CFFL Week 14 and Playoff Preview

 The regular season has come to an end and now it is onto the playoffs.  The North will be sending 2 teams to the playoffs; the number 1 seed Wrecking Crew and the Animals.  The East will be sending three teams, of course.  The Cocktails, Krauts and Sinistars.  The West are sending two teams, the Killers and the Whales again, and the South are sending just one team per usual, the Titans.  Two new teams (Animals and Titans) in the playoffs while the rest were in the playoffs last year.  The Chislers and Dragons were the teams they replaced.

But before we take a look at the first round of the playoffs, let's take a look at what transcribed in the final week of the regular season...

Wrecking Crew 36  Animals 21 - The Crew were down 21-12 going into Monday night, but they were not very worried having Murray, Conner and GAY!  Well thankfully Conner scored twice and Gay kicked 12 more since Murray was held scoreless in the win.  The Crew win their 9th division title and 19th playoff appearance (3rd trip in a row).  This will be the Animals 9th trip to the playoffs.

Conner scores twice in the win!

Chislers 41  Ferrets 30 - Ferrets gave the Chislers all they had with 12 big points from Justin Herbert and had a 30-29 lead going into Monday night.  However Chislers had Ram WRs Jefferson and Kupp vs. Ferret WR "Captain" Kirk.  Both Jefferson and Kupp would score and Kirk would not.  Chislers needed to win to hopefully get in the playoffs, but also needed the Sinistars and Legion to lose.  Legion lost, but Sinistars did not.  This is only the second time the Chislers have missed the playoffs in the past 13 years! 

Allen scored 14 points for the Chislers

Dragons 33  Killer Bees 25 - Dragons got some satisfaction by defeating the hated Bees and preventing them from making the playoffs.  They were led by a 10 point connection from Wilson to Lockett and 10 points from Justin "Mother" Tucker.  Dragons then survived late scores by Aaron Jones Sunday night.  It was an otherwise disappointing season for the Dragons who were expecting big things from Wilson and Lockett but never really took off.  Last year they won the South. 

Wilson and Locket connect for a 10 point connection

Titans 38  Warbirds 15 - Finally the Titans played like they actually wanted to win the South!  They were able to get 6 points from both Tannehill and Barkley and then 12 huge points from Davante Adams.  This is the Titans very first division title since entering the league in 2007 and only their 2nd playoff appearance.  The Whirlybirds were let down by Lamar Jackson all year and in the final week of the season he had ZERO points.

Adams gets in the end zone twice for Titans!

Cocktails 32  Juggernauts 19 - The Cocktails managed to capture the Eastern Bloc with their win over the Juggernauts and this was without Taylor who was on a bye.  They got 12 points late from Stafford plus 6 points from their Tennessee Defense.  This is the Cocktails 2nd division title (2019) and their 6th  playoff trip (4th in a row) since entering the league in 2014.  Since 2005, the Juggs continue to listen to the false propaganda that is spread by the Krauts, missing the playoffs for the 6th straight year. 

Stafford led the Cocktails to victory!

Sinistars 59  Krauts 33 - The Sinistars took care of business by defeating the Krauts and making the playoffs. They were led by their Bronco Duo Backfield of Gordon and Williams.  I mean why not?  If you have two RBs that get pretty much equal play, why not play both and each time they make it to the red zone one of them will be in.  And that was the case this week as they both scored twice!  Kraut QB Rodgers threw for 16 points but didn't get much help elsewhere on the team.  This will be the Krauts 14th playoff appearance and 5th in a row since entering the league in 2002.  This is the Sinistars 7th playoff appearance in a row and 12th since entering the league in 2005!

These two combined for 24 points!

 Crush 62  Legion 44 - Wow!  The Crush lit up the scoreboard to finish an otherwise miserable season. 4 players scored 12 points each!  CEH and Najee Harris both scored twice and Ja'Marr Chase had 12 points along with kicker Cairo Santos "Todd Chontos".  This ended the Legions run for the playoffs, who just needed to win to get in the playoffs.  The Crush have missed the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row.   

Harris scores twice for Crush, but wishes he was
with the Crew and in the playoffs...

Killers 41  Whales 22 - The Killers thumped the Whales to win the West for their second division title in a row.  Tom Brady scored 14 points including another 10 point connection to Mike Evans.  They managed to survive the early games where the Whales had Mahomes and Hill going and they only had a total of 8 points.  The interesting thing is the Killers will have to try to do it again in the first round and Whales will be looking for some revenge.  This is both teams' 2nd consecutive playoff trip and the Killers 3rd overall.  

