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By Steven Van Tassell (@SteveVT33)
The NFL standings after Week 13 had 11 teams sitting in the lead or tied for the lead in their division. In the AFC, Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Kansas City each led their respective divisions outright, while Tennessee and Indianapolis sat tied for first place in the AFC South. In the NFC, Green Bay and New Orleans had outright leads, while New York and Washington were tied at the top of the NFC East, while out in the NFC West, Seattle and Los Angeles were tied.
After Week 14, the top of the standings hadn’t changed much as 10 out of those 11 teams were still in at least a tie for first place. While Pittsburgh and New Orleans both lost, neither team fell out of first place. Eight of the other first place teams won to maintain their grip on at least a share of the lead in their division. Only the New York Giants lost and fell out of first place in their division.
It’s a little bit different in Dynasty Owner because it’s the playoffs. While bye weeks for the top two teams in every Dynasty Owner league ensures that the teams with the best records are still alive in their quest for a League Championship, a couple of teams at the top of the Chase for the Ring standings finished outside of the top two in their League. As a result, they had to battle an opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
As we see in the NFL, being in first place in your division is no guarantee of a Week 14 victory. Pittsburgh lost to another first place team in Buffalo, while New Orleans was upset by Philadelphia. Similarly, being in the Top 25 in the Chase for the Ring standings was no guarantee of a first round playoff victory. Just ask Hingle McCringleberry. The 14th ranked team overall after the regular season went down to defeat in the first round of the playoffs (losing a nail biter to Hot Mess by a score of 152.7 to 152.3).
Our Dynasty Owner Player of the Week had a great performance in Week 14 that helped his team stay at the top of their division. For this first round of the playoffs edition of the Dynasty Owner weekly recap, we’ll name the Player of the Week, the Value Player of the Week and also highlight a player at every position who should have been one of your Starters and one who should have been on your Bench or Practice Squad. We’ll also find out if Seth won his playoff game that was featured as our Dynasty Owner Match-up of the Week. We’ll also look at the new Chase for the Ring standings featuring only teams still alive for their League Championship and see if any changes that occurred in the Top 10.
All stats are based on the Standard Dynasty Owner scoring system as outlined in the updated Dynasty Owner Constitution. Standard Dynasty Owner scoring gives you .1 points for every yard rushing or receiving, .1 point for every 2 yards passing, 1 point per reception, 6 points for a rushing, receiving or passing touchdown and 2 points for a successful 2-point conversion (rushing, receiving, or passing). Interceptions or fumbles lost cost you 3 points, while a fumble that is recovered by the player’s team is a loss of only 1 point. Bonus points are available for 100-199 yards rushing (2 points), 200 yards rushing or receiving (6 points), 300-399 yards passing (1 point) and 400 yards passing (4 points). There is also a 3 point bonus for clutch scoring, which is a score that results in a lead change in the final two minutes of the 4th quarter or overtime. Kickoff and punt return touchdowns are worth 6 points for the player and kickoff and punt returns are worth 1 point for every 40 yards.
Standard Dynasty Owner scoring for kickers gives you 1 point for every extra point, while a missed extra point will cost you 1 point. It’s 2 points for a field goal of between 0 and 39 yards, 4 points for a field goal between 40 and 49 yards and 5 points for a field goal of 50 yards or longer. A missed field goal of between 0 and 39 yards will cost you 3 points, while a miss of 40 yards or more is a loss of 2 points.
For the purposes of this article, ADP and Dynasty Owner ownership statistics were current as of December 15th.
Dynasty Owner Player of the Week
Our first 2020 playoff Dynasty Owner Player of the Week is: Derrick Henry
For the second time this season, Derrick Henry of the first place Tennessee Titans topped 200 yards to receive the 6 point bonus. Not coincidentally, it was also the second time that he has been named the Dynasty Owner Player of the Week. Back in Week 6 against Houston, Henry ran for 212 yards and 2 rushing TDs, including the game-winner in overtime, plus 2 receptions for 52 yards to score 49.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. This week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Henry had three more yards (215) but fewer receiving yards and 42.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (215 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs, 2 receptions, 7 receiving yards). He also had more than 40.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (40.5) two weeks ago against the Indianapolis Colts. That’s one game of over 40.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points against each team in the division for Henry. A division that he has helped his team to sits on top of along with Indianapolis.
- Week 14 Points: 42.2
- 2020 Salary: $10,278,000
- Cost per Point: $243,555
Congratulations Derrick on winning your second Dynasty Owner Player of the Week honor of the 2020 season and helping your team stay in a tie for first place!
Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week
Because this is Dynasty Owner and we’re all looking for value from the players on our roster, we also have the Value Player of the Week. The first 2020 playoff Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week is: Russell Gage
Gage was a trendy sleeper pick in Dynasty Owner this year after a finishing up the second half of the 2019 season strong. It’s the combination of being the #3 receiver in Atlanta with Matt Ryan at QB for the Falcons offense along with a very friendly contract of $654,049 that runs through the 2021 season. This week, he had his best performance of 2020 with 21.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (5 receptions, 82 receiving yards, 39 passing yards, 1 passing TD). The 21.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points was the fewest number of points scored by a Value Player of the Week in 2020 as well as less than any player who won the honor in 2019.
- Week 14 Points: 21.1
- 2020 Salary: $654,049
- Cost per Point: $30,998
Congratulations Russell on your first Dynasty Owner Value Player of the Week honor.
Players Who Should Have Been Starters This Week
Next, we look at those players who should have been one of your Starters based on their performance in Week 14. We aren’t going to write that you should have started Derrick Henry because barring injury or bye week, he should always be in your Starting lineup. Instead, these are players who might normally be on your Bench or Practice Squad, but likely weren’t Starters in Week 14 when they should have been.
QB: Drew Lock (DEN) – 34.4 points
Inconsistency is only thing consistent about Drew Lock’s 2020 season. He’s played in 10 games, scored 163.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points this season and currently ranks as the #28 QB in Dynasty Owner. He has had three games of less than 10.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points, three games of more than 30.0 points and four games with between 10.0 and 20.0 points. This week, Lock turned in one of his good performances as he had 34.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (280 passing yards, 4 passing TDs, 4 rushing yards, 2 fumbles – 1 lost). This came on the heels of three poor performances in which he averaged 11.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (he missed the Week 12 game along with all of the other Denver QBs). Lock and his $1.75 million annual salary is owned in every Dynasty Owner league, but after those three bad performances, there were likely few Dynasty Owners who dared to put him in their Starting lineup when they should have done so.
Honorable mention to Mitchell Trubisky who had almost as many Dynasty Owner fantasy points as Lock (33.6) and sits right behind Lock in the QB rankings at #29 even though he has only started six games this year. Despite getting benched after winning the first three games of the season for Chicago, he is still owned in 80% of Dynasty Owner leagues. This week, he had 33.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (267 passing yards, 3 passing TDs, 23 rushing yards). That’s his second best performance of 2020 and one that made him worthy of being in your Dynasty Owner Starting lineup.
RB: Cam Akers (LAR) – 23.4 points
With an ADP of 34.6, Cam Akers was expected to be doing better than being the #49 ranked RB after 14 weeks of the 2020 season. As his Dynasty Owners could likely tell you, it was frustrating to see him put up an average of 3.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game over the first ten games of the season and seemingly being the third RB for the Rams. However, after ripping off a 61 yard run in Week 12 against San Francisco, Akers has been the lead RB for the Rams and a welcome addition to the Starting RB mix for his Dynasty Owners. He is averaging 18.1 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game over the past three weeks, including a career high 23.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (171 rushing yards, 2 receptions, 23 receiving yards) in Week 14. That performance helped the Rams to a win over the Patriots on Thursday Night, a win that allowed them to stay in a tie for the lead in their division. Akers is looking like a must Start player in the Dynasty Owner playoffs after Week 14. Hopefully he was in your Starting lineup this week and your team advanced.
Honorable mention to Gus Edwards of Baltimore who had 18.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (49 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs, 1 reception, 4 receiving yards) in Baltimore’s wild Monday Night Football victory over the Browns. That’s a season best performance for another RB stuck on a team with two other quality RBs. The two TDs were unexpected and probably didn’t help too many Dynasty Owners, unless they were smart enough to predict this performance from Edwards and had him in their Starting lineup.
WR: K.J. Hamler (DEN) – 22.6 points
For the second week in a row, we had someone with a very efficient week of two receptions for two TDs. Last week, it was Dan Arnold of the Arizona Cardinals, while this week, it was K.J. Hamler of the Denver Broncos. Hamler had 2 receptions for 86 receiving yards and 2 receiving TDs (22.6 Dynasty Owner fantasy points) in the Broncos 32-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers. That’s a season high for the 21 year old rookie receiver from Penn State and possibly a preview of things to come in the future between himself and QB Drew Lock. It was his best game of the year and his Dynasty Owners probably weren’t expecting it this week, so they likely didn’t have him in their Starting lineup.
