Week 13 Previews with Sun Tzu (text only edition)

It's here, the final week of the fantasy regular season.  The expansion season saw the craziest playoffs race get to the final week with only one team punching hole to their big-dance ticket.  SanFranciscoFerries have won eight straight to capture the play-offs first-round bye.  The other five spots are battled among the eight 7-win teams, with six of them going head-to-head against each other.  It plays out so that all 7-win teams will get in with a win, and a loss will end their seasons unless BDT or HSNB can knock off their respective 7-win opponents.  Trichs, Grossman and Tiger are the closest to the second and last first-round bye, but they all need a win to even get to the playoffs.  It's that tight this year.
*Because Sun Tzu is on the road, his previews only contains text this week.

(1) SanFranciscoFerries (8-4) vs (14) Pr1m0rdi4lLyfestylz (0-12)
After not pausing for eight straight weeks, the Ferries finally get to chill and ride their top-rankingz into week 13 stylez treatment.  Stylez will complete the worst regular season of the PSAS history.

The Ferries were the only seven win team to win in week 12, and as such clinched not only the playoffs but virtually the coveted first-round bye as the rest of the bye-hopefuls all stalled.  They did so in style, becoming the first team to score over 170 in PSAS history.  It was another beautiful all-around good game in which only one player (a LB) scored below five.  Two running backs in Lacy and Moreno went over 20, and Rivers in Wilson's bye threw well enough against KC defense to put him back in contention for the starting gig for the fantasy playoffs.  The bonanza also put them atop the points category.  This week, the Boatmen get a well-deserved stylez treatment.  So enjoy the holiday with your family, my man, you deserve it, and come back in two weeks.

At least the scheduling g0dz made it so that the stylez' freebie doesn't impact the maddening finish to the playoffs race.  The loss in week 12 made it an incredible 20 regular season games in a row that the Pr1modial Onez have lost; their names will be etched in history book forever.

-SFF -27

(t-2) Trichotillomaniacs (7-5) vs (t-6) Phat Girlz (7-5)
The first of three matches between two 7-5 teams will see franchises with history between each other go head-to-head.  This battle will be fought to the bones.

The Trichs got their scoring back in the week 12 dismantling of Polk High thanks to decent games by Kap, Marshall and MJD.  The General cashed in on a rare MJD retro performance because of the uncertainty with Ridley, who was rightly left on the Far East bench.  He fumbled yet again and wasn't on the field afterwards, so the General escaped another late-evening disaster with Eric Decker getting just 0.9pts on the opposite sideline in frigid Foxboro.  Zac Stacy was on his way to another monster game with a TD under the belt and his Rams up big against poor run defense of the Bears, but he was concussed and left half of his meal on the table.  Julius Thomas was a game-time scratch on Sunday Night Game, but the Far East Side utilized the depth and had Greg Olsen start at TE.  The move paid off when Olsen caught the game winning touchdown for the other Panthers.  Of course the Far East Brigade dealt with the mishaps well during week 12, but it leaves matters to deal with in crucial week 13.  Julius Thomas looks set to come back, but Stacy's status is pretty up in the air and Ridley may be in the Belichik dog house for good for his repeated offense.  With Gore also coming off a sub-par performance, the backfield for the General looks pretty shaky for the first time this season.  It looks like super-stash Crabtree is making a debut this week, but his performance is as unreliable as an MJD retro-performance redux.  Tough decisive week to wrap up the regular season with the post-season on the line, but at least they are the closest team to the second bye if they can hold off the Girlz.

In the hindsight, the Girlz only needed to beat the expansion Goslings in week 12 to clinch the playoffs.  The Baby Birds wouldn't buck down, and instead they bitch slapped Monique.  In the loss, points didn't really come from anywhere in another Sproles' absence, with only three players in double digits.  At least one of them was D-Bowe, who seems the kind of player that needs his ass or tokes on fire to perform well.  Now the Girlz are in a tough spot in needing a win over the Trix, who is second in scoring so far this season.  The Girlz themselves have the bottom five scoring offense, so they are lucky that they are still in control of their post-season destination with a win here.  Sproles seems to be coming back to a tough matchup against Seattle on MNF to help the rest of the backfield with Tate and Miller both dealing with their shares of issues, though at least Miller's carry will increase with Daniel Thomas out.  Stafford will try to put the Girlz on the right track on Turkey Day with a strong early performance.  Teams playing Monique have a way of lowballing against her this season, so amazingly Monique is still in this and it's pretty much a coin-toss for the Girlz.

