2019: The Rise Of Corona

Welcome to the penultimate edition of the LOC Report, where co host Chris Leach and Commissioner Stubbs review what happened in the semi finals in Week 15, and preview the much anticipated Corona Bowl XI matchup. We also reveal the award nominees for 2019...

2019: The Wounded Have Arrived

We've finally got there, the first week of the LOC playoffs! The teams were already decided, but the ranking was sorted in Week 14, which Commissioner Stubbs and Co Host Chris Leach will recap for you. Then we'll take a look at the week 15 preview matchups, which have been significantly impacted by the first (long overdue) injury week last week.

2019 Power Rankings: Week 13

Power Rankings



Welcome back one and welcome back all to this week’s power rankings, brought to you once again by me! It’s been good fun, but, all good things must come to an end and like any fun lesson with a substitute teacher, the real mccoy is back next week and you can all shudder in your seats. The EDITLOCCA returns from his course (presumably, on how to pick a Fantasy team) next week, so it’s business as usual. So, without further ado, let’s see where you all stack up:



12. Buccing The Trend

We spoke last week about how on earth this team of also-rans made it this far with a reputable record – we’re seeing that slowly being eroded away BUT statistically, they can only tie with Gridiron Gang for this year’s losingest team. And that’s about the only positive I can turn to right now. They’d do well to win another game this year, but big shout to not giving up, getting 5 wins and playing the waiver wire as it should. Not many would be bold/desperate enough to start some of the names on their roster. Perhaps a better draft next year will sort the problems. This week, they’re going to have to rely heavily on Cousins, Kamara and Gordon in terrible matchups to have a chance against a resurgent Tom’s Tyrants



11. The Dream Team



One of the key factors I considered this week was “am I scared of your team?”. To put it bluntly, I’m about as scared of this team as I am of a soppy Labrador that’s asleep. Dreaming, if you will. Their resurgent running back corps were stopped in their tracks, their QB got injured and the supporting cast stumbled and pulled the curtain down on their year. Good news though, Ertz finally looks fantasy viable again and the pickup of Ronald Jones Jr (despite him being on the lost & found pile) seems inspired. This week, they play the bang-bang Burdettinators for the chance stay 2^nd in their division and ward off the challenge from Patistan and a waining Buccing the Trend.



10. Patistan

So, after Pat well and truly hitched the wagon up this week and produced quite the gypsy win, he rode off into the sunset and unexpectedly found himself in 5-7 land. A land, where teams go this time of year to hibernate, and then die, in wake of the playoffs they’re not making. Look, I could write a similar thing to The Dream Team – they’re not hugely threatening, largely reliant on receivers that aren’t a focal point for their team (with the obvious exception of Devante Adams), a RB that hasn’t looked the same playing for the Jets (who has?) but, and a big but here, has some big game potential. Josh Allen has looked like the real deal this year, and fair enough for taking the gamble. It’s just a shame – much like the Bills themselves – that there’s really nobody else to write home about here. This week, a very useful matchup against Gridiron Gang, who themselves are finally coming off rock bottom. It’s shit or bust for this team this week.



9. Gridiron Gang

Over 100 points?! At last! Finally some green shoots of recovery for Gridiron Gang, but a little too much too late. Having a serviceable, elite, QB really helps this team’s floor, as well as having some reliable pieces. They’re using their mammoth amount of waiver dollars to buy a few players to salvage their season and prevent a trip to the Toilet Bowl, but last week, it was a revitalised Nuke Hopkins and DJ Moore who propelled them onward. Quite incredibly, even on the bench, they had some points. It’s finally nice to see some luck going their way, but if Coach Stubbs wins GM of the Year again, I’ll quit the league. This week, they have Patistan, who’ll they’ll fancy to get win number 4 against.



8. Bear Necessities

Despite being in perpetual decline, I can’t look past that Bear Necessities should be higher up the league table than they are. They are so unfortunate to be in a division with both Ross’s team and my team. Any other division, I think with the amount of points scored, they’d be in playoff contention. Annoyingly, they just keep getting outscored by ridiculous performances, underlined this week by Lamar Jackson pissing 46 points all over them. It was a ‘nice’ week but let’s be honest, if you’re playing the Rams DST against Baltimore in their current form AND against Lamar directly in your matchup, you know what’s going to happen. This week, a matchup against whatever Ollie’s calling his team this week.



7. Ollie’s Team

This team stank like a dead rat in a pipe last week – 53 points at this stage in the season is hardly ideal, and their ‘scary’ receiver corps were anything but. Russell Wilson couldn’t stage any heroics either and they slumped to a loss, albeit against the Tuckfards, which tanked their season (somebody please recognise that pun, it took a while to come up with!). This week, Ollie appears to have sat down at the table, eaten his turkey and said his prayers because with three players to go, they’ve already exceeded last week’s total – plenty to celebrate on a day that we don’t! Coach Gardner has put himself well and truly ahead for this week’s Chump of the Week though, playing the inactive Julio Jones. With that bench! This week pits him against Bear Necessities, who, although having lost their roar and are ready to hibernate for the winter, do still possess a threat – but at this point who cares? Neither are making playoffs.



