Let's make this a quick one (I'm not bitter about not being in the final....)
MOTY
Leaky Spark Tube (Dan) vs. Marc by MarcTrestman
Eric looks to become the first repeat winner in the league's history while Dan, who's always fielded solid teams, is ready to take the next step and join the hall of champions. While Eric started off hot and looked unbeatable, Dan's been on fire the last couple of weeks.
QB: Luck gets to play a terrible Dallas secondary while Wilson plays a stingy Arizona defense where all the scores might be field goals. It won't surprise me if Luck doubles Wilson's stats. Edge: Dan
WR: How will Alshon fair with Clausen throwing him the ball? I'm a little skeptical and Cobb should put up the biggest numbers today with the Packers looking to bounce back against a terrible Tampa Bay defense. Edge: Eric
RB: Lacy and Bell have been Dan's workhorses, leading him in the latter half of the season. Lacy hasn't had a single digit performance since week 7 and Bell hasn't had under 20 points in the last 4 weeks! While DeMarco should be able to match either of the backs against a putrid Indy run defense in a must win game for the Cowboys, there's no way we can expect CJ Anderson to compete with the rest of the running backs in this group. Edge: Dan
TE: Both of these TEs have been rather streaky but I'm going to have to give the edge to Fleener here. Like I mentioned before, Luck gets to take on a terrible secondary and I assume Fleener will be able to capitalize on that. While Kelce has been solid, that KC offense just force feeds the ball to Charles. Edge: Dan
K/DEF: Carolina isn't the defense we saw last year, even though they have been improving. Meanwhile, the Rams look like they're going to complete the NFC West quartet of ridiculous defenses. Against a turnover prone Eli, I can't imagine anything but a miserable day for the Giants. Also, Gostkowski has been one of the best kickers to own in the league this season. Edge: Eric
Winner: Dan
Premature congratulations goes out to Dan Park for winning this year's championship!
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Final Four
The competition for the Starbucks gift card is heating up! Brother steps on brother and JY destroys what's left of Biggie's pride as he walks over him--- Okay, enough joking around. We're in the big money rounds and we need a legit prediction for the playoffs. The problem is, I'm still in it. This means that it's hard for me to be impartial. So let's do the second Quick Hits of the season and throw out some facts and figures to let you, the reader, come to a conclusion.
- In their first meeting, Simon outscored Dan by 14.4. In the second meeting, Dan beat Simon by 14.04. They average over 100 ppg when they play each other so stay tuned for a high-scoring showdown.
- Simon and Dan were the number 2 and number 3 scoring teams in the league, respectively.
- Simon has lost 2 of his last 3, slumping as he enters the playoffs. He didn't even score 50 points during his bye week.
- Dan scored a week high 144.06 last week (for teams whose scores counted) and his top RB has a great matchup against the Falcons.
- Cho has won 4 of his last 5, including his first round thrashing of Nelson.
- Eric had a cold streak from week 9-11, losing 3 in a row, but he picked up 2 wins at the end of the season to secure the bye. He averaged 120+ ppg in the last two and had 147.52, the second highest score overall last week, falling less than a point behind Mike's ridiculous score.
- In their only meeting this season, Eric was one of those teams that destroyed Cho. He beat him by over 50 points and at the time, he shoved Cho under .500 on the season, making his climb to the playoff that much harder.
- Cho and Dan have never won the finals.
- Cho was one of my two predicted players to win the whole thing this year (Nelson being the other. Sorry, Nelson).
- Simon and Eric have both won, 2010 and 2012 respectively.
- All four are part of the original 8 that have been in this fantasy league since Simon Kim began his term as commissioner.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
- In their first meeting, Simon outscored Dan by 14.4. In the second meeting, Dan beat Simon by 14.04. They average over 100 ppg when they play each other so stay tuned for a high-scoring showdown.
- Simon and Dan were the number 2 and number 3 scoring teams in the league, respectively.
- Simon has lost 2 of his last 3, slumping as he enters the playoffs. He didn't even score 50 points during his bye week.
- Dan scored a week high 144.06 last week (for teams whose scores counted) and his top RB has a great matchup against the Falcons.
- Cho has won 4 of his last 5, including his first round thrashing of Nelson.
- Eric had a cold streak from week 9-11, losing 3 in a row, but he picked up 2 wins at the end of the season to secure the bye. He averaged 120+ ppg in the last two and had 147.52, the second highest score overall last week, falling less than a point behind Mike's ridiculous score.
- In their only meeting this season, Eric was one of those teams that destroyed Cho. He beat him by over 50 points and at the time, he shoved Cho under .500 on the season, making his climb to the playoff that much harder.
