Gopher

That's different. I've done that many times. But only against a bust card.

I've split one pot in my 30+ years of playing. The other owner proposed it to me in a league where we had very shallow rosters, nothing on the waiver wire, and my best player was doubtful to play in the championship. Needless to say, it was a no-brainer on paper, as I was a decided underdog under the circumstances. Long story short, someone in the league got wind of it and several league members were up in arms over what happened. Cries of collusion, not fair, sketchy doings, etc. Which was hilarious because the other guy and I didn't know each other at all and had made ZERO trades during the season (with each other or anybody else). There was absolutely no way we could have been doing anything sketchy, but people still didn't like the idea that we split the $$. I ended up leaving the league shortly thereafter, ironically because I found out that one or more of the commissioners were doing sketchy stuff themselves (blind email accounts that weren't as blind as everyone thought, etc.). I've never split anything since. Not because I think there's anything wrong with it, but it's just not worth the drama (and I'm usually pretty confident that I'm going to win, or at least have a fairly good shot, so why would I split?).

Yes. But the ref did them a favor by asking for clarification (since the proper terminology is to say 'we defer" not "we want defense."). He didn't need to do that, technically. But, the bigger point is that Alexander shouldn't have been out there in the first place. He invited himself, apparently, because he's from that area. Bottom line... I'm sure these teams make damn sure the captains understand the rules, so they don't botch the coin flip. Otherwise, it wouldn't take much for someone to word it wrong and screw their team. I'm sure Alexander isn't the only one who has no clue how it works (or, at least, doesn't understand how to verbalize the intention to defer).

This post-season has been a roller coaster for me. Went 7-1 in Week 15, with another 3 byes. Week 16 was a disaster, going 2-8 even though I was "favored" in more than half of those matchups. Too many shares of guys who got hurt early (Hockenson, Sutton, etc.), as well as guys who just crapped the bed (Adams, Kupp, Diggs, Kamara, Ekeler, etc.). Brutal. So, I'm in a bunch of third place matchups, as well as two finals..... 12-team Local Redraft - This is an old-school league (no PPR, no flex, no TE Required, 3 pts per pass TD) where we celebrated our 25th season last year. I've won it a few times over the years... I believe this would be my 5th (or maybe 6th?) time winning, but most of my championships came in the first 10-15 years (I think I've won it once in the past decade). The cool thing about this one is that all FA pickups are $5, and all of that extra FA $$ goes to the champion. So, while 2nd and 3rd get like $100/50 respectively, the winner's payout can be up in the $600-700 range or higher. Not bad for a $50 entry. I've been known to spend more than my share (some guys in this league are super cheap, drafting two kickers, two defenses, etc.). There have been years where I'm pretty sure my total FA tab has exceeded the rest of the league combined. :LOL: I've got my work cut out for me, as I'm limping into the playoffs with the following (bench in parentheses).... QB - Fields (Geno) RB - J Cook, Z White (Pacheco, Dillon, Spears) WR/TE - T Hill, Nacua, Flowers (Waddle, Doubs) PK - Sanders DEF - BUF (MIN) Just dropped Stevenson to grab White, who I'll start if Jacobs is OUT. If Jacobs plays, I'm probably stuck with Spears, as there isn't much else on the wire. Or Dillon if he's somehow active and Jones is not. Also considering dropping Sanders for another kicker (Bass, Fairbairn, Gay, Havrisik). Just not sure which way I want to go there (my experience this year with "streaming" kickers has been that they are all an absolute crap-shoot). Dynasty Wars III (14-team IDP) - I've been in this league for 15+ years (my very first dynasty league, actually), but it's one of the very few that I've never won. Made a bunch of trades this year (including trading Stroud for Cousins early in the season... Ouch). Guys with asterisks are all guys acquired in the past 2-3 months. Managed to get the top seed and a bye, and a couple of upsets in the playoffs have set it up where I'm facing the 5-seed @cmath52 in the final (a team that had to grab Easton Stick this week just to have a starting QB). That said, I know that absolutely anything could happen in this final, and his team is solid across the board, with Saquon/Mixon and Jefferson/Kupp/Moore, as well as a bunch of studs on defense as well. I'm not taking anything for granted in this one. In fact, given that I've never won this one before, I'm probably more nervous about it that anything else. QB - Prescott* (Mayfield) RB - Mostert*, B Robinson, R White* (Allgeier*, Moss*) WR - Lamb, Metcalf (Doubs, Osborn, D Robinson) TE - Engram* (J Smith, Trautman) PK - Gay (Badgley, Dicker) DL - Cooper, Mack* (Autry, Madubuike, Jennings, Karlaftis) LB - David, Okereke, Spillane (Edwards, D Campbell*, J Campbell, Takitaki, M Walker) DB - Gilman, Owens, Melifonwu (Byard, Simmons, H Smith) Watching the Mostert situation closely. I sort of like the Doubs and Osborn matchups, particularly if Reed/Watson and/or Addison don't play, so we'll see. At LB, I'm always trying to pick three between the foursome of David/Okereke/Spillane/Edwards. And, while they're "studs" on paper, Byard/Simmons/Smith have been below-average DB's fantasy-wise, so they'll probably stay on the bench unless someone like Owens has an injury issue. Good luck to all.

