The Sanderson Gazette - 2022-01-05 - Super

Blingabowl XIV Recap

Dave def. Rabbit, 113.28-75.36

It didn't come easy, but he did it. Dave's trade-driven roster performed respectably - if consistently below projections - during the playoffs and took home the Sanderson Cup in a pretty uneventful Blingabowl.

Our champion was led by Kyler Murray's 25.05 and Davante Adams's 24.13. Rabs got 24.80 from Dak Prescott.

Third-Place Game Recap

Derrek def. Matt, 102.84-75.72

The third-place game wasn't any less underwhelming or one-sided. Derrek emerged victorious thanks to Patrick Mahomes II (23.45) and Jonathan Taylor (17.60). It also helped that Matt's high score was 14.57 from Josh Jacobs.

Final Standings

  1. Dave
  2. Rabbit
  3. Derrek
  4. Matt
  5. Babel
  6. Richie
  7. Schertz
  8. Ed
  9. Kevin
  10. Pulley
  11. Mike R.
  12. Pat
  13. Scott
  14. Rob

Final Payouts

  • Dave: $292 (Blingabowl champion plus two Team Blangums awards)
  • Rabbit: $146 (second place plus one Team Blangums award)
  • Derrek: $122 (third place plus four Team Blangums awards)
  • Richie: $60 (three Team Blangums awards)
  • Matt: $20 (one Team Blangums award)
  • Babel: $20 (one Team Blangums award)
  • Schertz: $20 (one Team Blangums award)
  • Ed: $20 (one Team Blangums award)

(For details on the payout calculations, please see the the "Closing Thoughts" section of the December 1st Gazette.)

Annual Awards

Team Blangums

Dave's Blingabowl victory broke a three year run of our top regular season team taking home the Sanderson Cup. So while Dave got the most important prize, Derrek will take home this one as the top overall team for 2021.

Slapped Heartbeat

Rob may have finished in last, but Scott was the worst team in league history and is an easy choice here.

Annual MVP

Jonathan Taylor was amazing for Derrek.

Dud of the Year

A different running back for D's Nuts earned this one. Saquon Barkley was drafted in the first round, scored twenty points only once, missed four games, and put up less than ten points eight times.

Pickup of the Year

Kevin will get this award for nabbing Cordarelle Patterson early in the year (even though he eventually traded him).

Season Postmortems

Rabbit, 9-5 (0.643), 1,479.48 points, 6th (regular season), 2nd (playoffs), 7.55 expected wins

Rabs started out the season with a bang, becoming the first team to score 300+ points in the first two weeks. He stumbled through losses in weeks 4-6, but won six of his last eight to edge out Schertz for the last playoff spot.

He managed to win in the quarterfinals and semifinals, but his performances there were far from dominant; among teams that won two games to reach the Blingabowl, only 2018 Matt put up fewer points in his pair of victories. And only 2012 Schertz scored less in the Blingabowl itself.

Rabbit's 2022 keepers aren't obvious, but he has some options. He'll be picking 13th overall, so Christian McCaffrey is definitely an option. Marquise Brown and Darrell Henderson, Jr. both had value and would be relatively cheap to keep, as well.

Dave, 10-4 (0.714), 1,414.07 points, 4th (regular season), Blingabowl XIV champion (playoffs), 7.19 expected wins

Dave made eight trades this year, two more than anyone else had ever made. That led to a team that, on paper, looked like the best in the league. But he finished just 8th by points and expected wins and needed to defeat a reeling Kevin in rivalry week to even make the playoffs.

The playoffs were a different story, though. While his performances fell well short of our strongest champions', they were solid enough to take home Sandy.

And despite trading away some high-value keepers, the sheer volume of talent acquired sets Dave up well for next year. He currently has five first round picks on his roster (Alvin Kamara, Aaron Jones, Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, and Davante Adams), so keeping two at the 1.14-2.01 turn would make sense.

Blingapower Rankings

The power rankings undergo some massive changes since last year...

14. Scott (last year: 12th)

  • 2021: 3-11, 1,048.50 points, 2.33 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 14-26, 3,513.03 points, 13.90 expected wins
  • All-time: 20-33, 5,032.18 points, 22.12 expected wins

Scott's 2021 was so bad that he might be #14 even if he didn't have a last place finish in 2019 to add to his ledger. Sure, his inaugural season was strong, but 2018 is a long time ago.

NFL equivalent: Jacksonville Jaguars (yes, their good-but-just-fell-short season was 2017, not 2018, but the comparison still works).

13. Pat (last year: 14th)

  • 2021: 3-11, 1,382.83 points, 6.68 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 14-26, 3,813.32 points, 16.93 expected wins
  • All-time: 64-106, 15,232.41 points, 65.15 expected wins

Pat's team was far better than his record this year, which is enough to pull our long-time bottom-dweller out of last place in the power rankings.

NFL equivalent: Detroit Lions.

12. Ed (last year: 10th)

  • 2021: 6-8, 1,437.94 points, 7.76 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 15-25, 4,055.09 points, 20.80 expected wins
  • All-time: 87-96, 18,330.01 points, 95.04 expected wins

Ed is never one of the three or four worst teams in a given season - even in his 13th place 2020 - but he also hasn't made the playoffs in seven years, so it's hard to put him ahead of any of the remaining franchises.

NFL equivalent: Denver Broncos.

