Playoff Previews 2018

A look at each team's 2018 season and playoff preview after our division re-names and a year of amazing parity that resulted in seven of our ten teams within one game of 0.500.

Tiiite End Jammers (7-6) vs Athena Nike (7-6)
After starting off red hot and looking like a juggernaut at midseason, Jammers have dropped five of their last six and barely squeaked into the playoffs — that one win was a 0.5 squeaker versus Fobsters too. All this and Jammers still ended up with the  easiest PA in the league at 110.4 per week.

So which Jammers will show up for the playoffs? Unfortunately, probably the same one that only put up 115.0 points per week, and it’s not like injuries wrecked their second half of the season. Aaron Rodgers  has slowed and despite his of impressive receivers — Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Emmanuel Sanders, Sony Michel — there just isn’t enough offense here. Rookie running backs Kerryon Johnson and Sony Michel have been good when on the field, but both have missed games. The absolute lost season from Le’Veon Bell really hurt here.

As for the team they’ll be facing, Athena Nike, it’s the complete opposite story. Frank’s team has won five of its last six and has had an absolutely monstrous back half of the season by stomping on every opponent and displaying a massive ceiling — it took a 173.4 PA in WK9 to beat Nike.

Ezekiel Elliot is a man refreshed, as is Amari Cooper post-Cowbodys trade. The trio of Cooper, Michael Thomas, and DeAndre Hopkins is excellent, and there’s a possibility Courtland Sutton sneaks in a start due to Matt Breida’s injury. With Leonard Fournette back from a one-game suspension and Adrian Peterson proving that he’s still got wheels, it should be an easy stroll in the park upset for Cam Newton and Athena Nike this week. Or does Frank step in with rookie Baker Mayfield?!?

Gang Green (7-6) vs Fobsters (6-7)
A WK13 win at Buffy locked in Gang’s playoff spot and they even got a higher seed out of the situation as Fobsters fell. Much like Phreaks, Greg’s team is peaking at the right time as they’ve put up 130+ in recent weeks, representing their best two week showings. And while Athena Nike has been wow-ing CTBD during the late stretch, Gang Green has cleaned up with five of six wins in their back half of the season as well. Just as we predicted, Gang finished up with a nice playoff push.

Christian McCaffrey has been the second half stud for this team, as the second-year running back has posted 31+ in four of his last five games. Davante Adams has been great as well, and after an early season of Deshaun Watson starts, it looks like Big Ben is now the preferred starter for coach Greg. There isn’t a whole lot behind McCaffrey-Adams as far as star power or depth, so it’ll take a lot for Green to avoid an upset.

The Capcom division leader heading into WK13, Fobsters slipped to a three-seed after a loss to 5-8 Jubas. Bad form. That’s three straight losses for Fobsters and four of six for their back half of the season. Still, the playoffs are a new ball game and Fobsters are undeniably talented as they sport Melvin Gordon, Kareem Hunt, Joe Mixon, and rookie second-half sensation Nick Chubb. Oh wait, did we mention Hunt? Whoops, looks like he’s gone due to his…we all know what happened. Still, with Gordon on the mend, a three-headed RB attack is still here for Fob.

The big question is their passing game, as Tom Brady has slipped this year and exciting years by sophomores Kenny Golladay and Corey Davis, this team could use a big more pop through the air.

A season featuring tough losses — by 2.5 to Monkeys, 0.5 to Jammers, 4.3 to Gang Green — leaves this team wondering what could have been. If Fobsters get knocked out in the first round, they’ll perhaps regret not pulling the plug on Brady earlier, despite a nice season’s worth of unearthing gems like Chubb, Golladay, Anthony Miller, and Geronimo Allison.

Bye Teams

Chunky Monkeys (9-4)
Flying very high off back-to-back 160+ point weeks, Chunky will look forward to a bye after laying an absolute egg in WK13, scoring their lowest total of the season. That blip won’t really matter though as Monkeys are still in pole position for a title after racking up 130.4 points per game — good for second in CTDB.

Rookie of the year Saquon Barkely has led Monkeys all year and there is plenty of support behind him as Kirk Cousins and Tyreek Hill, although a slightly weak tight end position could be cause for concern moving forward. Still, a big congrats to Monkeys for going last-to-first and capturing a Marvel division title — for the ninth time — as well as the best record in the league by two whole games.

Philadelphia Phreaks (7-6)
Ping’s team vaulted into a bye and a Capcom division title in WK13 by securing a win over Battle Angel and then out tie-breaking Gang Green. They seem to be peaking at just the right time too, as they’ve put up back-to-back 140+ points and super passing attack of Patrick Mahomes, Zach Ertz, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Keenan Allen will have to take the week off.

After suffering through season ending injuries to Devonta Freeman, Cooper Kupp, and Marshawn Lynch, it’s been a big victory for Ping to emerge with this bye week, a distinction they last earned in 2014, and now with three division titles total.