All Hail the Mighty, Mighty Hippos!

Man, who would have thought that a fantasy team named for hippos would ever be successful?  But successful they were.  Despite losing their final two regular season games and backing into the playoffs at 8-6, they dominated both playoff weeks and won the title in convincing fashion.

Probably the best part about the Orion River Horses' title is that it came, at least in part, along with Drew Brees' successful assault on on Dan Marino's 27-year-old record for passing yards in a season.  Down to Strike Team by 28 going into the final game of the fantasy season, a divisional matchup between the Saints and Falcons, the River Horses had Brees, Colston and Turner left to play.  Turner was winding down, as he usually does late in the season, and scored a measly two fantasy points.  But Brees had one of his typical great nights, throwing 3 TDs for 275 yards in the first 55 minutes of the game --- including one to Marques Colston, which was key for the Hippos.

Later in the evening, Brees iced the game for the River Horses when he threw his fourth TD of the game, breaking Marino's record in the process.

For their part, Strike Team put up a respectable 70 points, but that wasn't enough to get them the win.  The real difference in the game came among the waiver-wire pickups.  Kevin Smith had a good game for Strike Team, as did C.J. Spiller for the River Horses.  But Donald Brown, who had been strong and scored 8 or more points in three of the previous four games, only managed a single point during championship week.

And so the Orion River Horses take the 2011 TTFFL crown.

And Then There Were Two

Much to the surprise of everyone --- well, to me, at any rate --- the Orion River Horses simply walloped the league-leading YAC Attack in the first round of the playoffs, a 97-61 thrashing.  Much of that had to do with Drew Brees playing one of his best games of the season, which is saying a lot, versus Aaron Rodgers having --- believe it or not --- only his second worst game.  His worst game was week 14 against the Raiders, which kind of makes you wonder whether the Packers have peaked too soon.

Perhaps more surprisingly, the River Horses' 36-point victory margin wasn't even the biggest margin of the semifinal round.  That honor belongs to Aaron and his Strike Team, who whipped Atomnation by a 37-point spread, 75-48.  Yes, despite having the 4th-highest scoring team in the league this year, Adam's Atoms picked a terrible time to put up a stinker, allowing Aaron to cruise to the championship round.

(Ed. note: Or maybe it was only a 27-point margin for Strike Team.  Apparently I can't snark and subtract at the same time)

It's surprising that the River Horses put up 97 points with such fantasy standouts as C.J. Spiller and Nate Burleson.  But Strike Team can match that firepower and more, with notable names like Donald Brown, Laurent Robinson and especially Kevin Smith.  Sure, players emerge out of nowhere every year to be a fantasy factor, but it seems like there are more such players this year than at any time I can remember.

The River Horses beat Strike Team in their only meeting this season, in a surprisingly low-scoring 52-47 victory.  Nevertheless, I proclaim that Strike Team is a mortal lock to win the title.  My reasoning has less to do with C.J. Spiller and Nate Burleson, or even the fact that Brees and Colston are going up against the Falcons' tough pass D.  It has to do with the fact that Pete simply cannot win the big one.

Pete and I both came into the league in 2007, and the River Horses were pretty much dominant all year long --- before falling to a laughable 7-6-1 team (that would be the Ninjas) in the first round of the playoffs.  Pete hasn't done much since then, except that last year after starting the season 0-5, he threw a scare into everyone that he might pull off a miracle worst-to-first finish, reeling off 5 straight victories to pull to 5-6-1 before fading at the end.  And there's no reason to believe he won't fall short again this year.

So enjoy your time in the limelight while it lasts, Mr. Close-But-No-Cigar.  I'll be polishing up the winner's trophy and getting Aaron's name engraved on it.

And Then there were Four

So finally the drama (such as it was) is over, and the playoff matchups are set.  Round 1 features a grudge rematch between Strike Team and Atomnation --- who fought to a tie in their only matchup this season --- and a battle between the Orion River Horses and the suddenly mortal YAC Attack.

On the one hand, I must admit it is refreshing to see some new blood in the playoffs, even though it pains me greatly to be sitting out for the first time ever.  On the other hand, I still keep expecting Pete and Taylor to both perform their annual choking ritual.  But I guess it's now guaranteed that one of them will make it to the finals.

As a reminder, as stated in the league manifesto, if a playoff game ends in a tie score, the higher-seeded team shall be declared the winner.  So Pete and Adam need clear victories in their semifinal games in order to advance to the championship round.

For the sake of posterity, I'm going to copy the final regular season standings into this here blog dealie.  I'll have other witty observations to make in my usual end-of-season rant.

1. Yac Attack: 12-2, 1070 points
2. Strike Team: 9-4-1, 921 points
3. Suspended Atomnation: 9-4-1, 911 points
4. Orion River Horses: 8-6, 872 points
5. Newnan Puttheads: 7-7, 1031 points
6. Screaming Eagles: 7-7, 817 points
7. Psychotic Ninjas: 6-8, 894 points
8. Leviathans: 6-8, 845 points
9. Golden Graham's: 6-8, 843 points
10. Merrill's Marauders: 5-8-1, 805 points
11. Team Datanator: 4-9-1, 709 points
12. Los Diablos: 3-11, 895 points

Little Drama

Man, I usually love all of the last-minute playoff scenarios, but this year there are none.

Taylor has clinched the #1 seed.  With their wins this weekend, Adam and Aaron have clinched playoff spots, with seeding to be determined by the results of next weekend's games.

With their losses this weekend, Levi and Merrill are officially done for the year.  The only remaining suspense is whether Pete or Jason claims the final playoff spot.  Pete is the prohibitive favorite, with a one-game lead and a 37-point lead in total points.  So the bottom line is, Pete goes to the playoffs unless the following three things all happen next weekend:

1. Pete loses.
2. Jason wins.
3. Jason outscores Pete by 38 points or more.

If the first two events occur, but Jason outscores Pete by exactly 37 points, then I'll have to look up the tiebreaker rules, so let's hope that doesn't happen.

Congratulations to Adam and Aaron.  Everyone else, keep striving for that weekly win!  It looks like Adam got it for the first time this week, making nine different teams who have won at least one week this year (well, Aaron only won half a week)!

With three weeks left, it's still possible for Nick, Kevin and Jason to each have their turn to spread the wealth!