2024 Week 12 Dynasty Recap: Clear as Mud
We now have three teams at 5-7 looking up at a 6-6 team, and thanks to a very poor performances by Alex and me, they can still see a couple of 7-5 teams waiting to be knocked out. Here are your week 12 results:
The Empire 94.18 over ay_Bilat 94.06
Let’s get the obligatory “woah” exhale out of the way. Bryar went into Monday night with four players and an expected 58 points between the three of them, so even with Trey making a move for Tucker before the game, this was still supposed to go in Bryar’s favor with relative ease. But then J.K. Dobbins exited the game early on, and Jackson was throwing to everyone not named Flowers, and suddenly there was 3 minutes left and Bryar still needed a little over a point to get the win. He got that on the final drive in the form of a 9 yard catch by recent pick-up Will Dissly, and this game made its way up to second on the league’s all-time closest games list. As for Trey, the no-shows just keep happening. Mahomes hit his new season-high, but the only other player to join him in the double-digits was Hubbard. He’ll need a major turnaround if he’s going to make a run at the playoffs in the next two weeks.
Kade’s Dawgs 120.78 over NUKEM 119.70
No Joe Mixon 35 point outburst this week, but Curt didn’t need it. He got solid performances from a handful of his bigger names, and the rest of his team did enough to not sink the ship. Five weeks ago, Mark Andrews posted 18 points to help NUKEM pull out a Monday night miracle win over ay_Bilat. He had another shot to do it again last night, all he needed this time was 14.2 points, but he fell just 1.1 shy and Rob watched his shot at a fourth Monday night miracle fade into the night sky.
Ferocious Felines 144.68 over Storm Surge 130.66
Fred has his team fighting so hard for a win that his bench players exploded too. Had Fred started his perfect lineup (Mayfield in for Richardson, Irving and Waddle in for Lamb and Metcalf) he would’ve broken Bryar’s single week scoring mark with 179.16 points. 144 points got the job done though, and that’s the important part. Saquon Barkley (44.20) became the third player this year to score over 40, skyrocketed himself back into the MVP race, and took home Player of the Week honors. All-in-all a pretty great week for Barkley. His effort also kept this game relatively interesting heading into Monday night, but the Henry, Dicker, Ravens’ “D” trio was too much for McConkey to hold off by himself.
Fantasy Fairies 108.96 over Space Rangers 82.62
THE STREAK HAS ENDED!! Eleven straight losses to open a season will go down as the most in the league record books, and 13 straight regular season losses will tie that record, but the Fairies managed to avoid putting their name on the longest losing streak in league history! Ryan got a combined 32 points out of his Kicker and defense, and they played a big role in covering up some issues elsewhere in the lineup. But this was A.J. Brown’s revenge game and it showed as he was the leading scorer in the game, and it was his highest scoring output since week 6. Turns out this was not a Keanu Reeves movie, so Shane Falco did not swoop in to save me. Bo Nix did his best Falco impression though, unfortunately Javonte Williams did not assist, nor did Mike Williams get me off on the right foot last Thursday.
Fear Itself 141.12 over Michael Style 76.60
A complete blowout that made it’s way onto the league’s biggest blowouts list (6th all-time). Nathan’s team could not miss Sunday, proving the concerns over whether or not they could get it done sans-Allen were unwarranted. Two of his top four scorers were Tight Ends, bringing back shades of the 2011 Patriots, I’m sure that made Alex feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Alex was without Cook and Hall, but what was the excuse for the rest of his team? It was like they all had a meeting without JSN and Pittman and agreed to have their down weeks all at the same time.
**A reminder that will remain here for all future iterations of the Playoff Outlook section, the “SOS” categories are ranked 1stto 10th, with 1st being the easiest and 10thbeing the hardest. By record is the combined winning percentage of your remaining opponents. By Points is the average points-for of your remaining opponents. Also, an X to the right of the name section means they’ve secured a playoff spot, Y means they locked up their division, and Z means they’ve secured the #1 seed.**
Playoff Outlook:
1st seed: Storm Surge Coach: Joel Record: 9-3 X
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 4th (0.500)
SOS Remaining by Points: Tied 4th (1373.50)
Remaining opponents: ay_Bilat (5-7), The Empire (7-5)
Outlook: Same rules apply for the division, win a game and the West is yours (or a Nathan loss would also accomplish that). But now a win will also secure the #1 seed for you.
