LoD Ladder Stage

October 25, 2019October 25, 2019 Nexecutioner Legion of Defense, Nexecutioner

And The Show Truly Begins

As cross divisional play ends, Week 8 marks the beginning of the seeded portion of the season where teams must scramble through a 5 week ladder schedule, battling their division rival in a schedule that’s re-seeded weekly by rank. The Riflemen show a clear advantage over the Rangers here, with the Riflemen Division finishing the Inter-Divisional portion of the schedule with a combined record of 24-18.

This gives a heavy advantage to the teams in the Riflemen Division in regards to the 1st Wildcard spot which will be awarded to the best team by record outside of the Division Champions, and since the win shares of the division are higher, so are the odds.

Rundown of the Rangers Division

#6 Battering Rams 2-5-0/268 points AF#106

After a heartbreaking week 1 loss to rival Gates of Delirium, 48 – 49.5 the Rams followed up by falling flat vs the beatable effort The Freaks put up in week 2, losing 16-30. Weeks 3, 4, and 5 were full of bumps and bruises for the Rams as they lost all 3 games by a total margin of 86-204. The Rams started turning things around in week 6 with a 59 – 38 point win vs the Agents, and followed that up with another 59 point effort beating Bigdog, 59-21 for their first 2 wins of the season.

The Rams are led by 2nd Ranked DB Marlon Humphrey, but other than that, they do not have another top 25 IDP player at any position, however they do have the 5th ranked Team Defense with the New Orleans Saints. Their 1st and 2nd round picks – Carlos Dunlap and CJ Mosley – both have been struck with injuries, hurting their contributions greatly, and 4th round pick, Christian Kirksey, also missed time with injury. If the Rams can get through the injury bug they may be able to save this almost lost season. They’re curently up near the top of the league in fumbles forced and recovered, par for the course for the 3-time Grenadier Medal winner.

#5 Sacks Fifth Avenue 2-5-0/315 points AF#100

In Weeks 1-3, Sacks 5th Ave lost 40 – 76.5 vs the Doinks, 56 – 76.5 to MPTYCB and 62- 103.5 to Gotta Big D for a total margin of 158-256.5 to start the year on a 0-3 slide despite decent scoring. In week 4, Sacks scored their lowest point total to that point in the season, but actually won, 37 – 22 vs Mack Daddy proving just how funny the football can bounce. To follow that up they won a tightly contested game by a narrow 46-45 vs the Agents. The last 2 weeks they’ve had their opponents score back to back 80 point games in a pair of losses to the Bigdogs and Freaks.

Sacks 5th Ave is led by their LB core of 2nd ranked Jamie Collins, 20th ranked Blake Martinez and 24th ranked Neville Hewitt. Their DL’s aren’t nearly as strong, led by 25th ranked DeForest Buckner. Sacks also has the 4th Ranked DB Marcus Peters, and 7th Ranked Vonn Bell, as well the 14th and 16th Team Defenses – Vikings and Jaguars. Sacks needs to see more production from their round 1 pick Darius Leonard who has missed 3 weeks (and a bye) as well as hoping various other players can step it up to have a chance to rescue this season.

#4 Gates Of Delirium 3-4-0/334 points AF#74

Starting the season off with a teeth grinding 49.5-48 win over the rival Battering Rams, and then a solid 56.5 – 46 win vs the Bigdogs, Gates were then just short in a 37-39.5 nailbiter against the Freaks and fell to 2-1. Troubles for the Delirius continued with a 41 – 50.5 loss the MPTYCB, a 49 – 59 loss to Gotta Big D and a disastrous 20 – 55.5 loss to Mack Daddy. In week 7 they snapped their losing streak vs the Agents winning 81 – 59 putting them at 3-4 for the season, with the unhappy knowledge that 3 of their 4 losses really could have been won with just 1 more big play.

