Keepers Fantasy Football

XV – Final Four Recap

The Super Bowl is set! Here we go…

pack slayer (153.27) vs U Don’t Know (107.04)

pack slayer goes to show it doesn’t matter what seed you get in as and that it is all about getting hot at the right time and their team has come to play these playoffs. They have been averaging 156 ppg in their two upset wins. This time they took down the team that has held the # 1 spot virtually all year in U Don’t Know. U Don’t Know had a great regular season! In fact, record wise it was one of the best as it is hard to go 11-2 in this league. However, they don’t hand out trophies for finishing first in the regular season and that is what they found out the hard way. pack slayer got solid contribution from a bunch of different players as they had 7 players score over 13 points. That is for sure a recipe for success in any league and especially in a 14 team league. pack slayer now moves on to their first ever Super Bowl where they will be facing the defending champs! U Don’t Know is sent home and ends this season on a down note!

BIGBOY! (128.34) vs PackMan12 (114.61)

The defending champ isn’t going down quietly… well in fact they don’t seem to be going down at all. You knew the minute they got into the playoffs they would be a tough out and now look. They just took down the #2 seed in the league and are back into the Super Bowl for the second year in a row! This wasn’t easy however and things didn’t look really good for them heading into the afternoon games but Roethlisberger and JuJu Smith-Schuster only combined for 19 points. Overall this was a tough week for PackMan12 as they had one player not score a point (Austin Hooper) and Mr Reliable all year (Saquon Barkley) had his lowest point total of the season with only 7 points. In these type of games you need your stars to perform and they didn’t for PackMan12. BIGBOY! yet again had to figure out a way to win without their top WR (OBJ) and one of their top RB’s in James Conner. So what did they do? They picked up Derrick Henry who put up a cool 34pts. Those my friends are the moves that win you games and for BIGBOY! potentially win you championships! PackMan12 will be left playing for 3rd place and worst yet have to hear the smack talk from BIGBOY! coach which I am sure will be laid on heavy after this week! BIGBOY! is off to the Super Bowl to defend their title and go for back to back Super Bowl victories!

Have a great week everyone!

Final Four – Preview

Keepers Fantasy Football – Final Four Preview

(1) U Don’t Know vs (6) pack slayer

U Don’t Know is fresh off a bye week and ready to go. U Don’t Know is coming off there best regular season ever and this is the first time they have been in the playoffs since the 2007 season. That is a long time so you have to wonder how this team will respond to the pressure of a big game like this. In 2007 that was their first season in the league and before 6 teams made the playoffs. That year U Don’t Know lost a close battle to Showboat in the Super Bowl. The #1 overall seed has a tough battle against a pack slayer team that got hot at just the right time and is looking to continue that all the way to a spot in the championship round. pack slayer was one of two teams to beat U Don’t Know in the regular season. Can they do it again to move on or will U Don’t Know continue this impressive run all the way to the Super Bowl?

Prediction:
Before I give my prediction let’s take an in depth look at this one. Let’s start with the QB position. pack slayer has Matt Ryan who has been consistently inconsistent the past 5 weeks and if that pattern continues then we are in for a 10 point game from Ryan. U Don’t Know is starting Rodgers this week who has been somewhat consistent but that hasn’t been very good. If they were playing against the same defense I think this one would be hard to pick but Rodgers is up against one of the better defenses in the league and Matt Ryan is not so I am giving the QB edge to pack slayer.

Now to the WR group, Thielen has had an amazing year in fact he is right now the #1 scoring WR in our league but since the bye in week 10 he hasn’t been the same. I do think however that he has a good matchup against Miami this week. Robert Woods & Allen Robinson could get you 10 points combined or 50. Boom or bust type for their WR2 and WR3. pack slayer has Julio Jones who ranks #3 in the league and Mike Evans who currently is at #10 and then you have Edelman who is no stranger to big games. I think this one is easy. The WR edge goes to pack slayer.

Let’s talk about the RB position. pack slayer has got where he is today because of this young rooke Phillip Lindsay who has been outstanding the last 4 weeks and Lamar Miller their RB2 has been solid the last 3 weeks. U Don’t Know counters with the best RB in the game right now in Todd Gurley and then a guy in Peyton Barber who has been given 10+ carries every week since week 6 but only once has he scored over 20 points (20.27 in week 11). He has however scored a TD in 3 of the last 4 games. I think Gurley has a big game on Sunday night so I am going to give the RB edge to U Don’t Know.

The TE spot is next, this is a hard one to evaluate as we don’t know the status of Conner. Sources tell me that it is likely that Conner sits another week so I am going to write this prediction based on that assumption. If Conner is out that gives Samuels the start but he has a tough game against the NE D. Ian Thomas just jumped into the fantasy radar the last couple of weeks with the injury to Greg Olson and he has been solid. Putting up Olsen like #’s. I don’t really like Samuels in this matchup this week and I think Thomas catches a lot of passes and scores as Carolina tries to keep up with the Saints. I am going to give the TE edge to U Don’t Know.

The flex spot is weak for both teams. pack slayer is rolling with DaeSean Hamilton who did have a solid game last week with E. Sanders out. U Don’t Know is starting Michael Gallup who has seen 22 targets over the past three weeks but only scored 15 fantasy points. He is truly a boom or bust kind of player as they tend to take a lot of deep shots to him. If they connect on a couple a 20 point game is easily in reach. If not, 5-8 points is probably where he lands. I expect Denver to run the ball a lot and I think a lot of attention is going to be on Cooper this week in Dallas. I am going to give the flex edge to U Don’t Know but that is just saying that I think Gallup has 10 points and Hamilton has 7. If one of these two players has a 20+ point game. I would expect that is the team that wins this game.

I am going to put the K, D, and DEF into one prediction. U Don’t Know is going with Boswell, Bears D and JJ Watt while pack slayer counters with Fairbairn, Vikings D, and Khalil Mack. The Bears D is one of the best but they are going against a Packers team that doesn’t turn the ball over. JJ Watt should be in line for a big day against the Jets. Mr. Mack had 28 points the last time he played the Packers and that was against the starting offensive line. Imagine what he might do against a backup offensive lineman? Watt and Mack cancel each other out. Bears D is much better then the Vikings but given the opponents I see this being a wash as well. Kickers.. well they are kickers but I would trust Fairbairn slightly more this week. So I guess I would give the slight edge to pack slayer.

That’s it. So who wins? They each won three categories… so I guess this ends in a tie? Well not so much. There is one glaring difference between these two teams and it is the WR’s and that edge goes to pack slayer. I am going to pick pack slayer to pull off yet another upset and knock off the # overall seed and move on to the Super Bowl!

(2) PackMan12 vs (4) BIGBOY!

