Week 16
- James Wilson
- Dec 30, 2023
- 5 min read
Before we get started lets take a moment of silence for the Pop Tarts Mascot.
RIP Pop Tarts Mascot
And then there were two. Congrats to Billy and Jeff for making the Fantasy Championship.
It was a great run by KRABS. You gotta give him credit. Losing Nick Chubb and Justin Jefferson for most of the year was a pretty crushing blow. He didn’t give up though. He kept putting out a competitive lineup only to end up exactly where he ended up most seasons: not winning the Fantasy Bowl.
And for VZ, I mean, his team sort of wasn’t good all year. I am still not sure how he got the #1 seed, but justice prevailed and Billy was able to extract his revenge for last year’s Fantasy Bowl loss. Not getting number 5 this year pal.
Let’s go ahead and breakdown the 2023 Fantasy Bowl Matchup because it is an interesting one.
This will be the fourth meeting of these two storied franchises in the Playoffs (all Semi Final matchups). This is the first time these two teams have met in the Fantasy Bowl. In somewhat of a surprising outcome, Billy is 3-0 in the previous 3 meetings.
2007: On his way to his first championship, Billy defeated Jeff in the Semifinals 87-82. Despite Tony Romo only scoring 2 points, Billy had huge games from Adrian Peterson (20 Points), New England Defense (21 Points), and Rob Bironas (15 Points).
2011: Billy won this semifinal in a blowout, 109-58. Behind 28 points from Tom Brady and 25 Points from Roddy White Billy won easily on this day in 2011. Shoutout to Jeff for starting Hakeem Nicks in the matchup!
2019: Billy won this semi final matchup 117 – 105 even though he started Jimmy Garoppolo. He had a huge day from Christian McCaffery (28 points) and the Minnesota Defense (27 points). There seems to be a trend of Billy’s defenses coming up big when he plays Jeff in the Playoffs.
Kayak Pirates
Overall Playoffs Record: 4-11 (1,217 PS – 1,369 PA)Fantasy Bowl Record: 3rd Appearance, Previous Record: 1-1 (2013: 100-77 victory over Brandon, 2020: 83-108 loss to KRABS)
As has been stated multiple times all year, Jeff has hitched his wagon to the Miami Dolphins and Week 17 will be one final test to see if that strategy works. They face a strong Baltimore Defense and how Tua and Tyreek do will be critical to the success of this team. Waddle being injured hurts, but honestly I mean this guy gets injured literally every single week. In his place we find DeAndre Hopkins going against his former Houston Texans squad. Hopkins has had two slow weeks of just 2 points, but Will Levis is slated to return and that could be a big deal for Hopkins who has multiple double digit scoring weeks with Levis as QB. It appears that Josh Jacobs is not going to be able to play and while last week Jeff threw the curve ball with Zeke, it looks like Jeff is ready to trust Zamir White in his starting lineup. Zamir has back to back games of double digit carries and fantasy points and there is a long tradition and history in this league of random players having huge games in the Fantasy Bowl (Ron Dayne anyone)? There isn’t much to say about Jahymr Gibbs who has three consecutive double digit scoring games and two straight 20+. Gibbs has cemented himself squarely into the 2023 Fantasy MVP debate and is probably a top 10 pick moving forward in Fantasy Leagues. But the player I want to talk the most about and that I think will end up deciding the Fantasy Bowl is AJ Brown. Jeff invested heavily to obtain Brown and well, he hasn’t paid off yet. Since the trade Brown has the same number of double digit games as he does 0 point games (1). He hasn’t scored more than 11 points. After 7 consecutive games of double digit points before the trade. AJ Brown clearly has the talent to take over a game, can he did it with the entire season on the line? If he can then the trade will be completely worth it. If he doesn’t, Jeff and Jacob are going to have a long offseason of questions.
showmedamoney!
Overall Playoffs Record: 6-5 (1,082 PS – 980 PA)
Fantasy Bowl Record: 5th Appearance, Previous Record: 1-3 (2007: 63-55 victory over Umphlett, 2011: 111-119 loss to Overbay, 2019: 65-67 loss to The Commish, 2022: 116-118 loss to VZ)
Billy is no stranger to the Fantasy Bowl and he finds himself back in the biggest game of the year after a soul crushing defeat in last year’s Fantasy Bowl. In fact Billy has lost by 2 points in his last two Fantasy Bowl appearances (2019 & 2022). He is determined to have a different outcome in 2023. But he has already had a big blow with his semi final hero Amari Cooper getting ruled out before TNF. In his place he is looking to start Tyler Lockett. Who hasn’t scored double digit fantasy points since Week 10. He does get Michael Pittman back from concussion which will be a boost to this lineup, but the story for the WR group is Cooper Kupp. Billy made a big trade in the preseason to acquire Kupp and he immediately missed the first 4 games. He also had a 5 game stretch where he didn’t score more than 4 points so it has been a rough season. But Kupp has come alive the past month as the Rams have made a push for the Playoffs. He has 17 points in 2 of his last three games and will be looking for a big performance Sunday against the Giants. But the main thing that everyone is going to remember here is will Billy start the right QB. It has been much ballyhooed in the league how Billy has had two top 3 scoring QBs on his roster all year. And in general that is a very bad idea. But I guess if Billy has the golden touch of starting the right one, maybe it isn’t a bad idea. Maybe it’s a brilliant idea. But does Billy have the golden touch?
Week 1: Correct (Loss)
Week 2: Correct (Win)
Week 3: Correct (Win)
Week 4: Correct (Win)
Week 5: Correct (Loss)
Week 6: Incorrect (Win)
Week 7: Bye (Loss)
Week 8: Incorrect (Loss)
Week 9: Incorrect (Loss)
Week 10: Incorrect (Loss)
Week 11: Correct (Loss)
Week 12: Correct (Win)
Week 13: Bye (Won)
Week 14: Tie (Win)
Week 15: Correct (Win)
Billy had to make a QB decision 13 times. He got it right 62% of the time. Of the times that he got it right (including the tie), he won 66% of the matchups. Of the times he got it wrong, he lost 75% of the time. So the moral of the story is this: Will he get it right in Week 17?
The Commish’s Prediction
This is a tough one. On one side you have probably the best roster in the league all year. On the other side you have a team that has a ton of motivation (and has never lost to Jeff in the Playoffs). Bily has a history of big defensive and kicker performances against Jeff in the Playoffs and I think that Kupp and Jones will have big games. Tyreek Hill gives Jeff a fighting chance, but Tua hasn’t had a game over 21 points since Week 8 and I just don’t know if Jeff has enough fire power.
I am going with showmedamoney! and Billy with my prediction in a close one: 102-97.
There is no new episode of Gridiron Heights this week so enjoy this highlight of Caleb Love dunking:
Manager of the Weak
Move of the Week
Jeff played Russian Roulette Defense and it paid off and did better than the Chiefs by 2 points who he started the previous week.
MVP
Amari Cooper, Jahmyr Gibbs
Amari Cooper – 11 Receptions, 15 Targets, 265 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving Touchdowns, 1 2 Point Conversion
Not really sure what else to say here. He set the Cleveland Browns Receiving Record. With Joe Flacco as his qb. Joe Flacco.
Manager Of The Week
Two weeks in a row. Could he make it three?
Until Week 17…
- The Commish
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