WDE Rumble 2K17: Week 6 Storylines (Sponsored by Blade Runner)

It’s definitely been a busy few weeks since the last storylines went out – and boy has the world of fantasy football been turned on its head. Since the last time we did these recaps – the Jets won. They not only won – but they’re on a THREE game winning streak – while the Giants sit at 0-5? What kind of topsy turvy world is this? Since the last time these storylines came to you, the following players went on IR: JJ Watt, Greg Olsen, Darren Sproles, Brandon Marshall and OBJ. Oh yeah, and the bye weeks have started. So much change in so little time – but that’s what fantasy football is all about. So with that little preamble out of the way…let’s see what changes awaits us at the end of week 6.

Clark Kent vs. Texasseans [Rivalry]: Now there aren’t many things that Phil is good at – the list is actually to long to name. But one thing he is really good at is annoying the heck out of Mike – it’s like a spidey sense that he has…it’s really impressive. So even though Mike is in second place overall and at the top of the RAW division, he needs to watch out for scrappy Phil who just loves to collect wins he doesn’t actually deserve. It probably also doesn’t help that Phil is projected to win this match up – but let’s see who the key players are and make our own decision. For Phil, he has only one key player and that’s Tom Terrific. Even though Tom is dealing with a potential shoulder injury this week, any time he steps onto the field he’s a threat to drop 5 TDs on a team. And when the match up involves not only a division rival (the Jets) and who are…get this – ranked ABOVE the Patriots (because they have the same record, but fewer points against) you know it’s going to be a rough time for the Jets fans…can they weather the storm? Can Mike’s team weather the storm? For Clark Kent, the key player is Tarik Cohen…oh wait…he’s not in the lineup again? Sheesh – one might think that wasn’t a good spend of $88 dollars (but thanks for saving the rest of us some cash, Mike). Seriously, the key player for Mike’s team will be Fournette. The Jags basically want to pass the ball 3-4 times a game and run it 60 times. That plan has worked pretty well so far this season, so look for it to continue this week. But at the end of the day – who walks out with the win and the ability to badger the other with the score until the next time they meet? Unfortunately, it’s probably going to be a win for Phil and his ego will only grow larger.

WDESPN Prediction: Texasseans

Macheteros vs. Orange Nation: Last week one of these teams barely beat their opponent while the other comfortably rode to victory as defeat sank away last Monday night. Now both these teams stand at 3-2 and looking to solidify their place as a contender this season…who will come out on top? For Orange Nation, the player to watch will be Alvin Kamara. With the trade of Adrian Peterson – the pathway to fantasy relevance has expanded greatly for Kamara. The better question is – will he go through the door and become the fantasy stud that all Vol fans know that he is? Working further to his advantage is the fact that they will be in a dome – and you know how much Drew Brees loves his dome stadiums and the high points they come with? For Macheteros, their key player will be Devonte Freeman. After taking a week off to sunbath and improve his tan, Devonte is back and ready to take some names. He just better hope Tevin Coleman isn’t there to steal some TDs away from Freeman this season. According to Yahoo, this should be a blowout (and with D. Watson playing, it could be) but something tells me that Macheteros won’t be going down without a bigger fight this week. But lose he shall and Joel will continue his ascent back up the mountain of fantasy relevance.

WDESPN Prediction: Orange Nation

The Outlaws vs. The Footballas: One of these teams is coming off an impressive victory over one of the top 5 teams in the league, while the other is riding a 3 game losing streak and just loss their top WR and IDP – so good times all around! This one is a gut check for both teams as they try to navigate the tricky combination of bye weeks and injuries. For the Outlaws, the player to watch will be DeAndre Hopkins. In the wake of the OBJ loss, it’s time for Hopkins to continue stepping up in a big way – especially against a Cleveland secondary that he should be able to run circles around with ease. The Browns are bringing to Houston their 19th ranked pass defense and a whole bunch of moxy – neither one should be able to contain Hopkins as he proves that OBJ wasn’t the only elite WR on the Outlaws this year. For The Footballas, Antonio Brown is the player to watch as he has one of worst QBs in the league throwing at him – Ben Roethlisberger. Will this be the game that Big Ben gets right and feeds AB the ball in the end zone? Or will this be another PPR buffett as Antonio racks up the points but doesn’t have an actual monster game. This should be an interesting one because currently The Outlaws are projected to win by 40 points and Todd has no backup QB for Dak Prescott. This should definitely be a get right game for the Outlaws…if they don’t get right in this one, they might want to consider getting out of fantasy sports all together.

WDESPN Prediction: The Outlaws

Other Predictions:

Bring It over The Mistocles

Family Owned over Fear the Neckbeard

Nashville Ninjas over Bye Week

WDE Rumble Week 2 Awards & Week 3 Storylines (Sponsored by Amazon Prime)

It has been a very strange 2 weeks of the NFL – some say it’s because of bad play on the field, others are just thinking that it will take a while for the offenses (and the explosive scoring) to get back on track. Either way – we honor those who fought hard and bravely to walk away with a little bit of fantasy gold in week 2:

Team with the most overall points for the week = The New England Patriots Award

Clark Kent:When you’ve got 3 players going over 30 points – it’s pretty easy to walk away with this award. But it’s interesting how things can change from week to week in this league – in week 1, Mike’s team barely broke 170…the next week they explode to almost go juggernaut. That’s a huge swing in points.

Team with the largest margin of victory = The Golden State Award

Clark Kent: Hopefully this doesn’t become a trend, but last week the winner of this award

also faced off against FTNB and just crushed them. The same goes this week – they could conceivably be the NY Jets of the Rumble this season. But you know what they say “It’s a rebuilding year”

Team with the most points but lost = The Alabama Award

Texasseans: Your team is probably a little bit cursed/a little bit unlucky when you have Tom Terrific scoring over 50 points and Michael Crabtree comes away with the hat trick TDs, and you still end up losing. You might be unlucky – or you might be experiencing the Madden Curse!

