Neither quarterfinal was particularly close, but they set up what looks to be an epic pair of semifinal matches.

Quarterfinals Recap

Dave def. Ed, 129.73-99.66:

Once again, the Fultz Brothers got a huge game from Josh Gordon (29.53). That wasn't really the deciding factor in this game though, as Ed got over twenty points from his own Browns player (Jordan Cameron, 22.13). No, the difference here came down to kickers and defenses; Dave got 17.00 from Matt Prater and 26.00 from the Kansas City defense, while Ed had to settle for 8.00 from Ryan Succop and -4.00 from the Raiders defense.

Pulley def. Mike R., 112.79-94.68:

LeSean McCoy (34.23) and Andrew Luck (35.50) exploded for Pulley, helping him overcome a big defecit following the Thursday night game despite having five players with four points or less. Mike R.'s high scorer was Demaryius Thomas, who put up 17.73 points.

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums: Dave's 129.73 propelled him into the semis (note: Team Blangums only pays out $10 for the thirteen regular-season weeks).

Slapped Heartbeat: Mike R.'s 94.68 is one of the highest Slapped Heartbeat scores you'll ever see.

Weekly MVP: A tie between Andrew Luck (35.50) and LeSean McCoy (34.23) for Pulley.

Season Postmortems

Mike "Bernie" Romor (San Jose Sharknados, 7-7, 5th/6th (pending fifth-place game)):

Bernie's second-straight playoff appearance ended with a second-straight loss in the quarterfinals. It was a pretty solid season for Mike, as he was in playoff position from week seven onward. Had he not had a win taken away via stat corrections, he would have snagged the #4 seed, but still would have lost this week.

Expected wins: 6.847.

Ed Gross (Half of a Horse, 7-7, 5th/6th (pending fifth-place game)):

In some ways, this season was a success for me; I turned a crappy draft and pair of keepers into the second-highest point total. On the other hand, I turned that second-highest point total into the #4 seed and a quarterfinals loss. (And talk about hard luck: going by expected wins, I was over 50% to win ten of thirteen games, and over 60% to win eight.)

Expected wins: 8.143.

Semifinals Preview

Harrison Hammers (Matt, 11-2, #1) vs. Coach Bombay's DD (Dave, 8-6, #5):

Matt leads all-time series, 5-1.

This should be good.

Dave comes into this game having won four in a row (and five of six). Matt comes in on a lesser winning streak (only two games), but has won eleven of twelve.

Dave's got some nice-looking matchups this week. Steven Jackson and Roddy White vs. Washington? Josh Gordon against the Bears? The Chiefs defense at Oakland? Sign me up for that!

Matt's is more of a mixed bag. Yes, he's got Jamaal Charles at Oakland and Danny Woodhead at Denver. And the generally matchup-proof Calvin Johnson (vs. BAL) and Jimmy Graham (@STL). But he'll be starting Joe Flacco (@DET) over the injured Robert Griffin III, so he can't really be too confident.

Dave's hot, but I can't pick against the new class of the Blingaleague.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

THRILLHO (Rob, 8-5, #2) vs. Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 9-5, #3):

Rob leads all-time series, 6-4.

Clash of Hatred 2, y'all!

We saw this movie two weeks ago, in a match that Rob won handily, stealing the second bye in the process. Since then, though, Pulley's won a playoff game, while Rob has done nothing. Will that swing momentum back in favor of our Blingabowl I champion?

It doesn't look that way. While LeSean McCoy (@MIN) is awesome, he's not likely to put up over 30 points again. Ditto for Andrew Luck (vs. HOU), who really only had that huge game because the Colts were trailing big against the Bengals, which seems unlikely against the reeling Texans.

Rob, meanwhile, will send out Peyton Manning and Julius Thomas against the historically-bad Chargers defense. And he'll be playing the stout Panthers defense against Geno Smith and the Jets.

Pick: THRILLHO.

Fifth-Place Game Preview

Half of a Horse (Ed, 7-7, #4) vs. San Jose Sharknados (Mike R., 7-7, #6):

Ed leads all-time series, 4-2.

Pick: Half of a Horse.

Closing Thoughts

Good luck in the semis to Matt, Rob, Pulley, and the Fultzes.

Eddo

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