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!