Final four, but it's only a three-week final. So, this is the last week. Good luck! Side note... Nothing like running your own guillotine league, and being the first one eliminated (back in Week 1). That's what I get for drafting Kelce, I guess.

Brutal weekend for me. Ten semi's... Ended up going 2-8.

Good luck to all who need a Christmas miracle today! I need an entire sleigh full… Big days from Mahomes, Pacheco, Kelce, Adams, D Smith, Waller, etc. And a few IDP guys, including R Smith, J Reid, and Greenlaw. 🙏

Pretty sure it was Pickens who didn't block, not Pickett.

Congrats! Good luck next week.

Well, if the score stands, I survived those two Love INT’s to win by less than a point.

@darin3 You forgot to mention PK and punter. The white guys definitely have those spots locked in. Although, in today's NFL, I could see the opposing team just saying "All the more reason to go for it on 4th down."

I forgot about that. Good memory.

Yep... Turns out cornerback is more of a problem than I realized. I googled it, and this is all I could find..... Interesting piece of "white CB trivia" here.... Link

Miami's schedule the next three weeks is brutal. DAL at home this week might be the easiest of the three games left. If BUF wins their next two (Chargers and Patriots), and Miami loses to either DAL or at Baltimore, that game will be for all the marbles. Buffalo would hold the tie-breaker over Miami if they beat them, as they already beat them earlier this year. On the other hand, MIA currently controls their destiny. If they beat DAL and BAL, the BUF game won't matter (for the division... it will still likely matter to one, if not both, of them in terms of playoff seeding).

Had a pretty good week overall, but still a couple of tight matchups up for grabs. Fusion IDP Dynasty - Up against @SteelBunz in this one, which was back and forth all day yesterday. I had jumped out to a decent lead after TNF and Saturday, but Bunz's team is no joke, and it was neck and neck last night. She got next to nothing from Ekeler, Henry, and Diggs. Meanwhile, I got "Bijan'd" for negative points. Still thought I liked my chances until late in the Rams-Commanders game... As soon as Brissett replaced Howell, McLaurin went OFF and I watched my lead (or what was left of it) disintegrate before my own eyes. I'm now down about 7 pts, and I've got DeVonta Smith going against Jordyn Brooks tonight. Both of those guys could do anything tonight... Smith has hit double-digits in 5 of his last 6, and 20+ three times this year. But he's also had less than 7 pts four times. Meanwhile, Brooks was a machine early in the year, hitting double-digits in eight weeks straight to start the season. In his last five, however, he's been in single digits four times (including three weeks with five or less pts). Of course, in the one week in which he DID hit double-digits recently, he put up 28. I have no idea who this is going to end. Probably a nail-biter is my guess. Local IDP Keeper - I'm up TWO points, with AJ Brown going against Charbonnet. Brown has been a stud all year, but Charbs has been coming on strong lately. May depend on who's healthy between Hurts and Walker. Home Field Advantage 32-team IDP Dynasty - I'm up 56 with DK Metcalf going tonight. That said, my opponent still has SIX players left. WR Smith-Njigba, Seattle TMPK, DE's Nolan Smith and Darrell Taylor, LB Brooks, and S Love. Still like my chances, but a lot is still up in the air. ConFusion IDP Dynasty - Up 41, with Smith and Byard against Hurts and Lockett. SHOULD be OK, but you never know. @dillhole007 Dyamonds are Forever IDP Dynasty - Up 51, with Smith against Walker, Lockett, and Goedert. Again, should be good, but who knows. Lockett has one of those crazy "Lockett" games, and it's anybody's game. Local Keeper - Up 58, with Brown against Hurts and Smith. Think I'm safe here.

Remember... This one is total points (week 15-17), now that we are down to the Final 4. Nobody gets chopped this week (and rosters are locked going forward). Still a long way to go.

Funny how matchups make such a difference sometimes. Buffalo clearly had Dallas' number (and I'm sure home field helped somewhat as well). Had it been MIN vs DAL, there is no question in my mind it would have been the exact opposite. MIN can't handle dominant D-lines well, and DAL certainly has that. Not saying BUF and MIN are comparable teams or whatever. But, they were both 7-6 coming INTO this week. That said, I think it's clear they are trending in different directions.

How about "Dallas is going to the SB..... They'll be in Section 241, rows 6-8."

Seems like Waddle is hurt every single week. And, it usually doesn't take long. First quarter... Waddle heading to the blue tent. Feels like Groundhog's Day.

They went eleven quarters without giving up a TD. Then, after the announcers mentioned it, they proceeded to give up three TD's in less than a quarter.

That was brutal. What I don't get (other than the play-calling down the stretch) is why the refs thought they needed to measure on 4th down. You measured on 3rd down, and they were inches short. They were clearly a foot or two short of THAT after losing yardage on 4th down. Did the line to gain somehow move?

According to local reports, there is zero chance the Chargers hire BB as they don't have the $$ to pay him the $20-25M per year he would demand. They will likely hire someone younger/cheaper. Granted, just about anybody would be younger, so that doesn't really narrow it down much. Two names that were thrown out (purely speculative) were Dallas OC DC Dan Quinn and Detroit OC Ben Johnson.

Perfect time to do it, with the 10-day break between games.

Well, there you go... Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Chargers are cleaning house, firing Staley and long-time GM Tom Telesco.