2019 Power Rankings-Week 12

## Series Recaps

* Pain Train smashes Duck Punchers for the second time this season. Pain Train has won three straight against Duck to tie the series (6-6).  **Next Matchup:** N/A
* GBM breaks out as Paddock 9 flounders. GBM commands the series (11-6).  **Next Matchup:** N/A
* Papa snaps his losing streak as RIPDab suffers a heartbreaking, soul-crushing defeat. RIPDab still leads the series (8-7). **Next Matchup:** N/A
* Shotti is back to his winning ways in a take down of Bell of Da Ball (4-1). **Next Matchup:** N/A
* Sweet Dee didn't make it look pretty but gets another win against ma ma momma said.  Momma still leads the series (8-4). **Next Matchup:** N/A

## Magic Number

A Winning Magic Number is the number of consecutive upcoming games a team must **win** to guarantee winning a given playoff spot. For now, these don't really take into account the points tie-breaker.

^ - Means Team will Finish This Playoff Spot or Better Than this Playoff Spot

X - Means Team Cannot Win This Playoff Spot

Number - Indicates the total number of upcoming games the team must win in order to guarentee this spot.

DNCD - Means team Does Not Control Its Destiny, and thus even after winning all remaining games they need help from other teams, be it with scoring or victories.

* - Indicates First Round Bye

## Elimination Number

An Elimination Number is the number of consecutive upcoming games a team must **lose** to guarantee losing a given playoff spot.

^ - Means Team will Finish Better Than this Playoff Spot

X - Means Team Cannot Win This Playoff Spot

Number - Indicates the total number of upcoming games the team must lose in order to guarentee losing this spot.

MW - Means team Might Win this spot even if they lose the rest of their games.

* - Indicates first round bye

## Week Twelve Scenarios

* **The Shotti Bunch** wins the Commissioner's Cup with:
	+ Win *and*Loss by Duck Punchers
* **The Shotti Bunch** clinches a first round bye with:
	+ Win *or*
	+ Loss by Pain Train
* **Duck Punchers** clinches a first round bye with:
	+ Win *and* Loss by Pain Train
* **Garoppoblow Me** clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ Win
* **ma ma momma said** is eliminated with:
	+ Loss

## Stat Chat

This weeks chart shows the amount of games every team has scored over 200. I chose this chart because RIPDab just became the third team to score over 200 in eighty combined games.

Here is the full list, sorted by Combined Games over 200 Points Scored.

Updated 11/23

Other stats of note:

* Shotti Bunch becomes the first team to reach 80 wins in the League of Champions. He did so in an unbeatable 119 games.
* Garoppoblow Me becomes the 5th team to reach 60 regular season wins. Momma will likely become the 6th team in 2020, and it will not be until 2021 that Papa and Paddock have a chance to reach that milestone.
* Bell suffers back-to-back losses for the first time this season. That snaps the longest streak without back-to-back losses in franchise history (10 games). That's 9th on the all-time list. So in the span of the same season, Bell has broken its own record for most games without back-to-back wins and most games without back-to-back losses. What an enigma.
* Papa ties momma for the most weeks ever spent in last place (17).

## He's Back...

Yup, another year of Shotti dominance is upon us. Perhaps it is time to start talking about Odd Years as Shotti years instead of RIPDab years. He finished 1st in the regular season, with Glory Bowl victories, in both 2015 and 2017. Now he is poised for another deep playoff run in 2019, with the Commish Cup well in hand.

## Bust Watch

Bust Watch: Total Points for First Round Picks
 D.Cook (7)
 E.Elliot (3)
 J.Jones (10)
 D.Hopkins (6)
 L.Bell (5)
 S.Barkley (2)
 J.Mixon (9)
 O.Beckham Jr. (8)
 D.Johnson (5)

David Johnson clocks in at exactly 50th on the list of owned WR/RB players. Beckham, Mixon, and Barkley are not much higher on that list. Factoring in the rest of the positions is even uglier. 84th. Drafted 5th.

## Power Rankings

* X - Secured a Playoff Spot
* Y - Secured a Bye
* E - Eliminated
* APT - Against Playoff Teams

### 1(2). The Duck Punchers (8-3) (X)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Duck Punchers wins out/Shotti loses out. Duck would win the Commissioners Cup.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Pain Train wins out/Duck Punchers loses out. Duck would fall to either the 3rd or 4th seed.
* **APT:** 4-3

Duck has now failed to beat Pain Train in over two years and posted two sub-160 point performances against them in 2019. Those were the only two games below 195 all season for Duck. With a large score advantage, their bye is not totally in jeopardy unless they somehow lose this week to Sweet Dee (you'd just hate to see that happen).