- Cho and Dan have never won the finals.
- Cho was one of my two predicted players to win the whole thing this year (Nelson being the other. Sorry, Nelson).
- Simon and Eric have both won, 2010 and 2012 respectively.
- All four are part of the original 8 that have been in this fantasy league since Simon Kim began his term as commissioner.
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Death Knell - What Killed Their Season?
Before we celebrate the people who have a chance at the largest prize to date in this league, let's take a look back and honor the fallen. At the beginning of the year, nobody thought they'd be out of the playoffs, sitting at the bottom half of the standings. But 13 weeks later, the cold reality sets in and there can only be six teams competing while six teams try to wonder where their season went wrong. We'll examine on a team by team basis what exactly killed their chances.
12. Cry Me a Rivers (JY)
What killed him: Trade assault?, Stars of Yester-year
While there were many complaints about the trade when it happened, the trade between JY and Simon became rather even. TY Hilton found his groove, McCoy under-performed for a while, Steven Jackson and Torrey Smith were no-shows and both TEs missed some time with injuries. But as McCoy has started to heat up and Julius Thomas deals with nagging injuries, the trade seems worse in hindsight. JY gutted his thin RB corp which is now led by Lamar Miller and he didn't even get a WR1 in the process. The problem may have started earlier though. When we look at his draft, we see a bunch of big names: Doug Martin, Roddy White, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin. The problem is, their productive years are behind them and none of them could find even mediocre success this season.
11. Ben There Raped That (Paul)
What killed him: 5 RBs with no RB1, Bryant over Parkey
I believe I mentioned this in the draft review but Paul took so many RBs in the draft and took them often. The problem is, none of them turned in to a RB1. Ball now might not even have a job when he's healthy. Vereen is in the unknown Belichick system. Bell has been wildly inconsistent and injured. Jeremy Hill has been solid recently but is no longer on the team. Ingram dealt with injuries. 5 tries and nothing good came out of it. But the backfield wasn't the only problem. Paul and I actually had a discussion shortly after the draft about the last round. He was debating between Bryant and Parkey and he ended up taking the vet. This turned out to be a mistake as the Falcons offense was a mess all season and Parkey ended up being a top 5 kicker.
10. Rice Beaters (David K.)
What killed him: WRs became his weakness, Who's running the ball?
Unlike his brother, David decided to focus on the WR position. He had what looked to be a formidable corp in Dez, Marshall and Patterson. Patterson struggled with the Bridgewater transition and Marshall, like the entire Bears offense minus Forte, struggled to be consistent and meet expectations. The result was too much expenditure in the WR position with no results. This investment ended up killing his RB depth. He drafted Reggie Bush and Ben Tate, the latter of which was dropped by his original team this season. He now has the enviable Boobie Dixon, Jonathan Stewart combo. Ew.
9. Keenan & Kel (Biggie)
What killed him: Megatron actually being human, Go as the Lions go
After the first game of the season, it looked like Biggie's team would get started on a rampage through the league. The Stafford-Calvin connection was cooking up a storm on Monday night and everyone was afraid of the possibilities. Just a week later, we saw what the team was really made of. The duo never had another game as impressive as that first week, Calvin struggled with injuries, and the whole team struggled. The lions became a defensive team, allowing Stafford to be a smarter, less-risky QB. Although it led to wins for them, it led to less yards, less TDs, and less offensive stats for Stafford and Calvin.
8. Gotta Catch Jamaal (Jon)
What killed him: Irrational Hope, Assault
The belief that AP will come back. The audacity to draft Ray Rice before filling out his starters. The hope that Ryan would return to 2012 form. It's good to have hope. But at a certain point in the season, you need to become realistic. When you have to rely on Antonio Brown to carry your team every week, you know you need a change. And Jon never did. He kept holding on and ended up sinking as Brown couldn't carry them any further. He was one win away from making the playoffs but I'm sure all the playoff teams would have loved to play him in round 1. The most unfortunate thing about this season for Jon was that he happened to draft the two running backs that were involved in complicated legal situations.
7. taeyeon (Mike)
What killed him: Luck, QB play
The number of points that a team scores is based on drafting and picking up the right players, playing the right players, and managing the team properly. The number of points a team scores against you is based purely on dumb luck. And in that department, Mike was the unluckiest. With the most number of points scored against him, Mike had a tough climb to make the playoffs. He did his part by scoring the 4th most points in the league. But he just couldn't overcome plain-old bad luck. The one thing that may have been in his control was his QB play. Between Cam and Kaep, it looked like he could play the matchup and have a QB1 each and every week. Instead, both QBs failed to meet expectations and struggled as they saw Luck pull away from them and enter a higher tier of QB play. Whether or not either of these QBs will be QB1s next year will be up for debate.