-Trix -3.5

(t-2) ThePelicanBrief (7-5) vs (12) BldgDW3LL1NGTh1nk1ng (5-7)
The Grishamites will be involved in their own thriller against BDT with their playoffs chance on the line.  The league is watching this one closely with a major playoffs implication,

The Pelican went for the clinch last week against the bankerz but couldn't overcome the surging Comish's troops despite Brady beating Manning in head-to-head match in real and fantasy football.  The Legal Thrillers went two TE and both scored in the double digits, but that wasn't enough to cover for the Cleveland defense scoring a fat goose egg in Seattle D fill-in.  The titration here is getting difficult to get it right, with Hakeem Nicks disappointing in contract year and a so-so backfield that's hard to predict.  At least Brady's numbers are back up again and he faces porous Texans defense, so a big game can be be expected out of him.  The obvious stars like Brady, V. Davis and Welker need to align and have solid games against last year's runner-up BDT for the Brief to get the thrill going beyond this week.

The Chico Boyz enjoyed the stylez treatment in week 12 while leaving a kicker and two IDPs on bye in the lineup.  In the end it was a W, but they didn't really cover the spread.  This week, all eyez are on the Philosophers as they face the Grishamites hoping to set their foot in the playoffs.  If the Boyz can knock the Thrillers out of the race, it opens some doors for the 7-5 teams that may lose in week 13.  As always, their charge will start with Romo and Dez playing on ritual Thanksgiving Day against irrelevant Oakland.  Ray Rice will also play Thursday night, so the Boyz hope for an early jump start on Turkey Day.  The Ivory situation needs some attention, as his status is pretty uncertain this week.  Per Yahoo projection, this one will be close, and with nothing to lose here unlike the Brief who's got everything on the line, the advantage is actually in the Boyz' hands.  

-BDT even
 
(t-2) GrossmanSachs (7-5) vs (13) HomeSpunNeckBloodz (4-8)
Champion Bloodz try to stop the Bankerz come-back season in a final-week showdown between two rivals.

Grossman is pretty much where they want to be after a season full of hiccups, with needing only a win over the thirteenth-ranked team to get to the dance.  Of course that thirteenth-ranked team is last year's champ Bloodz, so it's no cake-walk here.  As seen in week 12 win in which 6 players scored in double figures including Gordon's 30plus pts, the bankerz got the depth and firepower to beat any team.  The only hint of shadow for Commish is that TE Gates is finally showing some wear and tear in getting slowed down and surrendering some catches to younger Charger tight ends.  Hard to see too many of the players on the lineup flopping at once, but then luck hasn't really been on their side this season, so you never know with the Sachs.  But then they are also in a unique situation, because of their tie-break advantage, that they may get in to the playoffs even with a loss here.  With a strong offense that's blossomed of late, they are also in striking distance of the first-round bye spot if they can handle the spinnerz.

The Bloodz once again can play the perfect spoiler if they can knock out the bankerz here and give some hope to other teams.  Of course the way they played against the Mountain in week 12 doesn't give the rest of the league much reasons for hope.  It's just been tough for the spinnerz since Cutler went down as they've had to rely on Houston's pass offense, which is like 19% of offense under Coach Kubiak, to give them points.  The backfield beyond Forte is also on shaky grounds with a bunch of time-share backs making the titration that much harder to get right.  Still, if things click they can beat contenders, evidenced by the raucous they made against the Trichs in week 9 and the scare they handed Monique in week 11.

-GS -6

(5) TakingTigerMountain (7-5) vs (t-6) The Goslings (7-5)
The second of head-to-head 7-5 match-ups will be played down to the wire with the Mountain's Saints duo playing in MNF.  The original projection has the Mountain up by 17pts, but this one will be closer than that with the winner undisputedly getting to the dance.

