This is it.
It’s week 16, and it means fantasy football championship. Down to two teams.
We have for the first time in PSAS history no
top-seed in the fantasy Super Bowl, with forth-ranked Goslings, who defeated
the top-ranked SanFranciscoFerries in week 15, squaring off against the
sixth-seed Trichotillomaniacs, who narrowly escaped the second-ranked
GrossmanSachs team the past weekend.
It was a very thrilling semi-final weekend, but both the underdogs came
away victoriously to be showcased in week 16 in the championship game.
Historically speaking, no four-seed has advanced to the
finals before. In fact, the only
playoff win by a four-seed came back in 2009, when infant PelicanBrief squad
topped the future TigerMountain squad (then-known as Discerning Nostrils,
five-seed) in the first-round before losing in the second-round to the
top-seeded Sunset Park Mastifs, since renamed the Trichotillomaniacs of the Far
East. That was the year of the
dogs, as the Trichs-Mastifs were defeated in the final by the three-seed psych
dog, which is the legendary team that the league reminisces now and currently
referred to as the Primordial Forgotten Ones. Three finals have featured (1)-(3) matches, with the
top-seed emerging victorious in the past two seasons. In 2010, a sixth-seed Vickskennel.com squad, the current
HomeSpunNeckBloodz franchise, advanced to the final as the bottom seed lead by
Tim Tebow with a regular-season record of 6-7 and defeated the then-top-seed
Monique and the Phat Girlz. The
six-seeds have a historical record of 3-3 in the PSAS playoffs history thanks
to the Vickskennel Cinderella win.
The four-seeds, on the other hand, have all been eliminated in the first
round since the afore-mentioned Pelican squad, and have a 1-4 record in the
PSAS playoffs. Both of the first-round bye teams, the
Ferries and the Bankerz, were one-and-done this year.
Championship:
(4) the Goslings vs
(6) Trichotillomaniacs
Two franchises upset the top-ranked teams in the semi-finals
to reach this year’s final. It
looks like both franchises are shuffling things at the QB positions, defying
the proven-fantasy-theory of riding-the-mule-that-brought-you-there. The backfield match-ups look pretty set
at least, featuring a heavy-weight match between LeSean-LeVeon and Gore-Gore II. The Goslings may hold the edge, due to
McCoy’s upside against pourous Chicago run-defense. The Trichs may hold the sticks on the wide receiver and
tight end positions, with Marshall-Allen-Decker-Boldin-Crabtree possibly all
ranking ahead of the Birds receivers and Orange Julius generally ranked in the
top-three among other experts. Also,
SNF and MNF matches between Chicago and Philly and ATL and 49ers will all
feature significant players for both squads. Therefore, the battle will be fought in stages, starting
with the 1 o’clock games and ending on MNF. The outcome will most likely come down to the wire,
representing the unpredictable dramatic 2013 PSAS season. The teams faced each other in the peak
of playoffs chase in week 11. The
Goslings beat the Trichs handedly then to stay in the chase 113.98-85.79.
 |
| Will the Trichs pluck enough down for a crown jacket |
The Cinderella Goslings fended off the late charge by Pitta
and the Ferries to squeak by the top-seeded team by a mere 2.61 pts. Boasting a 9-1 record in the last ten
games with a current seven-game winning streak, the last time the Birds were
defeated was in week 9. That’s
early November, and it was very unlikely back then to imagine the Goslings in
even the playoffs, not to mention the championship game. But they are here, an impressive expansion
team wading through the muddiest PSAS climate ever, despite only topping 120pts
once (barely, 120.07 all the way back in week 1). They average only 104.25pts compared to 121.24 pts by the
Trichs, but one thing the Geese know how to do is get that W at the end of the
week. Last week against the
regular-season champ Ferries, they once-again had only two players barely reach
fifteen points yet still came away with a victory, thanks to a TD each by Nelson
and Bell and a mistake-free game by Luck.
Shady McCoy was rather contained, considering the Eagles facing
Minnesota defense. He’s due for a
bounce-back for sure, with the Bears in town on SNF showdown. The team’s Super Bowl reign may be
handed here to Kirk Cousins, which is sort of a scary thing for the final, but
his matchup against miserable Dallas defense is theoretically very tasty. St. Louis defense is rather solid at
home and welcomes Glennon and Tampa Bay that’s fairly mistake-prone, and the Birds
do have Robert Mathis and his time-travelling ability. The key here is probably production out
of Nelson-White-Hartline receiving corps plus TE Miller, none of whom is a
top-tier option but all capable of getting to the endzone. Despite having the lower seed, the
Goslings are probably Yahoo projection and Vegas underdogs coming in, just as it
seems they’ve always been this season.
If McCoy/Bell and one or two of the receivers can have monster-games and
Cousins can have a big game as advertised, the Baby Birds have a solid chance
against the favorite Trichs.
PSAS’s Far East franchise is back in the championship game
after a three-season hiatus. In
the semi final see-saw game against the bankerz, the Hairpullers managed to get
by with a mere 2.07pts margin, winning with a score of 144.79-142.72. Zac Stacy led the charge with 21.90
pts, while re-instated Kaepernick tossed for 20.82 pts. Receivers Allen and Marshall, kicker
Dawson, and Carolina D all went over 15pts to help the Pullers edge past the
Godbankz. Notably absent from solid
performances all around were Denver receivers Decker and Julius Thomas, both of
whom are due for a solid Peyton bounce-back beneficiary. Frank Gore didn’t get in the endzone,
but looked pretty solid last week and, if it wasn’t for the special team TD by
Hunter in the fourth quarter he would have received the time-eating carries in
the lead (the TD put the game beyond reach and subsequently LeMichael James was
inserted as the spell-lead back).