The defending champ, BIGBOY! is back in the Final Four and now they have PackMan12 standing in their way to getting back to the Super Bowl for back to back years. PackMan12 is fresh off the bye but is coming into this game a bit beat up. That is never good as we get into must win situations but the same could be said for BIGBOY! as they have a couple of key starters who will be likely game time decisions. PackMan12 can score with the best of them. They are one of two teams that has had 4 weeks of 160 or more points scored. Want to know who the other team is? Yep, you guessed it. BIGBOY! If you like offense then I expect this is going to be one of the better games you could keep an eye on. Those injuries I mentioned could play a factor but I still expect a high scoring game between these two teams. So will PackMan12 get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 2011 season or will BIGBOY! move on and get a chance to become the 4th team to ever win back to back championships? Check out the prediction to see my thoughts.

Prediction:
We have to start with the QB position. Mahomes has been ridiculous this season. He has scored 400 points on the year. The next closest QB is Drew Brees with 303. That kind of discrepancy is crazy especially when talking about the QB position. But we are looking just at this week. Mahomes for BIGBOY! is going up against a Chargers D that last time they faced Mahomes in week 1 gave up 30 points. PackMan12 is going with Big Ben against the Patriots and traditionally this is when Ben shines, Primetime game… against a rival. I think this could be close but there is no way I could give anyone the edge over Mahomes at this point. BIGBOY! has the edge at QB.

The WR position gets interesting and this is where injuries are going to play a potentially HUGE factor in this game. Since my sources are telling me that they expect both Tyreek Hill and OBJ to play I am going to make this prediction based on that. This has been a strength for PackMan12 all season as Tyreek Hill is the #2 scoring WR this season and JuJu is surprisingly #7. DeDe Westbrook has been solid at the WR 3 spot for them. BIGBOY! has OBJ who of course is one of the best at his position and a threat for 20 or more points every week. Tyler Boyd and Adam Humphries have been pleasant surprises but the edge at the WR position goes to PackMan12.

Now to the RB’s, anytime that a RB scores 60 points in one game (Derrick Henry) and is on the waiver wire you probably pick him up and in this case I guess you start him the following week. BIGBOY! did just that and in addition they also have one of the better RB’s from a fantasy perspective in McCaffrey. PackMan12 will counter that with Tevin Coleman and already as a rookie one of the better RB’s in the game in Saquon Barkley. I think that Barkley and McCaffrey cancel each other out in this one so now you are looking at Coleman and Henry and I give that edge to Coleman. PackMan12 therefore gets the edge at RB.

The TE position has BIGBOY! with one of the big surprises at this spot in Eric Ebron. Ebron comes into this meeting as the 4th best TE in terms of scoring in the league. PackMan12 counters with Austin Hooper who I would also consider a surprise as he sits as the 6th best TE in terms of scoring. I think this one however is obvious and BIGBOY! with Ebron has the edge.

Moving along to the flex position we have Alshon Jeffrey against Damian Williams. Jeffrey has had spurts where he has been really good but he has had far too many times where he has failed to get over the 10 point mark (6 games to be exact) and 9 if you count the first three weeks that he didn’t play at all. PackMan12 may get a boost this week with Williams taking the starting RB job with the injury to Ware. I am once again making an assumption and that is that Williams gets the start. If that happens I give the edge to PackMan12 at the flex spot and this could be looked at as one of the potential early indicators of who wins this game.

Now as before I am going to mesh the K, Def and D player. BIGBOY! is going with Bagdley at Kicker, Seattle D and A. Donald at the Defensive spot while PackMan12 has Zuerlein, Buffalo D and Kyle Fuller. I like Bagdley tonight against KC and Sea D against the 49ers. I am going to give the edge to BIGBOY! at these positions.

So like the first game I reviewed I have each team winning 3 areas and once again I am going to look at the WR position to pick my winner. I think that PackMan12 and their WR’s have the potential to take over a game with JuJu and Tyreek Hill. I expect both of these players to have big games and if they do then I think PackMan12 knocks off the reigning champ! I do think this is an extremely close game and will come down to McCaffrey’s performance on Monday night which on the flip side if you are BIGBOY! that is the guy you want to rely on as he could put up 40 points if he had to. I am looking forward to this one!

Good luck everyone!

XV – Wild Card Weekend Recap

The first round of the playoffs is complete and really if you like exciting close games then this was a dud of a week as pack slayer and BIGBOY! made sure that they were moving on into the Final Four! I expect next weeks game to be a bit more dramatic with a shot at a spot in the title game on the line! But first to the Wild Card Weekend Recap..

pack slayer (159.36) vs Rapids Plungers (112.05)

pack slayer pulls off the upset and takes down the #3 seed Rapids Plungers! pack slayer was led by 30 points from Julio Jones and Matt Ryan added 21 to help them to a relatively easy win. pack slayer has proven all season that they can score points and now that they have made the playoffs they showed us part of the reason why they could make a strong playoff run! They are as dangerous of a team as any but they get a date with the #1 overall seed next week. For Rapids Plungers, they saw yet another successful regular season end in disappointment. They now have the dreaded off season to think about what went wrong and how are they ever going to get a playoff win! Some things are hard to understand and well this is for sure one of them! Congratulations to pack slayer on moving on and to Rapids Plungers on making it this far which is more then 8 other teams could say!

BIGBOY! (116.06) vs HHH (56.13)

WOW! BIGBOY! walks away with the 60 point win despite scoring their least amount of points since week 4. The defending champs were without two key members though as James Conner and Odell Beckham Jr both sat out this week with injuries. McCaffrey and Mahomes shouldered the load by scoring 46 points combined and that was enough to move on to the Final Four! HHH… well I am not sure what to say.. This was about as terrible of a showing that I can remember in a playoff game. The only starter to score over 10 points was Kamara and he only had 12 total. This one is going to sting for awhile as this was a winnable game against a BIGBOY! team that as mentioned were dealing with injuries to key members. They picked a bad time to have one of their worst weeks of the year and like Rapids Plungers they now face the LONG offseason. The win for BIGBOY! means they are now the only remaining team that has won a championship. Can they repeat? I don’t know but getting a win on a off week like this can sometimes be a huge momentum builder.

Have a great week everyone!

Wild Card Weekend – Preview

Keepers Fantasy Football – Wild Card Weekend Previews

The playoffs are finally here! It has been a battle all season (unless you are U Don’t Know or PackMan12) who seemed to coast into the playoffs but other then that these teams have been battling all season to get the opportunity of a championship. HHH and BIGBOY! are the only two teams in this years playoff that have ever won a championship. So will we get a new champion? Or will HHH get their 3rd championship or maybe BIGBOY! repeats? It all starts this week, so let’s get to the previews.

