GWJFL3: Week 16 (The final week of the regular season!)

Update. The following games have been played:
San Diego (13-3) @ Washington (10-6)
Philadelphia (6-10) @ Tampa Bay (10-6)
Seattle (5-11) @ Baltimore (9-7)
NY Giants (3-13) @ Indianapolis (5-11)
Jacksonville (12-4) @ Minnesota (4-12)

Yet to be played.
Green Bay [color=#FF6600:6532fc3797](9-6)[/color] @ NY Jets [color=#009900:6532fc3797](10-5)[/color]
Houston (6-9) @ St. Louis [color=#009900:6532fc3797](10-5)[/color]
Pittsburgh [color=#FF6600:6532fc3797](9-6)[/color] @ New England (14-1)
Oakland (3-12) @ Kansas City [color=#CC0000:6532fc3797](8-7)[/color]

Atlanta (4-11) @ Denver (5-10)

Only 3 teams (NE, SD, and JAX) are guaranteed positions in the playoffs right now. The key games are GB @ NYJ and PIT @ NE.

If both Green Bay and Pittsburgh lose, then one 9-7 team (potentially BAL or KC, if they win) will make the cut. If either win, then 10 wins will be the magic number and KC and BAL will definitely miss the cut. If both GB and PIT win, then one 10-6 team will miss the cut. The Jets and the Rams currently control their own fate but if they lose, they run the risk of being that 10-6 team that misses the cut.

2k5''s tiebreaker formula is... undiscernable.

"*Legion*" wrote:

Quarterbacks, schmaurterbacks. Fred Taylor''s the man. :)

Don''t you mean LaBrandon Toefield?

Ten is a little late for me tonight Frankie. If you could do 9 that would be super. I don''t want to blow your playoff chances though so maybe we can work something out.

I''m staying up late to play too, Fletcher. Maybe we can TIVO Murder She wrote, and I''ll make us some nice post-game tapioca pudding.

"firesloth" wrote:

Don''t you mean LaBrandon Toefield?

The padawan Toefield has learned much from master Taylor.

"SwampYankee" wrote:

I''m staying up late to play too, Fletcher. Maybe we can TIVO Murder She wrote, and I''ll make us some nice post-game tapioca pudding.

Not tapioca. It gives me gas and then I can''t sleep.

Inspector *Legion* brings us the lowdown on tiebreakers:

From ESPNVideoGames''s message boards:
""We deployed the tie breaker update. It is not a tie breaker in the traditional so let me explain how it works. When the playoffs are being scheduled each team is assigned a ""rating"" based on the rank of the teams it has beaten. The list of teams is still sorted first by winning record (and total games played) but in the case of a tie the teams are then sorted by this ""rating"" value. It is therefore possible for Team A and Team B to be tied where Team A beat Team B but Team B has the higher tie breaker rating. In that case Team B will get the nod for the playoffs.""

To sum it up, it goes by ""strength of victory"".

To get an idea of where our bubble teams rank in strength of victory, here are the ranks of the teams above .500 that they have beaten:

Green Bay: #6, #3, #11, (game pending vs. #4)
Pittsburgh: #5 (game pending vs. #1)
Baltimore: #9, #11
Kansas City: #2, #4, #7, #9

If GB and Pitt both lose and KC wins, KC could very likely take the tiebreaker in a big multi-way 9-7 tie. If GB loses and Pitt wins, Pitt can take the last spot by record at 10-6. If GB wins, then at 10-6 they will probably not be able to be beaten by tiebreaker. GB can probably take a 9-7 tiebreaker too so long as KC loses and thus is excluded (not too likely though, they''re playing the 3-12 Raiders).

Can I start complaining about dropped passes now or should I wait until after I play the game?

Damn! Plax was wide open until Certis looked funny at the TV and made him drop the ball.

Staley had broken a 60 yard run and was going in for the score when Jesus made him fumble. Jesus just wasn''t on our side tonight. Maybe I need to get me one of these: LINK

Legion, I saw that post and tried figuring it out back in the original GWJFL. I think my seeding predictions were 70% accurate or so. Of course, it might have just been me but I''d be curious to see your predictions after all games are played and before I advance the week. I''ll do the same if you take me up on it.

Edit:

The list of teams is still sorted first by winning record (and total games played) but in the case of a tie the teams are then sorted by this ""rating"" value.

I wonder if this means 0-0 games count against you... and what about disconnects?

Unless I am a {ableist slur}, I can''t do better than 8-8 guys.

