FCNPFFL: Playoffs - Super Bowl

It all came down to this week.  During the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, both Nate and Adam were looking to win their second FCNPFFL Super Bowl Championship.   Nate also had the chance to finish the season as the first team in the 15 year history of this league to finish without a loss.  He only had a tie in Week 3 keeping him from his chance at hanging out with the 1972 Miami Dolphins.  Adam, who has only been in the league for 8 years, has made the playoffs six times and already is in his 3rd Super Bowl.  A win would quickly elevate him into the upper echelon of overall league superiority.

 Before we get to the results, let me thank my league mates for another successful season of fantasy football. I truly appreciate the effort of all managers to put a strong starting roster on the 'field' each week, whether they are in the playoff chase or not.  Case in point was our last place finisher, John, a league member since its inception, continued to add/drop players and make trades down to the final week to avoid the cellar.  Although it didn't work out for him, it's dedication like that which makes this league fun to run year in and year out.

Thinking back to me as a young punk, junior in college when I joined the league, to become a father for the first time mid season this year, now as a just under middle aged punk, it amazes me to see all the changes we have gone through in 15 years.

I will definitely be back for another season as your commissioner and hopefully we'll have the same 14 owners next year again.  As always, if you plan to drop out, please let me know ASAP so I can invite some new people.

Now, without further ado....your Super Bowl XV results between #1 Seed Nate and #6 Seed Adam:

The key to Nate's success all season long (outside of a stifling defensive hex he puts on everyone) has been balance between his top players.  Whether it was Drew Brees throwing 3+ touchdowns weekly or Adrian Peterson proving he's not human, or Michael Turner scoring one touchdown after another or Dez Bryant scoring every week down the stretch, it has been a group effort.  Adam went more of the 'get hot down the stretch' route as Cam Newton became a fantasy MVP in the second half of the season with unmatched play for the Panthers.  Along with the stellar play of AJ Green and a savvy late season addition of Knowshown Moreno, Adam had the leagues hottest team down the stretch...save for Nate.  We got a great match up showing fantasy owners that winning your league can be done on draft night as well as in Week 12 with the right moves.  An owner can never stand pat.

Adam needed to win the battle of the quarterbacks, in my opinion, to have a shot at winning and even though Cam Newton did good things on Sunday with 23 points including another rushing TD, he didn't get into a shootout like the Saints are known to do.  Drew Brees went toe to toe with Tony Romo in Dallas throwing for 446 yards! and 3 touchdowns scoring 34 fantasy points.  The advantage that Nate now held did not get any bigger as the running backs took the field.  Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner were both held down for the first time in weeks as they could only muster 13 total points.  Adam did slightly better with 15 points from DeMarco Murray and Knowshon Moreno, but he was still in the game.  That was until Dez Bryant took over.

In our league, we give a big bonus for 50+ yard touchdowns...you double to touchdown point total.  It has always been the rule that differentiates our league from all others as at any time your team can come from behind or be caught with just one play.  Yesterday Dez Bryant took home the Super Bowl MVP trophy with not one, but two 58 yards touchdowns and 38 fantasy points for Nate.  Adam had no answer as his WR/TE combination only scored 10 points and the game was never close again.

Congrats to Nate, yet another owner who has been with us all 15 years, on his second Super Bowl Championship (2003).


Final Score: The Bounchers 108 Biggums' 'Basers 69



In our 3rd place game...I made a mistake in the scheduling and had Ike playing himself so the box score didn't register until I noticed it this morning.  When I fixed it, Joel and Ike ended up tying although I'm sure Ike would have put in Tony Romo over Carson Palmer this week for an extra 44 points...but oh well.  Joel takes 3rd place due to being the higher seeded team.

Final Score:  Nikachu 63 Myra's College Fund 63

-------------------------------------------------------------

Final Standings:

1st: Nate
2nd: Adam
3rd: Joel
4th: Ike
5th: Jason
6th: Matt
7th: Luke
8th: Jody
9th: Nick G
10th: Ben
11th: Alex
12th: Mike
13th: Nick B
14th: John

I still find it amazing that my name (5 letters) is the longest of the names that we primarily use for this league.  I might have to start using Nathan from here on in...

Okay that's it for the 2012 season.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.  See everyone next summer for year 16...

-Jason

FCNPFFL: Playoffs: Semifinals

As always it was good to see some of the league at the FCNP holiday party last week.  It is always a strong correlation between those who show up expecting a payout compared to those who don't come and aren't getting paid.

We still have a champion to crown so let's get right to it.

As a reminder there is finally (thank heavens) no Thursday night game.  There is, though, a SATURDAY night game between ATLANTA and DETROIT.

Last chance for waivers on Wednesday night to get that perfect championship lineup.  It is always interesting to see what, if any, no name players will get a shot to win a trophy for a team.  This is the time of the season for a 3rd/4th string player to shine.

Onto the games:

In our first semifinal game, undefeated Nate welcomed Ike and his high scoring team into the Bouncherdome and treated him quite rudely.  It all started with Michael Turner scoring early, then AP did what AP has done all season long in breaking off an 82 yard, 20 fantasy point touchdown run and finally watching Drew Brees take out his frustrations on Tampa Bay by throwing 4 touchdown passes.  Nate's big 3 combined for 76 points and the rout was on.  After scoring 99 points last week, Ike fell flat with only 58 total points as Nate's team defense continued to be his strongest attribute.  Only Arian Foster and the Vikings D were able to crack double figures for Ike.  In 15 games this season, Ike has averaged 79 points per game scored.  In the 12 games (8-4 record) that he hasn't played against Nate he has averaged nearly 84 points per game and in the 3 losses against Nate he averaged just 61 points per game.  Amazing.  Nate advances to his 3rd Super Bowl in his history with the league and is 1-1 in his previous two games.

Final Score: The Bounchers 98  Myra's College Fund 58



Our other half of the Super Bowl bracket was new (Joel) vs. old (Adam) and proved to be a much closer game albeit lower scoring.  Adam benched both DeMarco Murray and Knowshown Moreno for the hot hand in David Wilson and that decision almost bit him in the ass.  Wilson flat lined with only 5 points while both Murray (14) and Moreno (17) had stellar days.  Cam Newton did not have another big time performance for Adam, but he still scored 19 points and the Broncos D tallied 11.  Joel also got burned by the lackluster play of the NY Giants as Victor Cruz struggled with just a point.  Aaron Rodgers made up for that with 27 points and TRich continued his strong rookie season with 14 points.  Joel's biggest mistake was going to the Bryce Brown well one too many times as he only scored 3 points while Beanie Wells emerged with 24 on his bench (although he would have probably played Ryan 'broken clavicle again' Mathews and his 2 points without 20/20 hindsight).  When the afternoon ended Adam held a 2 points lead with each team having one player left.  Adam had Stephen Gostkowski and Joel had Kenny Britt.  For more than half of the Patriots game, Gostkowski was stuck on 3 points, but a late scoring blitz got him to 11 points meaning Britt needed 13 to give Joel a comeback win....he had 7 yards receiving...ouch.  Adam advances to his 3rd Super Bowl as well and he too is 1-1 in his previous appearances.  Joel had a very successful 1st season even though it ended earlier than he had hoped for.

Final Score: Biggums' 'Basers 70 Nikachu 57



SUPER BOWL XV

#1 Seed Nate vs. #6 Seed Adam

In the 3rd place consolation game #2 Seed Joel takes on #5 Seed Ike

The 5th place game between me and Matt was close, because I allowed it to be with no starting QB.  Without RGIII I still eked out a victory behind a huge 26 point effort from Dennis Pitta and 20 from Alfred Morris.  Matt got 25 from Matt Ryan, but only 3 points total from Ray Rice and Stevan Ridley.

Final Score: Escaped Lunatics 71 Rainbows & Puppies 68

In the 7th place game Luke beat Jody in another great contest where 8 of the 16 players hit double figures.  Luke got 27 from Colin Kaepernick, 22 from James Jones and 17 from Julio Jones while Jody had 24 from CJ2K, 16 from BJGE and 13 each from Stevie Johnson and the Falcons D

Final Score: Deathtongue 85 DoggNutz 82

In the 9th place game, Nick G defeated Ben behind a pair of 18 point efforts from Peyton Manning and SeaBass.  Ben's top scorer, CJ Spiller scored 16 points in defeat.

