CFFL Semi-Finals and FB XXXVIII Preview

 It's hard to believe but the CFFL season is coming to a close as we get ready for the 38th edition of the Fantasy Bowl.  FB XXXVIII will pit two teams from California; the Cabucki Crush and the Monterey Bay Whales.

But first let's take a look at what happened in the semi-final games...

Crush 39  Wrecking Crew 22 - The top seed Crew came into this game with little confidence in its offense.  Crush on the other hand was hitting on all cylinders.  Cousins had another good game scoring 12 points and Cee Dee "Jam" Lamb scored twice putting this game away.  The Crew's offense was anemic, held scoreless until late Christmas Eve night when Carr scored his one and only TD.    There would be no Christmas miracle for the Crew who only would get 12 points from Ekeler to finish the game.  The Crush return to the Fantasy Bowl for the 4th time and going for their 3rd CFFL title.  

Cousins celebrating on the plane ride back to California
after defeating the Crew.

Whales 28  Juggernauts 19 - As was predicted, playing without a starting QB would be the ultimate undoing for the Juggs and after Zay Jones 3 TD performance last week, he came up empty this week.  Mahomes continued his streak of double digit points, scoring 14 in the win.  This is 4 weeks in a row and 8 of the last 9 Mahomes has topped 10 points or more.  Elliott continues to roll as well scoring in his 8th straight game (6 weeks in a row).  This is the Whales first trip to the Fantasy Bowl. 

Mahomes scoring at will for the Whales

FANTASY BOWL XXXVIII

Cabucki Crush at Monterey Bay Whales (-4)

This is a match up between the old and the new.  The Crush have been in the league since 1986, originally the Randy's Rebels.  They have been an up and down team over the past 37 years making the playoffs only 13 of the 37 years.   The Whales were on the CFFL waiting list for years and finally got in in 2020.  They have made the playoffs each year in the league.  

QB:  Cousins vs. Mahomes

Mahomes is clearly one of the best in the league, but Cousins has thrown 17 and 12 points in two playoff games.  KC plays Denver...eh boy.

Advantage:  Whales

RB:  Etienne vs Elliott and Murray

A clear advantage has to go to the Whales.  Elliott has scored every week  he has played since Week 7.  Murray gets lots of chances as well.  Etienne is really the only back for the Crush and hasn't scored since Week 9.

Advantage: Whales

Elliott: "I spit on the Crush RBs.."

WR:  Chase, Jefferson, Lamb vs. Hill, Kelce and ? (Slayton or McKenzie?)

It doesn't get much more dangerous than Chase, Jefferson and Lamb.  All are capable of scoring multiple times.  Hill for the Whales a big threat and Kelce gives them that 10 point connection (11 when you count Butker).  For some reason Kelce hasn't scored since Week 11.  Is he due?

Advantage:  Crush

K:  Tucker vs Butker

Both are good.  Tucker is money from anywhere on the field and likely to get more FGs than Butker.  Butker gets more chances playing for the Chiefs but those chances seem to be more in the form of XPs.

Advantage:  Crush

Prediction:  Crush are going to need Cousins to hit double digits again just to keep up with Mahomes and get lots of production from their trio of WRs.  Whales need to just keep doing what they have been doing, riding the arm of Mahomes and the legs of Elliott.  A 10 point connection to Kelce will be the difference in the game.

Whales 34-30

Don't forget to submit your line up for Week 18 for the Memorial Cup competition.  Each division plays for the chance to get their name on the Cup.  Top scoring division wins.  Also the top scoring team in Week 18 gets free entry next year.

CFHL Week 3 2022-2023

 After three weeks the Cherry Division early leaders are the Cherry brothers.  Checkers and Goon Crew are #1 and #2 in the league and lead the rest of the division by over 8 games.

The Smythe Division is a little tighter.  Only 3 games separate the entire division.  The White Mambas are first by only one game over the rest of the division.  

Week 3 action:

Goon Crew        4

Assassins           1

Ties                    1

The Goon Crew goalies shined in this matchup.  Alexandar Georgiev and newly acquired Lindgren combined for 5 wins and a .946 SV%.  They also had a big helping of pasta over the holidays getting 4 goals from David Pastrnak.  

Pastrnak with the goal!

Slapshots             1

White Mambas    4

Ties                      1

The Slapshots finally stumbled thanks to the Bomb Cyclone that hit the Mid-west and upper northeast.  The cyclone cancelled the Lightning/Sabers game.  The Slapshot had 5 guys in that game including both goalies!  Mark Stone of the Mambas led the team with 3 goals, 2 assists, 1 PPP and 3 hits.

