Oh man, what a week both NFL and BBL wise. In the NFL, the Steelers were not competitive, playoff Lenny came to play for Bucs, the Patriots look like the team to beat in the AFC and Aaron Rodgers doesn’t need to practice to dominate the reeling Rams. Cam Newton needs to practice though, as he was terrible, completing 5-21 passes for 92 yards while tossing two picks. BBL wise, the Sandstorms may never fully come back from this one, after losing to cellar dweller Hipple’s Heroes by five points.
Only two weeks to go in the regular season until the playoffs start! Plenty of spots are still up for grabs, as only the Tundra Icecaps have clinched a playoff berth going into week 13.
On to the recaps!
Hipple’s Heroes 110.52 – 105.57 Sahara Sandstorms
Heroes- Despite scoring the eighth lowest point total in the league this week, they played against the ninth lowest scoring team and won their third game of the year. Trolling the entire league by starting a lineup that consisted of 70% New England Patriots players, this is a week that will certainly not be forgotten anytime soon. This doesn’t take away from the fact that half the roster scored six or less points but nonetheless took down a playoff caliber team in the Sandstorms. Mac Jones and the Tampa Bay defense were strong starts this week, as well as waiver wire pickup Trevor Lawrence. One could point to that pickup as the difference maker this week. One could also wonder what would have happened if this manager took the league seriously this season. But for that we will never know.
Good Starts: Mac Jones (25), Tampa Bay defense (16)
Bad Starts: Rhamondre Stevenson (5), Brandon Bolden (6), Hunter Henry (1), Nelson Agholor (2), Chris Boswell (5)
Sandstorms- Oh no. Silence your phone and mute the notifications, this one is going to be ugly. A team destined with championship aspirations could not even beat one of worst constructed teams in recent history, losing by five points. Many words can be used to describe how the Sandstorms are feeling now, including embarrassed, disappointed and just plain sad to name a few. The Sandstorms were gifted a win in their pursuit of a first round bye, and they took that free win and threw it directly on the ground and said, “I don’t want it”. Outside of the quarterback position, no starter scored more than 15 points. I feel like this quote below would accurately describe the Sandstorms speech they would have given to their players if they were to give one.
“Well, you did it. You took my one chance at happiness, and crushed it. Crushed it into little, tiny bite size pieces. I really had expected better of you people. I guess I’m a loser for that too. Don’t bother showing up tomorrow. I’ll just tell them you all died in a marching accident. So thanks, thanks for nothing.”
I think some of you should get that reference but for those who didn’t, this is a direct quote from Squidward from the episode Band Geeks, in the popular children’s television show SpongeBob SquarePants.
Jokes aside, this was a terrible outcome for the Sandstorms and as mentioned earlier, they will not be hearing the end of it anytime soon from the league, mainly Ezra. Riddled with injuries up and down the lineup recently, the Sandstorms just could not overcome the losses of Alvin Kamara and Kyler Murray, who was also on a bye. Really the only thing that could help out the PR department would be raising a championship banner at the end of the year. This is just an all-time low for this franchise.
Good Starts: Darnell Mooney (13)
Bad Starts: Najee Harris (3), Noah Fant (1), Greg Zuerlein (7), Dallas defense (9)
Pride: Lost
Tundra Icecaps 150.56 – 117.32 Philly Special
Icecaps- The Icecaps finally looked like a playoff contender with a 150-point performance this week. They got great performances up and down the roster with all but three players scoring double digits. Dawson Knox, Javonte Williams, Daniel Carlson and the New England defense led the way, each scoring over 15 points. After struggling in recent weeks, this surely has given the Icecaps confidence for a possible repeat as the BBL Champion. They are 9-3 and have clinched a berth in the playoffs.
Great Starts: Dawson Knox (15), Javonte Williams (18), Daniel Carlson (21), New England defense (20)
Tough/Bad Starts: Michael Pittman Jr. (6), DeAndre Swift (1)
Special- The loss drops Philly Special to an even 6-6 on the year, but still in the playoff picture. Four starters scored seven or less points in a week where most of their scorers were balanced. Dalton Schultz, Adam Thielen, Nick Folk and the Houston defense were solid starts for Philly but just could not get it done. They also benched Myles Gaskin which would not have changed the outcome but would have helped the point differential. They get Hurts so Good next week.