Final Score: The Lollipop Kids 70 The Magic Wands 51

In the 11th place game Alex and Mike tied at 83, but Alex claims 11th due to a better regular season standing.  Mike saw Tom Brady lead all scorers with 31, but Alex used a good team effort including 21 from Joe Flacco and 17 each from Marshawn Lynch and TY Hilton to knot the score up.

Final Score: Worthless Peons 83 Bookoo Barbarians 83

Drum roll please...................

Finally our Toilet Bowl between John and Nick B was yet another pretty competitive game.  Nick B made a very smart decision by benching Eli Manning and starting Andrew Luck as Luck put up 22 points while Manning scuffled to just 6 points.  John got 17 from Matt Schaub, 20 from Eric Decker and 15 from Shayne Graham to offset a horrible -2 from the Lions defense against crappy Arizona.  Nick saw the Texans D score 13 points, but he was still 14 points behind John with only Michael Crabtree left to play.  Crabtree scored early and then, with the real game on the line and the fantasy game on the line, he scored again, finishing with 19 points and giving Nick B a comeback victory avoiding last place and sending John to draft board duties for Draft Night 2013!!!

Final Score: The Knacks 69  The Situation 64

Good luck to both Adam and Nate as they try to secure their 2nd ever Super Bowl joining Jody, Ben and me as multiple trophy winners.

FCNPFFL: Playoffs Week 1

The first week of playoffs usually marks the arrival of our annual 'winter meetings' at the FCNP Holiday Party.  This year is no different as this Thursday, right before the EAGLES play the BENGALS, hopefully a bunch of us will convene to catch up on the last couple months and I will play Santa and hand out some money.  It's always nice to see the league get together to discuss the good and the bad of the season and what changes we might be considering for the next season.

Here is the info from Nick B:

You are cordially invited to our 23rd Annual Holiday Party this THURSDAY, DEC. 13, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at our usual location, the fellowship hall of the Church of Spiritual Enlightenment, 222 N. Washington St. (Rt. 29), right next to the State Theater and a half-block from the intersection of ZRt. 29 and Rt. 7 in Falls Church (22046 for those using Mapquest).

For those attending it will also be fun to finally get the chance to discuss the possible playoff chances of our local team, the Redskins.  It's been quite a few years since we could do that.

 

That leads us right into this weeks playoff games:

 

I entered the playoffs at the #4 seed and hosted #5 seed Ike.  With the return of Darren McFadden to my starting lineup, this was scheduled to be yet another high scoring, close game for me.  DMC led off with 11 points on Thursday and that lead lasted all of one play on Sunday.  Ike got a 20 points, 80 yard touchdown run by Jamaal Charles right away Sunday afternoon and he took a lead that he would never relent.  Charles ended up with a game high 28 points, Brandon Marshall and Tony Romo added 16 each, Arian Foster added 12 and Pierre Garcon stepped in for an injured Jordy Nelson with 11.  On my side of the ledger, it was sink or swim with my Redskins duo and early on it looked as though RGIII and Alf would combine for 50 points.  Even with getting injured late, RGIII still had 19 points, Alf finished with 16 and I got a huge boost from the Browns D (save for that pesky 20 point run against them) with 15 points.  All season I struggled with finding a consistent wide receiver, but I had been guessing well of late, this week I missed dearly.  I started Torrey Smith and Lance Moore who put up a whopping 2 total points, while my two bench receivers, Mike Wallace and Danario Alexander combined for a potential game winning 36 points.  Oops.  Ike moves on to face undefeated, #1 seed Nate.

 

Final Score:  Myra's College Fund 99 Escaped Lunatics 74

On the other side of the bracket, #3 seed Matt went to battle against #6 seed Adam.  Just like in Ike's victory, this game was decided after one long run.  Adam got the early jump on Thursday with 20 big points from Knowshown Moreno who had his first relevant fantasy game in years.  On Sunday, the lead grew behind Cam Newton who has suddenly become a fantasy MVP.  He scored a whopping 49 points with 19 coming on a 72 yard touchdown run which basically put this game out of reach.  DeMarco Murray added 12 points and the Matt was in need of a minor miracle to get back into it.  He got a great second half from Matt Ryan who was 'ice' cold to start.  He finished with 24 points and Ray Rice added 19 to make the deficit look a bit less lopsided.  After Greg Jennings produced just a single point Sunday night, the game was all but wrapped up.  Even a 13 point effort from Stevan Ridley wasn't enough to make this game any more exciting.  On a side note, not that it was needed, but Adam also had David Wilson on his bench who had a career game with 34 points.  Adam moves on to face #2 seed Joel.

Final Score:  Biggums' 'Basers 99 Rainbows & Puppies 76

Moving down a wrung on the ladder into the Purgatory Bowl bracket:

Jody eked out a 1 point victory over Nick G in a game that saw both TE's and Defenses score 0 points while both QB's scored 18 points each.  Each team also had an 8 point scoring RB and a 7 point scoring WR.  Yeah it couldn't of been much closer.

Final Score: DoggNutz 50  Lollipop Kids 49

The other side saw Luke battle through his injuries to defeat Ben behind 26 points from Colin Kaepernick who scored 17 of those on a late 50 yard touchdown run.  He also got 18 from rookie standout Doug Martin while Ben saw Matt Stafford score 20 points in snowy Green Bay.

Final Score: Deathtongue 71 Magic Wands 57

Falling of the ladder completely and heading to the bowels of the league this year, we now check in on the results of the Toilet Bowl semifinals.

It doesn't happen usually, but this week Alex scored the most points in the league from the Toilet Bowl.  He wanted no part of the dubious distinction of the worst team of the season as he unloaded his frustrations on John.  His two Seahawks, Marshawn Lynch and the Defense put up a whopping 62 points against the hapless Cardinals.  This was more than enough to defeat John who got 13 from Roddy White to lead the way for him.

Final Score:  The Worthless Peons 106  The Situation 51

Nick B had a good showing even though he lost Fred Jackson to injury again.  Eli Manning scored 26 and Darren Sproles added 18 to give Nick B a cushion against Mike, but Tom Brady erased that on Monday night quickly.  Brady threw 4 TD's and scored 34 points to keep Mike from worst team status.  He also got 14 each from VJax and Matt Prater.

Final Score:  Bookoo Barbarians 85 The Knacks 70

Schedule for Week 2 of the Playoffs:

Super Bowl Bracket:

#1 Seed Nate vs. #5 Seed Ike

#2 Seed Joel vs. #6 Seed Adam

5th/6th place game:

#3 Seed Matt vs. #4 Seed Jason

Purgatory Bracket:

7th/8th place game:

#1 Seed Jody vs. #3 Seed Luke

9th/10th place game:

#2 Seed Ben vs. #4 Seed Nick G

Toilet Bowl Brackets:

Last place game:

#3 Seed Nick B vs. #4 Seed John

11th/12th place game:

#1 Seed Alex vs. #2 Seed Mike

See everyone on Thursday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FCNPFFL: Week 13 Results

That's a wrap to the regular season. The 16th season (15th that I've run) of the Falls Church News-Press Fantasy Football League is headed to the playoff where all the glory awaits.

In the previous 14 years that I have been commissioner we have had 8 different Super Bowl winners, 7 who are still in the league today.

The only one who has won a Super Bowl and is not a part of the league was our 1998 winner, my 1st season (I was runner up).

1998:  Pete
1999: Jody
2000: Ben
2001: Ben (2nd)
2002: Jason
2003: Nate
2004: Ike
2005: Jody (2nd)
2006: Ben (3rd)
2007: Jason (2nd)
2008: Matt
2009: Jason (3rd)
2010: Adam
2011: Jason (4th)

We had one new member this season, and he did not find it very difficult to succeed.  Joel stepped right in and finished with the 2nd best overall record.  Kudos to him.

