2016 Power Rankings-Playoffs 2

<---Playoffs 1

## Introduction

Deez Sons of Bitchez put up one of the worst scores of all time. It didn’t count.

Garoppoblow Me had their best game of the season. It didn’t count.

The Shotti Bunch had their fourteenth straight game over 200. It didn’t count.

So what counted?

Well, if you were counting, you didn’t have to go that high to reach MVP’s score. He put up his worst score of the year when it mattered most. In fact, all four teams failed to break 200 in the most underwhelming opening round we have ever seen.

 2014
 2011
 2012
 2015
 2016

But don’t get it twisted. Just because all four teams collectively decided not to show up does not mean there was no drama in week 14.

## Quarterfinals Rewind

### JarJar Stinks! vs. HELLEVATOR MVP

* **First Impressions are Everything** -MVP needed to start strong, but coming out of Thursday night it already looked like a championship run wasn’t in the cards. They had three guys, projected for a combined 57.20, come away from KC vs. OAK with a disappointing 21.60. But they didn’t start Carr, who finished with 9.76 and would have put the nail in the proverbial coffin before JarJar’s guys even woke up on Sunday morning. So there was still hope. And rebellions are built on hope. Except someone must have built a flaw in JarJar's plans, because Big Ben was dismantled like the Death Star in mustering just 1.04 points more than Carr, making it nearly impossible for MVP to have an MVP-caliber game. The guys who came through all season like Johnson and Cooper and even Moncrief in the last month all failed them.
* **Do Your Job** -For JarJar, the road was easy. Basically they just needed to escape with an average day and no injuries. With MVP performing as a consolation team might, JarJar just barely managed an average day. Bryant finished with zero, the third time this season that he has finished under 4 points in a game in which he played. Travis Benjamin made a good case for the empty roster spot option by posting -0.20 points. He now has just six targets in two weeks. Without ODB’s monster touchdown in the second half of the Giants game we might actually be talking about MVP in the semifinals despite throwing out an absolute disaster of a lineup.

#### Implications

* JarJar is undefeated in the postseason, having gone 2-0 in the consolation bracket last season. In the main Champions Bracket (playoff games excluding the 5th and 3rd place games), JJ has already moved into 7th all-time out of 13 teams on the win/loss list. One more win in the semi’s and they hop into 5th.
* MVP, meanwhile, was 3-3 in the main bracket and falls below .500 for the first time since 2013, the last time they lost in the quarterfinals. Their score was the fifth lowest post-season score of all time.
* JarJar’s win against MVP, the first in franchise history, could not have come at a better time. Is this team bulletproof? They seem to be unstoppable right now, even when they are having their worst game of the season. What does a top four finish say about the merits of autodrafting? What does it say about the league?
* MVP, meanwhile, never quite had it this year. While they came within a kneeldown or two from being full “back,” they couldn’t get that final win to solidify their legitimacy in the league. Their biggest win streak of the year was built around the two wins against JarJar Stinks and they peaked in week 8 with a convincing victory against 10-3 GBM. That was the last playoff team they beat and they saw their production significantly decline in the final four weeks of the regular season. Is this reason for this simply that the team wasn’t good enough? Or could it possibly be that MVP trolled the commish all season with their team photo and name and the Fantasy Gods decided to punish him? I’ll let you decide.

### RIPDab vs. Paddock 9

Let's go to the matchup highlights for Paddock 9:

* **Decisions, Decisions** -P9 has made a lot of questionable decisions this season. In the quarterfinals he had to face the result of those decisions. The first was the decision not to trade Beasley and James White for LaTavius Murray and Kansas City Defense. KC put up 30 points, ten more than his team defense. Murray had another big day, finishing with 29.38 fantasy points. Beasley was disappointing yet again, finishing with 9.80. Then you had the trade of Cincy defense for Denver defense. Cincinatti was picked up and played by RIPDab and outscored Denver by 4 points. You had Dion Lewis, the surprise draft pick by Paddock 9 to begin the season. Lewis spent the majority of the season on IR but was activated by P9 in November and replaced James White in the starting lineup. White finished with 19.78 points vs. 3.70 for Lewis. Paddock 9 also had to decide whether to start Lewis or Mitchell in the flex spot when Julio Jones was deactivated with turf toe. Mitchell scored 15.50. Finally, this exchange before the game:

