So what, do I not get any props for being 4-0 in my quarterfinal picks? Fuck yeah, all four teams I projected to advanced, did. Now I know you’re just dying to hear what I have to say about the semifinals
2016 RECORD – Jeff: 12-2, Robio: 7-7 | 2016 SCORING – Jeff: 1st, Robio: 10th JEFF CAREER PLAYOFF: 1-3 overall, 1-3 in quarters, 0-0 in semis, 0-0 in finals ROBIO CAREER PLAYOFF: 22-7 overall, 11-1 in quarters, 7-1 in semis, 4-3 in finals 1-SEED IN PLAYOFFS: 25-13 (4 titles, 3 runner ups) 6-SEED IN PLAYOFFS: 9-16 (two runner ups)
JEFF/ROBIO THIS SEASON: Jeff and I met back in week eleven. At the time, he was flying high as a one-loss team, while I entered the game with a six-game losing streak. Yet, CBS had me as the favorite. Yep, it’s just that kind of season. Anyhow, I made CBS looked super smart, whipping Jeff, 1,587 – 1,070.
I relied on two performances from a pair of Redskins. Kirk Cousins finished with 418, while Rob Kelley rumbled for 454. They accounted for 54.9% of my points, as Greg Olsen struggled (66 points), as did Allen Robinson (96).
Jeff managed to get a pair of 200-point efforts. Rishard Matthews finished with a team high 244, while Drew Brees had 220. Three of Jeff’s players (Snead, Walker, Gostkowski) finished with under 100, LeSean McCoy only had 150 after leaving the game early, while Jeremy Hill proved to not be a suitable replacement for Gordon, scoring just 126.
JEFF/ROBIO HISTORY: I lead the all-time series, 6-5. I’ve taken three of the last four, including…
JEFF/ROBIO PLAYOFF HISTORY: Jeff and I have faced off once in the post-season. Back in 2013, I was the top seed (and top scorer), Jeff was just happy to be there. It wasn’t even close, as I eliminated Greenblatt from the playoffs, 1,409 – 871.
DEEP THOUGHTS:
Over the last month, Jeff has been an inconsistent mess. He’s twice put up amazing numbers, but twice he has flopped. Last week in the quarterfinals, his team flopped by putting up 905 points, but still found a way to win. He can’t afford to try that kind of luck again.
It’s becoming clear that Jeff will be without Melvin Gordon. That’s a huge loss, but Jeremy Hill should be able to fill some of his shoes. With no Gio Bernard, Hill has RB1 written all over him.
At wide receiver, Jeff had a lot of decisions to make, as he can rotate four different guys in (Snead, Stills, Matthews and Jackson). Matthews has a tough outing ahead of him, but so does Snead and Stills is without his starting quarterback. At least Jackson has been healthy and playing better and he faces a poor Carolina’s pass defense.
For Jeff, two things will decide his fate. Drew Brees and his Ravens connection. The former has been horrible lately and traveling out to Arizona ain’t going to help things. If he throws zero touchdowns to three interceptions for a third straight game, Jeff is toast.
Fun fact: I have Drew Brees as my quarterback in another league. This won’t be fun.
Jeff decided to roll with a pair of Ravens at RB2 and DST. Dixon is the new man in Baltimore, but so far, that hasn’t delivered too much. He has yet to rush for 100 yards this season, he’s never totaled 100 yards in a game and he just scored his first touchdown this past Monday.
At defense, I love the Ravens as a starting DST. You know, they’re pissed off at what happened in New England and the Eagles, who just want this season to end, won’t put up much of a fight on the road.
Then there is me. I’m the jackass that has to make a ton of decisions right now and I’m a firm believer that decisions cost you games. At quarterback, do I do Kirk Cousins at home vs Carolina or do I go Philip Rivers at home vs the Raiders? Both foes are favorable, but I’ll probably stick with the hot hand of Cousins.
At RB, I won’t touch Hyde, especially against the Falcons, but do I bench Ware for Kelley? Both face tough runs defenses. Ware has been my starter all season, but he’s been so average lately. But do I really want to put my season in the hands of two Redskins?
At wide receiver, Jordy Nelson is safe. However, I have to bench Allen Robinson, right? He fucking blows. I’m putting in Ty Montgomery, who is one of the great mysteries in life. It is impossible to know how the Packers will use him on any given week. It also means two Packers.
Lastly, I have never benched the Broncos DST, but with New England coming to town, it might be the time to do it.
WORTHLESS PREDICTION: I’m sticking with my original pick and going with the upset.
