A close call, but no surprises

Rangers nearly pull off shocking upset over Recliners (thanks, Josh Allen!) but most games go as expected: Invaiders eliminated and five teams remain in the hunt for four playoff spots

Puka Nacua makes a ridiculous TD catch to cap off a 28-point day and lead the Recliners to a victory.

The fact that John Lambert protected Jalen Hurts and then drafted Buffalo QB Josh "Superman" Allen with his first-round draft pick continues to be the source of bafflement, 14 games in to the 2025 season, and might be the subject of a future Netflix documentary. After all, I think they've done four on John Wayne Gacy alone, so... anyway. Back to fantasy football.

John went with Allen (again) as his starter this week and almost pulled off the upset of the season as a result. The Rangers (4-10) were up against the division-leading Recliners (9-5) as the teams headed down the stretch run toward the playoffs. Allen scored 37 points and Rangers WR Christian Watson added 20 but Chris Zimnoch's Recliners managed to hold on for a two-point victory. Rangers keeper and backup QB Jalen Hurts? He scored zero (donut!) against the Chargers on Monday night football, was lucky not to be in the negative after throwing five picks and was also the first player in NFL history to turn the ball over twice on the same play! See video:

Jalen Hurts throws one of his five picks, and also coughs up a fumble on the same play.

The Recliners avoided the upset thanks mostly to a late touchdown from Puka Nacua (see video at top of post), which helped Nacua to a 28-point game. QB Dak Prescott had 18 and RB Kyren WIlliams 15 for the Recliners.

Also keeping pace with the Recliners in the Silent Division was Matt Pringle, whose Spread Beaters (9-5) eliminated Vern Ahrendes and the Invaiders (finally!) with an 80-70 win. He also got RB Omarion Hampton (12 on the bench) back after missing eight weeks with a fractured ankle, so would go into the postseason with an alternative to Ashton Jeanty, whose line the last month has been 2-16-6-3.

WTNE (8-6) kept its slim-getting-slimmer (18%) playoff hopes alive with a 106-92 win over Who Dey.

The Packers (12-2) have the ST Division title and top seed already wrapped up and under the tree, so an 81-57 win over the Tirades (4-10) was almost an afterthought. The second-place Gerbils (8-5) took care of business with an 85-78 win over the Band Aids (3-11).

Swami update

The Swami was even better than the week before, going a perfect 5-0 and has won 90% of his games over the last two weeks to improve to 43-27 on the season. I guess it helps when the previously unpredictable Tirades start tanking, giving you one guaranteed win a week before you even start picking....

Week 14 recap

WTNE 106, Who Dey 92: Jordan Garcia picked up WR Michael Wilson a couple weeks ago off the free agent pile and is certainly glad he did. Wilson scored 26 and was one of six to score in double figures to help keep WTNE's playoff hopes alive. Saquon Barkley (remember him?) added 18 and the Seahawks D had 17 for Garcia. Jaxon Smith-Njigba had 21 to lead Matty McCumber's Who Dey.

Recliners 101, Rangers 99: Nacua (28) was the star for Chris, who goes against the Gerbils this week in a possible playoff preview. I guess John is happy he didn't trade Allen, who led all scorers with 37 this week instead of earning the Rangers an additional 2026 draft pick. Or two.

Gerbils 85, Band Aids 72: This sounds like a broken record, but Jamyr Gibbs (29 points) led the Gerbils to another win. RB Jaylen Warren added 11 and the resurgent Houston Defense added 12 as Chuck Nelson's team improved to 8-5. The kicker, Jake Bates, led Bob Garcia's losing team with 16 points, so that's all I am going to say about that.

Packers 81, Tirades 57: Jeff Lambert's league-leading Pack (12-2) also were led in scoring by a kicker, but that's because Brandon Aubrey is amazingly good. He scored 23 points, which is a total that Tirades owner hasn't seen a player get since he traded away Jonathan Taylor a month ago. Aubrey hit all five FG attempts, including three from longer than 50 yards and a 63-yarder. I will not be surprised if commissioner Jeff suggests a rule change that would give kickers 6 points (instead of 5) for any FG 60 yards or longer. QB Lamar Jackson had 20 and RB De'Von Achane had 16 before getting injured, but it's apparently a not-as-serious-as-originally-thought rib ailment.

Beaters 80, Invaiders 70: Pringle finally slammed the book closed on Vern's season despite a valiant effort from Invaiders QB Joe Burrow, who returned from injury and led the team with 23 points. That's almost double the leading scorer for Pringle's Beaters, who didn't get more than 12 from anybody but won the Costco way (with bulk). WR Nico Collins, RB Taylor and QB C.J. Stroud each had 12, the Broncos Defense had 11 and three other players scored 9 each.