... but is that the kiss of death? We'll find out soon enough, because the final playoff team just might need to win out to qualify
Tirades owner Ron Hender gambled on a trade for WR A.J. Brown (11, above) and the league's top-scoring TE Brock Bowers, hoping they'd point the team to a playoff berth.
The first of two bye-pocolypses (six teams on bye week) has arrived with a second six-team bye week looming in two more weeks. A couple of managers still don’t realize (as of Thursday morning) they can’t even field a starting lineup this week. Stay tuned.
The pointy-headed stat geeks at ESPN do not agree with me, but I am going out on a limb to predict RonHender’s Tirades are the team to beat for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Just look at what lies ahead for him – three straight matchups against Shitty Division teams with losing records (a combined win/loss record of 11-22) before closing with the division-leading Band Aids. If he can’t close out the deal before Week 15, then he might be screwed, out of two of his top three draft picks next year, and bitter beyond belief (and slightly beyond normal, but that's pretty much the same thing).
Four teams are tied with the Tirades for the fourth and final playoff spot (all with 5-6 records) and a sixth team, the 4-7 Gerbils, still loom one game back of that logjam but likely is nothing more than a spoiler at this point.
But, dear readers, remember this is still a points league and the team with the inside track to advance based on points is still the Spread Beaters, who have a commanding 77-point scoring edge over Jordan’s WTNE. The Tirades trail both of those teams if it comes down to an end-of-season tiebreaker to advance.
ESPN still gives the statistical nod to Matt Pringle with a 37-percent chance to advance to the money round, followed by WTNE at 25 percent, the Tirades at 24 percent, the Invaiders at 18 percent and Who Dey at 14 percent.
But the schedule looks kind to Ron and he improved his odds as he swung another deal this week with the Gerbils to improve the receiver room as he upgrades at WR and TE by inking WR A.J. Brown of the Eagles and TE Brock Bowers of the Raiders, sending a third-rounder to Chuck along with WR Jayden Reed of the Packers and disappointing TE Kyle Pitts of Atlanta.
The Tirades close with Matty’s Who Dey this week, the Gerbils, Jeff’s Packers and Garcia’s Band Aids. Pringle, however, has a much-tougher gauntlet to run as he has two games with the 7-4 Rangers, including this week’s featured spotlight, the Invaiders and those Band Aids.
Pringle probably has to win three of four, maybe sweep all four to advance.
Jordan’s WTNE, the Invaiders and Who Dey — the last three teams in that logjam at 5-6 — all close with challenging schedules starting with WTNE and the Invaiders facing off this week with the loser of that game likely done for the season and open to trade offers before the next lineup-crippling bye week. Jordan then plays the division-leading Recliners, Who Dey and the Packers. The Invaiders, if they survive this week, then face the Rangers, the Spread Beaters and Who Dey. Who Dey closes with Hender, the Packers, WTNE and the Invaiders.
The Week Ahead
The NFL starts the week Thursday with two bitter rivals — the Steelers travel to the Dog Pound to take on the Browns. The week of play wraps with the Ravens taking on the Chargers in SoFi Stadium on Monday night.
Six teams take a powder this week and will gut several starting lineups in this playoff push. Off this week are Atlanta, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New Orleans and the N.Y. Jets. The next big batch of byes come in Week 14 (Baltimore, Denver, Houston, Indianapolis, New England and Washington).
And, remember, next week we have a slate of three games set for Thanksgiving Day — the Bears and Lions kick off at 9:30 a.m. (all times PST), the Giants visit the Cowboys at 1:30 p.m., and the Dolphins visit Lambeau Field at 5:20. One Black Friday game (Raiders at the Chiefs) kicks off at noon Friday of the Thanksgiving weekend. Adjust accordingly, as your playoff life may depend on staying on top of the schedule.
Here's a look at the week twelve matchups.