(3) Rapids Plungers vs (6) pack slayer

Rapids Plungers is coming into the playoffs with huge momentum as they have won 7 straight games. These weren’t blowout games either. They have had to come back on Monday night or figure out ways to claw their way to victory when their team wasn’t playing all that well. The point being this is a team that is extremely battle tested. There is a huge asterisk next to this team and really there always has been. They are always in the running for the playoffs and usually always figure out a way to get to the playoffs but then something happens. I am not sue if the pressure gets to them or what it is but they are 1-11 in the playoffs. 1-11!! That is hard to believe but they will be hoping to get that monkey off their back this season! pack slayer has missed out in the playoffs the last two seasons and it took a strong finishing performance for them to be able make it in this season. However, their challenge like Rapids Plungers has been when they get to the playoffs they seem to play some of their worst football. Their playoff record is 2-8 so a little better but not by alot. These two teams combined playoff record is 3-19! So I guess I am kinda glad they are playing against each other because someone has to win! Now let’s figure out who that is going to be?

Prediction:
pack slayer got a huge boost for at least this week as they got Jaylen Samuels the now starting RB for the Steelers who however has TE eligibility! I have looked through every teams meetings and I has been saying all year how reliant pack slayer has been on Julio Jones and Matt Ryan. I still think those two players need to play well for them to win this game however I don’t think they need 30 points each anymore. Lindsay is turning into a star and Lamar Miller has been surprisingly good. Rapids Plungers is going to need their stars to perform and not lay another playoff egg. They need Brown, Luck and Hilton to show up and by that I mean they need 20 points from each of them this week! I expect this one to come down to the wire. I think pack slayer finishes with 130 points. Rapids Plungers goes into the Monday night game with 111 and Janikowski left to play. Janikowski has 15 points and pack slayer wins 130 to 127!

(4) BIGBOY! vs (5) HHH

The defending champ, BIGBOY! is back in the playoffs and they are looking every bit like a team that is ready to defend their title. They started out the season slow but pulled off the trade of the season by getting Patrick Mahomes. Since then this team has looked every bit like a team that can repeat. Interestingly enough, outside of Patrick Mahomes they have another player that they drafted in the 14th round in James Conner that has also led their team this far. The big news however for this week is that Conner is going to miss this crucial game due to injury. That certainly will play a factor in this weeks game but can BIGBOY! overcome it? HHH started out this season red hot by winning their first 5 games but since then they have gone 3-5 but that hot start was enough to get them into the playoffs. This is an experienced team and has two championship runs under their belt so I expect them to come in here and play well against the defending champs. Can they play well enough to pull off the upset?

Prediction:

This is an interesting game to me. I have been bragging up BIGBOY! for weeks now as I think despite the records they have the most dangerous roster in the league. HHH has been less then impressive in getting into the playoffs and I don’t think anyone sees them as a favorite to even get out of Wild Card weekend with a win. That is what makes this game so interesting. Despite the fact this is the 4 vs 5 game and usually you would say this wouldn’t be an upset either way, I do think BIGBOY! comes into this as a heavy favorite. The loss of Conner really does hurt BIGBOY! and I think Mahomes has a tough game this week against Baltimore but Goff also faces a tough D in Chicago. It wouldn’t surprise me if HHH was able to knock off the defending champs however I don’t see it happening. I think BIGBOY! wins this one by 15.

Consolation Round Previews

Oh wait I forgot you need to be in the top 6 to get in the news! Maybe next year?

XV – Week 13 Recap – Final Week

That’s a wrap on the regular season! What a great regular season it was with lots of back and forth, trades, injuries, close wins, heartbreaking losses but we have 6 teams still standing and now will be battling it out for a championship over the next three weeks!

For those of you not in the top 6, I will be blocking your teams from Wednesday waivers. We will keep that exclusively for those teams battling in the playoffs. I will open it back up for adding / dropping early Wed morning as I know most of you are in the consolation round and want to be able to say you won something! Yes, I am one of those!

Pack Attack (133.09) vs Sportsfreak (83.13)

Pack Attack got the win to move to 7-6 on the season but it wasn’t quite enough as they finish the season in the #7 spot. For Sportsfreak, they can finally put an end to this abysmal season and start looking forward to next year.

PackMan12 (102.58) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (91.33)

PackMan12 finishes off the season with a very unimpressive win but a win nonetheless and this moved them to 11-2 on the season. This marks the best regular season they have ever had. They will now get to sit at home and wait and see who they get to play in the semifinals of the playoffs. 16hrs Ahead of you!! finishes the season 4-9 but you have to admire their fight as they didn’t give up all season and specifically this week as they were without Melvin Gordon and Kareem Hunt. Injuries derailed this team but they will be looking to come back stronger next year.

DaUnderdog (123.97) vs Big Papa (90.47)

DaUnderdog (6-7) finishes the season on a high note winning 3 of their last 4 games to at least be mathematically in the playoff hunt going into the last week of the season. Big Papa (6-7) must have decided that their fate was already set and decided not to show up in this one. That has been their season, good one week bad the next two or three… this team showed spurts especially after the first 4 weeks but it wasn’t enough for them to sneak into the playoffs. These two teams are now gunning for the consolation round championship…. hey.. the winner usually gets at least mentioned in the Super Bowl article later this season!

BIGBOY! (187.72) vs PackerFANatic7 (105.34)

The defending champ, BIGBOY! (8-5) is back in the tournament and I know they are only the #4 seed but they will be heading into the playoffs with a ton of confidence after dominating PackerFANatic7 by 80 points. In addition, they wrapped up the scoring lead by just over 100 points and I know PackMan12 and U Don’t Know have the records and have the bye week but I sure wouldn’t want to be playing the defending champs in the playoffs right now. PackerFANatic7 fell to a disappointing 5-8 on the season. I said it 4 weeks ago and I will say it again, this team losing to teamAlaska in week 9 sealed the deal and they never were able to recover as they went 1-3 the rest of the way. This is only their second year in the league so they will learn that making the playoffs isn’t easy and it’s those 50/50 games that usually make a big difference in getting into the playoffs or watching from home.

U Don’t Know (104.12) vs Bossman (95.83)

U Don’t Know like PackMan12 gets the win to seal the deal and wrap up the #1 overall seed which they have held onto for much of the season. This was a less than impressive win but their season as a whole was extremely impressive and they now have the bye week and then need two more wins to get that first ever championship! Bossman for the most part really struggled this year. Yes, they were 5-8 however I am not sure if this was even a 5 win team. Bossman coach did a nice job of getting his guys to perform good enough but they didn’t have that difference maker that could win games almost single handedly. They like Pack Attack will be missing out of the playoffs for the second year in a row which means there is a good chance for someone new to win their first ever championship. I get the feeling that Bossman is getting tired of having teams that overachieve but instead would like to have a team that can come out and dominate the competition. I expect them to come back strong next season.

