Well, we have 10 weeks in the books and the playoff picture is starting to clear up a little bit. Here’s a quick rundown of the standings and what each team needs. Currently there is a game and a half between 5th-6th and 7th-8th place, but that does not mean anything as these teams play each other frequently.
I also just wanted to remind you all of a few rules regarding rosters: The trade deadline is next Wednesday, November 24th at 12 PM. ESPN for whatever reason lets you only pick Wednesdays at 12 PM. I am not extending it this year to add and drop players manually. It’s a hassle that’s unnecessary. If you want to make a trade, they must be accepted by that time next week. NO EXCEPTIONS.
Also, regarding adding/dropping players: No player added after week 12 can be kept. We will have our standard rule where you can add players up until 1 PM Sunday even with the Thanksgiving games. All teams may make drop/add moves up until the end of the regular season. After the start of games in Week 13, teams not in the playoffs cannot make any more moves. Once each team is eliminated from the playoffs they also can make no further moves. This will not put any eliminated team at a disadvantage because these players cannot be kept regardless.
1. Maybe This Time (7-3): By virtue of win over Pylons, currently sit as the #1 seed. 1 win or losses by TPG and TITTY get Sam into the playoffs. Win this week will almost certainly lock up a bye with tiebreaker over Pylons. Looking very good.
2. The King’s Crusaders (6-4): Leading the Odds division has the King in the #2 spot. Two Woodys at the top is just gross. Win AND TPG/TITTY loss locks up a spot for the King. Has some pretty big games down the stretch so this week is an almost must win.
3. Dueling Pylons (7-3): 4 wins in a row and 9 weeks in a row with 100+ points. Likewise has same requirements as Sam and a win this week will put the Pylons in a strong position for a bye with a widening point margin.
4. Animals With Eyepatches (6-4): Looking pretty solid for the playoffs, but will probably be pretty tough to get the bye with MTT and the Pylons squaring off this week and no games remaining against either team. Snapped a 3 game losing streak and looks to be back on track.
5. Stanky Monkeys (5-4-1): Lou currently has the tiebreaker over Nick due to head to head matchups. This team’s last 3 games… 165, 135, 67. Who knows what the future holds but will have to play their way in with all 3 games at the end against surrounding teams.
6. Johnson’s Farm (5-4-1): Pylons-Farm Week 14? Sign me up. The Farm has routinely been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league yet still is a threat for the playoffs. Huge games down the stretch will either make or break the season.
7. Tequila Party Gnomes (4-6): Picked up a huge win behind an entire team explosion. Like the Stanky Monkeys, last 3 games are 176, 100, 74. Totally all over the map. Final 3 games are all against teams that aren’t really on the playoff bubble. Will need help to get in.
8. Tweeting in the Trenches (4-6): Poor guy has had 140+ dropped on him 6 times already including 176 this week and 164 two weeks ago. Sucks. There is good news however. Remaining games are all against current playoff teams and can really play their way in. It may take winning all 3 but at this point I like their chances better than TPG. Winning the next 2 makes this a total crapshoot.
9. The Stone Masons (3-7): Got the win in the toilet bowl to stave off elimination Must win and get help to stay alive. A loss will eliminate the Masons.
X – 10. Coach Janky Spanky (2-8): EEB has officially been eliminated from playoff contention. The team has started to score a little more but with 100 points or less in 6 of the first 8 games, you dug yourself too deep a hole to climb out of. Had a leg up on everybody by getting a top 3 projected pick in the 2nd round and still couldn’t get the job done. Disappointing season.
**** Week 10 Recap ****
Animals With Eyepatches 154 – Johnson’s Farm 105:
As has become standard, the Farm put up another mediocre week. In 10 weeks, this team has scored more than 110 a total of 3 times. This is tied for lowest in the league. Of all teams, the Farm also has the lowest high score, maxing out only at 140. Jimish meanwhile is all over the map. In the last 9 weeks, 5 games of 142+ and 4 games of 105 or less. When this team clicks, it explodes. All the makings of a playoff team, but could be tough to sustain week in and week out. I’m a fan. Somehow this Farm team has won 5 games this season, but the last 3 games will be no easy feat. Things could turn around quickly.
Tequila Party Gnomes 176 – Tweeting in the Trenches 104:
Same old, same old for Fusco. Opposing team absolutely explodes and has no shot at all. 22 times this season a team has broken 140. 6 of these have been against Fusco. It takes the fun out of fantasy football and I am sorry for your misfortune. To be the 3rd highest scoring team and be 4-6 is frustrating. All is not lost, however. Important games remain and this team can still play their way into the playoffs. 7-6 should be enough to get in. TPG… damn son. A complete offensive bomb across the board. I don’t know if it can get much better than this, and I hope you haven’t peaked too early. Got the must win and can move forward trying to sneak in the back door… something that UJ is known for.
Dueling Pylons 111 – The King’s Crusaders 95:
A pretty uneventful game in which neither team performed up to expectations. I’m pretty sure that both teams are better than this, but the Pylons pulled out a win and took advantage of a poor week from the King. The Pylons midweek trade for Larry Fitzgerald gained him all of 2 points, so really not much to be said there. I fully expect both of these teams to be around come playoff time and they very well could meet again. Interestingly, in 6 EFFL seasons this was only the 9th ever meeting between the two. The Pylons now boast the longest winning streak in the EFFL at 4 games and have scored 100+ in 9 straight games, also a current high in the league. Look for big things going forward.
