This week brought shapeshifting Mormons, one elimination, and a whole lot of table-setting for what will be a cheek-clenching final two weeks in the LTML Regular Season. After the recaps, I will break down the playoff picture and the scenarios that the teams on the bubble face. Let’s get to it!
WEEK 11 RECAP
When Does Hockey Start (3-8) def. Respect the Specks (3-8)
138.98 - 126.76
When Does Hockey Start awakened from its 6-loss slumber in time to defeat Respect the Specks and drag them into the realm of the consolation bracket. The story of this game was the clash of the QB/TE’s. Or the QB/QB/TE’s… it wasn’t super clear. In case you missed it, the buzz across all of Fantasy Football this week was Saints gadget TE Taysom Hill getting the start at QB for the injured Drew Brees. Some formats changed his position straight into QB, but ESPN took a page out of Fantasy Baseball and gave him dual eligibility to start at QB or TE. The Harts continue to be shrewd players on the waiver wire, having snapped up Hill way back on Week 10. And so, a couple weeks after starting a double TE lineup, GOGS found a way to run a 0 TE 2 QB lineup. After a slow start, Hill had an excellent 2nd half and finished with 24.4 points. Outstanding numbers for a TE in 2020, and good enough to lead GOGS for the week and set them up with a hefty cushion with just 2 major players left on Sunday night for WILD. Those players: Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. Kelce calmly asked Hill to hold his beer before turning in 26 points in a delicious, if a bit anticlimactic, display of one-upmanship. The Wombo Combo cleared the deficit and left Ryan Succop to be the MNF cherry-on-top. On Monday, ESPN announced that Hill would only be eligible at QB going forward, and thus the Mormon Missile’s reign of terror at TE has come to an end.
This loss officially eliminated GOGS from the Championship bracket. Even though the season may be lost, I think it’s safe to say that there is no team more entertaining from a roster construction perspective than Nathan and Katie Hart’s Respect the Specks. Here’s to next draft where I have them taking Jake Fromm 3rd overall.
Hostert With The Mostert (6-5) def. Hospital for Injured RB’s (6-5)
149.56 - 83.8
Hostert With The Mostert gets an important win and cruises to victory over the newly registered Hospital for Injured RB’s. For the second straight week it was an all-hands-on-deck, no busts effort by HOST. All players, including specialists, posted in the double-digits, and the lowest scoring skill player was Terry McLaurin with 13.4. When that’s your floor, you’re gonna have a good time. RBIR had issues where you’d expect, as evidenced by Duke Johnson’s 3rd straight start, but alarmingly it was the WR’s that played as if they were physically ill. A quality spot-start by Cam Newton and Eric Ebron weren’t enough to make up the difference. With two down weeks in a row, RBIR will now have to make some magic happen to keep pace in the playoff hunt. Reports indicate that both Austin Ekeler and Christian McCaffrey return in Week 13 a la Gandalf and Eomer. Indeed, like in Two Towers, RBIR will have to survive the HOST of greasy SHTS until they can look to the East at the dawn of Week 13.
Outdated Sheets (6-5) def. 3 Pete (4-7)
132.88 - 94.14
Outdated Sheets’ WR core came alive to give SHTS a clutch victory on Monday night. After last week’s well-documented let down, Michael Thomas, Robert Woods, and Cooper Kupp combined for a whopping 75 points. Derrick Henry contributed a solid 20 as well, scoring half of them during a game-winning OT run. 3P made the difficult decision to sit his Week 1 RB pair of Ezekiel Elliot and Clyde-Edwards Helaire for James Connor and Robert Jones after the former pair had faced some adversity in recent weeks. Unfortunately for 3P, it turned out to be the wrong choice, as Jones in particular struggled to get any kind of steam against the Rams’ D. Elliot and CEH flipped owner Kevin Duong the bird from the bench as they combined for 40 points. Ain’t Fantasy Football the best?