The Mountain erupted in the week 12 manhandling of the Bloodz with 8 players in double figures, including Von Miller with whopping 20plus pts from the IDP position.  Brees-Graham connected yet again, and the duo is probably a unanimous Double-Titration of the Year award winner of 2013.  It's hard to find any weaknesses in this line-up, with Vereen staying out of the fumbling plague that's infested the Pats backfield providing good late-season lift for the Mountain backfield.  The matchup this week is not ideal for the Mountain Men, with Brees and Co facing ferocious Seattle defense on MNF.  The Mountain will still be favored to win in this heads-up, but the alarm is sounding loud here.

The Gosllings' inaugural quest continues with their handling of the Girlz in week 12.  It wasn't splashy, but then that hasn't really been their style all season.  The Baby Geese are all about the results, and they look to get a big result here in week 13 against contending Tigers.  The Goose got some points from the Rams with Austin shredding through Chicago defense early and IDP Quinn getting a TD.  But that was pretty much the bulk of the Goslings' offense.  Luck once again disappointed, despite being in a fantasy sweetspot of being down big and having a green-light to unleash.  This offense rise and fall with Luck, and he needs to lead this team with a strong showing against a decent Tennessee defense.  It's hard to imagine a Tavon repeat against strong 49ers defense in this intriguing counter-titration matchup.  

-TTM -3.5

(t-6) Polk High Panthers (7-5) vs (t-6) Tusken Raiders (7-5)
The third 7-5 match of the week feature two teams that have stalled of late.  PHP and TR were 6-1 and 5-2 respectively at the mid-point of the season.  In their last five game, they've combined for 3-7.  The Raiders are coming off a win, but the last time the Panthers saw W was in week 8, over a month ago.  Of course all parts of the season count the same, so the winner here will be rewarded for their early-season success and get to the dance.

The Panthers couldn't really do much against the Trichs in week 12 with Megatron being held to earthly 11.5 pts and rolling the dice at the flex spot on a tight end that was inactive on MNF.  They were dealing with their last wave of bye players including AJ and Law Firm, so Bundy is happy to have them back.  The offense here needs some boost, and looks like R-Burger is taking the snaps now, which makes sense with the way things are going in Atlanta.  Both Ben and Megatron will play on Thursday, so strong games by them will set the tone for the final push for the playoffs in week 13.

The Sand People were happy to pick up a win over the Mustard Yellow in week 12's Philly bye.  QB RGIII and the Tusken wide receivers combined for 5.2 pts, and if it wasn't for the strong backfield performance with Charles and Woodhead combing for over 53 pts, their season could be over last week.  They'll get Foles and D-Jax back this week, so the aerial attack should get a major boost, although Arizona's defense is mimicking the other NFC West defenses and has been pretty stellar lately.  The backfield will perform, but the season may very well come down to how the Philly duo
handle themselves.  This will be another close match.

-TR even

(10) Dijonnaise All-Stars (6-6) vs (11) AEthernauts (5-7)
These two are sort of like being in a fight outside the barn-fence.  The wrap-up to well-fought 2013 seasons for these two teams will be an irrelevant lame-duck match unfortunately, though mathematically the Mustards have a very impossible chance of making the playoffs with a win.

The Colonel's troops couldn't defeat the Tusken Raiders in what was essentially a must-win game.  Fitz finally had a nice game with two TDs, but that wasn't really enough to keep their season alive.  The struggle for the Mustard Yellow coincided with the start of struggle for the Yellow receivers such as Cruz and Fitz, and that was once again the demise in week 12 as Cruz's presence was pretty close to nill.  They look to end their rookie season above .500, a very commendable result, with a win over the Nauts this week.  They need the G-men double-titration to show up against the Nauts own fearful Cam-Smith titration.

The Space Travelers were double-scored by the Ferries in a salt-to-injury kind of a loss in week 12.  Cam and the backfield played pretty good, but that was it.  Even the reliable-so-far KC defense gave up and scored in the negatives.   The Nauts will welcome Lynch-Mob back from bye, and look to finish this 2013 regular season on a positive note with a win over the Yellow Mustard.

-Nauts -2.5