Oakland (3-12) @ Kansas City (8-7)

What will your record be if you win?

Unless I am a {ableist slur}, I can''t do better than 8-8 guys.

...

To Grump: So we''re gonna make predictions about how the tiebreakers will work? That''s so stupid! Let''s do it!

As for disconnect/0-0 games, I don''t think the game makes any such distinctions as far as those kind of games go. It would be hard to do a fair tiebreaker if you''re tiebreaking someone''s 16 games against someone else''s 14. An assigned win or a disconnect win is a ""W"" in the system like any other.

To Swamp: Hi, {ableist slur}! You''re 8-7 with one game left to play. If you were to (*gasp*) WIN the game, you''d be 9-7.

"*Legion*" wrote:

To Grump: So we''re gonna make predictions about how the tiebreakers will work? That''s so stupid! Let''s do it! :)

Yep; and time-consuming. I just know that I didn''t have any luck the first time I tried to break it down and I want to see if A) I can do a better job this time (though previously, I was doing it in the context of making predictions as opposed to after all games are done) and B) if someone else comes to the same conclusions about how they should come out... especially if they don''t result as predicted..

Well here''s hoping you, Swampy, and Certis win, so we can have a big fat 9-7 tie to break (though I''m equally interested in the 10-6 teams already in, since in all likelihood, I will be matched against such a team)

Yeah, even if we don''t have to figure it out for the #8 spot, I''m curious to see what you predict for the seeding of the 10-win teams.

"Grumpicus" wrote:
Oakland (3-12) @ Kansas City (8-7)

What will your record be if you win?

Unless I am a {ableist slur}, I can''t do better than 8-8 guys.

...

"*Legion*" wrote:

To Swamp: Hi, {ableist slur}! You''re 8-7 with one game left to play. If you were to (*gasp*) WIN the game, you''d be 9-7. :)

Yes. Well. Say hello to your new friend, SwampYankee the Mathematically {ableist slur}.

I particularly like the contrast of my style with Grump''s. Grump used clever quoting to use your words against you, while I simply could not call you "" {ableist slur}"" fast enough...

But you''re our {ableist slur} Swampy...

Certis, do you want to kick off at 10 Eastern/9 central instead of 12 eastern/11 central?

IMAGE(http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9703/oscars/best.actor/thorton.jpg)

""Mmmm... Swampy want in playoffs""

Swampy may be ""special"", but he''s someone that the teams in the playoffs do NOT want to let in. He''s got 3 wins against teams currently ""in"". He took me to overtime and he missed a potential game-winning field goal. He lost to Certis by less than a touchdown. If he took the 8 seed, he''d get a shot at Certis again. Would certainly be a hell of an 8/1 seed matching. Everyone''s saving grace might be that he could only muster an 8 seed. If he were a middle seed, he''d probably wreck some havok.

Absolutely. Imagine the fear I''d cause if I wasn''t constantly distracted by bright colors and loud sounds.

Certis, do you want to kick off at 10 Eastern/9 central instead of 12 eastern/11 central?

9CST? Afraid I''ve got a hockey game, I can play 10 CST if you moved your game with Swampy though.

I play Swampy at 10 centrals still.

Grump, I''m real curious here... how did my game get played, and a disconnection register, if I never played the game yet to begin with?

It doesn''t matter of course, as my participation in the league is over, I just wondered.

9 is fine

Thin_J: Yeah, I was curious about that... or actually, curious that there was a score but no stats recorded. It''s a mystery wrapped in an enigma.

The Texans, having decided that it was now or never to make their mark on this leaugue, instead did what they always do: crumple under pressure.

Congrats to frankie and the rams for making the playoffs. Curse on the Texans (and my own sparkling inadequacy) for ruining what had been a pretty good mood.

Good luck all youse playoffs types.

Wow, Poppinfresh took the role of spoiler to the heart and kept Swampy out of 9-7 territory.

Each team only had 3 (!!!) possessions + one ""last seconds of half/game"" possession each. 27 rushing attempts and only 7 pass attempts for Oakland. *sniff* that''s beautiful...

Congrats to frankie and the rams for making the playoffs. Curse on the Texans (and my own sparkling inadequacy) for ruining what had been a pretty good mood.

Don''t let them get you down Fletch, I still believe in you.

Gosh, thanks boss. Now how about that raise?

When I say ""I believe in you"" what I really mean is ""I believe in your ability to work for nothing but platitudes and peanuts""

Sorry for any confusion.