Tuesday, November 22, 2016

VIII: Week Eleven Results

With two weeks to go in the season, we've seen a narrowing at the top: presumptive top seeds Pawnee and Manitoba both lost to fall to 8-3, putting the first round byes back in play. They face each other in this week's marquee matchup, where the winner has a clear path directly to the semifinals and the loser will likely fall into tiebreak situation for seeding.

Phoenix put up the second best score of all time this week, dropping 256.01 on Malibu and diminishing the Deadbeats's playoff hopes to the scant prayer variety. The Uprising remain a point or so behind Deputy, who do well knocking off the MooseCrew. Both teams have seven wins and top four point totals, so it would take an utter collapse for either to miss the playoffs, while winning out would give either team a good chance to secure themselves a bye week. It will be a horse race!

The Islanders come all the way back to stun the reeling Sasquatch, who improbably lose their seventh straight game after their 4-0 start. That 299.38 score was a curse on their house. It's a huge W for RI, who have some wiggle room in their final two matchups- win just one and they're in! Tasked with the surging Lead Farmers and then Manitoba, they will not have any gimmes, and losing both could prove catastrophic for the LBIV champs.

The McFlys still control their own destiny, but have no more room for missteps after dropping week eleven to Savannah. Beat the Cows and the Sasquatch (two teams trending downwards) and they're comfortably in the big dance. Lose either of those games and they'll likely need to bank on a tiebreak. With fairly significant leads on Malibu and Toronto, the big fear for Hill Valley has got to be HCM City, who have overcome an insane gauntlet just to loom large in the seven slot. No playoff team wants to see HCM line up across the gridiron.

Everyone else is playing for their 2017 draft position, which is, as a reminder, structured like this: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 5, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1

Saskatoon's early rise is attributable to their bookend picks of Julio Jones and Matt Ryan; Jones will again project as a lottery choice in 2018, while THE FRANCHISE Matty Ice is likely to return to the first five rounds. The long term viability of the Sasquatch blueprint needs to be looked at long and hard this off season, as the team tries to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Savannah's tough go of things has had some bright spots, as 2016 can be written off as another Murphy's Law result; The team can feel pretty confident in their strategies, and hope next season their plans can bring fruition.

South Park and New York won the past two Larkspur Bowl Championships, but now find themselves dueling to nab the final spot in the Consolation bracket, an unexpected turn of events. Past hoping to get hot in the last month of the year to grab a top pick going forward, each team can play spoiler to some playoff hopefuls, as the Finest get Phoenix and Deputy in their final weeks, and the Cows play a McFly team that desperately needs a penultimate W.

Oakwood has, at the end, made a go of things as well, winning two straight as they reach the soft spot of their schedule FINALLY. Winning out would give them a month of victories to close the season and perhaps catapult them out of the cellar and into the Consolation Bracket, boding well for the downtrodden. Hope is a hell of a thing.


Week 11 Matchups


POWER OUTPUT:
  1. PHX 256: Dalton is suddenly fresh out of friends, which is about the only bad news in Phoenix right now
  2. DVH 217: David Johnson is the prototypical RB1 that will be in the top pick conversation for years to come
  3. MMC 206: Tough luck loss for the Crew, but clinched with their team playing its best football headed for DEC
  4. HCM 198: Regression was coming- and that meant wins for HCM. The last chance for a Cinderella dance in 2016
  5. SAV 195: Life without Gronk was just fine this week, though we expect they want him back as soon as possible
  6. ISL 189: Khalil Mack didn't dominate, but he did just enough- totally justifying his top billing at DL
  7. SAS 187: Oh noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo this is super depressing
  8. OAK 183: Battling back to respectability, Drivers will again finish under .500 but could make interesting CB bid
  9. HVM 182: Every year with these guys, do they even want to make the playoffs or prefer being king of losers?
  10. PAW 179: Top seed laid low twice in a row, not time to start worrying yet... but could really use a win this week
  11. LTP 165: Toronto wins despite holes in their secondary. Loss of AJ Green adds injury to insult- but he may return
  12. MDB 160: It was never in the cards this week for Malibu, who can still rally to finish with a winning record.
  13. SPC 152: The magic is gone in South Park, the championship hangover dropping the Cows lower and lower
  14. NYF 147: A force to be reckoned with in '14 and '15, the Finest will look to return to the promised land in '17
TEAM OF THE WEEK:


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