2nd seed: Michael Style Coach: Alex Record: 7-5
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 4th (0.500)
SOS Remaining by Points: 8th (1432.98)
Remaining opponents: Kade’s Dawgs (5-7), Space Rangers (7-5)
Outlook: Winning out still secures you the West, but lose one game and you’ll need Bryar to lose one also, lose two games and you’ll need Bryar to lose both as well. To lock up just a playoff spot you need to win one game. If you lose out you can still make the playoffs, but based on the current points for you would also need Fred to lose one of his final games.
3rd seed: Fear Itself Coach: Nathan Record: 8-4 X
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 4th (0.500)
SOS Remaining by Points: Tied 4th (1373.50)
Remaining opponents: The Empire (7-5), ay_Bilat (5-7)
Outlook: Playoff spot is secured! You can still try and take the East division, but you would need to win out and you would need Joel to lose out. Outside of that you are still playing for your seed. Right now, you hold the points tiebreaker, so finish tied with any of the teams below you and you will take the higher seed. Beat Bryar this week and you will guarantee yourself the 3rd or 4th seed, if I were to also lose this week you would lock up the 3 seed.
4th seed: The Empire Coach: Bryar Record: 7-5
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 9th (0.708)
SOS Remaining by Points: Tied 9th (1463.94)
Remaining opponents: Fear Itself (8-4), Storm Surge (9-3)
Outlook: The West is still in reach; you just need Alex to lose one more game than you do in your final two weeks. You could also take back the 3 seed this week if you beat Nathan by 42 points. One win would lock up a playoff spot. Fred is the only one in the 7th-9thseed range that is still in striking distance of your point total, so unofficially, you could also lock up a playoff spot if he loses one of his final two games.
5th Seed: Space Rangers Coach: Lance Record: 7-5
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 4th (0.500)
SOS Remaining by Points: 1st (1301.96)
Remaining opponents: NUKEM (5-7), Michael Style (7-5)
Outlook: No way I can win the East now, but if I can win one of my final two games I can lock up a spot in the playoffs. There’s still some wiggle room on what seed I finish with too. But the key is, win a game because these last two weeks have killed my points tiebreaker options.
6th seed: Kade’s Dawgs Coach: Curt Record: 6-6
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 4th (0.500)
SOS Remaining by Points: 7th (1397.53)
Remaining opponents: Michael Style (7-5), Ferocious Felines (5-7)
Outlook: Just keep winning. Just keep winning. What do we do? We win, win, win. That’s your mantra. Both games matter. A win over Alex could move you up a seed or two (as long as Bryar also wins). A loss to Alex and a win over Fred would essentially lock up a playoff spot for you (you currently lead Rob and Trey by 143 and 166 points respectively, so points tiebreakers against them would not be an issue).
Name: Ferocious Felines Coach: Fred Record:5-7
SOS Remaining by Record: 1st (0.292)
SOS Remaining by Points: 2nd (1305.31)
Remaining opponents: Fantasy Fairies (1-11), Kade’s Dawgs (6-6)
Outlook: Win both games is step one. If you lose one, it can’t be against Curt, and you would also need Curt to lose his other game, and you would need Rob and Trey to each lose one game. So easiest option is to win out. Step two is don’t blow your points lead. You’re currently up 54 points on Curt, and you would need to keep a lead if you guys end up tying in overall record.
Name: NUKEM Coach: Rob Record: 5-7
SOS Remaining by Record: 2nd (0.333)
SOS Remaining by Points: 3rd (1321.47)
Remaining opponents: Space Rangers (7-5), Fantasy Fairies (1-11)
Outlook: TREY THIS IS FOR YOU AS WELL. Because of the points difference between both of your teams and Curt and Fred, your only real option to get into the playoffs is to win out, Curt would need to lose out, and Fred would need to lose to Ryan and beat Curt. For Rob, you would also need to either keep your current points lead on Trey, or he would need to lose one game. Trey, you would either need to score 24 more points than Rob over your final two weeks or you would need him to lose one game.
Name: ay_Bilat Coach: Trey Record: 5-7
SOS Remaining by Record: Tied 9th (0.708)
SOS Remaining by Points: Tied 9th (1463.94)
Remaining opponents: Storm Surge (9-3), Fear Itself (8-4)
Outlook: See above.
Name: Fantasy Fairies Coach: Ryan Record: 1-11
SOS Remaining by Record: 3rd (0.417)
SOS Remaining by Points: 6th (1374.89)
Remaining opponents: Ferocious Felines (5-7), NUKEM (5-7)
Outlook: Already starting to wreak havoc. Keep that up. This week you could potentially knock Fred out of the playoff race, which would be the first year he missed the playoffs, so you could play another role in league history.
