2014 Power Rankings-Week 9

Posted 10/29/14 at 11:12am
I can't write the obligatory opening paragraph this week. I'm WAY too excited. This weekend was absolutely CRAZY. Upsets and blowouts and scoring through the roof in every single matchup. For the record, I think this amped up scoring is ruining the NFL. Conversely, this amped up scoring is great for Fantasy Football and thus we had one of the most exciting weekends in the history of this league. Oh man, I guess I just inadvertently wrote an obligatory opening paragraph. Let's jump in to this!!!! 
MAGIC NUMBERS 
With dominant wins this week, ma ma momma said and Flags on the Play are awarded first mentions in the "magic numbers" segment of our rankings. With 7 wins, their magic number is 2. TWO! For those who may not know what that means, these teams either need to win 2 more games or have The Show Offs lose 2 more games the rest of the season and they will clinch a playoff berth. With a 2 game lead for the Bye spots, it won't be long before we're talking about a magic number for that too. Looks like we have 1/3rd of our playoff teams locked in. 
HOLY UPSET BATMAN 
Raise your hands if you saw this one coming: Papa's Posse comes in to "Money Manziel's" home and puts his feet up on the furniture. Not only that, but Papa's Posse won even after Floyd put up a goose egg and Matt Ryan choked the Falcon's season away. 
FUN FACTS 
Fact: Winter Soldier's is undefeated when starting Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. 
Fact: Flags on the Play put up the 3rd highest score in the history of the league this week and the highest ever for a regular season matchup. This marks the 10th time a team has gone over 300 points in a matchup (See below for the 300 point club) 
Fact: Since acquiring Brady, Tommy Football has put up FP totals of 33.71, 41.94, and 62.66..on The Show Off's bench. 
Fact: Since losing 10 out of their first 13 games in 2011, ma ma momma said has only lost 9 games out of their last 37 (28-9 record since the start of 2012). 
Fact: PeytoninthePlayoffs all time record in odd numbered years is 21-7. Their record in even numbered years is 5-16. Watch out for Nate in 2015 and then again in 2017! 
Fact: Becky the Icebox is now the only team that has yet to score over 200 points in 2014. 200 is a key watermark. When scoring over 200 points, teams this season are 22-8. 
Fact: This is the first time since winning the Super Bowl in 2011 that Papa's Posse has beaten a team with a winning record. 
Fact: IAMGROOT's kryptonite: This is the second time they have faced FlagsonThePlay (once in 2013). Both times they scored over 205 points and lost. 
Fact: Talk about a victim of their schedule: The Shotti Bunch has scored over 200 points in 6 of their 8 matchups and lost half of those games. 
Fact: Money Manziel is 5-3 despite never having beaten a team with a winning record. The good news for them? The combined record of their remaining schedule is 21-19 but take away the matchup with ma ma momma said and the combined record of the other four teams is 14-18. 
THE 300 POINT CLUB 
This is an exclusive club, the fanciest of fantasy football clubs. Entry in to the club guarantees a win for your team and a spot in the history books. All 3 League champions had at least one 300 point victory in the post-season of their championship year. Only 1 team on the list has not been in the Championship Game in their franchise history. Below is a list of our VIPs w/ most recent team name and with the number of times they've attended the club in parentheses. 
-ma ma momma said (3) 
-Flags on the Play (2) 
-The Shotti Bunch (2) 
-Money Manziel (1) 
-Papa's Posse (1) 
-PeytoninthePlayoffs (1) 
367.53 - ma ma momma said 
355.42 - The Shotti Bunch 
338.18 - Flags on the Play 
323.04 - The Shotti Bunch 
318.93 - Orange Julians 
310.31 - Cooper Clux Clan 
309.37 - ma ma momma said 
302.53 - NK Anacondas 
302.00 - ma ma momma said 
300.55 - Bust a Cap 
THE RANKINGS 
1(0). Flags on the Play: No question that despite being outscored on the season by ma ma momma said (the perennials) this team is the hottest in the league after tearing off another huge win. The most epic matchup arguably in the history of the league is this week and they enter with their full arsenal (no one on the bye). 
