2024 Week 13 Dynasty Recap: Setting the Stage
This is the murkiest the playoff picture has ever looked heading into the final week of the season, narrowly edging out last season, which had 4 teams vying for the final three playoff spots heading into week 14. There are still five teams competing for one of the final three playoff spots this year. And there is only one team that has their specific spot actually locked up (Storm Surge as the #1 seed). I’m starting to wonder if the 6thand 7th seed teams are going to finish with the same exact number of points scored and just flat-out break Yahoo. But the stage is set for a very interesting final week of the season. Here are your week 13 results:
NUKEM 123.44 over Space Rangers 117.86
Going into Monday night it was Rob’s opponent that needed the miracle for once. Sutton needed 7.63 points on Monday night, and he hadn’t scored less than 11.3 since week 7, and had only scored under 10 in four games all season. Well, he put up another 13.2 and NUKEM went home with the win. Jayden Daniels was holding down Player of the Week honors until Josh Allen’s Sunday night performance, and then Jeudy’s Monday night outing (more on that below). He was so close to being the first rookie to take it home this year, and third rookie to earn the honors in league history (Justin Jefferson week 6 of year 2, and Tank Dell week 9 of year 5). Well, that’s it. I’m all out of space. I can’t rag on half my team of regular starters for being outscored by my newly signed defense. Darn, too bad.
Kade’s Dawgs 136.88 over Michael Style 124.70
With both teams’ playoff spots on the line, both came to play. Curt just got a little more out of his guys. Two moves that would’ve changed the outcome of this game: Curt not picking up Romo and instead starting Koo, and Alex starting Williams over Murray. Alex would’ve won 131.64-130.88. I like this outcome more though, makes the potential week 14 fallout way crazier.
The Empire 137.58 over Fear Itself 122.92
Denver’s defense locked this game up for Bryar with a pick six late in the second quarter, but their coach was still a little nervous, so they tossed in an extra one late in the fourth quarter. The last time Bryar locked up a playoff position Donald Trump had just lost the election. Trump won the election a few weeks ago and last night Denver got him back into the playoffs, coincidence? Yes, but still. Puka Nacua REVENGE game, didn’t go fully as planned, his team wasn’t able to secure the win, but he did outscore two of Bryar’s three starting Receivers, so a little bit of a win.
Ferocious Felines 118.70 over Fantasy Fairies 93.32
Fred, you were bound to come down from those back-to-back 140 point explosions at some point. Luckily, your team still did enough to get the win. Or maybe I should say luckily the non-Thanksgiving players performed well enough to not blow it, cause your Thanksgiving players showed out (Moore and Jacobs – 19.7, Achane – 17, accounted for 47.5% of his team’s scoring). The Fantasy Fairies became the third team this year to have multiple Player of the Week awards (Storm Surge and Space Rangers each have 3). Jerry Jeudy (36.00) ran away with PotW honors in his own version of a REVENGE game. Unfortunately for Ryan, his PotW once again came during a loss.
Storm Surge 145.50 over ay_Bilat 104.64
I don’t know what Joel and Anthony said to their players, but they clearly weren’t about to wait until week 14 to lock all of it up. After the game a Gatorade covered Joel said, “All the hard work, all the research, all the long hours, all the believing in our young players has paid off!! So happy about locking down the #1 seed!” We tried to flag down Trey to ask him what the plans looked like now that they’ve officially missed their first playoff, but all he said was, “We’re onto next season,” as he ran on by us. Shoutout to Tee Higgins (15.4) for attempting a REVENGE game. The rest of his team did not have his back though, and he only outscored one starting Storm Surge receiver.
**As you already know, 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. I’m removing the SOS sections and replacing them with the Highest seed you can attain, and the Lowest.**
Playoff Outlook:
1st seed: Storm Surge Coach: Joel Record: 10-3 Z
Highest Seed Attainable: #1 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #1 Seed
Remaining opponents: The Empire (8-5)
Outlook: You’ve got it all locked up, including the #1 seed, now you have the opportunity to mess with Bryar’s playoff seeding.
2nd seed: The Empire Coach: Bryar Record: 8-5 X
Highest Seed Attainable: #2 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #6 Seed
Remaining opponents: Storm Surge (10-3)
Outlook: If you win or if Alex loses you secure the #2 seed. If you lose and Alex wins you could theoretically drop to the 6 seed, but realistically you wouldn’t fall any farther than the 4 because of your points scored, and you could get the 3 in that scenario as long as you score 26.49 points more than Nathan.
3rd seed: Fear Itself Coach: Nathan Record: 8-5 X
Highest Seed Attainable: #3 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #6 Seed
Remaining opponents: ay_Bilat (5-8)
Outlook: The 3 seed is yours if you win, or if you lose and Bryar wins, or if you lose, Bryar loses and you keep your current points lead over him. The 6 seed is only possible in theory, realistically you wouldn’t drop further than the 4 seed.
4th seed: Space Rangers Coach: Lance Record: 7-6
Highest Seed Attainable: #3 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #8 Seed
Remaining opponents: Michael Style (7-6)
Outlook: Win and I’m in. Lose, and I still get in as long as: Curt beats Fred (Rob would need to outscore me by 164.25 points, so not possible), or if Fred beats Curt and I maintain my slim points lead (13.3) over Curt. Realistically I’m looking at a spot between 4 and 7.