Although it is unfortunate for these teams to not be competing for the grand prize, the winner of the consolation bracket will win a $15 gift card! Therefore, don't give up yet!
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
12. Cry Me a Rivers (JY)
What killed him: Trade assault?, Stars of Yester-year
While there were many complaints about the trade when it happened, the trade between JY and Simon became rather even. TY Hilton found his groove, McCoy under-performed for a while, Steven Jackson and Torrey Smith were no-shows and both TEs missed some time with injuries. But as McCoy has started to heat up and Julius Thomas deals with nagging injuries, the trade seems worse in hindsight. JY gutted his thin RB corp which is now led by Lamar Miller and he didn't even get a WR1 in the process. The problem may have started earlier though. When we look at his draft, we see a bunch of big names: Doug Martin, Roddy White, Torrey Smith, Anquan Boldin. The problem is, their productive years are behind them and none of them could find even mediocre success this season.
11. Ben There Raped That (Paul)
What killed him: 5 RBs with no RB1, Bryant over Parkey
I believe I mentioned this in the draft review but Paul took so many RBs in the draft and took them often. The problem is, none of them turned in to a RB1. Ball now might not even have a job when he's healthy. Vereen is in the unknown Belichick system. Bell has been wildly inconsistent and injured. Jeremy Hill has been solid recently but is no longer on the team. Ingram dealt with injuries. 5 tries and nothing good came out of it. But the backfield wasn't the only problem. Paul and I actually had a discussion shortly after the draft about the last round. He was debating between Bryant and Parkey and he ended up taking the vet. This turned out to be a mistake as the Falcons offense was a mess all season and Parkey ended up being a top 5 kicker.
10. Rice Beaters (David K.)
What killed him: WRs became his weakness, Who's running the ball?
Unlike his brother, David decided to focus on the WR position. He had what looked to be a formidable corp in Dez, Marshall and Patterson. Patterson struggled with the Bridgewater transition and Marshall, like the entire Bears offense minus Forte, struggled to be consistent and meet expectations. The result was too much expenditure in the WR position with no results. This investment ended up killing his RB depth. He drafted Reggie Bush and Ben Tate, the latter of which was dropped by his original team this season. He now has the enviable Boobie Dixon, Jonathan Stewart combo. Ew.
9. Keenan & Kel (Biggie)
What killed him: Megatron actually being human, Go as the Lions go
After the first game of the season, it looked like Biggie's team would get started on a rampage through the league. The Stafford-Calvin connection was cooking up a storm on Monday night and everyone was afraid of the possibilities. Just a week later, we saw what the team was really made of. The duo never had another game as impressive as that first week, Calvin struggled with injuries, and the whole team struggled. The lions became a defensive team, allowing Stafford to be a smarter, less-risky QB. Although it led to wins for them, it led to less yards, less TDs, and less offensive stats for Stafford and Calvin.
8. Gotta Catch Jamaal (Jon)
What killed him: Irrational Hope, Assault
The belief that AP will come back. The audacity to draft Ray Rice before filling out his starters. The hope that Ryan would return to 2012 form. It's good to have hope. But at a certain point in the season, you need to become realistic. When you have to rely on Antonio Brown to carry your team every week, you know you need a change. And Jon never did. He kept holding on and ended up sinking as Brown couldn't carry them any further. He was one win away from making the playoffs but I'm sure all the playoff teams would have loved to play him in round 1. The most unfortunate thing about this season for Jon was that he happened to draft the two running backs that were involved in complicated legal situations.
7. taeyeon (Mike)
What killed him: Luck, QB play
The number of points that a team scores is based on drafting and picking up the right players, playing the right players, and managing the team properly. The number of points a team scores against you is based purely on dumb luck. And in that department, Mike was the unluckiest. With the most number of points scored against him, Mike had a tough climb to make the playoffs. He did his part by scoring the 4th most points in the league. But he just couldn't overcome plain-old bad luck. The one thing that may have been in his control was his QB play. Between Cam and Kaep, it looked like he could play the matchup and have a QB1 each and every week. Instead, both QBs failed to meet expectations and struggled as they saw Luck pull away from them and enter a higher tier of QB play. Whether or not either of these QBs will be QB1s next year will be up for debate.
Although it is unfortunate for these teams to not be competing for the grand prize, the winner of the consolation bracket will win a $15 gift card! Therefore, don't give up yet!
Good luck to all!
Simon Kim
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