BSB NFL Playoff Challenge: Wild Card Results

One round in the books, and the BSB NFL Playoff Challenge is off and running.  I know that the fans of the Cardinals and Packers may think that that one amazing play by the Arizona defense had major ramifications for their teams, but the real ramifications came down on this BSB Challenge.  There were absolutely humongous swings of fortune in this challenge because of the Arizona victory.  In fact, that game coupled with the big swing in the Baltimore – New England game, may prove to be the difference-maker for the whole Challenge.  Anyway, here are our standings after the Wild Card Round.  We will preview the Divisional Round later in the week.  [NOTE:  when listing the teams lost below, a * indicates a “most trusted” team and a ^ indicates a “least trusted” team]

LEADERS:
Waters – 24
Bry – 23
Doogan – 21
Josh – 20
Ina – 17
David – 17
Scott – 16
O’Neill – 15
Alexi – 11

POINTS LOST:
Josh – 19
Waters – 20
Scott – 21
David – 22
Doogan – 22
O’Neill – 22
Bry – 24
Alexi – 26
Ina – 27

1). Waters.  (24 points, +4 differential)
Waters rode the big 8-spot he gave to Baltimore to an early lead in the Challenge.  He did lose, however, two of his “most trusted” teams in Cincinnati and Green Bay, but 4 other people also had the Pack at 9, and Waters had Arizona at 5, so that loss doesn’t hurt him nearly as much as it does for others.  He also had the Pats and Eagles as “least trusted,” so those losses were gains for Waters.  All in all, a VERY solid first-round for Waters, who is in a pretty good position moving forward.

Jets over Cincy* = -2
Dallas over Philly^ = +4
B’more* over NE^ = +6
Zona over GB* = – 4

Points Lost:  20
Teams Lost:  GB (9), Cincy (6), Philly (3), NE (2)

2). Bry.  (23 points, -1 differential)
A decent performance for Bry could have been devastating for the competition if Green Bay had beaten Arizona.  That loss brings him right back to the pack.  Bry did lose 24 of his points, though, as he had both Dallas and Philly as a “most trusted” team, so we’ll see if there are enough points out there to get him to the top.

Jets* over Cincy:  +1
Dallas* over Philly*:  +2
B’more over NE:  +3
Zona over GB*:  -7

Points Lost:  24
Teams Lost:  GB* (9), Philly* (8), Cincy (4), NE (3)

3). Doogan.  (21 points, -1 differential)
Doogan got the one thing that he really needed if he is going to win this thing, and that is a Cardinals victory.  He is the only one that made points with that win, and his 7 for Arizona is much higher than anyone else has them, so if they can keep rolling, they might take him to a victory.  In fact, if New England had been able to knock off Baltimore, Doogan would have had a monstrous first round and would be the one everyone was chasing.  But, the loss of the 9-spot New England is tough and makes the Cardinals run even more important for Doogan’s chances in the Challenge.

Jets over Cincy = -1
Dallas* over Philly = +4
B’more over NE* = -6
Zona* over GB^ = +2

Points Lost:  22
Teams Lost:  NE (9), Philly (6), GB (5), Cincy (2)

4), Josh.  (20 points, +1 differential)
Though currently sitting in 4th place, Josh is actually in a very good spot here, as other than the leader, Waters, he is the only one who actually had a positive weekend, as he gained more points than he lost.  The Baltimore win did hurt him moving forward, as he lost his 8-team in New England, but the Jets win was huge for him.  Josh has his top ranked teams all playing in separate games this week (and is one of only two entries that didn’t lose a 9 this week), so he is primed to possibly take command of this Challenge.

Jets* over Cincy^ = +4
Dallas* over Philly = +6
B’more over NE = -6
Zona over GB = -3

Points Lost:  19
Teams Lost:  NE (8), GB (6), Philly (4), Cincy (1)

5t). Ina.  (17 points, -10 differential)
There is good news and bad news for Ina.  She did well and is well within striking distance of the leaders, but her margin for error has severely shrunk, as she lost some pretty important teams this weekend.  If Ina doesn’t recover to win this Challenge, she may look back at Wild Card Sunday as the day that did her in.  Losing Green Bay was tough, but New England was even tougher.

Jets^ over Cincy = -4
Dallas* over Philly = +4
B’more over NE* = -5
Zona over GB = -5

Points Lost:  27
Teams Lost:  NE (9), GB (7), Philly (6), Cincy (5)

5t). David.  (17 points, -5 differential)
David’s fortunes, like several entries, took a big hit Sunday night, when the Cards knocked off Green Bay.  Other than that, David didn’t take any real big hits, and the Jets beating Cincy definitely helped him a good amount.  David is in a decent position moving forward, but he has a little ground to make up.

Jets* over Cincy^ = +4
Dallas over Philly* = -1
B’more over NE = -2
Zona over GB* = -6

Points Lost:  22
Teams Lost:  GB (9), Philly (8), NE (4), Cincy (1)

7). Scott.  (16 points, -5 differential)
Despite having three of the four games go against him and currently sitting in 7th place, Scott in actually still in a pretty nice position.  He lost his 7, his 6, and his 5, but he is the only entry left that still has its top 5 ranked teams still alive.  Josh lost his 8, and everyone else lost their 9s, but Scott still has all of his top 5 teams still alive, so he’s poised to make a move.

Jets^ over Cincy = -2
Dallas over Philly = +2
B’more over NE = -4
Zona over GB^ = -1

Points Lost:  21
Teams Lost:  Philly (7), NE (6), GB (5), Cincy (3)

8). O’Neill.  (15 points, -7 differential)
It wasn’t good, but certainly could have been worse for O’Neill.  He definitely minimized his losses in the Saturday games, which allowed him to take the big hits on Sunday and hold on to an outside shot at a comeback.  Though the losses by New England and Green Bay make it so he is going to need everything to fall his way from here on out.

Jets* over Cincy = +3
Dallas over Philly = +2
B’more over NE = -4
Zona^ over GB* = -8

Points Lost:  22
Teams Lost:  GB (9), NE (7), Philly (4), Cincy (2)

9). Alexi.  (11 points, -15 differential)
Certainly a tough weekend for Alexi.  The wins were by his 1, 2, 3, and 5 teams, so he was only 1 point better than the lowest possible score.  The one silver lining is that he saved his real big-ticket teams for the second weekend, so he still has some points to throw around, but this weekend will be hard to recover from for one of the more accomplished BSB Challenge participants.

Jets over Cincy = -2
Dallas^ over Philly = -2
B’more^ over NE = -5
Zona over GB* = -6

Points Lost:  26
Teams Lost:  GB (9), Philly (7), NE (6), Cincy (4)