Reminders:

  1. There are games on Friday, so Thursday is the last day to make any transactions

  2. This is your last opportunity to add players in 2004.

  3. Following the championship, all teams must cut down to 15 players (under contract or RFAs).

  4. Once all teams have cut down, trading will be allowed.  The only restriction to trading is a team can never have more than 15 players under contract on their roster.

 

Playoffs Round 2

Championship Bracket
Hitmen (10-5) vs. Assassins (11-4)
This year's championship game should be dubbed the "Tanos Bowl".  The last meeting of the brothers resulted in a 4 point Assassin win in a very close game.  Since losing that game, the Hitmen have lost only one other game, while the Assassins have gone a very average 5-4.  The Hitmen are currently one of the hottest teams in the league, averaging a whopping 95 points a week over the past 3 weeks.  This week is a mixed bag of match-ups with some good and bad match-ups offensively, but with the Buffalo Defense taking on the 49ers, they may be able to put up their fourth straight 20+ point game.  The Assassins now seem to have everyone healthy and look forward to new star Billy Volek putting up big numbers against a Denver Defense that has had trouble stopping anyone lately.
Hooligans (8-7) vs Rynos (11-4)
The two teams with a letdown in the first round will play each other not only for the 9th pick in the draft, but also for the "Most Points Scored" title.  The Hooligans currently have an 11 point lead over the Rynos (and a 21 point lead over the Hitmen), so the Rynos will have to dominate to add to their purse.  The Hooligans look like they have some fantastic match-ups this week as Curtis Martin and Brett Favre are all playing for playoff spots, but the loss of Terrell Owens (averaging more than 10 fantasy points a week) will really hurt their chances.  The Rynos should rebound as Shaun Alexander goes up against a weak Arizona defense at home and Willis McGahee goes up against a terrible 49ers defense (if he's healthy enough to play).
Consolation Bracket

Ketchup Hotdog (7-8) vs SmackDownSister (8-7)

These two teams are battling for the all-important 5th round pick in next year's rookie draft.  KH enjoyed a return to the >70 point range for only the second time in the past 6 weeks after a league-high 104 points in the first round.    This week they'll be watching the Green Bay - Minnesota game as they have both primary receivers on both teams (assuming Moss is playing for a change).  SDS was crushed by KH in their last meeting (week 4 : 103-45) and can get some revenge with a win this week.  Donovan McNabb will be without his primary target, but will face a much weaker St. Louis Defense, but the #2 RB Kevin Jones will face the SDS Defense - the Chicago Bears.  It will be tough deciding who to root for there.

JYDs (7-8) vs StiffArms (9-6)

These two teams are ending up in the middle of the pack after losses in the first round, and both teams will have to hope for better luck next year.  The JYDs lost by a slight margin to SDS while the StiffArms would have beaten almost any other team last week.  This week the JYDs will have a great match-up with Warrick Dunn facing one of the worst defenses of 2004 (the Saints).  The StiffArms are in a bind stuck with the Denver Defense who will be playing a re-invigorated Tennessee offense but with Larry Johnson running against a disappointing Oakland Raiders Defense, they should still be able to post solid points.
Lottery Bracket
Quiet Storm (2-12) vs Marauders (6-9)
This is a match-up that was foreshadowed at the beginning of the year as both teams opened the season 0-5.  The Quiet Storm has had terrible luck with the RB slot and now it seems that Kevan Barlow has lost his starting job for San Fransisco.  But Nick Goings has been a solid player averaging 10 fantasy points a week since taking the starting job.  The Marauders receivers have been bolstered ever since picking up Jerry Porter, and after weeks of the three receivers combining for 100 yards, now has a legitimate home run threat every week (or three).   Combine that with the Miami Defense (on a high after their NE win) against the Cleveland offense, and the Marauders could put up big numbers.

Chargers (5-10) vs Phatbacks (5-9)
These two teams face each other for the 2 draft ballots to add to their season-standings total.  The Chargers really collapsed in the first round as Chris Brown has not been healthy enough to play, and is now officially out for the year.  Fortunately for the Chargers, their backup Tyrone Wheatley will be up against a very soft KC Defense.  The PhatBacks had a very close loss last week and have some tough match-ups this week, although Ruben Droughns may put up some good numbers against Tennessee's soft run defense... if he starts (which it looks like he won't at this time).

 

Transactions, Week 16

Poll

 

The week after next will have some closing polls around rule changes.  If anyone wants to suggest rule changes to post in a poll, please send them to me.

 

Playoffs Round 2 (finals)  See the playoff tree here

 

Hitmen  81

Assassins  60

Hooligans  72

Rynos  65

The Hitmen win their second championship in 3 years thanks to solid performances by LaDanian Tomlinson (close to 200 total yards and 2 touchdowns), Michael Clayton (66 yards and 2 touchdowns) and two players added in the final two weeks of the regular season - Mike Vanderjact posted 11 fantasy points and the Buffalo Bills posted 15+ fantasy points for the fourth straight week   This win came despite the Hitmen QB not playing.  Of course, the Assassins' QB did play and posted all of 0.2 fantasy points while the running tandem of the Assassins put up only 75 total yards combined. The Hooligans take down the Rynos in the final game despite leaving one roster spot empty.  That was still better than the Rynos who started one player that did not play (Onterrio Smith) and three players that combined for a grand total of 1.5 fantasy points (Jerry Rice, Byron Leftwich and Jimmy Smith).  The Hooligans put up a strong week lead by Mushin Muhammed's 115 yards and two touchdowns while Brett Favre threw for over 350 yards and three touchdowns.  The Hooligans hold off all other competition and are the highest scoring team in 2004.

SmackDownSister  82

Ketchup Hotdog  60

StiffArms  77

JYDs  64

SmackDownSister  picks up the 5th draft spot with a win in the finals week.  New acquisition Tony Gonzalez had his best game of the year with two touchdowns and almost 125 yards while Lee Evans also scored two touchdowns and both the Kicker and Defense scored 11 fantasy points.  Ketchup Hotdog came close but the injuries at the QB position hurt as the replacement Drew Bledsoe couldn't break 200 yards and only threw one touchdown. The StiffArms take the 3rd place slot in the consolation bracket with a win over the JYDs.  They had one of their best weeks of the year as five players posted double digit scoring.  They were lead by Daunte Culpepper's 3 touchdown 285 yard performance, and free agent pickup Larry Johnson put up close to 125 total yards and scored twice.  The JYDs really didn't have much hope as they were still trucking Mike Allstott out there in the starting lineup (Alstott has averaged 4 yards rushing over the past 3 weeks).

Marauders  63

Quiet Storm  60

PhatBacks  72

Chargers  35

The Marauders hold on to win as the Eagles defense puts up only 5 points on Monday night.  The Marauders got two touchdowns from their receivers, and both Ahman Green and Trent Green put up solid numbers (over 10 fantasy points each).  The star was the Miami Defense who allowed only 7 points and had two sacks and four take aways.  The QS made it very close with each receiver scoring a TD and the two running-backs averaging 9 fantasy points, but it fell just short as the Eagles blew up on Monday night. The PhatBacks cream the Chargers in the finals by more than doubling their score.  A fantastic week by Ruben Droughns who scored three touchdowns and had over 120 yards lead the way, while free agent acquisition Sebastian Janikowski hit 3 FGs from over 40 yards.  The Chargers continued to truck out Chris Brown who was placed on the IR earlier in the month and also got a goose-egg from both David Patten and the Tampa Bay Defense.