The regular season is now over, and we have our competitors set in the tournament to decide our first league Champion, and winner of the Igloo Bowl trophy. I just want to, first off, thank Commish for not dying during our first season, so we didn’t have to name the trophy after him. Word on the street is he was checking out a Bananas trade offer when shit hit the fan. It’d be even worse if his team cruised to a title, and we all had to admit we lost to a dead guy. The league would have probably ceased to exist after that. Either way, congrats to the Nagintas, Rexes, Bananas, Chalupas, Ballers and WDJFS for making the playoffs.
On the other end of the spectrum we have the Idiots, Dancers, Bandits and Snappers fighting to avoid becoming the first ‘winner’ of the Frittata Bowl. Through crappy drafting, lousy trades, poor luck and just general incompetence, these teams have found their way to the bottom of the league this season, and one will be crowned the worst in Week 16.
Playoff Preview
Since Month (Loose Bandits GM) isn’t involved the in the top 6, he was kind enough to give us an impartial look at how he expects the playoffs to play out, and who he thinks will be the first EBFL Igloo Bowl Champion. On to the predictions!
Wildcard Round
3 Bananas v 6 WDJFS
The Bananas and WDJFS both had early success in league play and both seem to have benefited from a weak (Ed. or at least fortunate timing) schedule. WDJFS has scored the least as far as playoff teams go. The Bananas had the benefit of playing in the weakest division. So on paper this match up looks close but I think WDJFS scores just enough to squeak out 1 more win and provide cannon fodder for the semi-finals. As the owner of WDJFS’s 1st round pick, I kinda hope I’m wrong!
4 Knuckles v 5 Chalupas
Both the Ballers and the Chalupas were neck and neck with their division winners, who both earned byes. A few weeks ago, both might have been considered favourites to win it all. Now they meet in a win or go home game in the quarterfinals. The Chalupas hope that Seattle plays a high scoring game in Philly as he needs Russell Wilson and Beast Mode to keep pace with Manning and D. Thomas, who look to put a hurting on another AFC East opponent. The Chalupas have been riding rookie Chris Borland lately, but after what the Raiders did last week I’m not sure if he’s gonna be on the field enough to make an impact. I see the Ballers winning this one and setting up a divisional rematch with the Rexes.
Semi-Finals
1 Nagitas v 6 WDJFS
The Nagintas not only had the 1 and 2 picks in the Rookie Draft, they took a team with loads of ‘potential’ talent and transformed it into the top team in the Eskimo Bros Football League. With the key in-season trades for Drew Brees and Justin Forsett, to go along with the big deadline splash of AJ Green, they took that potential and turned it into a tough out. Well they’re not going out… they’re going to the final to see a Taco Corp team. Sorry WDJFS, you’re team just doesn’t have enough in this match up.
2 Rexes v 4 Ballers
In this Taco Corp rematch for a finals berth, the Rexes come in as the favourite, being the #2 seed and holding 2 wins over the Ballers in the regular season, both by over 15 points. That said, it was only 1.6 points that kept the Ballers from being the 2 seed and skipping a tough match up in the quarters. This match up will most likely come down to which of the starting QB’s perform on the road (Rodgers in Buffy; Manning in San Diego), I’m giving the nod to Manning in the nice weather having the game to propel the Ballers into the final.
Finals
1 Nagitas v 4 Ballers
The Ballers have gotten this far on the back of a great QB and loads of talent at WR. Unfortunately Manning plays at home in December and his coach likes to run the ball in those situations, as Manning isn’t a cold weather QB. The Nagitas have a better stable of WRs and his QB gets a nice warm game at home in the Superdome against one of the NFL’s worst secondaries. So even though it pains me to say this, the Nagintas get to hoist the trophy this year … Maybe its because they’re run by the commish, and he puts so much work into the league sites … maybe it’s just because their GM has experience in the Dynasty format. But now we all know they’re the team we all have to beat NEXT YEAR and not give them all of our good players!
Ed. – Well there you have it. Mo predicts a Nagintas championship over the Ballers. Here’s hoping Mo knows playoffs…because his team sure doesn’t. Thanks again Mo for helping out with this!
Year End Award Preview
We’re only 3 weeks away from the end of the fantasy season, and that means it’s time to start thinking of year end awards. Here’s an early look at some of the favourites for each award. While this won’t be the definitive list we will be voting from, don’t be surprised if it’s pretty close. The Offensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards may very well come down to what players do right up until Week 16, as they’re both tight races.
Offensive Player of the Year
Andrew Luck – Luck is the top scoring player in the EBFL so far, with a 14 point lead over the next QB. While it’s not the runaway season Manning had last year, it’s hard to ignore, despite the Stache not being a top team in the league.
Aaron Rodgers/Peyton Manning – While Rodgers started slow, he’s been ridiculous from Week 6 on, with only 1 performance under 24 points. Manning has put up respectable numbers, especially considering he had to go through the NFC West defenses this season. Many scoffed at his early selection in the draft, but he’s carried the Ballers to the most points in the league.
Antonio Brown – Brown has been the key to the Chalupas season. He’s put up a number of big games, while also having a pretty high floor each week. You know Brown is going to get his catches, it’s just a matter of what he’s going to do with them.
DeMarco Murray/Matt Forte – Murray has been an absolute force for the Cowboys and the Rexes this season. He’s been consistently great, with not one single digit performance, and only 1 under 15 points (and that was only because of Brandon Weedon). If Murray doesn’t get the consideration, maybe it will be the Rexes other stud RB. He’s been right there with Murray all year, and could easily end up catching 100 passes this season.
Defensive Player of the Year
JJ Watt – I can probably just end the list right here. Even without his 4 TD receptions on offense he’s still 35 points ahead of the next lineman on the list. Closes the season with Jags, Colts and Ravens.
DeAndre Levy – Leads all linebackers in scoring, and has made for a formidable 1-2 punch on the Bananas D. Even if Watt sat out the fantasy playoffs, the Bananas would still have a solid shot at the award.
Luke Kuechly – The 2nd defender taken in the draft has lived up to the hype, scoring only a couple points fewer than Levy thus far. If not for being ejected for nothing against the Pack, he would probably be the leading scorer for the position.
Lavonte David – David was the leading LB candidate for the award before going down with an injury. Can he come back and dominate over the next 3 weeks to put himself back into contention?
Rookie of the Year
Mike Evans – The #1 pick in the draft has not disappointed, putting up WR1 numbers while missing a game. In a stellar WR class, Evans has risen to the top of the heap. He laid down the highest scoring game for a rookie this year with his Week 11 outbreak against the Washington Racists.
Kelvin Benjamin – Benjamin came out of the gate hot, as pretty much the only useful WR in Carolina. After 6 weeks, it looked like he’d run away with the award, but he’s cooled considerably, and several other rookies have stolen the spotlight. Still a great season so far for Benjamin, and a good finish against the Saints, Bucs and Browns could get him serious consideration.
Jeremy Hill – Several other rookies have flashed for a game or two, but Hill has been the most consistent of the rookie RB. He’s the only one that would be in the RB1/2 mix through 13 games as a high end RB2. With Gio Bernard healthy again, it may be a little tougher for Hill to put up the points over the next 3 weeks to overcome all of the great WR’s.
CJ Mosley – Mosley has been solid for the Snappers D; an every week starter who currently sits 5th in LB scoring. In any other year, he may have a shot, but there have been too many impressive offensive contributions for him to win.
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