Oh boy! Week thirteen was very eventful, and week fourteen promises even more drama. As we near the end of the season, everything heats up and is magnified. Let’s take a look at where things stand at this point.
FAMILY DIVISION
The Farmville Furies (Maddie) and the Poultry Platoon (Erika) currently hold the two playoff spots. The Platoon picked up a big win last week over the Ocean City Flockers (Diane) to secure one of those top two positions.
With three weeks remaining before the Championship game in week seventeen, there is still time for the Flockers to catch up. But outside of that, this is mostly a three-team race for the two spots in the Championship game.
This week will be tough for the Flockers to make up ground as none of the top three play each other. But all three will need wins to maintain their positions. Can someone play spoiler and pull an upset against this big three? We shall see.
FIRST DIVISION
No change at the very top of the leaderboard as the Fruitland Fruit Flies (Tanner) remain the number one seed. But the playoff race is still very close, with five teams within one game of each other and three spots available to this group.
With three games remaining in the regular season, there will still be some movement in the standings. Even the first-place Fruit Flies risk falling out of the playoffs if they do not continue to roll. And the 6-7 Oregon Lumberjacks (Jeremy) could still get hot and make a run. It is going to be an entertaining stretch run.
Last week the Baltimore Bulldogs (Katie) pulled off a big win against the Dakota Dragons (Butch) to gain a top-four position.
Now, the Bulldogs run right into another critical matchup against the Oregon Lumberjacks (Jeremy).
The Jacks are in must-win mode and will try to reel the Bulldogs in and gain a tiebreak advantage with a win. A loss by the Jacks will all but eliminate them. The win by the Bulldogs will put them one step closer to the playoffs.
Another big game this week will decide who will be in first place going into week fifteen.
The Louisiana Lycanthropes (Kiley) were in first place just two weeks ago and then lost two straight. Now, if the Lycanthropes can rally and pick up the win, they would move right back into first place.
The Fruit Flies are coming in on an absolute roll. They have been the highest-scoring team in the league for the last three weeks and are beginning to look like the team to beat. The highest-scoring team for three straight weeks is a rare and impressive accomplishment in any league.
Another big game and the Fruit Flies will look like a terrifying horror movie matchup. Maybe Jeff Goldblum should get involved with the team on a promotional tour or something.
This matchup will be a fun game to monitor.
DYNASTY DIVISION
There are still three weeks remaining in the Family and First Divisions. However, this is the final week of the Dynasty Division. Because of that, a lot of drama goes into the last week. The matchups this week are based on the standings.
First, we must congratulate the Louisville Leafblowers (Shane) and the Minnetonka Chippewas (Greg) for winning the magic eight-ball and joining the playoff field.
This accomplishment is a regular activity for Minnetonka but very noteworthy for the Leafblowers. One of the two original promotion teams, the Leafblowers, are now in their sixth season. They avoided relegation for the first five years and have built a strong roster, but are yet to make the playoffs.
The last two years have been highly frustrating to the Leaf, as they were the number eight seed in both years, barely missing the playoffs and then having to survive the playdowns. However, they are the number two scoring team this year and are primed to make a run at a championship.
Last week, the Leaf had a close victory over the West Virginia Blacklungs (Rob S).
This game came down to the last moments of the Monday night game. If Tampa Bay loses, the Blacklungs will win. If Tampa Bay wins, the Leaf pick up the win. It took a last-second rally by Tom Brady and the Bucs for the Leaf to finally make the playoffs. Of course it was Tom Brady. Awesome!
Another big game came down to those last seconds on Monday.
These two teams were battling for the seventh and final playoff spot. The Minnesota Blizzard (Geri) were down one point to the DC Braves (Shehbaz) going into the final minutes, but still had Mike Evans. If Brady had hit Evans on one of those last two drives, the Blizzard would have pulled out the victory. But, instead, it was Cade Otten and Rashaad White. As they say, that helps no one. Well, except for the Braves.
The Braves pulled out the big victory and currently own the number seven seed and the last spot in the playoffs. However, now the two teams get a rematch this week.
The winner is in the playoffs, while the loser will have to survive the playdowns. The Braves will need to defeat the Blizzard in back-to-back weeks if they want the final playoff spot. That would be no small accomplishment and certainly a memorable one.
Before we get to the most critical games, let’s discuss the top of the leaderboard. The Virginia Pioneers (Dave) have the tiebreak advantage against the other 9-4 teams based on point differential.
So, the Pioneers are currently the number two seed and get to challenge the number one seeded, number one scoring, championship favorite Phoenix Heat (Steven). However, the Heat defeated the Pioneers back in week four:
So, the Pioneers must win by thirty if they want to steal the number one seed. The Pioneers need to blow out the Heat to steal the first-round bye.
Okay, now let’s discuss the most important games of the week. The first is,
Neither of these teams can finish in last place, so neither will be the first relegation team. However, the game’s winner is guaranteed at least the 11th seed overall. That seeding is critical because the 12th and 13th seeds get byes in the first round of the playdowns, thus one less chance to pick up a win. This week’s victory earns an extra chance to avoid the Toilet Bowl. Three opportunities to pick up a win and avoid relegation are way better than two. We all know things go wrong in fantasy football.
And then, there is the not-the-worst game.
These two teams are currently tied for the last spot in the standings. The winner of this game survives and celebrates.
Classic!
Relegation awaits the loser. It will be a shame for either team to get broken up.
The Kobe Beef (Kobe) did a great job developing a competitive roster. First, they acquired Kyler Murray in a limited promotion draft. Then, they drafted Dameon Pierce in the second round of the rookie draft. After that, trades added DJ Moore, Dionte Johnson, and others. But injuries and slumps struck, like they always do. Nevertheless, it was an excellent job of building up the roster in one season. Now, they need a big win to survive.
Then, there are the Montana Mountaineers (Chuck). As Theoden said, “How did it come to this?” The Mountaineers are the defending champions and are now in a must-win game to survive relegation. Lamar Jackson, Jonathon Taylor, Deebo Samuel, Tee Higgins, et al., including rookie studs Kenneth Walker and Christian Walker. I know one thing, anyone with a chance at promotion is hoping the Mountaineers can lose one more game and make these players available.
The Mountaineers lead the league in points scored against them this season. That is some bad look. However, that is what happens when you win a championship. You get everyone’s best effort the following year. It’s called payback. The Mountaineers terrorized and kicked our arses with Lamar, Taylor, and DEEBO. But is this future for Deebo?
Apologies for the language.
Good luck everyone. As always, better lucky than good.