For the second time in three weeks, Monday Night Football gave us a crazy ending for the real game. This time, however, it gave us a crazy ending for not one but THREE of the Smarter Than Phil Simms Fantasy Football league matchups.
Pickles-Zeddemore had been decided, and The Effect had a 21 point lead with TY Hilton going. Hilton scored 1.5 points, so he didn’t really figure in the following drama.
Here are the relevant scores going into the Monday Night game between the Titans and Colts.
Hooper’s Heroes
|
95.5
|
Iron Ryan
|
84
|
Team Provost
|
111
|
Released Dix On Boobies
|
94.5
|
Grim Reaper
|
108
|
Scrote Squad
|
87
|
It really only looked like Heroes might be in jeopardy, as he had the smallest lead, and Iron Ryan had two players still to go. But Boobies (heh) had DeMarco Murray, and you never know if Murray will have a good game, or put up a stinker.
Things got interesting pretty early in the Scrote/Reaper game, when Ryan Succop scored the first 15 points for the Titans, and netted 18 points, bringing him within 3 to 108-105. Meanwhile, Iron Ryan (who had Rishard Mathews and Delanie Walker playing) had pulled with a HALF POINT of Hooper.
And then with, 10:01 to go in the game, DeMarco Murray scored on a three-yard run, giving him 16 points in the game, and moving Boobies (heh) within a half point of Provost. And the extra point from Succop moved Scrote within 2 points of Reaper.
For you visual people (like me), here are the scores with 10:01 to go:
Hooper’s Heroes
|
95.5
|
Iron Ryan
|
95
|
Team Provost
|
111
|
Released Dix On Boobies
|
110.5
|
Grim Reaper
|
108
|
Scrote Squad
|
106
|
The score remained this way, following an Adam Vinatieri field goal with 7:27 to go, that tied the actual game at 22-22.
The Titans offense hit the field to try and win the game.
Bad news for Boobies (heh): Derrick Henry hit the field, not Murray, and took a handoff. And then Marcus Mariota threw the ball to Eric Decker. And then he did it again. And then Mariota went deep...and threw a long touchdown pass to Taywan Taylor. Ryan Succop kicked the extra point, and we’re here:
Hooper’s Heroes
|
95.5
|
Iron Ryan
|
95
|
Team Provost
|
111
|
Released Dix On Boobies
|
110.5
|
Grim Reaper
|
108
|
Scrote Squad
|
107
|
The Colts took the ball, needing a TD to tie. They marched a bit, ran a play or two, completed a pass to Donte Moncrief (somewhat cruelly on the bench for Iron Ryan), and then Jacoby Brissett completed a pass to Jack Doyle, who fumbled the ball, and the Titans recovered with 2:37 to go.
But then, as is customary, they reviewed the play, and it turns out, Doyle didn’t fumble; it was ruled an incomplete pass. And the Colts kept the ball.
After running one more play, the Colts (remember, they’re trailing by a touchdown) went for it on 4th and 1 and didn’t get it. They lost their challenge of the spot, thereby losing a timeout. Titans took over with 2:19 on the clock.
And Derrick Henry came out with the offense (no Murray). He took the first handoff, which ran the clock down to the 2 minute warning (notice, I have not mentioned Rishard Mathews, Delanie Walker or DeMarco Murray in the last 8 game minutes). After the two minute warning, the Titans gave the ball to Derrick Henry a couple more times, and the Colts used both of their timeouts. Now the Titans just need to run out the clock.
And then, following a Tennessee timeout because a player lost his shoe, Derrick Henry took the handoff, ran left, weaved through a few guys, made a nifty move back to the right, and he;s gone for a touchdown.
And then Ryan Succop came in for the extra point. Which, of course, he made. The Colts had the ball one more time, put together a few impotent plays and the game is over.
In case you lost track, here’s the scores for our fantasy matchups, as the game ended.
Hooper’s Heroes
|
95.5
|
Iron Ryan
|
95
|
Team Provost
|
111
|
Released Dix On Boobies
|
110.5
|
Grim Reaper
|
108
|
Scrote Squad
|
108
|
Guys, this was absolutely nuts to watch unfold (and I swear I would have found it just as entertaining if I had been one of the teams involved). So many things had to break right for this to happen. I can say, and not just because I put together that League History document, that this was the most insane week in STPS history. I’m still sort or stunned at how this thing ended; one more catch for Mathews or Walker, one more carry for Murray, one less TD for the Titans, and this whole thing ends differently. Football is a game of inches, and Fantasy Football apparently is a game of half-points.
