As we come barreling into the final week of the regular season we are essentially down to seven teams fighting for six spots. While there could be some last minute shuffling of seed order among the six playoff qualifiers, it’s those final two spots, which are based on total points, that will provide the exciting finish to the regular season.
First, let’s discuss how we got here with a review of last week. League powerhouse, XFL Stars, has lead the league in total points most of this season but it wasn’t until last week they finally took over 1st place. Next up for XFL was Schless is More – fresh off an upset win of previous 1st place team, “The Don” Piccolo. But, when you’re hot, you’re hot. XFL Stars squashed Schless like a meaningless bug in their path on their way to another league high score of the week. They drop 186 points to Schless’s 116. Schless looks like they’ve locked up the #3 pick in the draft next year.
Speaking of teams near the bottom of the standings, we witnessed a battle for next season’s number one pick. The two teams tied for last squared off to see who was the suckiest of all the suck in the land. It’s NJ Generals. They’re the suckiest. But, they likely get that number one pick next year now which they are probably more happy about than any sucky moniker they earned.
In our biggest upset of last week, Borderland Bombers continued their charge towards the playoffs. They’ve sat quietly in the seven spot for many weeks now just continually trying to break through. Like a crypto stock going to the moon out of nowhere, this team finally broke through in an important week against the second highest scoring team in the league, Y Town. The point total wasn’t tremendous, but in a week where a few other key teams’ scoring was down, 135 points was enough to win the game and catapult this team from the #7 seed up to the #5 seed with a chance at the #4 before it’s all said and done. That’s a big week. But, it’s close. Oh so close, with seven total points separating three teams for the final two playoff spots. This team still needs to finish strong or it could miss that final spot.
Y Town still has over 1900 points this season and sits in the #3 spot now. But, this makes two losses in three weeks as we get real close to the post season. That’s not how any team wants to be trending during such a crucial time.
If you’ve been following along on our superstition watch, a midseason team name change seems to have sent Just Dodge, No Rodge on a skid with a few losses while they barely hang on to enough points to get into the playoffs. If they miss the playoffs I will feel vindicated and declare this superstition to be essentially a scientific fact. Last week was a tough one scoring sub-100. They do that again this week and it’s over. There’s no more room for error here in the final week with three teams so close in total points.
Our trade deadline heroes (See update 6), Philadelphia Freeways, played in a must win game against Wendell Takeover Project. With a win they could stay within range of the top four spots and get in on record. Potentially. That didn’t transpire. In fact, we saw a good old fashioned ass-whipping. Wendell pretty much locked up his playoff birth with a solid 151 point showing. Philadelphia, however, may have put up the lowest points in our short league history. This team made some great moves at the deadline. But, some of these moves left them high and dry during some crucial bye weeks and they found themselves in a Superflex league with only Mike Glennon available to start at QB. Yikes. Then you realize this team is without it’s shiny new toy, Davante Adams, and you understand why they could only muster 60 points. ODB was the highest scoring player on this team with 2 receptions, 28 yards, and a TD. I’ve seen uglier efforts over my many years playing fantasy football, but it’s been a long time.
How about those standings….
(seed) Team. Record, total points
(1) XFL Stars. 10-3, 2099
(2) “The Don” Piccolo. 10-3, 1749
(3) Y Town. 9-4, 1901
(4) Wendell Takeover Project. 8-5, 1775
(5) Borderland Bombers. 8-5, 1699
(6) Just Dodge, No Rodge. 5-8, 1695
(7) Big Tings. 6-7, 1692
(8) DC Guardians. 6-7, 1588
(9) Schless is More. 4-9, 1523
(10) Philadelphia Freeways. 7-6, 1517
(11) These Truths to be Self Richard Dent. 3-10, 1425
(12) NJ Generals. 2-11, 1416
Top four seeds based on record. Final two based on total points.
As I look through the slate of upcoming games I admit it’s uninspiring. It’s almost like every top team is playing a bottom team. I see a lot of disparity in the match ups. So, upsets are unlikely for those top three teams who all play seeds eight or lower. #4 Wendell has a match up against Just Dodge. But, Dodge is a team testing superstitions so my faith in them is waning. They get a tough final draw against which to prove themselves. It’s an uphill battle but, as a reminder, a win doesn’t matter for them, only points. We’ll see if they can score more than 100 this week.
After a week getting comfortable sitting in that top spot, we got some feedback from the guys at the top. It’s always a momentous occasion when you grab the #1 seed so we like to get owner comments on these occasions. XFL Stars did release a statement this week following our request for comment:
“XFL is pumped to have just won our 4th consecutive weekly high scorer award while dealing with injuries from Waller, Hurts, Deebo, and now Logan Thomas. This past week we knew we were destined to keep the streak alive when Minshew rolled in looking like a character straight out of Top Gun.”
They added later that Top Gun just happens to be their favorite movie of all time.
One more week to go in this new, 14-week regular season. Make sure to pause for a moment to appreciate that as you set your lineups this week. One extra game of fantasy football for us lucky dogs. Ahhhhh, yes. Feels good. Let that marinate and I’ll see you next week.
– RSO High Stakes League Storyteller
