Playoff Previews

Ante Up (8-5) vs Chunky Monkeys (8-5)
These two teams aren't strangers to each other in the playoffs. In fact, the two met in a tight divisional match up back in 2010 -- Roddy White, now on Ante Up, was a key contributor for the Monkeys that weekend scoring 14 pts.  This year is likely going to be very different. Ante Up is totally retooled for the playoffs after trading away an injured Lesean McCoy for Roddy White, CJ Spiller, Alfred Morris and Cecil Shorts -- despite grumbling by multiple GMs. We'll likely see White (against his old team!), Spiller and perhaps even Shorts in the line up this weekend for Ante Up. Here are the key match-ups.

QB: Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford.  Despite having been relatively quiet in recent weeks, Rodgers is still the superior quarterback here capable of putting up 40+ on any given night. Stafford has picked it up in recent weeks after a ridiculously slow start to the season.  EDGE: Ante Up

RB: Folks are projecting for Rice to line up with Spiller this week (despite the presence of Morris) who will be matched on the other side with uber-rookie, Trent Richardson and Jamaal Charles.    Both teams have power and speed and both backfields can put up points in a hurry. On the year, Ray Rice and Spiller are the #4 and #6 backs in CTDB respectively while Richardson and Charles are #5 and #10.  Ray Rice is clearly the best back here and we think that gives Ante Up a slight advantage.  EDGE: Ante Up

WR: This is where the Monkeys have shined this year.  Megatron, Julio, Wayne, Cobb and a surging Garcon likely represents the top receiving stable in the league.  Its tough to project who will start behind Megatron and Julio but its likely going to be Reggie Wayne.  Garcon has been on fire since coming back so will likely command some consideration and of course, GM Evan will also have to consider Cobb as a hedge against A-Rod.  For Ante Up, we'll likely see newly acquired Roddy White and Cecil Shorts with Lance Moore.  Shorts is coming off of a concussion so we'll have to monitor his progress.  Otherwise, with Denarius Moore getting benched last week for poor performance and Brandon Lloyd MIA all season, we don't think there will many surprises here. EDGE: Chunky Monkeys

K/DT: Ante Up has one of the best kicker / DST combos in the league with Robbie Gould and the Seahawks.  As for the Monkeys, Matt Bryant is locked in as the kicker though defense will likely be a last minute decision.  The Monkeys have streamed defenses all year and we'll likely see a new defense this week.  EDGE: Ante Up

The trade has really bolstered Ante Up for the playoff run.  While the Monkeys might be the hottest team in the league right now having scored 400+ points in the last 3 games, Ante Up will likely pose match up problems for the Monkeys throughout the weekend.   The Monkeys will need their passing game (likely much of it on SNF where the Pack are playing the Lions).  We think this will be a high scoring affair and Ante Up might just have enough to come out on top.

Philadelphia Phreaks (7-6) vs Battle Angels (6-7)
The Phreaks are back in the playoffs after a two year drought.  They were within ~10 points of securing a top seed in last week's regular season finale against the Jammers but unable to score enough points or secure a win, the Phreaks find themselves locked in a battle against the Angels in what will likely be a very intriguing match-up.

QB: This is all about old school vs new school.  The Angel's will feature Drew Brees, a guy that will certainly look to air it out while the Phreaks will counter with the all-world rookie, RGIII.  RGIII has been awesome this year.  However, Brees is the top rated quarterback this year scoring 340 pts in 12 weeks or a ridiculous 28+ pts per week.  There will be plenty of fireworks in this match up and we like the young 'un in this one.  EDGE: Phreaks

RB: The Angels greatest weakness, the running game. The Angels sole running game is Fred Jackson and he's not even a full time back.  There's no one else worth mentioning as the Angels are certainly likely to feature 4 receivers this week.  On the flip side, the Phreaks will counter a pair of rookies in Doug "Muscle Hamster" Martin and Bryce Brown.  Martin has been a top 3 back all season while Brown has been the top back the last 3 weeks ever since McCoy went out with a concussion.  The Phreaks ground game has been as good its been since the days of Clinton Portis and we like this duo to carry the load throughout the playoffs.  EDGE: Phreaks

