All in the Family: Playoff Preview

The BSB fantasy football league – All in the Family – is not your average fantasy football league (mostly because it’s, well, actually interesting) and has now finished the regular season and enters the playoffs this week.

Let’s give a really quick synapsis of the season and a look ahead to the playoffs this week.

Regular Season Champion/First-Round Bye:  Black Smiths (10-3)
Mirroring his real team’s season, QB Alex Smith is just simply getting the job done.  Without any real flash, the better of the only 2 QBs in the league, Alex led the Black Smiths to an incredibly improbably regular season championship.  At 10-3, they were a full 3 games better than any other team, despite being outscored by 3 of the other 5 teams, including two teams outscoring them by well more than 125+ points on the season.  But, to quote the late, great Al Davis, “Just Win, Baby.”  And, that’s what they did, and have earned a first-round bye.  Other than having a legit QB, the Smiths were bolstered by a receiving corps that came out of nowhere to become one of the best in the league.  The Cam Newton explosion brought WR Steve Smith back into elitism, while the Ravens Torrey Smith came out of nowhere to be one of the best WRs in the league.  They got very little from their RBs, but it looked like they might get a huge boost from Kevin Smith, who came out of retirement to be the feature back in Detroit, before getting hurt.  If he is healthy for the playoffs, this could be a tough team to beat.  Their defense was also VERY solid.

Second-Place, First-Round Bye:  Charlie Brown (7-6)
Erasing a two-game deficit in the final two weeks and coming from WAY behind to win the tiebreaker, Charlie Brown caught the reeling Jack-O’s for second place and the all-important first-round bye.  But, they did earn it, as the revamped Charlie Brown squad scored the most points in the league this year, led mostly by a couple of surprisingly great seasons from their RBs, Shonn Greene and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  They also have a terrific WR corps with the emergence of rookie WR A.J. Green to join established star, Roddy White.  And, now Antonio Brown is blowing up in Pittsburgh, giving Charlie Brown the league’s best trio of receivers.  The ole stalwart of the team is that they have a kicker, Josh Brown, but the defense is questionable.  This is a very good team and may be the favorite to win it all this year.

#3 Jack-O’s (7-6) vs. #6 Big Willie Style (2-11)
For about 10 weeks, it looked like the Jack-O’s would be the biggest threat (and maybe the actual favorite) to compete with the Black Smiths to win the title, but about Week 11, the wheels completely fell off and now this team enters the playoffs after blowing a seemingly insurmountable lead for the 2-seed and simply taking on water.  Their bell cow, Fred Jackson, went down with a season-ending injury around the same time that co-captain DeSean Jackson decided he didn’t like catching passes any more.  The other co-captain (and heart and soul of the team), Steven Jackson, is on a miserable team, and Vincent Jackson‘s quarterback is throwing the ball to the wrong team.  The lone bright spots on this team were QB Tavaris Jackson (who was just good enough to stay a starter – which is huge in this league), and LB D’Qwell Jackson, who has emerged as one of the best defensive players in the league.  But, the rest of the defense is terrible and without Freddy and DeSean, this team is pretty poor.

Their opponent in the first round is the disappointing Big Willie Style.  After a phenomenal season last year, Big Willie was the doormat of the league this year, winning just 2 games all year.  The breakout stars of last year just didn’t come through this year, as Cadillac Williams and Seattle’s Mike Williams took backup roles this year.  DeAngelo Williams struggled, and Tampa’s Mike Williams wasn’t as good this year either.  They have been bolstered recently by Tennessee’s WR Damian Williams, but they still are underdogs even against the reeling Jack-O’s in the first round.  But, their defense is decent, so they might be able to pull off the upset this week.

#4 The Dix (7-6) vs. #5 Football Jones and the Last-Name Crusade (6-7)
This first-round matchup is a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl, which Football Jones pulled off the monumental upset.  This year, though, it wouldn’t be as big of an upset because of the struggles of the Dix this year.  But, they are hitting their stride at just the right time and still have a shot to take the title.  The emergence of Chris Johnson is huge for the Dix, while Calvin Johnson continues to dominate.  While they are still missing Andre Johnson, there is a chance that they get a starting QB, as Josh Freeman is questionable for Tampa.  Josh Johnson is his backup.  A 6-loss season was SHOCKING for the league’s juggernaut, but they can make everyone forget about that if they can put together three good weeks to take the title.

Football Jones & the Last-Name Crusade has found it tough sledding to defend their championship, but they are still in it and ready to roll into the playoffs.  The downslide of Football Jones may be a result of the diminished roles of very important RBs Felix Jones and Thomas Jones, as opposed to last year.  But, they added a very important piece in rookie WR Julio Jones.  Adding Julio to James Jones and Jacoby Jones (and Donald Jones before a season-ending injury) gives FJ a much better WR corps this year than last.  Plus, they still have their franchise player, Maurice Jones-Drew, who is still a stud.  While the defense is still pretty poor, the rest of the league better take them out this year because there is chance that this team could start an absolute dynasty because one of the best QBs entering the draft this year is Oklahoma’s Landry Jones.

Quick Predictions (Most Likely to win the Title):
Here is, in order, my picks to take the title

1. Charlie Brown – Despite being the 2-seed, this team is red-hot and very good
2. The DIX – Still the most talented team in the league, despite 6 losses and a 4th-place finish
3. Black Smiths – Hey, they did win THREE more games than anyone else in the league, right?
4. Football Jones & the Last-Name Crusade – The defending champs have some fight in them
5. Jack-O’s – It’s hard to imagine they can actually put a run together, but they did score over 700 points this year
6. Big Willie Style – It’s been a rough year for Big Willie; they might pull off an upset, but they is probably their ceiling