It's the most wonderful time of the year.You can sing that first line if you want to. I did as I typed it, because it's true.
And it's not because the News Team's boy, Aaron Rodgers, has these three bikini babes cheering for him.
It's because it's playoff time, and the road to JFL Super Bowl VI begins Thursday.
The two top seeds, Sunday Slackers (10-3) and Channel 4 News Team (9-4), have earned byes and will wait to see who emerges from the divisional series.
For the Slackers, it's the return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009 when he lost to World of Noise in the divisional round. That season, he went 7-6 to just sneak into the playoffs. That's why 2011 is clearly the breakout year for this franchise that had just 13 wins in three seasons. If he wins the Super Bowl, he'll have 12 this season alone.
Drew Brees has been absolutely huge for the Slackers, who took down the five-time divisional champion Jimmy Jammers (9-4). Averaging better than 30 points a game, Brees combined with Ray Rice to lead the Slackers to the title. It's why Drew Brees will is a candidate for the JFL MVP, which I will choose and announce after Super Bowl VI. (Remember, there's no money associated with this award anymore.)
The News Team had the MVP last season in Arian Foster last season, who was big in games this season, but no where near as good as Aaron Rodgers. He also is a candidate for the JFL MVP and he has three more weeks to secure his bid.
And that shouldn't be hard if he keeps doing what he's been doing. For News Team, Rodgers has been a huge part of all nine wins. Averaging nearly 40 points a week, Rodgers helped the News Team score a JFL record 1,775.2 points this season. The record was nearly 150 points better than the Chinese Organ Thieves' 2010 record of 1,626.3. Also, to compare some more, the second-best point total in the JFL was nearly 200 points away — the Jammers had 1,608.9.
It was a superb regular season for the News Team.
But ask the Thieves, being the highest scorer doesn't equal a Super Bowl title. It didn't last season.
Then again, the Jammers (2006), Thieves (2007) and Toasters (2009) did lead the JFL in scoring en route to titles. So it can be a sign, too.
So should we give the trophy to Nikish right now, and by that, I mean, tell him he can keep it?
I'd say not so fast. He's got some obstacles to get by before he can call himself a two-time champion. Three of the five playoff teams he could face have beaten him this season. That includes Team Boyer, who beat him in Week 6.
But that was the last time the News Team has lost. He rolled off seven straight wins to close the season to win the division.
The Slackers are on a similar run. After losing to the News Team in Week 8, the Slackers have won five straight. He's 4-2 against teams in the playoffs and is in good shape to give either Houserville or the Jammers a fight in Week 15.
For now, though, he has to do one of the toughest things in fantasy football — in my mind — and that's sit through the bye week. It's one of the reasons we eliminated the bye week in 2008 and 2009, because it's a big bummer to watch your players play and not have it matter. But there is something to be said for having the bye. You may have some great performances go to waste, but it is nice to have that week of not worrying about losing.
The fact will remain, no matter what happens Sunday, the News Team and the Slackers will be playing Week 15. That's something two of the four teams playing in Week 14 won't get to do.
Liberty Conference Divisional Playoffs
No. 3 Jimmy Jammers (9-4) at No. 2 Real Houserville (7-6)
No. 1 Sunday Slackers (10-3), bye
Nittany Conference Divisional Playoffs
No. 3 Graybill's Generals (6-7) at No. 2 Team Boyer (8-4-1)
No. 1 Channel 4 News Team (9-4), bye
Jimmy Jammers (9-4) at Real Houserville (7-6)
Series History: Jammers leads 4-3. Jammers leads playoff series 2-1.
Last Matchup: Houserville 104.2, Jammers 97.9 (Week 6)
Playoff History: Jammers (6-4), Super Bowl I Champion, four-time conference champion; Houserville (2-3).
You can basically mark it in your calendar; the Jammers and Houserville meeting in the playoffs is becoming a holiday season tradition. We could get ahold of the JFL marketing department to find us a sponsor for next year.
