Another fantasy football regular season is complete and we have 6 teams battling for a championship! The league has been going on 21 years now but we still have 5 of the 14 teams this year that have never won a championship and the fun thing this year is that 3 of those 5 teams are in the playoffs (pack slayer, Sportsfreak & 16hrs Ahead of You!). Those three teams have played a combined 51 seasons without winning the big one! The other three teams in the playoffs (Bossman, BIGBOY! & U Don’t Know) have a combined 6 championships! This should make for a really exciting playoffs! Let’s get to this weeks games and predict who is moving on!
(3) Sportsfreak vs (6) U Don’t Know
I mentioned it numerous times throughout the season about the struggles Sportsfreak had been having over the last 1/2 decade (that sounds so much more dramatic then 6 seasons). The last time Sportsfreak was in the playoffs their starting roster consisted of guys like Larry Fitzgerald, Danny Woodhead, Greg Olsen and Giovani Bernard! They are back now however and that’s all that matters. It only takes one good season to move into the championship club and that is exactly what Sportsfreak is hoping to do! U Don’t Know has been the opposite of Sportsfreak in that the past 6 seasons have been their best. The had made the playoffs in 3 of the 6 seasons, won a championship 4 years ago and only had a losing record once in that span! U Don’t Know snuck into the playoffs this year thanks to a solid final month and now they have their eyes set on championship #2! So let’s get to it! Who is going to move on in this one?
Prediction
Like usual for the playoff predictions I will spend a little more time going position by position. So let’s get started with the QB position. We have Tua Tagovailoa for Sportsfreak vs Patrick Mahomes for U Don’t Know. From a real life QB perspective this one is easy as Mahomes is far superior but from a fantasy QB and for this week only it gets a little more interesting. This is really close but I am going to actually give a slight edge to Tua and Sportsfreak here. The WR Position is slightly easier to determine as I like the group for Sportsfreak quite a bit this week assuming that Lamb plays. Sportsfreak with a big edge here. The RB group is close as C. Brown / Henry for U Don’t Know up against Kamara and Jacobs for Sportsfreak. These two teams may have the best pair of backs I am a little concerned with the Saints offense now that Carr is out so I am going with U Don’t Know to have the edge here at the RB spot. The TE position we have Kittle for U Don’t Know vs Andrews for Sportsfreak. I always like Kittle in primetime games so I am giving the edge here to U Don’t Know. Lastly we have the FLEX spot, where B. Irving for Sportsfreak goes up against M. Pittman Jr. for U Don’t Know. Beginning of the year you would have said this is a no brainer that Pittman wins but Pittman has not been good and Bucky when healthy and especially since he took over the #1 spot from R. White has been outstanding. If Bucky plays I give the edge to Sportsfreak if not, I assume they start D. Hopkins and I still think the edge goes to Sportsfreak. So I think you can tell who I have winning! I like Sportsfreak to get the win and move on and put themselves one win away from getting to the Championship!
(4) 16hrs Ahead of You!! vs (5) BIGBOY!
16hrs is back in the playoffs after a two year break and really looking at their history this may be the best 4 year stretch they have ever had as they have now made the playoffs in two of the last 4 seasons! Now the question becomes can they do anything when in the playoffs! They currently own a 1-5 playoff record all time which is not good! They are hoping to change that this season! For BIGBOY! this may feel a little similar to last season as they once again finish in the #5 spot and once again if they win and Sportsfreak also wins they will be going up against Bossman! BIGBOY! is no stranger to the playoffs as this is now their 3rd playoff berth in the last 4 seasons! They will be looking to join the elite group of GM’s with 3 championships to their name!
Prediction
Let’s start with the QB position. We have K. Murray for 16hrs vs B. Purdy for BIGBOY! I don’t think the BIGBOY! coach and I see eye to eye when it comes to Purdy but the fact of the matter is that he finished as QB11 this season which based on where he was drafted is a nice result. You kind of know what you are going to get with him, a low of 10 points and a high of 25. Here in the playoffs is where that becomes a little more concerning as I want guys that have a high ceiling! On the other side, I do think that Murray has that higher ceiling due to his rushing upside but we have yet to see that monster game. Could it be this week? I see this as really close but I am going to stick to my “anti” Purdy thoughts and go Murray and 16hrs to have the slight edge at QB. The WR position is really close and a strength for both of these teams. If McConkey is healthy, which it seems to be trending that way, I am going to go with BIGBOY! to have the edge at WR. The RB situation is interesting as 16hrs is dealing with the potential that K. Walker is out another week and therefore forced to start I. Davis the third string RB from the Jets. BIGBOY! is starting R. White who was good last week but when B. Irving is starting and healthy 5 to 6 points is likely his point total. I don’t love K. Williams against SF tonight and I am going to assume Walker is out so I will give the edge to BIGBOY!. If Walker is healthy and playing that makes it really, really close! The TE spot has Bowers for 16hrs vs Kelce for BIGBOY! I didn’t like Kelce coming into the year but he has come on strong when it matters most here towards the end. Bowers has been outstanding though and I don’t see how you can rank anyone higher then him right now. I like Bowers and 16hrs with the edge at the TE spot. The FLEX spot we have Otton for 16hrs vs Thielen for BIGBOY! 16hrs has done the two TE approach for the majority of the season and it has worked well however Otton’s scoring has really been down since M. Evans return. Theilen on the other hand has been outstanding the past couple of weeks and for the most been good every since returning. I like Thielen and BIGBOY! with the edge at the FLEX. So that leaves me with the winner and I like BIGBOY! to find a way to get the win. They have a lot of places they can turn to for points and I expect them to get it done to setup the potential rematch with Bossman!
That’s it! Good luck to all four teams this week!