Playoffs!

I must start with the fact that I have no idea what's going on with the font. Please excuse this horrendous black border surrounding everything.

Welcome to the playoffs! We'll start with the final analysis of the PF rankings that we've been tracking all season:

Week 4                  Week 6                    Week 9                      Week 13
1. Cho (0) 1. Cho (0)               1. Cho (0)                  1. Cho (0)
2. Simon (0) 2. Simon (+1)         2. Simon (0)              2. Simon (+1)
3. David K. (+3) 3. David K. (+1)    3. Eric (+4)                3. David K. (-1)
4. Jung (-1) 4. Dan (+1)            4. David K. (-1)         4. Dan (+1)
5. Eric (+4) 5. Eric (+4)            5. Dan (-1)                 5. Eric (+1)
6. Dan (+1) 6. Jung (0)              6. Jung (+2)              6. Paul (+4)
7. Biggie (+1) 7. Paul (+3)            7. Paul (+3)               7. Biggie (+1)
8. Jon (-4) 8. Biggie (-1)          8. Biggie (+1)           8. Jon (-1)
9. Paul (+1)         9. Jon (-7)               9. Mike (-4)              9. David Y. (+2)
10. Mike (-5) 10. David Y. (+1)   10. Jon (-4)               10. Jung (-1)
11. David Y. (0) 11. Mike (-3)          11. David Y. (+1)      11. Mike (-7)
12. Alex (0) 12. Alex (0)            12. Alex (-1)             12. Alex (0)

Most of the league has nothing to complain about as they got the position they deserve. Except for Paul. He should have snuck into the playoffs but a few tough losses coupled with Mike's ridiculous lucky streak have left him on the outside looking in. Look at all the people Mike has pushed down in the rankings: Dan, Eric, Paul, Biggie, David Y. It's unbelievable. He outperformed his PF ranking by 7 spots and is playing for the grand prize instead of the gift card. At this point, I'm kind of rooting for him to win the whole thing.

In the meantime, here are some playoff predictions (in parenthesis are the predictions from the beginning of the year and their current seed in the playoffs):

Winner: Cho, 1 (Jon, N/A)
Not really a pick that's going to wow anybody but when you lock up a first round bye, have 4 of the top 13 running backs over the past 4 weeks, trade raped to get a solid WR2 and QB (and has a top 3 QB possibly returning from injury), own one of the league's best defenses that has one of the softest schedules, and a potential second round matchup against one of the least deserving teams to ever make the playoffs, how am I supposed to pick against you?

Runner-up: David K., 2 (Eric, 6)
2 for 2 with these out of nowhere picks. But hey, I call it like I see it. In his first appearance in the playoffs, he's guaranteed himself a 75% chance at some money. While Hunt has been disappointing in the second half of the season, people don't want to face that Gordon/Hunt backfield that has the potential for a 20+ game at any given moment. Thielen has come out of nowhere to be a top 10 WR over the last 4 weeks AND on the season (and unofficially became the best white WR at the moment, although this has really only been a 2 horse race between Jordy and Edelman up to now) and the addition of Josh Gordon was a very saavy move, assuming Josh can keep himself away from the devil's lettuce. His QB spot is still a little shaky but it shouldn't hold him back from being profitable in the league this year.

Dark-Horse: Eric, 6 (David K., 2)
A few things have changed that took Eric from being one of the favorites to relegating him to a dark horse but don't let his seed fool you, Eric deserves to be here. He got here on the back of his 3 stars (Wentz, Bell, Gronk) and he'll continue to lean on them as long as they'll carry him. He'll need to take some risks with filling out the rest of his roster but don't expect him to go down without a fight.

If you're in the consolation bracket, don't forget that you're playing for a gift card. This year it will be a $25 gift card to a location of your choice (from a selected list)! Make sure you keep on fighting until week 16!

Good luck to all!

Simon Kim