TE: Irv Smith Jr. (MIN) – 16.3 points
Bigger things were expected this season from Irv Smith Jr. than he has produced for his Dynasty Owners. Smith was drafted pretty high as his ADP of 132.9 made him the 13th TE drafted on average. However, he is only the #33 ranked TE for the season in Dynasty Owner, even after his 16.3 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance (4 receptions, 63 receiving yards, 1 receiving TD) in Week 14. Injuries caused him to sit out three of the past four weeks. Even though he was expected to be productive with fellow TE Kyle Rudolph out, his Dynasty Owners can be forgiven if they didn’t want to include him in their playoff Starting lineup this week and left him on the Bench.
K: Greg Zuerlein (DAL) – 12.0 points
On average, Zuerlein was the fourth kicker off the board in Dynasty Owner drafts this year. The combination of his strong leg (that’s why his nickname is Greg the Leg), the high-powered Dallas offense behind Dak Prescott and a lower than average salary of $2.5 million annually made attractive to Dynasty Owners who picked their kicker on the early side of the draft. However, he’s been very shaky on the longer FG attempts this year, making only one out of six attempts from 50 yards or longer in the Dynasty Owner regular season. He came through this week, nailing a 55 yard FG, plus two other FGs from 39 yards or less (20 and 34 yards) and 3 PATs to be the highest scoring kicker of the week with 12.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. Hopefully his Dynasty Owner stuck with him and kept him in their Starting lineup despite Zuerlein being ranked outside of the top 12 kickers prior to the start of the Dynasty Owner playoffs.
Players Who Should Have Been on the Bench or Practice Squad
For every player who should have been one of your Starters but wasn’t, we have at least one high drafted or high ranked player who probably was in your Starting lineup but would have been better left on your Bench or Practice Squad. Here are some likely Starters who scored few, none or negative Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week, so they should have been riding your Dynasty Owner Bench or hanging out on the Practice Squad in the first round of the playoffs.
QB: Matt Ryan (ATL) – 8.5 points
Matt Ryan has played some of his worst football since the Falcons bye week. In the four games since going on bye, Ryan has only averaged 12.35 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game. Turnovers have been an issue as he had 7 turnovers (5 INTs, 2 fumbles – 1 lost) in the first nine games of the season and 7 of them (6 INTs and 1 fumble – lost) in the last four games. In the first week of the Dynasty Owner playoffs, Ryan only had 8.5 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (224 passing yards, 1 passing TD, 3 rushing yards, 3 INTs). Hopefully you heeded the warning signs from the previous couple of weeks and left Ryan on your Bench.
RB: James Conner (PIT) – 0.8 points
After missing the past two games, Dynasty Owners with James Conner on their team were likely happy to have him back for the first round of the playoffs. He had averaged 13.9 Dynasty Owner fantasy points per game in the Steelers’ first ten games before going on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Unfortunately for everyone who relied on him to return to that form after the time off, Conner went out and put up his worst performance of the year with just 0.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (18 rushing yards, 1 fumble). Even after this poor performance, he’s still ranked as the #24 RB in Dynasty Owner, so he’s still your RB2 or FLEX starter if you advanced in your playoffs or Loser bracket tournament. However, in the first round of both of those, he should have been on your Bench.
WR: Corey Davis (TEN) – 3.4 points
Three WRs (Davante Parker, Mike Williams, Deebo Samuel) who could have potentially been in your Starting lineup had poor performances this week, but all three of them were injured and therefore, not eligible for this spot. One week after his best game of the season (35.2 Dynasty Owner fantasy points against Cleveland in Week 13), Corey Davis was likely in the Starting lineup for plenty of his Dynasty Owners since he was facing the Jacksonville defense. Unfortunately for them, Davis had his second worse game of the season with only 3.4 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (3 receptions, 34 receiving yards, 1 fumble – lost). He should have been on your Dynasty Owner Bench, not in the Starting lineup.
TE: Hayden Hurst (ATL) – 1.7 points
Just like Matt Ryan, Hurst hasn’t scored a lot of Dynasty Owner fantasy points since the Falcons’ bye week. He only scored 10.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points in the first three games after their bye and added just 1.7 Dynasty Owner fantasy points (1 reception, 7 receiving yards) in Week 14. He has finally fallen out of the top 12 TEs now as he’s the #15 TE in Dynasty Owner after this week. Hopefully his Dynasty Owners had a better option to go with and had Hurst on their Bench or Practice Squad.
