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I headed into the fantasy football playoffs with cautious optimism. Teams Dubs finished the regular season with an 11-3 record and had been in first place all season. Frank's Team also finished 11-3 and in 2nd place in the other league. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down with a pair of dramatic defeats in Week 15. "The Playoff Nightmare" reared its ugly head. All I had left were a pair of games to determine 3rd place in both leagues. The "Nightmare" turned into the "Agony and the Ecstasy".
Week 16 Results & Statistics
In the first contest for third place, Team Dubs was locked in a battle that came right down to Monday Night Football to decide the outcome. I ended up losing by a paltry 2.10 points, my closest game of the year. It didn't help that Tom Brady suffered from by far his worst performance of the year. Team Dubs had to settle for a disappointing 4th place finish overall.
In the second battle for third place, Frank's Team simply blew away the opposition, winning by 65.14 points. Frank's Team salvaged third place overall in this league, after being in 1st/2nd place for most of the regular season.
5 players I'm glad I selected/added this season: Devonta Freeman, Tom Brady, Eric Decker, A.J. Green and the Denver Broncos defense. 5 players who were my biggest disappointments: Andrew Luck, Marshawn Lynch, Melvin Gordon, DeMarco Murrray and Dez Bryant. My top two players drafted in each league have woefully underperformed (and all four were waived during the season). Luckily, solid drafting overall, my Waiver Wire/Free Agent additions and dismal performances by my opponents allowed me to remain at or near the top of the standings in both leagues.
5 Keys To A Winning Season
1/ A solid draft from top to bottom.
2/ Correctly setting weekly starting lineups.
3/ Avoiding the injury bug.
4/ Being proactive and vigilant with respect to the Waiver Wire and Free Agency.
5/ Having a good luck charm handy at all times!
Injuries to Team Dubs' running back corps (Marshawn Lynch and Arian Foster) and a disappointing Melvin Gordon left me scrambling over the last half of the season, especially at the flex position. It made all the difference come playoff time. Frank's Team managed to overcome a lot of adversity to finish 2nd in the regular season, only to run into a lucky/unlucky 151 point performance from my first round playoff opponent. It's interesting to note that Team Dubs ended the season with only 5 players on the roster originally drafted before the the season started, while Frank's Team finished the season with only 4 players originally drafted.
Team Dubs
