however I need to pick an upset somewhere and this looks like it might be the game. I am going to give Sportsfreak their 4th win here.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 19
- Record: Advantage Sportsfreak at 12-7
- PPG Avg: Advantage Sportsfreak 118.68 to 110.07
HHH (6-6) vs BIGBOY! (5-7)
HHH needs to break a record this week, a record that was just set last week by Rapids Plungers. That record they need to break is they need to have the single highest scoring week ever, they need to win and they need at least two of the 7 win teams ahead of them to lose! If all that happens then they MAYBE make the playoffs! Yes, I know the chances of those all happening are super slim and that has to be disappointing for HHH. All that you need to do is look at weeks 7-9 and you see why this team is likely going to miss the playoffs. In Weeks 7-9 they lost all three weeks but the most points that their opponent scored in those weeks was 107.26 points. This means that all of those games were very winnable games. HHH in those same three games averaged only 85 points. They find a way to win one of those games and this game takes on a whole different meaning. For BIGBOY! this will be their 2nd straight year missing the playoffs after their back to back championship seasons in 17 and 18. Better luck next year BIGBOY!
Prediction:
BIGBOY! will be without T. Brady in this one as he is on a bye so that means they will be picking up a QB from the stellar list of available free agent QB’s. I think this could turn out to be a good game but it seems to be me that BIGBOY! is somewhat checked out and HHH has at least something to play for. HHH with the win to get to win #7 on the season.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 10
- Record: Tied at 5-5
- PPG Avg: Advantage Bossman 131.43 to 125.52
PackerFANatic7 (7-5) vs DaUnderdog (5-7)
PackerFANatic7 has climbed and clawed their way all the way back into playoff contention and here we are in the final week of the season with them needing a win and a little bit of help to get in. They are behind all 6 teams ahead of them with regards to tie-breakers and hence the reason they are at # 7 right now. They will be rooting hard for some underdogs and Starrfavrerodg to help them out this week. Speaking of underdogs, DaUnderdog will be an underdog again this week but they will be looking to close out their season on a winning note. With a win here they would have won three of their last four games and they would likely put an end to PackerFANatic7’s playoff hopes.
Prediction:
In the games that DaUnderdog has won this season most of them they were in fact the underdog so nothing is out of the realm of possibility however this game means too much for PackerFANatic7 that I can’t see them losing. Look for PackerFANAtic7 to get the win and put a lot of pressure on all of those other 7 win teams!
***One thing interesting to note here is that PackerFANatic7 has never beaten DaUnderdog and DaUnderdog has averaged an impressive 139ppg in their three meetings so far***
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 3
- Record: Advantage DaUnderdog at 3-0
- PPG Avg: Advantage DaUnderdog 139.90 to 122.77
Rapids Plungers (7-5) vs pack slayer (5-7)
Rapids Plungers is coming off a historic game last week which was for sure impressive however they still have one last piece of business to take care of if they want to defend their title and that is they need to win this week! pack slayer’s season was officially ended in dramatic fashion last week however the reality is that they likely wouldn’t have made it in anyway. So now they are left to play the role of spoiler. It would seem unlikely that Rapids Plungers would miss out on the playoffs but technically if all the other 7 win teams win and they lose. Well then, they would be left to trying to win the consolation round championship! On the flip side, they get the win and there is a chance that they get a first round bye and even finish as the #1 seed. Once again another game with a lot at stake!
Prediction:
I came into this one thinking that Rapids Plungers should roll and get a rather easy win but then I remembered something that I hadn’t mentioned yet and that was the fact that Rapids Plungers lost W. Fuller for the season because of substance abuse and M. Davis is on a bye. Suddenly this team looks a bit more vulnerable. I do think that they find a way to win this one. Watson, Hill and M. Sanders should all have solid games and I think solid should be enough to lead them to victory. I don’t expect a shootout or for Rapids to get anywhere near their record setting performance from a week ago but I think they hit right around their projected 110 and I expect that to be enough in this one.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 9
- Record: Advantage pack slayer at 5-4
- PPG Avg: Advantage pack slayer 131.12 to 112.21
Starrfavrerodg (8-4) vs Bossman (7-5)
Game of the Week! Yep, this is it! Just about every game this week has significance to one team but this is the only one this week that has significance to BOTH teams. You would think that a #3 seeded team with one week to play is all but a lock to make the playoffs… well there is one problem that #3 seeded team has the 2nd lowest amount of points scored amongst the 7 teams vying for a playoff spot and they are only ahead of PackerFANatic7 by 20 points. This means that they do not want to have to win any tiebreaker scenarios as they likely won’t! They need this win! For Bossman, their points are solid as they have scored the third most in the league the big difference here is that with a loss the tie breaker may not matter and they may find themselves out of the playoffs altogether OR with a win they could see themselves move all the way up to the top spot in the league! This one is going to be good!
Prediction:
As of this writing I am not 100% sure who the starting RB is going to be for Starrfavrerodg. I am guessing they are going to go with F. Gore or for the sake of this preview that is what I will assume. Starrfavrerodg is going to be without two big weapons and a third solid role player as J. Conner (COVID), C. Godwin (Bye) and C. Samuel (Bye) will all miss this weeks critical game! It does seem like they should get D. Swift back so that will be a bonus. For Bossman, they will finally have their duo of D. Cook and A. Ekeler available for the first time since week 3. As I look through the lineups, I am thinking this is a Bossman win and then I see Mr. Mahomes and pause for a minute. I do expect a typical good game from Mahomes but I think Bossman finds a way to win this one as they usually do in situations like this! Bossman wins and gets back to the playoffs where they will be looking to avenge their Super Bowl loss from a year ago!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: N/A
- Record: N/A
- PPG Avg: N/A
PROJECTED PLAYOFF FIELD:
Based on the preview above here is what the playoff field would look like and of course I am making some estimates on points scored as that is going to be hugely important in this final week.
Playoff Teams:
(1) U Don’t Know: 9-4 record
(2) Rapids Plungers: 8-5 record, most pts scored of 8 win teams
(3) Bossman: 8-5 record
(4) teamAlaska: 8-5 record
(5) Big Papa: 8-5 record
(6) PackerFANatic7: 8-5 record
***Notice someone missing? Starrfavrerodg. I have PackerFANatic7 winning and outscoring Starrfavrerodg by more then the 20 points needed to win the final tie breaker and get into the playoffs***
Now this would be CRAZY and I can’t wait to see how it ends up!
Good luck everyone!