Team with the fewest points but won = The Sloane Stephens Award

Orange Nation: With the loss of David Johnson, we were expecting Orange Nation to just start racking up L’s from now until the end of the season. But this team shocked the world by beating The Footballas who was projected to beat Joel by 20+ points. Oh, the power of pastors!

Now let’s look forward to week 3 – a week of change as we have our first London game of the season AND Thursday Night Football makes it debut on Amazon Prime.

The Outlaws vs. Family Owned: If you want to talk about a team that’s been extremely lucky these past 2 weeks, look no further than the Outlaws. They’ve had a Monday night miracle 2 weeks in a row to steal victory from the jaws of defeat. Will that luck continue in week 3? For the commishes team, it will all come down to whether or not Gronk plays in Week 3 – he was such a huge difference maker (as expected) but couldn’t finish the game last week and now the commish is at the mercy of Coach Belichick and his mind games when it comes to football preparation. If Gronk goes – this could wind up being a compelling match up between two 2-0 teams. On the other side of the equation – Corey has but one question: Which Dez is going to show up on Monday night? He’ll be going up against Patrick Peterson on Primetime – not exactly a recipe for success and explosive plays. But if there’s one guy who could possibly put an end to the Outlaws Monday night hijinks, it would be Dez. While the expected spread is about 28 points, these games have ended up being alot closer than projected due to the low scoring by some teams. Unfortunately, one of these teams will walk away with their first L of the season….and we believe that will be going to the Outlaws as their magical undefeated run comes crashing back to earth.

WDESPN Prediction: Family Owned

Bring It! Vs. Orange Nation: It’s the man who would be king vs. the current king of the Rumble. With his collection of MVP quarterbacks, PRR has pretty much been rolling over teams this season with a weekly projection of over 200 points. So there’s no question about the QB position – there is a question about the RB position, though. Not about whether Zeke will play, but whether or not he will stay in the game mentally if things go south against Arizona like they did last week in Denver. The gravy train came to an abrupt stop against one of the elite defenses of the league – and now Zeke is going up against an Arizona defense that’s held two leading RBs to just 76 yards on 29 carries so far this season. Oh, and they’re on primetime. For Orange Nation, without David Johnson in the house – they’re just glad to be fielding an almost competitive team. The player to watch for Orange Nation will be TY Hilton going up against the Cleveland defense. Under normal circumstances, this would be a game that got you really excited because you had a feeling TY would at least get 100 yards and maybe a score. But with Jacoby at the helm, Joel will be lucky if TY scores over 10 points this game. This one is setting up to be a bloodbath – and possibly the first (of many) times this season Bring It brings the pain to their opponent of the week.

WDESPN Prediction: Bring It!

Clark Kent vs. Nashville Ninjas [Rivalry]: Mike has somehow found a way to win in the first two weeks of the season – but if there’s one person (not named Phil) that has his number, it’s the co-commish: Jonas Applegate. While Jonas does have a L in his record, you can never count that lucky bastard out of anything – and they’re projected to have the most points this week as well. For Mike’s team, the question is – where is Tarik Cohen??? But for real, the player to watch will be Davante Adams. With Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb potentially hurt for this game, it could be a big one for Adams to step up into and repeat his performance from last week. On the Ninjas side of the equation, all eyes will be on Christian McCaffrey. After being one of the first rookies taken during this years draft, it’s a legit question to ask if he’s lived up to the hype so far. With less than 10 points in 2 weeks, I would think the answer is no. But will this be the game that McCaffrey finally introduces himself to the world during the regular season? All the experts are expecting it – which probably means it won’t happen…but hey, hope springs eternal right? Even though Yahoo is predicting a 25+ point differential – you just know it’s either going to be a close game OR it’s going to be a blowout. These two teams know no other way to operate. Despite what was said at the beginning – we think that Mike finds a way and continues his undefeated streak to start the season. If he does win this game, one has to wonder…did Mike just pick up Terik Cohen as a lucky charm and has no intention of ever playing him??? He’s wiley like that (or cheaty like that…he does live in Massachusetts, where all the best cheaters live).

WDESPN Prediction: Clark Kent

Other Games:

Macheteros over Fear the Neckbeard

Texasseans over ATLien Rises

The Footballas over TheMistocles

WDE Rumble Week 1 Awards & Week 2 Storylines (Sponsored by IT)

Before jumping into the first week of all teams playing (thanks Irma), let’s take a look back at our awards winner from a crazy (performance wise) week 1:

Team with the most overall points for the week = The New England Patriots Award

Winner: Nashville Ninjas / A pretty well round victory for this crew – except for that pesky #1 pick and Jonas’ love child known as Christian McCaffrey. If this team can get it’s act together, they might be able to go places.

Team with the largest margin of victory = The Golden State Award

Winner: Nashville NInjas / This is more thanks to FTNB rather than the Ninjas. When you’ve got a player that gives you -9 points and no one on your team scores more than 20 points…you’re going to be helping teams get this award alot.

Team with the most points but lost = The Alabama Award

Winner: The Footballas / This team got a nice surprise in the form of Mike Gillislee’s performance on Thursday night…unfortunately that same night Tyreek Hill had an awesome game as well. If you want to add insult to injury, PRR beat Todd with one player on a bye. Just shameful.

Team with the fewest points but won = The Sloane Stephens Award

Winner: Family Owned / Amazingly enough this was a close game going into MNF – but thanks to the decent work of Drew Brees and the hardwork of Melvin Gordon, they were able to squeeze out a 13 point victory. Hopefully this isn’t the ceiling for both teams or it’s going to be a long season.

Now onto week 2 – where all the overpaying for players in week 1 either looks like fools good or the greatest decision certains teams have made to save their fantasy season (looking at you FTNB and Clark Kent).

