Written jointly by Schindler and Hoober
(3) Eric Hoober vs (6) Stephen Schindler
Schindler enters the playoffs for the 5th time in his 8 seasons in the BBC. Before 2017, Schindler was arguably the worst manager in BBC History having never won a playoff game and finishing in 10th in 2015 and 2016. However, he has completely turned his resume around, winning the title in 2017 and now making the playoffs in 3 straight years. Schindler has 5 career playoff games under his belt, with 2 wins and 3 losses. He has not won a playoff game outside of his title run in 2017.
Schindler has some pieces that can score in bulk but hasn’t been fortunate enough to put them all together on the same week. Stephen’s roster is led by his favorite fantasy player of all-time, Mike Evans. Outside of Ravens D and Justin Tucker, Schindler has started Mike Evans more than any other player in his career, a total of 21 times. Evans has been quiet since his explosion in weeks 8 and 9 this year, but if Jameis locks onto him, then watch out. Another boom or bust player for Stephen is Aaron Jones, who could go for 3 or also go for 30. Wilson/Jones/Evans/Golladay/
At 6-7, he finds himself with a shot simply because he chose to not give up. Tom would be here if he didn’t sell Dalvin too soon, and where would Justin be if he ponied up to buy Dalvin? We’ll never know. No decisions for Schindler moving into quarterfinal week. It’s pretty cut and dry. He’s looking to start Freeman/Mixon over Brown/Gallup/Woods for favorable matchups and work load. Finally, no surprise here that his success depends on the Ravens with Andrews/Ravens D/Tucker all being rolled out there against Buffalo. In terms of positional output, Stephen has been middle of the pack in all the categories except at the bottom in QB and Defense. Russell is totally fine, but will his beloved Ravens D come through for him?
Hoober enters the playoffs also for the 5th time in his 8 seasons in the BBC. Like Schindler, 2017 was a turning point for this manager as before 2017, he was one of the best managers in the BBC making the playoffs 4 times and reaching 3 semifinals and a final. However, since 2017 he has been downright awful and missed the playoffs 2 straight years. The 2 year playoff drought and lack of a title pushed him to go all-in on 2019 and mortgage all of 2020 and perhaps 2021. Hoober has 7 career playoff games in the BBC, going 3-4 in those games, but he has not won a playoff game since 2015.
This is the most potent roster ever constructed that didn’t receive a BYE going into the postseason. Eric has assembled a team so strong that the #1 overall WR currently isn’t starting this week and the #3 TE who leads his team is targets and receptions isn’t starting. I say all this knowing that Eric has essentially disqualified himself for 2020 and 2021 as well. His philosophy isn’t one that’s seen often, but you have to admire his “all in” persona moving into a potential championship run. Dalvin hasn’t practiced this week. There are no holes on Hoober’s roster, but acquiring multiple stars makes for some difficult start-sit decisions. Decisions between ARod vs Mahomes, Godwin vs Tyreek, and Kittle vs Waller all need to be made and will probably decide the matchup if chosen correctly. Hoober is led by Chubb, who has now started 18 total games for Hoober in his career, his 9th most started player.
Schindler and Hoober have played each other 13 times in BBC history, with Hoober owning the H2H advantage 7 to 6. In those 13 games, Hoober has averaged 101.2, scoring more against Schindler than any other owner, while Schindler has only scored 90.4 in those games. These 2 teams did meet once in the playoffs in 2012, when Hoober beat Schindler 125 to 116 in the quarters. Most recently, Hoober beat Schindler 135 to 97 in week 8 of this year. Schindler leads all BBC members with an average scoring of 113.8 ppg in the playoffs and Hoober is 2nd with 108.3 ppg, so we may be in for a shootout.
SPREAD: Hoober (-17.5) over Schindler
(4) Jon Earl vs (5) Grant Kovac
Earl enters the playoffs for the 6th time in his career (tied with Steve for most-ever) and now for 4 straight years. The 2x MOY unfortunately could not win it a 3rd time, but he is ready to prove the doubters wrong again. Earl is a playoff veteran, playing in 9 games, with a record of 5-4. His playoff scoring is middle of the pack at 103.1, but he is 2nd all-time in playoff points again at only 93.7, so something to watch out for as he looks to defend his title.
In terms of his roster, we are not sure even what to say. To give perspective, he’s scored the least points of any team to make the playoffs this year, and still won 8 games. He won the same amount of games as Eric who could have the best roster in our league. When evaluating his roster for who he should start it’s impossible to make sense of it. Nearly every slot needs a decision. Do you start Landry, Samuel, Boyd, Eckler, Singletary, or a Kansas City running back? Notable, Earl has started McCoy more than any other RB in his career at a total of 23 times. Fantasy doesn’t always make sense – this falls right in this line. He shouldn’t be here, but Schindler experienced the same fortune (if not more in 2018). The difference is that he didn’t think he did well. Earl literally thinks he’s done better than anyone. In terms of positional output, he is middle of the road in all categories except he has the worst RB scoring of the playoff teams by far and the worst K scoring.
Grant is another playoff veteran, who is make in the tournament with his 5th overall appearance after going 1-12 last year. Like Earl, Grant has played in 9 playoff games, and he is almost impossible to beat in the playoffs, having amassed a 7-2 record, best out of all teams. He won his first 7 career playoff games, resulting in 2 titles and another finals appearance in 2016, but he lost the 2016 final to Josh and the 2017 semifinal to Earl. Similar to Earl, he has averaged 103.2 ppg in the playoffs.
In terms of his roster, Grant’s success is and always will be predicated on the Dallas Cowboys offense. In a less than favorable matchup tonight, Grant will need Prescott and Elliott to do some damage in Chicago. Grant goes as Zeke goes as Zeke is the 2nd most started RB for Grant all-time, up to 20 total games now behind only Jordan Howard. Grant certainly has decisions to make and has the luxury of waiting to see how Dak/Zeke perform before making them. Will Adam Thielen ever play? Talk about a $40 poorly spent. Will Julio give the production he bought him for? Is he going to bench Keenan Allen? This two-time champ has the better team in this matchup, but with Earl lurking you truly never know what will happen. In terms of positional output for Grant, he is about average for every position except TE. He is only averaging 6.3 from the TE spot and needs to figure it out to have a chance of moving far this year.
Like the other matchup this week, Grant and Earl have faced off 13 times in history, with Earl owning the matchup with 9 wins and Grant only with 4. However, the games are typically close as the average score has only been 89.8 to 88.0 over the years. They have met twice in the playoffs, both times in the semifinals. In 2012, Grant crushed Earl 91 to 56, but in 2017, Earl returned the favor 139 to 94. Most recently, Earl beat Grant 81-78 in Week 9.
SPREAD: Grant (-9.5) over Earl