Too Many Cooks (9-2) def. Knobby Packers (7-4)
175.78 - 153.64
The showdown between the division leaders did not disappoint as a 300+ point slugfest ensued. Several star players went punch-for-punch: Keenan Allen matched Adam Thielen, Tyreek Hill matched Dionte Johnson, Wilson matched Rodgers, and even FLEX Brandin Cooks came to play and matched KNOB newcomer Kalen Ballage. In the end, it was Alvin Kamara, of all players, to buckle. Though he still broke double-digits, Kamara posted his lowest score of the season, and dropped his matchup against Iron Chef Prime Dalvin Cook by 15 points. This and Darren Waller’s return to WR1 status was enough for Too Many Cooks to gain the edge in this bitter matchup. It is especially bitter for KNOB, as they go unrewarded despite posting the 2nd highest score of the week. Of their 4 losses, 2 have come by this method. The loss also keeps KNOB from clenching their postseason spot, though a Rube-Goldberg level of things would have to happen to keep them out for good. The win does lock up the top seed for TMC, and if these teams were to meet again in the championship, as has been predicted, you can bet your ass we’re in for some more fireworks.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Too Many Cooks (9-2)*
Knobby Packers (7-4)
Hostert With The Mostert (6-5)
Outdated Sheets (6-5)
__________________________________
Hospital for Injured RBs (6-5)
3 Pete (4-7)
When Does Hockey Start (3-8)e
Respect The Specks (3-8)e
*-Clinched WB spot
e-Eliminated from WB contention
3 Team Meele - With the 1 & 2 seeds relatively secured, we have three 6-5 teams fighting over the two remaining Winner’s Bracket slots. RBIR has fallen from the 3rd seed and now find themselves on the outside looking in due to the Points For tiebreaker. The tiebreaker will likely loom large, as none of the three 6-5 teams play each other in the final two weeks. Let’s take a closer look at the path these three teams face:
Hostert With The Mostert - Host has two major advantages over the other contenders:
A 250+ lead in the Points For tiebreaker
They have already faced Too Many Cooks a second time.
Life will get a lot easier for HOST if they can take care of business against Respect the Specks. Though they avoid TMC, their regular season finale is against Knobby Packers, which is literally almost as challenging. If things go well this week, they can look at the finale as a chance to cheekily snipe the #2 seed from KNOB. If they do not, it turns into a dicey fight for survival against a highly challenging opponent. As any Darkest Dungeon player will tell you, overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
Outdated Sheets - Being on the wrong end of a few very lopsided losses earlier in the year has perhaps disguised how dangerous this team can be from week-to-week. Josh Allen and Derrick Henry provide consistency, while the WR core is full of X-factor upside. If they get 2/3 of those WR’s to boom, they can beat most teams in a given week. They might need all 3 to boom against their Week 12 opponent, Too Many Cooks, but it very well could happen. If they pull off the victory, they’ll be in good shape against the eliminated (though still dangerous) WILD. They currently lead RBIR in the Points For tiebreaker by 40, so their overall points could matter just as much as their wins or losses for that final spot.
Hospital for Injured RBs - It’s right there in the title. The fact that they’re still in the hunt given the amount of high profile injuries is commendable, but for their defiant run to continue, they’ll have to perform against the toughest schedule of the three. The first step is against a 3 Pete team that is still technically in the hunt. If they keep pace after that, their final boss is none other than Too Many Cooks. As mentioned, they’ll get a boon in the form of their top two RB’s returning for that final week. If they can make the Winners Bracket, those two may allow them to make a run for the title. They just gotta get there.
So You’re Telling Me There’s a Chance:
3 Pete - Though the road is winding, you cannot count the champs out yet.
3 Pete makes the Winner’s Bracket if:
They win out
At least two of the three above teams lose out
3P wins the Points For tiebreaker over at least two.
3 Pete holds a slim lead over SHTS and RBIR for the tiebreaker, so those are the two teams they have the best shot with. One of those teams, RBIR, is their Week 12 opponent.
Knobby Packers - On the flip side, there is still a chance for Knobby Packers to find themselves in the consolation bracket. It’s even more unlikely than the above scenario, but technically possible, so let’s play it out for the memes.
Knobby Packers misses the Winner’s Bracket if:
They Lose out.
All three 6-5 teams win out
-OR-
They go 1-1
All three 6-5 teams win out
All three 6-5 must pass KNOB in Points For
Regarding that last bit, the gap between KNOB and RBIR in Points For is 337, so… probably not. Still, with two weeks to go, KNOB could wind up placing anywhere between 1-5. How neat is that?
So there you have it, the paths are laid out. All that’s left now is for you to set your rosters and hang onto your butts.
Ah, wait, I suppose there is one more thing:
This one’s going to be short and sweet cause the playoff breakdown took so long. This week I’m giving it to 3 Pete for a classic Oof: Bench outscores the active roster. The only thing worse than an underperforming 1st round RB is one that finally decides to perform as soon as you bench him.
WEEK 12 PREVIEW
3 Pete (4-7) vs. Hospital for Injured RBs (6-5)
Too Many Cooks (9-2) vs. Outdated Sheets (6-5)
When Does Hockey Start (3-8) vs. Knobby Packers (7-4)
Hostert With The Mostert (6-5) vs. Respect The Specks (3-8)
League News
Seems the COVID flare up that’s hitting the country is also affecting the league, we’ve got a few more cases than in weeks past, so the contingency list will be up shortly after this post goes live. As a reminder, it’s optional, but the only thing it costs you is time.
Best of luck in Week 12. Have a happy Thanksgiving, folks. May the only comas you experience be food-related.
Oofburger
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