Bring It! Vs. Nashville Ninjas [Rivalry]: It’s the team that cashed in the most draft picks this season vs. last week’s juggernaut team. It’s not to often you see a team that put up over 200 points last week as an underdog in week 2 (when there are no byes) but when you have the squad that PRR has – everyone else gets a little bit nervous. Now that PRR is fully invested in the Kansas offense, the player to watch is Kareem Hunt. He blew onto the scene in week 1 against the Patriots defense – but will he be able to make lightning strike twice (or multiple times) this season? The rookie sensation has everyone’s attention now – can he live up to his own hype? As for the Ninjas, they have their own rookie sensation that they hope will explode onto the scene in week 2. Christian McCaffrey had a solid – but unspectacular – week 1. It wasn’t anything to write home about – maybe a short text, but not a full letter – and to combat the awesomeness that is Kareem Hunt, McCaffrey and company are going to need to bring their A+ game to have a chance in this one. For some reason, I think this is going to be a closer match up than it looks on paper – but how can you bet against a team that has Rodgers, Zeke and Hunt? You can’t!

WDESPN Prediction: Bring It!

Clark Kent vs. Fear the Neckbeard: What is being dubbed the FAAB bowl, the two teams that spent the most on week 1 performers meetup in week 2 to determine who made the better business decision. Let’s start with the big spender – FTNB. He spent his entire FAAB budget on Alex Smith based on his week 1 performance. Now this decision was obviously made because Andrew Luck looks like he’s going to be out for at least the next few week and Andy Dalton was a human sack machine in week 1…so had to go the 4 QB route. But by spending that much money on Alex Smith, Kyle can not drop him for any reason….if he were to get hurt but not placed on IR, I think he would still need to keep him on his roster to justify the cost. So the question for Kyle is was Week 1 Alex Smith a mirage or the real deal? It could be the real deal – Matt Ryan took a leap in his performance last year after years of mediocrity….but if it’s not, this is going to be a painful season for Kyle. For Clark Kent, their investment in Tarik Cohen might just define their season. Last season, ATLiens picked up Spencer Ware as a Free Agent and it transformed his season (coincidentally, he let Matt Ryan go in that deal which ended up helping the Outlaws tremendously)…could the same thing happen with Tarik Cohen this season? Possibly, but there was one key difference between Cohen and Ware from last year – Ware became the bell cow back for the Chiefs, Cohen isn’t built for that kind of work. Will his Darren Sproles like ability translate into fantasy gold? Here’s hoping – but as of this writing, Mike doesn’t believe so. He’s got Cohen on the bench….oh ye of little faith. Right now, Yahoo is predicting a win for Mike – and going up against a team that’s starting an Indianapolis WR that’s not being thrown to by Andrew Luck (oh the double irony), this one could be another blood bath for FTNB. He’s truly in suck for luck mode.

WDESPN Prediction: Clark Kent

Texasseans vs. Family Owned: These two teams are pretty evenly matched which is why they both have a 50/50 shot of winning this match up. They are both starting elite QBs in their QB1 spot – so where do you find the difference at? With Texasseans, they will be hoping for another solid game for Jordan Howard – who had some of his lightning stolen last week by Tarik Cohen. Can he reestablish himself as the true all around RB1 that the Bears need or will Mike once again ride on the coattails of Phil? For Family Owned, they’re rolling with Blake Bortles and hoping that the Bortles of last week is the floor for this season…he had a solid, but not spectacular week 1. Losing your WR1 for the season isn’t exactly a recipe for long term success, but you never know what the family can pull off. It would be interesting if such a close game came down t the kickers….Mason Crosby didn’t have alot of work last week because of the defensive battle the Packers were in and Vinateri missed a FG and XP. Don’t be surprised if that happens with these closely matched teams. So who walks away with the victory? Gotta give the W to the team with 1) Angry Tom Brady 2) Going up against the Saints defense that made Sam Bradford look like an MVP candidate.

WDESPN Prediction: Texasseans

Other matchups:

Outlaws overs ATLiens Rises

Macheteros over TheMistocles

The Footballas over Orange Nation

New Yahoo Feature: Skill Level

So as I was gearing up for the fantasy football season kickoff, I noticed a new addition to the “header” of my team page:

So now you can see how much better at fantasy your opponent is compared to you. Some folks got some catching up to do!

WDE Rumble Storylines 2K17: Week 1 (Sponsored by Madden 18)

It’s that time once again – where the greatest fantasy football minds in all the land (plus Mistocles autodrafted team) come together to determine who is the ultimate fantasy football champion. This year has been turned on it’s head with the addition of the Superflex position – with QBs going early then they ever have at any point in the history of the Rumble (and going deeper than it ever has in the Rumble – the fact that Deshone Kizer is on a Rumble roster is just astonishing). Will Joel be able to define his crown with the help of his boy David Johnson? Will this be the year that PRR finally hoists the national championship trophy instead of his customary conference championship? It all starts on Thursday – but this is where layout the tape and tell you exactly what’s going to happen! (In the words of a semi-famous fantasy football writer, “You heard me!”)

