Week 13 Notes - Playoff Picture:

NFL:  The Rynos have clinched, and will play the weakest of the other 3 playoff teams.  The remaining NFL teams are jockeying for tiring in the other playoff brackets.

CFL: The Assassins magic number remains at 2. The winner of next week's game between the KH and JYDs will determine which team can compete for the CFL title; the loser will be eliminated while the winner will have to win two consecutive games and score more than the Assassins to win the division.

XLF: The Hooligans currently lead by points tie-breaker. The Hooligans need to win as many games as the Hitmen to win the XFL. The Hitmen need to win one more game than the Hooligans and score more points than SDS to win. SDS can win if they win both games and the Hitmen and Hooligans both lose their games. QS can play the role of spoiler by defeating either the Hitmen or the Hooligans in their last 2 games.

Wildcard: Ketchup Hotdog currently has a 44 point lead over the nearest team (the Hitmen) while SDS is close behind (only 2 points behind the Hitmen). The StiffArms are 56 points back, and the JYDs have fallen almost out of contention being 87 points back. However, if the Hooligans lose both games, they could be the leading wildcard team with a 50 point lead over KH.

At this point, there are six teams that have legitimate shots at the playoffs, and another two teams that have an outside shot. This is definitely the closest race we've had in the pool so far.

Week 13 Match-ups

	Ketchup Hotdog (6-6) vs JYDs (6-6)
	***Matchup of the week***  This week's top match-up pits divisional rivals who are tied for 2nd in their division. Whichever team loses will be eliminated from contention for the divisional title (although will still be alive in the wildcard race). KH has continued to be a strong team in points per game, but has not yet won more games than they've lost. But now that they've got Randy Moss back against a weak Chicago defense, they will likely be able to expand their lead in the wildcard race. The JYDs got more bad news as Priest Holms announced that he won't play until healthy, which means they'll be relying on Warrick Dunn who has averaged 5 fantasy points since the trade.
	Marauders (4-8) vs Rynos (10-2)
	The Rynos have clinched the playoffs, but are still battling for most points scored, and are currently less than 10 points behind the Hooligans. They also have to win at least one more game to get the top record award. The Marauders can try to play spoiler after a career best week, and might get a boost from the unlikely New York Giants Defense who is playing an anemic Washington offense. The Rynos seem to have a new star every week, so perhaps it will be Travis Taylor who will score more than 20 fantasy points this week.
	Chargers (5-7) vs StiffArms (7-5)
	These two teams are jockeying for position in the consolation brackets with both times likely playing for draft picks. The Chargers' Marvin Harrison has quietly been having a spectacular season and is on a pace for over 1000 yards and 15 touchdowns. The StiffArms have been relying on Daunte Culpepper to carry their team but with their two running-backs Clinton Portis & Thomas Jones playing against horrible defenses (Giants and Vikings respectively) they may get a solid point total in week 13.
	Assassins (8-4) vs Phatbacks (5-7)	Peyton Manning after the 3rd quarter
	The Assassins scream could be heard around Toronto on Monday night with 58 seconds left in the Monday Night game as Marc Bulger completed a touchdown pass to Isacc Bruce to give them their second loss in a row. Fortunately for them, they have been helped out by the PhatBacks who have been beating off divisional opponents with regularity. Now the Assassins have to hope the PhatBacks slow down to help ensure their win. The Assassins have been carried by their kicker and Defense recently, who have averaged an amazing 22 fantasy points over the past 4 weeks. The PhatBacks have been looking to Peyton Manning to lead their team, and Peyton has been averaging almost 15 points a week for the past 4 weeks.
	Hitmen (7-5) vs Quiet Storm (1-11)
	The Hitmen won a huge game last week, and now look to beat up on the Quiet Storm and want help from SDS to move them into sole possession of first place in the XFL. The Hitmen have been getting production up and down their roster, and now have four capable running backs now that Julius Jones is healthy and Derrick Blaylock looks to be playing for the next few weeks. The hardest decision will be choosing who to start. The Quiet Storm has been doing well recently, scoring less than 50 points only once since week 8, but has only managed one win. They can play spoiler here virtually eliminating the Hitmen with a win this week, but need some help from their running game which has suffered with the abysmal play of the 49ers offense.
	Hooligans (7-5) vs SmackDownSister (6-6)
	This was the runner-up for game of the week. A win by the Hooligans almost assures them of a playoff spot and will eliminate SDS from contention for the XFL title. A loss will mean it will come down to a week 14 match-up with the Hitmen. They can send their thanks to Jerome Bettis who is having a career year, and with Deuce Staley out is the featured offensive weapon for the Steelers. SDS has been very solid over the past five weeks, averaging over 75 points a week, due equally to the play of Donovan McNabb, Dominic Davis and Brian Westbrook, who are each averaging over 10 points a week.