More on the league in a bit, we still have the regular season to wrap up before focusing on the trophy that I am still currently in possession of.

There is a THURSDAY night game between OAKLAND and DENVER.  Waivers will run overnight Wednesday as usual.

Onto the games:

Adam and I went into the final game of the regular season both vying for the playoffs.  I had a much stronger foothold on a playoff spot, meaning I could lose and still get in, but Adam had to win to make the playoffs.  Adam was on a 4 year playoff run while I was on a 5 year playoff run...both streaks were still on the line.  I got the scoring started with 13 from Matt Bryant on Thursday night, but unfortunately that was my last double digit scorer until Monday.  In between Adam got a game high 30 points from Cam Newton, 12 from Mikel Leshoure and 10 from Stephen Gostowski to take a 37 points lead with only RGIII and Alf left to play.  They both hit double figures but could only muster 29 total points as Adam pulled even with me in the standings at 7-6.  Tiebreakers ahead!


Biggums' 'Basers 73 Escaped Lunatics 65



This now left the door open for either Ike or Matt to take the 3rd seed in the playoffs.  The winner of their game would leapfrog me in the standings and sit alone in 3rd place.  A loss for Matt would most definitely eliminate him while Ike had a somewhat comfortable points scored cushion over some of the other possible 7-6 teams.  Matt saw Matty Ice struggle to just 12 points Thursday, but once again his team balanced kicked in to keep him alive.  He had 6 of his other 7 players score between 9-15 points.  Ike had the game high scorer in Tony Romo who stayed red hot with 28 points and Jamaal Charles posted 12, Arian Foster put up 10 and Brandon Marshall hauled in 11 to keep the game close.  What doomed Ike this week was an early injury to Jordy Nelson and another no show game for Vernon Davis.  Matt wins and claims the #3 seed.  Ike heads to tiebreaker land.


Rainbows & Puppies 86 Myra's College Fund 74



Luke was in the same position as Ike and I with a good points scored lead over the possible 7-6 teams, but he had to win against his brother, Joel who was already cemented into the #2 seed for that to happen.  Hoping to ride the hot streak of Colin Kaepernick, he had his healthiest lineup in weeks.  Kaepernick stepped in for Mike Vick (after a Mark Sanchez week of disaster) and posted 16, James Starks filled in admirably for LeSean McCoy with 13 and everything seemed to be okay.  That was until his normal starters crapped the bed.  Doug Martin, Julio Jones and the Bears defense combined for just 13 points and the door was left open for Joel to end Luke's season.  Aaron Rodgers started the charge with 18, TRich added 14, but it was McCoy's backup who put the final nail in the coffin on Luke's season.  Bryce Brown scampered for 26 points and Joel came from behind to earn his 10 win in his 1st season.

Final Score: Nikachu 81  Deathtongue 66



The only drama in the game between Nate and John was whether Nate could become the 1st ever team in the history of the League to finish without a loss.  He had a tie in week 3, but a win would not only give him that quasi perfect season, but also would give him a league record tying 10 consecutive victory.  Nate left nothing to doubt behind 33 points from Adrian Peterson.  He more than made up for a disappointing 12 points from Drew Brees whose TD passing streak came to an end at 54 games.  Dez Bryant continued his hot streak with 18 points, Michael Turner added 12 and Rian Lindell put the cherry on top with 11.  John was led by Matt Schaub who had 22.  Not only did Nate finish 12-0-1, but he added an additional $10 for the top scoring team of the week.  Nothing short of a tremendous season...good job Nate!

Final Score: The Bounchers 101 The Situation 65



Jody faced Alex this week needing not only a win, but also needing to score a ton of points to get back into the points scored race for the final playoff spots.  He had a good week, easily defeating a depleted Peons squad, but it wasn't the week he needed.  Josh Freeman scored 19, Steve Smith added 14, BJGE put up 11 and Lawrence Tynes added 10, but he finished 19 points short of a playoff spot.  Jody did win his 100th game in his career in the FCNPFFL, so congrats on that note.

Final Score: DoggNutz 83  Worthless Peons 47



Ben was in an even worse spot than Jody, but the story was the same.  He not only needed to beat Nick B, but he needed to put up almost 200 points in scoring this week.  Matt Stafford did his part with 22 and Demaryius Thomas added 18 while CJ Spiller chipped in with 13, which was good enough to win this week, but not good enough to make the playoffs.  Nick B could have stolen a victory, but he left his new crush Andrew Luck on the bench while giving his long time fantasy flame, Eli Manning, one last start.  Luck outscored Manning by 17 and Nick B lost by 8.

Final Score: The Magic Wands 80 The Knacks 72



And because they had to, Nick G thumped Mike in the final game of the regular season for the league.  Peyton Manning outplayed Tom Brady in this fantasy match up 23-14 and Megatron exploded for 17 points in this rout.


Final Score: Lollipop Kids 80 Bookoo Barbarians 45



Our final standings and payouts look like this:

Nate 12-0-1 (#1 seed $230+$20) (save for $15 that I am owed)
Joel 10-3 (#2 seed $105+$20)
Matt 7-5-1 (#3 seed $65)
Jason 7-6 (#4 seed $35+$30) 1032 points
Ike 7-6 (#5 seed $10, which I am owed as well) 1029 points
Adam 7-6 (#6 seed) 999 points
---------------------------------
Jody 7-6; 981 points
Ben 7-6; 929 points
Luke 6-7; head to head win over Nick G
Nick G 6-7
---------------------------------
Alex 5-8
Mike 4-9
Nick B 3-10
John 2-11

Schedule for the Playoffs:

Super Bowl
#4 Jason 7-6 vs. #5 Ike 7-6
#3 Matt 7-5-1 vs. #6 Adam 7-6

Bye weeks #1 Nate 12-0-1 #2 Joel 10-3

Purgatory Bowl
#1 Jody 7-6 vs. #4 Nick G 6-7
#2 Ben 7-6 vs. #3 Luke 6-7

Toilet Bowl
#1 Alex 5-8 vs. #4 John 2-11
#2 Mike 4-9 vs. #3 Nick B 3-10

Some interesting notes on the season:

Picks 1-7 in this years draft went 43-47-1 with 3 playoff teams while picks 8-14 went 47-43-1 with 3 playoff teams.  This after last season picks 1-7 went 41-46-4 with 3 playoff teams and 8-14 went 47-42-2 with 3 playoff teams...interesting, no?

The Back Wall Division scored 6727 total points to 6523 by the Critter Corner Division, but Critter Corner had 7 top scoring weeks, to only 6 for Back Wall.

The Back Wall Division ended up having 5 of the 6 playoff teams with Joel being the lone Critter Corner entry.  Joel played 2 games against the Back Wall Division and they were against the two non-playoff teams.  Go figure.

I made the playoffs for the 6th consecutive year while Adam has made it for 5 straight years.

The six participants in this years playoffs own 8 of the 14 Super Bowl trophies, including the last 5 and 8 of the last 10...good luck Joel, you might need it. 

Overall since 2000 (when I have concrete records for the league) the playoff appearances for this group are as such:
Jason: 9 times
Adam: 6 times
Nate: 5 times
Matt: 5 times
Ike: 4 times
Joel: 1 time

We had a record 5 quarterbacks drafted in the 1st round of the draft this year and the records showed a wide range of success or lack there of.

The records of the teams drafting a QB first were: 12-0-1, 10-3, 7-6, 4-9 and 3-10 including our top two seeds.  They were the only playoff teams of that group.

Good luck in the playoffs guys and I hope to bring home my 5th Super Bowl and defend my crown!

FCNPFFL: Week 12 Results

For most leagues this upcoming week is the final week of the regular season.  I believe a 13 week season is best followed by a three week playoff.  This means that in the final week of the regular season where some NFL teams will rest key players will have no ill effect on the fantasy championship games.  There is nothing worse than having to bench a player who helped you win all your games and roll the dice on a back up player to win you a trophy.  Just look back to Aaron Rodgers last season.  He was MVP, but was benched for Matt Flynn in week 17.  Playing only 16 weeks solves 99% of those issues.