Orange Nation vs. Clark Kent [Rivalry]: What a way to kick off your championship defense by taking on a fellow Morristown native and the team that Joel faced off with to actually win it all. How will the unlikeliest champion in Rumble history start off the 2017 season? With with the #1 overall pick, Joel was able to get his bell cow back in David Johnson…but outside of that pick, there are ALOT of questions: Will Luck be ready week 1 (and thus save the fantasy value of TY Hilton)? Will Cam be back to this 2015 self and lead to fantasy gold (alongside boy wonder, Kelvin Benjamin)? Why in the world does Joel have Derrick Henry – a backup – as his RB2 in week 1….is David Johnson supposed to score enough points for both of them? Will Joel’s theft of Eric Berry from Jonas actually pay off, or will the team be forever cursed until Eric is on his rightful Rumble team? As for Mike, the questions are a bit simpler: Will David Carr bounce back to his end of season form or will he collapse under the pressure of high expectations? Will Mike’s investment in 2 rookie running backs (Fournette and Cook) pay off in week 1 or is this a long term play? The player to watch on Mike’s team is Fournette. During the off season, Doug Marrone clearly stated that he did not want Blake Bortles throwing the ball – if this is even semi accurate, it could mean a huge season for Fournette. The question is – can his body hold up to that kind of work load and the first time we might see that heavy of a workload is in week 1. For Joel, the player to watch is TY Hilton. With Andrew Luck possibly not playing in week 1, how will Scott Tolzien get him the ball? Via UPS or Fedex? It’s going to be an interesting first match up between these two long time rivals but even though Yahoo is projecting Orange Nation to win, the deck just feels more stack in the favor of Clark Kent – so he gets our nod to avenge his Rumble Championship loss…because I’m sure it will take the sting away.

WDESPN Prediction: Clark Kent

Bring It! Vs. The Footballas: Is this the year? With the inclusion of the Superflex position, PRR used his extra picks in this years draft to get the jump on the QB position by draft both Matt Ryan and Aaron Rodgers. While this whole 2QB thing may be a fun little daliance for everyone in the league, PRR views this as an opportunity to get a decidedly major advantage over everyone else in the league and potentially crush teams week after week. The catch to this is – week 1 has sometimes been a down week for elite QBs because the teams are just starting to get adjusted to the speed of football, so if ever there was a week where PRR would be vulnerable, it’s week 1. On the other side of the coin, you’ve got The Footballas who put together a conventional team and hopes to win on their brain and good looks. For the Footballas, the player to watch will be Dak Prescott. Last season, the rookie took the league by storm and was an amazing waiver wire find for a good portion of the season. Now that Romo is out of the building and there’s a good amount of tape on the kid – what does the Dak experience look like in year 2? It could lead to amazing new heights or come crashing down like so many year 2 QBs. For PRR, the player to watch is Tyreek Hill. Hill is a amazing and unique talent that could do damage all over the field…with a QB that could actually get him the ball all over the field. But instead, he has Alex Smith throwing him the ball – which pretty much limits his upside. If there’s a weak link in this perfect chain of dominance from PRR, this is it. But after looking at everything and all the data that was crunched to provide this analysis, I think we’ll have to give the win to Bring It! as  he begins his potential year of dominance.

WDESPN Prediction: Bring It!

Family Owned vs. ATLiens Rises: It’s not to often when you see a team that was one of the top 4 teams in the final standings last year go into a complete rebuilding mode, but that’s exactly what we’re seeing this season with the ATLiens Rises. Apparently, they already rose and are ready to be deflated so that they can bounce back next year with accumulated draft picks. While Reid does not have a terrible team – it’s a team that doesn’t really have alot of exciting parts upon first glance. The player to watch will be Devante Parker – he’s been called a younger version of Alshon Jeffrey by Cutler, and we all know you can count on the word of Jay Cutler to get you through tough times. On the flip side of things, you have Family Owned who looks to be in a similar boat to PRR – invested in some good/decent QB work to help them navigate this new fantasy landscape. The player to watch on Cory’s team will be Melvin Gordon – while he did bounce back last year and have a pretty good fantasy season, the question now becomes – which season was the real Melvin Gordon? Last year of the year before when he was an unquestioned fantasy bust. While we don’t think that he will be a bust like he was 2 years ago, you know all the bright lights of Hollywood would have some affect on the performance of all the players now located in Los Angeles (nevermind the American carnage that would take place when a team finally arrives in Las Vegas proper). While Yahoo is giving this one to Cory pretty much without a fight, I don’t think it will be that easy. I don’t know how, but I just have a feeling that week 1 will make Reid look smarter than he actually is. But in the end, Cory will walk away with the W and a pretty good art to the fantasy season…while Reid continues his rebuilding project.

WDESPN Prediction: Family Owned

Other Projections:

Macheteros over The Outlaws [Rivalry]

Fear the Neckbeard over Nashville Ninjas

Texasseans over Mistocles

WDE Rumble 2016: Championship Week (Sponsored by Mr Flame’s Economic Class in the Hague)

Well here we are – the last week of the fantasy football season. Congrats to Mike and Joel for climbing the mountain to get to this point. You have both battled through some very tough competition the last 2 weeks – but now it all comes down to this moment. For the teams that sold their soul to potentially be in this spot (i.e. Kyle and Reid), this match up is a crushing reminder that you can’t buy your way into the fantasy championship…you need to earn it (with a little bit of stat correction luck). Now with that overview out of the way…let’s take a look at this Morristown Classic Finale.

#1 Clark Kent vs. #4 Orange Nation: If you would have told me at the start of the season that an Owen was going to be in the fantasy championship, I would have put my money on Phil. Joel has just not shown that killer instinct that it takes to get to the promise land – but 2016 has been a year of upsets. Since joining the league in 2009, this is only the third time that Orange Nation/Joel has made the playoffs and the first time that they have made it to the championship match up. For Mike, he’s been here before – all the way back in 2011, Mike found a way to not only make it to the championship match up – but come away with the gold. But this year is different – this year the winner of this match up will walk away with the newly coveted WDE Rumble Fantasy Football Trophy. To be the first is always special – it’s only a question of who will be able to close the deal on this Christmas weekend? Let’s dive in. With both teams coming in as 200+ points favorites, this has the potential to be one of the highest scoring fantasy championships of all time. But if the last few weeks have told us anything, you can’t believe the projections. For Mike, the player to watch will be Matthew Stafford. After getting snubbed for a Pro Bowl slot, will Stafford come out on primetime and show everyone just the type of high level caliber talent that he actually is? It’s going to be an interesting night for Mike as he roots for both offensives to have an explosive night (Zeke going wild against the Detroit defense). On the flip side, you have Orange Nation that will be relying on the servers of David Johnson once again to deliver him to the promise land. It’s ironic that the best draft pick that Joel made this year – was a choice from 2015. David Johnson has been nothing short of spectacular this season and is definitely the engine the drives the Orange Nation train – but he faces his toughest test of the season as he goes up against the Seahawks at home. The last time Johnson faced off against the Seahawks, he scored 23+ points – you know, about average. If Joel does win the championship, he will owe it all to David Johnson and the spectacular season that he’s having. So with all that being said – who’s walking away with the trophy? We want to believe that Clark Kent can bring home the gold and keep it in the grasp of the Championship Alumni – but Orange Nation seems like a team of destiny. Everything is going their way….including the new WDE Rumble Championship.

