DFFL 22 Playoffs - Whatsapp's Rant Bowl Champion - RAF

Presented by Bull Schlitz Beer

WINNER

Congratulations to the DFFL 2022 Rant Bowl Champion, RAF (7-7) who clobbered Week 15 favorite, TMW (8-6) on the road with a searing 209.94 to 148.88 2022 Playoffs Game 1 victory!

The almost 210 points RAF scored is the highest weekly points by any DFFL team so far in the 2022 Season. The anatomy of this surprising RAF Playoffs Week 1 victory is quickly ascertained simply by reviewing player production compared to projections. TMW had 8 of 10 starters achieve less than projected points. The biggest disappointments for TMW were quickly realized with QB, WRs, RB, and TE play. TMW starter, 49er QB Brock "Mr. Irrelevant" Purdy, ended up the best option over Deshaun Watson; however, the 24 points was no match for RAF's Patrick Mahomes' 48 point onslaught over Houston in that position. Alvin Kamara received double digits, but fell below 100 yds rushing and ended the day with no TDs. The receivers, Tyreek Hill and Keenan Allen, were held under projections, with only 1 TD between the two. Still, TMW's WRs bested RAF's wideouts by almost 15 points. RAF was pretty happy to get a TD from little known Saints WR Rahid Shaheed (happened to be passed to him by RAF's TE, Taysom Hill), but Darius Slayton did nothing with his 5 catches, earning a mere 4.8 fantasy points for RAF. RAF's Flex spots were ENORMOUSLY successful in Week 15, combining for almost 92 of RAF's 209.94 score. On the other side, TMW received only 48 points from Flex. Oddly, RAF's TE, Taysom Hill - a boom or bust player in 2022 - outscored TMW's TE legend Mark Andrews by over 7 points. Andrews was gonna be tough to trust with the Ravens' QB issues, but TMW couldn't afford to sit this expensive, franchise player. RAF's Bengals kicker, McPherson outscored TMW's Chiefs kicker Butker and the defenses cancelled each other out for the final score.

Captain Obvious would highlight that Sleeper projections just can not account for NFL Game Day factors, and therefore more often than not, are not great gauges for who will ultimately come out victorious. Analysts might say RAF's squad would be buoyed by Mahomes, Mixon, and Stevenson, as those are the players amplified by media - and correctly so....they are solid players and are expected to make or break a fantasy team. However, those same analysts would not include Rahid Shaheed (doesn't even have a picture on Sleeper), Taysom Hill, or even Latavius Murray, as players that can make a champion. Indeed, many analysts might say those players are unpredictable, boom-or-bust, and not the anatomy for a championship team. While the 2022 regular season definitely shows this to be mostly true, these very players were instrumental in RAF's victory this week - and maybe any other fantasy team that reviewed recent trend, looked at some of the intangibles, injuries, weather, etc., and decided that Week 15 was a good week for the underdog. In the final analysis, managers must go with what was successful throughout the year. TMW starting Kamara, Hill, Andrews, and Allen were essentially a given under this analysis. Teams like RAF, however, didn't necessarily have a successful strategy all season. It also helped that RAF had no other options on his bench to cloud his starting judgement. He "went to war with the Army he had"...as was said once by a curmudgeon-like civilian leader. They battled and provided RAF's 7th playoff victory in 5 years. Week 16 may look different, but RAF will look at all the things he typically does - weather, injuries, trends - and these things will determine next week's success or failure. Congrats to RAF!! Solid competition from TMW!