Brady passes for 14 points

Player of the Week:  Aaron Rodgers, QB, Krauts - 16 points

1st Round Playoff Preview:

Stamm's Sinistars (8-6) at R.C. Wrecking Crew (12-2)

The Crew enter the playoffs as the number 1 seed and the top scoring team in the CFFL led by Kyler
Murray and the draft pick of the year, 6th round pick James Conner who has 16 TDs on the season!  Damien Williams is no slouch in the back field either.  A very strong group of WRs include Lamb, Deebo "Dabo Sweeny" Samuel, Metcalf (who hasn't scored since being traded to the Crew) and Mike Williams.  Plus Dawson Knox and Pittman.  Matt GAY! is the 2nd highest scoring kicker.

Sinistars will roll out their Bronco Backs again and are a threat every week to rack up some points.  They have two of the best TEs in Kelce and Kittle and lately Kittle has been a monster.  He will need to be one to give the Sinistars a chance.  Weak point is probably QB and has been all year.  Mac Jones and Derek Carr are the QBs and it will be interesting to see who gets the start Sunday.

These two teams met in Week 11 with the Sinistars getting the upset win 27-21 with a Murray-less Crew team.  This game might not be that easy for the Sinistars as it appears Crew are 100% and the likelyhood of the Bronco Backs scoring 24 points is slim.

Line: Crew -8

While the Crew will likely win, I would take the points and the Sinistars in a closer game than anticipated.

Monterey Bay Whales (8-6) at Cam's Killers (10-4)

The Killers were the second highest scoring team and will face the Whales in what is quickly becoming quite the rivalry in their short time in the league.  Killers key to success is certainly Tom Brady and his connection to Mike Evans that is a deadly 10 point connection.  But you can't forget RB Joe Mixon who, until last week, was on a streak of consecutive weeks scoring a TD.  They will have Jake Elliot back kicking in this game, but Deonte Harris will still be on suspension which is a blow to their passing game.

The Whales are led by Mahomes and Hill, which can be one of the most deadly 10 connections in the league.  However as of late it hasn't been past 4 weeks.  But when they do get it going they really get it going and have two games of double digit 10 point connections.  Outside of that the Whales have struggled to find consistent production.  Hunt is hurt and the team is made up of a lot of back up RBs.  Hubbard is a starter but he is no McCaffery.  

Last week Killers defeated Whales 41-22 but in Week 1 the Whales were victorious 39-31.  It's Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes.  Kind of sounds like a Super Bowl, doesn't it?

Line: Killers -3

Hard to beat a team in back to back weeks, but I think the Killers do it.  With KC playing Thursday, the Whales will be looking to get a big lead to start, but then the Buccaneers don't play until Sunday Night against the Saints at home.  That could get ugly.  Lay the points with the Killers.

Kretz Krauts (8-6) at Molotov Cocktails (9-5)

In another divisional rematch, the Cocktails will look to defeat the Krauts for second consecutive time.  The Cocktails have been one of the most active franchises on the waiver wire or in trades as they traded for Matthew Stafford hoping to improve their chances to make another run to the Fantasy Bowl.  Jonathan Taylor will be back in the line up and is one of the top backs in the league leading all RB in scoring.  The WRs are a bit of a hodgepodge of wideouts and they hope that Thielen can return to the starting line up.

Krauts are led by Aaron Rodgers and his toe.  He can take over a game on his own.  They have some dangerous WRs with Hopkins, Andrews and Aiyuk when he starts.  The RBs haven't been all that strong and certainly not nearly as potent as the Cocktails Taylor and Jacobs.  But Gibson and Montgomery can score but haven't a lot all year.  Having AJ Brown on IR has not helped this team.

Line:  Krauts -5

Maybe Vegas knows something I don't, but I would take the red hot Cocktails right now and I'm getting points?  Yes please! 

Alex's Animals (8-6) at Toledo Titans (7-7)

The Animals will have a decision to make at QB between Cousins or Hurts.  Hurts has been a threat to score on the ground that might give him a leg up.  Actually he is better scoring on the run than passing.  Nick Chubb "Chubb, Chubb, Chubb" is a solid back and should get back in the endzone this week.  Tee "Mrs Sue" Higgins is likely their top wideout but you can't count out Gronk, who this week could have a big day against the Saints in Tampa.  Its not looking good for Waller to get back in the lineup, but if he can that certainly will make things easier for the Animals.

Titans enter the playoffs for only the second time.  Tannehill will likely be the QB and hasn't exactly lit up the score boards.  They may need to lean on Davante Adams, who is clearly their best player.  He won't be able to do it all.  Barkley finally scored last week, his first score since Week 4!  The Titans need him to keep it going to give them a chance.  Ertz has been a pleasant surprise and could certainly find the end zone as well.

Line:  Animals -1

There are too many things that have to go just right for the Titans for them to pull this off.  Lay the short 1 with the Animals.