Round 1 of the playoffs didn't exactly play out as I expected. Eric continued to laugh in the face of basic mathematical probabilities and lucked out again when Dave's team crapped itself like Cha at Kroger. On the other side of the bracket, Mike and Jesse had both put up over 1000+ heading into a big MNF matchup. Jesse hung to an 83 point lead going into the night, but two early Dalton to Green TDs swung the game in Mike's favor.
This week our top two finishers, Justin and Tim, are back from vacation to take on last week's winners. Let's see how these matchups are shaping up:
1. Justin (8-4) --VS-- 5. Eric (7-5)
Justin is currently favored by 171.5 points but that's a little misleading. After holding onto Gio Bernard all season, despite being completely un-ownable, Eric seems to have stumbled into a real flex play this week thanks to a number of injuries to the Bengals backfield. Who Eric selects as his starting QBs will once again be a big decision. Dak has a great matchup against a garbage NYG defense, while Cousins and the red hot Keenum face off against tough defenses.
Julio Jones will get the scoring started for Justin on TNF, but the points won't come easy against a tough NOLA defense. The matchups don't get any easier for the rest of Justin's top players; Goff and Gurley play Philly's top ranked defense, and Antonio Brown plays Sunday night against Baltimore. If Justin is going to win, he may have to rely on his lesser players who are featured in more favorable matchups.
Prediction: Eric's luck FINALLY runs out as Justin wins a close, low scoring game.
2. Tim (8-4) --VS-- 6. Mike (6-6)
Tim could be in BIG TROUBLE this week if Cam Newton (currently listed as questionable) isn't at full strength. Tyrod Taylor is already OUT and his only backup QB is Jay Cutler. The good news for Tim; the rest of his team is healthy and have some very favorable matchups. Lynch and Marvin Jones specifically could be in for big days.
With Gronk out and no way to replace him, Mike is going to need some big games from the rest of his team. It won't be easy either, with Fournette, Hyde, and Ingram all facing good defenses. It looks like Mike is going to have to hope the Dalton to Green combo come up big again if he has any chace at advancing to the championship game.
Prediction: The loss of Gronk is too much for Mike to overcome and Tim takes the matchup easily after a big day from his RBs.