Seems to me that this season has had more injuries to more players that affected the outcome of games than previously. This week was very characteristic of that trend. Tim was gimp from go. AP’s late injury took Chris out. And that is just Derek’s regular uninjured team.

*Week 15 Review

Tim got rocked hard by injuries this week. Rodgers was his guy but out for this most important game. Then he got hit with an injury from TO that gave Tim zero whole points. Foster getting pulled from his game prevented garbage time stats. DeSean Jackson win the Eagles the game but those points went to the DST. Damn shame for Tim he wasn’t up against the other Canadians. It would have been very competitive.

The Chinese had themselves a peak week. Full participation from the whole roster. Huge effort from the Bears DST. Heroics from the kicker. Even a decent job from the coach putting in the right guys. Damn shame about Collie. Guy is such a stud receiver. And he got Indy that win this week.

Exciting game between Chris and Derek. Derek’s team was all limp-dicked. He did get decent and unexpected output from Lloyd. And Manning was able to score thanks to Collie. But the rest of his starters stunk it up. Derek didn’t start his most productive RBs either. Chris needed 14 or so points for the win from AP on Monday night. Could go either way. Favre was in. Looking better. But a late scratch on AP. But wait. Chris is a 2 time champion. He had AP’s backup. Could still get there. Great first quarter with 5 points but Favre gets his ass kicked by my Bears and Tolbert doesn’t see many more good carries playing from behind. Exciting game to watch. Chris’s team seems to be a mess, though. 14 points from 5 RBs is fucking terrible. What happened to the depth from last season?

*Best plays and worse plays

Tim left his best WRs on his bench this week.

The Chinese took Kevin Boss off the wire at TE. The Mexican wound up with better numbers but Mexicans with the flu can be trusted as much as one with your car keys.

The Chinese took Buehler off the wire at K for 16 points.

Chris had AP’s backup. And it almost won him the game.

*Interview – Thanks Derek for getting this to me after your long flight home.

Newsletter: So The Waiver Wire Wonder makes it. But that team is not putting up any points recently. What happened? What are you going to do about it?
Derek: What happened?  Well, my wide outs stopped showing up. That’s what happened. I kind of blame two QB injuries for that though. Holy crap did Tebow save my ass last week.  Hillis isn’t doing as hot as before because the coach decided they needed more passing in their game.  Yeah, that seems to be working out great for the Browns and their rookie QB.  I just got back to my place after a long flight and the Steelers game just started.  I really should have played Wallace.  But Bowe and Lloyd have better match ups so I don’t feel too bad about that “choice.” (Carolina has a good secondary).

Newsletter: You really lucked out with that AP injury. Tell us what watching that game was like?
Derek: That AP injury, yeah, that was really something.  I was pretty happy when I saw it, but I figured his replacement would have put up the yards anyway.  I think the QB going down had a much bigger impact.
What is really interesting about that AP shit is what happened last year–between myself and Chris in the semi-final.  I was counting on AP for about 12 points for the win, and he put up about 6 or so.
Watching that game was exciting. Damn exciting.  Every yard Gerhart made was just painful though.  It was even funnier sitting next to him at work while the game was still going on.

Newsletter: I don’t know if I like the final game being decided by our regular tiebreakers. Loading up on QBs for no reasonable reason is just bleh since we are just disregarding any resemblance of a real roster. What say we decide on an unretarted tiebreaker. Highest kicker points seem about right for ‘Overtime’.
Derek: Oh shit I wasn’t even thinking about QBs on my bench.  I did pick up Kitna last week for that reason, but having an extra QB on your bench isn’t that strange.  I think Chris had Freeman anyway. As for loading up this week, I was trying to fuck your choices up.  I wasn’t sure if you were going to play Ben.  As for kickers, I’m down for making a different rule, but I don’t want to say yes to kickers without looking at our line-ups and stuff. You kicker might be playing some Def that allows “most points to kicker” or some shit. I wouldn’t put it past you.  You saw Chris’ post—nobody trusts you.  I’ll get back to you after some sleep.

Newsletter: What are the keys for your team winning in the final game?
Derek: I’m going to win if my wide outs have decent games.  I think you will win if they don’t. So it looks like you will win.

Newsletter: Who’s going to win 3rd?
Derek: I think Tim will win third if AP is still out.  It looks like Tim might get his QB back too.

*Analysis and Prediction

Frankson vs. Derek – Healthy Chinese with no ugly matchups. Can’t expect amazing stuff from Roethlisberger but should be stable production. The RBs look like they should have good games. The Giants need this win bad so I have to hope for points from my receivers. Kind of a showdown in the south with ATL and NO. Colston should be good for points. The Jets have a limpy QB who has struggled. Bears DST could and should outscore the offense. No one is kicking to Hester this week, though.

Derek might be feeling uncomfortable with Manning on the road but he doesn’t have to worry. Colts might lose but Manning will get his. Probably to Addai this week. Blount should have 2 TDs against the useless Seahawks. Turner might be limited by the show in the air. Denver should go nuts in the air but Tebow will snake a TD from Lloyd on the ground. The key is Manning to let Addai score on the ground and go to his whiteboy White at WR. Bowe is going to suck this week. Wallace is the guy getting hooked up by Roethlisberger this week.  Chinese win by 10 but Derek has a billion bench points.

Tim vs. Chris – I’m glad I won’t be losing to Chris this week in the finals again. Tim won’t get much out of Forte but at least Foster should have a normally excellent game. Rodgers is a huge risk. I’m sure the Giants will shoot to knock his ass out with a concussion. Jackson has an excellent shot at fucking the Vikings over.

Chris has had the best QB in Rivers but his RBs are shaky. Dallas is going to limit Arizona and they won’t be effective running at all. No better options though. Would be no surprise if AP doesn’t play to keep his leg safe for next year. Calvin Johnson should have a big game. But Pettigrew won’t. Eagles DST is going to have a monster game. Favre plays and he will have a bulls-eye on his shoulder. The keys here are all health related. Whoever gets healthy players in and playing will win. Chris’s team is healthier so I expect him to win by 15.

I’m not sure I like having the final game tiebreakers be bench points. It means it is a good idea to have 5 QBs on the bench once just to have good tiebreakers. Don’t know if there is a great solution out there but it isn’t what the bench is for.