5th Seed: Kade’s Dawgs Coach: Curt Record: 7-6
Highest Seed Attainable: #3 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #8 Seed
Remaining opponents: Ferocious Felines (6-7)
Outlook: Win and you’re in. Lose and you can still get in if I beat Alex, or if Alex beats me and you outscore me by 13.31 points this week. Technically the #3 seed is attainable, but logically it’s not possible for you to outscore Nathan by 101.19 points in one week.
6th seed: Michael Style Coach: Alex Record: 7-6
Highest Seed Attainable: #2 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #8 Seed
Remaining opponents: Space Rangers (7-6)
Outlook: Win and you are in. Win and a Bryar loss means you get the #2 seed. Lose and you can still get in if Curt beats Fred. If Curt loses to Fred you’ll need to outscore Curt by 104.41 points in order to get in. So, you’re a big fan of your own team this week, of course, but you should also cheer on Curt as a fallback. Really, because of the points, you are either going to be the 2 seed, or you’ll land somewhere in the 4-8 seed range. You won’t touch Nathan’s points for. If you win and Bryar wins, then you’d be the 4 seed with a Curt loss, or the 5 seed with a Curt win. If you lose and Curt wins you’d be the 6 seed, if you lose, Fred wins and Rob loses you’d be the 7 seed, and if you lose, Rob wins and he outscores you by 46.54 points, then you’d be the 8 seed.
Name: Ferocious Felines Coach: Fred Record:6-7
Highest Seed Attainable: #5 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #9 Seed
Remaining opponents: Kade’s Dawgs (7-6)
Outlook: It’s really simple: Win and you’re in. Lose and you’re out. You can’t touch Nathan’s record, so the 3 seed is out of the question, and either Alex or I are going to win, so we’re going to have a better record than you as well, which means no 4 seed, but your points are higher than Curt, Alex and I, so if you win you should jump to 5.
Name: NUKEM Coach: Rob Record: 6-7
Highest Seed Attainable: #5 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #9 Seed
Remaining opponents: Fantasy Fairies (1-12)
Outlook: Your path to the playoffs is very strict. First, you have to win. Second, you need Curt and me to win. Third, you have to outscore Alex by 46.54 points in this final week. We’ve seen big swings in the Points for category already this season, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but if we had that same All-State playoff predictor like the CFP does, you’d probably be around a 1%. **Cue Jim Carrey slow nodding and smiling**, “So you’re saying there’s a chance.”
Name: ay_Bilat Coach: Trey Record: 5-8
Highest Seed Attainable: #7 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #9 Seed
Remaining opponents: Fear Itself (8-5)
Outlook: Officially the second team eliminated from the playoffs, and this marks your first year missing the playoffs. The most you can do from a spoiler perspective is put Nathan in a position to end up with the 4 seed instead of the 3. From a draft perspective you pretty much have the #2 pick locked up. You, Rob and Fred all split your games against each other, so the tiebreaker is going to be points if you all finish at 6-8 (or if two of you do). Fred has 228.34 points more than you, so no worries there. Rob is only up on you by 41.94. So, the #2 pick is pretty much yours, unless of course you win, Rob loses, and you outscore him by 41.95 points.
Name: Fantasy Fairies Coach: Ryan Record: 1-12
Highest Seed Attainable: #10 Seed
Lowest Seed Possible: #10 Seed
Remaining opponents: NUKEM (6-7)
Outlook: We’ve known for a couple weeks now that the 10 seed, and #1 pick, are yours. You get one last chance to play spoiler, a win over Rob would definitively end his playoff hopes.
Here’s a look ahead at next week:
Storm Surge (10-3) vs The Empire (8-5)
The first meeting of these two teams…in this league. In the old league I ran, Joel was 3-2 against Bryar. Bryar is essentially a son to Joel, so for those wondering if Joel will take the game seriously now that he has the 1 seed locked up, he has already stated he wants to destroy Bryar just like he destroyed me twice.
Fear Itself (8-5) vs ay_Bilat (5-8)
Nathan leads the series 4-3. If you exclude the newest team in the league, then Nathan is the only coach that Trey doesn’t have a winning record against. So, Trey, if you wanted a little motivation to win, there it is.
Space Rangers (7-6) vs Michael Style (7-6)
I’m up 3-2 in our series. Everything is on the line for us in this one Alex, so sharpen your snowballs and build your fort, cause I’ve got Buddy’s arm ready for war.
Kade’s Dawgs (7-6) vs Ferocious Felines (6-7)
This series is perfectly balanced at 5-5. Two teams that have never missed the playoffs are now fighting for a playoff spot. And the winner is guaranteed to get in. A lot of games to keep an eye on this week, but this may be the cream of the crop.
NUKEM (6-7) vs Fantasy Fairies (1-12)
Rob is up 2-1. Rob is playing for a playoff spot (no matter how slim the odds). Ryan is trying to avoid becoming the first coach in league history to have a one win season.
That’s all for this week, good luck to you all in week 14!