Hello, everyone! We have finally identified the final four teams that we’ll be talking about for the next two weeks. That’s correct! As a reminder, our playoffs run to week 18, and the losers of next week will face off for 3rd place. Payouts will be issued after the champion is decided (btw, we have two fines this year for $15, bringing the total pot to $930.)

REMINDER THAT THERE ARE IRREGULAR GAMES AT ODD TIMES. PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY!

Anyways, here are the matchups for next week: ​

The obvious takeaway here is the disparity between the ends of the bracket. #14 seed Skid Marks upset the Ravioli Division winner Rusty Ryan and the All Reds (#6 seed) and Fighting Methodists (#10) toppled the #2 seed, bye-week-earning Endzone Jones. This setup could very​ well result in a complete Cinderella story of Skid Marks facing off against Woke Up and Chose Violence. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s dive into the matchups.

Woke Up and Chose Violence  (111.36) vs. Cooper Station (87.58)​

We bid adieu to the surprisingly competitive ​Cooper Station to make room for the dominant Woke Up and Chose Violence. I hope that Daniel isn’t offended by the “surprisingly” characterization — it’s just that the many reminders, and all-afternoon/night lineups resemble shoestring and bubblegum. Somehow, Station was able to put together a decent on-paper lineup that just didn’t deliver the results. All three wideouts couldn’t eclipse double-digit points, and other options left Cooper Station wanting, big time. Sadly, a quick scan shows that Daniel would’ve lost to any team this week, so maybe this train is at the end of the line. Someone who’s not, though, holy cow, Violence has been waiting for this week for a while. His first playoff matchup is officially a victory, with an admittedly top-heavy showing from Goff and Brown. But who cares? His point total beats over half the league this week. I have complete faith, no fear, in Chandler’s ability to piece together two more wins; however, skeptics might be curious about what explosive firepower is left in the tank if this is what he can do with a week’s rest. Getting some of these busts out of the way was plain luck — Parkinson’s paltry 4.1 and the Chiefs’ shocking 1 single point. Next week will be the test. This is new blood vs. veteran as Chandler sizes up and takes on Miller for what is sure to be a showdown.

H-O-T-T-O-DEEBO (138.7) vs. Dez Still Caught It (147.4)​

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I certainly don’t play favorites, but I do root for interesting, tight races. Entering ​Sunday night. DEEBO was 30-odd points away from winning. Big catch, they had one empty roster spot at quarterback! As fate would have it, DEEBO is a Pats fan, and Drake Maye is an MVP candidate. Rarely does the match work out so cleanly like this. DEEBO slots in Maye. And… Maye lights M&T Bank Stadium (much to my Ravens-rooting chagrin). Maye threw the pigskin 44 times, completing 31 of those attempts for 380 staggering yards. Two touchdowns, one pick. He even scrambled for a neat 25 yards. Maye was the 7th best QB on the week for fantasy. Yet, you can read the matchup above. He was 8.7 points shy of tying it up. So close! It was a valiant effort in an intense match. Dez strung up points like a single Dad stringing lights on Christmas Eve, when he forgot it was his weekend. Urgency. Olave, Bijan, Chase, Hurts, Bowers, and Fairbairn are all premier players who made good on their own promise. It’s evergreen, but Miller has a real shot. I don’t know if he sees the world in grids and points, or if he’s just got a Scooby-Doo-esque nose for brilliance. But for the first time since the second year of the league, Dez Still Caught It is coming back to the finals.

​Skid Marks (124.12) vs. Ryan and the All Reds (111.16)​

Guys, this is what Big League is all about. It’s an impossible task, but look at both lineups without the points. This should be a smashing, a blowout. a tree-wick whooping. The likes of Burrow, Gibbs, Irving, Nico, Evans, DK, and the Eagles D are enough to make someone forfeit. It’s a testament to Logan’s fantasy acumen that he could pull this off in the Divisional round of the playoffs. But to win, Skid Marks would need a hope and a prayer… and a miracle, a full moon, a wish, and a fix. The crazy thing, he did. Not only did Iriving, Nico, and DK all fail to reach double-digit points. But only Burrow truly broke out this week. On the other hand, Brian made one of the savviest moves of the year. If you don’t remember, Skid Marks got the 14th seed with a losing record — he expended almost all of his cannon ammo just to get here. Thus, he’s rostering backups, third-stringers, and sleepers. Yet the play of Kenny Gainwell is tapped in. Over the last six weeks, Kenneth Gainwell has been the 6th-best running back. Far too often, Fantasy managers fall victim to flukes. But this was not, and it won Skid Marks the week. That and a clutch 19 points from NOLA against the bi-plane, one-tank J-E-T-S, gave Skid Marks a convincing and cunning victory over Rusty Ryan and the All Reds AND a ticket to the finale week.

​Fighting Methodists (97.3) vs. Endzone Jones (92.12)​

How the mighty have fallen! This was a fantastic matchup between two elite minds in Big League, and it came down to the wiriest of wires. Both of Matt’s Fighting Methodists and Alan’s Endzone Jones were tales of boom/bust. For every 19.4 points that Hurts tallied, Montgomery mustered 1.4. For every 21.2 that Saquon put up, John Metchie did diddly 1.4. A real ping-pong-y game of every other. Much like the Dez/DEEBO matchup that we dug into, this came down to MNF. Endzone was down about 30 points. He was going to need every ounce of usable fantasy magic from Kittle. But Kittle is that dude. Kittle had the exact kind of first half you’d want if you’re Alan, even scoring in the second quarter. But Phillip Rivers couldn’t lead the Colts into competitive territory, so after Kittle went down and back from injury, he was taken from the game — there was no contest. This spelled defeat for the reigning champs and a spot in the finale week for the first time for Matt and the Methodists. Now, one has to wonder if this is actually the best lineup that the #2 seed could put up. I mean, relying on Metchie, Mims, and Samuel as your wideout corps is rather weak. And Swift has been good lately, but has he been that guy? Who’s truly to say, I guess — just look at what Skid Marks did. But the dust is settled, and Fighting Methodists gave Alan their 5th loss on the season and their ticket back home.

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That is officially it! Really great stuff from everyone. Keep it up! I wanna see fireworks in the finale!