Week 12 2018 : The Final Countdown

Welp, here we are. Just one week left to determine our Survivor Winner and playoff placement. No more power rankings or playoff projections, instead we're going to focus on these final matchups and what they mean going forward.

Survivor

Eagle Powers put up another high score of the week to notch his 3rd elimination of the season on the backs of Chubb and Boyd. The real story here though is the tiny 1 point gap that separated Dakstreet and newly named NB Power on the chopping block. This ended up coming down to MNF as the Houston defense sacked Mariota 6 times (!!) to edge NB Power into the lead.

Who's going to claim the final elimination and secure the first survivor championship?

Survivor Standings :

• Eagle Powers: 141 Points this week ⚔️⚔️⚔️
• NB Power: 129 Points this week⚔️⚔️
• Dakstreet Boys: 128 Points this week⚔️⚔️💀
• Represent 👩🏈🌻: RIP ⚔️💀
• Goofy Gang : RIP 💀
• Greg's Grand Team: RIP💀
• Wampus Cats: RIP ⚔️💀
• Return of the Mack: RIP💀
• Cool Beans: RIP💀
• Steven's Team: RIP 💀

sneaky

Matchup Previews

Wampus Cats (8-4) v Goofy Gang (6-6)

What's at Stake: Wampus Cats is playing for a first round bye. A win could put him back into 1st, but a lower scoring loss could drop him to 3rd if NB Power closes the 27 point gap. Goofy Gang needs to win to make it into the playoffs, and then needs either Eagle Powers or Return of the Mack to take a loss, or to close the narrow scoring gap between him and RoTM (9 points)

Players to Watch:

• After weeks of injury status, Gronk returned with a 13 point game. Is he back to his old self?
• Is it a Kamara week or an Ingram special? The answer is that it's actually always Kamara week, and then we flip a coin to see if Ingram will score 20+ or destroy my fantasy season
• Ekeler is standing in for an injured Melvin Gordon, and looks primed to put up a huge week. We'll see how he handles being the lead back.

Eagle Powers (6-6) v Dakstreet Boys (9-3)

What's at Stake: Everything for Eagle Powers, relatively little for Dakstreet. A win comes close to guaranteeing Eagle Powers a playoff spot, but he'll need some good luck to make it if he loses. Dakstreet has a 1st round BYE locked up no matter what, and only cares about seeding.

Players to Watch:

• Gus Edwards is officially the Baltimore starting RB, and it seems like running along side Lamaar Jackson is helping a lot. Is there any chance Flacco takes the QB role back?
• Conner has had back to back single digit weeks for the first time all season. Will the Steelers return to a run heavy offense or keep airing it out to AB and JuJu?
• Gurley was rumored to have been somewhat injured during the KC game, resulting in a low carry count. Hopefully he's back to 100% this week 

Represent (3-9) v Greg's Grand Team (3-9)

What's at Stake: For these two teams, playoffs are far out of reach now, but you know what isn't? Spousal bragging rights. Also avoiding last place.

Players to Watch

• David Johnson had a huge game 2 weeks ago, but Arizona's putrid offense brought him back down to mediocre status in week 12. Will he bounce back?
• The Bengals still lack AJ Green and put Dalton on IR this week. Can Mixon produce in an offense with basically no other weapons?
• Golladay is now the only real WR on the Lions with MJJ going to IR. I think this is a chance for him to really shine.

Return of the Mack (6-6) v NB Power (7-5)

What's at Stake: Return of the Mack is one of our 3 6-6 teams, and one of them will (probably) get left out of playoffs. He is in a must win situation, and can still lose his spot in a win if Goofy Gang puts up a big score. NB Power has the points to hold onto 4th or 5th in a loss, and could jump into second if Wampus Cats takes a fall.

Players to Watch:

• Edleman is quietly having another huge season with Brady, only dropping below 10 points once since returning from suspension. 
• Allen Robinson has been the exact opposite, missing games to injury, blowing up for 30 point games, and then disappearing afterwords. Will he show up vs Denver?
• What will Theo Riddick's expanded role look like if Kerryon misses another game? He looks to at least catch a lot of passes in high scoring game vs the Rams

Cool Beans (7-5) v Steven's Team (5-7)

What's at Stake: For Cool Beans, a win could get them as high as 3rd and they can mostly likely weather a loss and keep a playoff spot. There's a crazy scenario where they tank this game, all 3 6-6 teams win and outscore him by a lot, and he drops to 7th. I would call that very unlikely. Steven's team doesn't have the points to cause any chaos now, and is far enough ahead of the bottom that he can't fall in a loss.

Players to Watch:

• Breida has been producing regardless of what QB the 49ers put behind center, and looks to score a 3rd straight 100 yard game this week. Assuming he can stay healthy enough to remain on the field.
• Demaryius Thomas has been relatively uninvolved after his trade to the Texans... except for those 2 TDs in for 4 catches last week. If he's emerging as a red zone target for Watson that could be a big gain.
• Eric Ebron can't stop catching TDs. That's just who he is now. With Doyle out for the season will he ascend to be the #1 TE on the season?

Pickup of the Week

Dakstreet Boys gets the award for Gus Bradley. With back to back weeks of 17+ carries and 100+ rushing yards it seems clear he has supplanted Alex Collins as the primary back in the Ravens offense.