WR: Unlike the Monkeys / Ante Up match up, the receivers in this game will be a little bit more of an adventure.  For the Phreaks, with Wallace questionable to play (depends on if Roethlisberger plays) and Desean Jackson out for the year, we will likely see TY Hilton, Jeremy Maclin and probably Chris Givens (depending on how much Ping wants to roll with Blackmon).  For the Angels, the receivers will be led by AJ, Sidney Rice and then it gets really suspicious.  The Angels have been playing Vernon Davis and Greg Jennings though neither have really done anything (or have been healthy for that matter).  There really isn't a bench either here so I suspect that these are the receivers will see this week unless the Angels make waves on the waiver wire in the coming days. EDGE: Phreaks

K/DT: Blair Walsh and the Packers DST vs Janikowski and the Giants. We love Janikowski  EDGE: Phreaks

On paper, the Phreaks have a pretty clear advantage. The Angels also just suffered a huge defeat against the Monkeys in the week prior so are likely a bit demoralized.  We think this match will be over pretty quickly - and it won't be good for the Angels.

Final Standings 2012

The Kitchen Sink

We've had some blockbuster trades in our history, but has there ever been in four-for-one?! Fueled by missing the playoffs, Dirty Birds' GM Jon moved quickly to blow up his team. After firing off multiple emails, he found a willing trade partner: Ante Up. Searching for another franchise caliber player, Jon and Jae quickly agreed on a trade. LeSean McCoy for Roddy White, C.J. Spiller, Alfred Morris, and Cecil Shorts.

Immediately a firestorm of controversy arose as the commissioners were called in to evaluate the fairness of such a transaction. On paper, it definitely seemed lopsided, as McCoy was not only currently injured, but engaged in a somewhat subpar season. In fact, both Spiller and Morris, at the time of this writing, were ranked higher than McCoy on the running back charts -- numbers six and tenth respectively. In addition, Roddy White has been a top ten receiver all season, while Shorts has been a free agent revelation, especially as he's been heating up with four straight games of 15+ points.

Digging a little deeper though, it was revealed that the trade was an ideal win-win for both sides. Ante Up needed to flank Aaron Rodgers and Ray Rice for a deep playoff run, something that having four new productive players will help with. The mega-trade immediately makes Jae a dark horse contender for the championship.

Meanwhile the Dirty Birds had a lot of extra talent on their roster, despite suffering from inconsistency and pathetic showings all season. Moving four players for one was no problem, as long as that returning player was someone like McCoy. An opposing GM, who wasn't against the trade, summed it up thusly: "McCoy's twenty four, he's the centerpiece of a franchise, and I have been trying to pry him away from Ante Up for years." The move will allow the Dirty Birds to pair McCoy with Adrian Peterson, potentially formed the best backfield tandem in the league.

The opposing view on the trade noted that C.J. Spiller is up-and-coming himself, so a trade with perhaps just him and Roddy would have sufficed. "Not even draft picks? Why couldn't the trade be consumated over the off-season? This upsets competitive balance for the playoffs! Conspiracy theorists could point fingers at the owners who now fear Ante Up, or perhaps at Dirty Bird's management, who has griped privately about "doing everything in our power to insure that Buffy and Chunky Monkeys don't win another title!"

Time will tell if this trade was indeed lopsided, but until then, we here at CTDB TV will be on the lookout for more blockbusters. Rumors are that this will be a wild off-season!

Who's In, Who's Out

Inscrutable Drama Kings Division

What We Know: This late in the season, bunch of seats are usually up for grabs but we have unusual clarity going into this last week. Buffy has locked up the top seed with a first week bye (probably did that like two weeks ago) while the Monkeys will be playing Ante Up in the first round of the playoffs.  The Monkeys are clearly peaking and will look to carry that momentum over against a depleted Ante Up team who will barely eek out a win this week despite scoring less than 80 points.

What We Don’t Know: Not much. The seeding might change between the Monkeys and Ante Up but besides draft positioning, there’s little that matters here. The Dirty Birds might’ve figured into the playoff picture but a loss to the Phreaks in Week 12 knocked them out of the race.


Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses Division

What We Know: This is where the story gets saucy. We know that the Jubas, Phreaks (the Phreaks?!), and the Battle Angels are all in.  Gang Green and Fobsters are now just trying to figure out draft order.

What We Don’t Know: Who gets first round bye? The Jubas had a stranglehold on the top seed until a two game slide really put  them in a pickle. We know the top spot will go either to the Phreaks or the Jubas at this point.  Depending on how much the Phreaks score tonight with Brown and Jackson, the two could be neck and neck in terms of points scored entering week 13 (points scored will be the tie break between the two as they are even in head to head and overall record).  Both the Jubas and Phreaks are playing struggling IDK teams and so both have a shot at winning which means this will come down to points scored in Week 13. The Battle Angels will be the third team in the playoffs.

