Week 9 Recap: Playoff Race Intensifies

As the weeks wither away in our 6th Slushie Sunday season, the playoff race is tightening and teams are in a full-on sprint to the finish. With the bye weeks suddenly expanded to six teams a week, teams were crippled for their current matchup and tough decisions had to be made. No one experienced this more than Brian, who let go of Gronk, Jordan Howard and Will Fuller (all on byes) to Joe for LeSean McCoy and Dez Bryant. The core of this trade seems fair but it was simply a trade Brian needed to make. Thankfully, an off-week for Ben provided an easy victory, but a loss for Brian would have put him at 3-6 with only a few weeks left and more bye-heavy weeks going forward. Dodging this bullet, he now goes forward with a completely different roster, hoping these new additions can propel him towards the playoffs. 

As for the matchups this week, most of them weren't necessarily exciting but some surprising results for sure. Dom kept his season alive with a win over Will and Vinnie avoided a 3-6 record with an upset victory over Joe. As it stands right now, teams 5 through 10 in the playoff race all sit at 4-5. Two more teams at 5-4, 8-1 and 2-7 respectively. Chris and Dom are still clinging to life, making each game crucial for the rest of the season with either playoffs or punishment at stake. Can't wait to see how this one shakes out, especially if I'm holding the trophy (wink, wink). At this point, it's shaping up to be another exciting finish and who knows, maybe one of the championship-less teams can finally add their names to the list.

GAME OF THE WEEK

(4-4) TY Beanies - 113.9

(5-4) EBDB BnB - 114.1

Not as many fireworks as we expected this weekend as Josh took care of business once again. TY Beanies continue to show why they're the odds on favorite to win this entire thing. Zeke, OBJ and Melvin Gordon combined for huge games and the rest was history. Not sure what it will take for this team to lose but godspeed to all of his challengers. "This division was locked up from week 1. But unlike our opponents that we've played and are playing this week, we do not settle for divisional titles or low scoring wins. We only settle for championships and scores of 140+." Josh has a chance to ultimately clinch the division with a win this weekend against Ben. Cook's team is scuffling right now and Josh is projected to go off once again this week. He's not going to take any chances, especially with David Johnson coming off of a bye.

A lackluster performance in the name of Harambe this weekend.  Blake Bortles, Garbage Time Warrior, put up another strong performance in terms of points but the rest of the squad could not replicate the scoring. Kelvin Benjamin and Todd Gurley had quiet games while Michael Crabtree was non-existent. When Dave's team is clicking, they are elite. Simple as that. However, more often than not, they have remained inconsistent. Hopefully for Dave, they can buck this trend in time for the postseason because Harambe's Heroes is looking at a Top-4 seed if things go as planned.

(4-5) Dirty Birds Inc. - 114.4
(5-4) Start the Carr - 74.1
Huge gamble from Brian paid off this week as he avoided falling to 3-6. Although the new additions weren't necessarily needed, it was bold move to shake things up to avoid another loss and I respect it. LeSean McCoy looked strong against Seattle while Dez Bryant wasn't a factor in a blowout against Cleveland. A win this weekend was nice, but he realizes there is plenty of work to be done. Here's what Brian had to say about his team, "I'm not in love with the recent moves I've made. I traded away Gronk because I thought McCoy had taken his Bye week already. These mistakes could end up costing me a playoff spot. This is a must win week for me against Chris Casey. Unfortunately the Falcons are on a by week against Joe and then I play Aaron and Dave to close out the regular season. Team has only put up under 100 points once. Need some other teams to crumble. In the Falcons we trust." Next week, he faces off with Chris Casey, hoping to start his ascent back into the Top-4 after an extremely slow start.

After a great  start to the season, Ben has tread water with disappearance of DeAngelo Williams and the loss of Jamaal Charles. The fact that he's over .500 is a testament to his ownership skills and he must be satisfied with sitting in a tie for 3rd place with only three weeks to go. However, someone else on his team must step up. Spencer Ware appears to be healthy once again and will need to carry to load for his Running Backs. Michael Thomas posted yet another strong game against the Niners and has established himself as flex option going forward. With Devontae Booker and Demaryius Thomas each facing the Saints, Ben has an opportunity to get to 6-4 as Josh comes to town. The projections aren't flattering, but in order to make a deep run, he must be able to compete with teams like this. 

(2-7) The Shitty Beatles - 85.2
(4-5) Hogan Knows Best - 123.5
This team just will not die. With Will about to put the final nail in the coffin for a frustrating 2016 season, Latavius Murray bailed out Dom with a 30 point performance against Denver. On Sunday, Dom hopes to keep the comeback alive with a matchup against his old pal, Dave and EBDB BnB. Already without Murray this week, Dom will lean on Jay Ajayi once again to anchor his roster, while hoping for another huge performance from Philip Rivers. Dave has recently had trouble scoring points lately while Dom's offensive outputs have been on the rise.