Rapids Plungers (116.38) vs HHH (102.04)

I said in my preview last week that I wanted to see Rapids Plungers (9-4) get that signature win and well they did just that. It wasn’t pretty but I think the overall theme this week was that scoring was down for most. This was a big win because not only did it keep Rapids Plungers winning streak alive (which is now at an impressive 7 games) it also means they finish as the #3 seed and don’t play BIGBOY! in the first round. HHH fell to 8-5 on the season and have now dropped two straight games. They have had an up and down season after starting off 5-0 but the key thing is to get into the playoffs and after that anything can happen. Two playoff teams entering the playoffs in somewhat different fashion. Can either of them make a deep playoff run? I am looking forward to finding out.

pack slayer (117.56) vs teamAlaska (111.63)

They made it! It has been a constant battle all year long for pack slayer. They won their first three games of the year then lost their next 5 and then went on to win 4 of their last 5 to snag the final playoff spot. This team has scored a decent amount of points which honestly is usually the case for the #6 seed. We usually have a 7 win team that takes the # 6 seed and they do it based on points. This game wasn’t easy and you have to admire the fight that teamAlaska put up. It came down to Monday night and teamAlaska’s kicker. teamAlaska had a tough season and they will be looking for a much better performance next season. pack slayer is moving on and they will face a red hot Rapids Plungers team next week in the first round of the playoffs!

Have a great week everyone!

XV – Week 12 Preview

I need to start this out by saying in the 15 years I have been doing this I am not sure I have seen this happen before at least not with how important of a game it was and the ramifications this had. So what is it? A stat correction. Yes, if you haven’t seen yet and I am breaking the news there was a stat correction to DJ Swearing Sr as they took away a sack and solo tackle from his stat line. That correction took away 5.6 points from Bossman and also took away the previous 4 point win for Bossman. Instead it gave Big Papa a 2 point win. This is HUGE! As it severely hurts Bossman’s playoff chances and it gives Big Papa new life on their season as now if they win the next two games they have a shot! Crazy.

This change also clinched a playoff spot for HHH. This is how we are starting out week 11. I get the sense that we are in for a fun week.

My Prediction Record to Date:
33-26

Playoff Scenarios:
U Don’t Know – Clinched Playoff Berth. Can Clinch a first round bye with a win or a loss by HHH. Can clinch the #1 overall seed with a win.
PackMan12 – Clinched a playoff berth. Can clinch a first round bye with a win and a loss by HHH.
HHH – Clinched a playoff berth.
Rapids Plungers – Can clinch a playoff spot with a win.

Eliminated from Playoff Contention:
Sportsfreak
teamAlaska
***These are the two officially eliminated teams. The 4-7 teams would need a miracle finish to make it in so technically they have yet to be eliminated***

Pack Attack (6-5) vs DaUnderdog (4-7)

The playoffs began last week for Pack Attack as they are in must win mode from here on out. Yes, they technically could lose another game and not be eliminate and still have a shot but they won’t win many tie-breakers and the formula is simple. Win the next two games and you are in. Lost once and then you start needing help. DaUnderdog hasn’t officially been eliminated yet but this falls into the category of “So you are telling me there is a chance”. They will look to finish strong regardless of playoff status.

Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Pack Attack holds a 11-6 lead in their previous 17 meetings. Pack Attack also holds the edge in ppg, 126.16 – 105.84.

BIGBOY! (6-5) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (4-7)

BIGBOY! is coming off of two straight losses and is suddenly in a near must win situation. I say “near” because I think this team gets into the playoffs with 7 wins based on their points scored. That of course is not a for sure and I know BIGBOY! wants nothing to do with leaving that to chance so the formula is simple for them as well. Win the next two games and you are in! 16hrs will be looking to play the role if spoiler and I guess like I have said for the other 4 win teams.. they are not officially eliminated yet. Can 16hrs send BIGBOY! to their 3rd straight loss?

Prediction:
I don’t think so. BIGBOY! is going to be without their star QB in Mahomes but 16hrs is also without their star RB in Hunt as they are both on byes. 16hrs has yet to adjust his lineup so I am not 100% sure exactly who will be starting for them but either way I just don’t see the defending champ losing this game. BIGBOY! gets win #7 this week!

Historical Look at this Match-Up:
BIGBOY! holds a 6-2 lead in their previous 8 meetings. BIGBOY! also holds the ppg edge, 126.66 to 103.56.

Big Papa (5-6) vs teamAlaska (1-10)

Well I had this preview all wrote up and it was pretty boring as I thought Big Papa really didn’t have a realistic shot at the playoffs but now the news of the stat correction and them now sitting at 5 wins instead of 4 changes everything. This suddenly becomes a HUGE game for Big Papa and they now have something legitimately to play for. teamAlaska will be looking to play the role of spoiler and try and pull themselves out of the cellar in the final two weeks!

Prediction:
I got Big Papa getting the big win ensuring themselves that they will have something to play for the final week of the season!

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Big Papa holds a 9-6 lead in their previous 12 meetings. Big Papa also holds the ppg lead, 119.22 to 110.12.

Bossman (5-6) vs pack slayer (5-6)

This was going to be a big game no matter what but now with the stat correction it means both teams are in the same spot. Lose and your season is likely over. Yes, pack slayer is in a much better spot overall if they can figure out a way to win these next two games and that is because of their high amount of points scored but as soon as you lose that 7th game of the season your hopes of the playoffs likely are gone. So can Bossman overcome one of the craziest stat correction game reversals I have ever seen? Or can pack slayer find a way to win coming off that devastating loss to PackMan12 from a week ago?

Prediction:
I am sticking with my initial pick of pack slayer in this one but I am not feeling that confident in the pick. However, in my opinion this one will be decided after today’s games. pack slayer has two of their top weapons going (Julio Jones and Matt Ryan) while Bossman has Mark Ingram along with a number of other role players going today. If this game is within 10 points after the Thursday games I think pack slayer is in trouble.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Bossman holds a 4-3 lead in their previous 7 meetings. Bossman also holds the ppg edge, 125.30 – 114.58.

HHH (8-3) vs Sportsfreak (2-9)

HHH still has a lot to play for despite the fact they got the good news that they are now officially in the playoffs. They are still battling for one of those two first round byes. I don’t need to tell you how important that is to winning a potential championship! So despite the fact that this game means nothing to Sportsfreak it is another big game for HHH and one that they will do everything they can to get the win. Sportsfreak is just riding out the schedule at this point and trying to keep their mind focus on other things like deer hunting and eating a lot of good food on Thanksgiving. When the conversations turn to Fantasy Football over the Thanksgiving dinner this team unfortunately may have to go play with the kids as they won’t have much to say unless of course they want to discuss how to lose games!

Prediction:
I got HHH getting the win in this one to keep their hopes alive for that bye week!

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Each team has won 8 games in their previous 16 meetings against each other so this one is to break the tie. HHH holds a slight ppg edge, 115.57 to 114.16. That’s about as close as you can get after 16 meetings!