The gates are led by 1st ranked LB Shaquil Barrett, 5th ranked DL Danielle Hunter and 10th ranked DL Dante Fowler. Also in the Top 25 of Linebackers they also have 18th ranked Joe Schobert, and 22nd ranked Lorenzo Alexander rostered. Gates has their 1st round pick Rams defense which is currently the 4th ranked team defense iin the league. They had a good overall draft, but you can look at some struggle between rounds 3 and 8, only hitting the mark on 1 (maybe 2) of those picks. They are only 9th in points scored, but if they get a bit more depth scoring they could contend for a playoff spot.

#3 Double Doinks 3-4-0/415 points AF#44

Scoring 76.5 points in week 1 the Doinks won by a 26.5 margin, which they followed up with another victory in week 2 in a 83 – 38 vs Mack Daddy. But the Doinks got double doinked in weeks 3 and 4 to the tune of 47 – 108 against the Agents and 24 – 108 against the Bigdogs putting them back even at 2-2. Week 5 and 6 saw better scoring from the Doinks, but they still lost both, 41 – 68 to the Freaks and 56.5 – 76.5 to MPTYCB. At 2-4 going into week 7, the Doinks got out of their 4 game slump with an 89.5 – 77 point win over Gotta Big D.

The Doinks DL group are led by 10th ranked DL Aaron Donald and 20th Ranked DL Justin Houston, where their LB Core is led by 4th Ranked LB Whitney Mercilus 15th ranked Matt Judon and 21st ranked Devon Kennard. Elsewhere they have the 1st ranked DB Logan Ryan and the 6th ranked DB Kevin King for a very strong back end, and they also hold onto the 8th and 18th ranked team defenses, the Giants and Ravens respectively. The Doinks actually have the 5th highest point total on the season, but unfortunately also have the highest total for points scored against them. Their draft was very hit or miss, highlighted by the relative misses in the 2nd and 3rd round of the Ravens Defense and Leighton Vander Esch, to the nailing of their 7ths and 8th round picks of Matt Judon and Devon Kennard.

#2 Seymours No Fly Zone 4-3-0/371 points AF#62

In a preview of Week 8’s Top seeded match for the Rangers Division, week 1 saw No Fly Zone lose 36-64 to the Clowns, and after week 1, the No Fly Zone’s ill fortunes seemed to continue with a 26 – 73 loss to Gotta Big D. In hindsight, though, those losses to start the season were to the current top 2 teams in the league. Finally getting a point in the win column the Flies beat Mack Daddy 48 – 29, before falling to a record of 1-3 with another loss, this time to the Agents 44.5 – 78. No fly Zone started getting some momentum in week 5 with a 51 – 36 win vs the Bigdogs, and then exploded in weeks 6 and 7 with a 95.5 – 19 point win vs the Freaks and a 70 – 45 one vs MPTYCB to move up to second in the division.

Markus Golden ranked 5th at DL and Cory Littenton ranked 8th at LB lead the way for No Fly Zone., though they also have 15th ranked DL Yannick Ngakoue, and 14th ranked LB Devin Bush. The Flies are living up to their name with 4 DB’s in the top 25 for their position – 9th ranked Justin Coleman, 20th ranked Kevin Byard, 22nd ranked Ahkello Witherspoon and 23rd ranked Jamal Adams and the team currently sits at #1 in the league for IDP Interceptions. . Also representing No Fly Zone are the 2nd ranked team defense, the San Fransico 49ers. Missing the mark on their 1st rounder in Luke Keuchly and 3rd round Houston Texans Defense, they were able to compensate with the savvy free agent pickups of Markus Golden and Devin Bush.

#1 Insane Clowney Posse 4-3-0/458 points AF#20

The Clowns were able to celebrate leaving the same division as rivals Freaks and Agents with a 64 – 36 victory over No Fly Zone to kick off the season, but speaking of the Agents, the Clowns were not able to keep up in a 38 – 65.5 loss to them in week 2. Keeping the rollercoaster like season alive, the Clowns won 82 – 49 against the Bigdogs before losing a heartbreaker to the Freaks 83.5 – 87. Through the last 3 weeks, the Clowns kept their pattern of win- lose-repeat, with a week 5 win over MPTYCB 87 – 55, a loss to Gotta Big B 63.5 – 103, and a nail biting win 40-39 vs Mack Daddy.

