All this work just to be playing for third place for the third time. Hate it. It hurts but I am playing in another championship against my father, so my attention will turn towards that.
Welcome to finals week. The last week of Fantasy in what felt like a quick season. The semi-final matchups ended with losses to both Commish and Worzie. Heartbroken to see our chance at winning a cup end but we officially will have a first-time champion in the league's 7th year. Spencer finds himself in his first-ever championship game against Nathan who suffered a loss to Justin in last year's championship.
Previous Champions:
2017: Jared
2018: Jere
2019: Jere
2020: Nick
2021: Worzie
2022: Justin
2023: TBD
Let's get right into the finals matchup preview.
FINALS MATCHUPS
Spencer vs Nathan
Both conference winners who benefitted from the bye weeks in week 15, missing players like Justin Jefferson and Keenan Allen. These two teams will face off in the final week matchup to conclude our 2023 fantasy season. While Nathan was expecting to be here with a dominant regular season run behind CMC, Spencer was labeled a pretender for the majority of the year but got hot at the right time with Nakua, LaPorta, Pacheco and a Hurts/Dak combo.
Key Positional Breakdown:
QB: Jalen Hurts/Dak Prescott vs Jordan Love
Advantage Spencer. Regardless of who he chooses to play, I believe he has the upper hand at the QB position. Since Nathan lost Burrow early in the year, he has bounced around QBs but has landed on Jordan Love to complete his playoff run. Love has played well as of recent, with only one interception in the last six games. He will look to get revenge against a Minnesota defense that stifled him in Week 8. Jordan Love is the last player to play in this matchup on SNF, Nathan will either be crowned a champion or forever hate Love moving forward.
RB: Bijan/Z. White vs CMC/Etienne
A+ advantage to Nathan. Week-to-week we have no idea what the plan is for Bijan. He could be put into a backup role with little work, or he could be used how he should be, and look like a 8th overall draft pick. With Pacheco questionable missing this week, and Josh Jacobs potentially playing this week, Spencer might simply lose because of his RB depth. Nathan's RB squad has carried him when his team was down. CMC has simply been incredible this year. The difference between CMC and the 2nd overall scoring RB is 110 fantasy points, that is also the difference between the 2nd overall RB and the 26th overall RB. He's simply the best in the game right now and could deliver a championship as the first-overall pick in the our draft.
WR: Olave/Nacua vs Jefferson/Wilson
Slight advantage Spencer. While Jefferson is the best WR in football, Nacua and Olave have been a deadly duo. The advantage simply comes down to Garrett Wilson not knowing which QB will be throwing him passes each week, maybe each quarter. He's been inconsistent, to no fault of his own but the reality is he has to go against a Browns defense that has been nasty this year. Nathan will need a big game out of Jefferson against a Packers defense that made Bryce Young look like a good choice as a first-overall pick.
TE: LaPorta vs Njoku
Slight advantage Nathan. LaPorta has had a better year overall but Njoku has come on late since Flacco took over as the QB. He trusts Njoku across the entire field, but looks to him in the endzone, scoring four touchdowns over his last three games. LaPorta who looks like a long-term weapon has been boom or bust in his last seven games. Spencer will be asking for that boom game against a tough Dallas defense that is projected to be high-scoring.
Flex Players:
Advantage Nathan. These may get switched up as we get closer to game time, but I like Nathan's matchups plus his bench depth over Spencer should players get swapped. A key player to watch is if Keenan Allen gets healthy, he would be a nice boost for Spencer even if Easton Stick is as QB.
FINAL PREDICTIONS
I think we will get a close matchup here. I look forward to crowning a new champion by Sunday evening. Shipping and handling is not included so you can either make a trip to pick it up or send me a hefty venmo to ensure your cup makes it in one piece. Score prediction: Spencer 128.78 | Nathan 133.29
Good luck to both Spencer and Nathan. I lose either way as Nathan will never shut the fuck about his cup, or have to live with Spencer after calling his team a pretender for 10-plus weeks in a row. Lastly, we are colectively rooting for the Titans, Bears, Giants, Broncos and Patriots this week to ensure Chargers get a top-5 draft pick in 2024. Commish out.