PackerFANatic7 (5-6) vs Rapids Plungers (7-4)

This is one of the more intriguing matchups of the week. Rapids Plungers is coming off a dominating effort last week and is looking to keep that momentum going. Not to mention, they can clinch a playoff spot with a win! PackerFANatic7 is coming off an impressive 72 point win over Sportsfreak. Here is where the intrigue comes in for me. This is a must win for PackerFANatic7, for Rapids Plungers they need to win one of their next two games to ensure a spot. The urgency maybe isn’t quite there however if PackerFANatic7 figures out a way to win this one, Rapids Plungers has a tough matchup with HHH the following week and then things suddenly get really interesting. This is a game that Rapids Plungers wants, I don’t think they want anything to do with this coming down to the last week of the season.

Prediction:
I picked Rapids Plungers to get this win in my final three weeks prediction and I am going to stick with that. This is going to come down to the start and how they perform. I think the winner of this meeting is going to have one of their star players put up 30 + points. The first person to get a stab at that is Ezekial Elliott for PackerFANatic7. This one may come down to the wire with Dalvin Cook and Mason Crosby on Sunday night.

Historical Look at this Match-UP
Rapids Plungers dominated their one and only meeting so far by the score of 125.72 to 78.02.

PackMan12 (9-2) vs U Don’t Know (10-1)

A Super Bowl preview? Possibly. Yes, both of these teams are securely in the playoffs and are guaranteed to finish in the top 3 BUT this becomes a big game because a win here and U Don’t Know clinches the #1 overall seed and a first round bye. A loss and they have to win next week just to ensure the first round bye (depending on what HHH does this week). There is a lot on the line this week and I think the biggest thing is that first round bye. The # 1 seed is nice and good for bragging rights but the bye is the most important.

Prediction:
Both of these two teams are missing big time weapons. PackMan12 is without Tyreek Hill and U Don’t Know is without Gurley and Robert Woods and not to mention Kerryon Johnson is also now out due to injury. U Don’t Know has figured out ways to win all season so it wouldn’t surprise me at all to see them get this win however I am once again sticking with my initial pick and going with PackMan12 to win and make the last week of the season that much more interesting.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
PackMan12 holds a 5-2 lead in their previous 7 meetings. PackMan12 also holds the ppg edge, 127.45 – 105.10.

Happy Thanksgiving to each of you and I hope that you all have a great day hunting, eating and watching some football with your friends and family!

Enjoy the games everyone!

XV – Week 11 Recap

What a week it was! The playoff race got a little clearer meaning those teams that fell to 4-7 after this week are all but eliminated. However, we still have 5 teams within one game of each other battling for the final two playoff spots!

Pack Attack (99.06) vs teamAlaska (91.32)

Pack Attack (6-5) hasn’t had too many ugly wins this year but this certainly qualifies as a ugly win and one that keeps their season alive for another week. In addition, it seems them get over .500 for the first time all year! With two games left they likely need to win out to get in. teamAlaska falls to 1-10 on the season.

U Don’t Know (130.48) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!!(100.54)

U Don’t Know moves to 10-1 on the season and just continues to do what they have done all year long and that is win! They now have 10 wins on the season and will be looking for a win next week to guarantee themselves a first round bye. 16hrs ahead of you!! (4-7) had a solid start to the season but saw it end as it has for many years… missing the playoffs!

Bossman (112.44) vs Big Papa (108.56)

This one came down to the wire as Kirk Cousins late garbage time scores made it a 4 point game! Big Papa needed a little more from his team this week to keep their playoff hopes alive but they just couldn’t find it! Bossman (6-5) figured out a way to get the win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Bossman now sits in the #7 spot and is going to need to win out and get some help from those teams currently ahead of them. Bossman’s schedule is not going to be easy as they finish against pack slayer and U Don’t Know! Big Papa was battling all year but losing three of their last 4 games is what has pushed them likely out of the playoffs!

Rapids Plungers (173.54) vs BIGBOY! (138.21)

Pretty sure I warned all of you about this a couple of weeks ago… you let a team that has been under performing all year win games they had no business winning and suddenly when the games start to really matter they show up… welcome to the contenders list Rapids Plungers. Rapids Plungers has 7 wins on the season and they have now won 5 straight games and I would also like to point out that they just dominated one of the best teams in the league! This was by far there best game of the season and they are now sitting good to make the playoffs and for one week at least look like a team that is poised to make a playoff run! BIGBOY! (6-5) well… I guess I am a little surprised. This team looked invincible until U Don’t Know figured out a way to beat them last week and then now Rapids Plungers kicks them to the curb as well! Here is the interesting part… this team is now tied with three other teams for the final 2 remaining playoff spots. Suddenly a team that had championship aspirations just two weeks ago now finds themselves fighting for their playoff lives. Last two weeks are going to be fun!

HHH (154.80) vs DaUnderdog (113.06)

This game was actually closer then the score would seem as DaUnderdog was hanging around with their kicker and D player going in last nights game but in the end Goff went off for 44 pts and there was no way DaUnderdog was keeping up. This was a big game for both teams but for different reasons and HHH was the one to be able to figure out a way to get the win. The win moves HHH to 8-3 on the season and keeps their hopes of a potential playoff bye still within reach. DaUnderdog put up a good fight but at 4-7 they are in that not officially eliminated state but 99.9% there.

PackMan12 (179.19) vs pack slayer (156.62)

Game of the week! Yep. There was some good games but this one was easily the most exciting! pack slayer (5-6) had played a really solid week, they got big performances from Mike Evans (29pts), Julio Jones (22pts) and Phillip Lindsay (22pts). They were cruising and after a 16 point effort by Khalil Mack on Sunday night pack slayer seemed to be in the drivers seat. Well they were in the drivers seat as they held a 26 point lead going into last nights game. pack slayer had their newly aquired WR (Josh Reynolds) going for them in last nights epic game and PackMan12 (9-2) had Tyreek Hill and Greg Zuerlein remaining. If you missed last nights game… I am sorry because that was incredible and if you had Tyreek Hill on your fantasy team like PackMan12 did it was even better. Tyreek Hill had over 200 yards receiving and finished with 52pts to lead PackMan12 to the 23 point win. What a crazy game and this was a huge loss for pack slayer as they no longer control their own destiny in the race for the final playoff spots. PackMan12 is looking to hold off HHH for that first round bye! Two more wins and they have it. For pack slayer their luck is going to need to change if they want to make the playoffs this season!

PackerFANatic7 (158.33) vs Sportsfreak (85.39)

This was a must win for PackerFANatic7 and they were able to get it in convincing fashion. Ezekial Elliott (30pts) and DJ Moore (30pts) led the way for them this week and kept their playoff hopes alive. They have a brutal two game stretch as they face Rapids Plungers and BIGBOY! to close out the season. If they figure out a way to win these last two games and somehow get into the playoffs then they certainly will have earned it. Sportsfreak is still fighting but at 2-9 they are bruised pretty good and it doesn’t look likely they will move their way out of that lucky #13 spot in the league. Next year can’t come soon enough for this team.

Have a great week everyone!