The Clowns DL’s are led by the 2nd ranked DL Myles Garrett, and also 17th ranked DL Frank Clark and 24th Ranked DL Derek Barnett. Their LB’s are led by 8th and 9th ranked Za Darius Smith and Clay Matthews, and the DB’s are headed by 11th, 12th, and 15th ranked Desmond King, Jaire Alexander and Richard Sherman. Team Defenses for the Clowns are the 3rd ranked Carolina Panthers and 11th ranked Pittsburgh Steelers. 1st round pick for the Clowns, Von Miller has been a stout disappointment for them, but the rest of the roster has been able to pull their weight to lessen that burden. With a lot of complementary scoring throughout the roster the Clowns are hoping another player steps up along with Garrett to be able to take them to the playoffs.

Rundown of the Riflemen DIvision

#6 Mack Daddy 3-4-0/299 points AF#101

Legion rookie Mack Daddy got off to a great start to the season by beating Legion Champion Suspension Freaks, 62-57 in week 1 match that earned them Defense of the Week. Mack Daddy struggled going into the cross divisional play, though, losing their next 3 games (to the Doinks, No Fly Zone, and Sacks 5th Ave). The Daddies then capitalized on low scoring outputs by the Rams and Gates of Delirium, pulling them back to an even .500. In week 7 vs The Clowns they lost again, this one a heartbreaker, losing by a single point on Monday night via the Jets defense.

Mack Daddy is led by the Saints DL Cameron Jordan who is ranked 4th for DL’s this season, along with 19th ranked DL Brandon Graham. Their Linebacking Corps is led by 12th ranked LB Jordan Hicks, And their DB’s are led by 25th ranked DB Malcolm Butler. Overall this is a team that needs to have a couple more players in each of the positions step up in order to turn their season around. They cannot rely on their team defenses either with the Packers and Cowboys currently ranked 12th and 18th overall among team defenses. Mack Daddy in hindsight is suffering due to an inefficiency in the Rounds 2 -6 of the draft with picks all being busts to various degrees after a great selection in the 1st round for their leading scorer Cam Jordan.

#5 BIGDOGINTEX 3-4-0/382 points AF#64

A week 1 win was more of a disappointment for their opponents, rather than a success for BIGDOGS in a 38-14.5 victory against Gotta Big D. Even though they got better totals in week 2 and 3 (46 and 49 points respectively) They lost to the Gates and Clowns before a week 4 explosion of 108 points vs the Doinks taking them up to a 2-2 record. The Big Dogs continued to show they are a boom or bust team scoring 36 then 84 then 21 points over the next 3 weeks and picking up just 1 win, putting them at a record of 3-4.

Its definitely a team effort for the Dogs, as their leading scorer is Robert Quinn (8th ranked DL) Followed by DB Janoris Jenkins (10th ranked DB) and LB Harold Landry (17th ranked LB). Also their team defenses are sub par with the Chargers and Broncos being the 21st and 23rd ranked Team Defenses. The Bigdogs are in a decent position at this point into the season, considering their manager missed the draft. Overall the Dogs do need a number of players to step up for them to have any more success this season.

#4 More People Than You Can Block 4-3-0/420 points AF#29

After a week 1 performance of 45 points that left them falling short to Sleeper Agent in their Leagion debut, MPTYCB put up 3, 50+ point performances against Sacks, Rams and Gates which was enough to propell them to 3-1 by week 4, including a Defense of the Week Award in week 2. Still riding high and putting up 55 points in week 5, they nevertheless lost to the CLowns’ 87 point performance bouncing them back to 3-2. MPTYCB finished off cross division play with a win of 76.5 – 56.5 vs the Doinks and another vs No fly Zone 45-70. They’ve been quite consistent, having their lowest point total for the year being 45 points (happened twice in week 1 and week 7).

