Evans World 2011–Week 11

Well, my friends, it’s Thanksgiving weekend and probably one of the best weekends for football that I can remember!  The Packers-Lions game should be amazing!  The Iowa-Nebraska game will be an interesting experience in the Marshall Evans home.  And this will be my first weekend with my family and the in-laws and bouncing between homes.  It’s also the weekend that I move to Columbus, Ohio.  And yes, it is the weekend where many of the remaining playoff spots will be decided.  So, let’s take a closer look, shall we?  Come on in!

THE BIGGEST LOSER
Kevin’s loss this weekend actually caused me physical pain.  Not only did it put his playoff spot in serious jeopardy, it was his SIXTH loss where he scored more points than most of the other teams in the league.  Kevin’s luck (well, bad luck) this season simply defies logic and understanding.  How could a team so well picked and successful still be on the cusp of failure?  Kevin’s playoff hopes are simple:  Mike must lose.  Even if Kevin beats Rob this week, those six loses make his overall record still worse than Rob and Mike keeping him out of the coveted sixth spot.  No guarantees that Mike will lose either, having beaten Ritchie in week one (by 3 points).  If Mike starts Stafford it may be the first time that Kevin has really rooted for the Packers in his life.  That plus the Dallas game (if he starts Romo) could make this a huge Thanksgiving for Kevin.  By the way, if you’re worried about eating healthy on Thanksgiving, drop Kevin an e-mail/text/call … he’s got great ideas for you there.  Good luck, Kevin! 

THE YEAR OF THE TONY
So, for the third week this season, the top two spots in the league are held by a guy named Tony.  Coincidence?  Conspiracy?  Hard to say. Both teams are enjoying a nice winning streak.  But I was surprised to see the little asterisk next to NewT’s team this morning.  I’m sure he’s breathing a little easier.  I think we should give the noob a little more credit though.  His team is on a late-season surge right now. NewT’s players who did play this weekend average score was 12.7 points.  I think the site gave him the playoff spot because his last two games are against Jason and me, both of us well out of the running.  Jeez, Yahoo!  What’s up with that shit?  Need an idea of how DC Tony is handling the news of his standing?  Yeah, he picked up Tebow.  Just rub our noses in it, why don’t you?

NO PRESSURE, PEOPLE
So, how is the playoff picture looking, Brad, you ask?  Let’s take a look:

• NewT is in.  Yay.
• Berk and Nathan should clinch a spot with a win this weekend.  Nathan says his team is going downhill, but he faces me this weekend so at least he’ll get a third consecutive playoff appearance.
• The real fun this weekend is with Ritchie, Rob, Mike and Kevin.  Ritchie and Rob could lock up their spot by winning their matchup this weekend.  But Mike and Kevin need a win in order to survive.  So, let’s say Mike and Kevin do win this weekend.  That puts Rob, Ritchie and Mike tied at 6-6 with Kevin trailing 5-7.  In Week 13, most of them have easy matchups.  The only way Kevin’s getting in is with 2 wins and for one of these guys to lose their last two games.  Not looking good, Kevin.  Regardless, it’s a good bet that our sixth team in the playoffs could be close to an .500 average on the year.  WOW.
• Jason, Tom, Gary … it’s been a fun year, but no stopping now.  Keep those lineups in and honest.  We’ll play each other for the coveted seventh spot in the playoffs.  Woo hoo.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• Gary, I’m serious, you’ve got to be proud of your team this year.  They’ve done very well for you and like Kevin just missed a few matchups or you’d be closer in this.  Just think, you could end up being the deciding factor in whether Kevin gets into the playoffs in Week 13!  That could be fun …
• One thing I noticed this weekend that may only interest me:  Rob has 0 players in the first set of Sunday games so he had 0 points by 3:30 PM on Sunday.  That just strikes me as weird.  Maybe that’s why he lost his matchup.
• I know you’re all dying to hear if I think the Packers have a shot at the coveted (and over-referenced) undefeated season.  My answer?  NO.  The matchup with the Lions, Giants and then a Christmas Day matchup with the resurgent Bears makes that all but unlikely.  I would love to see it happen, don’t get me wrong.  But I think the Colts and Patriots of a few years ago had a better shot at it.  I’ll be happy with a first week bye and home field advantage.  That Bucs game was way too close for my taste.
• It’s the weirdest thing to me that Donte Stallworth got cut by the Redskins, then re-signed, then caught the TD pass that tied up the game.  I’m sure somewhere deep in his brain he was flipping off Mike Shanahan for cutting him the first time around.
• I was hoping to do a trade analysis this week, but then I noticed there were only 3 trades all fucking season.  Insane.  So, let’s look at them.  Nathan definitely got the better deal from Hernandez, but it’s not looking too good for the Andre Johnson deal.  It’s a wash between Kevin and Gary for Dez Bryant and MJD.  Well, that was fun.  Moving on.
• What happened to the Bills?  Jeez, they were the Cinderella team and now they play like her.  The one I can’t figure out is the 49ers.  How is it possible to bring in an entirely new coaching staff, no training camps, no major new players from the draft, and yet they’re 9-1.  I can only think that Mike Singletary was that bad of a coach that he couldn’t accomplish more with that group.  Either that or Jim Harbaugh is a friggin genius coach.  Time will tell.  Kevin may be thinking about getting back on the 49er bandwagon.
• Just so you know, since I’ll be out of Omaha when our FF season is over I gave all the winnings to Nathan to distribute.  If you’re the one team that hasn’t paid (and you know who you are), get with Nathan to pay up.  Then, once the season is over, drop by and offer your sympathies to Nathan for not winning, then snatch the money from his sad, little hands.

WEEKLY AWARDS

• MVP – Gotta give this one to Tony for Jay Cutler who had one of the best FF games of his career, shot Kevin’s playoff hopes right up into the air and then got promptly injured hampering Tony’s playoff performance and Rob’s hopes for a Bears wild-card slot.  He played hard, I’ll give him that.  One thing he didn’t do much of last season.
• Honorable Mention – I’m torn between giving this to Ritchie for the Miami defense (another team I can’t figure out how they’re doing as well as they are) or to Berk for starting Carson Palmer after a few dismal weeks.  I’ll give it to Berk since he didn’t beat me, and beating Rob all but solidified his spot in the playoffs.  Carson Palmer?  Really??? Ballsy, dude.
• Best Owner Choice – Great call by Tony to play Nate Washington.  Perhaps is was a desperation move, but it paid off in spades.  And that’s all I’ve got to say about that.
• Unfortunate Bench – I could give it to me for Rivers (again), but it wouldn’t have helped.  Could also give it to Ritchie for Burleson, but he beat me so screw that (might want to start him next week against the Pack).  So, I’ll give it to Mike for benching Stafford, not that he needed to.  Wow, that was probably one of the weirdest paragraphs I’ve even written.  Time to move on …
• Lawrence Phillips Award – Well, no winner in the NFL, but I give this one to the Oklahoma State Cowboys for losing to Iowa State on Thursday.  Give me a break.  I don’t know what team showed up in Ames, but it wasn’t the one that put up 50+ points against teams worse than the Cyclones.  And yet somehow they’re still poised for a BCS spot.  Wrong, weird and crazy … just like LP.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend!  Hug your family close, take it easy on the carbs, and give a shout out to Mindi and me as we hit the road to Ohio.  And yes, you must root for the Packers!  See you in a week when we can start talking playoff predictions!