XV – Week 11 Preview

My Prediction Record to Date:
29-24

Playoff Scenarios:
U Don’t Know – Clinched Playoff Berth, can click a first round bye with a win and HHH loss.
PackMan12 – Clinches a playoff berth with a win or losses by two of these three teams (pack slayer, Pack Attack, Bossman)
HHH – Clinches playoff berth with a win and losses by two of these three teams (pack slayer, Pack Attack, Bossman)

Eliminated from Playoff Contention:
Sportsfreak
teamAlaska

Pack Attack (5-5) vs teamAlaska (1-9)

This is a must win game for Pack Attack as they try to keep their playoff hopes alive. teamAlaska is looking to play the role of spoiler as well as looking forward to next year!

Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Pack Attack holds a 9-6 lead in their previous 15 meetings. Pack Attack also holds the edge in ppg, 127.63 – 113.77.

U Don’t Know (9-1) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (4-6)

U Don’t Know already knows they are in the playoffs and with a win here and a HHH loss they would also be able to guarantee a first round bye. 16hrs Ahead of you!! is struggling and for them, just like all of the other remaining 4-6 teams. The playoffs start this week as they need to win out to have a shot.

Prediction:
U Don’t Know is just too good right now. I see this one as a blowout. U Don’t gets win #10 on the season!

Historical Look at this Match-Up:
16hrs Ahead of You!! holds a 7-5 lead in their previous 12 meetings. 16hrs also holds the ppg edge, 100.10 to 97.08.

Bossman (5-5) vs Big Papa (4-6)

There is a lot riding on this game for two teams that are still battling for a playoff spot. As I mentioned earlier, if you have 6 losses your playoffs start this week. You can’t afford to lose another game. So Big Papa.. that means that this is a game you have to figure out how to win. Bossman even though they are at only 5 losses, will likely need to win out to make the playoffs. The only two teams I would see them winning a tie breaker against is Sportsfreak and teamAlaska and well those two teams aren’t necessarily in the playoff hunt!

Prediction:
Big Papa is down a couple of guys this week with Kittle and Drake on byes. Michael Thomas as we have seen is someone who can win them games by himself but I don’t see it being enough this week. I think Bossman holds on for the win holding onto their playoff hopes for another week and dashing Big Papa’s.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Bossman holds a 8-4 lead in their previous 12 meetings. Bossman also holds the ppg lead, 115.77 to 107.77.

BIGBOY! (6-4) vs Rapids Plungers (6-4)

Potential playoff match up preview? Maybe. Last week BIGBOY! saw there 5 game winning streak come to an end which meant that Rapids Plungers now has the longest winning streak in the league at 4 games. So over the past 5 weeks these two teams are a combined 8-2. This is all about playoff positioning. Both of these teams are setup nicely to get into the playoffs. 2 wins and they are in but one win might even be enough especially in BIGBOY!’s side of things as they would win most point tie breakers. Rapids Plungers I think needs to win two of his next three games to get in.

Prediction:
Tough week for Rapids Plungers to be shorthanded as they have 5 players on a bye and as of this writing two open starting positions (D & TE). Regardless of who they pick up at those positions I think BIGBOY! comes out on top and moves that much closer to clinching a playoff spot.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
BIGBOY! holds a 5-3 lead in their previous 8 meetings. Surprisingly, Rapids Plungers holds a big lead in ppg, 126.82 – 108.58.

HHH (7-3) vs DaUnderdog (4-6)

The theme of the week! “Big Games”. So far every game this week carries with it significance for at least one of the teams playing. This game is definitely more important for DaUnderdog then it is for HHH. However, HHH is still in the running for that first round bye and that is a huge advantage come playoff time. So yes, this is a big game for both teams.

Prediction:
Yahoo predictions have HHH as having an extremely high projection. I am not sure I see them hitting that this week. I expect them to be right around 120 range and I am going to go with the upset and pick DaUnderdog to have another solid week and get to about 130 which gives them hope with two weeks remaining in the season.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
DaUnderdog holds a 9-6 lead in their previous 15 meetings. DaUnderdog also holds the ppg edge, 108.96 to 102.88.

PackMan12 (8-2) vs pack slayer (5-5)

Big game? Yep. Playoff implications? Yep. Rivalry? Yep. This to me is my pick for game of the week. You could make the case for Rapids Plungers vs BIGBOY! however that lost some of it’s appeal when you look at the bye week players for Rapids. This one however, has PackMan12 battling for that extremely important first round bye and not to mention an outside shot at the overall #1 seed in the playoffs. pack slayer is is doing everything they can to get into the playoffs. If pack slayer can pull off the win here they may be able to run the table. PackMan12 gets to play U Don’t Know next week so a win here and next week and suddenly they would be potentially looking at a tie for 1st place. So who wins?

Prediction:
PackMan12 has a couple of open spots to fill yet so if it hard to say for sure but I am thinking given the stakes that PackMan12 figures out a way to get this win and sets up a potential super bowl preview the following week with U Don’t Know.

Historical Look at this Match-UP
PackMan12 holds a 5-2 advantage in their previous 7 meetings. PackMan12 also holds the ppg edge, 122.20 to 112.83.

PackerFANatic7 (4-6) vs Sportsfreak (2-8)

PackerFANatic7 has really been struggling. After 4 weeks in the season they looked like them might be one of the better teams in the league. Since then they have lost 5 of their last 6 games and in week 9 when they were playing a then winless teamAlaska squad I wrote this in the preview “This is a game that PackerFANatic7 needs to win if they want to get to the playoffs this season.” I think you all know what happened. PackerFANatic7 lost that game and I believe that statement to be true. I don’t see them making the playoffs this season but they have not yet been officially eliminated so from their coaches perspective there is still a chance. Sportsfreak continues to try and play the role of spoiler. They lost a heart breaker last week against Rapids Plungers but they get three more shots to start a winning streak that they could carry over into next season.

Prediction:
As much as I feel like PackerFANatic7 is in a slump, Sportsfreak just continues to find ways to lose. I am going to go with PackerFANatic7 to get the win and keep their hopes alive for one more week.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Sportsfreak was able to come away with the win in their only other meeting. Sportsfreak won by a score of 112.48 to 78.96.

Enjoy the games everyone!

XV – Week 10 Recap

Wow! Trades are rare in this league as you all know and it is hard to come up with a trade that both parties feel good about. So to see what happened in the final couple of days before the trade deadline was really…. well fun to see! In all we saw 13 players change teams in two days (11/9 and 11/10). These are teams that are battling for their playoff lives so it will be interesting to see how they end up. Do they help or hurt? Or maybe they won’t matter at all as all the teams who completed trades were not at that time in the top 6 for a playoff berth. I have an opinion who won and who loss if I were to evaluate them and it just might come out in the recaps.