Transactions, Week 13

• Phatbacks pick up Najeh Davenport (GB - RB) for $6 and re-add Peerless Price (WR - Atl) for $2 and put Boston and Hambrick on the IR.

• JYDs drop Steve Christie & activate Mike Allstot

• Rynos drop Corey Bradford and activate Byron Leftiwch

• Rynos drop Jabar Gaffney and add Eric Parker (again)

• SDS drops Nate Kaeding and adds Shawn McDonald (WR - StL)

• Hitmen drop Phil Dawson and add Shane Graham

• Hitmen drop Brandon Lloyd and add the Buffalo Defense

• Chargers Drop $1 J.Chatman and activates Peter Warrick.

• Chargers drop Steve McNair and add the Indi defense

• Assassins move Sammy Morris to IR and add Carson Palmer

• Chargers Drop $2 M.Stover and claim $1 N. Kaeding off waivers

• Hitmen drop the Seattle Defense and claim Steve McNair ($1) off waivers

Poll

We're just about at the playoffs, and I thought that the middle tier bracket fighting for the 5th to 8th picks in the rookie draft may not be enough.  A way to increase the value of this bracket would be to take $10 or $20 out of the championship bracket and award it to the winner of the consolation bracket (meaning the Championship winner and runner up would either get $75 & $45 respectively or$70 and $40 instead of $80 and $50).  As always, this change would affect next year and not this year (as I never make changes during the year).  What do you think?

Week 13 Results (preliminary)

	JYDs 38 Ketchup Hotdog 38		Marauders 62 Rynos 61		StiffArms 78 Chargers 62
In one of the closest games ever, the JYDs eat up the Ketchup Hotdog by 0.3 points and knock KH out of the playoff race.  Worse for both teams, they were the two lowest scoring teams, and their low scores have let three other teams become serious contenders in the wildcard race.  The JYDs MVP this week was Mike Alstott who had close to 50 total yards and a touchdown.  KH's Corey Dillon amassed almost 40% of KH's total points with 2 TDs and 100 yards.		The Marauders upset the Rynos when it doesn't matter to either team.  The Marauders were lead by Edgerin James who scored two touchdowns and had over 135 combined yards.  The Rynos top player was Ronald Curry who scored two touchdowns and had 141 yards receiving.  The other main stat on the weekend:  Chris Chambers - 10.45 fantasy points; Willis McGahee - 2.75 fantasy points.  Another small victory.		The StiffArms have a big week and knock the Chargers to 5-8, and likely into the Lottery Bracket.  More importantly, the StiffArms have climbed very close to the wildcard if the Hooligans are able to win the XFL, and are less than 20 points behind the other four teams competing for the wildcard.  The StiffArms were lead by a breakout game by Clinton Portis who had over 150 total yards and scored two touchdowns while their kicker David Akers put up 19 fantasy points.  The Chargers lost despite a shutout and 5 sacks & TAs by the Bucks defense.
	Assassins 101 PhatBacks 56		Hitmen 102 Quiet Storm 50		SmackDownSister 93 Hooligans 80
The Assassins win for the first time in three weeks, and finally claim the CFL title.  They had a great Sunday out of their wide receivers who had almost 350 yards and scored 4 touchdowns.  Their Patriots Defense also put up 18 fantasy points allowing 15 points but generating 4 take-aways and 3 sacks.  The PhatBacks had another great performance by Peyton Manning who is now only playing 3 quarters a game, but still manages to throw for over 400 yards and 3 TDs.		The Hitmen move into sole possession of first place thanks to a SDS win over the Hooligans.  Free Agent pickup the Buffalo Bills Defense had a huge 4th quarter as they ended a shootout with the Miami Dolphins by getting 7 take-aways and scoring a defensive touchdown.  Despite allowing 32 points, the Bills D put up 20 fantasy points.  Julius Jones also had a huge Monday night with over 200 yards and three scores.  The Quiet Storm had a good game from Nick Goings, but a disappointment from Boldin & Moss who combined for just over 50 yards.		SDS takes one step closer to the XFL title with a win over the Hooligans, but still needs a LOT of help to make it into the playoffs.  SDS put up over 80 points this week despite leaving over 40 points on the bench.  The Eagles combo of Brian Westbrook and Donnovan McNabb combined for over 450 passing yards, 5 passing touchdowns, almost 200 rushing & receiving yards and 3 receiving touchdowns (almost 50 fantasy points).  The Hooligans had a spectacular performance by Curtis Martin & Joe Horn, but were let down by "Mr. Fantasy Illusion" Micheal Vick and his four turnovers.