Week 12 Matchups
OPotW: RB Adrian Peterson, Manitoba Moosecrew (36.9pts)
Thirty one touches and 187 total yards was not enough to propel the Crew to victory in a must win against the Islanders... but it was still a hell of a performance. Two touchdowns, eleven first downs, and the answer to the question "who is the best running back in the league this year?" were earned by All Day Adrian; If his torrid pace continues, he could solidify a return to Manitoba next year, by way of the number one overall pick.
DPotW: LB Luke Kuechly, New York's Finest (31.95pts)
NYF nearly had both sides of the equation, as reserve WR Doug Baldwin would have been the week's OPotW had his number been dialed. As it were, the Finest didn't miss a beat, and their defensive captain dominated again: Seven combined tackles, two pass deflections, and two picks for 49 yards and a score, and the Kook has six games in a row putting up double digit point totals. He seems recovered from the concussion issue that took him off the field for a month, and led to Savannah trading him.
PUotW: RB Spencer Ware, South Park Cows (21.7pts)
This late in the season, the carousel of running backs is grinding its hardest, and we saw a ton of new faces pumping their legs. This week, pickup monsters CJ Anderson (SAS) and Thomas Rawls (PAW) gave their teams depth, while Buck Allen (DVH), Shaun Draughn (HVM), and David Johnson (LTP) plugged in and played well. But week twelve belongs to South Park's Spencer Ware, who deliver 19 rushes for 114 yards, a TD and six first downs in his South Park debut.
Lets take a look at each team's status heading into the final game of the season:
THE CLINCHERS:
#1 Seed: New York's Finest (11-1)
The defending champs go into the playoffs with the best record, on a remarkable run. The undefeated season will elude them, but they're still making history, win or loss: No team has ever finished 12-1 or 11-2 before, as 10-3 has long been the benchmark for best record; Oft repeated (2010 McFlys, 2011 Finest, 2012 Uprising, 2013 Uprising, 2014 Uprising and 2014 Cows) and in 2015, finally eclipsed.
#2 Seed: Phoenix Uprising (9-3)
The Uprising put up the third best point total in week twelve, but lost to the Pride. They've clinched the #2 seed and a bye, and are two weeks away from a meaningful game. They do lead the league in overall points on the season- that could be a semantic feather in their cap, as they faceoff with New York in Vegas' oddsmakers favorite for a preview of the Larkspur Bowl.
THE SURVIVORS:
Four more teams will make the playoffs, and six are still within striking distance.
For five of the teams, simply winning should clinch a spot.
Pawnee is nearly a mathematical lock to make the playoffs, barring the worst score by any team all year. With a win South Park should secure an away game in the first round of the playoffs.
For the Sasquatch, they need a win and enough points to win tie break.
With a loss, Saskatoon and South Park are both eliminated, while the other four teams would be at the mercy of the points spread in defeat.
Toronto and Hill Valley would both need a lot of help to make the playoffs with a loss.
The pertinent overall point totals stand as such:
- 1. Pawnee 7-5 2296.27
- 2. South Park 6-6 2199.24 -97.03
- 3. Islanders 2196.36 7-5 -99.91; -2.88
- 4. Saskatoon 2137.65 6-6 -158.62; -58.71
- 5. Toronto 2112.69 7-5 -183.58; -24.96
- 6. Hill Valley 2025.59 7-5 -270.68; -87.1
A scheduling anomaly has all six remaining playoff contenders facing each other in the final week:
#3 PAWNEE PRIDE (7-5) vs #6 HILL VALLEY McFLYS (7-5)
#4 REVIS ISLANDERS (7-5) vs #8 SASKATOON SASQUATCH (6-6)
#5 TORONTO LTP (7-5) vs #7 SOUTH PARK COWS (6-6)
We'll examine these three marquee matchups in depth with a subsequent blog post.
THE DEPARTED:
Manitoba Moosecrew (5-7) - They fall out of the race, but have already secured a spot in the consolation bracket, where they can debut their new uniforms and make a play for the top overall pick. They have outscored the the 7-5 LTP by 24.96 pts to date, and the 7-5 McFlys by 76.01 pts to date.
HCM City Lead Farmers (4-8) - A pair of two game win streaks in the back half of the season gave this ream some life, but now they've lost two winnable games with subpar performances. They have outscored the 7-5 McFlys by 68.05 pts to date.
Deputy Van Halens (4-8) - At 4-5 the Van Halen roster looked poised for a month long run, but the Edelman injury helped fumble away their chances, and they have lost three straight. A consolation run would be a silver lining to a season that fell apart early and often.
Liberal Head Trauma (4-8) - Last year's runner up in the consolation bowl is primed to have another run in the bottom bracket. Their running back depth to start the season didn't work out the way they hoped, and may alter next year's draft strategy.
Savannah Petes (4-8) - There is still some fight in this dog; If they can drop the Moosecrew they'll finish on a three game win streak, and have an opportunity to make the consolation bracket, and avoid threatened self imposed relegation.
Oakwood Drivers (3-9) - Seven straight losses is... pretty bad. But their point total is good enough that a victory over Deputy in week 13 and losses by Savannah and Liberal could sneak them into the consolation race. Only a single point back of the McFlys to date, but four more losses on the season goes to show that LFL football is played on a razor's edge.
No comments:
Post a Comment