WDESPN Prediction: Orange Nation

WDE Rumble 2016: Week 13 Awards + Week 14 Storylines (Sponsored by Yahoo!)

Playoffs! We’re talking about Playoffs?!

That’s right, the time has finally arrived – after the hope of the 1st part of the season (the draft), the soul crushing nature of the 2nd part of the season (the regular season) comes the stress inducing part of the season – the playoffs! For the 8 teams that made it to the promise land, congrats…it’s an honor just to be nominated. It’s also an honor to get a weekly awards, let’s see who won one last week:

WDE Rumble Week 13 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): The Outlaws
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): TheMistocles
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Clark Kent
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): ATLiens Rises

Now we take look forward to the matches that await us in the 1st week of the playoffs. As we all know, anything can happen on Sunday – who will move on to the next round and who gets to enjoy their holiday season? Let’s find out…

#1 Clark Kent vs. #8 Nashville Ninjas: This is one of those rare back to back 1st round playoff matches – will history repeat itself?  These two teams faced off against each other in week 13 and week 2, both resulting in a Clark Kent victory. Amazingly enough – Mike can steamroll almost any team in this league EXCEPT the Ninjas. The average margin of victory in this series is just 8 points…that’s raiser thin. It’s hard to beat a team three times in a season and back to back – is Mike up to the challenge? Both of these coaches have tasted fantasy gold before – and each wants to get back to that sweet taste. The player to watch for Clark Kent will be Demaryius Thomas because if Paxton Lynch plays again, he might not be that great of an option. Heck, even with Simien playing – he may not be that great of an option. In the last 5 week, Thomas has scored over 20 points only once and will be going up against a Tennessee defense that can be difficult at best. For the NInjas, the player to watch will be Eric Berry – he showed up in a big way in week 13 coming away with the pick 6 and the PAT returned for TD. Can he pull off that magic once again on Thursday night? Eric seems to shine in the spotlight so that plus his color rush uniform should result in a magical day for EB. Ultimately it comes down to firepower, Mike/Clark Kent has alot of it and the Ninjas are slightly lacking. Clark Kent has a much bigger margin of error compared to the points projection from Yahoo. While it would be highly interesting if the Ninjas were able to pull off the upset, we believe the #1 seed will safely move on to the next round of domination.

WDESPN Prediction: Clark Kent

#2 The Footballas vs. #7 Fear the Neckbeard: You want to talk about two teams coming into the fantasy playoffs with little momentum behind them, look no further then this match up. The Footballas are coming off a humiliating loss to Bring It – the team that sold all their good players this season to make a run next year. Somehow PRR find a way to get to 5 wins AND stick it to the his division leader. On the other hand, you have Fear the Neckbeard – he who purchased most of the good players from Bring It, despite all that purchasing found himself in 7th place. How much does trading to get to 7th place cost you? Apparently a 2nd, 4th, 9th 12th and 10th round. You make all those moves to win the championship – not just barely make it into the playoffs, so will Kyle be able to pull off the upset? For The Footballas, the player to watch will be Julio Jones – he supposedly has a minor turf toe injury so it will be interesting to see how that affects his ability to play against the lowly LA Rams. For Fear the Neckbeard, the player to watch will be Brandon Marshall. Now that the Jets have turned over the reins of the team to Bryce Petty – it will be a big mystery what happens to Brandon (and Matt Forte’s) fantasy value. Never before has so much been riding on the Jets to actually perform up to par – but if there’s one team that can make almost any other team look goods, it’s the 49ers. Looking at the match up, this has the potential to be one of the lowest scoring games of the fantasy playoffs – more like a slugfest instead of a sustain aerial attack. These teams are probably really evenly matched. The last time these two teams faced off was in week 1 and it wasn’t even close….so will history repeat itself? Probably not – where there’s blood, there’s sharks and Kyle has definitely been a shark this season with his wheeling and dealing with PRR. We think the shark eats and moves on with the upset.

WDESPN Prediction: Fear the Neckbeard

#3 ATLiens Rises vs. #6 Family Owned: These are two fairly strong teams going against each other to show who’s got the biggest MO going at the moment. Both teams crushed players that were at the very bottom of the 2016 Rumble ladder – now it’s time to beat up on someone their own size. The player to watch for Family Owned will be Melvin Gordon. He’s been a bit of a revelation this season, scoring no less than 10 points since week 7 – he’s probably singlehandedly kept Family Owned afloat in the league this season. But in week 14, he’s got a slight challenge in front of him in the form of the Carolina defense – that hasn’t been great, but has (until last Sunday night) been a bend but don’t break defense. Last week they broke and it’s possibly that Gordon could find yet another stud fantasy day against them. For ATLiens , the player to watch will be the Vikings defense – who will be going up against the gift giving Blake Bortles. It’s quite possible that they break 70 fantasy points in this game – which amazing enough, they have not done. So who will come away with the victory in this one. Just like with Clark Kent, due to the trades that he has made – his margin for victory is much larger than Family Owned – but you never know what will happen on any given Sunday, right? With that said, ATLiens will come out of this one a little bruised but moving onto the second round.

