(3) Ethan Shula vs (6) Tom Dreyer

Shula enters the postseason for the 3rd time in his career after missing it last year. When he has gotten in, he’s had success, losing in the title game each of the other 2 times he’s made the playoffs. In his 5 career playoff games, he has 3 wins and 2 losses. If history serves itself right again, Shula should be making his way to the title game this year…only to lose his 3rd final.

Shula’s roster is led by breakout star Alvin Kamara, who has outscored LeVeon this season on far fewer touches. Next best on the team is stud Keenan Allen who is averaging 22 pts over the past 3 weeks. He will have difficult decisions to make between all his other guys for his RB2, WR2, and flex spots. QB has been a nightmare for Shula as he is 2nd lowest in the league from his QB spot and he’s made numerous deals to try and fix it. TE is another issue as he’s only avging 3.8 from the spot on the season.

Tom has made the BBC playoffs for the 2nd time in as many years as he’s been a member. He was fortunate to make it this year with his terrible roster and bad decision making by trading Gurley away. In his appearance last year, Tom choked in the semifinal after earning a BYE, so Tom is still seeking his first BBC playoff win.

Tom may own one of the worst rosters to ever make it to the BBC postseason. He has no idea which bum to start in every slot besides QB/RB1/TE. Besides Melvin, no one else is exciting. In terms of positional output for 2017, Tom is middle of the pack in every position except D/ST. Tom cannot figure out the right defense as he’s avging on 6.5 from the slot, good for 2nd worst in the BBC.

Tom and Shula have only played each other 3 times in BBC history, with Tom winning twice and Shula once. They split their matchups this year, with Shula winning 101-54 in Week 2 and Tom winning 121-100 in Week 11.

SPREAD:  Ethan Shula (-9.0)

 

(4) Jon Earl vs (5) Steve Ellis

After a 2 year playoff drought in 2014 and 2015, Earl has made it back-to-back years. He has also won MOY in back-to-back years. Overall, this is Earl’s 4th playoff appearance, tied for the most overall in BBC history. He is 1-3 in his 4 career playoff games, with his sole win coming back in 2012 when he made it to the semifinals.

Earl has the best roster on paper in the BBC. The trio of Bell/Shady/Ingram is the best in the league. DeAndre is the most valuable WR not named AB, and Alshon has come of fire recently. There’s still no other QB you’d rather have than Tom and Kelce is an elite TE. He has no holes and also no decisions to make with his roster, which can be good a lot of times. In terms of output, Earl is avging 19.3 from his QBs, good for 2nd in the BBC, and he leads all members with 9.6 in TE scoring. Earl opens as the favorite to win the BBC, but he must get past this first round matchup with Ellis first.

Steve has tied Alex’s record of most consecutive playoff appearances at 4 in a row. In his previous 3, Steve has made the semis twice, but never made the BBC championship game. His all-time playoff record is 1-3 in his 4 career games. Steve came within inches of knocking off Josh last year and getting his first title, but this year’s team is not as strong as last year’s.

Steve’s roster was thin all year due to injuries and the disaster of DeMarco Murray as a keeper. Shipping AB off gave him draft assets for the future, but he kept winning games. At the deadline, Steve decided to spend and replenish the gaping holes in his roster. Today, he employs the stability of Lamar Miller and the high ceiling of Tyreek.  Steve has really struggling with his QB all year, avging only 14.3 which is worst in the BBC. On the flip side, he’s 2nd only to Schindler in defense scoring. He will have to start the right QB and defense in order to knock off Earl.

This clash is between two original members of the BBC. It’s been a dogfight through the years with Steve winning 5 games and Earl winning 4. Earl has avged about 84 pts in games against Steve and Steve has avged about 82 pts. Earlier this year, Earl crushed Steve to the score of 143-52, Earl’s highest ever output in a single game.

SPREAD:  Jon Earl (-13.5)

 

Quarterfinal Preview – 2017