The King is Crowned!!

I’ve called him Jameson, Cap’N and MAJOR, and now everyone can simply call him Champ!  James rode Beast-mode to a victory Sunday night to become only the second team in Sacred Sundays history to win the league championship more than once.  James won his first championship back in 2005, and now is back on top nine years later!  Early on this time it was looking doubtful as Marshawn Lynch didn’t start Sunday night’s game for the Seahawks, and didn’t even really appear interested to go into the game as he was apparently suffering from an upset stomach.  But ultimately he got in the game and just thrashed the Cardinals defense, finishing with 23 points and giving Sofa King Back Baby a 4-point victory over Vandelay Industries!  Way to go MAJOR!!!  You are the CHAMPION!!!

Much credit has to go to Louis and Vandelay Industries as well, who in only their second season claimed 2 Weekly High Score Prizes, won the South Division and finished as the 2nd place team overall!  Andrew Luck had been an absolute stud all season, but became an absolute dud in the championship game registering a big fat goose egg.  It is odd how it works out that way sometimes with big-time players not showing up in the big-time moments.  But it was still a super successful season and I tip my hat to you!

Also for the final Weekly high Score Prize of the year, the congratulations go to the X German Overlords who started Ryan Tannehill of all people, who went on to have a career game against the Vikings, throwing for 396 yards and 4 TD’s...finishing with 32 points.  That, along with Odell Beckham Jr.’s 26 points gave Jens 97 for the week which topped all scorers, and secured a third place overall finish.  Well done Jens!  As you said in Week 10, you had your team built to play well in the final weeks of the season, and they did just that.  Not sure how, but they did.  What do you know?!?!?

As far as the rest of the standings, here is how things broke down:
1) Sofa King Back Baby – James
2) Vandelay Industries – Louis
3) X German Overlords – Jens
4) Scottish Rebels – Jerry
5) American BadAss – Jason
6) sprouts – Russ
7) Coors Light Drunk Guys – Shawn
8) Joe’s Pats – Joe
9) Channel 4 News Team – Timmy
10) Midnight Maulers – Jamie

The draft order for 2015 will be the reverse order of those standings, so start prepping now! *LOL*
 Keepers will need to be declared one week after the conclusion of the NFL draft which takes place at the end of April.  I’ll send out emails as we get closer to that.  Also, preliminary plans right now are to have the draft over Labor Day Weekend again and to meet up in Vegas once again!  Shawn has already said that he is going to be there (with his wallet this time), so you don’t want to miss seeing that!  Ha!  Once we get around keeper declaration time, we’ll start looking at making more definitive plans.

Here is the final tally on money winnings for this season:
1) Sofa King Back Baby – James - $375 (3 Weekly High Scores + Championship)
2) X German Overlords – Jens - $217 (3 Weekly High Scores + 3rd Place)
3) Vandelay Industries – Louis - $213 (2 Weekly High Scores + 2nd Place)
4) American BadAss – Jason - $150 (3 Weekly High Scores)
5) Scottish Rebels – Jerry - $145 (2 Weekly High Scores + 4th Place)
6) Coors Light Drunk Guys – Shawn - $100 (2 Weekly High Scores)
7) Joe’s Pats – Joe - $50 (1 Weekly High Score)

Congrats to everyone who won cash!  I will send each of you a separate email to make sure I have your correct address and will get checks mailed out this week.

Lastly, it has been an awesome season…I can’t hardly believe that we have already come to the end.  These 16 weeks of football just seem to fly by!  Many thanks to all you guys for making this league so much fun and giving me an excuse to watch football all day on Sunday.  I’m already looking forward to next year’s draft and season!

But we wouldn’t be complete this year without awarding the final Best Bench…  And it is only fitting that the master of the bench finished the year with his best effort of all!  So for Week 16, and for the sixth time this year, the Best Bench goes to… Joe’s Pats!!  As mentioned before, this was Joe’s best Best Bench of the year with an impressive 57-point improvement possibility.  Four roster moves:  A. Gates for T. Wright (+20), R. Wilson for M. Ryan (+19), A. Jeffery for T. Hilton (+13) and C. Ivory for L. Blount (+5).


