So, not to toot my own horn, but I think I was right on the call of the Game of the Week last week. HRG topped I-Ry in a game that....well, let's just say that it looked like a Thursday Night Football game: two teams trying their hardest, but putting out a shitty product. HRG scored 82.5 points for the second week in a row, and hasn't topped that number in 5 weeks! Yet, somehow, he's 2-3 in that stretch, and sitting in the #5 spot in the playoffs. I-Ry, meanwhile, fell to the #7 spot. It's going to be super interesting to see how that tie affects his playoff position. According to ESPN's Playoff % (which I find fascinating), neither of these teams is likely to make the playoffs.
The most likely to make the playoffs by that ESPN metric our current #6 seed, Death Valley Driver (listed at 63%). I think we can chalk a lot of that up to Jonathan Taylor. Interesting note about DVD's scoring this year: he has a single game with a score in the 90s, and zero games with a score in the 110s or 120s. His spread is CRAZY: going as low as 68.5 and as high at 154.5. He's the kind of boom or bust team you don't really want to face in the playoffs, especially because of that Taylor guy.
DVD walked all over Sycamore this week, and Sycamore is an interesting case too. The tie for him might actually keep him in the playoffs (he's currently 4th with a 99% ESPN playoff chance). He's 6-4-1, and has only two games over 100 points in his last 6 matchups. If he's equal to another team in wins, he'll have the advantage because he'll have one less loss. He's been getting by on some luck. Another stroke of it this week: he gets the hapless Pedro Pickles.
Pickles has the inside track on The Worst this year. He's had tough luck with injuries, and he's decided to rely on Dak and the Cowboys. They suck. Pickles hasn't even gotten to 75 points in four weeks. He's got the fewest points in the league, and it's not particularly close (he's got 1048, next lowest is DVD with 1115).
Speaking of DVD (yeah, I know I already spoke of him once, but I'm trying to make this smooth, OK?), but he and Boobies (heh) are locked into this week's Game of the Week. This is an important one for both to make the playoffs. I'd say it's slightly more important for Boobies (heh) given his current position of 9th, but he's still got the second highest ESPN Playoff % outside of the Top 4. It could be higher but Boobies (heh) didn't check his lineup pre-game Sunday and left an injured Hollywood Brown in his lineup.
Tough luck to score the fourth-most points in the league and lose, but that happens sometimes. (just ask HRG. Never mind, don't ask. He'll just tell you.)
That loss for Boobies (heh) came at the hands of The Jeff Fisher Effect, who's run off 6 straight wins. He's on a roll, and looking for one of the two first round playoff byes available.
JFE's opponent in Week 12 is the other team staring down the bye week, Hardcore Sacks. This would have been the Game of the Week, except that the loser only falls to 8-4, and is likely to still have the bye in place (they're the two highest scoring teams in the league right now). Couple interesting notes about this matchup: Hardcore is the FIRST to 70 wins, thanks to his victory last week. Congrats Hardcore.
He's got the best winning percentage in league history. But you know the ONLY team he has more losses than wins against? Yeah, it's Jeff Fisher Effect. (There's your fun nugget for the day. I've just jinxed myself.)
After Hardcore and JFE, the next two highest scorers are Utah Falco and Team Provost. Falco is 7-4 and faces HRG this week. It's a good spot for him to get a win, especially since he went the first 7 weeks without falling below 100 points, but hasn't topped 92.5 since, and has been trending down in points. A win for him locks him in a playoff spot.
Get it? Locks him in?
At 4-7, Provost needs wins to make the playoffs. He's at a spot where he needs to win out to get in. His point total will likely be a help to him if he gets to 7-7. He gets I-Ry this week, but ends his season with two games against playoff teams (JFE and Falco), so it's an uphill climb.
So now that I've gotten each team mentioned in this style of Notes (which I swore I would never do again, but here we are), it's time to throw in the bit I throw in every year around this time: I'm thankful for this league. Now in our EIGHTH year, I look forward to this every year. Writing the Notes, talking trash, and following the NFL season continues to be entertaining. And you guys make it fun and worth it every year. So thanks for being everything a Commish could ask for.
Enjoy Week 12. Remember, there are three Thursday games this week, so be sure to check your lineup before you start drinking on Thursday (which I realize for some of you might mean setting an alarm on Thursday morning).
Until next week, STPS!
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