PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
1. Bossman – Clinches a playoff berth with a win OR a HHH loss. Clinches a first round bye with a win and losses by Big Papa, Starrfavrerodg and U don’t Know.
2. Big Papa – Clinches a playoff berth with a win AND a HHH loss
3. Rapids Plungers – Clinches a playoff berth with a win AND a HHH loss
4. teamAlaska – Clinches a playoff berth with a win AND a HHH loss
5. Starrfavrerodg – Clinches a playoff berth with a win
6. U Don’t Know – Clinches a playoff berth with a win AND a HHH loss
ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF CONTENTION
1. 16hrs Ahead of You!!
2. Pack Attack
3. PackerFANatic7
4. BIGBOY!
5. Sportsfreak
Now off to the previews!
My Picks Record:
Last Week: 2-4
Overall: 50-22
Pack Attack (3-9) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (2-10)
There was this 3 on 3 basketball tournament I used to play in years ago called Gus Macker. It was a double elimination tournament but you were guaranteed three games. If you would lose your first two games you would move to the “losers bracket” and have an opportunity to win some games and eventually advance to what was called the “Toilet Bowl”. Well if there was a toilet bowl game in fantasy football this would be it! The two teams that are currently in the #13 and #14 spots in the league go head to head. A Pack Attack win all but assures 16hrs as finishing the season in last place. A 16hrs win and Pack Attack takes over last with one game to play! The Drama!
Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 21
- Record: Advantage Pack Attack at 15-6
- PPG Avg: Advantage Pack Attack 117.79 to 104.66
Big Papa (8-4) vs pack slayer (6-6)
When you get to this time of year and you are in the playoff picture every game is important but there are three games in particular that will carry a little more importance then the others. This being one of them. For pack slayer the playoff door is not yet completely shut but they have to win out and get a lot of help if they want to have a chance. The good news for them is that they are playing one of the teams that they would need to leapfrog over to get to the playoffs. Big Papa is on a roll having won 4 in a row and have moved themselves all the way up to the #2 seed. If you look at their remaining 2 games (pack slayer and Pack Attack) along with the fact that they have the second most points scored in the league as of now they look like a favorite to finish as one of the top 2 seeds. This game however against a desperate pack slayer team becomes very important!
Prediction:
It is tough when there are bye weeks that affect matchups this late in the season but here we are. pack slayer will be without both Hopkins and D. Foreman this week due to bye. Big Papa will be without J. Conner so it does even itself out some. I would have preferred however to see both teams at full strength. pack slayer has waited all year to be able to start D. Watson and that time is now however I don’t see it being enough. I expect pack slayer to put up a fight but when you are forced to start D. Hilliard in a do or die type of game it doesn’t bode well for you. Big Papa to keep the momentum going and get the big win here.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 11
- Record: Advantage Big Papa at 6-5
- PPG Avg: Advantage Big Papa 114.23 to 111.05
Bossman (9-3) vs BIGBOY! (4-8)
Bossman has been taking care of business these past three weeks as they have won three straight games against non playoff teams. They have one more remaining before they go up against teamAlaska next week in a game that should have A LOT of playoff implications. This would be an easy game to overlook but given the fact that BIGBOY! just took down the then #2 seed in Rapids Plungers last week I am sure that has Bossman’s attention and they want to make sure they don’t lose out on that #1 seed with only 2 games remaining.
If there is a kink in the armor so to speak for Bossman (outside of losing super bowls) it would be they have struggled to close out seasons. Over the past 5 seasons in the last three games of the year they have a record of 5-10. One of those seasons they were 3-0, so if you take out that season they are 2-10. A little more stat fun for you, over those same past 5 seasons Bossman has lost a total of 27 games which means that 37% of their losses over the last 5 seasons have come in the final three games of the year. Does any of that really matter for this game and this season? Maybe not because we are now down to 2 games remaining and Bossman already has one win under the belt but does that mean they are bound to lose the last 2? I guess we will find out soon.
BIGBOY! is playing the role of spoiler now but more then that a win here against Bossman would mean they had beaten the then #2 and #1 teams in the league in back to back weeks. They also finish out the season against 16hrs so they could finish out the year on a real high note with a upset win in this one. Can they do it?
Prediction:
Bossman is going to be without K. Murray this week (bye) and has decided to start M. White in his place. White did just have a big game last week but can he do that two weeks in a row? Maybe.. especially against one of the worst pass defenses in the league. BIGBOY! has been riding Rodgers all year and looks like he will stick with him again this week. I expect this to be a good game and if I had to put money on this game I would go with Bossman. However, I do see a path here for BIGBOY! to get the win and if K. Allen stays healthy I expect his best game of the season this week. I also think we could see D. Cook’s best game of the year this week at home against the Jets. All that said, give me BIGBOY! with the big upset win!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 12
- Record: Advantage Bossman at 7-5
- PPG Avg: Advantage Bossman 121.57 to 113.84
DaUnderdog (6-6) vs Sportsfreak (4-8)
The reigning champ, DaUnderdog is living on a prayer right now as they need to win out and get some help to have a shot at the playoffs and defending their title. Some teams make their run midway through the season but it was the opposite for DaUnderdog as they currently have lost 5 of their last 6 games after starting out the season 5-1. I expect them to battle these last two games and who knows? No one expected them to get to the playoffs and much less win the whole thing last season so maybe they got another improbable run in them? Sportsfreak is just wanting to finish the season strong and make sure they can get to that consolation bracket another win here and they at least can guarantee themselves of that and that they would for sure avoid last place.