So that puts a wrap on this season… Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you and your families!!

Wildcard Weekend!!

Wildcard weekend has wrapped up, so now there are only four teams left vying for the 2014 Championship!  In the first wildcard game, Jens' newly named "Sprouted" sprang to life and amassed an awesome 132 points!  Sprouted did it with great games from the St. Louis Defense (2nd shutout in a row!, 30 pts), Jordy Nelson (26 pts) and Jay Cutler (25 pts, what the hell?!).  Russ' sprouts meanwhile had a rough go of it, primarily because Peyton Manning posted a measly 2 points, and sprouts only player to score double digits was his kicker, Stephen Gostkowski.  But congratulation on the big game Jens!  That is the second highest single-week total this season and is the second Weekly High Score Prize for Where Is Shawn's Wallet/Down Goes Jason/Sofa King Stupid/PappaNobleJr2/BeatsByRay/Brady Gaga/Lovin the Bye Week/Fantasy Nightmare/German Kickers/Brusselsprouts/Starck Industries/3rd Down Cowbell/They Call Him Daddy/Sprouted.

In the second wildcard game, Sofa King Back Baby took out the juggernaut that is American BadAss, and left Jason out of the Final Four for only the 4th time in Sacred Sundays history.  It was a close game too, only separated by 5 points.  Sofa King Back Baby got a huge game from Le'Veon Bell (44 pts) which pretty much carried him to the victory.  For BadAss, Aaron Rodgers nearly closed the gap on Monday night with a solid 27-point performance, but came up just short.

Just a quick write-up this week, so let's get to it!

NOW THAT'S THE INSIDE STUFF
-Le'Veon Bell, RB - Sofa King Back Baby – 44 pts – Games like this don’t happen very often, and to get one in the playoffs is truly a magical thing.  Bell went crazy for 185 yards and 2 TD’s on the ground, plus 50 yards and 1 TD receiving.  This ties for the 12th highest single-week point total for a player all-time, and the 6th highest for a runningback all-time.

-Cam Newton, QB – Channel 4 News Team – 35 pts – This is the dominating Cam Newton that we are used to seeing…dude had 226 yards and 3 TD’s through the air, plus had 83 yards and a TD on the ground.  Love that!

-Julio Jones, WR – Joe’s Pats – 34 pts – Jones came out in the second half against Green Bay like a man possessed and nearly won the game for the Falcons.  He finished with 259 yards (on only 11 catches), plus a TD.  He nearly had a second TD, but got tackled at the 5 yard line on a long run.

-Matt Ryan, QB – Joe’s Pats – 34 pts – Ryan had his best game of the season, throwing for 375 yards and 4 TD’s but added one interception.

-Ben Roethlisberger, QB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 31 pts – Big Ben got all his points through the air, literally.  Threw for 350 yards plus 3 TD’s, and had 1 carry for -1 yard.  Let’s just say hes not very mobile.


COME ON, MAN!
-Peyton Manning, QB – sprouts – 2 pts – This is the only Come On Man that I can do this week because it is just so shocking.  I’ve kept good week by week player records for the last 3 seasons, and Peyton has only scored in single digits one other time…Week 2 of 2012 when he had 7 points.  Manning’s line this week against the Bills…178 yds, 0 TD’s and 2 interceptions.  Make sure you remember where you were when you saw this, because this is a rarity.

PLAYOFFS??!?
Semi-final matchups this week, and thankfully, the games listed on the website are correct.  My Scottish Rebels will face off against the giant-killing Sofa King Back Baby and Vandelay Industries will battle Sprouted.  Also, to determine the 5th and 6th place finishes, American BadAss will play sprouts.  Remember that all teams are still eligible to win the Weekly High Score Prize, so make sure you have your line-up ready!