**Every two weeks I’m going to post the top ten here. Players only accumulate points if they’re in your starting lineup, this will be the final look at the top ten and positional top fives**
TOP TEN
1) QB Lamar Jackson (The Empire) 272.02
2) *RB Saquon Barkley (Storm Surge) 252.40
3) RB Derrick Henry (Ferocious Felines) 235.10
4) *QB Jalen Hurts (Fantasy Fairies) 232.64
5) *QB Joe Burrow (Space Rangers) 217.22
6) *QB Josh Allen (Fear Itself) 210.32
7) *WR Ja’Marr Chase (Space Rangers) 206.00
8) *RB Jahmyr Gibbs (Fear Itself) 194.10
9) *RB Alvin Kamara (The Empire) 192.00
10) *QB Kyler Murray (Michael Style) 181.72
*Means they’ve already had their bye week
With two weeks left here is a final look at the top 5 rankings by position:
QB
1) Lamar Jackson (The Empire) 272.02
2) *Jalen Hurts (Fantasy Fairies) 232.64
3) *Joe Burrow (Space Rangers) 217.22
4) *Josh Allen (Fear Itself) 210.32
5) *Kyler Murray (Michael Style) 181.72
RB
1) *Saquon Barkley (Storm Surge) 252.40
2) Derrick Henry (Ferocious Felines) 235.10
3) *Jahmyr Gibbs (Fear Itself) 194.40
4) *Alvin Kamara (The Empire) 192.00
5) *Bijan Robinson (Space Rangers) 178.70
5) Joe Mixon (Kade’s Dawgs) 178.70
WR
1) *Ja’Marr Chase (Space Rangers) 206.00
2) *Amon-Ra St. Brown (Michael Style) 167.08
3) *Justin Jefferson (NUKEM) 155.58
4) *CeeDee Lamb (Ferocious Felines) 142.40
5) *Garrett Wilson (Space Rangers) 137.20
TE
1) *George Kittle (Fear Itself) 136.70
2) *Travis Kelce (ay_Bilat) 101.00
3) *Trey McBride (Kade’s Dawgs) 89.30
4) Mark Andrews (NUKEM) 75.80
5) *Sam LaPorta (Michael Style) 70.5
K
1) Ka’imi Fairbairn (Storm Surge) 138.00
2) *Chris Boswell (Fear Itself) 87.00
3) *Younghoe Koo (Kade’s Dawgs) 86.00
4) *Cameron Dicker (Ferocious Felines) 70.00
5) *Jake Elliott (Fantasy Fairies) 65.00
D
1) *Chicago (Space Rangers) 88.00
2) *Minnesota (Kade’s Dawgs) 70.00
3) Baltimore (Ferocious Felines) 67.00
4) New England (Michael Style) 61.00
4) *Pittsburgh (NUKEM) 61.00
Here’s a look ahead at next week:
Storm Surge (9-3) vs ay_Bilat (5-7)
First time these two will meet and it’s with the added pressure that a win by Joel would put Trey out of the playoffs for the first time in this league, and a win by Trey could put Joel on the edge of losing the East after all that work he did to get himself to the top.
Fear Itself (8-4) vs The Empire (7-5)
Nathan leads the series 4-2, but this will definitely be the biggest matchup in the history of this series. Four of their six games came in the first five weeks of past seasons, one was a week 11 matchup that didn’t have any weight behind it, and one was a face-off in the third place game back in 2020. This will be the first one that has actual playoff implications. Bryar could officially end Nathan’s bid for a fifth straight East title, and position himself for a higher seed. Nathan could put Bryar into must-win mode next week.
Michael Style (7-5) vs Kade’s Dawgs (6-6)
This series is split 3-3. Both teams desperately need this win. Alex needs it to maintain hold on the West (or potentially lock it up if Bryar were to lose). Plus, a loss would put him on the verge of getting knocked out of the playoffs. Curt needs the win to stay above those vultures lurking in the distance, just waiting for his carcass to go down.
Space Rangers (7-5) vs NUKEM (5-7)
I lead the series 4-3. I’ve also won 3 out of the last 4. Loss for me could put me in a sticky situation next week. A loss for Rob would put him as far out of the playoff race as he can get without being officially eliminated (unless Curt wins, then he would be officially eliminated).
Ferocious Felines (5-7) vs Fantasy Fairies (1-11)
Fred is up 2-0. So, Ryan can take care of two things, he can get a win against one of the four teams he doesn’t yet have a win against, and he could put Fred out of the playoffs for the first time in this league (but Curt would also have to win for that to be completely true). Fred just needs to win.
That’s all for this week, good luck to you all in week 13!