C3FF Semifinal Wrap-up: Alcoa's Fantastic Finishes Have Nothing on Us!

Heido-ho virtual neighbors and virtual neighborettes! We've got some incredible news on the two semifinal matches to catch up with in the 1st Annual C3FF league that you DON'T wanna miss!

First, since I have your attention, I thought I'd share a couple of quick thoughts on this week's NFL action: Namely, that there seemed a lot less of it! We learned AR-12 is Human after all and that the Buffalo Bills have an exceptional defense. I'm of the mind that if they can grab a Wild Card spot, they're the dark horse for a Super Bowl run as far as I'm concerned. Should they do so, they'll be playing a bit in over their heads but hey - stranger things have happened.

Now, we have an NFC South with the Aints in the driver's seat, and the schedule looks favorable for them about now. They play Atlanta (who did beat them by 3 very early on) but I think the Saints have "caught a bid" and showed last night that there's a pretty decent difference between their level of play these days and that of the other NFL teams with similar records. Not surprising with Brees and Sean Payton, frankly. If the Panthers are now going to win it, they'll need to win-out and get help from either the Falcons or the Bucs. Now do you see why I'm a little pessemistic? 

Now to the league results: *drum roll*

Homey the Clowney 123.7

vs

Fig Newtons 122.26

WOW! This was one nail-biter of a semi, wasn't it? It wasn't settled until late late last night and the MNF game as fruit and cake started a reeling Jay Cutler. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, there has been a ton of drama in Chicago recently, where their OC called out Jay Cutler, PUBLICLY, which understandably hurt Jay and the larger locker room in general. To his credit, Cutler responded to it with utmost professionalism saying "we addressed it, and it's a dead issue," which shows some maturity on his part that he hasn't always shown in the past. However, after being defeated again last night, Cutler certainly appeared defeated in the post-game presser. Coming into the game, fruit and cake had to feel pretty good about his chances. He only needed about 16 fantasy points out of Cutler to advance to the finals, but circumstances, ironically enough, caused the fall as Jay only scored 13.96 FP on the entire night. This, fellow FFL enthusiasts, is a stark lesson that despite the best draft (Fig Newtons did have the best draft in my league now that it's said and done), despite keeping an eye on the waiver-wire for risers, indeed - despite playing a very near-flawless GM job - a slip of the tongue of his FFL QB's Offensive Coordinator likely is what brought him down.

Unbelievable.

What about the children's nightmare? Well, Homey obviously managed juuust enough FP to do the job, but not without a cost. NFL leading rusher DeMarco Murray has a hand injury and for now is listed as "doubtful" for this weekend's FFL Championship Game. Injuries are always a blow when they happen, but this is absolutely the worst time. Perhaps he's better than we know and the Cowboys are pulling a gotcha and he plays Sunday...goodness knows the 'boys can use him in their NFC East Division title race. Despite a very tough trip for the Packers in Buffalo, Paleface here had Eddie Lacy get the fantasy points on a 108-yd rushing day with a TD - and those were surprisingly few and far between this week for the high-powered offense.

So, this puts Homey the Clowney in the finals. Just barely, but it might as well be a 101.5 FP win instead of a 1.5 FP win.

Rusty Nails 87.32

vs

Not So Lazy Susans 116.78

In more than a bit of irony, Not So Lazy Susans got shelled by her opponent within the 12-team league she's in, but that isn't what matters today. She's winning the games that MATTER, and that's the path of a champion. She did it with a very weak effort from Mark Sanchez, who her starting fantasy QB is; he had barely over 6 FP. Her fantasy QB luck (the Indy/Andrew variety of which has nothing to do with it) has been lousy. First Foles fell, then Hoyer got Johnny Footballed. Sanchez wasn't a bad replacement, given what was available, but his FP output has really declined after a nice start. She won her match-up here with plenty of room to spare, again, riding Eddie Lacy and C.J. Anderson to a solid win. Anderson's presence on her roster tells me she's also been actively watching the waiver wire and did a nice job picking him up before any of the 11 other teams in her league.

