Around The LeagueE-mail the Co-CommishCMUFranchise@hotmail.comE-mail the Co-Kommishhicagtrim@hotmail.com |
Semifinals Preview We have established our final four on the path to Fantasy Bowl XXIX. The first semifinal will have some added intruige in the fact that it is between the two teams that completed a trade deadline deal. The Atlanta Jesteres moved past the first round in a win over Tampa Bay. Tampa had a great day from Treveyon Henderson with 34 points. But Atlanta had contributions from the entire team as everyone scored between 10 and 22 points on their roster. You could say that Dak Prescott had an off day after the Jesters traded for him, but because most of his passing went to Ceedee Lamb, Altanta was able to move on in spite of the off day. They will play the Denver Diamonds who pulled of the big 1-8 upset over the Pistons. Denver's Cowboy from the trade contributed 20 points with a rushing bonus and a TD. Fort Wayne had 88 points from 3 players, but Joe Burrow had 2 picks and no TDs to keep Fort Wayne's score pedestrian. Denver on the other hand had 33 points from their QB, Brissett. But the crazy score was from their kicker, who put up 26 points, tying the second best score of all time from the kicker position. Myers has now had 6 straight weeks of 14 points or more, and has averaged 15.9 PPG since being picked up by the Diamonds. This gives us a match up of two hot teams. Both have won 3 straight, the longest active streaks. Over the past 6 games, Atlanta has the best record at 5-1. Denver has been 4-2 and leads the league in points scored in the last 6 weeks, averaging 137 PPG. Atlanta has Dak Prescott and Jonathan Taylor who are 3rd and 4th respectively in total points this season. Denver has the 3rd best tight end, two of the top 10 running backs, and Brissett has more points per game than anyone in 2025. Semifinal #2 features the two remaining division winners. Much like Atlanta, San Francisco's stud QB, Patrick Mahomes had his 3rd lowest score of 2025 and actually got injured and is out for the season. But for the Rattlesnakes, it was Trey McBride who scored like a QB to make up for it. McBride fell just 2 points shy of making the all time top ten list for tight ends. It helped that Sterling Heights didn't put up much of a fight, being the only play-off team to not break the century mark. The Surge did put up a fight against the Commando Cats, especially with their 72 points from James Cook and Puka Nacua combined. But Anaheim got 44 from Jared Goff, which was the best QB score of the week. He also had 20+ from McCaffrey, Swift, and Olave. It was a close one, but Anaheim now has their second ever semifinal appearance in their 9th season. While San Francisco and Anaheim are not as hot as the other two semifinalists, but they are the two teams with the best record. They are also teams that have been playing from ahead for a while. Both took the lead in their divisions in week 3 and never trailed again before ultimately clinching those divisions. For the Rattlesnakes, Trey McBride is not only the best tight end in the league, he leads by over 100 points over the next best one. The big question mark is at QB, where they lost a top 5 quarterback. So can Jordan Love pick up where Mahomes left off. He is currently #12 amongst QBs in scoring this season. Anaheim took the big risk that everyone probably want thinking about going into draft day by taking Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey has shown what we have always seen from him, when healthy he is one of the best players in the NFL. He's #2 now in scoring amongst running backs and after this week will likely be top 5 regardless of position. Their second round reach, Chris Olave, is now a top 10 wide receiver. And Jared Goff has been a steal at quarterback after being drafted in round 9. He is #5 amongst QBs.
|