Soooo far behind…and 2 Weeks to catch up on…no time for witty intros…lets go…
Week 12 Awards
Tom Brady (UOG)
I had to double and triple check as I could not believe it myself…but 12 Weeks in and Brady had yet to make it to the top of the Quarterback heap…After fumbling in the 1st half and trailing his Conference Rival by 24 points it did not look like this would be his week either…but then he is The Dreamiest Quarterback In The Universe® (and yes…I did write that out for the higher word count)…In the 2nd Half Brady lead 1 of the greatest comebacks in history…forced a 5th Period…and led the final game winning drive…he finished the day completing 34 of 50 attempts (68.0%) for 344 yards…he had 3 Touchdown passes (all in the 2nd Half) and 0 Interceptions for a Passer Rating of 107.4…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for TDQBITU®…the 3rd trophy on the year for UO Grandmasters…and most importantly…his 10th Head-2-Head victory over Peyton Manning…
Jamaal Charles (BAT)
2 former award winners flirted with the 30 point barrier in Week 12…Knowshon Moreno was quite literally force fed into the Patriots Defensive Line 37 times…he reached the highest yardage total of his career with 224 yards (only his 5th 100+ game in his 5 year career)…an average of 6.05 per carry…he had a Touchdown on his 3rd attempt…and then never got within 16 yards of the end zone…he caught his 1 target to end on 29 points…Jamaal Charles took the ‘Do More With Less’ approach against the Chargers…with less than ½ the touches (18)…he piled up 157 total yards from scrimmage (8.7 yards per touch)…6 targets resulted in 4 catches…but it was 2 Rushing Touchdowns that gave him the edge ending on 31 points…Charles is the 1st Running Back this season to repeat as Player of the Week…It is the 6th trophy on the year for Bay Area Thrashers…with ½ of them coming at this position…
Josh Gordon (WAR)
The controversial trade component from Week 8 ran away from the competition in Week 12…1 of every 3 Browns pass attempts went to Gordon who was targeted 17 times…he set a Cleveland Franchise Record with 14 catches (19 starting Wide Receivers did not even total 14 points…including 2 of mine…[grumble])…and then set another 1 with 237 Receiving Yards (13.9 yards per catch)…the final 7 catches all came in the 4th Quarter…including a 78 yard scoring drive where Gordon’s 5 catches accounted for every yard gained…4 1st Downs…and the Touchdown…43 points earned ties as the 13th highest Wide Receiver score of all time…and is the 3rd 40+ Wide Receiver score this season…It is Gordon’s 1st Player of the Week award on the year…and the 3rd trophy on the season for the Warriors…
Jay Feely (AND)
Jay Feely attacked the Week 12 Kicker contest with volume…The Arena Football League veteran received 9 Kick Opportunities against the Colts…he was perfect on 4 Extra Points…and nailed 4 Field Goals including a distance bonus earning 50 yarder to close out the 1st Half…1 more Field Goal would have given him 20 points and set a new TBFL record (Currently 18)…but instead he had a 28 yard try Blocked…ending instead on 16 points…the score ties David Akers (Week 4) and Matt Prater (Week 5) as the highest Kicker score on the year…tied for the 7th highest Kicker score of all time…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for Feely…and the 6th trophy on the year for Armed N Dangerous who now are just a Wide Receiver away from hitting for the cycle.