Twelve weeks are in the books.  We've made it through Thanksgiving, and what a Thanksgiving it was.  Two 400+ yard passing games, a 4 touchdown passing game, a 3 touchdown passing game, two defensive touchdowns in 5 seconds and a 'unintentional' kick to the groin.

This THURSDAY the NFL gives us some great leftovers with NEW ORLEANS vs. ATLANTA

Don't forget to set your lineup for that shootout.

Onto the games:

Ben and I were both sitting at 6-5 and both projected to score 90+ points in what I dubbed the game of the week.  By the time you were hitting the pumpkin pie on Thursday it appeared we were both headed for triple digits.  Matthew Stafford torched the Texans suddenly porous defense for 30 points and Ben was off and running.  I countered with the RGIII and Alf show as the Redskins duo blistered Dallas for 57 total points including 40 from Griffin.  Ben didn't relax as he had Dan Bailey kick in 13 points keeping him close.  Then I took over with the Patriots defense putting up 19 points versus the Jets that night.  With a big lead, my team went into prevent mode and watched Ben creep to within 9 thanks to 11 from Demaryius Thomas and 10 from CJ Spiller, but he never could get enough points to get over the top.  Torrey Smith put the game away with 9 points and also got me to 100 giving me the top scoring team in the league this week and my 3rd $10 prize of the season.

Final Score: Escaped Lunatics 100 Magic Wands 79



Two teams heading in the opposite direction pitted Nate against Alex.  Still undefeated and riding an eight game winning streak (after a week 3 tie), Nate looked to put the final nail in Alex's coffin as he had slipped to under .500 with a current 3 game losing streak.  Dez Bryant started things off for Nate with 25 points on Thanksgiving and Drew Brees tacked on 23 to extend the lead.  Alex got 21 from Joe Flacco and 14 from TY Hilton to get closer and when the Packers defense scored -3 points all it took for a big upset was one big run by Alex Green in that same game.  That didn't happen and Alex fell just 3 points short keeping Nate without a loss.  His magic worked again as even though he had the 4th lowest scoring team of the week it was still enough to win again.  That's 9 in a row and he now has the opportunity to match the 10 game win streak (in one season) of Jody in 2004.  Jody had a streak of 17 of 18 wins in that time frame as he won 7 of 8 to end 2003 and the first 10 of 2004.  Doing my research I did find that yours truly had a 12 game win streak over the span of two seasons as I won my final 4 games in 2006 and first 8 games of 2007.  Nate is now 13-1-1 in his last 15 games dating back to the end of last season.

Final Score: The Bounchers 66 Worthless Peons 63



Ike was a huge favorite this week against John who has had nothing go right for him.  On a current 5 game losing streak, John was still giving a full effort in trying to avoid the Toilet Bowl.  Ike was having none of that this week.  After falling flat last week, he left nothing to doubt getting 38 from Tony Romo and 23 from Arian Foster on Thanksgiving.  Little did we know, but that was already enough to win this week.  He got 16 from Jordy Nelson and 10 from Jamaal Charles but finished 2 points short of my score after Vernon Davis was again MIA for the 49ers.  John was led by Matt Schaub who scored 18 and Ahmad Bradshaw scored 15 in the 1st half against the Packers.

Final Score: Myra's College Fund 98 The Situation 56



Matt and Adam played what turned out to be the game of the week thanks to Cam Newton rolling through Philadelphia on Monday night.  At 5-5-1 and 6-5 respectively, Matt and Adam both needed a win in a desperate way.  Matt responded with 6 of his 8 players in double figures with 22 from Andy Dalton leading the way.  Cecil Shorts III stayed remarkably hot with 19 points, Stevan Ridley posted 15, Ray Rice put up 13 thanks to a 4-29 conversion, Connor Barth booted in 11 and Malcolm Floyd hauled in 10.  That balanced attack seemed to shell shock Adam as he only had two players get to double figures on Sunday with Justin Blackmon leading the way with 11 points.  Then along came Monday night and Cam Newton.  He toyed with the Eagles throwing 2 touchdowns and selfishly running for two more amassing 40 fantasy points as Adam climbed to within a handful of points.  He needed one more broken play for a cheap touchdown to win.  Instead the Panthers settled for the kneel down and the 'Basers came up 3 points short putting their season in peril while Matt suddenly leapfrogs over a bunch of teams.

Final Score: Rainbows & Puppies 96 Biggums' 'Basers 93



Joel officially wrapped up the Critter Corner Division crown in his first ever season as he more than doubled up Nick B....congrats!  With 19 from the 49ers D, 17 from Rodgers, 15 from TRich and 11 from Justin Tucker, Joel got back to his winning ways.  He scored 89 points in total, but was was even more impressive was that his bench, led by Bryce Brown's 31 points, scored 91!!!  By deftly using the waiver wire, Joel has built up a great bench of players after being thin all season long.  Nick B could have used some of those players.  A pickup of Bryce Brown this week may not have gotten him a win, but it would have made things more interesting.  Instead he had only one double digit scorer with 17 from Andrew Luck.

Final Score: Nikachu 89  The Knacks 42



Luke was looking to keep his playoff standing against Nick G who was in the role of spoiler this week.  With 21 from Peyton, 15 from Gore, 14 from Reggie Bush and 11 from the Steelers D, Nick G was going make Luke earn a 7th victory on the season.  With Colin Kaepernick now manning the ship for Luke, he led the way with 22 points, Doug Martin rolled in 17 and Luke made a smart decision starting Julian Edelman at wide receiver as he scored 14.  It was the other wide receiver spot that proved to be his downfall.  He has two J. Jones on his team.  Julio Jones is the superstar, but up until game time was questionable to play.  He was listed as active, but Luke decided to keep James Jones in the lineup and lost because of it.  Julio erupted for 21 points while James posted a doughnut and Luke fell by just 8 points.

Final Score: Lollipop Kids 84  Deathtongue 76



Jody had the same opportunity as did Luke, trying to earn his 7th win of the season against Mike who has a team on the outside looking in.  Just like Nick G., Mike was going to make it tough for the supposed favorite.  Tom Brady cruised past the Jets and posted 42 fantasy points with 3 passing touchdowns, including two bonus scores, and a rushing touchdown.  SJax and Andre Johnson continued to haunt me (after trading them away mid-season) with 25 total points as well.  Jody got 18 from BJGE and 12 from Josh Freeman and trailed by 14 points going into MNF with only Steve Smith left.  Even though Cam Newton topped 300 yards passing and threw for two scores, he ignored Smith for the most part as he could only put up 4 points and Jody fell short.  This also leaves Jody at 99 wins for his career, as #100 might be the difference in making the playoffs or not.

Final Score:  Bookoo Barbarians 80  DoggNutz 70



Standings after Week 12:

Nate 11-0-1 (#1 overall seed, clinched Back Wall Division)
Joel 9-3 (#2 overall seed, clinched Critter Corner Division)
Jason 7-5 (#3 seed; head to head victory over Ike; 967 points)
Ike 7-5 (#4 seed; 956 points)
Matt 6-5-1 (#5 seed)
Luke 6-6 (#6 seed; 972 points)
----------------------------------
Adam 6-6 (926 points)
Jody 6-6 (898 points)
Ben 6-6 (849 points)
----------------------------------
Nick G 5-7
Alex 5-7
Mike 4-8
Nick B 3-9
John 2-10

Week 13 Schedule:

Nate 11-0-1 vs. John 2-10 (Looks too easy Nate)
Joel 9-3 vs. Luke 6-6 (Will Joel eliminate his brother??)
Jason 7-5 vs. Adam 6-6 (Co-Game of the Week)
Ike 7-5 vs. Matt 6-5-1 (Co-Game of the Week)
Jody 6-6 vs. Alex 5-7 (Win #100 on the line again)
Ben 6-6 vs. Nick B 3-9 (Should be a lock for Ben)
Nick G 5-7 vs. Mike 4-8 (On the schedule)

Scenarios??? Let's take a stab at that:

Nate: Locked as #1 overall (Bye week 1st round of playoffs)
Joel: Locked as #2 overall (Bye week 1st round of playoffs)
Jason: (Win and finish #3; lose and finish anywhere from #4-out of the playoffs)
Ike: (Win and finish #3 or #4; lose and finish anywhere from #4-out of the playoffs)
Matt: (Win and finish either #3 or #4; a loss would require 3 of the 4 6-6 teams to lose to get in)
Luke: (Win to have a shot; holds head to head tiebreaker over Jody, but not Ben or Adam)
Adam: (Win and should be in with head to head tie break over Luke and points over Jody/Ben)
Jody/Ben: (Win and help; behind everyone at 6-6/7-5 in points)

FCNPFFL: Week 11 Results

Thanksgiving week is upon us and it marks a truly important crossroad for all fantasy football owners.  The Bye Weeks have now ended which is always a good thing meaning that owners across the board now for the 1st time since Week 3 can start the lineup that they drafted.  Of course if you still have that same lineup you've either stopped paying attention, are lucky as hell with the injury bug or already clinched your league's top spot.