Prediction:
Sportsfreak has not been able to score 100 points since week 7. I am not sure they get there this week either however DaUnderdog may struggle as well. I expect a low scoring game but DaUnderdog to pull out the last second win thanks to just enough points from J. Johnson on Monday night.
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 20
- Record: Advantage Sportsfreak at 11-9
- PPG Avg: Advantage DaUnderdog 116.91 to 116.58
HHH (7-5) vs Starrfavrerodg (8-4)
I mentioned in a earlier preview about three really good games this week. This is #2 on the list. Two playoff caliber teams going head to head. HHH is currently sitting at the #7 spot and a win here at a minimum they would be ahead of Starrfavrerodg in the standings based on the tie breaker of points scored. Starrfavrerodg is looking to keep their momentum and keep climbing up the standings to see if they can get into one of those top two spots and get a first round bye! These two teams didn’t start out the greatest but their combined record starting with week 5 until now is 13-3! With 2 games remaining, everything is right there for both teams but the playoffs are not a given. HHH needs this win as their playoff chances would take a significant blow with a loss and a lot would then depend on how the teams around them do this week.
Starrfavrerodg believe it or not would actually be in an almost tougher spot with a loss then HHH just simply because of their points scored. Right now, HHH has scored more points then 4 of the current 8-4 teams which means they hold the tie breaker. Starrfavrerodg is on the lower side of that and would only currently win a tie breaker against U Don’t Know. A lot can change in a week or two but a couple of things we know, #1 Starrfavrerodg has all of the current playoff teams rooting for them to win this week and #2 if Starrfavrerodg wins they are in the playoffs!
Prediction:
Good news for Starrfavrerodg is that it looks like J. Chase will be back this week! They have been winning all these games with their one of their best players on the bench. The bad news for them is that Tua is going up against one of the better Defenses in the league this week and that may limit his upside while on the other side HHH has Burrow and Higgins in a matchup against KC which seems like a potential shootout spot. Ekeler is always good and Kittle tends to thrive in games where SF has to throw the ball to win which against a tough MIA team you would expect that to be the case. I am going with HHH to get the huge win to shake up the standings and make things crazy going into the final week of the season!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 2
- Record: Tied at 1-1
- PPG Avg: Advantage HHH 107.15 to 82.92
U Don’t Know (8-4) vs PackerFANatic7 (3-9)
U Don’t Know keeps on finding ways to win games and they are now two wins away from finding themselves back into the playoffs. U Don’t Know as a team has been extremely consistent over the past 4 seasons as they have had a winning record each season, made it to the playoffs in 3 of those including a championship just two years ago! This team has quietly been one of the better ones over the course of the last 4 seasons and they are looking to add to that resume with another playoff berth this year. PackerFANatic7 has been playing really well these last 3 weeks and of the “bottom feeder” teams this is probably the one team you don’t want to be playing right now.
Prediction:
I picked PackerFANatic7 to get the win last week but I wasn’t planning for a 57 point eruption from J. Jacobs. I am going to go back to PackerFANatic7 getting the upset win this week against U Don’t Know unless of course this is the week that S. Barkley goes for 50? I should know better then to pick for a team that is 3-9 and has seemingly had some tough luck this season vs a team in U Don’t Know that just seems to find ways to win but I am still going to go with PackerFANatic7 in a close one!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 5
- Record: Advantage PackerFANatic7 at 3-2
- PPG Avg: Advantage U Don’t Know 118.31 to 113.59
Rapids Plungers (8-4) vs teamAlaska (8-4)
We saved the best and most important game of the week for last! Both of these teams have their eyes set on a first round bye. Rapids Plungers was there as of last week and they they suffered a tough loss against BIGBOY! to fall to the #3 seed. teamAlaska is right behind them as the #4 seed and only 10 point separate them on the season. If Big Papa were to lose to pack slayer, the winner of this game could very well take over that #2 spot! However, the loser of this game could very well put themselves in a position that they have to win next week just to get into the playoffs. If that isn’t enough in addition to the first round bye, the winner here also keeps their hopes for the #1 overall seed alive! So the feasible range of outcomes here for both teams is #1 overall seed or miss the playoffs entirely! Are the best and worst case scenarios in this case likely? Probably not as both teams are in a good spot to at least make the playoffs however the loser here sure will make things more difficult on themselves for next week.
Prediction:
If someone could answer two questions for me that is all I would need to accurately pick the winner. #1 is this a G. Davis week? #2 is this a L. Jackson week? G. Davis has had 3 weeks that make you happy you have him on your team and 8 not so happy weeks! L. Jackson similar story as there have been 2 week winning weeks where he had 40+ points and then only one 20 point week and the rest have been average or below for a QB. So does one of these two players have a week where you are thankful to have them on your team? The answer is…. I have no idea. I am however going to say Davis has a strong game tonight as Belichick looks to take away Diggs but I also think L. Jackson is due for a big game. Maybe they both perform well? I also like Jefferson of course for teamAlaska and N. Chubb in a smash spot against HOU. Kelce also should be in line for a big game against CIN given I am expecting a lot of points in that one. Can you tell I am undecided on who to pick? Rapids Plungers has 5 guys that alone can win them the week, teamAlaska has 3. 5 is better then 3 so I am going with Rapids Plungers in a close, high scoring game!
Historical Look at this Match-Up:
- Regular Season Match-ups: 14
- Record: Tied at 7-7
- PPG Avg: Advantage teamAlaska 115.30 to 114.30