Week Team Dubs Opponent PF PA Rank Record 1 95.12 88.72 95.12 88.72 1st 1 0 2 93.90 78.06 189.02 166.78 1st 2 0 3 150.32 59.58 339.34 226.36 1st 3 0 4 72.84 81.94 412.18 308.30 1st 3 1 5 117.90 90.26 530.08 398.56 1st 4 1 6 130.98 88.18 661.06 486.74 1st 5 1 7 113.80 83.88 774.86 570.62 1st 6 1 8 118.84 114.52 893.70 685.14 1st 7 1 9 81.92 76.46 975.62 761.60 1st 8 1 10 107.56 84.24 1083.18 845.84 1st 9 1 11 65.68 97.42 1148.86 943.26 1st 9 2 12 108.00 75.94 1256.86 1019.20 1st 10 2 13 114.18 75.78 1371.04 1094.98 1st 11 2 14 93.94 110.00 1464.98 1204.98 1st 11 3 Playoffs 15 94.78 112.90 1559.76 1317.88 Lost Round 1 0 1 16 104.44 106.54 1664.20 1424.42 4th Place 0 2 End Of Season
Position Player Team Fantasy Points QB Tom Brady New England 12.14 RB Devonta Freeman Atlanta 15.00 RB Charcandrick West Kansas City 6.10 WR A.J. Green Cincinnati 11.70 WR Eric Decker NY Jets 10.70 Flex Jeremy Maclin Kansas City 10.90 TE Jordan Reed Washington 24.90 PK Brandon McManus Denver 8.00 Defense Denver Broncos 5.00 Total Points Week 16 104.44
Player Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Tom Brady 27.62 28.24 22.72 Bye 25.30 23.48 29.70 30.34 18.86 19.26 14.08 23.20 33.78 18.04 18.68 12.14 Andrew Luck 19.72 11.40 18.50 Out Out 27.98 26.02 17.74 21.48 Waived Derek Carr 19.28 7.56 23.70 16.32 13.00 Waived Ryan Fiztpatrick 16.26 23.14 Andy Dalton 18.44 Waived Marshawn Lynch 12.40 6.20 2.30 0.00 Out 11.40 18.20 8.20 Bye 11.00 Out/Inj. Waived Melvin Gordon 4.70 9.80 5.10 4.60 7.40 0.90 2.90 6.10 5.60 Bye 4.90 Waived Andre Williams 1.40 4.30 8.90 Waived Devonta Freeman 32.90 25.70 27.60 13.00 13.10 13.90 Bye 4.30 Out 10.30 4.20 16.10 15.00 Charcandrick West 18.20 Bye 28.10 6.40 Out 4.90 5.40 14.50 6.10 Ronnie Hillman 17.50 0.10 11.10 10.40 11.90 5.60 6.10 2.80 7.20 Spencer Ware 17.50 8.50 5.20 Waived Tim Hightower 8.50 28.90 Jeremy Hill 10.00 15.80 2.40 13.10 6.10 Arian Foster Out Out Out 1.50 11.80 17.20 24.50 IR David Johnson 11.50 16.50 4.10 12.10 12.60 1.70 Waived A.J. Green 6.30 10.50 34.70 8.20 7.80 3.60 Bye 17.80 5.30 4.70 7.90 18.10 18.80 19.20 3.70 11.70 Kendall Wright 16.10 1.70 16.80 Bye 3.00 3.40 Waived Larry Fitzgerald 8.70 29.20 25.40 7.90 11.80 9.30 3.90 12.40 Bye 13.00 9.00 6.60 5.50 4.10 4.30 8.90 Jeremy Maclin 5.20 5.50 20.10 14.80 8.50 4.80 Out 9.50 Bye 1.70 2.90 22.00 19.70 6.60 11.00 10.90 Eric Decker 9.70 15.70 Out 10.60 Bye 9.90 9.40 12.00 13.90 14.50 8.10 12.20 10.10 13.40 11.50 10.70 Tyler Lockett 11.50 3.30 Brandin Cooks 22.90 Bye 3.50 16.40 2.90 Waived Jarvis Landry 7.10 9.06 Waived Jimmy Graham 11.10 1.10 14.30 2.90 3.00 14.00 3.10 7.50 Bye 4.10 3.90 7.50 IR Jordan Reed Bye 7.80 14.90 2.60 9.80 3.30 18.00 20.40 24.90 Delanie Walker 15.20 7.10 18.40 5.90 Charles Clay 0.70 6.20 2.60 Waived Julius Thomas Out Out Out Waived Dan Carpenter 11.00 2.00 13.00 6.00 2.00 Waived Josh Brown 10.00 Waived Brandon McManus 14.00 Bye 11.00 6.00 1.00 5.00 6.00 5.00 13.00 3.00 8.00 Pittsburgh Steelers 2.00 Waived Denver Broncos 16.00 22.00 16.00 10.00 22.00 17.00 Bye 9.00 7.00 1.00 7.00 5.00 23.00 7.00 6.00 5.00
Frank's Team
