2020 Power Rankings-Week 12

## Introduction

Week 12 is here, but a lot of fantasy players are not. Almost an entire roster's worth of players is sidelined today due to COVID. Mark Andrews, Jonathan Taylor, Lamar Jackson, Drew Lock, Larry Fitz, Adam Thielen, Mark Ingram. It's getting ugly, and the NFL is insistent on rolling the teams out there anyway. From a financial and logistical standpoint it makes sense. You start canceling games it's going to cost you money and you're going to have to start thinking of a week 18. But from a fantasy and fan standpoint, this blows. Playoff races are on, and we all want to be at full strength to make our runs into the Festival of Champions (or consolation tournaments).

One thing that works out for all of us is Saints vs. Broncos. We get to watch a TE face off against a WR at the quarterback position. I hope it's as fun as I'm imagining. And by fun I mean a shit show.

Once again, the time zone difference is fucking me up and I am going to struggle to get this done in time so let's jump in.

## Stat Chat

* This is the first time in LOC history that five teams are at or over 7 wins through eleven weeks. The most ever was four back in 2013, when all four teams had 8 or more wins.
* Paddock 9 has won eight regular season games for the first time in franchise history.
* Paddock 9 ties GBM and Papa for the 4th most consecutive regular season games over 200 (10).
* Paddock 9 is in 1st place for just the 5th week in their 127-week history.
* Shotti has now doubled his previous record for longest franchise losing streak (6 games).

## Matchup Recaps

* Paddock 9 splits the season series against Duck Punchers, usurping him for 1st place and tying what has become a contentious and exciting LOC rivalry (10-10).
* In a game that could end up deciding the 6-seed in the LOC, ma ma momma said pulls an upset against a fledging Stupid Idiots (4-4).
* RIPDab takes out years of fantasy frustration on his arch nemesis Shotti Bunch in a good ol' fashioned beatdown (7-13).
* Pain Train defeats Sweet Dee for the 6th time in their last 7 matchups (10-5).
* After snapping an 8-game losing streak against GBM earlier this season, Papa's Posse sweeps the season series against the Commish for the first time in franchise history (5-11).

## Playoffs??

With his win this week, Papa kept his season alive. Now hehas to win out and hope for momma to lose out and he is in.

One team has officially, by Yahoo standards, clinched the playoffs. The rest are still in the hunt.

### Magic Number

A Winning Magic Number is the number of consecutive upcoming games a team must **win** to guarantee winning a given playoff spot. These take into account scoring differentials deemed to be significant.

^ - 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 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 Ten Scenarios

* **Duck Punchers** clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ **Win** or
	+ **Loss** by The Stupid Idiots
* **RIPDab** clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ **Win** or
	+ **Loss**by The Stupid Idiots
* Pain Train clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ **Win**
* **Sweet Dee** clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ **Win** or
	+ **Loss** by The Stupid Idiots
* ma ma momma said clinches a playoff spot with:
	+ **Win** *and* **Loss** by The Stupid Idiots
* **Papa's Posse** will be eliminated with:
	+ **Loss** or
	+ **Win** by ma ma momma said

The most important takeaway here is that if Pain Train and momma both win this week, all six playoff slots will be clinched and week 13 will be played simply for seeding purposes. If either or both were to lose, it will throw week thirteen into absolute chaos. I know what I'm rooting for...

## Trade Tracker

Starts:

* Mixon: 1
* CEH: 5

Now that CEH has started five games, he has played more than Mixon will play the entire rest of the season. We can officially say that Pain Train (5-1) has won this trade. We will continue to track.

Starts (Pain Train):

* Metcalf: 6

Starts (Sweet Dee)

* Chark: 6
* Kelley: 1
* Slayton: 5

Chark is out this week.

Starts:

* Patterson: 2
* Bernard: 4

## Seasons of 7 or More Wins by Team

This week marked a return to form for RIPDab, who will finish the season with a winning record for the first time since 2017. He joins Duck Punchers, Shotti Bunch, and Pain Train as the only teams who have broken .500 in at least half of their seasons.

### 2011 - GregCincoDos vs. B-2 Hallway Gangstas

* Final Score: 185.57-185.27
* Why it's Nominated: The infamous "View from the Top" game sees top-seeded Hallway gangstas de-throned by 2-7 GregCincoDos.

One of, if not the only matchup between two teams no longer in the LOC, this game is memorable for the trash talk that B-2 talked beforehand. B-2 had won six-straight games and posted a message on the Yahoo messaging boards titled "view from the top." As if we needed any more proof that bragging about wins is a no-no in the eyes of the Fantsay Gods, B-2 proceeded to get blown out by Pain Train and then, refusing to repent, got upset by GregCincoDos in a soul crusher.

## Power Rankings

### 1(1). Paddock 9

The lone team to be Yahoo-certified as a playoff team, Paddock 9 now has a win against eight other teams in the LOC, including his opponent this week. The only team he has yet to beat is Sweet Dee, who he will face for the first time in week thirteen.

### 2(4). RIPDab

Favorable matchup this week against ma ma momma said, who is only projected for 168 points. But the main concern for RIPDab as they prepare for their first playoff run without The Shotti Bunch is what to do with Zeke Elliot. The second overall pick has been a non-factor, but is benching him too much a risk?

### 3(2). Duck Punchers

After scoring over 240 points in 6 of their first 7 games, Duck punchers has failed to break 190 in 3 of their last 4. They still have the inside track for a bye if they can take care of business against their next two opponents, who have a combined record of 6-16.

### 4(3). Pain Train

Pain Train has not become the super team that many expected after accumulating the best group of receivers in the league. For consecutive weeks, Pain Train fell short of 200, and they find themselves in a hole vs. Stupid idiots. A bye may not be in their future if they can't come back from down 86.60 points.

### 5(6). The Stupid Idiots

Played terrible last week, which means they are geared up for a big performance this week. Equally as importantt as beating Pain Train is outscoring Papa's Posse, who they face in week thirteen. They need to erase a 27-point deficit and then build a cushion against Papa to protect themselves against a possible lose and out scenario next week.

### 6(5). Sweet Dee

Great matchup this week against GBM but without McCaffrey, Chark, and Andrews. This should test the depth of their bench, which is one of the strongest in the league.

### 7(8). Papa's Posse

It may seem far-fetched that the 4-7 Papa's Posse could run this hot streak into the playoffs, but it't not as crazy as you think. Ma ma momma said did the exact same thing last year.

### 8(7). Garoppoblow Me

If there are any two teams GBM really wants to beat, it's Sweet Dee this week and momma said next week. Two teams with fewer points on the season yet 3x more wins.

### 9(10). Ma ma momma said

No clue what to expect from them this week. Either 110 points or 220 points. No in-between.

### 10(9). The Shotti Bunch

Not sure why I even bothered moving them out of 10th. I find it hard to believe that just trading Josh Jacobs was enough to bury this team. They were bad already, and then got worse. Remember when they drafted Julian Edelman?

## Matchup of the Week - Duck vs. Papa

On paper, all these matchups look a little weak. The closest, scoring-wise, is Sweet Dee vs. GBM. But it is also the matchup with the least playoff implication. So we need to turn to Papa vs. Duck. Papa does more than keep their slim playoff hopes alive with a win. They also nearly eliminate Duck from bye contention. Duck needs this win like he needs air to breathe, and a big performance would prove that they are still worthy of the top spot in the LOC.