Game of the Week
Rangers (7-4) vs Spread Beaters (5-6), Beaters favored by 15: The bulk of John’s roster is on vacation this week, and Pringle looks ready to pounce on the 30 points a week the Rangers lose (and two remaining starters, Mike Evans and George Kittle, are still carrying a questionable tag as of this writing). And the stakes for a win could not be higher for the Beaters. A loss now and it could be “fire sale” season in Santa Monica. The Beaters get the statistical nod at four positions, and John gets the advantage at three. The Beater RBs (Derrick Henry and Brian Robinson Jr.) look like the pivot point in this game against Kyren Williams against the Eagles and Austin Ekeler. The Beaters also get the edge at TE in Travis Kelce and flex RB J.K. Dobbins. John gets the edge with Mike Evans’ return from an injury and with the Pittsburgh defense at Cleveland tonight. Take the Beaters by 10.
The Close Ones?
Recliners (10-1) vs Gerbils (4-7), Recliners favored by 9: The bye schedule kicks Chris’ lineup in the nuts this week (he loses an average of 24 points from WR Garrett Wilson and RB Bijan Robinson) and Chuck may be in a position to take advantage. He had a 1-point betting edge before he traded two starters away to the Tirades. The stats geeks gave the positional edge to Chuck with four starters and to Chris with four starters before the trade with the Tirades wraps up. The Gerbils get the nod at RB2 but will lose ground with Jayden Reed swapping into A.J. Brown’s slot and he currently has no starting tight end this week. Chris gets the nod at QB with the Chargers, RB Joe Mixon, WR Courtland Sutton and the Texans defense. Take the Recliners by 5.
Band Aids (7-4) vs Packers (2-9), Band Aids favored by 8: The Bob Squad is heavily favored in this one and was a candidate for potential blowout of the week. ESPN favors the Band Aids at QB (Lamar Jackson), RB Kareem Hunt, flex RB Josh Jacobs and the kicker (Chase McLaughlin of Tampa Bay). Jeff gets the edge at tight end (George Kittle) and the Broncos defense at the Raiders. Unless the Broncos blank Las Vegas and run in a few touchdowns, Bob should cruise to victory. Take the Band Aids by 10.
Invaiders (5-6) vs WTNE (5-6), pick ‘em. Whoever finds the endzone in this one wins. Jordan loses two potential starters (Joe Burrows and Alvin Kamara) to the bye. The running back edge leans heavily Jordan’s way as Saquon Barkley plays against the Rams and Rachaad White gets the start against the New York Giants. Both probably find paydirt and carry WTNE to the win, and the Invaiders move to the “Let’s Make a Deal” table ahead of the November 29 trade deadline. Jordan’s backup QB (Jayden Daniels of Washington) also gets the stat edge over Vern’s Brock Purdy at Lambeau Field (the first snow bowl of the season?). Vern still may swap Denver QB Bo Nix in as a starter as he takes on the Raiders. WTNE also gets the edge at tight end (Trey McBride). Take WTNE (with a shot of whiskey) and 5.
The Blowout?
Who Dey (5-6) vs Tirades (5-6), Tirades favored by nearly 30: The line on this one will move dramatically once Matty realizes he still has two starters on bye this week (TE Taysom Hill and his flex James Cook). He has the option of subbing in Isaiah Likely at TE (+5 points) and WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba at flex (+8 points). Matty will still need a lot to go his way (Matthew Stafford will need another 4 TDs against Philly and RB Raheem Mostert and D’Andre Swift will need monster games). ESPN heavily favors the Tirades (we can hear you gulping in panic, Ron) in this one. He gets the nod at QB with Baker Mayfield of Tampa, both RBs (Christian McCaffrey and David Montgomery), TE (he likely inserts Bowers for T.J. Hockenson) and flex RB Aaron Jones. WR A.J. Brown likely gets swapped into Jerry Jeudy’s current starting spot. This one could get ugly quickly. Take the Tirades by 20.
Comments