CCB Power Rankings, Week 11: Antonio Brown v. HOA — Who Wins?
In a week marred by awful ‘sugma’ and ‘ligma’ nickname changes, a couple important matchups defined the cloudy playoff picture. Thanks to Brandly’s loss to dhttn this week, the Shanahanigans fight for the top seed in the ‘Fruit Based Boba’ division is an exciting one to watch. Brandly’s QB and RB losses could be the Shanahanigans ticket to a first round bye. Emma and Ishan’s unconvincing wins this week have also put them further into the playoff conversation, however the final wild card spot is still anyone’s game.
1. 📈 Tuahanagins (leoxia@): 8–2 (+1)
Is the NFL really too easy for Tua? Well it seems that way for the Tuahanagins. Sitting alone with the league’s top record, the Tuahanagins have shown that even without a Russell Wilson MVP performance, they can consistently put up points. Nick Chubb back from injury? No problem, Kareem Hunt will run it for 104 yds. Quiet Nuk outing last week against the Dolphins? No problem, he’ll moss three defenders for a 43 yd hailmary & a TD. With an easy end of season schedule, the 1st seed is the Tuahanagins’ to lose.
2. 📈 Shanahanigans 2.0 (vaibhav@): 6–4 (+2)
The rebirth of the Shanahanigans. A team that once started off on the top of this list (well imagine if the list existed before week 10), has now returned. You know, we are actually quite worried that the ‘Jeffys’ had a chance to upset the Shanahanigans at the start of the match-up, but Vaibhav’s depth stands victorious. The Shanahanigans have a real chance to win out the top seed in the ‘Fruit Based Boba’ division after Brandly’s loss to Dhttn this week. The only weakness on the Shanahanigans is his lack of a consistent TE production, but when you have studs in Davante Adams, DJ Moore, and Tyreek Hill, it’s not like you need a TE anyways
3. 📈 Neverloseagains (ryanvasquez@): 7–3 (+3)
Maybe I ranked the Neverloseagains too low last week and now they have me eating my words. I’m not a betting man (actually I am now), but if I was (I am now) then I’d find great odds on the Neverloseagains. Perhaps the matchup against a hobbled Gimme the Damn L was too easy this week, but when Kyler’s carrying the team from week to week, it makes it a lot easier for Ryan’s role players to produce average numbers for consistent wins. However, in order to beat the two teams above he’ll need two QBs to put up strong numbers. Wentz’s performances lately have been concerning and he faces a difficult lineup in the playoff stretch (NO, ARI, DAL). Let’s see if the Neverloseagains can live up to their name
4. 📈 Team dhttn (dhttn@): 6–4 (+1)
Yeah, I know I got doubters for ranking dhttn at 5 last week, but do you doubt them now? Strong performances by Kamara and Big Ben allowed Dustin to take down the giant that is the Wandering Albatross. When the rest of his team doesn’t perform, he can count on Kamara to put the team on his back. His rookie FA pickup in Salvon Ahmed looked great this week and if he can perform consistently, Dustin might have found himself a nice little 1–2 punch. Despite his successes, Team dhttn still has some tough matchups to finish out the season and he remains a fringe team to make the playoffs
5. 📉 Wandering Albatross’ (papa_brandly@): 7–3 (-4)
A bit of an overreaction to his loss to Dustin or is it? The brutal hit to Drew Brees and the lack of another healthy backup (Drew Lock and Nick Foles both hobbled) must have Brandly a little nervous. His starting RBs still aren’t healthy yet and he’s running dangerously low on depth at all positions. With the passing of the trade deadline, we’re just hoping there aren’t any more injuries. Luckily for him, his WRs have the potential to make up for those lost points and Josh Allen can put up 26 points in a loss. We’re not counting the Albatross’ out yet, but they’re not trending up right now
6. 📉What’s Dalvin cooking? (ishanshah@): 6–4 (-3)
Dalvin is still cooking, but he can’t single handedly carry the team. At this point the Dalvin’s are hoping that Christian McCaffrey heals up quickly so that they remain a playoff contender. This week showed us the floor of this talented roster. A quiet Lockett, Robinson, and Woods combined for less points (22 pts) than Aaron Rodgers (27 pts). With some rough Russell Wilson and Jared Goff performances and now an injured Nick Foles, the floor for this WR group could be a lot lower. Although Derek Carr put up bad numbers, we’re not concerned about Ishan’s QB play since Josh Jacobs vultured most of the production from Carr this week. With a strong outing next week, we could see Ishan’s squad easily return to the top 3