Week Frank's Team Opponent PF PA Rank Record 1 91.34 79.82 91.34 79.82 3rd 1 0 2 91.14 60.66 182.48 139.88 2nd 2 0 3 68.90 119.06 251.38 258.94 4th 2 1 4 82.38 54.94 333.76 316.48 4th 3 1 5 81.82 63.40 415.58 379.88 3rd 4 1 6 117.32 111.02 532.90 490.90 1st 5 1 7 81.80 37.70 614.70 528.60 1st 6 1 8 88.20 74.74 702.90 603.34 1st 7 1 9 110.66 78.96 813.56 682.30 1st 8 1 10 53.48 67.00 867.04 749.30 2nd 8 2 11 74.40 67.62 941.44 816.92 2nd 9 2 12 86.50 33.30 1027.94 850.22 1st 10 2 13 95.50 104.56 1123.44 954.78 2nd 10 3 14 112.98 57.38 1236.42 1012.16 2nd 11 3 Playoffs 15 109.16 151.64 1345.58 1163.80 Lost Round 1 0 1 16 116.18 51.04 1461.76 1214.84 3rd Place 1 1 End Of Season
Position Player Team Fantasy Points QB Cam Newton Carolina 14.28 RB DeAngelo Williams Pittsburgh 27.30 RB Charcandrick West Kansas City 6.10 WR Sammy Watkins Buffalo 8.40 WR Allen Hurns Jacksonville 22.60 WR Doug Baldwin Seattle 17.80 TE Gary Barnidge Cleveland 4.70 PK Justin Tucker Baltimore 10.00 Defense Carolina Panthers 5.00 Total Points Week 16 116.18
Player Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Russell Wilson 16.14 23.04 16.20 15.48 13.62 18.86 13.40 14.60 Bye 17.80 25.40 35.20 34.06 32.28 26.56 20.46 Andy Dalton 28.04 21.52 Bye 11.64 21.86 9.88 22.00 20.72 23.90 1.36 Waived Cam Newton 41.60 14.28 Joe Flacco 2.68 22.56 21.48 8.56 Waived DeMarco Murray 14.00 5.50 0.00 4.80 18.00 18.60 7.00 Bye 22.10 11.90 7.10 3.00 Waived Melvin Gordon 4.70 9.80 5.10 4.60 7.40 0.90 Waived Devonta Freeman 32.90 25.70 27.60 13.00 13.10 13.90 Bye 4.30 Out 10.30 4.20 16.10 15.00 Charcandrick West 18.20 Bye 28.10 6.40 Out 4.40 5.40 14.50 6.10 Alfred Morris 12.10 7.20 1.90 6.50 Waived T.J. Yeldon 6.70 8.30 4.20 10.90 12.30 Out 18.40 Bye 10.10 Waived Tevin Coleman 8.00 9.20 Out Waived DeAngelo Williams 6.90 Bye Out 14.50 21.10 11.60 27.30 Thomas Rawls 14.10 16.30 4.40 IR Tim Hightower 8.50 28.90 Allen Hurns 9.00 11.30 Bye 18.20 12.20 1.90 4.20 Out 16.50 4.40 22.60 Doug Baldwin 26.20 16.50 17.80 Travis Benjamin 29.50 8.50 7.90 8.30 Waived 2.70 Waived Bye 16.00 Out Waived Sammy Watkins 0.00 12.00 3.90 Out Out 10.80 Out Bye 22.80 1.40 3.90 27.80 16.90 14.20 23.10 8.40 Marvin Jones 1.00 Waived 1.40 Waived Vincent Jackson 5.10 11.40 4.00 20.70 3.40 Bye 1.30 Waived Dez Bryant 4.80 Out Out Out Out Out Out 1.20 16.40 4.50 10.50 2.60 6.20 0.90 Waived Tyler Lockett 11.50 3.30 Nelson Agholor 0.50 Waived James Jones 13.70 9.00 Bye 0.20 5.70 0.00 Waived Michael Crabtree 5.50 5.00 7.90 10.50 1.90 7.00 9.90 Travis Kelce 22.60 5.80 10.00 2.90 3.50 8.80 7.30 10.90 Bye 3.60 4.60 12.90 4.20 1.80 7.30 10.30 Ladarius Green 5.00 Waived Gary Barnidge 3.50 Waived 5.90 14.40 8.90 4.70 Jimmy Graham 14.00 3.10 7.50 Bye 4.10 3.90 7.50 IR Owen Daniels 0.50 1.90 8.80 Waived Brandon McManus 6.00 Waived Justin Tucker 10.00 15.00 6.00 15.00 6.00 8.00 5.00 20.00 Bye 2.00 11.00 10.00 7.00 6.00 2.00 10.00 Carolina 4.00 Waived 23.00 0.00 5.00 St. Louis 14.00 4.00 11.00 10.00 9.00 Bye 25.00 12.00 3.00 2.00 6.00 2.00 2.00 Waived