Week 15
- James Wilson
- Dec 18, 2024
- 7 min read
WAIT WHAT, THE NOTES ARE RELEASED ON A WEDENSEDAY?!?!?
Before we get started I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! It is amazing how fast the year flies by and I hope each of you get to spend time with Family and Friends. And to honor the amazing Christmas spirit I wanted to share this amazing song with you:
Before we get to the discussion of the Playoff semifinals I thought I would share a few stats:
Highest Scoring Week of 2024: Brent W with 152 points in Week 11 vs. Aaron. 152 points is tied for 7th for highest scoring week of all time.
Highest Scoring Week in League History: 184 Points by Jeff in Week 12 of 2020.
Lowest Scoring Week of 2024: 43 points by Brent Cozart in Week 3. Ironically Brent Cozart also had the second lowest scoring week of 2024 with 47 points in Week 10. Lowest scoring week in League history is 33 points done three times (ironically Brent W was involved in all 3):
AJ in Week 13 of 2008
AJ in Week 9 of 2013
Brent W in Week 14 of 2018
2024 Most Points Scored in Regular Season: 1551 Jeff. This is the 5th highest regular season scoring point total (all years).
2024 Least Points Scored in Regular Season: 1,186 Brent C. Removing 2001 when there were different scoring rules. Accounting for points per game (due to adding Week 15) Brent C's season was the 18th worst with 79.1 points per game. The worst season was (as Umphlett said on text) Brandon's 2009 season when he was winless and averaged 69.1 points per game. He was 0-14. Damn.
2024 Most Points Against: Brent Cozart 1582/105.5 Average. This is the second highest per game average total in league history. The highest was me in 2013 with 107.4 average points against. Which was just an absolute unfair year. That was when I had Peyton Manning throwing touchdown passes left and right.
2024 Least Points Against: Umphlett with 1336 points. This was tied for the 66th lowest in league history. If you remember we had a poll in Week 7 on where Umphlett's final point total would end up. After the first 6 weeks of the season he was at 67.1 average points against which was just unreal. The lowest in league history was 77.4 which was AJ in 2016. What were the poll results?
And where did Umphlett end up? 89.1 points against. Which is what I voted for. Because obviously I am The Commish. I do math.
Speaking of Polls, lets take a look at a few other polls from previous Notes.
Week 5 Poll:
Drake Maye finished #23 in total Fantasy Points with 150. I was a little ambitious.
Week 8 Poll:
I am going to guess that someone of you are going to change your votes now that you know who officially is in the Playoffs.
Week 10 Poll:
I nailed this one. CeeDee Lamb had an eventful season, but he finished the regular season with the 6th most fantasy points (142). Tyreek Hill finished with 108 (and that's after finishing with 34 Fantasy Points over the past 3 weeks).
Top 5 Highest Scoring WRs?
Ja'Marr Chase: 227 Points
Justin Jefferson: 166 Points
Amon-Ra St. Brown: 165 Points
Terry McLaurin: 156 Points
Brian Thomas Jr: 143 Points (you are a thief Aaron)
Compare that to the top 5 Highest Scoring RBs:
Saquon Barkley: 265 Points
Derrick Henry: 235 Points
Jahmyr Gibbs: 215 Points
Josh Jacobs: 209 Points
Bijan Robinson: 195 Points
And there are 7 other Running Backs that scored more than 166 points. 13 Running Backs scored more than the 2nd highest scoring WR.
2024 is the year of the Running Back.
Week 13 Poll:
Look at that. Another poll I nailed. I am on fire.
Let's get to the semifinal previews...
Kayak Pirates
14th Playoff Appearance (League Record)
Semifinal Record: 3-10
Last Playoffs Appearance: 2023
The Commish
13th Playoff Appearance
Semifinal Record: 9-3
Last Playoff Appearance: 2021
Jeff has been in first place for weeks and I just slid into the last Playoff spot.
MVP
Kayak Pirates: Derrick Henry has been an absolute force all year and had scored in double digit fanasy points every single game all year - except last week. He has score 15 rushing touchdowns and has been the #2 player in Fantasy all year. Going against the Steelers defense is never easy, but Henry has been an absolute Fantasy MVP all year.
The Commish: Jahmyr Gibbs is the Sonic portion of the Sonic and Knuckles tag team. But Jahmyr's tag team partner is down injured. Sonic has scored double digit fantasy points 8 of the last 9 games, but with the backfield all to himself can he step up and be THE MVP for the Fantasy Playoffs?
Unsung Hero:
Kayak Pirates: George Kittle has been the #1 Tight End in fantasy (15 points ahead of Brock Bowers). He has been a difference maker for the Kayak Pirates, but has slowed down recently over the last three weeks (although weather was a factor). Against the Dolphins can he break out and get a double digit scoring week?
