Rebel Alliance: Playoff Preview

The fantasy football playoffs are upon us all, and the Rebel Alliance is no different. It's been an extremely competitive season and I think everyone has played well and tried to make the most out of whatever opportunities they've had.

I wasn't a part of the DBN community last year so I have no idea how the standings from this season compare. That being said, Badass Honey Badgers never had more than a single consecutive loss and Wolf Pack went on a rampage in Week 3, winning every game up until Week 12.

Here's the way things turned out:

I have no idea how I made the playoffs outside of sheer luck and creative waiver wire moves. I really don't. I went with a draft strategy of getting playmakers at WR and RB positions first. My 1st round pick was Andre Johnson and we all know what happened with him this year. Stevie Johnson has struggled off and on, and Hakeem Nicks has been relatively productive but he too has battled injuries. Ahmad Bradshaw was out for a month and has been ineffective in the 2 games he's played since returning, and I've cycled through James Starks, Jackie Battle, OMGBanana, and Donald Brown at RB. The list gets even longer at WR.

I've cycled through a QB carousel that would makes the Browns jealous. I've used Freeman, Rex Grossman, Tim Tebow, Vince Young, Curtis Painter, Andy Dalton, and most recently, Carson Palmer. Hindsight being 20/20, I should have stuck with Tebow as far as points go, but I wasn't a believer back then. I'm still not.

At any rate, I scraped and clawed my way to the playoffs and I'm glad to be here, but all signs point to me being a one-and-done.

#1 Badass Honey Badgers (I don't know this persons DBN name) vs. #4 Dawg Eat Dawg (The Licensed Optimist)

I won the waiver wire battle for Felix Jones, but that's where the good news ends for me. All signs point to Andre Johnson not playing this week, so maybe Owen Daniels will be more involved, but Houston is playing Carolina and they have a run defense that is worse than the Browns. I expect this to be an Arian Foster and Ben Tate show with little emphasis on the passing game. I could be wrong, as Cam Newton is still playing at a high level and could force T.J. Yates to air it out, but I'm up against Steve Smith too, which makes that a moot point. Add Wes Welker and Jordy Nelson (with no Greg Jennings due to his injury) and I don't see any hope of a win this week and I haven't even covered the running backs. Still, I beat the odds to get here and I just might beat them again.

#2 Wolf Pack (I don't know this persons DBN name) vs. #3 The Hard Corps II (I don't know this persons DBN name either)

I see this game being very close. Matt Stafford has been relatively solid all season. The same Can't be said for Mark Sanchez, who has had three single digit games and one game where he finished with negative 1.94 points. The QB advantage definitely goes to The Hard Corps II. Victor Cruz, Marques Colston and Calvin Johnson are quite the formidable trio of receivers and are all up against weaker pass defenses. Anquan Boldin and Percy Harvin should fare well, but I expect DeSean Jackson to be shut down by Revis, so Wolf Pack gets the edge there. Steven Jackson is coming off 3 single digit performances in the last 4 weeks and Lesean McCoy could find little room to run against the Jets, and that gives the RB edge to The Hard Corps II. TEs and kickers are relatively equal, and the edge on defense goes to Wolf Pack who has Cincy going up against St. Louis, the worst offense in football. I have no idea who to call here, but I'll go with my gut and say The Hard Corps II pulls off the upset.

Congratulations and good luck to everyone who got to this point in all three leagues, and I bet the consolation brackets will be competitive as well, even if you do end up with (much) less reason to brag.