NFL Week 13 Recap

Preet Braich (pictured middle) fends off best friend
Deepi (on his ass) as the two fight for a loose ball.

There were a lot of good games played this weekend in College as well as the NFL - but there was one match up that I enjoyed significantly more than the rest: The one-on-one basketball game that took place between two best friends Preet Braich & Sundeep Sunny Deepi Boparai Saini Singh. What started as some post-dinner Saturday night banter quickly turned into a night full of drinking and trash-talking. The two competitors took to the court early Sunday morning in the mean streets of Boston, MA donning hangovers, sweatshirts, and a no rules attitude. 


In a game that was played up to 11 - Deepi quickly silenced his critics (myself and Sunny) as he leaped out to a 5-0 lead using an assortment of And-1 moves and lucky turnaround hook shots. It was at this point this his coach/agent/hypeman - Sanj, asked if a Chode rule was in effect at 7-0? Wrong question. Preet finally got on the board as he was able to use his over-bearing build to back down Deepi at will. As the game wore on - the two of these competitors (pictured right) battled for every loose ball and gripped and clawed for every point. And by "gripped and clawed" I mean settled for outside shots and tried to avoid playing any defense. In the end, it was Preet that would be victorious by a score of 11-8 - subsequently cementing Deepi's legacy of choking in the big moment. Overall, it was a fun game to watch and one that should take place more frequently. 


Onto some fun facts, observations, and expert analysis on week 13 of the NFL after the jump...




Finished at a mark of 7-9 on the week in the picks - the teams I enjoy following the most are completely out of the playoff picture at this point (Bills and Eagles). At this point I'm legitimately hoping that the Bills can win one more game so that I can at least win my over 5.5 wins for the season bet. I've already won by under 10.5 wins for the Eagles bet so I guess there's a silver lining to all of this. Not going to lie at week 13 of the NFL season a little of that muster has been lost from Week 1 when I was legitimately excited to watch football games every second. Luckily for fans of teams that blow - we have fantasy football. Actually I credit much of my fantasy success over the past decade to the Buffalo Bills because by this time of the year the Bills are so far out of contention it doesn't matter if Tom Brady torches them for 5 Tds. I never have to take my allegiances to the Bills into account when drafting a fantasy football team or making transactions throughout the year. Whereas a fan of the Steelers might turn down an opportunity to trade for Ravens RB Ray Rice - the Bills allow me to openly wheel and deal at any point of the season. Thank you Buffalo.  


Fantasy:
A majority of fantasy leagues around the country start their playoffs this week - which will likely make week 14 of the season a lot more enjoyable for most unless your teams are on bye weeks for being too good or your regular season isn't over. I've earned the bye week in two of my leagues and the regular season carries into week 14 in my third league. While I'm on the topic of bye weeks - is there anything more frustrating as a fantasy owner than having your team going absolutely bananas during the bye week and then getting little to no production from your players the following week when it counts? 


NFL:
As we enter the last quarter of the season clearly the most interesting divisional race is the AFC West with Denver, Oakland, and San Diego now coming back into the picture. I'm not going to include the Chiefs because a playoff scenario in which a team led by Tyler Palko makes the playoffs seems implausible. The Broncos now winners of 6 straight have legitimately become the most exciting team to follow week in and week out. It's been so much fun to watch experts and pundits eat their words about the Broncos including this gem from yours truly in my week 9 predictions "the Broncos are a terrible, terrible football team". Four weeks later - the entire country has done a complete 180 on Tim Tebow and the passion, energy, and leadership that he brings to the Broncos. Well, I'm completely on board with TebowMania now.


Updated Post-Week 13 Predicted Playoff Outcomes:

AFC East: New England - No contest in this one

AFC North: Baltimore - Get the tiebreaker over the Steelers.

AFC South: Houston - Where there's a will there's a way

AFC West: Denver - TebowMania leads the Broncos to the Division title.

AFC Wild Card: Pittsburgh - Could absolutely see them making a run to the Super Bowl.

AFC Wild Card: Jets - I trust that they will play better down the stretch than the other three teams.

Left Out: Raiders, Bengals, Titans

NFC East: Dallas - Bad, bad loss to the Cardinals this week as Jason Garrett got torched - huge NFC East game against the G-Men in week 14 looms.

NFC North: Green Bay - only question is 16-0? Officially Clinched.

NFC South: New Orleans - Who Dat! Probably the 2nd best team in football this year.

NFC West: San Francisco - Looking forward to week 15 vs. the Steelers on MNF. Officially Clinched.

NFC Wild Card: Atlanta - Hopefully that 4th and inches play doesn't come back to bite Mike Smith

NFC Wild Card: I'm still not sold on the Giants, Lions, or Bears getting to 9 wins. And since the Eagles made buffoons of me last week I figure I'll try my hand at another organization to sneak in for the last wild card spot - Arizona. 

Left Out: Lions, Bears, and Giants.