It took ten seasons, but we finally have a Blingabowl where neither participant had a bye.

Semifinals Recap

https://blingaleague.com/week/2017/15/

Babel def. Pulley, 150.55-137.97:

What a game! Prior to any Sunday games, Babel led 77.96 to 5.00, thanks to Kareem Hunt (34.30), Melvin Gordon (25.93), and Tyreek Hill (17.73). Then, very little happened during the noon games, so it looked like Babel would cruise. But Todd Gurley struck. The Rams RB scored 42.93 for Pulley, which, combined with Rob Gronkowski's 24.40 and Tom Brady's 17.70, meant that Pulley was right back in it. Another thing that didn't help Babel was Ben Roethlisberger (20.05) having a touchdown overturned late in the NE-PIT game, then throwing an interception just two plays later. Would that six point swing push Pulley into Blingabowl X? No, because Mohamed Sanu put up just 3.37 on Monday night.

Derrek def. Kevin, 108.08-80.69:

There was much less drama in this one. D had a good-but-not-great week on the back of Le'Veon Bell's 24.10, and Kevin got relative duds from Philip Rivers (8.35) and Keenan Allen (7.20) to go along with true duds from A.J. Green (4.00) and Jimmy Graham (-0.13).

Fifth-place Game

Rob def. Dave, 77.54-63.31.

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums: Babel's 150.55 is even higher than his output last week, and is the eighth-highest playoff score of all time (link).

Slapped Heartbeat: Kevin's 80.69 was good for this.

Weekly MVP: Todd Gurley scored 42.93 in a losing effort; no rule says you have to win your game to be MVP.

Dud of the Week: Jimmy Graham had NEGATIVE one receiving yard.

Blessed Cahoots: Babel got 24 points on SIX field goals from Robbie Gould.

Blingabowl X Preview

D's Nuts (Derrek, 10-5, #5) vs. Keep Calm & GordOn (Babel, 8-7, #6):

Babel leads all-time series, 6-4 (link).

We all know Babel's story this season - he looked like a top team all year, but got crappy luck (link). He started 0-2 despite scoring 94.71 and 103.30 to open the season. He made for that, partially, with a win in week nine despite scoring less than 70, but then lost in weeks eleven and twelve with scores of 123.11 and 100.89. And even though he took home two Team Blangums awards during the regular season, he saved his two highest scores for the playoffs. Can he continue?

Derrek, on the other hand, had a season with almost no lucky events. He broke 100 eight times during the regular season and won all eight games (and has since gone two-for-two in the playoffs). In his five other games, he scored less than 90, but did manage to win one (week eleven with 82.83 points). D's biggest break probably came when he LOST to Allen by 0.69 points in week thirteen; had he held on in that game, he'd have faced Babel in the quarterfinals and lost, and we'd be talking about either Dave or Kevin in this space.

As for this game - well, it's close. Ben Roethlisberger's juicy matchup @HOU for Babel is shared by Le'Veon Bell for D. Melvin Gordon is @NYJ, which is good for Babel, but his defense (Jacksonville) and kicker (Robbie Gould) are working against one another. And can he jettison either one, given how instrumental they've both been for his playoff push?

Pick: D's Nuts.

Third-Place Game Preview

Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 11-3, #1) vs. The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 10-4, #2):

Pulley leads all-time series, 9-3 (link).

Pulley looks to finish in the money for a record fifth-straight year.

Pick: Pullman's MondoSquad.

Season Postmortems

Kevin Pattermann, 10-3, 1380.53 points, 2nd

8.4 expected wins (.648)

https://blingaleague.com/team/4/2017/

Kevin earned his second straight bye, but fizzled out in the playoffs. Alvin Kamara looks like a hell of a keeper, but he'll lose the services of last year's MVP, David Johnson.

Adam Pulley, 11-2, 1419.35, 1st

8.8 expected wins (.677)

https://blingaleague.com/team/7/2017/

Pulley's second first-place finish in three years didn't get him back to the Blingabowl, but he does have a chance to finish get a third-place payout for the fourth time in five years.

Closing Thoughts

Good luck to D and Babel!

Also, I might not get the next Gazette out on time next week, as I'll be in Argentina on my honeymoon. But I will try.

LiveCommish

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