2(0). ma ma momma said: There are only two players in the NFL who have recorded 100+ yards from scrimmage in every game this season. Both of those guys play for MMMS. The Bell/Murray duo is the most potent combination of RBs ever assembled. Having Peyton Manning has helped too. 
3(+2). The Shotti Bunch: I hesitate to say Shotti got lucky this week, but they were definitely at the winning end of some season-ending bad decisions by The Show-Offs. For the second week in a row I find myself saying "a win is a win and a loss is a loss." Favorable matchup this week has me ranking this team maybe a little higher than they deserve but 5-4 might be good for 3rd place by the end of next week. 
4(0). IAMGROOT: IAG climbs this week but might be on the decline as they hit the most awful week of their season. Five of their starters on the bye and with two of those being their only TE and only Kicker, IAG has some tough roster choices to make in the next few days. Who can they afford to drop when most of their bench guys have to start this week? 
5(-2). Money Manziel: The biggest concern for MM isn't their record but their inability to beat playoff teams. They are an 80/20 underdog this week against Winter Soldiers in a must win game if they want to keep pace with the top teams and secure a good seed in the playoffs. 
6(0). Papa's Posse: Rounding out the Top-6 is our surprise team of the year, PP. Great production from the veteran tight-end tandem negated a goose egg from Floyd and propelled PP past the 3 seed. I really don't have the time to check this but I am pretty sure this is the first time a team has had 0 points on the bench in a matchup. I guess sometimes bye's can be a good thing as this was the exact roster they needed to pull off the win. 
7(0). The Show Offs: Someone should have probably told TSO to start Tom Brady, whose career numbers against the Bears are 4-0, 70% completion percentage, 11 TDs, 3 INTs, 1318 yards and a QB rating of 109.4, tied for his 3rd highest QB rating out of all games played against all 32 teams. Oh wait, someone did tell him to start Brady. Me. And he didn't listen. So I show no sympathy. 
8(+2). Winter Soldiers: That's right. You can suck on it, everyone. Yeah, this team may be 1-7, but just as promised they brought the hammer down on Sunday. Not only did they win for the first time this year, but they won with 138.29 points ON THE BENCH. He takes his big dick and his one game win streak (tied for second longest win streak in the league, I'll have you know) to a MM team spiraling out of control. I don't want to say this team is a sleeper, but I'm going to say it anyway: this team is a sleeper. 
9(-1). PeytoninthePlayoffs: But Commish, how can you rank two teams below Winter Soldiers who both have a better record? Because this isn't the standings. These are the Power Rankings. And there is no way that this team has any Power left in them. While Winter Soldiers 7 game losing streak was 2nd worst all time behind Warwick Kswiss Tubes 9-game 2011 losing streak, PeytoninthePlayoffs has the potential to top that this year. This team is like the Jets. Even when they are playing the Broncos you want them to lose, despite the fact that the Broncos pose a way bigger threat to the Patriots. Now it's late in the season and teams have to start rooting for PITP to play spoiler. 
10(-1). Becky the Icebox: If you can't beat the worst, you might be the worst. They are now last in scoring and on pace to finish the season with the lowest point total ever. Of course we have changed the scoring around so teams on average are scoring less this year, but this still isn't a good look. Romo really let them down, but this entire season has been a letdown for a team projected to finish with one loss. 
MATCHUP OF THE WEEK: 
When you play the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die. This week, two Kings battle it out for the crown. Flags on the Play vs. ma ma momma said is the Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao fight everyone wanted to see five years ago. Sole possession of first overall seed in the playoffs is on the line. This could very well be a Super Bowl preview. Flags on the Play should be worried about the Defensive matchup that pits MMMS's Kansas City (vs. NYJ) vs. FOTP's Denver (vs. NE). ma ma momma said should be worried about his trio of Big Bads going up against tough defense. Murray goes up against the 3rd ranked run defense, Bell goes up against the 7th ranked run defense, and Manning goes up against the 2nd ranked pass defense. My prediction? I'll let you know this time next week.