Flash forward to after the game:

* For RIPDab, some poor decisions all around. RIP was so used to streaming positions he decided to simply bench players based on matchups regardless of how good they have been all season. This overanalysis is nothing new. This worked to his advantage in the case of Delanie Walker, who scored under 7, but backfired with Coleman, who finished with 21.80. Having settled on Dak Prescott as his QB, he hoped that the week 1 performance against the Giants by Dak and EZ was a result of it being the first game for both the rookies. It turns out that it was simply a terrible matchup. So in the one case they didn’t decide to make a start based on a matchup it backfired.
* **Juuuust a bit outside**-Heading into Sunday night, analysts figured that if EZ and Dak combined for 50 or more points, the game was out of reach for Paddock 9. They combined for 36.76 and kept the game alive.

I think most felt that no matter what, this matchup was going to come down to the very end. Both of these teams have a storied history of fourth quarter monday night disappointment. While Patriots fans were cursing out Slater and his Wayne-Brady lookin ass, hoping his fumble didn’t cost them the 1-seed in the conference, both managers were hoping they would be on the right end of a gut-wrenching finish.
Paddock 9 was able to make up almost half the distance between himself and RIPDab by halftime, accumulating 15 of his necessary 32 points. By the fourth quarter RIP’s lead was down to twelve.
After Pitta caught a first down with 11 to go in the 4th the lead was cut to 181-172.
Edelman had the drops all day. He was targeted FIFTEEN times and only managed to come down with 7 receptions. So when it came time for “Brady to do Brady things,” it was Chris Hogan that got the call on a 79-yard TD bomb.
With 6 left, Pitta grabbed another one to make it 181-173. Inching closer, the clock continued to tick for Paddock 9. Was the Cinderella story coming to an end?
4 minutes left. 11:36pm
3 minutes left. 11:38pm
With 2 minutes, 40 seconds left, a reception by Pitta. 174.87-181.74
At the two minute warning, Edelman again. 176.67-181.74 (Edelman 7 yards short of his 80 yard bonus.)
13 seconds left. 11:50. Run outside by Blount. And that was the ball game.
    It may have been 11:51 but the clock on Paddock 9’s season struck midnight. They will hit the off season wondering what would have happened if just one of the big choices they made had gone the other way. If they had accepted the trade for Murray and Kansas City defense. If they had kept Cincinnati instead of Denver. If they had started Mitchell over Lewis. If they had picked up Robby Anderson. If they had benched Booker for just about anyone. If they hadn’t dropped Adam Thielen for Dennis Pitta. And in a strange twist, if they had just lost their game against MVP earlier in the season when Carr’s kneeldowns gave P9 TFL points. Then MVP would have been the 3 seed and P9 would have handily beaten him to advance to the semi-finals. Ultimately, the stat that matters most is this: four drops for Julian Edelman.

#### Implications

* RIPDab eescapes their mistakes and survive another week.
* RIPDab is 0-3 in semifinals, with all three losses coming against the team that would go on to become the league champion.
* Paddock 9 now has the lowest winning percentage among all playoff teams with at least one win. There is one playoff team that is winless and that is the only team with a worse win% than Paddock 9. Yes, no matter what P9 will always be better than Why am I doing This.
* If anything, this proves to me the power of the Fantasy Gods. Paddock 9 has refused to bow before them and look where that got him. Meanwhile, RIPDab has been trying to make amends with the true gods for years and it finally paid off in week 14. I'd think twice before going againt the Gods in the future.

