Immersion Bowl V Semi-Final

The opening round of the Immersion Bowl playoffs was incredible. The field is particularly competitive this year, with five 9-4 teams and an 8-5 team representing the playoff crop.

That parity was on display in round one of the playoffs, as the Bestine Banthas edged the DownState CornChutes 171.07-166.87. In the other game, the Cleveland Battery held a comfortable 45 point lead going into the Monday night game. They remained in the lead at halftime of the Monday night game. Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson decided to put an end to that, however, combining for 46.15 points. Paul Worrilow chipped in, and the (r)EvoLUtion completed the improbable comeback, winning 153.48 to 144.50.

The #1 seed North Point Chitons and #2 seed Batavia Colliders had the bye. Both teams posted lineups (for kicks) and the Chitons’ score of 172.53 would have bested the field. Chitons owner Tom Rothfus has to hope he can repeat that performance this week when it counts. The Colliders, on the other hand, benefited greatly from the bye – their lineup posted three bagels and only would have bested the Battery. Owner Josh Hammond said he would have “paid more attention” if it had counted. Sure, Hammond. Sure.

Let’s preview the next round. Who will end up vying for the trophy?

#6 Bestine Banthas @ #1 North Point Chitons

Season Series: Chitons, 2-0

All-Time Series: Chitons, 8-4

These teams finished with identical 9-4 records, with the Chitons edging out the Banthas in both of their matchups. The last time either one of these teams were in the playoffs was 2011, when both qualified, though the Banthas won the division that year.

Can we start with the Banthas? How do they keep winning? The Banthas spent

the most money ever on a player when they dropped $70 on Adrian Peterson, only to have him sit out the whole season on a child abuse rap. Their best player, I kid you not, is Jay Cutler. How can a team go 9-4 with Jay Cutler as their best player? Incidentally, Cutler isn’t even the regular starting QB for the Banthas. He ranks as the 18th overall player, despite his 21 turnovers, which is as good an argument as any to reign in the QB scoring.

So how are they doing it? It must be balance, right? Well, I don’t know. Here are their #1 players at each position, followed by their position rank:

QB: Cutler, #9
RB: Mark Ingram, #16
WR: T.Y. Hilton, #8
TE: Delanie Walker, #9
PK: Blair Walsh, #16
DT: Marcell Dareus, #1
DE: Rob Ninkovich, #7
LB: Brandon Marshall, #3
CB: Adam Jones, #9
S: Charles Woodson, #3

You would expect higher rankings from most positions on such a successful team. Dareus is #1 at the useless position of DT, where he has only scored 125 points. Most observers didn’t expect the Banthas to recover from the loss of AP, but owner Ryan Lindsay has been active – he made 7 trades this season and hit the waiver wire just about every week. Can he continue the magic?

The North Point Chitons, on the other hand, have a player for every situation. Currently, there are 45 players on the roster. His long term investment in DeMarco Murray is finally paying off, as Murray is leading the league in rushing. In fact the backfield combination of Murray and third overall pick (2013 draft) Eddie Lacy defines this team. Murray and Lacy rank 3rd and 7th, respectively, in fantasy points.

The other area in which long term planning has paid off for Rothfus is wide receiver. Emmanuel Sanders was drafted 7.07 and was resigned as an RFA for $1.67. Sure, he was going to take Eric Decker’s spot in Peyton Manning’s offense, but nobody was really going to part with a first rounder for Sanders. Well, Sanders currently ranks 6th among WRs in fantasy scoring. For $1.67. That’s value.

Beyond that, however, the Chitons don’t seem to have much firepower. Like the Banthas, though, they somehow keep winning. The Chitons ranked 6th in the league in scoring. The Banthas, 7th. Both teams were in the middle of the pack. However, none of that matters in the playoffs. You just have to outscore the opponent in front of you.

Prediction: Yeah, right. You try to predict this one.

 

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#4 Fransburg (r)EvoLUtion @ #2 Batavia Colliders

Season series: Even, 1-1

All-time series: Colliders, 9-2

These teams are cut from the same cloth, and it could be argued that the (r)EvoLUtion owe much of their return to relevance to the offseason deal they made with the Colliders for Aaron Rodgers. Coming off an injury-marred season, Rodgers found himself in a difficult negotiating position. Since the Colliders had already restructured his contract once, they couldn’t do it again. But another team could. Instead of making $60 to return to the Colliders’ starting lineup, Rodgers was shipped to Fransburg and given a measly $21 salary.

“I’ll never forgive Hammond for that,” Rodgers said. “I led that team to the

trophy, and he kicked me to curb like so much garbage. For what? To save a few bucks. I really, really hate that guy.”

When reached for comment at that time, Hammond just shrugged and said, “Aaron has to learn that this is a business, first and foremost. I’m in the business of giving my team the best chance to win…not just this year, but every year.”

The Colliders got QB Russell Wilson back, who is the 6th ranked QB, but they are earning about 4 fewer points per game from that position without Rodgers.

The rivalry goes beyond Rodgers, though. Fransburg controlled the division for most of the season, only to have to fight for it during the last week of the regular season. The Colliders needed to win, and outscored the (r)EvoLUtion by about 20 to claim the title. They ended up winning by nearly 60.

Revenge is certainly on the mind for Fransburg owner Adam Franssen. Steamed at losing division naming rights, he’d be best advised to keep his eyes on the prize – his team has the ability to win two more games and become the second two-time champion after Jason Enright.

The (r)EvoLUtion boast a quality running back in Jamaal Charles, whereas the Colliders sent their only functional RB, Andre Ellington, to IR last week. For the Colliders to be successful, they must have a repeat performance out of their WR corps – Megatron, Jeffery, Brown, and Jones combined for 95 points in their last meeting with Fransburg. With Julio Jones nursing a hip injury, it doesn’t seem likely.

Meanwhile, Fransburg is most dangerous when their defense can put it together. DE Everson Griffen menaced the Colliders in both of their games this year.

Prediction: Fransburg wins because I’m trying to reverse jinx tecmo whine this thing.

What do you think?

 
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