11. Mike R. (last year: 8th)

  • 2021: 4-10, 1,353.79 points, 6.52 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 18-22, 3,979.49 points, 19.92 expected wins
  • All-time: 87-96, 17,973.23 points, 90.35 expected wins

Mike had an amazing 2018, a good 2019, and then two forgettable seasons. Like Ed, he was pretty easy to slot into the rankings, though determining his real world analogue is trickier.

NFL equivalent: Atlanta Falcons.

10. Richie (last year: 11th)

  • 2021: 9-5, 1,628.09 points, 9.59 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 21-19, 4,157.82 points, 21.04 expected wins
  • All-time: 57-74, 12,493.46 points, 58.12 expected wins

Richie had a very strong team in 2021 after sneakily finishing above .500 in 2020. He clearly deserves to be ahead of teams 11-14 based on that, but who else? He doesn't have Rob's long track record of success, so he'll stay here for now.

NFL equivalent: Dallas Cowboys.

9. Rob (last year: 7th)

  • 2021: 2-12, 1,190.83 points, 4.24 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 14-26, 3,811.77 points, 16.40 expected wins
  • All-time: 94-89, 18,347.19 points, 94.60 expected wins

Rob has ten playoff appearances - tied for the most with Matt and Pulley - but has never etched his name on the Sanderson Cup. And while he did lead the league in points in 2020, he was bottom two by every metric in 2019 and 2021. There are arguments for him to still be top six, but also arguments for him to be bottom four based on his recent results.

NFL equivalent: Miami Dolphins.

8. Dave (last year: 13th)

  • 2021: 10-4, 1,414.07 points, 7.19 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 19-21, 3,652.19 points, 15.92 expected wins
  • All-time: 81-102, 17,928.86 points, 90.63 expected wins

Sure, Dave won the Sanderson Cup, but that doesn't erase his horrible 2018-2020 (especially 2020. Still, it's hard to rank our current champion worse than eighth.

NFL equivalent: Los Angeles Rams (even if they hadn't emerged from a laughingstock to a contender, they'd be the choice for roster construction alone).

7. Pulley (last year: 3rd)

  • 2021: 5-9, 1,329.35 points, 6.16 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 21-19, 4,103.75 points, 20.83 expected wins
  • All-time: 106-77, 18,773.68 points, 100.03 expected wins

Like with Dave, Pulley's 2021 doesn't completely override previous seasons. This is a big slide for Pulley, though, because his last few years simply don't match up with the teams in front of him.

NFL equivalent: Seattle Seahawks.

6. Kevin (last year: 2nd)

  • 2021: 5-9, 1,352.35 points, 6.15 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 19-21, 4,097.87 points, 19.66 expected wins
  • All-time: 90-93, 18,202.85 points, 93.03 expected wins

Kevin might still be top two if we ignore the second half of 2021, but since his seven game losing streak did lead to a rough 5-9 record, he takes a tumble similar to Pulley's.

NFL equivalent: Minnesota Vikings.

5. Schertz (last year: 6th)

  • 2021: 9-5, 1,425.29 points, 7.34 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 24-16, 4,353.09 points, 23.65 expected wins
  • All-time: 67-64, 13,085.63 points, 65.92 expected wins

Schertz missed the playoffs but still moved up? He won nine games this past year, and only three teams have a better record over the past three years, so it's not hard to argue he deserves to jump ahead of Pulley and Kevin. His 2019 championship helps, too.

NFL equivalent: Philadelphia Eagles.

4. Rabbit (last year: 9th)

  • 2021: 9-5, 1,479.48 points, 7.55 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 21-19, 4,105.03 points, 20.18 expected wins
  • All-time: 109-74, 18,986.58 points, 102.29 expected wins

Our all-time leader in wins just needed one good playoff run to rocket back up the power rankings.

NFL equivalent: New England Patriots.

3. Babel (last year: 5th)

  • 2021: 10-4, 1,568.78 points, 9.25 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 26-14, 4,232.27 points, 22.81 expected wins
  • All-time: 96-87, 18,795.12 points, 99.98 expected wins

Babel is no stranger to strong regular seasons (2008, 2021) and deep playoff runs (2012, 2014, 2017), but never both at once. This year was the former, so he won't move up too far, but he will take advantage of the poor seasons Pulley and Kevin turned in.

NFL equivalent: Buffalo Bills.

2. Matt (last year: 1st)

  • 2021: 11-3, 1,465.11 points, 7.30 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 27-13, 4,302.46 points, 23.41 expected wins
  • All-time: 106-77, 18,926.19 points, 101.39 expected wins

Our Monster Heel once again secured a bye (even if it wasn't totally deserved), but laid an egg in the playoffs. He falls from the top spot more due to someone else's success than his own stumbles.

NFL equivalent: Green Bay Packers.

1. Derrek (last year: 4th)

  • 2021: 12-2, 1,611.85 points, 9.95 expected wins
  • Last 3 years: 27-13, 4,308.26 points, 24.55 expected wins
  • All-time: 103-80, 18,082.33 points, 92.13 expected wins

Derrek hasn't won a championship in three years, but he put together one of the best regular season teams ever and finished in the money for the fourth time in five years.

NFL equivalent: Kansas City Chiefs.

Draft Lottery

The odds of getting the #1 overall pick for 2022 are:

  • Rob: 18.89%
  • Scott: 17.83%
  • Pat: 15.41%
  • Mike R.: 13.53%
  • Pulley: 11.61%
  • Kevin: 11.45%
  • Ed: 8.73%
  • Schertz: 2.55%

Closing Thoughts

One record-keeping note: just like last year, one of our non-playoff teams had a player break the 50 point barrier, as Ja'Marr Chase put up 53.47 for Mike R.