NBD - Playoffs Rounds 2 & 3 Review

It was a wild and woolly ride, but we've reached the end. The 2009 NBD Season has come to a close, and your new Champion is... the Wild Stallions! Congratulations to DeYoung, who squeaked out a championship win in probably the closest NBDBowl that any of us will ever see. DeYoung will take home $650 for his defeat of Colly's Who Gonna Check Me Boo? in the Finals. Colly himself takes home a decent chunk of change as well, earning $300 for the 2nd-place prize as well as $150 for winning the regular season. Finally, Elliott's F You Tom Brady will have their entry fee refunded for nabbing 3rd place. Congrats to all the money-winners and to everyone for another fun season. For details on how these guys managed to grab their cash (and bobblehead/t-shirt), read on...

Playoffs Round 2
Who Gonna Check Me Boo? (118) defeats the Death Panel (100)
Power-ranked at #1 and #2 in the Playoff Power Rankings, these two teams had achieved that favored status largely on the play of two studs: Chris Johnson for the Boo-Checkers and Drew Brees for the Panel. Neither Johnson (14) nor Brees (11) really stepped up in the second round of the playoffs, so it fell to their supporting casts to carry the team on. And Colly's supporting cast was undoubtedly better than mine. While Laurence Maroney (14) and Derrick Mason (15) had among their best days of the season, only two DPers out-scored them: the wideout combo of Andre Johnson (20) and Chad Ochocinco (17). That made for a decent outing, but "decent" is rarely what carries you to a championship game, especially against a team of this caliber. While the afore-mentioned Chris Johnson was unspectacular, every other Boo-Checker that you'd expect came to play in Week 15. Maurice Jones-Drew (26) led the way, followed closely by DeSean Jackson (21) and Miles Austin (20). With those types of performances, and with the Defense/Kicker position favoring Colly by nine, it was curtains for the Death Panel's season. Still, this is as well as my NBD team has finished in a long time (maybe ever), and I'm proud of their efforts along the way.


Wild Stallions (113) defeat F You Tom Brady (102)
Some people, when faced with fantasy adversity, shrug their shoulders and say "That's life." Others look to their opposition - in this case, a monstrous day by Aaron Rodgers (38), a vintage performance by the Ravens D (18), and a solid outing from Rashard Mendenhall (17) - and acknowledge their superiority. Still others would take a "silver lining" approach, and appreciate the efforts of their players- like Dallas Clark (22), Reggie Wayne (19), and Ricky Williams (15) - even in a losing contest. And then there is Elliott, who chooses instead to single out one member of his team for individual blame and public mockery. Tom Brady was fourth among fantasy quarterbacks this season, scoring nearly 19 points a game in his first season back from a devastating knee injury. He provided solid leadership and production all season long to an often rudderless Pizza Hut / Mental Errors team. But in Week 15, he had an off week, netting only seven points. And even though his owner had put such talent as TJ Houshmandzadeh (7) and Reggie Bush (5) around him, and even with team late-comer Joseph Addai (7) laying a similar egg, Elliott saluted the man who led him through the season the only way he knows how: with a middle finger. With the collective bargaining agreement up this summer, and the potential for big free agent signings, will any player with any dignity be willing to play for Elliott "Black Heart" Toobin, seeing as how he so callously and egregiously threw one of his supposed cornerstones under the bus? Fans of the franchise can only hope.

