Wow, what a game! Please tell me you saw that football game. Two very good teams loaded with talent battling it out, back-and-forth, until the very end. And, what a finish it was!
Congratulations to Argentina for their World Cup victory over France.
Interestingly, that football - er, soccer - game seemed to preview what would happen in some of the playoff games in our leagues. And, fittingly, one of only two starting players that started on a winning team in both leagues was...wait for it...a K. Yes, it's true. If you had Brandon McManus or Charlie Kirk in your starting lineup this week, you won.
But McManus was not the only K that impacted the Sagebrush Cactus League playoff games. No, another K was far more consequential: Graham Gano.
In the Cactus division, Baby Got Dak took their Sunday afternoon lead of 22 points over Who Is You into Sunday night with Terry McLaurin and the Commanders D/ST left to play for You. Looking at each player's projections, it appeared it would probably be a razor close finish with McLaurin projected to score 11 and Commanders D/ST projected to score 10...a total that would still leave You 1 point shy of what they needed.
Because D/ST scoring works backwards, Who Is You held the lead over Dak throughout most of the prime-time game on Sunday night. But as the game progressed, the Giants offense did just enough to chip away at the total for the Commanders D/ST leaving You with a slim lead of just 2 points as time continued to tick off the clock.
In the Sagebrush division, the Consolation Kings entered the Sunday night game trailing the Golden Tate Warriors by 9 points with only Gano remaining. Throughout the game, Gano's extra points and field goals would help the Kings claw their way back to within 2 points of the Warriors with a little more than six minutes remaining.
Leading the Commanders 17-12, the Giants sacked Heinicke and recovered a fumble with 6:06 left to play in the game and you could sense knuckles becoming white from tension as the Warriors and Who Is You both knew that this meant another opportunity for the Kings and Dak to score the points they needed to pull off the upset.
Over and over again, Saquon Barkley would sting and gash the Commanders defense, leading the Giants up the field where they eventually stalled out at the Commanders' 32 yard line, setting up a 50-yard field goal attempt with 2:00 left on the clock.
The ball was snapped, the kick was up, and as it traveled through the uprights, the hopes and dreams of a championship for the Golden Tate Warriors and Who Is You came to a crashing end. A single field goal gave the Consolation Kings and Baby Got Dak enough points to pull off the improbable and upset the higher seeded teams, advancing the underdogs to the next round.
Wow, what a finish!
I wish I had a similar story line to describe the outcome in the first round of the SCL Segundo playoffs, but I don't. Both matchups were decidedly over before the Sunday Night Football Game even started.
TJONES35 took advantage of BattleBornKid's worst performance since week 6, defeating Kid 120-84, setting up a Yucca Divisional Championship Game against The Real Slim Brady.
In the Cholla division, the Ohio State Gunkeyes tallied one of the highest scores of the week, 161 points, in their 44-point victory over a Jalenhouse Rock team that just couldn't keep up with the Gunkeyes offense. Every player on the Gunkeyes' starting lineup scored in the double-digits with the exception of their K, Harrison Butker.
It will be interesting to see what kind of role Ks play in the divisional championship games this week. Perhaps they take a backseat to the superstars at other positions. But for at least one week, they were the most important players on the field.
CHAMPIONSHIP SQUARES
Just a little more than 50% of the squares for the Championship Game remain available. You can CLICK HERE to select your squares and give yourself a chance to win $200.
GOLDEN TICKET CHALLENGE
Two weeks left and the Thundabuddies have a 198-point lead over the nearest challenger, Golden Tate Warriors. For the Warriors to have a chance at catching the Buddies, they would need Breece Hall, Ja'Marr Chase, and Justin Tucker to outscore Josh Jacobs, Justin Jefferson, and Cade York by, at least, 99 points each week for the remainder of the contest. Possible? Sure. Likely? Not even in their wildest dreams.
PIGSKIN PICK'EM CHALLENGE
Two wins are all that separate four teams racing to the finish line in this contest. With 144 correct picks, the Thundabuddies have no room for error as the Golden Tate Warriors and We're on to Cleveland! lurk just one game behind, at 143. And right behind them is Badazz Bri with 142 total correct picks. Two weeks left and this contest still looks like a toss up.
COMMISH'S PICKS
The two upsets in the Sagebrush Cactus League threw me off, leaving me with just a pair of correct picks in each league. I'm heading back to the drawing board this week to improve on my 1-3 record in playoff game picks.
Good luck in the semi-finals!
-- Commish
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