K: Brandon McManus (DEN) – 0.0 points
If you consider Sunday the start of the week, then it’s been a pretty miserable week so far for Brandon McManus. And it’s only Tuesday. First, he missed two PAT attempts on Sunday, while making two others to score his Dynasty Owners exactly 0.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week. Then on Monday, he announced that he would be heading to the reserve/COVID-19 list because of close contact with someone infected.
Dishonorable mention to Graham Gano of the New York Giants. Gano had been a pleasant surprise at kicker for his Dynasty Owner this season up until this week when the Giants offense only produced one TD and no FG attempts for him. He made the kick, but the 1.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy point performance was his worst of the year. Hopefully concerns about the Giants offense led his Dynasty Owners to leave Gano on the Bench this week.
Special dishonorable mention to Dan Bailey. After missing three kicks in Week 13, Bailey was at it again in Week 14. If you had him in your Starting lineup, you probably know that he ended up with -8.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points after missing all three of his FG attempts (36, 46 and 54 yards) plus his only PAT attempt. That’s seven missed kicks in the crucial final week of the regular season and first round of the playoffs for Bailey’s Dynasty Owners. His ownership is high at 79% so plenty of you have him on your rosters. If you haven’t done it already then banish Bailey to your Bench or Practice Squad.
Dynasty Owner Matchup of the Week Recap –
Girthquake vs. CLE Piggy Pauls
The improbable late season and playoff run by Seth and CLE Piggy Pauls continues as they took out Girthquake by a score of 135.7-129.4 in the first round of the Dynasty Owner playoffs. It was a clean sweep of the season series for the CLE Piggy Pauls as they defeated Girthquake twice in the regular season in addition to their playoff victory.
After starting the season at 1-3, Seth ripped off four straight victories before a loss in Week 9 to sit at 5-4 on the season. They got back on the winning track in Week 10 and haven’t lost since then, even after losing their starting QB Joe Burrow to injury in Week 11.
Girthquake had the Player of the Week Derrick Henry and Value Player of the Week Russell Gage on their roster but CLE Piggy Pauls had balance with four players in their Starting lineup scoring over 20.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points. As a result, Seth advances to the playoff semi-finals in the Crossroads League to face Dynasty Owner Tim while Girthquake’s 2020 Dynasty Owner season is over.
Chase for the Ring Leaderboard
If these standings look familiar, it’s because there has been little change in our Top 10 over the past week. It’s all of the same teams with just wanna win moving ahead of All Might into third place. Of course, it’s because all of the teams in the Top 10 had first round playoff byes, but half of them put up more than 190.0 Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week (with another team just missing out with 189.2) to maintain their Chase position. However, there has been a slight bit of tightening of Barbee Kilgore’s lead over all of the Top 10 except second place Quaranteed for Greatness. Barbee Kilgore scored 163.8 Dynasty Owner fantasy points this week, but everyone else in the Top 10 just scored more and closed the gap slightly.
Conclusions
The lack of changes at the top of the Chase for the Ring standings after the first round of the playoffs (as well as the Loser’s bracket tournament) was not a huge surprise. We did lose one Top 25 team, but with everyone playing this week and all of the playoff teams trying to win their League championship, we should have some more movement as only two out of twelve team per League can remain in the Chase.
The NFL schedule appears to have stabilized and so the regular Tuesday recap and Friday preview articles are on tap. Please read the Week 15 preview article to see how my Week 14 recommendations did and who should be a Starter and who should be on your Bench in the playoffs and loser’s bracket tournament semi-finals. We will have an article on Championship Sleepers and Rookie Rankings from Matt Morrison – The Jerk (@Dynastyjerk) coming on Wednesday as well. Two more weeks without transactions means that we won’t have the regular weekly look at Free Agent Auction targets from Jay Poundsee (@jaypoundsnfl), but he’ll be back. Be sure to follow all of us plus Dynasty Owner (@Dynasty_Owner) on Twitter to read what we’re writing and tweeting.
The podcast series with myself and Dynasty Owner CEO Tim Peffer goes live at 1 PM on Wednesday. If you can’t make it live, then watch or listen anytime on the Dynasty Owner YouTube channel. You can catch up with older videos and tutorials there as well. Subscribe as well to receive notifications and make sure to “Like” all of the videos to help promote them. Dynasty Owner has 569 subscribers on YouTube right now and we thank everyone who has subscribed already. All of this great content is available to help you win your semi-finals matchup and continue your quest to make your way into the Top 25 in the Chase for the Ring standings.
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