### 2(2). Paddock 9 (5-6)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win this week/Loss from The Stupid Idiots. Then, they only need one of either RIPDab (against Duck) or Stupid Idiots (against Papa) to lose in week 13 to secure a playoff spot.

* **Worst Case Scenario:**Lose this week/Win from The Stupid Idiots. Then it's the opposite scenario. They need to win in week 13 to even have a shot and they'll have to hope for losses and low scoring affairs from the other two teams.
* **APT:** 1-4

The rematch of the 2018 Salty Dolphin Bowl did not go as planned for Paddock 9, who faced a 250+ point performance for the third time in four weeks (all losses). To make matters worse, that trade with Freeman and JuJu was just terrible. Yes, the one that I said was great. Both players are out this week and Paddock has his two best weapons - Cook and Mahomes - out on their late bye as well. That's their top WR, top RB, and top QB all out. I still think this team is great at full strength.

### 3(5). Pain Train (7-4) (X)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win out/Duck loses out. They would clinch a bye for the second year in a row.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose this week/Duck wins. They would be eliminated from bye contention.
* **APT:** 4-1

This is fucking unbelievable. This team is hotter than hell right now. They just blew the doors off of the third team in a row and have won a month straight. How are they doing it? Well Lamar Jackson is a cheat code. He basically operates as a QB1 and an RB1 rolled into one. He is Mahomes of 2018 but on hyperdrive. Vick who, amiright?

### 4(3). The Shotti Bunch (9-2) (X)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win this week/Duck Punchers loss. They would be able to take week thirteen off with the number one seed secured.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose out/One win from Duck/week 13 win from Pain Train. They could fall all the way to the third seed and have to play week 14.
* **APT:** 6-1

Poised to be the first three-time winner of the Commissioner's Cup, Shotti has a chance at tying the best regular season record ever in the LOC (11 wins) while also finishing with the lowest point total of any team in history that earned a bye (previous record 2653.36 set by RIPDab). This week they face the hottest team in sports so let's see what they're made of. I feel like I've said that every week and they keep sneaking out wins.

### 5(7). Garoppoblow Me (6-5)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win this week. They aren't getting a bye even if they get to eight wins, so at this point it's all about getting that crucial 7th win and being able to coast in the rivalry game next week against momma.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose out. That would virtually guarantee elimination, with all three 5-6 teams outscoring them on the season.
* **APT:** 2-4

How the fuck has this team won four of their last five games? Because I gotta tell ya, I am managing this team and it sure doesn't feel like I'm tied for the best record over the last five weeks. Big name players have come up short and it has been a patchwork offense, similar to the Patriots, who have found a way to get it done and do just enough to win the matchup for that given week. They've won games scoring 168.91 and 268.07 in that stretch.

### 6(4). Bell of Da Ball (5-6)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win this week/Loss from Paddock 9. They would be in a three-way tie for fourth against two teams who have scored several hundred fewer points. It would all but lock up a spot, requiring just one of P9/RIP/GBM to lose in week 13.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose this week/Win from Paddock 9. It would eliminate them from any of the top-four spots, leaving just two open spots for four teams.
* **APT:** 1-5

When it rains it pours and it is a monsoon for The Stupid Idiots. They are without Connor and Cooper yet again (should have traded for Beckham). Barkley doesn't seem himself. The QB carousel has not yielded great results. Hunter Henry and Keenan Allen are both on bye. But still, despite all that, they are projected to win this week against the Commish and face the other DiGennaro Boi in week 13, the last place one. Winning out to notch their first winning season wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

### 7(5). RIPDab (5-6)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win this week/Loss by The Stupid Idiots. They would be in 5th place, with just a loss from either P9 or Stupid needed to secure their spot, regardless of their own week 13 outcome.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose this week and a win from Stupid Idiots would put them squarely in 7th with no points tie breakers over the 4th and 5th seeds. They would need to win in week 13 and then hope for a loss from GBM.
* **APT:** 2-5

RIP got double-D'ed as they drop back-to-back against the DiGennaro Boys. After a 4-1 start they have come back to Earth, dropping five of their last six games. Already in a slugfest this week with P9 (52-48 TNF results), they control their own destiny despite all the early ups and late downs of this season. This one could come down to whether their TE position finally shows up. Last week their TE scored 0 points, though Papa's also scored 0 in the lamest showdown at the position in LOC history. I guess he's going to give OJ Howard (0 points in 3 of his last 4) another shot? Okay man.

