Week 11 Recap

Another short week, this time holiday related. We'll hit up an old reliable gimmick this week, before focusing on playoff scenarios starting next week. 

Reminder that the trade deadline is Friday at 2am, so the last good time to upgrade your rosters is in the next 24 hours.

Playoff Picture:
1. Billy - Best Regular Season Record - Division Champ - Bye
2. Weissbard - Wild Card 1 - Bye
3. Kumpf - Division Champ
4. Barnard - Division Champ
5. Levine - Wild Card 2
6. AGD - NiJo Spot

Billy and Weissbard have clinched the playoffs, and can clinch the byes with one more win each. Everything else is pretty wide open, though my 50 point lead over AGD puts me in the playoffs barring a major collapse.

Week 12 Power Rankings

1. Kumpf (Last Week: 5th) 
Thankful For: Cooper Kupp. My self-proclaimed "worst draft pick" is the most reliable 20 points outside of JTT, and compliments a roster with no real weak spots now that I got Cam.

2. Levine (Last Week: 1st) 
Thankful For: Austin Ekeler. Ekeler's explosion on SNF dragged Levine past me and into a position where he can win the division, or at the very least claim the second Wild Card instead of falling back to the NiJo pack.

3. Weissbard (Last Week: 3rd) 
Thankful For: The schedule. The fact that he has faced almost 20ppg less than me and Levine is the only reason he'll be planning for the semi-finals while we struggle for playoff spots.

4. Billy (Last Week: 4th) 
Thankful For: Jonathan Taylor. It's honestly scary what his team would look like if Henry didn't get hurt, but Taylor is outdoing even peak Henry at this point in terms of consistency.

5. AGD (Last Week: 2nd) 
Thankful For: Weeks 1-9. During that time, enough points were banked that AGD shouldn't have an issue getting the NiJo spot unless I lose out. But a team that looked like the clear cut favorite a few weeks back is now hanging on by a thread.

6. Zacherman (Last Week: 8th) 
Thankful For: James Robinson. This was apparent immediately after the draft when Etienne got hurt, but the JRob pick provided enough juice that Z could withstand underperformance and injury from CEH, followed by a complete mental breakdown from Ridley, and still sit in playoff contention.

7. Nick (Last Week: 7th) 
Thankful For: Lack of expectations. As soon as Nick drafted Saquon, his season was pretty much lost in my mind, so he didn't need to deal with the usual late season disappointment of years past. He could still make the playoffs with a healthy roster, but an unlikely playoff push is much better than a collapse from the top.

8. Ajay (Last Week: 6th) 
Thankful For: Staying somewhat relevant despite a disastrous draft. Using his entire FAAB budget on Eli Mitchell kind of worked, Mattison and Darrel both provided random spot starts, and Waller allowed him to upgrade at QB, but injuries and trading Renfrow for a promptly released AP while CeeDee got hurt was the nail in the coffin.

9. Barnard (Last Week: 11th) 
Thankful For: Deebo Samuel. His Chiefs connection has run hot and cold all season, but Deebo has been the constant that has kept the Barndogs afloat. If he keeps getting legit carries at RB (and potentially RB positional eligibility?), Barnard will be a team no one wants to see in the playoffs.

10. Alan (Last Week: 12th) 
Thankful For: The Knicks. I assume Alan has moved on to basketball season as, despite a roster in dire need of help, he has made only 8 acquisitions all season, 2 less than any other team. Trading DK for Hunt looked promising until Hunt got hurt, while the Miles Sanders trade essentially netted him the Pats D/ST, which he ended up not starting to cost him a must-win matchup against Billy. Bing Bong.

11. Mejia (Last Week: 9th) 
Thankful For: Bennett not drafting the team. This team has always been flawed with upside, which is more than we've ever been able to say for a team that Bennett drafted. Since Bennett got involved, their biggest moves have been trading for Demetric Felton, adding Jarvis Landry (and dropping Felton) and dropping a $35 on a 2-8 Texans defense.

12. Marco (Last Week: 10th) 
Thankful For: Mike Williams. The rest of this roster has almost completely turned over, but Big Mike started off as an insane value pick, then completely fell apart, before making a "too little too late" resurgence. Which pretty much mirrors the performance of Marco's team.

13. Gutman (Last Week: 13th) 
Thankful For: Jalen Hurts. Gutman is shockingly one game under .500, but it would take a miracle for this team to make the playoffs. Hurt gives him the best shot, skyrocketing to QB1 on the season and forcing Gutman to look at Chinese websites for an oversized Eagles 1 jersey.

14. Esco (Last Week: 14th) 
Thankful For: The season almost being over. I was going to say "his health" but I've seen how his hands and feet look recently, so I can't even say that with a straight face. DeAndre Swift was a good pick I guess.

Matchup of the Week: Alan vs. Nick

Not a lot of options to choose from this week, so I'll pick a Loser Leaves Town match where the winner could make a late Wild Card 2 push, and the loser is likely out of range for the NiJo spot.

We start with the Thanksgiving fun of Josh and Moss vs. Diggs on opposite sides against a sometimes stout Saints defense. Alan needs the Bills to take page out of the Eagles book and run that ball to open up a 30 point lead if he wants to keep up with Nick's RBs. Barkley is unsurprisingly banged up again, but a healthy Chubb and a surprising Melvin are still a formidable duo. Evans has his own injury worry, which mean a lot rides on Thielen's shoulders to carry the WR load for Alan, along with more Jakobi Meyers than anyone needs at this point in the season. I think Nick has it locked up before Monday, but Lockett is a nice way to end the week as he's gotten 13 targets since Russ got back. ESPN has this one close but I think Nick wins by 20+.

Pick: Nick
MotW Record: 5-6
Rivalry Week Record: 3-4