A huge opportunity missed for Hogan Knows Best, especially after the crushing loss to Cooks last weekend. Dom had a miraculous performance from a few players and Will was once again unable to take that next step towards the playoffs. Christine Michael appears to be starting to get phased out of the backfield and Charcandrick West is back into the backup role with a healthy Spencer Ware. He is now in the 6-team log jam for 6th place and at least two wins is crucial the rest of the way. It won't get much easier. This weekend, he faces a revamped Team Ruthless roster and must pull off a significant upset to keep pace with the rest of the playoff hopefuls. Can AJ Green and Carson Palmer carry this team for one more week?

(4-5) Team New Year - 88.2
(4-5) Why You Pee On My Car? - 108.4
"Chris should have won, 3 guys scored 0 points for me and I still pulled it out...talk about total grit...we are all Gritnesses." An absolute miracle this weekend for Aaron. With two players not playing and Jets D scoring no points, he was able to beat Chreeyusz and keep his season alive. Allen Hurns' early injury and Carlos Hyde's inactivity put him in a massive hole but the decision to start Marcus Mariota proved to be the difference even though Roethlisberger was back. Antonio Brown caught a TD in a late comeback attempt and Jimmy Graham looked like his old self on Monday against Buffalo. Tim Hightower even got into the endzone to make matters worse. If Aaron's team can remain healthy, he still has a shot at the playoffs and making some serious noise with the matchups in his favor. This weekend, he has a must-win matchup against another 4-5 squad, Kissing Suzy Kolber. Both teams are coming off surprise victories, desperately seeking another win. I couldn't get the picture to work but it was Marcus Mariota at the Heisman ceremony wearing traditional Hawaiian garb. The caption was "Everyone's getting laid." Unfortunately, it wouldn't load. 

Truly a crushing loss for Chreeyusz. Three separate players don't even put up points and he can't even get a win. Jarvis Landry and Allen Robinson have yet to team up for a huge performance to carry the squad and the running backs have been extremely disappointing. Jameis played well on Thursday along with Cameron Brate and Stefon Diggs caught 13 passes but the rest of the team grossly underperformed. A microcosm of how Chris' season has gone. Lacking any sliver of consistency, he can hope the scoring comes alive this weekend against his brother, Nick. Thankfully, 6 of his starters are out and if there ever was a chance to pull an upset and get his season turned around, it is right now. In regards to his team's performance, Chris had this to say, "IDEK (I don't even know)."

(4-5) Team Ruthless - 96.5
(4-5) Kissing Suzy Kolber - 117.6
Arguably the biggest win of the weekend went to the boys from Lake George. Staving off a potential nail in the coffin, Vinnie's team had an offensive outburst, led by Mark Ingram, Stafford and Forte. Forte continues to perform in KSK's wins and will continue to be the catalyst going forward alongside Tom Brady. With Brady and Jordan Reed returning from bye, Vinnie hopes to start a much needed winning streak to break away from the pack and gain his third straight wild card. Riding high off of the Republican victory, he'll hope to Make KSK Great Again, facing Aaron. Brady plays in primetime and it will be difficult for two Jets fans to have to sit back and watch the Pats decide their fantasy fates.

Another step back for Team Ruthless. After trading away McCoy and Dez for three bye week players, he suffered his 5th loss of the season at the hands of Vinnie. Howevah! (Stephen A. Smith voice), his team is now more complete than it was before by adding Gronk and another running back in Jordan Howard. The loss of Shady hurts but Joe had already reaped the benefits of his very strong start to 2016 and sold high. Coby Fleener has been inconsistent and with Gronk as the starting TE, the lineup is closer to completion. All this is happening while LeVeon Bell has yet to even reach the endzone. Certainly a sleeper team to watch out for at this point. "This is the week to see if this trade with pays off. It f***in' better." Hoping to get back to .500 once again, he'll take on Willy G and the Boyz.

(2-7) Schenectady Schmeckles - 89.4 
(8-1) Brule's Rules - 108.6
Business as usual for Brule's Rules. Even with a light performance, they didn't need much to sneak past a depleted Schmeckles roster. Nick has stated that he wouldn't mind never losing again and the team is set up to make that a reality. However, he'll have to really flex his roster management muscles this weekend as his entire team (The Colts) are on bye in addition to Theo Riddick and Eric Ebron. Chreeyusz will be hungry for a win to keep him in the thick of the playoff race and Nick does not want to compromise his roster for a non-playoff week at this point with the division seemingly wrapped up. Nick was brief in his comments, "A valiant effort for the Schmeckles even after the injuries the team has endured. Next week will certainly put our depth to the test but it is clear the Colts need a much-deserved rest."

Strong performance from Aaron Rodgers would not be able to bail out Chris this weekend. The Colts alliance was too much for him and his team is now one loss away from being eliminated for playoff contention. Things don't get much easier this weekend as he faces Brian and the Dirty Birds. The current projection is close but if Chris wants any chance to win, he'll need a signature performance from Aaron Rodgers. LeGarrette Blount will be back and Peyton Barber appears to have the start in Tampa. If he could pull out a win, he could one game out of playoff contention with a reasonable schedule left.