It’s all over but the crying. So a wise man said. Week 6 of BFL competition approaches and whilst we have a clear idea of who the front runners are after each team has played each other once, it is not over until the final seconds of the final game. That is a mantra that the two teams not occupying the play-off spots will no doubt be repeating over the coming weeks. It still remains all to play for, and whilst some win and loss records will look very underwhelming, we have yet to reach the half-way point of this inaugural season. Now that I have entered enough hyperbole for this week’s edition, here’s The Dope to make his predictions.
Cookies @ Morgan
Previous Matchup: Week 2, Morgan 206.1 @ Cookies 178.4
I’m sure the Cookies faithful are sick of hearing The Dope’s sympathy for their plight, but it still staggers belief that a team this good, with the highest scoring offence in the league, has only one win to it’s credit. Yet again, the Cookies’s points total would have defeated every other team in the league – except last week’s opponents, the Clowns. The blame for last week’s result can be identified by the Ravens D/ST – their pathetic performance undid the great work that QB Philip Rivers and RB Justin Forsett had done on offence. This extremely talented offence has been propping up the Cookies and one of these days, you would hope that the defence would chip in.
Team Morgan were fancied to beat the Winos, but after yet another disappointing performance from QB Peyton Manning and RB C.J. Anderson last week, the Team’s GM will ring the changes this week. It says a lot for a team when it’s kicker, Brandon McManus, was it’s highest point scorer in a game – not taking anything away from an incredible performance from McManus, but you would expect Manning to be putting up that many points. Backup QB Andy Dalton, who finally appears to have shaken off his “Middle of the Road” stature, is expected to start and is hoping to prove that he will be the team’s #1 QB going forward.
The Dope’s Prediction: A red-hot match-up between the league’s two coldest teams, Morgan breaks the losing streak to get it’s second win. Cookies wonder what they have to do to see another victory.
Winos @ Dallas
Previous Matchup: Week 2, Dallas 143 @ Cookies 144.9
The Winos continue to make a mockery of the BFL, with the line-ups remaining unchanged since week 1 and remaining in equal first place. Devotees of Waterton will perhaps be left to wonder later on in the season that whilst remaining set in their ways, with some tinkering of the line-ups, instead of being in second place, they could be in first by an overwhelming margin. After a disappointing week 4 performance, WR Odell Beckham Jr. returned to form last week with a splendid game. Alongside the team’s usual high scoring suspects, you can expect them to do well yet again this week.
Dezzy Does Dallas were unfortunate to come up against the league’s hottest team last week. QB Joe Flacco performed commendably in last week’s game, but it was an underwhelming performance from RB DeAngelo Williams and TE Jason Witten that would have disappointed the team’s many disciples. Dallas’s depth in it’s defensive corps should help them this week, despite the potentially high-scoring offensive tandem that they will be facing. Vegas seems to think that both teams will struggle to hit 100 points this week, but BFL fans should note that the last time the Dezzys were predicted such a low score was two weeks ago, when they stunned the Clowns.
The Dope’s Prediction: The Winos continue to make the league look like a sham by winning another game. Dallas perform admirably in defeat and will resort to highlights of the team’s previous wins to help them sleep.
Rage @ Clowns
Previous Matchup: Week 2, Clowns 181.4 @ Rage 154.3
As this is the only matchup between two teams with winning records in Week 6, this should be the game of the week…
The Rage looked very good across the board last week, with great performances up and down the team’s line-up. An immense performance from the Broncos D/ST carried the team over the line, but just weeks after a QB controversy, the team lost it’s #1 RB Jamaal Charles to injury. With “Beast Mode” Marshawn Lynch still not 100%, you might see the Rage shopping elements of it’s team next week to land an RB worthy of carrying the team into the play-offs. The Clowns have long been the Rage’s bogey team, dating back to their initial fantasy league offerings in the pre-BFL era.
The Clowns continue to look very impressive and carry not only one of the best QB’s in the Golden Boy, Tom Brady, but making a fool of the rest of the league by picking up the free agent RB Devonta Freeman, who is now the league’s #1 RB. And both of those two players have big games next week, with Brady in a grudge match and Freeman in an extremely favourable match-up. The depth in the Clowns roster is enviable, despite the team’s GM talking of perhaps trading some elements – which could only make things worse for some members of the league as the Clowns live up to the tagline of being the team that is the most feared in the league.
The Dope’s Prediction: This one won’t even be close. Clowns will pull the Rage’s pants down and end the hot streak. Rage gets angry at losing to their bogey team…again.
The Dope’s Week 5 Predictions: 2-1
The Dope’s Overall Predictions: 7-8
From the Commish’s Desk…
* ESPN’s comments for the Power Rankings are generally auto generated, so if you have anything that you want me to add as the comments, please let me know. I’ve used up what wit I have in the first four weeks or so, and even then it was only a couple of one-liners. I will continue to post them however, just if they look rather similar, blame a) Me for not being funny enough and b) ESPN for not employing someone funny enough to come up with new comments every week.
* If you are considering a trade or thinking about perhaps putting some players on the block, be sure to check out the trading block. That will make it crystal clear to everyone who you deem untouchable, and which pieces you are willing to work with to find a deal. Remember that for a trade to be confirmed, it will require approval from 3 or more GMs, with the Commissioner having the power of veto.
* A quick heads up that the tie-breaker for teams on the same record is number of points scored. If the two teams have the same number of points scored, the further tie-breakers are your Head to Head Record, and Total Points Against (in that order). I’m sure I’ll find a way to get The Dope to drag out the Dope Sheet a little longer come play-off time to go through some of the permutations. By the way, in the play-off weeks, the teams who don’t make the winners bracket will play each other two weeks straight, and if it is very close between you, that “dead rubber” game could be the difference between having a Golden Plunger on display or not.