BEST BENCH
I’m almost to the point of renaming this segment “Joe’s Bench”, because Joe’s Pats continue to dominate when it comes to bench players.  For the second week in a row, and for the fifth time this season, Joe claims another Best Bench.  And just like last week, he had another 40-point improvement possibility with four roster moves:  J. Jones for E. Sanders +28, M. Ryan for R. Wilson +6, J. Cameron for T. Wright +4 and C. Ivory for L. McCoy +2.


Only two weeks to go this season!!!  It's the final stretch!

Let the playoffs begin!!!

What a way to finish out the regular season!  Five teams broke the 100-point barrier, and three of those teams broke the 120-point barrier!  Also, bucking the trend that we have seen recently, all of the teams that scored over 100 won their games.  That makes a total of 39 times this season that teams have broken the triple-digit mark, with 34 of those resulting in victories.  A win percentage of 87.2% is why I always recommend scoring over 100 if you want to give your team the best chance to win.  Historically speaking, the win percentage for scoring over 100 points is 87.7%, so this season has been practically right in line with that.  Two more notes on the scores this week: 1) This is only the third time in Sacred Sundays history that 5 or more teams scored over 100 points, and 2) the 978 points scored this week mark the 5th highest single-week scoring total ever.

But none were higher this week that Mr. Shawn Martin and his Coors Light Drunk Guys who set a season-high record with a stellar 140-point performance.  F.  N.  A.  Nice!  The Drunk Guys got terrific performances from Drew Brees (30 points) and recent addition DeAndre Hopkins (38 points).  Add to that Arian Foster’s 15 and the Denver D’s 15, and Shawn was unstoppable this week.  Well done senor!

Now everyone's thoughts should be geared toward the playoffs.  The Yahoo! site does not allow me a lot of flexibility in terms of setting playoff match-ups, so don't go by what you see on the site.  See below for actual playoff qualifiers and seeding.

But first, some quick hits...

AWWYEAH!
-Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB - Free Agent - 42 pts - This guy is only owned in 8% of all leagues, and probably only started in like 0.2% of those.  So those four teams that started him were treated to a 6 touchdown, 358 yard performance.  Holy cow! (Get it?...Because the Texans' helmet has a cow on it?...*tap tap* Is this thing on?)

-DeAndre Hopkins, WR - Coors Light Drunk Guys - 38 pts - What a way to welcome a guy to your team?!  238 yards and 2 TD’s…just doesn’t get much better.

-Andrew Luck, QB - Vandelay Industries - 35 pts - Just another day at the office for Luck, tossing a mere 5 TD's and 370 yards.  Luck leads all fantasy scorers by 26 with 307 points scored this year.

-Le'Veon Bell, RB - Sofa King Back - 33 pts - Solid game on the ground for Bell, rushing 21 times for 95 yards and a TD, but he did even better catching the ball 8 times for 159 yards!

-Tre Mason, RB - sprouts - 33 pts - Mason was rolling against the Raiders and finished with 164 total yards (117 rushing, 47 receiving) and 3 touchdowns (2 rushing, 1 receiving).

-St. Louis, DEF – WhatDoYouKnow 2 – 32 pts – After a game like that, the NFL might need to consider installing a mercy rule.  I mean, 52-0?  Six sacks, five turnovers and 1 touchdown.  That just shouldn’t happen at the pro level.  But playing against the Raiders might not qualify as playing against a pro-level team.

-Drew Brees, QB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 30 pts – A quarterback throws five touchdown passes and he’s not the top QB for the week...or even the second best?  This league has gone pass wacky.

-Philip Rivers, QB – Midnight Maulers – 29 pts – This was the week of QB’s.

-Colt McCoy, QB – Free Agent – 29 pts – See what I mean?

-Ben Roethlisberger, QB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 28 pts – I wasn’t kidding.

-Aaron Rodgers, QB – American BadAss – 27 pts – I can keep going all night.


