The Sanderson Gazette - 2024-12-18 - Slain
Quarterfinals Recap
Dave def. Matt, 127.02-56.63
If you looked at this quarterfinal prior to Sunday night football, you'd have seen Dave up by a relatively small margin, 62.50-56.63. The problem for Matt at that point in time was that all nine of his players had already played... while only four of Dave's had.
Dave was led by Amon-Ra St. Brown (29.73), Josh Jacobs (19.00), and Justin Jefferson (15.73), but more notably, every single player on his team scored more than Matt's second highest scorer (George Kittle (8.13); Khalil Shakir (11.20) was Matt's top player).
This was just the fourth elimination game ever to have a margin of 70 points or more.
Babel def. Richie, 143.53-97.75
The other quarterfinal looked a lot closer for a while, especially after Mike Evans (33.20) scored two long TDs for Richie. But Josh Allen (44.90), James Conner (26.73), and the Denver defense (22.00) were all huge in the afternoon games for Babel, who wound up cruising to victory.
Weekly Awards
Team Blangums
Babel's 143.53 is the seventh highest score ever in the quarterfinals (though only the third highest for him).
Slapped Heartbeat
Matt's 56.63 is the second worst quarterfinals performance ever.
Weekly MVP
Once again, this will go to Josh Allen. He didn't break 50 like last week, but he did score 44.90 for Babel.
Dud of the Week
Cooper Kupp scored zero for Richie, but I think this award needs to go to someone on Matt's roster. How about Brock Purdy, whose 3.90 is putrid for a QB?
Start of the Week / Misplay of the Week
This year's quarterfinals had an average margin of 58.08, which is the largest ever. (It dethrones 2009's 51.70.)
Pickup of the Week
It's rare there's such an obvious choice as Babel's pickup of the Denver defense, which scored 22.00.
D'Ernest D'oh
It wouldn't have made a difference in his matchup, but Richie had some amusing transactions with defenses this week. He used waiver claims on two separate ones (Dallas and Carolina), only to drop both - each in favor of another defense (New York Jets and Las Vegas) - less than six hours later.
Season Postmortems
Matt, 8-6 (0.571), 1,423.83 points, 6th place, 7.41 expected wins
The story of Matt's season - other than that quarterfinals disaster - is that he became the first team to start 0-4 and still make the playoffs. A lot of that is due to being patient with some early-season disappointments, like Tyreek Hill, and some is due to acquiring David Montgomery and Marvin Harrison, Jr. for a late-season push. And while having the fourth easiest schedule ever helped Matt avoid critical tough losses, his overall team performance was deserving of his final record.
Bucky Irving looks like he'll be a strong keeper candidate, and players like George Kittle and Rome Odunze - with different appeals - could join him on Matt's 2025 roster.
Richie, 8-6 (0.571), 1,536.89 points, 5th place, 8.26 expected wins
Following two straight 13th place finishes, Richie used a scorching second half - he scored 117 or better in six of the final seven weeks - to charge into the playoffs for the first time in three years. He won two Team Blangums awards along the way, but still has to be disappointed he ran into the Josh Allen buzzsaw in week fifteen.
Richie can't keep Garrett Wilson again, but Darnell Mooney and Tyrone Tracy, Jr. look like they'll both cost well less than their ADP to keep next year.
Semifinals Preview
Rob for Today (Rob, 12-2, 1st) vs. Keep Calm & Keon (Babel, 9-5, 4th)
The only other time the Dickran Duel has had a rematch in the playoffs was in the 2020 quartefinals, when #3 seed Babel calmly defeated Rob thanks to Travis Kelce. Kelce (vs. HOU) is once again on Babel's roster, but hasn't cracked double digits since week ten.
Meanwhile, Davante Adams (vs. LAR) is coming off a huge week for Rob, who also has Saquon Barkley (@WAS), Rico Dowdle (vs. TAM), and Tee Higgins (vs. CLE) all playing very well. It looks like Babel is going to need Josh Allen (vs. NE) to go off yet again to prevent Rob from reaching his third straight Blingabowl.
Pick: Rob for Today.
Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 9-5, 2nd) vs. Double Digits (Dave, 9-5, 3rd)
Dave leads all-time series, 12-6.
The other semifinal features our two top point scorers on the season and looks to be a fun matchup... if everyone is healthy. And sadly for Mike, the historical injury bug that plagues the Bullies has reared its ugly head again, as Alvin Kamara (@GB) and George Pickens (@BAL) look unlikely to play. Having Chuba Hubbard (vs. ARI) and Calvin Ridley (@IND) to fill in is why Mike paced the league in points, though, so he could survive.
Meanwhile, Dave has been riding a pair of JJ's lately, as Justin Jefferson (@SEA) and Josh Jacobs (vs. NO) have been hot. But the key player here is probably Amon-Ra St. Brown (@CHI); since being traded from Mike to Dave, he's either put up 29+ (twice) or less than ten (thrice). This week, will he have a revenge game agains the Blingafranchise that shipped him off, or will he prove to be a double agent, still in favor of his former team?
Pick: Double Digits.
Closing Thoughts
Expect to see a year-end survey in your inboxes soon - so if you have any suggestions for rule changes or anything along those lines, get them into the commissioner ASAP!