Stanky Monkeys 165 – Maybe This Time 63:
The Michael Vick experience was on full display Monday night as the Monkeys just kept scoring over and over. If your QB and Defense combine for 7 scores, there’s no possible way you’re losing. At the same time, if you only put up 63 points, you have no shot at all of winning. All I know is that after being very consistent all season, with this stinker of a game, I’m sure to feel the wrath next week. Having Rivers and Colston on a bye didn’t help but it wouldn’t have mattered. 52 POINTS FROM A QB. Totally unreal. Lou has now won 6 of the last 7 against Sam. My favorite part of this rivalry is after each time they play the mandatory Facebook post from Sam to Lou groveling and declaring his greatness. Gets me every time.
The Stone Masons 135 – Coach Janky Spanky 126:
You wouldn’t know these were the bottom two teams by this score. In what was a true elimination game, this one went back and forth until Monday night when the Masons proved to be too much. EEB is now officially out of the playoffs, and I must say it is a damn good feeling. Between last year and this year there have been 26 weeks of fantasy football. This was the first time in those 26 weeks (and obviously the first time ever) that either of these two teams beat the other. Great info. The Masons are now in do or die mode until the end of the season. 6-7 may not be enough to get the Masons into the playoffs, but any loss eliminates them. This team’s resiliency is unmatched. The Masons have not been to the EFFL playoffs since 2007 so rest assured I am pulling for this team.
**** Week 11 Preview ****
The King’s Crusaders (6-4) v. Coach Janky Spanky (2-8):
Although this is the most inconsequential of games on the Week 11 slate, this is a Woody-EEB matchup that I am sure both are desperate to win. These two are the kings of looking ahead, but this game could matter more now than ever. If the King does fall in this one, the bye and a potential playoff spot could be in jeopardy. How competitive will Janky Spanky be with his makeshift roster? Meanwhile Chris is dealing and making moves like a madman. This is his traditional late season panic, but I think it is a little too soon to be overlooking a game like this. I like what EEB is brewing this week, and I think I smell an upset in the making. Look for Janky Spanky to take this one and make the playoff race that much tighter.
Dueling Pylons (7-3) v. Maybe This Time (7-3):
While this is the marquee matchup of the week, it is not the game of the week as it is not nearly as important as some other games. The Pylons have made it through the bye weeks and injuries with 4 straight wins, and this team will be at full strength for the first time in over a month. Sam is coming off by far her worst performance of the season, and it seems extremely unlikely that there will be a repeat this week. I’m fully expecting a complete turnaround. The winner of this game will be highly likely to get the Evens division bye so this will go a long way to winning a championship. I think this is going to be a very high scoring game that could come down to Rivers against Gates Monday night. ESPN currently projects a 162-162 tie. While I don’t usually like picking myself, I just think this team is too strong. Go Pylons.
Stanky Monkeys (5-4-1) v. Animals With Eyepatches (6-4):
The winner of this game is going to be looking very strong for a playoff position. The loser will have to do some more work to get in. When these two teams meet it is usually a good battle. The past two games were both won by the Monkeys: 137-135 and 153-139. Both were heartbreaking losses for Jimish. The Eyepatches looked very strong out of the gates starting 5-1, but things have not been easy lately. A big win last week snapped a 3 game losing streak. Vick can only carry a team so far, and I think this week the Eyepatches are just too much for the Monkeys to handle. If Lou loses this game, he could be facing a must win game in week 12 to stay alive.
Tequila Party Gnomes (4-6) v. The Stone Masons (3-7):
As noted above, the Masons must win to stay alive in the playoff hunt. If that happens, both of these teams will be in serious danger of missing the playoffs but will still technically be alive. It’ll be interesting to see how much you hear Matt yelling “He wears 81 in blue! Bottom of your screen! Single Coverage!” Having to face Tron in the biggest game of the season can’t be what TPG was looking for here. Also you can’t be looking to face the BG Broncos on Monday night. Every pass could be a dangerous one. As noted in their first matchup, these teams always play each other close and I expect nothing different here. In 8 career meetings, the margins of victory are: 6, 25, 4, 3, 6, 11, 4, 7. Can’t get much closer than that. If the Masons can get good production from some lesser players I can see an upset, but I’m just too encouraged by TPG’s effort last week. I think they get the win and knock out the Masons.
**** Game of the Week ****
Johnson’s Farm (5-4-1) v. Tweeting in the Trenches (4-6):
This is hands down the game of the week. When these teams met back in Week 5, the Farm pulled out one of the luckiest victories I personally have ever seen. With a minute left in the Vikings-Jets game and the game totally out of reach for the Vikings, Nick needed a miracle pick 6 from the Jets. Thankfully when Brett Favre is on the field anything is possible. After the interception if the Jets player had fallen down the game would have been over and TITTY would have been victorious. But he did not. I remember vividly Nick’s excitement when he texted me that this greediness to score was for no other reason than “bein a nig”. The anti Brian Westbrook. It’s interesting to think about now what the standings would look like had the result of that game been different. Despite his misfortune this season, Fusco has a huge opportunity to play his way into the playoffs. It starts right here. If Nick wins this game, we pretty much have our 6 playoff teams locked up. If not, things are guaranteed to come down to the last week. Nick’s roster is just so, so bad but Fusco is breaking rule #1 of fantasy football this week and is currently starting 3, yes 3, past or present Bills. I simply will pick Johnson’s Farm based on that, but of course this is subject to change. It obviously would make my life easier to have the Farm in the playoffs, but I’m pulling for Fusco here. Poor guy deserves a win.
Good luck to everyone this critical week 11. If you’ve made it this far, go back to the top and read the rules about trading and add/drops so there is no confusion. Looking forward to this week. Also the EFFL history link is updated through all games.
No comments:
Post a Comment