Ahead of the action, our very own expert panel of unbalanced and opinionated analysts will recap the quarterfinals and breakdown the upcoming semifinals.
Here are the results of the quarterfinals:
1. What was the biggest surprise last week?
@caleb: First, WE WILL GRONK YOU! After suffering what appeared to be a scary knee injury, I was debating whether or not Gronk would be his usual dominant self, or just a decoy. His production was crucial in not only lifting the NE Pats out of a hole, J.Maclin Cheese got the boost he needed to advance onto the next round.
Second, INJURIES to Rawls and the Bengals offense (Dalton and iFart) could be enough to sway a matchup. This week is a reminder that EVERY YARD COUNTS. AJ McCarron looked sharp and had no choice but to force feed the hungry AJ Green. On the other end, heavy underdog J.Maclin Cheese has yet another hole to climb out of. A heavy runfirst offense (SEA 2nd in rush attempts in L) had the entire backfield to himself and was looking to be a surefire pillar (avg 24.33 fantasy points last 3 games) for J.Maclin Cheese during this playoff run. Now he will have to turn to another backup in Tim Hightower who looked solid in his first start, but it won’t be enough.
@benny: Vince’s team falling flat on its face, with the WR corp of Cooper, Dez, and Megatron putting up a measly combined 4.5 points. Though I did mention that his WRs were not as scary as they seemed on paper, you would still expect these guys to combine for at least 30 points, especially in a PPR league. Seems like cheese just might be Vince’s kryptonite, as he has never posted less than a triple digit score this entire year, with his lowest score of the regular season coming in a week 11 loss (100.98–123.92) versus, you guessed it, j.maclin cheese. Second biggest surprise is Lacy and Starks both scoring 20+ points, each having 100+ yards from scrimmage and getting into the endzone. Lacy might’ve finally woken up after being benched last week, which is a scary thought for anyone who has to face AAron Rodgers (aka ME).
2. Which defeated team had worse luck? (Vincent’s Team WR corps totaling 4.50 points or The Primal Beings losing by 0.2 points)
Caleb Wu: The Primal Beings faced what I like to call RETRIBUTION and Vincent’s Team WR corp has always been THE MOST OVERRATED WR CORP IN THE L. Vincent’s Team is notorious for drafting players who are a tad past their prime (see Chris Johnson 2014) and hyping them up. Calvin is looking less and less like Megatron and more like Wheelie (Fig 1). Instead of being able to sprint to the ball and make the catch, he has downgraded to a possession receiver. Not to mention the amount of injuries he faces. Johnson placed 84th among qualifying wide receivers in overall GCP (good coverage on passes), 87th in GCP on short passes and 73rd in GCP when facing a qualifying cornerback. Johnson also had zero touchdowns on short passes and posted 8.5 yards per attempt, which tied for 36th among qualifying wide receivers.
Dez. With all controversy that swelled from the last time he was at Lambeau, you would think this would be the game to go off and make a statement. Unfortunately, WRs are only as good as their QB and Dallas has a below average Q in Cassell.
Cooper well on pace to be ROY, but still has a long way to go. Shadowed by Aqib Talib, he had was absolutely smothered. I blame the poor performance primarily on matchup, but it is worth noting that Amari Cooper leads the all WRs with 9 dropped passes. Long way to go!
@benny: Vincent’s WRs totaling 4.5 points. As mentioned earlier, Vince topped the century mark every week this season, but his team picked the wrong week to drop an absolute dud, scoring only 81.34 points, which is a full 53 points below his season average of 134.58. Vince’s team might’ve peaked a little too early, but it’s still surprising how poorly his season ended.
The Primal Beings on the other hand scored only 10 points below his projection of 141.25 and actually exceeded his season average of 123.36, but it happened to fall just short by 2 yards. Ironically, the “weaker” side of the bracket scored way more points, as The Primal Beings would’ve taken out either J. Maclin cheese or Vincent’s team with ease. Still, Jesse has been pretty much alternating wins and losses since week 6, and after winning his last match to get into the playoffs was due for an L.
3. Too Many Cooks vs. J. Maclin Cheese matchup will be…
@caleb: Snoozefest. There’s NO WAY Too Many Cooks doesn’t pull this out. There’s NO WAY he doesn’t meet his production total of 142.77. There’s NO WAY J. Maclin Cheese gets another 18 pts from his kicker. and There’s NO WAY J. Maclin Cheese wins this matchup. GG WP. Not to mention Julian Edelman is set to return….
@benny: Much closer than anyone thinks, but probably a blowout. Too Many Cooks is projected for 143 points vs j.maclin cheese’s 135.75, but these matchups need to be considered:
- Ben and M. Bryant vs. Aqib Talib, Chris Harris Jr., plus a formidable pass rushing duo of Demarcus Ware and Von Miller.
- Allen Robinson vs. Falcons 2nd ranked fantasy defense against WRs (though misleading: Atlanta has not met any truly elite QBs this year)
- Jordan Reed vs Bills 10th ranked fantasy defense against Tight Ends (but luckily they play at home where Kirk Cousins thrives. Reasonable to expect Reed gets near his projection of 14 points)
- Darren Sproles vs. Cardinals 10th ranked fantasy defense against RBs (however, the Cardinals have not been very good at defending pass catchers out of the backfield)
Actually, after consideration of these facts, I have come to the conclusion that Too Many Cooks’ “unfavorable” matchups aren’t all that unfavorable after all, and there is absolutely NO WAY that he could lose to j.maclin cheese this week. NO WAY could Paul’s cockroach of a team, standing on its last legs, possibly survive another week after yet ANOTHER debilitating injury to workhorse RB1 Thomas Rawls. Impossible, really. Pencil in Too Many Cooks for the finals, and call it a day.
4. 1.21 JJ Watts vs. A-Aron Rodgers matchup will be…
@caleb: Barn Burner.. This is the matchup i’ll be tuning into. With Todd Gurley rejuvenated and Packers get a juicy matchup with OAK. There looks to finally be some clarity in the backfield of A-Aron Rodgers. A rib injury to Ware means West is the feature back and should reap the rewards of short passes and long runs. X Factor matchup depends on Antonio Brown vs. 1st in fewest points allowed Denver D. A-Aron Rodgers will need every single point he can muster up. I’m going with the underdog, 1.21 JJ Watts will electrify A-Aron Rodgers.
@benny: An easy victory for A-Aron Rodgers, despite what looks like a closely projected matchup. Why? A lot of things need to go right for a 1.21 JJ Watts Win: a solid Gurley game, Cobb to post WR1 numbers, Floyd to “boom” vs Eagles Pass D (24th), and D. Williams to score vs. Broncos #1 ranked rush D. Yeesh. A-Aron’s Antonio Brown faces a tough Broncos defense. However, C. West resuming workhorse duties will help a ton. J. Maclin will likely continue scoring (last 3 weeks, averaged 8 rec, 107.7 yds, 1 TD) against a vulnerable Ravens secondary. Barnidge will soak up all the targets against the Seahawks, as there are no other viable options.
5. This year’s champion will be…
@caleb: THERES JUST NO WAY TOO MANY COOKS DOESNT WIN THIS YEAR. JUST NO WAY. GG WP.
@benny: Too Many Cooks. I mean, just look at his team. There’s no way it loses. He gets to go from zero to hero in one year. Just no way he will lose any more matches this year. I’m going to go ahead and buy the trophy and ship it to San Francisco right now.