## Trade Tracker

Trade tracker is keeping us apprised of the ramifications of the trade between Paddock 9 and MMMS. In the first and third columns, the points scored by traded players in starting lineups (if they are benched, those points are not tallied). Per player average took the total points and divided by the total number of starts so far. For example, P9 has started Denver D six times and Landry four, so ten starts total. MMMS has gotten twelve starts out of the four acquired players.

## Consolation Round Preview

### (7) Deez Sons of Bitchez vs. (10) ma ma momma said

Dee is the Queen of Consolation, having played in three of the last four tournaments. That being said, she has never won two games in a single post-season. Momma, meanwhile, has not played a consolation tournament since 2011 but has his team trending in the right direction. Oddly enough I saw that momma made an add for Tyler Lockett, which is strange because eliminated teams are supposed to lock once the regular season ends. I feel like I’ve lost control of my league.

* Will the Saints show up this week? If yes, will that be enough to get Dee over 100 points?
* If Dee wins the consolation bracket, will she draft Drew Brees first overall and tell us what a steal he was?
* Will Adrian Peterson actually be a deciding factor in the consolation tournament?

### (8) Peeled Eggplant vs. (9) Papa's Posse

Peeled is tied with Paddock 9 for the best winning percentage in the consolation tournament at 3-1. Papa is already off to a bad start with Todd Gurley, who at this point is not even worth a start in fantasy. Peeled was supposed to be the team to beat this season, and how they are favored again (albeit favored to win the one seed).

* Can Antonio Brown emerge as a dominant force against a Bengals defense that has contained him throughout his career?
* How will Papa choose between Stafford's hand injury and Palmer's rotting corpse?
* How high is the ceiling for Bilal Powell, the RB that analysts are saying could be poised for a monster week?

## 5th Place Game

### (5) HELLEVATOR MVP vs. (6) Paddock 9

It is absolutely amazing how much shit these two teams have talked this season only to end up eliminated in the quarterfinals by a guy who has made 42 roster moves and a guy who has made 7 roster moves. And yet still these two teams won't stop talking. While the 5th place game is the most meaningless post-season game of the year, this is a pretty great matchup to watch. These two teams have been tied together all season, with their two matchups forming the landscape of the seeding. The important thing to remember here is that the winning team in this game is still a loser. My gut tells me one of these teams will hit 300 and try to make a case that they should be in the championship game and got screwed in the quarterfinals.

* MVP has never lost more than one game to a post-season opponent. They have six losses against six different teams. They are 0-1 against Paddock 9 heading into the 5th place game.
* If Paddock 9 finally makes the right flex spot starts but it's in the 5th place game, did it really happen?
* Will Rodgers be frozen in place when he plays at Chicago in below 0 temperatures? If so, will P9 panic and bench him for Dion Lewis?

## Semifinals Preview

The Semi-finals this season features two rubber matches, with GBM/JJ and TSB/RIP both splitting their season series. JarJar has yet to lose a post-season game, while RIP has yet to win a semifinals game. JarJar is also the only team here that was not in the semi-finals last season.

### (1) Garoppoblow Me vs. (4) JarJar Stinks!

* Both teams come into the matchup with one win against each other this season.
* Combined score of those two games: 440.69-434.39 in favor of GBM (but just barely).
* Matt Ryan has a great matchup this week against San Francisco at home.
* Dez Bryant will look to bounce back against Tampa Bay, which has been locking down WR's for several weeks. That game will also feature Evans for JJ and Brate for GBM and looks to be the pivotal game of the week for this matchup.
* Seattle has already given JJ a huge lead with their shutdown performance Thursday night against the Rams. GBM has a difficult decision at defense and will most definitely need to choose correctly to have a chance at matching the 45 put up by the Seahawks.
* For GBM, Bell is the key to success. Since returning he has accounted for 58% of the offensive touches for the Steelers and 15% of the fantasy points for GBM (not including the 70+ he put up during the bye week).