Raisins                      2

Who Gives a Puck    4

Who Gives a Puck took care of the struggling Raisins 4-2.  Ryan "Ted" Nugent-Hopkins led the Puck with a big week going 3-2-3-2.

Nugent-Hopkins for the Puck

Greek Empire        1

Checkers                5

Checkers continue to roll this season easily dispensing the Empire.  Ovechkin notched his 801 and 802 goal in his in the process.  Luke Schenn continues to be a beast on the ice for the Checkers with 18 hits!

Ovi...Number 2 in career goals..

Space Monkey        4

Krampus                 2

Apparently Krampus season is over as the Space Monkey defeated them 4-2.  Deuces were wild with Conner McDavid as he scored 2 goals, 2 assists and 2 PPP.

Deuces Wild!

3 Stars of the Week

1. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, F, Puck, 3g, 2a, 3PPP, 2 hits

2. Alexandar Georgiev, G, Goon Crew, 3 wins, .965 SV%

3. Patrice Bergeron, C, Goon Crew, 3g 2a, 2PPP, 1 hit

Goon of the Week:  Luke Schenn, D, Checkers - 18 hits

Merry Christmas Everyone!

CFFL Playoffs Round 1 2022

 The first round of the playoffs were by most parts pretty uneventful.  No dramatic finishes or big comebacks.  

Wrecking Crew 24  Killers 9 - Killers were lost.  With the pressure of playing the top seed Wrecking Crew, and their father, they weren't sure what to do.  Sick of Brady's play as of late they benched Good Ole Tom in favoer of Taylor Heinicke!  Wait What?  Well it wouldn't have matter, but Brady did score 12 points to Heinicke's 4.  With Murray now cut, it is Carr's team and he responded with 12 points in the win.

Carr was fired up in the win!

Crush 32  Titans 15 - The Titans Cinderella season came to a screeching halt as the Crush dominated the game.  Kirk Cousins had a huge game scoring 17 points after it looked like he might not score at all.  The Crush wideouts were back in the swing of things, as Chase and Jefferson both scored TDs.  It was an overall disappointing outing by the Titans that got no points from Davante Adams or Tony Pollard and Rodgers only had 4.  

Cousins at the podium after the Crush win

Whales 37  Krauts 29 - This game wasn't as close as the score would indicate.  Even with 18 points from Josh Allen, the Krauts couldn't muster up much offenses elsewhere.  Barkley would score late to pull with in two scores.  Whales got 15 points from Mahomes as he continues to lead them deep into the playoffs.  Getting 12 points from their RBs was huge as Elliott (who scored 5 weeks in a row) and Latavius Murray both had TDs.  

Mahomes sends Allen home in the postseason once again

Juggernauts 40  Ferrets 26 - The Ferrets season came to an end, thanks to a 3 TD performance from Zay Jones.  Yes that's right.  Zay Jones!  Oh and a ridiculous pitchy pitchy woo woo play that resulted in a Raider defensive score for the Juggs.  The Ferrets, known for all sorts of back luck, seemed to avoid that bad luck most of the season getting to 9-5 and making the playoffs.  But that bad luck reared its ugly head once again for the Ferrets.  Not only Zay Jones and the pitchy pitchy woo woo debacle, but Jonathan Taylor and Tyler Lockett went down and were both out the rest of the game. Ouch.

Zay Jones...I mean really??

On a side note...my predictions went 4-0.  What will happen next week in the semi-finals?

Crush at Wrecking Crew - Oh what a bitter rivalry we have here in the semi-finals.  Not that they play against each other a lot, but when they do the game is always chippie and there's lots of jawing.  It really started in 2006 when they faced off in Fantasy Bowl XXII where the Crush beat the Crew 41-37.  The Crew needed just 6 points from Kicker Robbie Gould on New Years Eve, but fell short.  The Crew would get a little bit of revenge in 2013 defeating the Crush in round 1 of the playoffs 34-24 on their way to winning Fantasy Bowl XXIX.   

Cousins to lead the Crush back to the Fantasy Bowl

The Crew have relied on their stout defense (or luck) all season.  Will it finally run out?  Carr is going to have to have another double digit performance to win this game along with some production out of their WRs.  Crew running backs are solid with Ekeler, Jacobs and Conner if needed.
 