The Commish: Terry McLaurin was a 5th round draft pick with a huge pedigree. He has found a way to get 1,000 yards receiving year after year after year. With 969 receiving yards he is on pace to do that again, but this year there is a big difference: he is scoring touchdowns. He has 11 touchdowns already which is career high. Prior to this year the most receiving touchdowns he had was 7 in 2019, outside of that it was 5. He has a difficult matchup against the Eagles, but he has been as hot as any player in the NFL the past few weeks. Can he keep it up?
X Factor:
Kayak Pirates: Garrett Wilson was an absolute dominator the last time he faced the Commish with two touchdowns, one of which was quite frankly amazing. It was the highest scoring output he had all season (21 points). Can he do it again vs. The Commish?
The Commish: Sam LaPorta has been a disappointment all year, but he broke out in Week 15 with 11 points and over 100 receiving yards. He seems to be a bigger part of the offense with higher target shares, can he keep it up and get back to his level from 2023 and be a primary weapon in the Detroit offense?
Prediction: The Commish 117 - Kayak Pirates 93
Who Will Win This Matchup?
#1 Kayak Pirates
#4 The Commish
KRABS
9th Playoff Appearance
Semifinal Record: 4-4
Last Playoffs Appearance: 2023
black is for sunday
7th Playoff Appearance
Semifinal Record: 1-5
Last Playoff Appearance: 2022
Let's breakdown the matchup:
MVP
KRABS: Josh Allen has been a one man wrecking crew. I am not sure what else to say about this guy. Over the last three games he has 126 Fantasy Points. Read that again.
black is for sunday: And shockingly Joe Burrow has actually scored 1 more touchdown this year vs. Josh Allen. Allen has been the #2 QB and Burrow has been the #3 QB. It's not out of the possibility that Burrow outscores Allen in Week 16.
Unsung Hero:
KRABS: Courtland Sutton has scored 7+ fantasy points in 7 straight games. In fact KRABS picked him in Week 7 where he proceeded to score 0 points on KRABS bench. Since Week 8 he has been on his current 7+ point streak.
black is for sunday: Ladd McConkey has a 4 week streak of 7+ points. Plus he has a cool name. How can this guy not be an unsung hero?
X Factor:
KRABS: Tyreek Hill has double digit scoring in 3 of his last 5 games, but he hasn't gotten more than 4 points in the other two. KRABS traded alot of draft capital for Hill to be a big fantasy scorer over the next two weeks. Will Hill earn his trade cost or will be continue his 2024 bust season status?
black is for sunday: Cooper Kupp has been a fantasy MVP in the past. Does he have it in him to do it again? Kupp has been highly inconsistent with double digit fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games, but he had 1 or 0 in the other two. Can Kupp step up on Sunday against the Jets and have a big game?
Prediction: black is for sunday 98 - KRABS 81
Who Will Win This Matchup?
#2 KRABS
#3 black is for sunday
Before we get to this week’s awards, check out this week’s episode of Gridiron Heights. Season 9, Episode 14:
Manager of the Weak
For one last time in 2024, Brent Cozart wins the Manager of the Weak award! Way to go buddy.
Move of the Week
The Atlanta Defense scored 20 points, enough to bring Brent from behind to get a must win victory, but also they helped Brent secure the #3 overall seed. Having the guts to start the Atlanta Defense in a must win matchup is well, gutsy. Congrats to Brent for winning the Week 15 Move of the Week!
MVP
Mike Evans, Terry McLaurin, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lamar Jackson, James Conner
Lamar Jackson was the #1 player in Fantasy with 388 points, 30 points more than Josh Allen. In Week 15 he scored a massive 43 points, his highest scoring game of the year. I have to say, I thought VZ was crazy for drafting Jackson over Allen, but he was right. I can't say the same thing for Travis Kelce though...
Congrats to Lamar Jackson and VZ for winning the Week 15 MVP!
Manager Of The Week
Aaron played the ultimate spoiler in Week 15 crushing Umphlett's dream to make the Playoffs despite drafting Josh Palmer in the 4th round. Aaron dropped 139 points which was his highest scoring week all year knocking Umphlett out of the Playoffs. Ironically it wasn't due to a JaMarr Chase explosion (9 points) but it was due to a Brian Thomas Jr explosion. Has Chase passed the torch to Thomas?
Congrats to Aaron for winning the Week 15 Manager of the Week!
Until Week 16…
- The Commish
P.S. This week's AI Image of the Week
Prompt: The Band Creed singing Christmas Carols with Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.
I am going to give them a D+ on this.
P.S.S. In case you are wondering why I was able to release The Notes on Wednesday (and why I didn't really get around to it last week) I made the decision to leave Amazon. It's been a pretty emotional couple of days, but God was on my heart and it was time to do something new. It was an amazing 12.5 year run and I was blessed more than I deserve. I have no clue what I am going to do next (so if anyone needs someone to mow their yard let me know), but I am going to take some time to figure it out. I appreciate everyone's prayers about this next phase of life for us! God has an amazing plan and I can't wait to see what it is!
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