Week 12 Recap & Power Rankings

Two more weeks to go, and the playoff picture is still as incoherent as before- the top two are settled in, the number three team is doing what they can to give it up, while the final spot is totally up for grabs- 9 teams still have a shot at the post-season. Beer to the Dean emerged as the new top team, despite a subpar performance, Ja almost got doubled by SINS Bolden, and Megatron & Co. are making a late surge.

The top three players were all traded at some point this season- Michael Turner led all running backs with a 4-TD game against Carolina, while Matt Cassel and Trent Edwards (both were undrafted, signed by the Goldsmiths, and subsequently traded to Team Marketing) were the top quarterbacks. Matt Cassel continued to build up his free agent resume with another 400 yard game so some short-sighted franchise will give him the keys to the bank vault, only to find out that he may not be able to replicate his numbers in a situation where he doesn't have Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

Later today, I will be moving the archives of the Weekly Recap, the Power Rankings, The Bolden Picks, and other content to r-time.blogspot.com, so you can access it easily. I will let you know when it is launched.

Onto the power rankings- headlined by the third number one in as many weeks.

God-tier Division

1. Beer to the Dean (9-3)
A second straight trip to the playoffs is inevitable, as BD got past the Suit Killers, despite a lackluster week from everyone but Roethlisberger and the Minnesota D. With the final two games against SNS and SINS Bolden, the #1 seed could be wrapped up.

2. Suit Killers (8-4)
Lost in the matchup to BD. Tony Homo unleashed dragons, but nobody else did anything- the much vaunted running back depth failed to pay dividends, as Westbrook was (rightfully) benched and Barber, Slaton, and Ronnie Brown did very little (Derrick Ward played well, though.) This is a team on a bad spell- they've now lost a Skittles-like three of their last four after starting out 7-1, but they will assuredly be a favorite in any contest going forward.

Infuriating Contender Division

3. Ja (8-4)
So much for their time on top- SINS Bolden smoked Ja this week, thanks to the failures of anyone but Kevin Walter and Phil Rivers to do anything. Three players on Ja had zero or fewer points- even Team Marketing can win if that is the opposition.

4. The Real Schafer (7-5)
Beat Team Marketing to win their fourth game in the last five weeks. A slim point advantage gives them the tiebreaker advantage for now, but the tremendous parity in the 4th-10th teams make this a tenuous hold.

5. Rob College (7-5)
What's this? Rob is winning games in November? The Goldsmiths trail by fifty points going into MNF, so it appears that Rob has kept his playoff hopes alive- he is out of the fourth and final playoff spot by just 60+ points. The last two weeks are tough- a decent Taking the Reins (assuming McNabb is no longer starting) and the Suit Killers are the final opponents.

Pervasive Mediocrity Division (a.k.a., UD Division)

6. Megatron & Co. (6-6)
After spending most of the season hovering just above the sewage squads, Megatron & Co. are the hottest team in the league, and actually have a shot at making the playoffs. Michael Turner was the top scoring player in football this week, scoring four touchdowns against the Panthers.

7. Taking the Reins (6-6)
McNabb had the statistically worst fantasy performance of any player all season this week- 59 yards, two picks, and a fumble translated to negative point. Some otherwise decent performances were overshadowed by total lack of productivity at the QB spot. It's been up and down all season for TTR- they were my preseason pick to win the league, they played poorly through the first part of the season, won a few games to get back in contention, and now their slim hopes for a playoff spot are on life support.

8. Soak-n-Suds (6-6)
Losers of three of their last four games, it appears that SNS has played themselves out of any serious playoff contention- they boast a quarterback who probably shouldn't start in a twelve team league, two of the least dependable good players in the game (McClain and Houshmanzadeh), and now Felix Jones is officially done for the season.

9. SINS Bolden (6-6)
Thanks to TO's incredible performance against the 49ers, SINS Bolden dealt a serious blow to Ja's season and made it back to .500. Aside from Owens and the Tampa D (which had the fortune this week of playing the Lions), nothing else stood out, and for the season, only Who Dey and Team Marketing have scored fewer points.

10. Brooklyn Goldsmiths (5-7)
So much for playing the role of spoiler- though three key players (Aaron Rodgers, Donald Driver, and the inexplicably high scoring Green Bay D) go tonight, the Goldsmiths fell short in their mission to take Skittles out of the playoffs. Matt Forte had an excellent game, but for whatever reason didn't touch the ball after the first half (the fact that they were slaughtering the Rams might have had something to do with it though.) Besides Heath Miller, nobody else even saw a double-digit game. Next week it's the Suit Killers- ouch.

Brian Torpey Division

11. Who Dey (3-9)
Almost every week this team will suck, but once in a while they come out of absolutely nowhere to knock off a superior team. A great performance from Trent Edwards and the Baltimore D turned what should have been a cakewalk by SNS into a rout in the wrong direction. This team could actually finish with five wins- the final two games are against the mediocre SINS Bolden and the atrocious Team Marketing.

12. Team Marketing (1-11)
This week's loss almost assuredly gave Manos the best odds in the draft lottery. Maybe Matt Cassel will be a good keeper once he is starting for the Eagles next year? Maybe Manos will make shrewd picks and trades in the draft? Maybe your team will go from the third playoff seed one season to incredulously inept in the next?