The biggest sticking point for owners come the holiday season is how hectic life can get.  People get caught up in their travels, their families and forget to check their rosters.  Injuries don't stop even if all teams are playing.  Added to that, there are three games on Thursday meaning you have to make lineup decisions earlier than you want to.

Oh yeah, there's only two weeks left in your season.  For most teams with playoff aspirations, the playoffs begin now.  Lose and you probably don't qualify.  'Tis the season!

Three games on Thursday: DETROIT vs. HOUSTON, WASHINGTON vs. DALLAS & NEW ENGLAND vs. NEW YORK JETS

Onto the games:

Another must win week for my squad and it looked as though I finally caught a scheduling break against John who has struggled all season.  We both seemed to over think our strategies as we each benched our starting QB's (Matt Schaub for him, RGIII for me).  By 4pm we were both kicking ourselves.  Schaub scored a career high (I can only assume) 44 points and RGIII put up 38.  Instead John played rookie Nick Foles who struggled to only 8 points.  I ended up getting 21 from Carson Palmer so my mistake was not as bad.  I also got 3 defensive TD's from New England for 23 points, 15 from Lance Moore, 13 from Matt Bryant and 10 from Felix Jones to overcome my bad choice.  John got 10 each from the Bengals D and Shayne Graham, but his QB decision cost him a win.


Final Score: Escaped Lunatics 89 The Situation 56



Our undefeated (with a tie) team owned by Nate, looked to be in dire straights this week without Adrian Peterson going up against second place Ike who had Arian Foster playing lowly Jacksonville.  This looked to be the week that loss #1 was coming.  Instead, Nate proved his team isn't nearly a man show as everyone stepped up.  Drew Brees led the way with 22, Dez Bryant and the Packers D each amassed 15, Michael Turner rumbled for 10 and even backup Mark Ingram posted 12.  On the other side, Arian Foster bottomed out to just 6 points.  Tony Romo was the top scoring player for Ike with 18 and Vernon Davis made the score a bit closer with 11, but this was a rout from the opening bell.

Final Score: The Bounchers 85 Myra's College Fund 59



The other Back Wall Division pairing was a practical elimination game between Matt and Alex as the losing team was going to get their 6th loss with many teams above them.  For the 1st half of the season, Alex was having a great year, but the worm has certainly turned.  This week it all came crumbling down.  Without Big Ben, The Peons turned to Joe Flacco who had a bad, bad week.  He scored 8 points after his career week in Week 10.  To make matters worse Willis McGahee tore an MCL and his fantasy season is over.  Five other players on his team scored 1 or 0 points.  Matt also saw his quarterback have a crap week as Matt Ryan threw 5 interceptions to counter his 300 yards passing for 10 points.  Luckily Cecil Shorts...yes Cecil Shorts led the way with 17 points.  Connor Barth put up 10 points as well to help Matt stay alive.


Final Score:  Rainbows & Puppies 61 Worthless Peons 25



In the Critter Corner Division 1st year owner Joel was riding a seven game winning streak into his match up with perennial power Ben and at least in the week, the veteran held tough.  With a well balanced lineup including 5 double digit scorers between 11 and 15 points, Ben put an end to Joel's run.  The Ravens D had a team high 15 points and Matt Stafford scored 14 for Ben.  Joel did get 18 from Aaron Rodgers, 15 from the 49ers D and 12 from Tony Richardson, but his other five players managed only 14 points total.  Ben now opened the door for the Division to get much closer and kept his playoff hopes alive with two weeks left.

Final Score:  The Magic Wands 79 Nickachu 59



With Joel's loss, younger brother Luke now had a chance to make Thanksgiving week much more interesting around the dinner table with a win.  Luke could close the gap for the division title to just a single game, but he had to get past a desperate Adam who, like the majority of the league was at 5-5 and in dire need of a victory.  Luke had lost Mike Vick to injury so he added Mark Sanchez and prayed for a miracle.  That didn't happen.  Not only did Sanchez only score 12 points, but Luke saw LeSean McCoy get concussed and finish with just 6 points.  Doug Martin stayed grounded with 12 points which unfortunately for Luke was the top scoring player for him.  Adam had no such troubles this week.  Cam Newton was the game's top scorer with 20 points, Mikel Leshoure added 14 and AJ Green continued to be the best fantasy wide receiver with 12 points.  Both teams joined the party at 6-5 with this weeks results.

Final Score: Biggums' 'Basers 72 Deathtongue 46



Jody was in line to get to 6-5 (of course) with a win and keep his playoff hopes alive while Nick G was looking to play spoiler.  Unlike Kansas St. and Oregon in college football, Jody left nothing to chance.  He rolled to an easy victory behind 25 from Josh Freeman, 21 from Gronk (before his broke his arm which is a killer for his team), 16 from BJGE and 10 from the Falcons D.  Nick G got 24 from Peyton and 26 from his other seven players...yikes.


Final Score: DoggNutz 95 The Lollipop Kids 50



Earlier this week I tweeted the Mike had been through a tough season scoring the fewest points in the league while giving up the most points in the league.  That's a nasty combination and a 2-8, Mike had very little to play for.  Apparently his team took notice.  He took Nick B behind the woodshed as he unleashed a seasons worth of pent up fury upon him.  Tom Brady put up 28, Andre Johnson scored 24, VJax had 13 and Jermichael Finley and Matt Prater added 10 each.  Even with -2 from Peyton Hillis, Mike scored the most points in the league this week for $10.  Nick B got 19 from Andrew Luck and 10 total points from the other seven players in the defeat.

Final Score: Bookoo Barbarians 100 The Knacks 29



Before the standings...a congratulations to Ben who became the 3rd member of the 100 win mark, after Nate did the same last week, in the 15 year history of the FCNPFFL.  Jody moved to 99 wins as well.

Current win totals through Week 11 since 1998:

Jason 115

Nate 101

Ben 100

Jody 99

Luke 97

John 94

Ike 88

Nick B 77

Matt 63

Adam 61

Mike 55

Nick G 43

Alex 31

Joel 8

Week 11 Standings:

Nate 10-0-1 (Clinched #1 overall seed, 1st in Back Wall Division)
Joel 8-3 (#2 Seed, 1st in Critter Corner)
Luke 6-5 (#3 Seed,  896 points)
Jason 6-5 (#4 Seed, 867 points)
Ike 6-5 (#5 Seed, 856 points)
Adam 6-5 (#6 Seed, 833 points)
---------------------
Jody 6-5 (828 points)
Ben 6-5 (770 points)
Matt 5-5-1
--------------------
 Alex 5-6
Nick G 4-7
Mike 3-8
Nick B 3-8
John 2-9

Schedule for Week 12:

Nate 10-0-1 vs. Alex 5-6
Joel 8-3 vs. Nick B 3-8
Luke 6-5 vs. Nick G 4-7
Jason 6-5 vs. Ben 6-5 (Game of the Week)
Ike 6-5 vs. John 2-9
Adam 6-5 vs. Matt 5-5-1
Jody 6-5 vs. Mike 3-8

Every current playoff team is playing a current non playoff team so its a true win and your in type of week.  With 2 weeks left only 1 team has clinched a playoff spot and Joel needs just a win to clinch.  The rest of the spots are up for grabs as this looks to be the most competitive stretch run we've had in a long time.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  Safe travels and don't forget to set your rosters.  Trading is still allowed as this league doesn't have a trade deadline during the regular season.

