Week 12 Results
Everglade Squatches 153.30 – 150.44 Fresh Prince of Helaire
Wentz upon a Time 147.88 – 126.38 Philly Special
GalensWinningWinners 148.29 – 118.35 Tropical Thunder
Sahara Sandstorms 136.95 – 128.06 Prairie Dawgz
Amazon Piranhas 205.44 – 140.29 Tundra Icecaps
Intro
Welcome to week 13! We witnessed history last week, when week 12 became the longest week in NFL history to date. With that said, there is only one more week left of the regular season to decide who will make the BBL playoffs! With a win GWW clinched a playoff spot, but the other playoff spots are yet to be decided. Six teams are still in contention for the final four positions in the playoff bracket.
Of note, I have added a graphic of the standings at the end of this article to visualize the standings.
On to the matchups!
Tundra Icecaps vs. Wentz upon a Time
The Icecaps ran into the 200-point explosion from the Piranhas last week and could not recover. Antonio Gibson (32) and Pittsburgh’s defense (25) led the way for the Icecaps. The Icecaps sit in first place with a respectable 9-3 record and have clinched a first-round bye. With a win this week, the Icecaps will clinch the best record in the league and enjoy their bye next week. The Icecaps also activated Raheem Mostert and Austin Ekeler from the IR to fuel their playoff run.
Wentz upon a Time got a win last week to move to 7-5 on the year and moved into third place in the standings. They got strong performances from Mitchell Trubisky (27), David Montgomery (23) and Justin Jefferson (20). Wentz is one of the teams battling for a playoff spot but has a simple path to the postseason. All they have to do is win, and they will be playing next week. If Wentz loses, they are still in a good position, as they have a good amount of points to hopefully advance them to the next round. A lot of other teams would have to outscore Wentz by a substantial amount to kick him out of the playoffs.
Tropical Thunder vs. Sahara Sandstorms
The most anticipated matchup of the year, well not quite but this game has huge implications. Simply put, the winner will advance to the playoffs while the loser is essentially done.
The Thunder find themselves on the outside looking in, in the seventh position in the standings at 6-6. They lost to GWW and only scored 118 points last week. The Thunder have really picked a bad time have their worst two scoring outcomes the last two weeks, as their average for those two weeks are a meager 107 points. One positive was that they got 25 points from the Seattle defense last week and will need a similar output to be competitive this week. As mentioned above, if the Thunder want to see the postseason, they must win because if they lose their season is over. Now yes, technically the Thunder could make the playoffs with a loss with additional losses from the Squatches and Piranhas and score 90 more points than the Squatches. This is extremely unlikely considering the Thunder’s point totals the last few weeks, so it’s win or go home for this franchise.
The Sandstorms got a win last week after scoring 136 points as they beat the Dawgz. Nick Chubb led the way with 28 points along with 21 points from Allen Robinson. The Sandstorms also made a poor start in Derek Carr, who scored -1.90 points. A win is a win, and the Sandstorms at 7-5 have a simple path to the playoffs, which is just to beat the reeling Thunder. A win takes them to 8-5, and a second straight playoff appearance. A loss would not destroy any playoff hopes but makes it extremely difficult. The Sandstorms would need a Squatches loss outright to make the playoffs simply. Otherwise, they could also sneak in with a loss from Philly Special, or Wentz upon a Time while also scoring 30 more points than Philly Special and/or scoring 80 more points than Wentz. Basically, if they lose, the Sandstorms need a lot of help to get in.
Philly Special vs. Amazon Piranhas
Philly Special lost last week only scoring 126 points. Other than strong contributors Kirk Cousins (35) and Tom Brady (29), the other starters flopped. At 7-5, all Philly has to do is win and they are into the playoffs for the first time in their BBL tenure. If Philly loses, it is not over, but they face a similar situation to the Sandstorms. They do not have a favorable point(s) scored this season and could find themselves on the outside looking in if they turn in an unimpressive week. Oh, and I should also mention Tom Brady is on bye, so Philly is turning to Sam Darnold. I would be concerned if I was Philly Special.
Where did 205 points come from? Despite starting Cam Newton (6) the rest of this roster combined for 199 points to have the second highest scoring output of any team this season in the league. Tyreek Hill (47), James Robinson (25), Younghoe Koo (23) helped push the Piranhas over the 200 mark. The only problem is that it might be too little too late for this team as they sit at 5-7. To make the playoffs they first have to win, but then also get losses from the Squatches and the Thunder, while also outscoring the Squatches by about 40 points this week. While quite possible, it really isn’t considering the competing circumstances. It is good to have hope though.
Prairie Dawgz vs. Everglade Squatches
Another week, another loss. The Prairie Dawgz moved to 2-10 on the year and average a lowly 126.09 points per week. What is even worst is that Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Ronald Jones are all on bye for this squad. The Dawgz will need some waiver wire heroes for this week to even have a remote chance of winning.
This is why the circumstances are not in a number of potential losing teams’ favors this week. A couple teams need a Squatches loss to continue their playoff dreams, however the Squatches get the worst team in the league this week, making a Squatches loss unlikely. At 6-6, the Squatches hold the sixth and final spot in the current playoff picture. All they need to do is win and they are essentially in the playoffs. The only way they would not make it with a win is if the Sandstorms lost but still scored 90 more points this week. Again, highly unlikely. However, a loss would certainly complicate the playoff picture. A loss would leave the Piranhas eligible for the spot, granted they scored 40 more points, while also leaving the spot potentially to the Thunder, if they were to score 90 more points. If you are the Squatches you just need to take care of the lowly Prairie Dawgz and they will be in.
GalensWinningWinners vs. Fresh Prince of Helaire
GWW was the second team to clinch their playoff spot this season, when they beat the Thunder by scoring 148 points. They should really be thanking Deshaun Watson and Derrick Henry who scored 43 and 40 points respectively. The rest of the roster was relatively unimpressive as the other eight starters combined for 65 points. They need Christian McCaffrey to get back healthy if this team wants to make a deep playoff run. They do not need to do too much this week as they have the most points in the league by a substantial margin and have essentially wrapped up the other bye week. There is a chance they get the number 1 overall seed with a win and an Icecaps loss, so there is that to play for.
Fresh Prince of Helaire lost to the Squatches last week scoring 150 points. Aaron Rodgers (35) and the Houston defense (23) gave a glimpse of hope for this team, but it was not enough. They are 3-9 and sit in ninth place in the league.
Closing Thoughts
Here is an updated look at our standings through 12 weeks. Top 6 overall in standings get into playoffs and also keep in mind our tiebreaker for same records is PF (points for).
Plenty to play for in an eventful week 13! Good luck to all managers and stay tuned next week for the playoff preview!
Cheers!
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