The Crush on the other hand win through the air, not the ground.  Can Cousins have another huge day? Maybe not that big, but 3 TDs is possible.  Plus they will roll out their trio of WRs in Jefferson (10 point play), Chase and Lamb.  They certainly have more fire power than the Crew. 

Crew will need to control the game on the ground and rely on their D to win this one.  But wait, this is Fantasy Football, not real football.

Prediction:  Crush 34-27

Juggernauts at Whales - In 2020, the Whales first year, they made the playoffs and lost in the first round to the Chislers 42-25 who would go on to win Fantasy Bowl XXXVI.  Last year the Whales made it to the second round only to lose to the Krauts 44-29, who also went on to win the Fantasy Bowl. Will this trend continue or is it the Whales turn to finally make it to the  Fantasy Bowl? 

Dangerous Duo

Well the Whales seem to be peaking at the right time.  When you have Mahomes you are never out of it and he has scored double digit points 3 weeks in a row.  Plus having Kelce on the team gives them a potential for multiple 10 point connections.  On the ground Elliott has been a stud at the goal line scoring 5 weeks in a row.  Actually Elliott has scored 7 games in a row that he has played. 
 

The Juggernauts on the other had are not peaking.  While scoring a high of 40 points I wouldn't count on Zay Jones scoring another 18 points.  Plus they are a mess at QB.  Last week no QB played.  This week it is still uncertain if either Lamar Jackson or Mike White will play.  If they can beat Mahomes and the Whales without a QB they are truly a team of destiny.  With all that said they still have J.K. Dobbins, McCaffrey, AJ Brown, and Diggs.  Maybe they don't need a QB after all...

The lack of QB production for the Juggs finally does them in.

Prediction:  Whales 32-21

CFHL Week 2 2022-2023

 Week 2 hockey action in the CFHL

White Mambas    2

Goon Crew           2

Tie                         1

The Crew made a come back down 2-4 late, tying up goals and hits on Sunday.  Crew Jets players (Dubois and Scheifele) picked up the slack from their Bruins by combining for 5 goals, 5 assists and 5 PPP.  (5's are wild).  Goal tending was the story for the Mambas.  Rookie Kochetkov and Shesterkin combined for 6 wins!

Scheifele's girlfriend Dara Howell
Olympic freestyle skier.
Ohhhh Canada! 

Checkers    5

Raisins        0

Tie               1

Checkers lived up to their name this week racking up 61 hits!!  3 players for the Checkers were in double digit hits with Luke Schenn leading the way with 15 hits.

Checkers Mascot and Ice Girls

Greek Empire     1

Slapshots             5

So far the CFHL has come easy for the newly formed Slapshots.  After going 4-2 last week, the Slapshots beat down the Empire 5-1.  Tage Thompson continues his early campaign for league MVP with a 4 goal, 4 assist, 6 PPP week!

Typical Slapshot player..

Krampus Carols    4

Assassins                1

Tie                           1

The Krampus bounce back this week as they prepare for the annual celebration of stuffing bad kids into their sacks and beating them with a stick.  Such a lovely Christmas tale.  Anyway...DeBrincat was the lead Krampus tallying 6 assists and 6 PPP.

Look out naughty boys and girls...It's Krampus Season!

Who Gives a Puck     2

Space Monkey           3

Ties                             1

Space Monkey Mafia came away with the victory behind just another typical week  from Connor McDavid.  He had 3 goals, 5 assists and 5 PPP on the week.  

McDavid being McDavid

Three Stars of the Week:

Number 1 Star:  Pyotr Kochetkov, G, White Mambas - 3 wins, .942 SV% and 1 shut out

Number 2 Star:  Tage Thompson, C, Slapshots - 4 goals, 4 assists, 6 PPP

Number 3 Star:  Alex DeBrincat, F, Krampus - 2 goals, 6 assists, 6 PPP, 2 hits

Goon of the Week:  Luke Schenn, D, Checkers - 15 hits

CFFL Week 14 and Playoff Preview 2022

 The playoffs are here!  The stage is set!  8 teams have made it to the promised land where anything can happen.  8 have not and begin the long wait for next year.  But first let's see what happened in the final week of the regular season...

Chislers 37  Wrecking Crew 16 - The Chislers did their part to get in the playoffs by thumping division rival Crew.  Unfortunately the Killers, Krauts and Juggernauts did not cooperate, all winning.  The Chislers needed just one of them to lose and they would have likely got in.  The Crew got dealt quite the blow however, with QB Murray going down with a season ending ACL tear.  This marks the second year in a row that the Chislers have missed the playoffs.  This is the first time this has happened since the 1996-1997 seasons!  The Crew finished 12-2 for the second consecutive year. 