Pack Attack (128.30) vs Bossman (112.55)

Pack Attack was one of four teams that made trades just before the deadline. The trade didn’t lead them to a victory this week, in fact they actually lost 6 points this week due to the trade but the next three weeks and if guys can stay healthy will be the determining factor on how they fared. Pack Attack (5-5) was able to get back to .500 on the season while Bossman (5-5) falls back to .500 and out of the top 6 spots. Both of these teams are lower in the scoring department so it is likely that they will have to win out to get into the playoffs!

pack slayer (115.53) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (84.36)

This was a huge win for pack slayer as they moved their record to 5-5 and if the playoffs were to start right now they would be in as the #6 seed. That has got to feel good for this team as just two weeks ago they were amidst a 5 game losing streak and now after two straight wins they find themselves in the #6 spot! 16hrs (4-6) suffered another tough loss, there 3rd loss in a row and what started out as such a promising season is now looking more and more like it may end the same way it has for the past 8 seasons… missing the playoffs. There is still hope but it will require winning the final three games and getting some help!

PackMan12 (156.66) vs Big Papa (113.95)

PackMan12 (8-2) continues their impressive season with a convincing win over Big Papa (4-6). Roethlisberger (43pts) and Tyreek Hill (31pts) were the difference makers for PackMan12 in this one. With three games left they still are fighting for that overall #1 spot in the playoffs however probably more important then that is to get the first round bye. Big Papa has no choice now.. they have to win out to have a shot at the playoffs. They have went 2-2 over their last 4 games but that isn’t going to cut it. They will be going up against Bossman in a win or go home scenario.

U Don’t Know (148.58) vs BIGBOY! (144.02)

What a game! U Don’t Know has had some impressive wins this season but this one was the best. Without Adam Thielen in the lineup you right away knocked off 20 points from U Don’t Know’s score but they figured out a way to get the win and move to an impressive 9-1 on the season! In doing so, they were also the first team to officially clinch a playoff spot. If you had any doubts who the best team in the league was before this week… well now you know. BIGBOY! (6-4) on the other hand suffered their first loss since week 4. A win here would have put them in prime position for a chance at a first round bye in the playoffs but that now looks unlikely. I was also impressed with this team again this week. They battled all game and thanks to 19pts from OBJ in Monday nights game they almost pulled off the comeback win. I still think this is one of the best teams in the league and a 4 point loss to the best team in the league is nothing to be too down about.

DaUnderdog (135.60) vs PackerFANatic7 (112.05)

Remember all those trades and that thing I was talking about with winners and losers at the trade deadline. This is where it gets interesting. On the eve of the trade deadline DaUnderdog (4-6) pulled off two big moves. They involved moving some big name players in Davante Adams and Dalvin Cook but in return they gained a lot of depth. PackerFANatic7 (4-6) also traded a big name in Rob Gronkowski. Dalvin Cook for Aaron Jones. I think you could make an argument either way and make a case for on paper who came out ahead in that one. Here though is the part I find interesting. PackerFANatic7 played DaUnderdog this week. DaUnderdog was starting in his flex either Marquise Goodwin, Jamaal Williams or Cordarrelle Patterson. The trade allowed DaUnderdog to insert Aaron Jones into his lineup and PackerFANatic7 couldn’t do the same with Cook because he was on a bye. I think you all know the rest. Aaron Jones puts up 31 points… I guess maybe he was as shocked about the trade as anyone and wanted to show up his former team!? This was a game that both teams couldn’t afford to lose and it seemed like PackerFANatic7 gave this one away by trading for three players that were on their bye week! DaUnderdog on the other hand got 54.62 points from players that weren’t on their roster from a week ago and based on how the traded away players fared that was a net gain of 35.77 points this week. That’s impressive and well done!

HHH (170.96) vs teamAlaska (107.90)

HHH (7-3) struggled last week and it seemed as though they took out all of their frustration on teamAlaska (1-9)! HHH put up 170 points despite getting 0 points from Sammy Watkins and losing -2 points from the Seattle D. We all know that this is a team capable of putting up big #’s week in and week out however it is the consistency that I need to see and that they will need to find if they want to make a deep run in the playoffs. teamAlaska continues to put up a fight but they were no match this week against HHH. Three more games left to try and pull themselves out of the bottom of the standings.

Rapids Plungers (117.07) vs Sportsfreak (112.80)

Wow! In what might be the best comeback of the season Rapids Plungers comes away with yet another improbable win! Going into Monday night’s game Rapids Plungers was losing 112.80 to 88.79. Rapids Plungers had only Matt Breida left to play which meant they had a chance. However, if I were a betting man I certainly would have been putting my money on Sportsfreak. Breida has had only one game this season over 20 points and has been averaging in the 10 point range. Breida however decided this was a good night to have his best game of the season by scoring 2 TD’s and going over 100 yards rushing. Let’s talk about that 100 yards rushing because the exact # was 101 yards rushing. There is this bonus that happens at 100 yards and that bonus is worth 5 points. If Breida rushes for 99 yards instead of 101, Sportsfreak wins 112.80 to 112.07. Ouch… so yes Sportsfreak you lost this game by 2 yards. This pretty much sums up each of these two teams seasons. Sportsfreak continues to find ways to lose while Rapids Plungers continues to find ways to win and guess what? This team is now 6-4, has won 4 games in a row and 5 of their last 6 and controls their own destiny for the playoffs. They have a tough three game stretch ahead but the momentum has been building with this team and they have a coach that just knows how to win! It will be interesting to see how the last three weeks turn out!

Have a great week everyone!

XV- Week 10 Preview

My Prediction Record to Date:
26-21

Bossman (5-4) vs Pack Attack (4-5)

Yahoo tells me it’s Rivalry week! Well for this game I think rivalry is a good word as these two teams have been competing against one another since 2005 in this league! However, these two coaches have been competing against each other for much longer then that! Before there was fantasy football (yes there was a time that fantasy football didn’t exist) and before there was such a thing as a PlayStation or Xbox. There was this gaming system called a Nintendo and there was this certain game called Super Mario Bros. These two coaches would battle through the night to see who could be the first person to beat the game and save the princess. Ever heard of Contra? Yep, they battled in that too… or Excitebike… or maybe Tecmo Bowl….. I know some of you know these games!

In addition, these two teams also have been competing in a fantasy baseball league since 2006 and in that time Pack Attack coach has won three championships and Bossman has won two! That means that five of the 13 championships have been won by one of these coaches. That figures out to be 39% of the time.

In this league, Pack Attack has won 4 championships and Bossman has won two that means that so far 6 of the 14 championships have been won by one of these two teams! That figures out to be 43% of the time.

I am mentioning all of this because not only do they and have they been competing for a very long time but they continually compete at a very high level! So yes, this is a rivalry game and bragging rights are on the table. Now lets get to this season. All that bragging about these two teams and how consistently good they have been brings me to this season where Pack Attack needs a lot of things to go right just to make the playoffs and Bossman despite their record needs to really step up their game these next 4 weeks to not only make the playoffs but also be viewed as a potential championship caliber team. This is a big one for both teams and only adds to the storied rivalry!

