Heating up for the playoffs

Adam Cichoski | Sports writer | @AdamCichoski

With yet another week of fantasy football behind us, teams are really starting to eye the upcoming playoffs. This football season continues to be largely unpredictable which only adds to the excitement of the Sports Writers fantasy league.

Game of the Week recap:

Poff for America (3-5-1) and Eazy G (5-3-1) have both been able to find success recently and depending on the week, either has been capable of putting up massive points. Poff didn’t have their usual starter Carson Palmer throwing for them because of a bye week. So they went with backup Teddy Bridgewater, who put up decent numbers before leaving the game early with a concussion. DeMarco Murray went off and scored Poff 27 fantasy points, while Demaryius Thomas had a double digit game against the Colts. Unfortunately the rest of the roster struggled to find points. Eazy G had Antonio Brown, who broke the Steelers franchise records in receptions and yards in one game. He ended the game with a staggering 45 fantasy points. Add in a 32-point game from Lamar Miller and a 23-point game from Andrew Luck, Eazy G was in good position to win. As if that wasn’t enough, every player on his team except one scored double digit points. This one should have been close, but it wasn’t close at all, as Eazy G won by almost 100 fantasy points, 161-67.

The closest game of the week was the matchup between Las Vegas Locos (7-2) and Victory Formation (5-4). The Locos were able to get big games again from Todd Gurley and Julio Jones, also racking in a solid 11 points from kicker, Chris Boswell. Tyrod Taylor’s return to the lineup was a much needed addition. The injury of Dion Lewis hurt this team however. The Loco’s bench outscored their starting lineup, so there were many missed opportunities for the Locos this week. Formation saw a monster game from Delanie Walker, along with 20+ point outings from Amari Cooper and Ben Roethlisberger. Going into Monday night both teams were tied at 108. Formation still had Alshon Jeffery playing on Monday and only needed one point to win. He got 25, taking this one on Monday night, 133-108.

Breesus King of the Drews (4-5) needed a break, as they’ve suffered several heartbreaking losses where they scored a huge amount of points but fell short. This week they aimed to end their losing streak against Team Morin (3-6). Morin got double digit points from Sam Bradford, LeSean McCoy, T.Y Hilton, and Brandin Cooks. All that, along with a 21-point outing from Mike Evans and Morin was in good shape. Drews was determined to win and got 18+ point games from Phillip Rivers, Chris Ivory, Danny Woodhead, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Randall Cobb. Drews was finally able to end the streak and won 135-92.

Mr. Sports Editor (7-2) looked to keep rolling along, this week against Amazing St. Patrick’s (3-6). Patrick’s finally got the game he needed from Aaron Rodgers, as Rodgers put up 36 points against the Panthers. Allen Robinson and LeGarrette Blount both had 18 points apiece for Patrick’s. Editor got double digit points from all but one player, that one player being his defense. Along with three 20+ point games from Devonta Freeman, Emmanuel Sanders, and Dez Bryant, no one stood out, but everyone did their job. Editor keeps rolling, 138-83.

Both Here so I Don’t get Fined (3-6) and Slammin Fortes (4-5) were both on nasty losing streaks that they were looking to end. Fortes had another big game from Andy Dalton and surprisingly big games from Martellus Bennett and Josh Brown, giving him a good chunk of points. Fined had a huge, 28-point game from Jordan Matthews. They also had double digit point games from Peyton Manning, Stevie Johnson, Shane Vereen and Antonio Andrews. At the end of the day, Fortes were too streaky, while the solid output from Fined won the game, and ended their losing streak 96-72.

Teams continue to separate themselves from each other, the games this week all seemed lopsided for the most part. Roster changes will continue to change while the league continues to barrel towards the playoffs.