7. Team emwang44 (emwang44@): 7–3 (-)
It really feels weird to rank a 7–3 team at 7 on this list, but the boom potential for this team just doesn’t feel like it’s there this year. A close win against heysteven is the difference between being tied for the 2nd best record and becoming a fringe playoff team and each lineup decision counts (I’m kinda getting at the whole sitting Nick Chubb thing). The lineup put up some respectable numbers this week, but the names behind the matchup like Chase Edmonds, Zach Pascal, and TY Hilton don’t really inspire the confidence of a top 6 team. The bright spot here is that Cam has returned to some semblance of his former self and he’s a real threat for rushing TDs each week. A very tough end of season schedule could see Team emwang44 in trouble
8. 📈 Team akashanavarathan (akashanavarathan@): 5–5 (+1)
Akash’s team is defined by his great 2020 rookie draft. Despite being a team with no startable QBs, he could easily put himself back into contention next year when Dak returns from injury. His team’s potential is evident from this week’s matchup. Had he started Ronald Jones, he would’ve taken down Ishan’s juggernaut and we’d be looking at a much different playoff scenario. With breakout rookie years from Aiyuk, Jeudy, and now Swift, Akash has put himself on an upward trend and we’re looking forward to seeing who his 2021 rookie draft picks turn into
9. 📉Team heysteven (heysteven@): 3–7 (-1)
Heysteven still has that boom/bust potential, but he’ll have to do some soul searching this offseason on what to do with his dismal RB room. It seems more likely now that AJ Dillon will take the reigns in Green Bay after David Bakhtiari got his massive contract extension (leaving no money left for Aaron Jones.. SAD!), but we’re still hesitant on Dillon’s ability to produce. As assets we’re also not sure what to make of Pittman, but he looked great on Thursday against the Titans. We’re still hopefully optimistic, but his bust potential warrants a drop in this week’s power rankings
10. 📈 Sugma jeffys (vikingsrcool@): 4–6 (+1)
The Jeffys actually looked like they had a chance against the Shanahanagins this week after a great Daniel Jones outing and honestly had Rahul made the right starts this week he could be sitting here at 5–5 with playoff potential. Instead, he falls to a middling 4–6, with Akash on his tail for the 4th overall pick (although this is not likely). If they end the year with the same record, Rahul currently has the tiebreaker with 61 less points in the ‘points for’ category than Akash. Justin Jefferson is the only player keeping him in the rankings here
11. 📈The Hanigan Footbirds (read@): 0–10 (+1)
I’m gonna take a lot of flak for moving the footbirds up a spot, but just take a look at his core and you’d salivate over his team’s potential: JK Dobbins, Stefon Diggs, Michael Thomas, Tee Higgins. And after this season add Trevor Lawrence to the mix and you’ve got a dangerous team. Against a tough Tuahanagins team, the Hanigan Footbirds put up fight. Higgins has been the shining star on his team all year and if you believe in Read’s rookie scouting ability (so far he’s given us no reason to doubt him), the Footbirds will be the biggest riser this offseason
12. 📉Gimme the Damn L (AbhiG15@): 1–9 (-2)
We’re pleasantly surprised at the value that Abhi got from his Jalen Reagor trade. He was able to add a 1st rd rookie WR and trade away his win now assets to a playoff contender. These kind of risks are what take a 1–9 team to the playoffs in a 1–2 year turnaround time. So why the drop in rankings? Jonathan Taylor. When you draft at the top of the rookie draft you *have* to hit on your draft picks. We’re not concerned about JT *just* yet (remember Ronald Jones?), but his lack of vision is hugely concerning. Gimme the Damn L has a lot of young assets and picks, but those assets still have to realize in value. Hey, at least the team is finally realizing its value in Antonio Brown!