FCNPFFL: Week 10 Results

With 10 weeks in the books, it is pretty much set which teams are racing for the playoffs and which teams have their eye on 2013.  The only thing you can hope for is that each team that is out of the race will continue to put forth a quality starting lineup and try to win each game whether it means something or not.  Most leagues will put forth a rule about teams finishing last so to avoid a problem.  This in not like the NFL where finishing last scores you a talent like Andrew Luck a couple of months later.  In our league we are quite tame to the team finishing last.  All they have to do is live with the moniker of 'Toilet Bowl Champion' for a year and run the draft board at the 2013 draft.  It may not sound like much, but having to keep an eye on the board while figuring out who you need to draft could be taxing.  Of course this years draft board manager is 7-2 and on a six game winning streak heading into week 10 so maybe it helped him keep focus.  Who knows?

Week 11 provides us with another scintillating THURSDAY night game between MIAMI and BUFFALO

This also marks the last week of BYE WEEKS: SEATTLE, NY GIANTS, MINNESOTA & TENNESSEE are off this week

Week 10 was a tough one for quarterbacks as 3 starting QB's left with a concussion (Vick, Cutler and Smith) while Big Ben left with a shoulder injury.  Add that to four more teams being on a Bye and all of a sudden there could be a QB shortage in Week 11.  (Of course if you have been starting Christian Ponder or Jake Locker/Matt Hasselsuck all season you have bigger fish to fry by now).

Onto the games:

Alex and I squared off this week in a pivotal Back Wall Division showdown.  He had a chance to get up by two games over me and solidify his playoff positioning while I was looking to square my record at .500 and thrust myself into the playoff race.  Without either of my top two running backs available, I was going to need a team effort to keep pace and that is just what I got.  Carson Palmer stepped in for RGIII and notched a game high 27 points and Torrey Smith found the end zone twice for 16 points.  Felix Jones finally produced when needed with 14 points as well.  Alex could not get anything rolling on Sunday as only Marshawn Lynch  hit double digits with 17 points.  Things got worse for Alex as Big Ben went down Monday night with an injury.  This on the heels of already being without Percy Harvin and Aaron Hernandez and Alex is suddenly trending in the wrong direction with 3 weeks to go.

Final Score: Escaped Lunatics 92 Worthless Peons 56



Our game of the week was very easily the game of the year to date in the FCNPFFL.  Undefeated Nate took on the only team to not lose to him all season, Matt as they tied back in week 3 64-64.  This week was not as low scoring as the top two point totals of the week were in this match up.  On the field the Saint knocked off undefeated Atlanta and in this game, Matt went with Matt Ryan against Drew Brees on Nate's side trying to do the same.  Ryan finished with 31 and Brees posted 25 for advantage Team Matt.  The running back totals evened the game back up as even though Matt got 26 total points from Rice and Ridley, Nate got 32 total points with 31 of them coming from Adrian Peterson.  Matt took the lead back in the WR column as both of his starters eclipsed double digits as Cecil Shorts put up 13 and Malcolm Floyd tossed in 10 points.  As for K/Def, Nate took a slight advantage with 18 points in total led by the Jets 11, while Matt mustered 16 points thanks to 12 from UNC alum Connor Barth.  This left it up to the tight ends.  Nate went with Scott Chandler who had a great day for him with 10 points and gave him a slim 4 point advantage going into Monday Night as Matt had Heath Miller left.  (Of course all of this drama could have been avoided if Matt had played Greg Olsen on Sunday as he broke loose with 18 points, but where is the fun in that??)  Monday in Pittsburgh was awful.  Rain and cold, cold and rain all day and night.  This didn't stop Miller from catch four quick passes good for 47 yards and Matt was now 13 yards away from tying Nate and only 28 away from winning.  With just under three quarters left to play, the dream season for Nate looked to be hitting his first speed bump.  Then, nothing happened.  Miller disappeared.  Big Ben got injured.  The Steelers took the lead allowing them to run more.  Byron Leftwich looked fat and old.  Two quarters to play...nothing.  One quarter to play...nothing.  Tick, tick, tick.  The score froze in time at 100-99 and it never changed.  Not only did Nate survive, but he earned $10 for the top scoring team in the league.

Final Score:  The Bounchers 100  Rainbows & Puppies 99



The other Back Wall pairing saw Adam in the same desperation mode as I was going against a team higher in the standings than him.  This week he went against Ike who, with a loss, would hand over the Division title to Nate and suddenly find himself scrambling to keep his playoff chances alive.  This was another fantastic game.  Adam had all the early scoring as the the Broncos D led the way with 25 points, Cam Newton chipped in with 18, AJ Green hauled in 17 and Stephen Gostkowski booted in 14.  The door was left slightly ajar as his running back tandem could only put up 9 points.  Ike began his massive comeback with 17 from Darius Heyward-Bey and 18 from Tony Romo, but still found himself down 45 points with his big 3 of Arian Foster, Jamaal Charles and Brandon Marshall left to play.  The Chicago/Houston game was also mired by horrid weather, but it didn't slow either Foster or Marshall down a bit.  They combined for 24 points and Ike  now had a glimmer of hope.  Needing 21 points to tie, it was all up to Jamaal Charles.  He scored right away and even against Pittsburgh's vaunted defense, this game was suddenly up for grabs.  Charles eclipsed 100 yards and posted 16 points, but he could never get that second score and Ike fell just short.

Biggums' 'Basers 86 Myra's College Fund 81



Joel looked to extend his winning streak to seven games against his father, John.  After a midweek trade between the two combatants, neither team came out with much ammo as their combined total score was just a single point more than Nates' team.  John had only one double digit scorer as Jimmy Graham ripped through the Falcons' secondary for 21 points.  His other seven starters...yeah not so much as they could only post 24 more points.  Things weren't much better for Joel, but Jake Locker filled in for Aaron Rodgers with 17 points, Justin Tucker remained a solid play with 14 points and Donald Jones did his best Roddy White impersonation (who was traded away) with 10 points (White had 7).  An ugly victory is still a victory.

Final Score: Nikachu 56 The Situation 45



Ben was the third team trying to defeat a team higher in the standings within his own division as he battled Jody.  A win and Ben would even up his record at .500 and tie Jody in the Critter Corner Division.  Jody got 18 each from Josh Freeman and Chris Johnson to lead his squad, but the rest of his team failed to produce.  The other six players combined for just 26 points and Ben took full advantage.  He got 28 points from Matt Stafford who is showing signs of awakening from a season long slumber.  The Ravens defense, added Sunday morning, added 12 points and CJ Spiller scampered for 11 and now finds himself as the starting running back again in Buffalo as Fred Jackson has been re-injured.  Even with Ben leaving Randall Cobb active on a bye week didn't slow him down.

Final Score:  The Magic Wands 73 DoggNutz 62



Luke now had a shot at taking over sole possession of 2nd place in the Critter Corner Division while a loss would basically wrap up the division for his brother, Joel.  He took on Mike who has been battling to tough losses all season.  Mike was led by Tom Brady who posted 19, Steven Jackson added 17 and Matt Prater had 10.  Then there was the other six players who posted 7 total points with a big -3 coming from the Dolphins defense.  Luke tried to give a way this game as well as only Tony Gonzalez hit double figures with 20.  He then saw Michael Vick go down with an injury and Doug Martin finally return to earth with 9 points. Luckily Shaun Suisham had 9 points and Peyton Hillis, owned by Mike, couldn't get rolling on Monday night to get Luke a win.