6. Burdettinators

I mentioned last week that this team had the potential to go nuclear or meltdown – this was SO close to the latter if not for this year’s fantasy studmuffin, Lamar Jackson. Man, that guy has it all, it’s just unfair (Lamar, that is). Now, it would be unfair to classify this team as a one-man team, but I’ve never really been a fan of fair. If not for Lamar, last year’s champs would have been down and out but, like Tyson Fury against Deontay Wilder, like Boris Johnson’s political career, like Tiger Woods at the Masters but not the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, they came back and overcame the odds through a superb individual performance. Earlier on (if you read this in its entirety) – I called this team the ‘bang-bang’ Burdettinators, simply because two shots are all it takes from Jones and Jackson to kill you. This week, The Dream Team awaits for a season-ending shootout – a loss and rather than ‘bang-bang’, we say ‘bye-bye’.



5. Tom’s Tyrants

Surely, just surely, they can’t do it? Last year, we saw what happened when a team with the wind in its sails, scoring big towards the season, decided to start winning – this team has the chance to emulate that. It’s clear that the Tyrants have turned a corner – they have a well rounded team, scoring 125 points and managing to do so while carrying a player. Chris Godwin looks to be an early contender for ‘draft value of the year’ but they’re still playing QB roulette though, last week, the gamble on green with the surprising Sam Darnold came in big. Let’s just hope they don’t bet on red this week and lose it all – that has well and truly been their downfall this year. This week, they’ll be feeling confident in a matchup against Buccing the Trend, albeit, they enter Sunday 33 points down. This is the last spin for this team – go big or go home.



4. Ross’s Team

On last week’s pod, Ross mentioned that he should be higher on the Power Rankings, well, perhaps judging by last week’s showing, I was justified. Just a horrible display at just the wrong time – it’s perhaps lucky that coming against Tom’s Tyrants, there was little chance of a win and their blushes were spared. Michael Thomas is and remains a stud (except this week), Josh Jacobs is the real deal and Matt Ryan will have better weeks, but his last two games are scary – Carolina and then San Francisco should he make it to the Corona Bowl. Equally scary - this year’s surprise package plays IKSAN this week (spoilers – it’s not looking great) and Forge Flyers the week after (potentially for the division) – if they can chalk a win against either or both, they will have confidence going into the playoffs, should they make it, with Tom’s Tyrants and Burdettinators breathing down their neck should there be any slip ups.



3. Forge Flyers

A turbulent week for the Flyers saw them fall from the clouds and prepare for an emergency landing. Very little went right and despite Christian McCaffrey’s heroics, they fell to a less than 1 point loss against Patistan. That seems to happen a lot when these two teams play one another! Thankfully, crisis has so far been averted, and they have another chance to clinch a playoff berth this week, and what better way to do it than against The Tuckfards? Make no mistake about it, the loss of Mack, Hooper and Hilton has hurt and I’ve attempted to refresh the team this week, going to free agency for a few pickups. I have to say, it was refreshing to come out of Thursday night with a positive score – a 40 point lead going into Sunday is nice. You never know, this could be a dress rehearsal for the Corona Bowl…





2. IKSAN

It might have taken 13 weeks but at last, ISKAN have dropped Philip Rivers. It seems IKSAN and the Chargers have come to the same conclusion at the same time! He’s gone all in to get his man, Jameis Winston, granted, ranks highly on the volatility scale but if the gamble pays off, it should propel IKSAN into the playoffs once again. I still commend Ben for assembling an extremely consistent team – that isn’t easy – and the results are there to see. I don’t see it stopping there – it’s been the same all year and his RB corps are hot right now - Derrick Henry is going full Hulk-mode, Dalvin Cook has been a stud and Gurley, well, we know his ability. This week, my mate Ben could do me a massive favour and beat Ross’s Team, and they look in prime position to do so. I have said consistently on the pod that the difference between a good and a great team in fantasy is your QB, and Ben may well have done just that with this side.



1. The Tuckfards

Well, where do I begin with this Tuckfards love in? Where has this new-found rationality come from? Perhaps Phil should stay in the Southern Hemisphere, it appears to be working wonders. I appreciate that this team was formed in the draft, but Phil should take some credit for that, seeing value in the likes of Ingram and recently Landry which others didn’t. Taking Patrick Mahomes boldly, when others didn’t. Fortunately picking up the Patriots DST. Adding guys like Deebo Samuel and playing them. Not dropping their best players halfway through the season. Fair play to you. But it wouldn’t be fair of me to leave out that he, quite fortunately, found himself in the least competitive division, and 13 weeks in still has the 2^nd lowest (by 2 points, may I add) points against total. But, dear readers, it doesn’t matter – the Tuckfards have made the playoffs and now it’s time to sweat. For us, time to sweat, as there’s a ¼ chance that they COULD ACTUALLY WIN (I capitalise for effect, but the facts remain the same) – and for them, time to sweat, as they have to play opposition that are nigh-on equal. Time will tell whether they will revert to type and shit the bed, or whether this is actually their year. This week, they play Forge Flyers for a chance at 10 wins.



All the best to all of you, except you Phil, of course!



Bold Play of the Week: Buccing the Trend picking up James Washington and him going for 15 points.


LOL Play of the Week: I was going to say Alshon Jeffery for Tom’s Tyrants, but then realised that Bear Necessities played James White for -0.10 points…! And they played the Rams DST against the Ravens.


Troll Play of the Week: Salty me here – either the Colts activating TY Hilton for no real reason on Thursday night or Green Bay going for 2 and getting it for no reason, except for Devante Adams to catch it and Pat to win. Gah! Or Lamar Jackson vs Bear Necessities, just because.