On our hands is a classic matchup for the 2017 BBC Title Game. Jon Earl and Stephen Schindler will square off in a battle between two of the original founding members. Continue reading for analysis of the matchup, historical significance, how they got here, and much more…
HISTORY
Earl just won his 3rd playoff game. He is 3-3 all time in the playoffs. He’s advanced to his first ever title game. Schindler just won his first ever playoff game. He is 1-2 all time in the playoffs. He’s advanced to his first ever title game.
In BBC History, they are 4-4 all-time against each other. They have never faced each other in the BBC playoffs. Earl has scored 96.5 points in their matchups, while Schindler has scored 95.8. They played in week 6 of this year, Schindler won 112 to 84, but rosters were totally different at that time. Earl will only start 3 of the same players as he did in week 6, and Schindler will only start about 2 of the same players.
In BBC History, Earl has a winning percentage of .536 (4th overall), while Schindler is at .463 (9th overall). In terms of points, Earl is 6th overall with 89.3/game, Schindler is 9th with 88.1/game. Schindler is 2nd all time in points against at 93.5, which is one reason why he’s lost so many games. Earl is 9th all time in points against at 87.7, behind only Tom, who doesn’t have as much data.
Coming into the year Schindler was the worst manager in BBC history, finishing 10th each of the last 2 years and looking to avoid missing 3 straight. He has since passed Justin for worst manager in history.
In 2017, Earl is 2nd overall in scoring at 98.3, while Schindler is 3rd at 93.9. Earl’s highest output was last week scoring 139. Schindler’s highest of the year was also last week scoring 131.
Earl is looking to become the 2nd 4 seed to win it all, while Schindler looking to become the 3rd 2 seed to win it all.
If you remember, Schindler famously gave Earl his name “The Cluster Screw” after ripping Earl’s roster for being terrible at the beginning of 2016. Earl then went on to win MOY last year, and he has repeated again this year.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
EARL
KEEPER: Earl’s keeper was Terrell Pryor who lived up to expectations as the worst keeper of the draft. Earl dropped him in October.
DRAFT: This team is built through the draft. Hit on Shady in the 1st. Moved back from #21 to secure extra picks in the 4th and 5th. Hit on those extra picks, Hopkins in the 4th, Kelce and Ingram in the 5th. McCaffery in the 2nd, not a hit or a bust, but he did help him get Bell. One of the best drafts in recent memory.
TRADES: 7 total trades for Earl this year. Earl’s first move was to get Doug Martin for a 5th since Earl needed RB help. He pushed hard for Kamara as a throw in and Josh gave in. Huge steal. He then traded the sack of potatoes D. Martin to Hoober for Baldwin. He then pulled off perhaps the best deal of the year and perhaps in BBC history, when he sent Kamara, McCaffrey, Funchess, and Baldwin all to Shula for LeVeon Bell. It took him Kamara and 3 borderline starters and no picks to get Bell. As soon as Watson went down, he got Tom Brady for a 6th, and he finalized his roster with Alshon for an 8th. Earl hasn’t made a bad trade all year.
WAIVERS: 47 total pickups for Earl. He added DeShaun Watson who lit the NFL on fire for 4 weeks. Added JuJu in October who might get the start for him in the title game. He should have been more active on the wire ahead of the title game to look for a defense, missed the boat there.
SCHINDLER
KEEPER: Schindler acquired Jordy for a draft pick to make him his keeper. Jordy was solid until Arod got hurt. He probably won’t make an impact in the title game.
DRAFT: Not a good draft for Schindler. You could argue Mike Evans (1st) was a bust. Crowell (2nd) was dropped a month after the draft. He reached for Gore in the 3rd, who has barely started all year for any team. Powell and Blount were even worse in the 4th and 5th. He finally struck gold in the 6th with Larry Fitzgerald. Tevin was taken in the 8th who helped him get Brandin Cooks. Mariota was a bust at QB. Ravens D was huge in the later rounds. His strength has never been the draft, in past years it has doomed him, this year he wouldn’t let it happen again.
TRADES: 7 total trades for Schindler this year. Schindler started the draft pick trading off with Leonard for a 3rd. He then got Carlos for a 6th and Julio/Gronk for a 4th all on the same day. Carlos was a mistake, but then Alex turned right around and gave him a discount. He then went all in with Gurley for a 2nd as Tom gave up for no reason. He then traded Tevin for Cooks (another discount from Alex) and Brees for a 9th. He’s down a lot of picks, but he put together a great team. He benefited from Alex giving him discounts because Alex didn’t care anymore, and they have a good relationship. Relationships matter.
WAIVERS: 39 total acquisitions for Schindler. McKinnon stands out as his best pickup of the year. McKinnon was taken late in the waiver order after Lat Murray went 1st overall the week after Dalvin got injured. He picked up Goff and Dak for a few starts, may need to play waivers for QB this week.
POSITIONAL OUTPUT
Schindler has struggled at QB all year, will Brees be able to finally put a good week? Earl has put together perhaps the best trio of RBs in BBC History. Schindler needs Leonard to step up after barely playing all year since he acquired him. In terms of WR play, Earl has the best in Hopkins, but Schindler is deeper with 4 viable starters for 3 spots this week. The decision that may haunt Schindler for years is Larry vs. Mike, will he choose right? Both have great TE in Kelce and Gronk. Besides Earl’s trio of RB horses, the biggest difference between these 2 teams is their defense. Schindler prides himself on playing the right defense, and its been fairly easy this year with the Ravens D being drafted by him and being dominant. Earl has been a disaster all year at defenses. Schindler has outscored him 14.9 to 6.3 in defenses. Earl must decide between the Eagles and the Skins, will he be heartbroken by his own team? In terms of kicker, Earl has been slightly more fortunate at 8.3 to 7.6. Earl’s flex has been dominated by RBs and the opposite for Schindler’s based on their rosters.
FINAL THOUGHTS
With the addition of draft pick trading, this may be the most star-studded final in BBC History. It will come down to which stars show up and perform. McCoy, Brady, and Brees are all on the top 20 list of most started players in BBC History. Some players on both rosters have BBC title game experience, Alshon scored 13 to help Alex with it all in 2014, Brady only scored 10 and Mike Evans only scored 4 for Myles in the same game. In 2015, Julio went off for 23 and Gurley scored 13 for Shula in his loss to Grant. And just last year, Shady scored 19 for Grant, and Gurley scored 14 and Brees 15 for Josh.
As for Earl’s most started players, Shady and Kelce have moved into his top 10 most started players ever. For Schindler, Ravens D and Larry Fitzgerald are most tied for 2nd most started player ever for Schindler.
Schindler will jump out and most likely finish with the lead on Sunday since Earl has 3 players playing on Christmas Day at 4:30 in the PIT/HOU game. If Earl rolls out the Eagles D at 8:30, we may now know our champ until late Christmas night.
Either way, it will be a matchup for the ages and by Christmas night we will have a new BBC champ to join Alex, Grant, and Josh.
SPREAD: Jon Earl (-5.5)