Congratulations to this week's winners, including Sexual Chocolate and Boss Hogg, who advanced in the consolation playoffs. Sexual Chocolate will play Browns Backups and Boss Hogg will play The Little Guy for the right to battle for 7th place. It's better than a poke in the eye. Slightly.
This week's recap:
** [4] Favre Failure Wagon DEF [5] Pack-Men **
Statistically speaking, Pack-Men was projected to win this one. His QB alone was slated to get almost 30 points, and Steve's just got through with two piss-poor games. But Favre Failure Wagon had an optimal lineup and Pack-Men's squad simply let him down. FFW finally got another strong game from Peyton Manning (QB - Ind / 27.36) and the Chargers Defense (16.06) pitched a shutout to bring FFW to a 3-1 record all-time in the championship playoffs. Brett is now 0-1 in the playoff but has nothing to be ashamed of - nobody expected Aaron Rodgers (QB - GB / 3.31) to throw a stinker in a 3-7 loss against Detroit. Yes, I said Detroit. It goes without saying that Donald Driver (WR - GB / 1.10) suffered from that as well. Poor Brett's starting roster averaged 5.32 points with the exception of his defense. Favre Failure Wagon will go on to play [1] Play to Win the Game in the Semifinals; Pack-Men goes on to play [3] Sobchak Security in the 5th Place Game.
** [6] Mad Max's Mama DEF [3] Sobchak Security **
Kerri is an impressive manager in the playoffs. She is now 9-6 all-time in the playoffs and 3-0 against Rick all-time in elimination play. Rick is now 3-6 in the playoffs. So, how'd we get here? The victory for MMM can be chalked up to general consistency from her players and some disappointing performances from otherwise solid Sobchak players (at least those on his active roster). Rick was done no favors by Ben Roethlisberger (QB - Pit / 15.27), who had a productive game but no touchdowns. But what really hurt Rick was the players he didn't start - Darren McFadden (RB - Oak / 37.20) and David Garrard (QB - Jac / 27.39) would have turned the tide for his team, but I wouldn't have played them, either. Of note: Kerri's kicker David Akers (K - Phi / 19.00) outscored everybody else in the matchup with the exception of Philip Rivers (QB - SD / 20.21). Mad Max's Mama will play [2] Undefeated in the Semifinals; Sobchak Security will play Pack-Men in the 5th Place Game.
Next week's matchups:
[1] Play to Win the Game (playoff record: 10-5-1) -vs- [4] Favre Failure Wagon (playoff record: 3-1)
These teams have never faced off in the Playoffs and are 1-1 against one another all-time. The last meeting was in week 5, when Favre Failure Wagon prevailed, 88.85 to 65.80. They have a limited but significant history, and this is sure to be another classic. Will FFW's Peyton Manning have a great game against Jacksonville, or will he shit the bed? Can Jeff count on Peyton Hillis to have another monster performance, or is Mendenhall going to be his go-to back? The winner will face the Undefeated/Mad Max's Mama winner in the Championship. And yes, that is a tie in PTW's playoff record: his team "King of the Road" tied in the first round against "Cardsin2002" (Brad) in the 2002 playoffs. Ultimately, Brad's team advanced since he had a better head-to-head record that year.
[2] Undefeated (playoff record: 9-7) -vs- Mad Max's Mama (playoff record: 9-6)
These teams are 1-1 against each other in the playoffs, but haven't met in elimination play since 2006. Kerri won their week 9 matchup, which resulted in Bob's only loss in a 7-game span. Will Philip Rivers get Kerri his typical 30 points, or his occasional 11? (Hint: it's December. He'll probably do just fine). Can Bob shake off his 13 loss and take the playoffs series lead? The winner will face the Play to Win the Game/Favre Failure Wagon victor.
Good luck, teams!