Lockjaw's squad just broke down this week in FP scoring, reflective of the NFL in general. Scoring was just way DOWN this week, and he couldn't find anyone to pick up the slack and certainly not 30+ FP worth as his high scorer was Mark Ingram of all people...and I think we all know by now New Orleans' backfield as far as FF scoring goes is about as unpredictable as that of New England or any given Mike "Shanahanigans" Shanahan running back during nearly any given game of a given year. The FP scoreboard just wasn't kind to Tetanus and unfortunately there can be only one C3FF league winner, which brings us to the Championship game:

Homey the Clowneys

vs

Not So Lazy Susans

We couldn't have asked for a better final match-up I don't think. It's great on more than a single level, too:

First and foremost, and at the risk of sounding a tad sexist, it's obvious that we have a lady in the finals. This should serve as notice for every guy out there who thinks "a girl can't...." well this girl daggum sure did!! And it's not even so much that a lady made the finals but one got into the finals being highly outnumbered by guys as GMs. There were four female GMs that I know of out of 48 teams. Probably a few more than I'm aware of are GMs too, but the vast majority was still guys. ANY notion that women aren't or can't be every bit as good as a guy doesn't know the veracity of the fan! Gender of the GM has zilch to do with ability, as she's proven and we all should know by now anyway. But she's gone out and proven it, and I think it's great. I think she MIGHT face a bit of an uphill climb in the Championship game but only due to her near-epic lousy luck with being on her 3rd starting QB, but it hasn't stopped her yet. All the MORE reason to fear this woman's ability! She has already gotten my respect by getting THIS far....with what amounts to a 3rd-string fantasy QB. Damn. Well done, lass....well done!

Homey the Clowney not-so-lazily OR hilariously powered his way through the league to the finals and holds roughly a 50 FP scoring advantage over the Whirly Girls...over 15 contests. That's barely a 3 FP cushion. He was 11-2 in his regular season while the 'Susans were 9-4. His fantasy QBs are Big Ben and Meg Ryan, so he has a nice luxury of playing match-ups this weekend where the Whirly Girls don't. I really think that, along with the 'Susans' Mark Sanchez and his apparently limited upside gives him a decided edge heading into the finals, but that's where the bad news stops. Sanchez faces that powerhouse Redskins defense, so anything is possible. Big Ben faces a talented Chiefs defense and Meg travels to the OTHER dome in the NFC South to go against that Saints team that has been improving so Yo Homey's decision won't be so simple while at least the 'Susans don't have to make a decision on her starter at the highest-scoring FFL position.

Both have Eddie Lacy, so they cancel completely which makes the OTHER match-ups even that much more critical, and the 'Susans have some strong help there. C.J. Anderson, Jordy Nelson is simply an FP-producing madman, and then there's Pittsburgh's do-everything WR Antonio Brown. If any of those guys explode - a distinct possibility - the pressure will really be on the Homey Funny Boys.

Homey's gotta be hoping DeMarco Murray can play this weekend or any advantage due to the QB situation not only gets nullified, but probably swings the needle back to Whirly Girls as for the "favorite" to win this contest. I think they're THAT closely balanced on talent and I think we'll be in for a great ride tracking the finals....starting this Thursday night. 

Murray's having surgery to repair a broken left hand so I don't see it, but then again....these are tough guys called NFL players. This is the single story to watch that's related to the Championship game.

One thing is certain right now, and that's the fact that the winner of the contest gets that wonderful signed Kelvin Benjamin jersey! That's just such an incredible prize for one of the two GMs and I personally would love to see a picture of a smiling fan - whichever of the two it is - wearing that thing with a million-dollar smile once they receive it.

So who do you think it's gonna be? Homeys or Susans? Kids' Boogeyman or Whirly Girls? 

You may want to keep your social media ears on, because I'm going to periodically tweet status updates as the games go for this one. I'm on the edge of my seat already! If you've ever been inclined to comment on a post, now's the time...we'd love to hear your comments! 

Good luck to both GMs and may the best team win! #C3FF

 - The Commish

Follow me on Twitter @Ken_Dye for updates on the Championship Game as I tweet them!