###

### 8(9). Papa's Posse (2-8) (E)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Win out to play spoiler like they did last week against RIPDab. A win this week could eliminate momma, while a week 13 win against Bell of Da Ball will determine the entire 2019 playoff picture.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Lose out and finish last for the first time in LOC history.
* **APT:** 2-5

Papa had an all-time fantasy win this week against RIPDab. Trailing 210.28-204.70 with triple zeroes on the clock, San Francisco D forced a fumble and returned it for a touchdown. It was the last play of the matchup for both teams and it swung the score by an incredible 9 points, giving them the 213.70-210.28 victory and knocking RIPDab out of a playoff position for the first time this season. Papa has managed with a lot of heart and played with a lot of pride this season and this was a well-earned spoiler victory.

### 9(8). Sweet Dee (3-8)

* **Best Case Scenario:** Find a time machine that can teleport them back to when keepers were due and keep Tyler Lockett (9th round) instead of Juju (5th). Then forget about Damien Williams altogether and just roll with one keeper. Or just keep Justin Tucker in the 14th for the hell of it. Dude has scored 115 points this season. That's only 5 less than Juju and 0.88 less than Damien Williams. Let that shit sink in.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Time travel isn't real.
* **APT:** 1-7

Four more games left for Sweet Dee in her title defense year and so far the only bright spot is that they are undefeated running the Gauntlet of the Gods-that end of year challenge when the defending champ must face all the former champions in order to earn the respect of the Gods and be readmitted into the Festival of Champions. They still have a chance to follow up their Glory Bowl season with a Heart and Soul Bowl championship though...

### 10(10). ma ma momma said (4-7)

* **Best Case Scenario:** This is a complicated one. They need to win this week and hope for losses by Stupid and RIP. But losses by those two means wins for two other teams in contention for the final spots (P9 and GBM). This creates a 5-7 log jam of Idiots, RIP, and momma, with GBM no longer a factor with 4th locked in. HOWEVAH, they would then need to beat GBM in week 13 while hoping both P9 and Stupid Idiots losses, OR get a loss from one of those two and RIPDab while also outscoring them on the season. Alternatively, if Stupid idiots wins this week they would be 6-6 along with two other teams and then momma could just defeat 6-6 GBM to pass them and hope that RIPDab loses. Yeah, a lot needs to happen.

* **Worst Case Scenario:** Loss.
* **APT:** 3-5

Secures his 4th consecutive losing season. Dating back to November of 2016, momma is averaging 166.33 points against Sweet Dee. Take away one outlier in which they scored 226.10 and that average drops to 154.38. After a short spurt of competence it's been three straight losses, two of which were against non-playoff teams.

## Matchup of the Week - Rematch of the Season, for the season.

Earlier this year, RIPDab and Paddock 9 faced off in an epic battle that was decided on Sunday Night Football when RIPDab staged a massive comeback. Leading 224.52-198.76, undefeated P9 had been graced with a 51.69 day from Mahomes and a 36.45 day from Cook. Together, they accounted for 39.2% of the total score on the team. But now their day was done and they needed only to survive Brandin Cooks on SNF. Cooks finished with 8 rec for 112 yards and undefeated RIPDab came away with the 226.71-224.52 victory.

This time the story will be different. There is no Cook. There is no Cooks. There is no Mahomes. RIPDab is also without Murray, who accounted for 15.2% of their total week three score. Paddock 9 is also without Marlon Mack, who accounted for 10.8% of their total score. These teams could not be more different than they were in week three. And yet, the goal is the same.

They are both coming off losses and are tied at 5-6. The winner gets to .500 and will be in a playoff position by the end of week 12. The loser will sit at 5-7 needing a week 13 win and some major help to get a spot.

To add to the drama, these teams are 6-6 all-time against each other and **four of their last five matchups have been decided by five points or less.**

This bubble matchup is just one in possibly the best ever week 12 slate. We also have 1st vs. 3rd and 4th vs. 5th.

GOOD LUCK!