Week 14 Matchups
#6 Manitoba defeats #3 Islanders
Rules were made to be broken, and precedents are bound to fall. After six years of the six seed falling in the first round, the Manitoba Moosecrew triumphed over the #3 Islanders to get within a game of the Larkspur Bowl. Aaron Rodgers (22.84) was able to dial up Odell Beckham (20.84), Jordy Nelson (20.0), and Dontrelle Inman (18.8) all day long, while Sean Lee (26), Johnathan Cyprien (23), and Janoris Jenkins (18.0) held the Islanders in check: Only WR Emmanuel Sanders (24.3) was able to find any room for ISL, and despite a hellbent effort from team captain Eric Weddle (26.2) the LBIV Champs couldn't close the gap to striking distance.
#5 Phoenix defeats #4 Deputy
Pending a stat correction, the Uprising get their fifth victory by a single digit margin on the season, just barely eking out a victory over the Van Halens, and avenging their week one loss. With both quarterbacks struggling badly (PHX Palmer 5.4, DVH Brees 3.28) and their top targets shut down (PHX Bryant .5, DVH Benjamin 3.4) the matchup came down to running backs and secondary weapons doing their part. PHX RB Carlos Hyde (38.6) got the best of DVH RB David Johnson (18.8) this week- the only time that has happened this year. In fact it was only Johnson's third game under 20 points (all were between 15 and 19) on the season, a mild letdown but hardly making him the goat. For Deputy, Demaryius Thomas (21), Zach Ertz (19), and Doug Martin (18) all had good games, while the defense was solid, if unspectacular: six of their eight starters scored between 10 and 15 points. For the Uprising, Hyde was the star, but defensive newcomers DeForest Buckner (25.5) and Kurt Coleman (23) also made major contributions, with Rob Kelley (17.9), Jarvis Landry (16.5), and Kwon Alexander (15) all putting forward difference making efforts.
#9 HCM City defeats #12 South Park
How does a team feature RB Le'veon Bell (with an incredible 58.7) points in a playoff matchup, and still lose? It was of course, a team effort. Outside of Bell, no one on South Park scored 15 points, while Russell Wilson (1.2) threw a career high five picks as the champs-no-more drop ingloriously to the Lead Farmers in their consolation bracket matchup. On the other side of the ball, HCM featured prime time showings from breakout WR Tyreek Hill (25.6) and mainstay TY Hilton (24.2), and a good day running the ball, as the plow-share of Todd Gurley (17.6) and Isaiah Crowell (17.2) tore up the turf. LB Denzel Perryman (16.0) was superlative in his return to action- he was a the defensive player of the game in LBVII for the Cows in their thrashing of Pawnee almost a year ago.
#10 Savannah defeats #11 Toronto
Through three quarters this matchup was tight, but then Tom Brady (29.94) led the charge for the Petes, who dominated in the fourth, leaving no room for a Toronto comeback. CB Daryl Worley (23.1) was again a difference maker for Savannah, as he's matured into a strong corner over the course of his rookie season. Veteran RB Frank Gore (18.1) and maximum effort WR Adam Thielen (16.3) supplied the rest of the offensive fireworks, while Toronto got nice games from WR Kenny Stills (21.4), S Morgan Burnett (18.95), and RB Latavius Murray (19.9) got left a lot of their best work on the sidelines.
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