The save-for-actual-playoffs-move may happen for Gore again this week if
the game becomes a blow-out, which is the only downside to his tasty match-up
against Atlanta defense. With Kap,
Cutler and Dalton on the roster, the General seems undecided this week at this
point as to whom to send in behind the Center. The good news for the General is that they all have decent
matchups, with Kap throwing against ATL, Cutler against Philly and Dalton
against the Vikes. Cutler holds
the titration edge, with Marshall locked in as the number-one receiver, while
Kap’s matchup at home on MNF against not-so-Hot-lanta’s defense is also hard to
pass on. Whomever the general
sends in to the field this weekend will likely have a solid game. The actual weak-link of the roster is
probably the solid Carolina defense, who welcomes the Saints offense that held
this formidable unit to a mere 1.00pt two weeks ago at the Superdome. The General actually picked up Detroit
defense minutes after seemingly securing the win on Sunday, and their favorable
matchup against INT-throwing Eli and the Giants offense may be in for a
spell. With situations in QB and
DST positions, will the General stick with the horses that brought him here, or
will late-post-season pickups bring him the first PSAS crown? That is the million-dollar
question.
-TRIX -2.5
Consolation:
3rd place
game
(1)
SanFranciscoFerries vs (2)
GrossmanSachs
The regular season’s top two teams lost their respectable
2013 playoffs debut with a combined 4.68 pts. Both franchises are probably pretty down after missing
getting to the championship by a hair, and this third-place game is pretty
anti-climactic as a finish to two great seasons these teams had in 2013. The projection is fairly even and these
teams are pretty well-matched, with the bankerz holding the edge in QB and
receivers, while the Ferries strength all year has been their backfield. The loss of Gronk for the Ferries, who
went 2-5 overall in his absence this season, means the tight end battle between
Gates and Pitta are fairly even.
Expect a honorable match in which the Ferries look to get ahead first
while the bankerz try to catch up with Jeffery in SNF and S-Jax in MNF.
-GS even
 | |
| Fight for honor |
7th place
game
(7)
TakingTigerMountain vs (8) Tusken
Raiders
Unlike their counter-parts in the championship tournament,
the first-round byes of the consolation tourney took care of business in week15
to secure their spot in “the Other” Super Bowl. Of course if the morning dew had dropped on another leaf
either of these teams could have been in the real thing, but that’s
hypothetical speaking. The
projection (with TE adjustment) is fairly even, especially considering Charles
is ONLY given slightly less than twenty points running against Indy. Save for SF defense in MNF, the
Mountain players will all be done in the afternoon, while the Sand People have
Foles throwing in SNF. Unless the
Raiders build a substantial lead at the end of SNF, the Niner D against ATL can
clinch it for TTM with a strong showing on MNF against a vulnerable offense.
-TTM -2.5
9th place
game
(9) ThePelicanBrief vs
(10) AEthernauts
The AI in charge of the Legal Thrillers may have left the
building already with a pretty lady, keeping concussed Welker in charge of the
lineup. So save for major hiccups
by a solid lineup of the Space Travelers, the 10th seed will
officially finish as the 9th-placed team. Not to mention that they’ll be in the single-digit,
finishing in the odds in the playoffs generally mean that the team finished with
a good note in a win. That’s
something to build on for 2014.
-Nauts -8
Bye-standers
5th place:
Polk High Panthers
Al Bundy’s squad defeated Monique’s girlz handedly in week
15 to claim the fifth spot. They
end the 2013 on a good note. The
quest for Millie’s college fund will continue next year.
6th place:
Phat Girlz
The fat lady has left the building, keeping injured players
on the line-up in their 2013 finale.
Their thrilling ways were envy of the league this year. The queenz will surely be back in the PSAS
spotlights in 2014.
11th place: BldgDW3LL1NGTh1nk1ng
Romo and Dez are still at it deep, and the Chico Boyz
secured the 11th spot with a convincing win over the Mustard
Yellow. Some of the many
titrations backfired this year, but the Philosophers will be back in form again
next season.
12th
place: Dijonnaise All-Stars
The inaugural season for Colonel Mustard began with an
unlikely first-place two-game winning streak, but was up and down for the rest
of the year. With one full PSAS
season under the belt, the Grey Poupons will be more fearless next year.
13th place: HomeSpunNeckBloodz
Technically, the Bloodz and Stylez didn’t get to play a game
to decide the thirteenth place finish, but we all know who we’ll give that less
dishonorable award to. HSNB
started the season 3-0, including a win over eventual-top-seed Ferries in week
2, but went the next ten games 1-9.
Probably the season couldn’t end soon enough for the Bloodz and
mercifully they were exempt for the post-season misery. The nametag may call the team
differently (#bringbackVickskennel.com?
TimTebow15Tribute?), but this proud franchise will resurrect in
2014.
14th
place: Pr1m0rd14lLyfestylzâ
Sadly, this is the last time this year to satire against the
franchise so disgracefully fallen in 2013 to go winless. The last time to slightly be annoyed by
the lack of conversion of the registered-trademark sign from the iPad to Blogspot. Last time to secretly pray for the
reappearance of a shooting star.
Let’s hope, this is not F.O.R.E.V.E.R.
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