Prediction:
Check out the Yahoo predictions for this one.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Pack Attack holds a 9-5 lead in their previous 14 meetings. Pack Attack also holds the edge in ppg, 130.61 – 118.24.

16hrs Ahead of You!! (4-5) vs pack slayer (4-5)

I think the trend we are going to see for all of these games this week is that it is a BIG game for someone. This one is a BIG game for both teams. Falling to 4-6 basically puts you in the position that you would have to win your remaining three games to have a shot at the playoffs. These are two teams that have had their ups and downs all season. pack slayer is coming off the huge win last week against the previously undefeated U Don’t Know team while 16hrs has now lost two straight games and finds themselves in need of a big win this week! The winner of this one certainly sets themselves up better and their odds of making the playoffs go up greatly!

Prediction:
This is one of the hardest one to pick as the main players for 16hrs (Rivers, Hunt & Melvin Gordon) all are playing teams they should blow out. What I am struggling with is how that affects their value. Do they have monster games because of the inferior opponent? Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are on the road which typically changes my expectation on their performances. However, last week they were phenomenal in a road win. I am going to go with 16hrs to get this win. I don’t yet quite trust Ryan and Jones on the road and pack slayer relies heavily on these two players putting up big #’s. 16hrs wins by 5, 138 – 133.

Historical Look at this Match-Up:
pack slayer holds a 5-2 lead in their previous 7 meetings. pack slayer also holds the ppg edge, 111.46 to 97.55.

PackMan12 (7-2) vs Big Papa (4-5)

PackMan12 found a way to win last week and this is a big game for them for different reasons then it will be for Big Papa. PackMan12 with another win here and a loss by U Don’t Know would find themselves in a tie for the #1 spot in the league. Big Papa on the other hand like the other 4-5 teams needs to avoid that 6th loss because like I have stated before. Once you hit loss # 6 you basically have to win out and hope that you win any tiebreakers if you want to make it to the playoffs!

Prediction:
PackMan12 is at full strength this week with Barkley back from the bye. Big Papa is being forced to start Alex Smith at QB and their RB group of Thompson and Drake is extremely inconsistent at this point. I think PackMan12 gets the win here and sends Big Papa into a bit of panic mode!

Historical Look at this Match-Up
PackMan12 holds a 4-3 lead in their previous 7 meetings. PackMan12 also holds the ppg lead, 111.71 to 106.69.

U Don’t Know (8-1) vs BIGBOY! (6-3)

This is the matchup I have had my eyes on for the past couple of weeks and it is finally here! BIGBOY! the hottest team in the league is going up against U Don’t Know, the best team in the league through 9 weeks. The good news for U Don’t Know is that regardless of the outcome of this game they will still be at a minimum tied for 1st place and because of their amount of points scored they would likely hold the tie breaker. However, BIGBOY! with a win will put themselves just a game behind and just last week they became the highest scoring team in the league so they would win that tie breaker as of now. I would say all the momentum is in the favor of BIGBOY! the question is can they keep it going against a quality opponent like U Don’t Know!

Prediction:
I will admit, I was a little disappointed to see that both teams wouldn’t be at full strength for this one. U Don’t Know will be without Adam Thielen who has been the #1 WR in fantasy football so far this year. This is obviously a big loss for U Don’t Know and if they could pull off the win with Thielen on the bench…. well that would be huge for them. BIGBOY! on the other side is at full strength and looks ready to dominate again. I do think they get this win and I think they do it with relative ease. U Don’t Know will have to wait until playoff time to get their revenge!

Historical Look at this Match-Up
These two teams have each won 4 of their first 8 games. BIGBOY! however holds the ppg lead, 123.86 – 117.19.

PackerFANatic7 (4-5) vs DaUnderdog (3-6)

These are two teams that if they weren’t playing each other I would likely pick them to lose no matter who they were playing. PackerFANatic7 is coming off their worst week of the season in losing to the previously winless teamAlaska squad while DaUnderdog just can’t find a way to score points these last 3 weeks. DaUnderdog has lost three straight games while PackerFANatic7 has three of their last four. This is a must win for DaUnderdog if they want to have any chance at the playoffs this season while PackerFANatic7 needs a win to get that last weeks loss out of their mind and can hopefully gain some momentum for the remaining three games.

Prediction:
I do think this is going to be a close game. If Gronk plays this week for PackerFANatic7 that would be a huge boost but also you wonder how effective he will be. Two key pieces for DaUnderdog would be Brees and Adams. They will need monster games out of each of them in order to pull of the win. That is not out of the question but I don’t think they will be able to get quite enough. Look for PackerFANatic7 to had DaUnderdog their 4th loss in a row.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
DaUnderdog was able to pull off the win in their only other meeting, the score of that game was 117.11 to 91.86.

HHH (6-3) vs teamAlaska (1-8)

HHH is coming off the tough 2 point loss to Bossman last week and will be looking to get back on track against a teamAlaska squad that got their first win on the season. Ironically that win was against the son of HHH’s coach. teamAlaska would if nothing else hold some bragging rights if there were able to knock off Father and Son in consecutive weeks! Both of these teams are facing bye weeks for their players so they will need to make some adjustments. This one might come down to how those fill ins play and if they can pick up the slack left behind by the starters.

Prediction:
I do think that teamAlaska has a real shot in this one but I am not entirely sure what they are going to do with some of the bye week players. However, I still think that HHH figures out a way to get the win here. HHH with win #7 to stay near the top of the league standings.

Historical Look at this Match-UP
teamAlaska holds a 10-5 advantage in their previous 15 meetings. teamAlaska also holds the ppg edge, 116.62 to 113.87.

Rapids Plungers (5-4) vs Sportsfreak (2-7)

Rapids Plungers comes into this one having won three straight games. That is second to only BIGBOY! and their 5 straight. Some would argue (I might be one of them) that those three wins maybe should come with an asterisk if that was an option because this team really has not played that well. In those three wins the most points they have scored was 108 so I think my point is easily made. However, getting wins when you maybe shouldn’t or aren’t supposed to has a tendency of setting itself up for a strong finish especially when you are talking about a team with a good head coach. If they can put things together these last few weeks of the season, I think this becomes a dangerous team come playoff time. OR they could continue down this trend and not win a game the rest of the season! Sportsfreak is now in the role of spoiler. Yes, I know they have not been officially eliminated but I don’t recall ever a 6 win team making the playoffs. I could be wrong and unfortunately my statistician doesn’t have time to look it up but if there is a time it is extremely rare!

Prediction:
If Devin Funchess and Luke Kuechly can come close to keeping up with Brown in tonights game then this one is going to be really interesting! This is a game however that Rapids Plungers needs to find a way to win and I expect them to do that yet again and get win #6 on the season.

Historical Look at this Match-Up
Rapids Plungers holds a 7-3 advantage in their previous 10 meetings. Rapids Plungers also holds the ppg edge, 134.34 to 133.66.

Enjoy the games everyone!