5th-Place Game: Hannibal Lance Harry (107) defeats Burke City Giants (105)
The only fantasy match-up that brings me more excitement than a DadBowl is a Playoff DadBowl. And keeping with tradition, this one was a barn-burner. Having traded away much of his talent mid-season, Michael Toobin was lucky to snatch up Jamaal Charles at just the right time, as he has been one of the top fantasy RBs over the latter half of the season. Week 15 was no exception, with Charles amassing an impressive 23 points. Peyton Manning (27) was similarly excellent, and their efforts, along with the Philly Defense (15) and Randy Moss (13) were enough to push the Giants into triple-digits despite some so-so performances from the rest of the crew. Unfortunately for Michael, though, that score was still just a few points shy of Ray's crew. Any optimism Ray had for this season came from the fact that he would finally be able to draft top first-round talent, and could leave his losing ways of the past behind as a distant memory. And yet here in the play-offs, oddly enough it was the holdovers from last year's squad that carried him to victory and his highest ever NBD finish. David Garrard (21) had his second-highest scoring output of the season, and good old Greg Jennings (18), so maligned for much of the season as a disappointment, finally showed up. Supported by John Carlson (15), Cadillac Williams (15), and Frank Gore (13), Harry Lance Hannibal improved six spots over last year to claim the 5th-place crown.


Playoffs Round 3
3rd-Place Game: F You Tom Brady (102) defeats the Death Panel (71)
I'll be honest: I sort of forgot that there was a 3rd place prize in this league, and I didn't really check my line-up before this game. It took Elliott sending me a braggadocious text to remind me that it was even going on (my attention was focused on winning the BIFL championship). But alas, any line-up change I might have made (and I don't think there was one) wouldn't have brought me any closer to beating Elliott. The Death Panel, crushed by missing out on the opportunity to play for a title, just didn't bring it this week. Drew Brees (14) was, by his standards, quite mediocre. Andre Johnson (13) and Ray Rice (14) demonstrated their characteristic consistency but nothing spectacular. And the rest of the Panel? Let's not get into it. We'll take fourth. Meanwhile, Tom Brady (27) showed just what a class act he is by leading his team into battle one more time, despite his owner's best efforts to show him up. Most of his teammates followed Elliott's lead by attempting to fuck him over, but late-season acquisition Jerome Harrison (19) and the kicking/defensive unit (28) apparently hadn't drank enough of the Toobin Kool-Aid to let their team down.

Championship Game: Wild Stallions (84.38) defeat Who Gonna Check Me Boo? (84.20)
Man, this shit last night was crazy. But first, let's set the table: It was a pretty quiet Friday night/Sunday afternoon for both teams, with only Chris Johnson (24) appearing to be aware that his performance had championship ramifications. DeYoung's triad of Aaron Rodgers (14), Pierre Thomas (12), and Larry Fitzgerald (11) were keeping him competitive, but it wasn't until Sunday evening, when San Francisco completed its dismantling of the Lions to the tune of 21 defensive points, that DeYoung took the lead. Still, it was only a ten-point margin, and the Stallions were finished. That left Colly's Vikings, Visanthe Shiancoe and the Defense, to lead him to glory. The automatic starting 10 points given to defenses immediately closed the gap, but the unexpected scoring outburst from the Bears had that lessening and lessening as the game went on. But when Shiancoe (10) caught a Brett Favre touchdown pass in the third quarter, it appeared that Colly had yet another championship salted away. Fate, however, had other ideas. As the game wore on, the Minny D continued its porousness, but a classic Favre comeback effort led to a tie ballgame at the end of regulation. At that point, Colly was up by three, and there were a number of scenarios that could have guaranteed him a win: a Vikings win, any kind of sack or turnover for their defense, some Shiancoe yardage (unlikely since he had left with an injury), or even a Bears' winning field goal, since that would have kept the Vikes' D in the same scoring-allowed bracket that they were already in. On the initial drive of overtime, things were looking good, as Robbie Gould lined up the field goal to ice it away... But no! Wide right! An unsuccessful drive for each team ensued, further prolonging Colly's anguish. And then, just like that, it all disappeared. Two owners watched, one in horror, the other in delight, as a Jay Cutler pass sailed downfield and into the open arms of Devin Aromashodu for the final touchdown of the game, and the final play of the NBD season. Congrats to the Stallions, who gain their first league title and may have finally erased forever the awful memories of an overslept draft that have haunted this organization for years. As the Stallions enter a new decade, they do so no longer as chumps, but as champs, with their heads held high.