Great Starts: Dalton Schultz (12), Adam Thielen (18), Nick Folk (21), Houston defense (13)
Bad Starts: Ja’Marr Chase (4), DK Metcalf (1), Saquon Barkley (5)
Benched: Myles Gaskin (17)
Everglade Squatches 167.97 – 119.52 Amazon Piranhas
Squatches- The Squatches took out the Piranhas to move to 7-5 on the year scoring the most points in the league this week. Seven starters scored over 16 points to put up a strong point total including Jaylen Waddle, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs and Cordarrelle Patterson. Achieving balance this week with the multiple high scorers, this team is sitting better than other teams in the league. The Squatches will get a free win next week against the Heroes.
Great Starts: Dak Prescott (29), Jaylen Waddle (20), Jonathan Taylor (16), Josh Jacobs (18), Cordarrelle Patterson (26), Baltimore defense (17)
Bad Start: Kyle Pitts (3)
Piranhas- With a loss this week, the Piranhas have been eliminated from playoff contention. Only scoring 119, the Piranhas were destroyed by injuries this week. Cook, McCaffrey and Waller all left their respective games with injuries which did not help. Aaron Rodgers and Elijah Mitchell had great weeks but couldn’t overcome the rest of the roster, including three starters scoring less than four points. Brady, Rodgers, McCaffrey and Cook couldn’t save the team this week. They even left the Miami defense on the bench, but even that outburst would not have won the week. They are 4-8 and can prepare for the consolation bracket for the second consecutive year.
Great Starts: Aaron Rodgers (30), Elijah Mitchell (24)
Tough/Bad Starts: Christian McCaffrey (3), Darren Waller (3), Greg Joseph (1)
Benched: Miami defense (31)
GalensWinningWinners 137.02 – 90.59 Hurts so Good
GWW- GalensWinningWinners kept their playoff hopes alive with a win to move to 6-6 on the year. They can thank Leonard Fournette for this win though, as the rest of the lineup was suspect. Austin Ekeler, Derek Carr and Tyler Lockett basically met projection while Antonio Gibson played well on Monday night, but the matchup was already decided. The rest of the starters underperformed mightily. Three starters scored four or less points. They have another great opportunity at a win next week when they face the struggling Thunder.
Great Start: Leonard Fournette (38), Antonio Gibson (18)
Bad Starts: Mike Evans (1), George Kittle (1), Brandon McManus (4)
HSG- Playoff hopes for HSG took a hit this weekend when they barely scored 90 points. After Buffalo scored 17 points on Thursday night, things looked good until Sunday rolled around. Two players scored zero points, one of them we can put all the blame on HSG as Tim didn’t swap out Corey Davis in the starting lineup (Davis was declared inactive before the game). Otherwise, it wasn’t an impressive showing for a potential playoff team. Not to mention the problem going forward is all of their three quarterbacks have byes in the following two weeks, leaving them with limited options for a playoff push. HSG is not in a great position right now.
Good Starts: AJ Dillion (16), Justin Tucker (13), Buffalo (17)
Bad Starts: Jalen Hurts (8), Ryan Tannehill (10), Nick Chubb (4), Dallas Goedert (0), Corey Davis (0)
All I do is Winston 136.68 – 111.77 Tropical Thunder
Winston- Winston took care of the Thunder easily this week, moving their record to 7-5. Josh Allen started off the scoring for this team on Thanksgiving night, throwing for four touchdowns. Later on Sunday, it was Joe Mixon and Deebo Samuel who had excellent fantasy days to sink the Thunder. Special teams was by far the worst part of this team as they started Jake Elliot and the Tennessee defense who combined for -0.50 points. They have all but clinched a spot in the playoffs.
Great Starts: Josh Allen (35), Joe Mixon (30), Deebo Samuel (20)
Bad Starts: Aaron Jones (2), Jake Elliot (1), Tennessee defense (-1.5)
Thunder- Another week, another score below 115. Half the roster scored in single digits including Cam Newton and the Panthers defense. No starter other than Carson Wentz scored over 14 points. Not even anyone on their bench could have changed the outcome of this matchup even a little bit. Over 58% of the time this season, the Thunder have not cleared 115 points, which is just not good. Shockingly, while not mathematically eliminated, the Thunder can still start preparing for the consolation bracket.
Good Start: Carson Wentz (26)
Bad Starts: Cam Newton (6), Tyler Bass (7), Carolina defense (5)
Week 13 Matchups
Tundra Icecaps 9-3 vs. Sahara Sandstorms 7-5
Philly Special 6-6 vs. Hurts so Good 6-6
Tropical Thunder 5-7 vs. GalensWinningWinners 6-6
Everglade Squatches 7-5 vs. Hipple’s Heroes 3-9
Amazon Piranhas 4-8 vs. All I do is Winston 7-5
Around the League
The trade deadline is approaching this week and is on Saturday, December 4. Make sure to get your trades in before this week! Only two weeks to go until the playoffs begin!
Cheers!
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