Week 14 Preview
Took a week off just like my team did. Bad karma. Let's get into the most interesting final week of the season in Thumper history.
Weatherford Bye
This comes down to this week's matchup between Kevin and Aron. Winner gets the first round bye no matter what. Easy as that.
Watonga Bye
If Brady wins, he gets the bye. If Clint loses, Brady gets the bye. If Brady loses and Clint wins, Clint most likely gets the bye since he's 45 points ahead going into week 14.
The Rest of the Playoffs
The final two spots come down to Bruce, Dom, and Austin. We already covered this in the chats but here's a breakdown:
Dom - Win and in. Lose and probably still in because of his point lead on both teams.
Bruce - Win and in. He can also get in with a loss and an Austin loss. Less likely, he can get in with a loss and Austin win, as long as he outscores Austin by 19.24.
Austin - Has to win. Just read the prior two sentences for the other information.
Rum Ham Slam Recap
Since I didn't do one of these last week, I didn't get to congratulate Rusty on being the Thumper Rum Ham Slam Champion this year. He didn't win it all, but he finished highest out of all of us.
Hall of Fame
We haven't on the Hall of Fame in a couple of years because we were running out of things to induct. I've put together a new list of things that we can vote on the last week of the season. Feel free to send me ideas if you think of something.
Update on Season Long Bet Mixon vs Ford:
Ford - 133.3 points
Mixon - 158.5 points
Anything can happen, but Mixon has a good lead on Ford now.
Week 14 Games of the Week:
Aron (9-4) vs Kevin (9-4)
No questions asked, this is the biggest game of the week. Aron has basically had the Weatherford bye all season, but stumbled at the end of the year losing 2 of his last 3. While he has nearly 200 points on Kevin, it doesn't matter anymore. Winner takes all this week.
Something I have left out of the power rankings this season was the Luck Score. It's basically how lucky were you to play teams that underperformed each week. Kevin was the luckiest person this season with a score of 34. You're probably asking yourself if that's high. Let's put it into perspective:
Kevin - 34
Aron - 9
Rusty - 7
Brady - 6
Bryan - 5
Clint and Cord - 0
Dom, Austin, Bruce (weird) - (-4)
Chris - (-6)
Logan - (-11)
Kevin was almost 4 times luckier than the next person in the league this year.
So does luck or skill get the bye? I think skill takes this one. Kevin lost his only good WR he had left. If Walker doesn't play then he has absolutely no shot. His entire team has tough matchups this week too. I'm not even going to look at Aron's team. I'm giving the win to Aron as he has the better team and deserves the bye.
Commissioner's Pick (12-0): Aron
Wait... I want to finish the regular season 14-0 on picks, so I should pick another Game of the Week right?
Week 14 Game of the Week Part II
Austin (7-6) vs Dom (8-5)
This is a big matchup. Cousins battling for two of the final playoff spots.
I'm just going to be short with this review. Austin needs the Bears to have a huge day against the Lions. If he wants to win this matchup, then Fields, Moore, and Kmet are going to have to have big days. Dom's team has come on strong the last half of the season.
The good thing for Austin? The Lions have been giving up points gallore. Last four weeks: 28, 29, 26, 38. I feel good about the Bears this week.
So who am I taking? I'm taking Dom. I just think his team is too good. Congrats on your third consecutive playoff spot Bruce.
Commissioner's Pick (12-0): Dom