COME ON, MAN!
-Tim Wright, TE – Joe’s Pats – 1 pt – On the flip side, it really sucked to be a tight end this week.

-Delanie Walker, TE – American BadAss – 0 pts – See what I mean?

-Jimmy Graham, TE – Sofa King Back Baby – 0 pts – Really?  Graham?

-Jason Witten, TE – Vandelay Industries – 0 pts – You too, Witten?  Come on man!


ALL UNDRAFTEDS
This has been an extremely challenging year for our Undrafted Squad, although they did show a bit of life in Week 12 and finished with 124 points and their second victory of the season.  Week 13 represents their (thankfully) final game of the season.  Here is how these poor chaps fared:
Jake Locker Ten 1
Justin Forsett Bal 11
Mark Ingram NO 12
Greg Jennings Min 10
Allen Hurns Jax 4
Delanie Walker Ten 0
Minnesota Min 27
Matt Bryant Atl 18
Total 83
With the league average of 97.4, this goes down as one final loss, for a final record of 2-11.  There were a few gems on this team this season (Steve Smith Sr, Minnesota D) but by and large I think it was pretty obvious why these guys went undrafted.


PLAYOFFS?? DON’T TALK ABOUT PLAYOFFS!!!
As mentioned earlier, Yahoo! does not provide me with much (or any) flexibility on setting playoff match-ups and does not follow the tie-breakers and seedings that we use for the playoffs.  As we have always done, the top two teams from each division automatically qualify along with two wildcard teams.  So here is how the seeds breakdown:

#1 – Scottish Rebels – North Division Champion and best overall record.
#2 – Vandelay Industries – South Division Champion by virtue of best record in division.
#3 – American BadAss – North Division Runner-up by virtue of division record.
#4 – sprouts – South Division Runner-up by virtue of overall record.
#5 – WhatDoYouKnow 2 – Wildcard #1 by virtue of overall record.
#6 – Sofa King Back Baby – Wildcard #2 by virtue of win-loss record against Coors Light Drunk Guys.

The remaining teams finish in this order:
#7 – Coors Light Drunk Guys – by virtue of overall record.
#8 – Joe’s Pats – by virtue of overall record.
#9 – Channel 4 News Team – by virtue of total points scored.
#10 – Midnight Maulers – rough season.
So this means that Jamie George will be picking first in next season’s draft.  Jamie, you are on the clock!

As far as the matchups go for Week 14, my Rebels and Vandelay Industries have a bye, American BadAss plays Sofa King Back Baby, and sprouts plays WhatDoYouKnow 2.  Remember that in the playoffs there are no tie games…any ties prior to the Championship game go to the higher seeded team.  Tie games in the Championship game will be settled as follows: 1) Team with the highest scoring QB wins, 2) Team with the highest scoring RB wins, 3) Team with the highest scoring WR wins, 4) If still tied at that point, co-champions will be declared.  Now as a reminder what we are playing for, here is a breakdown on the prize money:
Champion - $225
Runner-up - $113
3rd Place - $67
4th Place - $45
Lastly, remember that throughout the playoffs all teams are still eligible to win the Weekly High Score prize, so make sure you have your roster set each week!


ESOTERIC JOKE(S)
I figured I’d do a flashback to a running item from last season:
-It’s hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs because they take things literally.

-There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure

And finally, one for Jensy:
-A German walks into a bar and asks for a martini.  The bartender asks, “Dry?”  He replies “Nein, just one.”


BEST BENCH
In 13 weeks, 7 different teams have claimed a Best Bench.  No team has won it more times than this week’s winner, who pulled down their fourth of the season.  So for the fourth time, and with a 40-point improvement possibility, the Week 13 Best Bench goes to…Joe’s Pats.  This time Joe need four roster moves: J. Jones for E. Sanders (+20), A. Jeffrey for TY Hilton (+7), A. Gates for T. Wright (+7) and D. Martin for L. Blount (+6).


Now is when it really counts!  Get ready for Round 1 of the playoffs!!