Joe Namath Rehab Center 2013 Playoffs: Finals

Joe Namath Rehab Center 2013 Playoffs: Finals

#2 FastFurious&Fried (10-4) – Dan Lauth

@ #1 Boley’s Day Care  (12-2) – Dennis Egan

PROBABLE STARTERS

Pos.	Lauth	Egan	Advantage
QB	Ryan Fitzpatrick (@Jax)	Drew Brees (@Car)	Egan
WR1	Eric Decker (@Hou)	Pierre Garcon (Dal)	Egan
WR2	Josh Gordon (@NYJ)	Jordy Nelson (Pitt)	Lauth
RB1	Eddy Lacy (Pitt)	Matt Forte (@Phi)	Egan
RB2	Frank Gore (Atl)	DeMarco Murray (@Wash)	Egan
TE	Jason Witten (@Wash)	Coby Fleener (@KC)	Lauth
K	Phil Dawson (Atl)	Blair Walsh (@Cin)	PUSH
D	Cleveland (@NYJ)	Tennessee (@Jax)	PUSH

HOW THEY GOT HERE:

            Lauth topped Tannenbaum by over 22 points (75.74-53.34) en route to the finals.  He received at least ten points from five different guys, including a team-high 17 from Dawson.  Conversely, Tannenbaum got ten points from just two guys and once again had his defense produce negative points.

            Egan survived his match-up with Williams, winning 77.22-69.54.  Brees, Garcon and Carolina’s D each scored 14 points or more for Egan.  Both had busts in their lineups.  Fleener failed to score for Egan, while Alfred Morris got Williams a grand total of 0.74 points.      

WHY LAUTH COULD WIN:

            Lauth has some explosive receivers and they could be in for huge days considering their competition.  Denver against Houston’s defense is a superb match-up, while Cleveland should find it hard to run on the Jets and should be forced to air it out.  Gordon is arguably as good as it gets right now and has shown the ability to go for 30-40 points.

            Some may think that Lacy’s value would be diminished should Rodgers return, however I think it would help him.  The Steelers would not be able to bring as many defenders into the box and the running lanes would be open.  Gore, while he has somewhat disappeared over the last few weeks and has just one touchdown in his last six games, has a good match-up at home.  A ton of yards won’t be needed if he can pick up two one-yard TD runs.

            At first Lauth had Jason Campbell at quarterback.  Fortunately for him he has awakened from that coma and has switched to Fitzpatrick.  The match-up is good I guess, but I would be far pressed to bet an $800 payday on him.  Regardless, it is obvious that Lauth is against rolling with Luck at KC.  I can see his thought process and would be pulling my hair out all week trying to decide who to go with.

WHY EGAN COULD WIN:

            Egan has been banging his head against a wall as well with his quarterback decision.  I received a text a few days ago with pleads to help talk him off the ledge.

Egan’s conundrum is Brees at Carolina, Cutler at Philly or Foles versus Chicago.  The first person I would rule out is Cutler.  Sure he can throw for a few TDs, but he can also turn the ball over at a pretty good clip.  Plus, with having Forte as well, I feel as if Egan would be putting a lot of stock in the Bears’ offense on the road.

A lot of fantasy ‘experts’ have Foles ranked higher than Brees this week based primarily on the match-ups, but I couldn’t for the life of me bring myself to bench Brees in any scenario.  My dad and I have owned Brees and Rodgers in another league over the past three years and never benched them for any match-up.  However, we also never had a backup QB as hot and with as good of a match-up as Egan has in Foles right now.  I could see going with Foles, but I would not be able to live with myself if I were to lose and Brees had a big day on my bench.

Garcon, Forte and Murray should all produce good days for Egan.  The difference-makers will be Nelson and Fleener (or Eifert).  If Rodgers plays then Nelson immediately becomes a WR1.  What Fleener or Eifert will do is anyone’s guess.

A lot will ride on the kickers and defenses as well.  A ten-point difference in kicker or defensive scoring helps a boat load.  That difference quickly negates three touchdowns from the other team’s skill players.  While I called both a push, I mainly did so with the admission that predicting either’s stats would be impossible.  Still, they could go a long way in deciding the championship.

WHO WINS:

            At this point, with it being a one-week scenario, anything can happen.  I can pick one guy for whatever reason and the other could easily win for the same exact reason.  Because of that, I am not going to make a pick this week.

I like Egan and Lauth both as friends and people, but also hate them for fantasy reasons at the same time (Egan defeated me in both baseball leagues this past fall, while Lauth has seemed to have my number since joining a bunch of our leagues).