FINAL SCORE: Robio, 1,330 – 1,242
2016 RECORD – Rich C: 10-4, Bob: 9-5 | 2016 SCORING – Rich C: 1st, Bob: 10th RICH C CAREER PLAYOFF: 9-8 overall, 6-4 in quarters, 2-3 in semis, 1-1 in finals BOB CAREER PLAYOFF: 17-7 overall, 9-2 in quarters, 4-5 in semis, 4-0 in finals 2-SEED IN PLAYOFFS: 18-14 (four titles, one runner-up) 5-SEED IN PLAYOFFS: 19-16 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)
RICH C/BOB THIS SEASON: Back in week 11, (7-3) Rich took on (6-4) Bob and it proved to not even be a contest. Calderon walked away with a 1,700 – 1,222 victory. Of course, he was led by his backfield. Bell and Murray combined to score 826 points. While no one else hit 200, Matt Ryan (188) and A.J. Green (196) were good enough.
Bob got 370 from Aaron Rodgers, in a game where he threw 51 passes. Julio Jones also stepped up with 270, but Brandon Marshall (30), Randall Cobb (62) and the Chargers DST (62) were basically no shows.
RICH C/BOB HISTORY: Calderon’s victory this season ended a three-game slide to Bob. Overall, these two are tied in the series, 9-9.
RICH C/BOB PLAYOFF HISTORY: As Calderon and Bob are both often invited to the post-season party, it should come as no surprise that these two have faced off four times in the playoff, although oddly enough, only in the quarterfinals. The first time was a long tim ago. Back in 2004, 4-seed Calderon lost to 2-seed, Bob, 1,239 – 965.
Then starting in 2012, Rich and Bob would face off in three straight post-seasons. In 2012, 7-seed Bob pulled off the stunner in the quarterfinals, taking down 2-seed Calderon, 1,894 – 1,249. Bob would fall to me the following week.
A year later though, Rich got his payback. Again as the 2-seed, this time Calderon crushed Bob 1,798 – 1,182 in the quarterfinals. Two weeks later and Rich was our champion.
Then in 2014, Bob got his own revenge on Rich’s revenge. Again, in the quarterfinals, Bob owned Calderon, 2,333 – 1,171. The 1,162-point margin of victory remains the 11th biggest ass-kicking ever. Oddly enough, early that season, Bob beat Rich by 1,529, which is the second biggest ass-kicking in league history. Anyhow, Bob went on to win the championship in 2014, which means the winner of Bob/Rich C’s playoff games has won the title in three out of the four times.
DEEP THOUGHTS: To talk about the exciting matchup between Calderon and Castrone, we have to take a walk back to 2015, because their late-season trade made last year is looming large in 2016.
If you remember, Bob shipped off the injured Le’Veon Bell for a broken down Dez Bryant, who made zero impact on Bob’s 2016 team. Now things have come full circle, as Bob gets to face his former player, who is arguable the best player right now in fantasy football. Of course, Bob is not completely wiped out from that trade. You’ll recall, he traded Bell because he was going to keep Todd Gurley. Of course, the Rams running back has been a mini-bust this year, but Bob managed to ship him off to Neatock for Julio Jones. Yet, Jones is dealing with a toe injury. He didn’t play last week and there is no guarantee as of this writing that he’ll play this coming Sunday.
This is huge, because even if Julio plays, how good can a wide receiver be with a toe injury? Yet, the toe is not the only small appendix fucking with Bob. Michael Crabtree has a finger injury and is questionable heading into Sunday.
If Bob is healthy and that will remain a big if, he could be in a good spot to pull off the upset, because he really couldn’t have asked for better match ups this week. Aaron Rodgers vs the Bears defense. Cakewalk. Lamar Miller vs the Jaguars defense. No problem. Crabtree vs the Chargers. Really? Julio Jones vs the 49ers. Come on, could this shit get any easier?
On top of that, he just out roto’d the roto-master (Calderon) by picking up the Bills DST, facing the awful Browns offense.
Still, Bob’s opponent is Calderon, who gets to cart out the league’s top running back duo. who are averaging a stunning 640 fantasy points per game. Also, Matt Ryan should have a field day at home against the lowly 49ers. Seattle and Doug Baldwin have struggled against the Rams in the past, but that team has clearly thrown in the towel.
For Rich, it’s all about the decisions he has to make. The Falcons DST seems like a decent bet at home against those 49ers. Benching Kelvin Benjamin also seems like a wise move, especially since Dontrelle Inman has played so well lately (652 points in his last three). The X-factor could be at the tight end spot. Ladarius Green had his monster game two weeks ago, producing 280 fantasy points, but regressed with just two catches the following week. Still, he was targets six times (17 times over the last two weeks), so Big Ben is still looking for him.
WORTHLESS PREDICTION: At full strength, I might be willing to throw Bob an upset bone, but if Jones is out or playing hurt, I just don’t see the Dicks going down. I expect another 800 from Rich’s backfield and look for Matt Ryan to outscore them both.
FINAL SCORE: 1,644 – 1,332
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