W Orange Football Mecca League - Week#14, Playoff Preview

by Paul Pearson

Two Spots in the Semifinals Up for Grabs

Several fantasy players will have time to catch up on their shopping this weekend. In this first week of the fantasy football postseason, the W Orange Football Mecca League is giving four teams the week off. Two of them earned the down time by finishing at the top of the league. They'll go directly into the semifinals. Two other teams just missed the chance to get into the playoffs. They'll get a week to lick their wounds/drown their sorrows and prepare for the consolation round.

QUARTERFINALS

The 11-2 Meet the Mutts won the West Orange Metro Area division and earned the top playoff seed and a week off. The 10-3 Sharktopus prevailed in the Everywhere Else division and received the second seed and second bye week. They'll face the winners of these quarterfinal matchups.

Double Secret Probation vs. Lee H.

John Blutarsky may have flunked out of Faber College, but the Probation made the quarterfinals and grabbed the third seed with an 8-5 record. The 7-6 Lees won a tight tiebreaker to grab the sixth and final playoff berth. The Probation have to hope Arian Foster and Andre Johnson don't get swallowed whole by the Baltimore Ravens. The Lees counter with juicy matchups for Aaron Rodgers (against the Detroit Lions), Rashard Mendenhall (against the Cincinnati Bengals) and Derrick Mason (against the pillow-soft Baltimore Ravens defense Monday night). In fact, Mason, who complained about his lack of targets last week against Pittsburgh, is a good candidate for a double-digit score that lifts the Lees to an upset victory.

Creeping Death vs. TITANS

A pair of 7-6 teams face off for the right to advance to the semifinals. The Titans should be expecting plenty of production from Philip Rivers (whose San Diego Chargers probably need to run the table to make the NFL playoffs) and Marques Colston, whose Saints should have plenty of scoring opportunities against the St. Louis Rams. The Death would love to have Tom Brady match his performance against the New York Jets. Heck, they'd probably settle for something half as good. They also would like to have Calvin Johnson keep finding the end zone, even if the Detroit Lions bring back Joey Harrington to play quarterback. Combine Brady and Johnson with a healthy-enough-for-NFL-work Adrian Peterson, and it adds up to the Death advancing to the next round.

CONSOLATION ROUND

There are no worse ways to miss the postseason than to be on the wrong side of a total-points tiebreaker. The 7-6 Jordan's Bar Mitzvah Fund needed 43.5 more points to get into the playoffs. Instead, they get the seventh overall seed and a bye into the next round of the consolation tournament. The 6-7 Team RamRod, despite a three-game winning streak, get the eighth seed and a bye week.

Brett M. vs. Buddy's Watching You

The 5-8 Bretts lost their last two games to fall to ninth place in the overall standings. The 2-11 Buddys struggled all year and dropped their last three matches to finish in the league basement. Both have quarterbacks with issues; Ben Roethlisberger is being held together with duct tape, while Matt Schaub has to solve the Baltimore Ravens defense. The Buddys are relying on Tampa Bay Buccaneers running backs not named LeGarrette Blount, while the Bretts at least get to hand off to Michael Turner, who has topped 1,000 yards for the second time in his career. They also get to start the Pittsburgh Steelers defense/special teams against a Cincinnati Bengals club that probably can't wait for the season to be over with. It all adds up to an easy victory for the Bretts.

Squatter's Rights vs. Hoofhearted

Two teams with 4-9 records will try to extend their seasons at the other's expense. The Squatters don't have to worry about Brett Favre's shoulder, because they can call on Drew Brees to make mincemeat of the St. Louis Rams. They also can count on Knowshon Moreno, whose running prowess couldn't save Josh McDaniels but did make a lot of fantasy players happy last week. The Hoofhearteds need to either scrounge up a tight end from the waiver wire or hope Heath Miller's cobwebs clear up quickly. The New York Giants defense/special teams are always a plus, but Sam Bradford (who, let's not forget, is still a rookie) may prove to be a minus this week against the New Orleans Saints. Look for the Squatters to do something they didn't do nearly enough in the regular season: win.