Here’s the recaps for the team’s not involved in this kerfuffle (though they aren’t as fun):
Pedro Pickles (111) vs. Jameis Winston Zeddemore (81.5)
I’ve sort of said it since he was 3-0: Zeddemore’s roster is just not scary. He finally got big weeks from Jordan Howard and Jay Ajayi, but neither scored a touchdown (that part is just bad luck). He was also snake bitten with the Jameis Winston injury, giving him 2 points at QB. Pickles, on the other hand, had another good week from Le’Veon Bell, and got points on Cameron Brate TDs that didn’t also help Zeddemore. The long Mike Evans TD toward the end of that game helped Pickles too.
The Jeff Fisher Effect (112.5) vs. Outta Luck (93)
Melvin Gordon carried The Effect to the victory this week, though this one was much closer than the final score. The Effect made the bold decision (driven by bye weeks and injury, really) to start Alex Smith, Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill; they all play for the Chiefs, who couldn’t do a darn thing against the Steelers defense for three quarters of their game. And then, Smith and Hunt woke up just enough to score some decent fantasy points, and put the game out of reach. Outta Luck was just that again, though he’s done a pretty good job of making his team competitive, despite the David Johnson injury and other ineffective and injured players. Deshaun Watson has looked great (23 points this week) and he’s found a favorite red zone target in Will Fuller (not gonna use the “V”), who also happens to be on Outta’s roster. It just wasn’t enough to topple the league’s top point scorer.
Other interesting notes from the games decided on Monday night:
Team Provost (111) vs. Released Dix On Boobies (110.5)
So close for Boobies (heh), as he put up his highest score of the season. Provost has put up a couple good weeks, and this week he did it without Zeke and LeSean McCoy (both on bye; we’ll see what happens with Zeke going forward). The Texans D was Boobies (heh) high scorer, but they don’t get to play the Browns every week. They’re a net-positive 16 over the last two weeks (since they had -7 last week). They’re on bye next week, and we’ll see what Boobies (heh) wants to do. He could actually end up with a roster that includes 2 QBs, 2 defenses and THREE TEs.
Hooper’s Heroes (95.5) vs. Iron Ryan (95)
The Heroes looked dead in the water, and then a football found its way through the hands of a Chiefs defender, and into Antonio Brown’s hands, and he was off for a TD. That really helped offset the 0 points Heroes got from Andre Ellington and the now possibly done-for-the-season Aaron Rodgers. He did get big weeks from Gronk (23 points) and the Ravens D (20 points, thanks to a kick return and punt return TD). Iron Ryan is stuck with the Ghost of Beast Mode, and a whole bunch of New York Football Giants. I’d written him off, but then the Giants D scored 18 points on Sunday night. And you know the rest from Monday night. But he’s got Leonard Fournette, an early candidate for keeper next year. I say “for next year” because that’s pretty much what Iron Ryan is planning for.
Grim Reaper (108) vs. Scrote Squad (108)
Here we see the wheeling and dealing Reaper did this week start to pay off. He started two brand new RB toys in Alvin Kamara and Doug Martin, netting him 24.5 total points. (Worth mentioning Doug Martin was on Scrote’s roster last week.) Evan Engram, who last week posted a donut, took advantage of the WR-less Giants offense, and posted 16.5 points to essentially ice the game for Reaper. Meanwhile, Scrote got 3.5 points from two Patriots on his roster (Mike Gillislee and Chris Hogan, who was the #5 WR going into this week). Mark Ingram had a big day for Scrote, but didn’t get much from Matt Ryan at QB. And Ryan Succop. Man, I don’t even know.
Money Winner
The Jeff Fisher Effect is our money winner, for the fourth time this season. This was a close one, with three other owners within 2 points of The Effect's 112.5.
Standings
There was no change in the standings this week, as The Effect (6-0) won to remain in first place, Heroes (4-2) won and stays in second, while the tie actually kept Reaper and Scrote tied for third by record (3-2-1, though Reaper has scored more points). But there’s a log jam after that: Zeddemore and Pickles are 3-3, Outta Luck, Provost and Iron Ryan are 2-4, and Boobies (heh) is just hanging there at 1-5.
It was a CRAZY week in Smarter Than Phil Simms. Tune in next week for more insanity.
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