Playoff Picture coming into focus

Back from vacation, so the blog is back to being updated. Sorry for the delay.

Anyway, the playoff picture has become more clear as 4 teams (Alex, Tommy, Lance and myself) are assured as spot in the playoffs. Another 3 teams (Saurabh, Kristel, and Joe) are all but assured as they have amassed enough points to probably get in even with a loss.

So, the real battle this week is for positioning and for the 8th spot. As it happens, brothers Justin and Pat play each other with a chance for the playoffs on the line. Though they probably need a Tim loss as he has a significant point advantage built up on both of them.

Fantasy team of the past couple weeks: Alex has put his stamp on the league and barring a collapse this week will be the #1 seed. He has had an impressive 2nd half run despite losing his #1 pick Portis for the season.

Fantasy Flop of the past couple weeks. 4 weeks ago, Saurabh was cruising along as the best team in our league. Since then he has lost 4 straight games decreasing his point total in each game. The weird thing is that injuries weren't the biggest dropoff for Saurabh, just a bunch of players disappearing at the same time (Santana, Ahman, Glenn).

Game of the week: I'm going to give this one to Devo not because the game was close but because his team was able to crack into triple digits in a win after a mostly disappointing season for him. It certainly helped that his mid-season acquisition of Addai broke out for 4 TD's and Boldin had another solid game. Outside of them, it was mostly just a solid week for his guys where nobody disappeared. He has a final chance to play spoiler as he plays Tommy this week who is vying for the #1 spot.

Surprise Outcome of the week: No doubt on this one. Chetan's team has come on strong lately winning 2/3 and scoring well in each of the past 3 weeks to become the spoiler of the season as his team is out of playoff contention. That didn't stop him from driving Tim's team to the edge though by racking up 93 points with a solid all-team effort to beat back a solid 83 point total from Tim. Interestingly enough, Chetan's rising spoiler team plays Saurabh's falling once-elite team in the final regular season week. If he can pull the upset, it is possible Saurabh's team could fall all the way to the #7 spot.

Week 10 Review

The playoffs are fast approaching and there are 10 teams currently fighting for the 8 spots. 2 otehr teams (Che and Devo) still have a shot too but would need to make up a ton of ground in the last 3 weeks.

Also of note the trade deadline is Nov. 24th, which is the day after Thanksgiving.

Injuries of the week: Damage Report: Clinton Clipped.

Fantasy team of the week: Lance maintained his string of being among the highest scorers with pretty much LDT and his 33 points. He also had a big game from McNair which definitely helped.

Fantasy Flop of the week. Pat's team was in a battle for the final playoff spot and noone on his team showed up except for Chad Johnson. It was a wasted effort by him though as the rest of Pat's team couldn't even match CJ's almost 28 points.

Game of the week: Joe v. Saurabh. Saurabh pretty much has a standing appointment in this spot as he once again squeaks out a victory to stay atop our league. Despite low-scoring days from virtually everyone on his roster, he was able to get just enough points out of a waiver wire transaction for Mark Clayton and the always consistent Ronde Barber and Gould to beat Joe's team which struggled as the Eagles had yet another bad game.

Pillow-Fight of the week:Justin was able to stay alive in the playoff race in what basically equated into an elimination game between him and Devo. He can pretty much thank Carson Palmer because even Housh wasn't that special for him. He did get good games out of Champ Bailey and Antonio Pierce which definitely helped stem the tide. Devo's starters continued to disappoint and even the steady Bulger didn't show up for him this week. He has to win out to get to 6-7 and hope he can win a tiebreaker to even think about the playoffs now.

Surprise Outcome of the week: This could be Tommy's team scoring in the 60's as he has one of the best teams in the league. However, the big surprise was Chetan's team scoring in the 90's despite the fact he doesn't even maintain his team. With bye weeks over and everyone healthy, Che has a formidable team and can play spoiler these last 3 weeks.

Week 9 Review

No more bye weeks. This is good news for some, bad for others. And also bad news for anyone playing the 3 teams that haven't been updating their rosters. Oh, I still have all 3 to play, doh!

Injuries of the week: Sorry, they didn't have one this week.

Fantasy team of the week: Alex continued his recent string of dominance despite supbar games from Henry, D-Jax and Portis. Brees and Galloway provided the offensive firepower and Urlacher and Fletcher chipped in with defensive gems.

Fantasy Flop of the week. In a game where she could have buried Justin from the playoffs, Kristel's team apparently forgot they play on Sundays in the NFL. MM was her only double-digit scorer and Brady sealed the loss by garnering -3 points on MNF.

Game of the week: Tommy v. Saurabh . In a battle of two of the top teams in our league, it was a ruthless struggle for top-billing and both teams decided to show up to play. Tommy had Huard outscore Peyton, which seemed to be the difference as he got solid showings from everyone else (except Reggie-Will) but no other great scores. Saurabh pitched his tent to Peyton, Gonzo, and Jason Taylor but they weren't quite enough when Horn sat out the game due to injury.

Pillow-Fight of the week:Che beats DUP in a battle to stay out of the cellar. The teams combined to have 7 players score 0 points due to bye weeks, injury and ineffective play.

Surprise Outcome of the week: Going with a season theme here. Justin and Patrick are still in the thick of the playoff hunt despite having poor total scores, while Chetan and Devo are barely within fighting distance for spots even though they have each well outscored the former mentioned.

Week 8 Review (belated)

Sorry for the delay on posting this, some crazy stuff at work on the 'are we going to change to marvell this week or not' going on. Anyway...

Injuries of the week: Damage Report: Bush Whacked

Fantasy team of the week: Kristel's team saw new heights as her team now has the high score on the year with 119 points. It helps when you have 2 players almost score 30 each (Brady, Wayne) and everyone else shows up with decent points (except Tatum Bell who was hurt).

Fantasy Flop of the week. Joe's team finally gets bit for relying almost soley on the Philly offense. Big winds made passing almost non-existent, which left Joe w/o points from McNabb, Reggie Brown, and LJ Smith. Couple that with Harrison being covered by Champ and a bad defensive week, and you have the makings of a really low score.

Game of the week: Kristel vs. Lance. The only close game of the week and it was a high scoring affair as well. Lance seemed to have things wrapped up with a big lead going into Monday night, but Brady was just unreal hitting 8 different receivers and racking up the yards and TD's. Therefore, a wasted effort by LDT and Owen Daniels for Lance.

Pillow-Fight of the week:Justin over DUP. Justin is able to get the win despite only scoring 55 points. Palmer and Housh have been the only stable guys for him and this week even Housh had a bad game. But you can win those games when your opponent starts 4 yes 4 guys either on bye or out due to injury.

Surprise Outcome of the week: Tim staying over .500 by crushing a previously cruising Tommy team.