The reason why the two franchises have met in the playoffs the last four years is because neither franchise has ever missed the playoffs. The Jammers have made the playoffs six straight years and Houserville has made it all four years it has been in existence.
The Jammers has sent Houserville packing twice en route to Super Bowl appearances in 2008 and 2010, while Houserville's win in 2009 was short-lived after World of Noise shocked the world with a conference title in 2009.
So it's been a frustrating couple of years for Dawson.
But 2011 is a new year for the Ville.
The fourth-ranked QB who was a complete shock. The fourth-ranked WR who has lived up to his first-round status. And a No. 1 tight end in JFL has nearly as many points as the No. 1 WR, who Houserville could have had on his roster.
Now let me fill in the blanks.
That QB is Cam Newton who is ranked fourth in the JFL behind Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady. The four QBs are the only QBs in fantasy averaging better than 30 points per week. That's not bad company.
It's also not a bad replacement for Peyton Manning.
That's right. On Sept. 1, Houserville looked to be in deep trouble. Peyton Manning was listed as out for the foreseeable future, which we now know is the entire season. He had Kevin Kolb, but he wasn't ready to let his franchise be led by him. The Cardinals are now in a situation where they wished they would have talked to Houserville at the start of the season.
So with Kolb, an injured Manning and an unknown in Newton, Ville pulled the trigger on a three-player trade, sending Kolb and Wes Welker to Jawz for Ben Roethlisberger.
At the time, it looked like a good deal, but Newton and Welker exploded and the regret settled in.
But fortunately for him, he made a great free agent move. picking up tight end Rob Gronkowski, who is averaging 16 points per game, which is 0.9 points less than Welker's average.
A shining star arose out of Gronkowski who was a late offseason free agent addition. The Ville added him after the draft and what a move it was. He has 13 touchdowns, including eight in the last five weeks. When the Patriots are in the red zone, Gronk is scoring. It's pretty much a guarantee.
That's why he's slated to score again against the Redskins the week.
In fact, ESPN is projecting a lot of TDs for Houserville this week, and who can blame the four-letter network. Houserville scored 13 touchdowns. That's 78 points just from straight-up touchdowns. Forget the yardage, the Ville was putting up points.
But this week should be a little different. Newton is going against the Falcons defense, which has been a tough squad to go against. Newton has done it once already and had one of his sub-20-point performances. This may be a tough week for Newton, but a tough week for him is not like a tough week for other quarterbacks. For Newton, it means he'll score 20 to 25 points — and for the Jammers, that will be a victory.
Houserville's week should hinge on his running backs. Last week, he got 30 fantasy points from Shonn Greene, who prior to Week 13 had only cracked double-digits three times and never got close to 20. Last week, he scooped up a pair of garbage TDs in the final couple minutes of the fourth quarter against the Redskins. Kansas City may be a pathetic team, too, but with their secondary being so beat up, this looks like a game where the Jets will give Mark Sanchez the chance to pass. Basically, I'm saying Greene will not reach 20 fantasy points this week.
Another key to this playoff matchup will be the Steelers' WR tandem of Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. Wallace scored a pair of TDs last week to bring his season total to eight, which is seven more receiving scores than Brown, but the two have similar averages. Wallace posts 13.7 points per game, while Brown is up to 11.8 per game; and in the last six weeks, Brown has five double-digit performances (he missed by 0.6 points in the sixth week), while Wallace has just three.
Defenses are clamping down on Wallace, which has allowed Brown to get more action. Cleveland will surely do the same thing this Thursday. That's right, this matchup of WRs will be decided before we get to Sunday.
For the Jammers, it comes down to Matthew Stafford vs. a completely decimated Vikings secondary. Minnesota has five defensive backs on IR, and we saw Tim Tebow find great success last week against the inexperienced and less-talented defensive backs last week. Stafford will surely find Calvin Johnson, Nate Burleson, Titus Young and the tight ends often. For the Jammers, he just has to hope that he finds all the receivers not named Burleson more often.
