Playoffs Week 2 and Championship Preview: Cry Me a Rivers

I’m not breaking any new ground by describing last week’s fantasy outcome as some kind of sick hell-scape designed to sink even the strongest of teams. But to paraphrase MLK Jr., the ultimate measure of a fantasy football team is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand at times of challenge and controversy.

Semi-Final Re-cap:

Trader Joey v. Goodell Has CTE

• Down goes Dorman. For the first time in the history of the league, the championship game will not feature Mark’s team. This is due in large part to Ron Rivera treating Cam Newton’s shoulder injury like Donald Trump treats Tiffany; by pretending it didn’t exist. This match-up was supposed to be a high-scoring affair between two multi-season juggernauts. What we got instead was one of the lowest scoring match-ups of the season. Trader Joey barely scored half the amount of points he put up the week before. But he can thank his lucky stars for his second highest scorer, Greg Zuerlein.

Condeadleeza Rice v. The Football Guys

• The story of The Football Guys’ time in the league is one of dominance and really bad luck. Their roster is one of the scariest in the league and they regularly star in the game of the week. In their first trip to the playoffs they end up putting up the second highest points of the week. Unfortunately, Condeadleeza Rice was the highest scoring team of the week. So despite being the number one team all season, they have to settle for the eighth pick in the draft.

Championship Preview:

Trader Joey: At the beginning of the season this team’s name was “First to Worst to First (maybe)”. They are one win away from fulfilling the prophecy. And if they do, I’m permanently changing my team name to “I win forever and always”. And while this team had the luxury of a 16th round keeper and the first overall pick, they have gone through their fair share of adversity. In the regular season they had the highest overall Points Against. Despite that, they still pulled themselves to a 9–4 record. Can they pull a reverse 2012–2014 Red Sox and go First to Worst to First?

Condeadleeza Rice: This team is going to the championship in their first ever playoff appearance. They truly encapsulate the MLK Jr. quote above, when everything is going wrong their players step up. Mixon, Adams, and Lindsay have been the lone bright spots on their respective teams. Phillip Rivers is playing like a QB sick and tired of being over-shadowed. Can this team embrace their underdog role and pull off the upset?

What to Watch for:

1. Diggs: Joey traded Diggs to Matt late last season and Matt held on to make him a keeper. It will be interesting to see how his performance decides this match-up.
2. Chubb vs. Lindsay: While James Conner looks like he won’t be able to play again this week, Joey will be forced to play Nick Chubb. Both players have been dominant and are arguably the pick-ups of the year.
3. Joey vs. Matt: These two have known each other since elementary/middle school. There’s a long standing history here and watching how it unfolds will be entertaining to say the least.