WDESPN Prediction: ATLiens Rises

#4 Orange Nation vs. #5 The Outlaws: Even though Joel and Marques have never really over the phone, Nation has had the Outlaws number all season long. These two teams have faced off against each other twice and it really hasn’t been that close either team.The only thing that is readily apparent about this match up is that if the Outlaws want to have a prayer of beating this squad they are going to need to score 220+ points to make that happen. Which probably isn’t all that likely, but I digress. For Orange Nation, the player to watch will be DeMarco Murray going up against the vaunted Denver defense. Not only has Murray been in decline for the last few weeks – he hasn’t scored more than 20 points in a game since week 10 – but he’s going up against one of the top defenses in the league. Will Murray be able to break out against the Broncos and at least have a high statistical day with a few scores to boot? For The Outlaws, the player to watch will be Malcom Mithcell. With Gronk out for the season and Amendola out on the mend, Mitchell has really found a place in the Patriots offense that will hopefully lead to long term fantasy success. Since Week 11, Mitchell has not scored less than 10 points and should continue to eat against the vaunted and spotty Baltimore secondary. Marques relying on a Patriot to get him to the fantasy playland – will wonders never cease! For us, this is a clear cut case of the team with more fire power just crushing the poor spirit of the Outlaws and sending them spiralling into the fantasy off season. So Orange Nation will continue to find a way to nation build and move on to the next round of the fantasy playoffs.

WDESPN Prediction: Orange Nation

WDE Rumble 2016: Week 11 & 12 Awards + Week 13 Storylines (Sponsored by Disney’s Moana)

Well we have finally made it – the end of the regular season is at hand. Before we take a look at what awaits the league in week 13, let’s take a look back at the award winners for the previous 2 weeks:

WDE Rumble Week 11 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): Orange Nation
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): Nashville Ninjas
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Fear the Neckbeard
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): Orange Nation

WDE Rumble Week 12 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): ATLiens Rises
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): The Outlaws
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):The Footballas
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): ATLiens Rises

Now our attention turns to the final week of the regular season. While 7 of the 8 teams have their playoff spot locked, there’s still some question of where will everyone end up placed when the dust settles on Monday night. While it’s pretty much set in stone who the number 1 and number 2 seeds are – it’s pretty much anyone’s ball game for the other playoff spot. So the question is will certain teams roar into the postseason with a dominant record or will certain teams crawl in and just hope for the best? Technically speaking, there’s only one team that has been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs and that’s Macheteros (who’s only one game out of being in the playoff mix). So let’s dive in and find out the key matchups are:

Texasseans vs. Family Owned: Now one might look at this and say why would a match up featuring the 11th best team in the league be the headline match this week? Well as strange as it sounds, both teams are kind of fighting for a playoff spot (even if it’s a longshot playoff spot). A win by Family Owned and he’s going to the postseason but a win by the Texasseans could conceivably bring Phil back to the promise land that he yearns so much for year after year but it would take some work by other teams to make that a possibility. Even if he doesn’t make it – playing spoiler to actual playoff teams is an Owen tradition. So for the Texasseans, the player to watch will be Jameis Winston. In his first game of the season, Winston went off and score 45 points and he’s only come close to that total one other time this season. Will Winston be able to finish the season the way he started and pull the Texasseans to yet another upset victory? For Family Owned, the player to watch will be the Denver defense. They are one of the main reasons that Cory has been so successful this season – they have only scored below 20 points once this entire season…now that’s a string of dominant performances. Going up against Blake Bortles is a recipe for success sometimes for defenses, will this be yet another dominant performance by the Broncos to propel? From our standpoint, this is going to be a pretty close match and will really come down to which player has an outlier of a performance (either good or bad). I think that Family Owned will win this game, but I could really go either way on this. With his shocking performance last week against his brother, you just can’t underestimate that scrappy little guy (he’s smaller than Reid – that’s a fact!). Had these two played last week, the Texasseans would have beat Family Owned as easily as they beat Orange Nation…but that’s last week and this week is week 13, where Family Owned gets the job done.

WDESPN Prediction: Family Owned

The Outlaws vs. TheMistocles: This is our first playoff entrant vs playoff hopeful spotlight match. For weeks now the Outlaws have been pretty much locked into the 5th spot in the draft – never joining the elite 4 of the league or the bottom 4 – just right there in the middle with their average team. Now this team is in a position where a loss could send them plummeting from 5th to 7th place in the playoff race – so it’s crunch time for them. For TheMistocles, they are technically still alive in the playoff race – a win here gives them at least a reasonable shot at making it to the regular season promise land…but it would really come down to point differential. This could end up being a rough week for the Outlaws as they try to find points somewhere on this team – the player to watch will be Devontae Booker. Booker has been extremely disappointing from a fantasy perspective for the last few weeks but one thing is for certain, he’s definitely getting the workload that makes it very hard to bench him. Could this be the week that Booker somehow puts in a respectful performance against the lowly Jaguars defense? For TheMistocles, the player to watch will be Jordan Howard – he has definitely had some up and down moments this season with a high of 30 points and a low of 3 – the question for Maurice is which Howard will show up against the lowly 49ers defense? If history is an indication, probably the one that put up 30 points. This is not looking to good for the commish – when his team is in a tight spot this season, they tend to collapse…will this be another collapse? We tend to think so and the Outlaws will be waiting to see how far they’ve dropped down the polls come Monday morning.