Smoking Joe scored 8 points but will be home for the Holidays

Ferrets 37  Animals 15 - Ferrets end the season on a high note going into the playoffs with a 9-5 record and the 5th seed beating a lifeless Animals team.  The Animals had issues at QB all year with injuries.  Tannehill had 9 points in the win for the Ferrets.  This will be the Ferrets first trip back to the post season since 2019.

Tannehill had 9 points in the Ferret win

Warbirds 32  Dragons 21 - Hurts led the Warbirds with 14 points in the win.  Despite his league leading 150 points, the Warbirds would finish with a 5-9 record.  If only they could have got some production out of other players throughout the year, they might have made the playoffs.  

Hurts - "I did everything I could!  What do you
want from me??"

Titans 22  Killer Bees 14 - With the South wrapped up, the Titans finished strong defeating the Bees 22-14 behind 12 points from Tony Pollard.  The Titans finish the season 10-4, their best record in franchise history!  Their previous best was only 7-7.

Pollard gets in the end zone for 1 of his 2 TDs!

Juggernauts 36  Sinistars 32 - Sinistars almost pulled off the upset of the Juggs.  After 18 huge points from Trevor Lawrence, down 4, the Sinistar D (Cardinals) appeared to return an INT for a TD to win the game!  But hold on...after further review it was called an incomplete pass and thus no miraculous comeback.  This is the Juggernauts 4th division title in their 17 year history, finally besting the Krauts.  

Lawrence had one of his best weeks scoring 18 points!

Krauts 27  Cocktails 16  - Josh Allen once again led the Kraut Blitzkrieg Bills with 10 points.  The Krauts failed to claim the East Division crown but are in the post season for the 15th time in their 20 year history.  This will be the first time the Cocktails have missed the playoffs since 2017.

Allen leads the Krauts Blitzkrieg Bill offense

Killers 35  Legion 21 - Killers got big points from Miles Sanders (12) and an unlikely source, Evan Engram (12 points).  They sneak into the playoffs as the 8th seed and get to play giant killers as they face the 12-2 Wrecking Crew.  This is the Killers 4th playoff appearance and third year in a row.  

Miles Sanders celebrates one of his 2 TDs

Whales 34  Crush 24 - In the battle for the West, Mahomes' 12 points led the Whales to their first ever division title.  Crush have been disappointed with the production out of their trio of WRs in Chase, Lamb and Jefferson.  They combined for only 6 points last week.  This marks the Crush's 14 trip to the playoffs out of 37 years...

Mahomes brings a West Division title to the Whales

Player of the Week:  Trevor Lawrence, QB, Sinistars - 18 points

Playoff Round 1 Preview:

Killers (8-6) at Wrecking Crew (12-2)

The Crew come limping into the playoffs without their starting QB Kyler Murray, who they traded for to improve an otherwise lame offense.  They will have to turn back to former starter Derek Carr to lead them.  Killers are going to need their Buccaneers of Brady, Evans and Succop to produce.  Jerry "Judge" Jeudy could be a sleeper in this match up (he scored  18 points on the bench for the Killers).

Prediction:  Wrecking Crew 27-22

Brady vs. Carr

Crush (8-6) at Titans (10-4)

Crush need to get those wideouts that looked so dangerous to start the year on track.  Chase is back from an injury.  Jefferson and Lamb need to get their heads out of their collective assess.  Speaking of heads out of ass, Aaron Rodgers will need to remove his and play like he has in the past if the Titans want to advance.  

Prediction:  Crush 34-21

I think you start all of them still...

Krauts (8-6) at Whales (9-5)

Whales get a tough first round matchup drawing the defending champ Krauts.  However, with Mahomes, Kelce and Butker this Whale team will be tough to beat.  The Krauts, of course, have their Blitzkrieg Bills and a Flying St. Brown!  This should be a good one! 

Prediction:  Whales 38-34

Allen vs. Mahomes

Ferrets (9-5) at Juggernauts (8-6)

This is a dangerous Juggernaut team, even though it took them to the last week to win the East.  They have McCaffrey.  They have A.J. Brown.  They have Diggs "Dug".  And even D.J. Chark has emerged.  The QB position for the Juggs will be the question.  Lamar Jackson and Mike White are both banged up.  Ferrets will rely on their ground game to control this one with Henry and Taylor.

Prediction:  Juggernauts 42-31

Taylor vs. McCaffrey