These next couple of weeks are going to be awesome in the SPFL! As I see it, only three teams are effectively eliminated from postseason contention, with three regular season games left to play. (Crossed fingers in the league offices that those three teams are going to stay engaged… right??? We have high standards in this league…)
In the Tommy Boy Division, the Moops opened up a little space at the top with their win over the Monkeys and lead the standings at 9-2. There was a little shuffle for second place, with the Bright 1s now holding a tiebreaker edge at the moment over the Monkeys, both at 8-3. Heath’s Heroes are sub .500 at 5-6, but right in the thick of the wild care race with their big point total. Megatron and the Midgets bring up the rear at 4-7 and 2-9, respectively.
In the Matt Foley Division, the Lightning lead at 8-3 with the Turtles a game back at 7-4. The Bull Rings lurk at 6-5, and the Piranha Brothers are only another game back at 5-6. The Corn, at 3-8 with 1336 points, are still mathematically alive, while the No Names are 1-10 and still glowing from their first win a week ago.
Should the playoffs start today it would be (1) Moops; (2) Lightning; (3) Bright 1s; (4) Turtles; (5) Monkeys, 1422 points; and (6) Heroes, 1410 points. The Piranha Brothers are only 60 points back while the aforementioned Corn is 74 points back. The Bull Rings are 80 points back, but could throw a monkey wrench into things should they make it to second place (or even first?) in the Matt Foley Division, pushing the Turtles 1543 point total into the wild card race. Heck, I’ve not looked at the matchups, but the Piranha Brothers could even claw into an automatic slot, by virtue of W/L totals in that division. Just a big game from one of your starters can give you a push up the total point standings. Pick your lineups carefully!
RECAP – We kind of had some ugly blowouts and poor overall scoring, but it was some important outcomes nevertheless…
Moops 158 – Monkeys 109: The Moops picked up a big TB win, thanks to Davante Adams (33) and Amari Cooper (31). This game was a see-saw battle until late in the weekend. The Monkeys were led by Tee Higgins (23) and the Dak Attack (22).
Brothers 129 – Names 96: The Brothers eased on to a W, led by HOFer in Waiting, Travis Kelce (35) and David Montgomery (22), while the Names were led, once again, by King Henry (28) and Marcus Mariota (19).
Broncos Country? Let’s Ride!
The Ride: …
1s 119 – Midgets 86: The 1s picked up an ugly win, led by the Ravens D (28) and Jalen Hurts (23). The Midgets flirted with making a run at win #3 of the year, but fell short, despite the Sun God (15) and James Conner (14).
Rings 115 — Turtles 96: This could be a big win for the Bull Rings … or it could prove to be meaningless. The next few games will tell. Led by Chris Olave (23) and Lamar Jackson (17), the Rings went above .500 while the Turtles suffered their second loss in a row, at least partially due to having to post an empty starting slot due to injuries and lackadaisical bye management. Jamaal Williams (26) and Austin Ekeler (19) led the Tennessee effort.
Megatron 153 – Heroes 65: Too little, too late, season-wise for Megatron, but they opened up a can on Heath’s Heroes, led by Patrick Mahomes (27) and George Kittle (24). Wow! When you throw out fantasy PED accusations, you’d better have a showing like that! (See Yahoo message board for details. It should be noted, the Moops haven’t won the title in what, 5 or 6 years?? Still, appreciate the compliment/accusation, LOL!)
The Heroes were led by Donovan Peoples-Jones (17) and Josh Allen (12), the only double figure scorers this week. It was just a flukey week for Heath and his heroes, there was no mismanagement involved, just poor alignment in the stars.
Lightning 201 – Corn 98: Okay, now this was really unnecessary. One might have been asking, which team was the unfortunate one to lose Cooper Kupp? Gulp, we all say collectively as a league, for it was the Greased Lightning, winning their sixth game in a row, and owners of a 200-burger, led by Tony Pollard (40) and the Patriots D (30). Yikes. The Corn’s 98 points would have triumphed over four other teams this week, but was just flushed down the loo by the Lightning, despite Najee Harris (29) and Justin Fields (25) stellar outings.
Next Week:
- Moops/Heroes – Pretty big game
- Names/Corn – The Corn needs points
- Midgets/Monkeys – Trap game for the Monkeys?
- Turtles/Lightning – Game of the Week. Bring on Romo and Nantz
- 1s/Megatron – Throw out the records when these two square off
- Rings/Brothers – Game of the Week Vol 2. Bring on Joe and Troy
League Dues: So, I’m down to one outstanding league due. One team was covered by another team earlier this week, so I’m assuming that will be collected by the sponsor. Who remains? Some of you are probably trying to remember now, “did I actually pay already?”. Relax, I think we could all guess from previous years who it might be, so I won’t call out specific names. Let’s just say, this team’s logo may be on some menus tomorrow at Thanksgiving … and surely will make a second appearance on Friday.
I’m going to close it up with that. I hope that you all have a blessed, safe, and happy Thanksgiving. Try to apply the holiday theme to your frame of mind, it’s good for the soul. Enjoy the football and best of luck!
The Commish