WDESPN Prediction: TheMistocles

Bring It vs. The Footballs: It’s the top of the Smackdown hierarchy vs. the bottom as these two legendary Rumble coaches face off in a game that has the chance to have some playoff ramifications. A win here by Bring It! Would cap off a disappointing but semi-amazing year (winning 5 games while selling off your best players and getting draft picks for next year, not a bad year) and propel them to the upper echelon of fantasy players for the next year. A loss for Bring It would eliminate them from playoff contention and make Todd feel more comfortable about his team. For Bring It, the player to watch will be Tyler Gabriel. He has had an amazing 4 week span of scoring more than 18 points in a game – and going up against the Chiefs bottom ten fantasy secondary with a red hot Matt Ryan throwing to him could lead to more fantasy good for Taylor as we close out the regular season. For the Footballas, the player to watch will be Julio Jones. While Taylor has been pretty hot over the last few weeks, Jones has fluctuated a bit more. But it’s possible that both players have good fantasy days this time around – it’s just a matter of who will have the better day. For our money, we think that the Footballas will come away with this and it won’t be close as Todd closes out his complete domination of the Smackdown brand in the 16-17 season.

WDESPN Prediction: The Footballas

WDE Rumble 2016: Week 7&8 Awards + Week 9 Storylines (Sponsored by Marvel’s Doctor Strange)

Including this week, there are 3 more weeks left in the fantasy football regular season. It’s gone by quickly and slowly at the same time – we haven’t had nearly as many devastating injuries as we had last season and yet somehow things are fairly tight as we go into the homestretch. Only one team has wrapped up their spot in the playoffs, but everyone else is still legitimately in this thing. Before we dive into the last bye week of the season – let’s take a look back at our award winners from previous weeks:

WDE Rumble Week 9 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): Clark Kent
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): Fear the Neckbeard
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Family Owned
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): Orange Nation

WDE Rumble Week 10 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): The Mistocles
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): The Outlaws
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Nashville Ninjas
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): The Mistocles

Now with history behind us, let us look forward to some of the prime matches that await us this weekend:

Bring It vs. Fear the Neckbeard [Rivalry]: This match up is interesting from the perspective that Phillip and Kyle have been the best of buds when it comes to trading players this season. Whether it’s trading Tom Brady or Eric Kendricks, these two definitely are keeping their best trades within the Warner Robins family. But now the must face off again for the second time this year – will the result be pretty similar to their week 2 match up? A win for Bring It keeps his playoffs hopes alive for at least one more win, while a win for FTB solidifies their spot in the playoffs and potentially pushes them up to a higher seed. Both teams have something to play for (besides trading draft picks) which should make for a pretty exciting game. The player to watch in this game for PRR will be Joe Flacco – Mr. Erratic himself. He will be going up against the Dallas defense that has been pretty solid this year, but Flacco can give you an amazing performance or he can flutter it all away in the blink of an eye. He hasn’t had a game over 35 points this year, but miracles always abound in Big D. For FTB, the player to watch will be Todd Gurley. Not so much for his play, but for the play of his QB which will affect his ability to run. In the past 2 weeks, Gurley has not scored more than 10 fantasy points…10! And putting a rookie QB in against a surging Miami defense doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. But if there’s one player (not named Ezekiel Elliot) that could overcome such a disadvantage, it would be Todd Gurley. While Yahoo is predicting a decently close game, they are underestimating Tom Brady going up against the woefully inadequate 49ers defense. It will be a miracle if they can keep Brady under 50 fantasy points this weekend. And because of that one choice – we believe that FTB will crush Bring It! In an unforgiving way. Hopefully they can still be friends after it’s all said and done…hopefully.

WDESPN Prediction: Fear The Neckbeard

Macheteros vs. The Mistocles: This is quite possibly a loser go home match. Both teams are hanging on by just the thinnest of of shreds and only 2 games separate them. Macheteros has beaten no team in their division while TheMistocles has only beaten 1…this one has the potential to be both tight and ugly at the same time. For Machteros, the player to watch will be Cameron Meredith. With the sudden suspension to Alshon Jefferey, it thrusts Cameron into the spotlight once again. Early in the year, he burst onto the scene with 2 20+ point games…but since then, it’s been nothing but disappointment after disappointment until last week. While we might guess that Jay Cutler will throw his Alshon balls to Cameron, Cutler is nothing if not unpredictable. Going up against the Giants that has a defense pass defense, it could be a very interesting game for the undrafted rookie. For TheMistocles, the player to watch will be Doug Baldwin. Last week, on primetime he went off by catching 3 TDs. Could this be the restart of the fantasy run that Wilson and Baldwin went on last year that almost lead teams to fantasy gold? Maurice is definitely hoping that’s the case after Baldwin just decimated his lovely Patriots last Sunday night. As of right now, Yahoo is expecting this to be a pretty close game – but we don’t think it will be. One of these teams will disappoint and not leave up to their scoring potential…who will it be? (it’s going to be Chris/Macheteros).

WDESPN Prediction: The Mistocles

Family Owned vs. The Outlaws: Both of these teams are in the very thick of the playoff race, sitting at the 5 and 6 spot. Last week, the Outlaws couldn’t get the job done against the number 4 team in the league – will they fall prey to the same issue again this week (i.e. players that are allergic to touchdowns)? Under normal circumstances, both of these teams would be putting out their best to take the other down…but bye weeks are a strange mistress. Cory will be coming into this match up missing his QB1, RB1, K1 and D1 – that’s alot of ones to be missing when going up against the Outlaws. So basically every other player is going to be interesting for Family Owned because they have alot of ground to make up if Cory doesn’t make some add/drops before Sunday. For The Outlaws, the player to watch is Jay Ajayi. After his 3 monster weeks of points – he came back to earth a little bit with a sub 10 points agam (thanks to the touchdown vulturing of Damien Williams). But this week, Jay can get his groove going again by taking down the hapless Rams. The coaching staff knows that this should be a business trip to Los Angeles and utilize Jay quite a bit – will it result in a monster game for the Miami wonder? It’s definitely not going to be easy – because nothing this season has been, but The Outlaws should be able to sneak away with a W in this match thanks to having a fully stocked roster – ready for the bye week. 🙂