Players going Thursday night: 1

Players going Saturday: 1

Players going Sunday: 19

Players going Monday night: 1

#### Injury Report

* GBM - Gronk is out. Michael Thomas is a definite go. Jordan Matthew is a go. Falcons will be without Julio Jones, which could affect Matt Ryan.
* JJS - Both teams are relatively healthy, with Luck being removed from the injury report for his shoulder and elbow problems. Like Atlanta, the Colts WR corps is banged up.

### (2) The Shotti Bunch vs. (3) RIPDab

* This is the third time these two teams are meeting in the semi-finals. Both previous times The Shotti Bunch beat RIP on their way to a trophy. This has become a classic playoff matchup.
* In addition to being 2-0 in the playoffs against RIP, TSB owns a 6-3 regular season edge.
* RIPDab owns the season point differential 499.27-485.97 but the teams split the season series.
* This game will feature a great matchup of dueling backs, with Coleman going against Freeman in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. Freeman seems to be the main back while Coleman gets most of the goalline looks. How the Falcons decide to gameplan could swing this game.
* Brady has played NINE games *IN* Denver and is 2-7.
* Both Miller and McCoy have killer matchups this week, giving the ground game edge to TSB yet again.
* Both teams will hope for a great day out of the Patriots. TSB is hoping for an offensive explosion with Tom Brady, while RIP will continue riding the coattails of the ever-improving Patriots defense as they take on the Denver Broncos.
* With Gordon out, RIP will double down on Shotti's loss and hope the replacement Farrow will prove to be a difference maker.
* The Shotti Bunch is already playing from behind as both their guys failed to meet Thursday night projections. It would have been a lot worse had they started Jimmy Graham.

Players going Thursday night: 2

Players going Saturday: 0

Players going Sunday: 19

Players going Monday night: 1

#### Injury Report

* **The Shotti Bunch -** Melvin Gordon is out. AJ Green is doubtful. Two key pieces of the puzzle are gone for The Shotti Bunch.
* **RIPDab** - Jordan Reed has a shoulder injury that will nag him Monday night but having an extra day to recover make him more probable than not to play and play well for the Redskins. Otherwise, RIP comes into the game much healthier than last season.

## Let's Talk Playoffs (PLAYOFFS?)

It's that time of year again. The Patriots are a win away from clinching their division and can lazily meander to a first round bye for the millionth time. I'm not saying this to hurt Dee's feelings. I'm saying this because that means the Patriots will be guarenteed a home game on either the 14th or 15th of January. For some reason, they always seem to play on Saturday, which would be the 14th. This happened last year with them as the 2 seed and in 2014 with them as the 1 seed. My incling is it has to do with ratings (i.e. Patriots get good ratings, so better to place them on the day where they need the ratings boost the most).

OKAY, THAT BEING SAID, I do live in Atlanta. Not the most convenient scenario. BUT....I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to all mount up and head to Foxboro for a playoff game again this season. Last year was such a blast so why not try to do it again? This year I'm thinking work may conflict with even fewer of us (ZACH!) so we might even get a bigger crew than usual.

SO...If you're interested let me know. I'll fly in so I won't have my car, but otherwise we can plan it out same as last year: buy some shit tickets, get there early, tailgate and then go to "The Spot" up on the deck with the holy shit awesome vantage point.

## Best of Luck

Good luck to all as we approach Championship week not only in this league but in various other fantasy leagues that I'm sure you cheat on me with. With Shotti banged up, this is the door many thought would not be opening this season. Is RIPDab the team that will take advantage and walk through that door to the finals? Could they actually pull off the upset and dethrown the King of the LoC?

We know this Is not the year Pat finally goes from worst to first.

We know this is not the year Zach returns to championship glory.

But is this the year Shotti wins back to back and owns 50% of the league trophies?

Is this the year Joe’s autodrafted team takes it all the way to the top?

Is this the year Nate breaks the Even Year Curse?

Or is this the year the commish reigns supreme in his own league once and for all?