Plaidie Daddies, Dreamland Warriors advance to finals

While everyone (hopefully) had an enjoyable break to get ready for this semester, the Tartan II fantasy football league concluded its four weeks of playoffs. Editor-in-Chief India Price’s Plaidie Daddies upset the heavily favored DeMarco DePolo of Zeke Rosenberg to make it to the fantasy championships, while my Dreamland Warriors came back from behind to squeak past Publisher Jade Crockem’s Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood. With so much action over these weeks, the final results will have to wait to be chronicled until next week. Until then, here’s a recap of the first round of playoffs.

Plaidie Daddies over DeMarco DePolo 245-213

What an upset! In Week 14, the Plaidie Daddies got off to a massive 153-104 lead driven by Denver Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, the Atlanta Falcons defense, and Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. While Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson gave over 20 points each to Rosenberg, an injury to San Diego Chargers running back Melvin Gordon and poor performances by Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and the Detroit Lions defense put him into a deep hole that his team was unable to escape from.

While the scoring output for the Plaidie Daddies declined to 92 points in Week 15, DeMarco DePolo was unable to capitalize due to underwhelming performances by Miami Dolphins running back Jay Ayaji, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown, and Evans. Such is the cruel twist of fate that can befall a team that dominated the regular season but came up short in the playoffs.

Dreamland Warriors over Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood 241-231

Crockem amassed an impressive 120-92 lead over my team in Week 14 thanks to the play of Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and Packers wide receiver Devante Adams. On my end, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Donte Moncrief left his game due to injury, resulting in zero points. Other players who underwhelmed with single digit performances were New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, and Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker.

Crockem’s good chance of victory faded away in Week 15 after a 149-111 score in my favor. Brees put in a strong 29 point rebound, while Bills running back LeSean McCoy and New York Jets running back Bilal Powell finished with high scoring performances as well. Mr. Rodgers’ Neighborhood saw tremendous output from Packers running back and wide receiver Ty Montgomery, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot, and Thomas, but shortcomings from Adams and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen cost the team victory.

Loquacious Losers over extremely trash team 226-189

Layout Manager Abhishek Tayal’s team had the edge from the very start, as his Week 14 performance against Alex Wood’s team earned him a 123-98 lead. While Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton and Baltimore Ravens running back Kenneth Dixon put up respectable numbers, the week was over when Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell earned a massive 51 points against the Buffalo Bills, hiding four single point outputs behind a tremendous day for Bell.

The 103-91 edge Tayal earned in Week 15 sealed his victory. Both teams matched up evenly: a strong performance for the Loquacious Losers by Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry was balanced out by Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. A poor performance from Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed was negated by a marginally better one from Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham. Both kickers also gave their respective teams more than ten points. With nothing to break past what was essentially a stalemate, not even the Loquacious Losers could lose to the extremely trash team.

What is going on? over McManus’s Anus 196-140

Pillbox Co-Editor Sinead Foley may have had a relatively hands off approach to fantasy football, but it was still enough to take down Sarah Gutekunst’s team. Week 14 basically decided this matchup as Foley climbed to an insurmountable 105-54 lead. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and Colts running back Frank Gore were the only two players to score double digits for McManus’s Anus, while only two players scored single digits for Foley’s team.

With such a huge deficit, a 91-86 score in favor of What is going on? certainly did not help Gutekunst’s case. With nothing left to play for, it seems both teams were content with letting single-point players litter their rosters. It appears that Gutekunst’s first year in fantasy did not give her much of an edge against the competition this year.

Masshole Knickerbockers over How does this work? 191-163

Like most of the other matchups this round, Lula Beresford’s Masshole Knickerbockers earned their victory in Week 14, crushing Foley’s second team 125-77. Though four players for Beresford’s team scored in the single digits, strong performances by New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill, and Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert overwhelmed Foley’s team, which only had San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde to parade.

While Foley’s team tried to come back in Week 15, an 86-66 margin was not enough to make up for the Week 14 thrashing. Falcons running back Devonta Freeman’s 32-point performance was the dominant performance in a matchup that featured 11 single digit players, many of whom had sustained injuries.