WDESPN Prediction: The Outlaws

WDE Rumble 2016: Week 7&8 Awards + Week 9 Storylines (Sponsored by Marvel’s Doctor Strange)

We here at WDESPN hoped that everyone had a great Sports Equinox weekend. It was a week in which anything seemed possible as the the equinox is a rare and special occasion. You know what’s also special – winning an award! So let’s see who are winners are from the last few weeks:

WDE Rumble Week 7 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): Clark Kent
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): Family Owned
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Macheteros
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): Clark Kent

WDE Rumble Week 8 Award Winners:

• Cleveland Cavaliers Award (Most Points scored): The Outlaws
• Ryan Lochte Award (Most points but lost): Orange Nation
• Simone Manuel Award (Fewest points but won):Nashville Ninjas
• US Olympics Women’s Basketball Award (Largest Margin of victory): The Outlaws

It’s amazing how time flies – we’re heading into week 9 of the fantasy football season! Only 5 more weeks left in the regular season before we head into the promise land known as the playoffs. Now contrary to popular belief, the teams at the bottom of the league are technically still in the race for a playoff spot. Only 2 games separate the number 8 team and the number 12 team. And as we all know, you only need to get hot at the right time to ride into the fantasy sunset as a champion. With bye weeks still wreaking havoc on teams, which teams will be able to overcome their internal challenges and win one more game to get them closer that fantasy gold?

The Outlaws vs. ATLien Rises [Rivarly]: Even though there is alot of animosity between these two teams over the year, Marques actually owes a debt of gratitude to Reid for actually saving his season early on. Before the season started, Marques stupidly drafted fragile Tony Romo to be his main QB for the season and Andy Dalton was meant to back him up. Unfortunately, Tony was more fragile than anyone realized and was out for the season before the first game of the year. The Outlaws were looking like a team that would have to ride Andy Dalton to fantasy (fools) gold this year – but then Reid dropped Matt Ryan for Spencer Ware and Marques picked up Matt Ryan for $5. Probably the best $5 spent this year as Matt has played at a MVP level for plenty of games this year. Combine that with the Freeman trade from last year and the chickens might be coming home to roost in this one against the ATLiens. For ATLiens Rises, the player to watch will be Drew Brees. Last week he was good but not great against the Seahawks at home. But now he’s playing with kryptonite this week i.e. away. As is well documented, Drew Brees is a monster when play at the Superdome – but away from the dome he has yet to crack 40 points and perhaps somehow the lowly 49ers can bring the great Drew Brees low. For the Outlaws, the player to watch will be Matt Ryan – since his explosive game against the Panthers in Week 4, he has been good by not great. In addition, he’s playing on a Thursday night which has not typically been a bastion of points for fantasy purposes. The last time Ryan faced the Bucs, he threw for 334 and 2 TDs – can he do better this week? After last weeks surprising loss to the Footballas, you can’t take anything for granted – but ATLiens is looking like the team of destiny right now. Just like the Vols…and we saw how far that got them. We’re still going with ATLiens to win this one, but it might be closer than we all think.

WDESPN Prediction: ATLien Rises

The Footballas vs Orange Nation: When you look up the word overachieve, you should find a picture of Todd’s team – The Footballas – as they definitely outkicked their coverage last week with a surprising win over the ATLiens. Just goes to show – on any given Sunday, any team can win (I’m looking at you bottom barrel teams!). Now this next challenge shouldn’t be that hard, but if there’s one thing we all know – coming down from a massive win like that can really mess with a team and make them complacent. Joel/Orange Nation is coming off a 3 game losing streak, which was preceded by a 3 game winning streak. So will this be the start of a winning streak for the older Owen brother? The player to watch for Joel will be Derek Carr – who just absolutely dominated the Bucs in last Sunday’s game. When you go for 513 yards and 4 touchdowns – all eyes are definitely on you to see if you can keep it up. It’s going to be hard to do against the vaunted Broncos defense – but if he does overcome that hurdle, he would be a legend. For the Footballas, the player to watch will be Big Ben. Since Andy Dalton is on a bye this week, Todd has to be hoping that Big Ben can saddle up once again and keep his teams playoff hopes alive and well. Reports have come out suggesting that Ben could strap it up this weekend, but only time – and pain tolerance will tell. On paper, these are two very evenly matched teams – it’s going to be a shame that one of them definitely has to lose. I think in the end Orange Nation is going to be able to pull out the win and show Todd that he’s a one hit wonder at the top. You do have to wonder who Joel will be rooting for in the Oakland/Denver match up: Derek Carr or Von Miller? Where does his loyalty lie?

WDESPN Prediction: Orange Nation

Texasseans vs Macheteros: There are two teams that are just trying to make it through this season with some very flawed teams. But don’t look now, Phil is in the hunt for a playoff spot with his 3-5 record. Technically, Macheteros isn’t out of it either with his 1-7 records (only 2 games back from 8th place). This is going to be an interesting match up as 2 key cogs in the Texassean machine will be on bye this week (Alshon Jeffery and Kirk Cousins). Which means that Phil will have to turn back to a player that is his player to watch and probably someone he hasn’t had to rely on since the first game of the season – Jameis Winston. In week 1, he lit the world on fire with his 281 yard 4 TD performance against the Falcons. So who does he get the pleasure of facing off again – only at home this time – that same Falcons defense. So literally could not have come at a better time. For Macheteros, the player to watch will be Aaron Rodgers. Even though the Packers offense lost last week, it’s starting to actually come around from a fantasy perspective – with Aaron leading the way by putting up 2 of his largest points performances of the week in the last 2 weeks. Will Aaron be able to continue that trend heading into what should be a shootout game against the Colts? We shall definitely see but somehow this game is going to be close – somehow, someway. But Macheteros will walk with the victory and potentially be one step closer to making it to the 3rd fantasy season of the year.

WDESPN Prediction: Macheteros