Baltimore Ravens (PLA)
While 2 different Defensive units fell into the negative zone in Week 12…only 1 made it North of 20 points…The Ravens harassed Geno Smith all afternoon…getting 3 Sacks and a Fumble Recovery for their efforts…Smith only completed 9 of his 22 pass attempts (41%) against the Ravens secondary and ended with the lowest Passer Rating among all players for the Week (22.3)…After giving up a 27 yard Field Goal in the 1st Quarter…they only allowed the Jets onto their side of the gridiron on 3 more possessions with 2 of those ending in Interceptions…the 12 point low score bonus ended them at 21 for the Week…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for the Ravens…It is the 12th trophy in 12 weeks for Playground Legends who have now hit for the cycle again…earning at least 2 trophies at every position…
Week 13 Awards
Peyton Manning (MNY)
3 Quarterbacks made it past the 30 point barrier in Week 13…Cam Newton got things started against the Bucs…His passing stats were average…completing 18 of 29 (62.1%) for 263 yards…2 Touchdowns…and 2 Interceptions (85.8 Passer Rating)…but Cam lead all rushers in the game with 68 yards on 5 carries (5.7 ypc)…including a 1 yard scoring dive to end on 31 points…Peyton Manning was next up with his 2nd Highlight Game in 2 Weeks…in the battle for the Division lead with the Chiefs he managed to complete 22 of 35 passes (62.9%) for 403 yards (3rd 400+ game this season) and 5 Touchdowns (118.2 Passer Rating) to top out at 38 points…his highest total since Week 1…On Monday Night with TBFL playoff positions still hanging on the outcome…Russell Wilson led the Seahawks in their domination of the Saints…He had the highest Passer Rating on the week (139.6) completing 22 of 30 passes (73.3%) for 310 yards…3 Touchdowns and No Giveaways…With the game getting out of hand…the Seahawks kept the ball on the ground in the 2nd Half where he piled on 47 yards on 8 carries (5.9 ypc)…ending short of Peyton’s number with 31 points…Manning bookended the regular season with his 2 Player of the Week awards…it is the 3rd trophy on the year for Money Inc…
DeMarco Murray (PLA)
Kevin had a message board post that pointed out how players have underperformed in Thursday games this season…but apparently that all goes out the window for Thanksgiving…Bubba Army’s Reggie Bush started Turkey Day with a healthy helping of yardage served up by the Packers defense…20 carries resulted in 117 yards (5.9 ypc) and a Touchdown…his dessert was 5 catches for an additional 65 yards to reach 27 points…playing against The Army in Thanksgiving Night action…Le’Veon Bell led a more balanced attack against the Ravens getting 73 yards on the ground with a Touchdown…then 63 more in the air on 7 catches (9 ypc) to end 1 point behind at 26 points…but the real damage was done in Dallas…DeMarco Murray gained only 102 yards from scrimmage on 22 touches (4.6 ypt)…but he found the end zone 3 times to end on 32 points…it is the 1st Player of the Week award for Murray…and the 13th trophy in 13 weeks for Playground Legends…their 3rd award from 3 different players at this position…
Josh Gordon (WAR)
Wow…that trade is looking better and better now…Gordon was only targeted on every 4th pass this week resulting in ONLY 10 catches (11 starting Wide Receivers did not score 10 points…and again 2 of mine…[grumble])…but for a new Cleveland Browns record 261 yards (26.1 ypc)…including a 95 yard homerun ball in the 4th Quarter that was his 2nd score of the day…48 points scored ties as the 7th highest Wide Receiver score in a TBFL game…the Back-2-Back 200+ yard games are the only 200+ yard games in Browns history and…as has been widely reported…the 1st time in NFL history a player has completed that feat…but the bigger TBFL news is X-Factor setting a new record for Most Points left on the Bench in 1 game at this position (97) with Alshon Jeffery matching the 48 and Eric Decker’s 4 Touchdowns surpassing it at 49…It is the 2nd Player of the Week award for Gordon…the 2nd Receiver to do it Back-2-Back (Calvin Johnson)…but the 1st to do it on the same team…it is the 4th trophy on the year for the Warriors…
Stephen Gostkowski (BBA)
What better way to end the regular season than with more drama and yet another Tie in the Bandit Division…Bubba Army Kicker Stephen Gostkowski used 7 Opportunities in yet another nail biter for the Patriots…He was perfect on 4 Extra Points…but missed on a 55 yard try at Halftime…he redeemed himself in the 4th Quarter hitting twin 53 yard distance bonus earning bombs to end on the Spinal Tap limit of 11 points…Fudgie Whales Kicker Phil Dawson followed the Golden Path…hitting on 3 Field Goals and 2 Extra Points in the game against Money Inc to end tied with the Army at 11 points…In the same Head-2-Head matchup…Money Inc Kicker Caleb Sturgis mirrored his opponent with 3 Field Goals and 2 Extra Points…His 6th Kick Opportunity gave him the chance to claim this title and secure a 1 point victory for Money Inc in their battle for the Playoffs…but the 41 yard try was missed…letting the Whales stay deadlocked with the Army…MyFantasyLeague voters love the long ball and broke this tie sending the award to the Division Champion…It is Gostkowski’s 2nd Player of the Week award on the year…the 9th trophy on the season for the Army who end 1 Wide Receiver award short of a 2nd cycle…