Final Score: Deathtongue 62 Bookoo Barbarians 53



In a definite elimination game, the battle of the Nick's took place as Nick G locked horns with Nick B. Again #1 overall draft pick Eli Manning got benched for the real overall #1 draft pick Andrew Luck and again it paid dividends.   Luck led all scorers with 21 and Fred Jackson added 20 before leaving with an injury to get Nick B rolling.  Nick G responded with a Manning of his own, Peyton, who scored 17, Frank Gore added 16 and Denarius Moore stayed hot with 12.  Even with Reggie Bush posting a fat doughnut, Nick G was able to win with a good balanced effort with 30 points from his other four players.

Final Score: Lollipop Kids 75 The Knacks 68



Standings after Week 10:

Nate 9-0-1 (Clinched Back Wall Division; current #1 seed)
Joel 8-2 (Critter Corner Division leader #2 seed)
Ike 6-4 (Wild Card #1; #3 seed; beat Luke head to head)
Luke 6-4 (Wild Card #2; #4 seed)
----------------------------------------
Jason 5-5  (778 points)(Five way tie for last two Wild Card spots)
Adam 5-5 (761 points)
Jody 5-5  (733 points)
Alex 5-5 (728 points)
Ben 5-5 (691 points)
-----------------------------------------
Matt 4-5-1
Nick G 4-6
Nick B 3-7
John 2-8
Mike 2-8

Week 11 Schedule:

Nate 9-0-1 vs. Ike 6-4
Joel 8-2 vs. Ben 5-5
Luke 6-4 vs. Adam 5-5
Alex 5-5 vs. Matt 4-5-1
Jody 5-5 vs. Nick G 4-6
Jason 5-5 vs. John 2-8
Nick B 3-7 vs. Mike 2-8

So yeah...this week could decide a lot!!!!!!!!!!

FCNPFFL: Week 9 Results

It's election day! Wooooohooooooo!  I'm excited because this means the end to the political ads, phone calls and mailers.  I'm sure that whichever candidate wins they will honor every promise and satisfy the needs of every American citizen.  Moving on...we had a record setting week in the FCNPFFL as a record that had been held for a full decade finally was shattered.  The playoff races are heating up and one team might have already clinched their spot.

There is a THURSDAY night game between INDIANAPOLIS and JACKSONVILLE.  If you don't have anyone playing in that game I don't think you should watch it.  It could be bad.

Four more teams on a BYE WEEK this week: CLEVELAND, GREEN BAY, ARIZONA & WASHINGTON

Onto the games:

Matt had his chance to separate himself from me and take the season series with a win this week.  After Thrusday night his hopes looked to have already faded.  Antonio Gates caught a TD and the Chargers D filled in nicely with 20 points as I was able to counter punch the score by Malcolm Floyd.  On Sunday I had another average game from RGIII with 15, but Matt's big duo of Matt Ryan and Ray Rice could only muster 32 points which was average for them as well.  Each of us were waiting for one big play to put the game away and I got it from Mike Wallace who hauled in a 51 yard touchdown giving him 16 points on the day as I ran away with it from there.

Final Score:  Escaped Lunatics 80 Rainbows & Puppies 52



Last week Nick B tested the fantasy gods by winning with just 5 active players.  This week he paid for it dearly.  Luke not only beat down Nick B, he also took down the league scoring record that had been held by Nate since 2002.  For Nick B he did get 29 from Andrew Luck who did set a rookie passing record with 433 yards, but it was a rookie on the other team that stole the show.  Luke got 62, yes 62, points from Doug Martin who is beginning to take the league by storm over these last two weeks.  He has been very reminiscent of another rookie who happened to be on Nate's record team in 2002, Clinton Portis.  On that date in '02, Portis had 50 points.  He still holds the single game scoring record with 65 points when he scored 5 touchdowns for me the very next year.  You want more coincidences?  The starting quarterback for Luke, Michael Vick (25 points) was the very same starting quarterback for Nate in 2002 when Vick posted 20 points.  There are still two more active NFL players, other than Vick, from that '02 team.  Without looking can anyone guess them? (answer at the bottom)  Back to Luke, he got 11 from LeSean McCoy, 8 from Julio Jones, 10 from James Jones, 2 from Tony G, 14 from Phil Dawson (5/5 on FG's) and 20 from the Bears defense.  Congrats Luke and enjoy another $10 prize for your victory.

Final Score: Deathtongue 152 The Knacks 65



Our game of the week was a thriller between Joel and Jody.  Aaron Rodgers got things started with 32 points and Trent Richardson added 12 to extend the early lead for Joel.  Then, out of nowhere, Joique Bell scored 15 points and Jody looked to be dead in the water.  That's when his big three took over.  Chris Johnson is alive as he scored 22 points to lead the way and Josh Freeman stayed hot with 20 points.  The downside for them, though was that they lost 3 fumbles costing Jody 6 points.  BJGE add 11 points and all of a sudden it was only a 4 point lead for Joel going into SNF with each team having two players left.  Joel had Roddy White and Jason Witten who scored 10 points total.  Jody saw Miles Austin post 5 and the Falcons D put up 4 points as they lost some points on a late touchdown and couldn't get enough points for a win.  Not only did Jody lose points on the fumbles, but Jason Hanson missed a 47 yard FG which cost him 5 points as well.  Some weeks it comes down to the smallest of differences.  Joel now opens up a full 2 game lead with 4 to go over both Jody and Luke in the Critter Corner Division.

Final Score: Nikachu 82 DoggNutz 77



In our previous 15 years we have never had a team make it through the season without a loss.  Heading into week 9, Nate is still unscathed.  He has a tie, yes, but no losses and this week it was up to Nick G to try and knock him off.  Adrian Peterson was having none of that.  AP led all scorers with 30 points, DeSean Jackson and Drew Brees added the final cherry with 35 points Monday night as Nate rolled again.  Nick G did get 24 from Peyton in a losing effort, but he didn't have enough fire power to keep pace this week.

Final Score:  The Bounchers 92 Lollipop Kids 61



Ike and Alex were both looking to keep their slim division hopes alive in the Back Wall Division as they met up.  This was a great game as well as each team put four players into double digits.  There were also four players total who score 0 or fewer points, but I'll keep this happy.  Brandon Marshall scored a hat trick for Ike (how I miss hockey) and posted 26 points to lead all scorers.  Tony Romo had 20 points as well for Ike but Alex had a pair of 19 point scorers in Big Ben and Marhawn Lynch.  Arian Foster answered back for Ike with 17, but Robbie Gould kept Alex close with 14.  The Giants defense put it away for Ike with 12 points even as Larry Fitzgerald posted 10 points.  Ike survives even with leaving his kicker in who was on a Bye.  I hope he doesn't play Luke next week.  Each team lost a WR to an injury as Percy Harvin and Jordy Nelson went down.

Myra's College Fund: 80  Worthless Peons: 72



Ben was in dire need of a win while Mike was barely hanging on to any playoff hopes as they tangled this week.  Matt Forte and Randall Cobb combined for 35 points to lead Ben to victory over the hurting Barbarians.  Blaine Gabbert played well in the absence of Tom Brady with 18 points for Mike, but he once again saw his running backs struggle to a single point between the two starters.

Final Score: The Magic Wands 68 Bookoo Barbarians 47



Our final game of this exciting week saw Adam in the same position as Ben needed a win against a team destined to play the role of spoiler from here on in.  John has had little luck, if any, all season long and even when he has a decent week like this one, it hasn't been good enough.  Matt Schaub posted 21 points, Eric Decker added 18 and Jimmy Graham put up 10 points for The Situation, but that proved to be not enough.  Ben saw Mikel Leshoure score three 1st half touchdowns en route to 25 points and Cam Newton added 23 points when he desperately needed them.  Added to the mix was 12 each from the Broncos defense and AJ Green and 10 from Owen Daniels.