Playoff Push: Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses

Three weeks left in the regular season and let's take a quick look at where everyone is headed shall we? The playoff spots are pretty much locked in on the Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses division but there's an outside chance for a wild card battle over in Inscrutable Drama Kings. Let's go!

Fat Jubas (7-3)
Already matching their win total from last season with seven victories, Eric's team is poised to double up in division crowns. They have a team game lead and is the highest scoring team in Spunky Misunderstood Geniuses by a wide margin. After shooting out of the gate with four wins, they stumbled a bit before recovering with another three win streak. With Cam Newton a bit shaky this season, much of the heavy lifting has been on the deep speed of Vincent Jackson, Eric Decker, and Torrey Smith. Chris Johnson is finally back but there is literally non one behind him as Darren McFadden is still hurt and nobody else has stepped up. The good news is that the incredible Bears defense has been a huge advantage and are one of the primary reasons for Eric's march to the top this season. The big question will be if the Fat Jubas can avenge last year's Super Bowl loss to Buffy…

Philadelphia Phreaks (5-5)
Last year this team had only four wins total but now they are poised to enter the playoffs. In fact, Ping's squad is a little bit on fire. Four century games and four wins from weeks six through nine, and also home to the new belle of the fantasy ball: Doug Martin. Having rookies Martin and Robert Griffin III on board has rejuvenated this franchise and they are dark horse contenders, perhaps for the first time in their history. RB Marshawn Lynch has been a top six performer and if DeSean Jackson, Mike Wallace, and Jeremy Maclin can inject some explosiveness to the air game, the fans in Phreak land could have a lot to celebrate soon. We wish Justin Blackmon had emerged some this season, as that could be one of the best QB-RB-WR rookie classes in CTDB history. Still, what a haul!

Battle Angel (5-5)
Vu's team got into second place in this division despite being under 0.500 and it's possible they -- or someone else -- could do it again. They have righted the ship by going 3-1 in recent weeks and will now let Drew Brees lead them to the post-season. It's troubling that Brees has nobody supporting him, as the rest of the roster is devoid of firepower. For example, young Andre Roberts is leading a WR corps in points, despite having Andre Johnson, Sidney Rice, and Mike Williams around -- and Greg Jennnings out. It's true that Rice has come into his own again recently but not one of these receivers has cracked the top twenty at their position. Same thing with the running backs. Fred Jackson and DeAngelo Williams have not been the answer. Still, Brees has clearly been good enough to get this team to five wins and Vu is will see how far he can get in the playoffs with almost literally no running game.

Gang Green (3-7)
This team is in freefall. After mustering only five wins last year, the Greenies are headed toward a similar fate this season. All this after winning the championship in 2009. Has Greg finally lost the magic touch? With a five game losing streak this year, it's possible. The good news is that while one Manning brother (Eli) has slumped, the other has been outright amazing recently. Brandon Marshall has also been a revelation, reunited with Jay Cutler. He the second best WR this year, by a wide margin. Frank Gore has had a bounce back year too, and Stevan Ridley has totally eclipsed sad sacks Ahmad Bradshaw and Shonn Greene. And Steve Johnson and Hakeem Nicks should be fine as the second and third receivers -- if healthy. Here's the kicker: during that five week losing streak, Gang Green faced century opponents each time, and four of those games were against opponents who scored 120+ or better. Heck, Greg even lost 137.2 - 137.8 to Chunky Monkeys in WK5, likely our closest and highest scoring matchup ever. That's something to hang his hat on, right?

Fobsters (3-7)
Jimmy's squad snuck into the playoffs last year with a losing record but a 0-3 cold open following by their current four game losing streak has dashed this year's post-season hopes. Much like the Battle Angels, this team has one star quarterback - Tom Brady -- and a bunch of lesser lights. Willis McGahee and Michael Turner are erratic at best, and McGahee hasn't even played much for Fobsters. Losing Jordy Nelson to injury has hurt a lot, and while Dwayne Bowe, Steve Smith, Antonio Gates, and Dez Bryant have had their explosive games, they're hardly sure things week to week.  The Fobsters made a surprise run to the Super Bowl in 2010, so they've had some success recently. Perhaps they can get back to those glory days with a Toilet Bowl win, as a way to salvage another lost season?