IDK Playoffs - Rd 2

Chunky Monkeys (9-4) vs Ante Up (7-6)
Here we go guys, all that stands between another Super Bowl appearance for Chunky Monkeys is the resurgent Ante Up. These teams have met in the playoffs before, but a long time ago. Remember when dinosaurs roamed the Earth? Okay not quite that long. But back in 2005, Jae's team had the best record in the league but were upset by the Monkeys in this exact same round. Two years prior to that, Jae did the upsetting of the Monkeys in the first round (before losing to the Tiiite End Jammers the following week). So there's a bit of history here and this rubber match could be explosive.

The Monkeys have scored 90-100-98-118 in recent weeks (although they only posted 66 points during their bye) while Ante Up has been at 92-130-105-128 over their last four. This could be real interesting and we're betting the team that clears 100+ gets the win.

QB: It's Philip Rivers versus Josh Freeman. Rivers is the better player in fantasy and real life, but there's no discounting that Freeman does have some magic. Will that translate to stats though? Ante Up would be happy be with a high teens effort from Freeman, as that would at least replace some of Aaron Rodgers lost production, as Jae decided to not roll the dice post concussion. What would have been a high powered matchup won't be quite as exciting anymore. Edge: Chunky Monkeys

RB: Ante Up is rolling with an explosive backfield. Ray Rice has been a bit up and down but as a second back he'll outclass his competition. And LeSean McCoy had a huge week last time out, and even with limited rushing attempts he gets so many combined yards that he's a fantasy star. The Monkeys used to be defined by a dominant running back corps but this year they've had some issues there. The Ryan Mathews trade didn't work out in its first year, but Evan is going with the rookie for the playoffs anyway. Mathews scored last week but his high all season has been twelve points. Jamaal Charles sometimes splits carries with Thomas Jones, but for the most part he's been a dependable source of high teens production. Charles won't score TDs very often, but he can pile up the yards. Still, there's no real comparison here. Edge: Ante Up

WR/TE: The good news for the Monkeys is that that have a very strong receiving core. Roddy White, Dwayne Bowe, Anquan Boldin, and Brandon Marshall are some big time names. Roddy and Bowe are the top two WRs this year, and Boldin has been top twenty. The slight concern here is that Bowe is in a serious slump after a double bagel, and White and Boldin have been erratic recently. Marshall could slide into the lineup but he's been a single digit scorer for the last six weeks -- eight if you include two games missed due to injury.

For Ante Up, it's Reggie Wayne and a bunch of hopefuls. Wayne has had three hundred yard games in his last four games and is almost guaranteed to be near twenty points. Behind him is some real problem areas though. Derrick Mason has actaully been very good the last few weeks, but he's as likely to toss up five points as twenty. Third receiver had 43 points off 225 yards and 3 TDs in WK7 but he's been injured recently and only collected three points last week. The other option is Mike Sims-Walker but he's been absolutely pathetic. Edge: Chunky Monkeys

K/Def: Normally kickers aren't a big deal but Jae boasts David Akers, who has scored in double digits his last seven games. It's likely he'll beat out Ante Up's last two WRs in scoring. The Monkeys do have Nate Kaeding, but he'll still lag a tad behind Akers.

Interestingly, Jae is electing to sit Ravens Def, as he realizes they are in semi-free fall. He's going with a lackluster defense, the Raiders, who have scored a combined fourteen points the past three weeks, and threw up a negative five in WK11. Dangerous call. Evan is going to battle with the red hot Patriots Defense, who are are hitting their stride with thirteen and twenty points in their last few weeks, and face a Rodgers-less Green Bay team. Edge: Chunky Monkeys based on defense