Final Score: Biggums' 'Basers 83 The Situation 74



Standings after Week 9:

Back Wall Division:

Nate 8-0-1 (#1 Seed)
Ike 6-3 (#3 Seed)
Alex 5-4 (#4-6 Seed)
Matt 4-4-1
Jason 4-5
Adam 4-5
John 2-7

Critter Corner Division:

Joel 7-2 (#2 Seed)
Luke 5-4 (#4-6 Seed)
Jody 5-4 (#4-6 Seed)
Ben 4-5
Nick G 3-6
Nick B 3-6
Mike 2-7

Week 10 Schedule:

Nate 8-0-1 vs. Matt 4-4-1 (Game of the Week)
Joel 7-2 vs. John 2-7
Ike 6-3 vs. Adam 4-5
Luke 5-4 vs. Mike 2-7
Jody 5-4 vs. Ben 4-5
Alex 5-4 vs. Jason 4-5
Nick G 3-6 vs. Nick B 3-6

Answer to trivia: Randy Moss and Sebastian Janikowski

FCNPFFL: Week 8 Results

I hope everyone survived Sandy.  The pictures on my Twitter machine looked awful up in New Jersey and New York.  I know some of you were without power last night and maybe even (Cox) cable for a bit.  Luckily the Monday night football game was boring as sin.  I actually didn't watch a single second of it.  With 8 weeks done, we have now officially entered the home stretch.  Five games remaining and playoff spots will be getting snatched up quickly.  There is no time for a losing streak and with two weeks of Bye weeks left, your hopes may still rely on your backups...I know mine will.

There is another (boring) Thursday night game this week between SAN DIEGO and KANSAS CITY

There are four teams on BYE this week: ST LOUIS, NEW ENGLAND, NEW YORK JETS and SAN FRANCISCO

Onto the games:

Nate and I met up again with what CBS expected to be a high scoring shootout.  When we met last time we each had sub par weeks and that happened once again.  It didn't start out that way as AP had one good run that netted him 19 points on Thursday night and 22 points overall and it must have left my team shell shocked.  My Redskins duo of RGIII and Alfred Morris were kept in check combining for only 17 points and even 12 each from DMC and Matt Bryant weren't enough to keep pace.  Drew Brees sealed the deal for Nate to keep him undefeated on the season by posting 17 points while the Packers D had 10 points.


Final Score: The Bounchers 68 Escaped Lunatics 53



Our other first place team, Joel, had began to struggle with injuries and Nick G was hoping he could take advantage and get to within a game of first with a win.  All year long the strength of Joel's team has been its wide receivers and Aaron Rodgers.  This week Roddy White and Victor Cruz struggled to 3 total points.  Aaron Rodgers had a pedestrian 15 points and now Joel was in need of help.  That's when Trent Richardson deemed himself healthy enough and posted a team high 18 points and both Steelers running backs ahead of Jonathan Dwyer weren't healthy again giving Dwyer another start in which he posted 10 fantasy points.  Nick G got 13 from SeaBass and 27 from Peyton Manning on Sunday night to take a lead going into Monday as he refused to give up.  With a slim 2 point lead Nick G needed Frank Gore to go off to keep pace with David Akers and the 49ers defense.  He didn't.  Even with a large lead all game long, Gore could only muster 5 points while Joel got 18 points and a victory.


Final Score: Nikachu 75 Lollipop Kids 64



With Joel winning, Luke needed a win to stay two back of his brother while Mike was in desperate win just to keep his playoff hopes alive.  Doug Martin took most of the drama of this game out on Thursday night as he cruised to 36 points. Then Luke's two Eagles posted 17 points each and Julio Jones tacked on 20 points for good measure.  Not even 31 from Tom Brady, 17 from the Dolphins defense and 10 from Matt Prater could keep this close.  Luke not only earned a victory, but scored the most points in the league this week giving him a $10 prize.


Final Score: Deathtongue 107 Bookoo Barbarians 67



Jody was looking to keep his roller coaster ride of a season on the upswing with a win over John who hasn't been able to find any consistency this year.  This was more of the same.  Only Eric Decker was able to get into double digits for John as he scored 14 points.  Jody had no such problems.  He got 29 from a suddenly en fuego Josh Freeman and 21 from Gronk who is thoroughly enjoying the absence of Aaron Hernandez.  Vick Ballard scored 12 points including a corkscrewing, highlight reel, walk-off touchdown and CJ2K posted 10 points as he continues to mirror his owners season of peaks and valleys.




Final Score: DoggNutz 94 The Situation 51


In the other division, Ike and Matt met up in a very important game for both teams.  A win by Ike and he would stay within striking distance of Nate while a win by Matt would get him to within a half game of second place.  Matt couldn't have asked for a better week to take down Ike as he was without two of his big guns (Arian Foster-Bye and Jordy Nelson-injury).  Then along came the Vikings defense who posted a possible record -3 points which could not have been the way Matt was expecting to start.  He needed help and he got help.  Matt Ryan returned from his week off and shredded the Eagles to the tune of 30 points.  Stevan Ridley went to London and all he got was a lousy 18 points while Connor Barth posted 12 points.  Ike got 27 from Tony Romo and 16 from the Giants defense (against Romo), but his other six players could only muster 16 total points.


Final Score: Rainbows and Puppies 75 Myra's College Fund 59



 Staying in the Back Wall division Adam and Alex were in the same boat as Matt and Ike each looking to stick around in the race for second place.  Adam would tie Alex and 4-4 with a win, but fall two games back with a loss.  Big Ben got things started for Alex with 23 points while Adam could only get 16 from his quarterback, Cam Newton.  The battle at wide receiver was a dead head as each team got 15 total points, but it was the running backs that decided this match up.  Adam scored only 12 points between his two backs while both of Alex's backs far exceeded that total.  Marshawn Lynch regained his 'beast mode' status with 22 points and Willis McGahee busted loose for 18 points.



Final Score: Worthless Peons 87 Biggums' 'Basers 55



I've saved the game between Ben and Nick B last for a reason.  I can almost hear the anger that Ben must have exuded this weekend through the computer.  Where do I start?  Nick B left not one, not two, but three players in his starting lineup who were on a Bye.  3!!!!  At worst Ben had a 3 person advantage.  Nick B also left the 'hot hand' of Andrew Luck in his starting lineup over Eli Manning who is a notorious Cowboys killer.  That worked well as Luck scored 19 points to only 8 for Manning.  Ben always has a quarterback decision to make and this week did not got so well as Matthew Stafford sat on his bench with 35 points while Phillip 'soon to be cut' Rivers struggled against the Browns to 7 points.  Matt Forte helped Ben out though with 14 points, but while Nick B went without a defense, Ben played the Rams defense who set a FCNPFFL record with -4 points.  Kudos on that strategy Nick B!  Sunday night Ben struck with 15 points from Demaryius Thomas and he now held a commanding 12 points lead with each team having a player to go on Monday.  Ben had LaRod Stephens-Howling left while Nick B's fate rested in the hands of Michael Crabtree who has been very disappointing this year with just one double digit game in the first 7 weeks.  Well yesterday he broke out in a big way.  Crabtree hauled in two touchdowns for 16 fantasy points and Stephens-Howling was absolutely stuffed by the 49ers defense being held to just 2 points giving Nick B the most improbable of improbable victories that I have ever seen.


Final Score: The Knacks 53  The Magic Wands 51



Standings after Week 8:

Back Wall Division:

Nate 7-0-1 (#1 Seed)
Ike 5-3 (#3-5 Seed)
Alex 5-3 (#3-5 Seed)
Matt 4-3-1 (#6 Seed)
Jason 3-5
Adam 3-5
John 2-6

Critter Corner Division:

Joel 6-2 (#2 Seed)
Jody 5-3 (#3-5 Seed)
Luke 4-4
Nick G 3-5
Ben 3-5
Nick B 3-5
Mike 2-6

Schedule for Week 9:

Nate 7-0-1 vs. Nick G 3-5
Joel 6-2 vs. Jody 5-3 (Game of the Week)
Ike 5-3 vs. Alex 5-3
Matt 4-3-1 vs. Jason 3-5
Luke 4-4 vs. Nick B 3-5
Adam 3-5 vs. John 2-6
Ben 3-5 vs. Mike 2-6