Houserville will look to steal as many points as he can with Burleson.
But other problems matchups are there for Houserville. Ryan Mathews has a golden matchup against Buffalo, the 28th-ranked defense against the run. We all saw what a scat-back like Mathews (Chris Johnson) did last week against the Bills. In San Diego, Mathews should be getting plenty carries after going for back-to-back 100-yard weeks.
The Jammers other two RBs, Reggie Bush and Darren Sproles also have decent matchups, so expect double-digits from all three RBs.
Jammers' Prediction: I do not predict playoff games involving my team.
Graybill's Generals (6-7) at Team Boyer (8-4-1)
Series History: Boyer leads 5-2. Boyer leads playoff series 1-0.
Last Matchup: Team Boyer 131.6, Generals 97.2 (Week 4)
Playoff History: Generals (4-1), Super Bowl III Champion, 2008 conference champion; Boyer (2-3), 2006 conference champion.
The Boyer franchise started out on fire. Going 11-2 in 2006, Boyer cruised to Super Bowl I where he lost to the Jammers. In 2007, he went 8-5 and was one win away from going to the Super Bowl for a second straight season.
After that, Boyer was in a tail spin. Three straight seasons of missing the playoffs, including two losing seasons, followed. But Boyer stuck with his key players, Tom Brady and Michael Turner, and the two have led him back to the playoffs as a divisional champion.
The Generals had been in a similar downward spiral over the last two seasons after winning Super Bowl III in 2008. He went 5-8 and 4-9 in the seasons that followed his title, he recorded his third straight losing season since the title, but a tie-breaker over T-Money got him back into the playoffs.
In order to get past Boyer, he's going to need a little of what Houserville would call, "Luck."
And he may get it in the form of injuries. Two of Boyer's big four RBs — Michael Turner and Willis McGahee — are questionable for Sunday and that could give the Generals a chance in this one.
The Generals also lucks out in that the schedule lines up in such a way that his QB Joe Flacco gets the inept Colts. Flacco hasn't had many huge games — definitely not as many as Brady — but if there ever was a perfect matchup, this is it. The Colts have the 27th ranked defense against the pass.
But aside from that, there are some trouble spots for Graybill, especially with his team's own MVP. The only reason he was in position to make the playoffs is the No. 1 RB in the JFL, LeSean McCoy, who averages 20.1 points per week. The trouble is, he's going against the second best run defense in the league.
Only three teams have hit 100 rushing yards on the Dolphins and it was New England and Houston in Weeks 1 and 2, and since then, it was just Denver in Week 7, and we all know how Denver ran for more than 100. It's easy to see that the Dolphins haven't allowed a 100-yard rusher since Week 2. Even more impressive, they've only given up more than 70 yards rushing once in the last three weeks. They've stopped Ahmad Bradshaw, Roy Helu, Fred Jackson, DeMarco Murray and Michael Bush. So they're not afraid of McCoy. Oh, and with only two rushing TDs allowed and none since Week 4, McCoy is in serious trouble.
And so when I look at that, added with the inconsistent receivers and the fact he's facing Brady, I have to go with Team Boyer in this matchup. The Bears-Broncos game will be big for both of them, as the both have the defenses. The Broncos defense could wind up being the better pick here, so Graybill will be able to pick up some points there, but I just don't see it being enough.
Jammers' Prediction: Boyer 131, Generals 115
2012 JFL Draft Order
1. World of Noise (2-11)
2. Jawz Attack (4-9)
3. Chinese Organ Thieves (4-8-1)
4. Dottsville Toasters (5-8)
5. T-Money (6-7)
6. Fear and Loathing (7-6)
7. First Round Loser
8. First Round Loser
9. Conference Finals Loser
10. Conference Finals Loser
11. Super Bowl VI Loser
12. Super Bowl VI Champion
Comments