Miami Dolphins (MNY)
One last award for the 2013 Regular Season…and 3 asskickings handed out to compete for it…The Seahawks only allowed 44 yards on the ground to the Saints…which they halved with their own 22 yard Fumble Recovery Touchdown…Brees completed 23 of 38 passes (60.5%) but for the 3rd lowest Yards per Attempt of his career (3.87)…a Sack and 7 point score bonus left them at 17 points…The Panthers had nearly identical production against the Bucs allowing only 206 yards from scrimmage…2 Turnovers for no scores but only 6 Points Allowed…and 5 sacks for 40 yards lost brought them 1 point ahead to 18…The Dolphins bested both of these allowing only 177 total yards from scrimmage to the Jets…Geno Smith completed only 4 passes before getting yanked for Matt Simms…they were sacked 4 times…threw 2 Interceptions…and coughed up a Fumble…only a Field Goal was allowed for a 12 point bonus to end at 22 points…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for the Dolphins…and the 4th trophy on the year for Money Inc…Tim earned our 1st and Last trophy for the 2013 Season…
Teams of the Weeks
Playground Legends tried to keep their Playoff hopes alive in Week 12…becoming the 2nd Storm Division Team in Back-2-Back weeks to bounce back from the Chump Score to the Top Score…They also created another Back-2-Back game where the Team of the Week played against the Chump of the Week…quite a contrast to Bandit Division scores that ended in our 4th and 5th Tie Games for the year…It is their 2.33 Team of the Week award on the season and their 11.33 Team of the Week for their career…
Hurricanes enters the Playoffs hitting on all cylinders…again…In a game where they had nothing to prove or lose…they put on a display of strength getting double-digit scoring from every starting position…96.7% Efficiency was the top on the weekend…but as mentioned above…It still goes down as a Coulda Lost game with 97 Receiver points left on X-Factor’s Bench…It is the 2nd Team of the Week award for John on the year…and they move ahead of Warriors on the All-Time List with their 15th Career Team of the Week…
Chump of the Weeks
No plural needed here on the ‘Winner’ as UO Grandmasters finished out the season with Back-2-Back Chump Scores…something they had not done since finishing a 3-Peat in 2011 (Weeks 7-9)…They end the season on a 9 game losing streak…tied for 5th longest streak of all time…the longest since 2003 (Ace’s Lions)…the 4th longest in a single season…and the 2nd longest to end a season…12 Losses ties the record for most Losses In A Season set in Back-2-Back years by the Empire (Yes…that Empire) in 2000 and 2001…on a side note…X-Factor started the season with a 4 game losing streak and ended with a 6 game losing streak…it is the 1st Season with 2 teams hitting Double-Digit losses since 2008 (WAR 10, MNY 11)…
Chump Survivor
Week 12 brought the end of our 2013 Chump Survivor Competition…the results were the same as the 2012 inaugural competition with Hurricanes getting the win over Fudgie Whales…I promise I will remember the banner next year…with a Back-2-Back tag…
Notes and Numbers
Just a few quick ones I pulled out…Next Week I will have our All-Star team and some more season notes…
Hurricanes are the 5th team to go perfect in Division Play…the only team to have done it 2 times…they also end as the Season Scoring leader with 1648 points…44 short of the League Record they set last Season…
New Team Records:
BAT sets a new Team Record with 1532 points (1499, 2008)…
PLA sets a new Team Record with 1446 points (1427, 2008)…
FUD sets a new Team Record with 1441 points (1392, 2012)…
Cam Newton led all players in with 68 yards rushing in the Panthers 27-6 win over the Buccaneers…Newton has been the leading rusher (for both teams that is) in each of his last 3 games…Over the last ½ Century the only other Quarterback to do so in 3 straight games was Randall Cunningham…and Cunningham did it twice (1986 and 1990)…
Stephen Gostkowski became the first player in NFL history to kick game-tying and game-winning 4th Quarter Field Goals of 50 yards or more in the same contest…
Andrew Luck extended his career-long record of never having played in back-2-back NFL losses…Luck has started 28 games for Indianapolis and will soon own the 2nd longest such streak to start a player’s NFL career since 1970…Dan Marino didn’t lose consecutive games in his first 33 starts…Kordell Stewart had a 28 game streak to start his NFL career…but Luck is guaranteed to surpass that total with his next start…
Jamaal Charles made the 1000th carry of his NFL career in Sunday’s loss to Denver…his total of 5523 yards is the highest by any player in his first 1000 carries in NFL history…Charles broke a record that had been held by Jim Brown since 1961…It is important to note that Michael Vick already has more rushing yards than Charles (5859)…and he has done it in only 825 carries…
Good Luck In the Post-Season Games This Week!
Commish