Last Place Wisdom: Pennies from Heaven!

This week saw fantasy points raining down like pennies from heaven, as 4 teams scored more than 130 points for the first time since Week 1.

Two Weeks!

I have to admit, I’m feeling really good about my team at this point. I was able to set a new high point in single game scoring for the year with my performance this week, and unlike some previous weeks were teams have gone HAM, mine didn’t come off the back of a single outstanding performance. 30 points from Zach Stacy is pretty great, but most of the success came from everyone else on the roster putting up between 13-21 points. I don’t have as many high end stars as some teams (outside of Lynch and Gronk now that he’s healthy), but I have plenty of guys who can consistently score me an acceptable amount of points meaning I have few real holes.

Overall, it was a good week for plenty of players, as it set a record for most 3 touchdown performances by WRs in a week.

At my midseason rankings, I made a couple of predictions regarding Aaron’s team. I said Stevan Ridley was one of the players to watch in the 2^nd half, and in the last 4 weeks, no RB has scored more points than him thanks to his 6 touchdowns. I also said Aaron would come back to make the playoffs, and at this point, he’s holding the final playoff spot due to the tiebreaker.

My preseason predictions didn’t go so well, but my midseason ones seem to be doing much better. 4 more weeks to go to see if they hold true.

Mr.Manager of the Week Award

I don’t see a lot of moves that helped any team win their matchup this week, as most of the games were won in blowouts. I put in Zach Stacy at the last minute, which turned out to be the right call as he put up the best RB game of the week (thanks for dropping him John). It was a fairly easy call to make, but Aaron stuck with his star and started Andre Johnson which was the difference between winning and losing.

Waiver Wire

At this point in the year, the might not be a lot of surprises left to be found on the waiver wire, as teams have scooped up anyone worth starting during the bye weeks. Rashard Jennings is worth an add as long as Darren McFadden is out. I’m not saying Riley Cooper is doing better because he no longer has a black QB throwing him the ball, but I’m not not saying that either. Danny Amendola is another interesting guy, although you just know he’s going to get hurt next week. The Bears and Cardinals are interesting D/STs pickups.

Injuries

Some guy named Aaron Rodgers got hurt, but I can’t see that having any real affect on the league (wink). It was a bad week for Stan who also lost Run DMC, but it looks like he might be getting Manningham back. Arian Foster aggravated his back, screwing Mike over and frustrating everyone. Kyle Rudolph is also out, which gives Dawson a reason to cut him like he should have weeks ago.

Random Thoughts

There are 4 weeks left in the regular season, and the playoff race is in full swing, so the random thoughts from here on out will be about the playoff seedings.  

Right now 8 wins are needed to clinch the playoffs, while 7 will mean that you’re probably in but it might need to go to a tiebreaker (which is Points For).

No one is officially eliminated from the playoffs yet, even John. I know John doesn’t believe his team is worthy of making the playoffs this year, but hopefully he still has that as his goal, since once you make it anything can happen. He also has the easiest schedule, with the most opportunity to make up ground, as he plays 3 of the teams that he has to pass in order to get in (Dawson, Curtis and, what could be the game of the year, a rematch of the Boner Bowl in week 13 with playoffs potentially on the line). John will probably have to sweep those games in order to have a shot.

Calling it now, I think 6 wins gets the final playoff position without having to face a tiebreaker, so if John can win out or any of the other teams can go 3-1, there’s a great chance they make it. That might be tough given the upcoming schedules, so I can see a number of teams ending the year with a 5-8 record, and the tiebreaker coming into play.

This week has a number of big games, which I’ll discuss below, and will provide more clarity once we see the results.

Week 3 Preview

Sexy Sacks Men vs NFL Owner – First place is on the line, and I think the winner of this game ends the year in the top 2 and gets a first round bye in the playoffs. My team in a roll right now with no real weaknesses, but Shayne has some great matchups against Washington and Jacksonville.  

What are the Chances vs The Fear Boners – The good news is that one of these struggling teams will get a much needed win this week, and will have major playoff implications. John’s team finally showed the potential he saw when he drafted them, so it’ll be interesting to watch if CJ Spiller and TY Hilton can string together multiple good games in a row. Curtis is still looking for a 2^nd startable RB.

Oh that’s nasty vs NINERS  – This is a very winnable game for Dawson, who has some good matchups and is starting to see some consistency from his RBs and QBs. If I’m Stan, I have to be a little nervous. He only really need 1 win to give him a good shot at the playoffs, but he ends the year facing Shayne and Steve, so the sooner he can get it the better.

BISP  vs The Miracle Mets - 1969 – The team that wins this game will put themselves in the driver seat for the last playoff spot. Mike has a tough call to make at QB, as Cam Newton has been fantastic but has a tough matchup, while RG3 has struggled but faces a much easier opponent.

Toe-besity vs Sideliners – The winner moves into a tie for second and is closer to that first round bye. Andrew catches a break as Steve’s best player is off on a bye this week, although he needs to find a replacement for his best call and fantasy man-crush, Jordan Cameron.   

On the next Last Place Wisdom:

I recap Week 9, which raises my hopes to unseen levels before the inevitable crash.

John starts to believe again.

Dawson begins a late season charge now that his QBs have shown they can score more than 15 points a game.