MPTYCB is led by their 2 linebackers in the top 15, Preston Smith 3rd ranked LB and Josh Allen 12th ranked LB. They also have 5th ranked DL Brian Burns and 20th Ranked DL Demarcus Lawrence anchoring them up front. On top of all that, they have the 3rd ranked DB Stephon Gilmore and 16th ranked DB Orlando Scandrick on the roster. Unfortunately the weak spot for this team is easily their team defense as 9th ranked Chicago Bears was their 1st round selection in the draft. MPTYCB also has the 20th ranked Seahawks defense in reserve. Despite currently ranking 4th in their division there is a lot to like about this team. If Demarcus Lawrence can get into form as a top 5 DL again and they can get a little more depth scoring, this team could easily make its way into a playoff spot.

MPTYCB’s draft was lackluster but Free Agent pickups of Preston Smith and Josh Allen have been key contributors to their early success.

#3 Sleeper Agent 4-3-0/445 points AF#30

Sleeper Agent flew out of the gate this year with point totals of 52, 65.5, 108, 78 and a Week 3 Defense of the Week Award to start the season with a 4-0 record with wins vs the Peoples, Clowns, Doinks and Flies. In week 5, The Agents lost in a nail biter 45-46 vs Sacks 5th Ave, and after week 5, their luck stayed consistently hard, running into a hot Rams and Delirium teams who both scored over 80 points to stretch the Agents to a 3 game losing streak after winning their first 4.

The Agents are led by #1 ranked DL Chandler Jones, 11th Ranked DL Everson Griffen, 5th ranked LB TJ Watt and 10th Ranked LB Khalil Mack. The Agents also have 2 more DL’s ranked in the top 25 for their position (Addison 14th ranked, and Phillips 23rd Ranked) and the 23rd Ranked LB Bud Dupree. They also deploy 7th Ranked Team Defense Philadelphia and the 19th Ranked Tampa Bay. Not much point to improve on for a squad that has the 3rd most scored points in the league so far, but they are being held back due to a lack of scoring from their secondary. The Agents’ success stems from their excellent use of their first 3 selections of the draft.

#2 Suspension Freaks 5-2-0/388 points AF#43

The Reigning Champs stumbled in week 1 vs Mack Daddy in a 57-62 loss, and scored only 30 points in week 2 and 39.5 in week 3, but were still luckily were able to scrape 2 wins together from those performances before their 1st meeting of the regular season vs the rival Clowns. The Freaks early season woes became irrelevant in week 4 when they edged by the Clowns 87-83.5 for their 3rd straight – and most important – victory. Freaks won again in week 5 vs the Doinks (68-41) but then were trashed and abused by No Fly Zone in week 6, losing 18 – 95.5 – their lowest performance in 53 career outings, but recovered in week 7 with a win of 88.5 – 55 over Sacks 5th Ave. They are the second team this year to be named Defense of the Week twice, garnering the honor in weeks 4 and 7

Led by 3rd Ranked DL JJ Watt, 9th Ranked DL Nick Bosa, and 12th Ranked DL Joey Bosa, their DL core is the best in the league. Also formidable, their LB’s are led by 11th ranked Terrell Suggs and 16th Ranked Jadeveon Clowney. Having 19th Ranked DB Tyrann Matheiu and 22nd Ranked DB Jabrill Peppers help complete this year’s version of the Freaks, and having Tennessee and Buffalo, the 10th and 13th ranked Defenses also helps. A 5-2 record, and being in the top seed game are not new for the Freaks but ranking 6th in points scored for the season is new territory. Not a time to worry for the Freaks but they have been getting lucky this year to fall to 5-2.

#1 Gotta Big D efense 5-2-0/503 points AF#8

Starting the season stumbling, Gotta Big D lost week 1, 14.5 – 38 to the Bigdogs. They shook off that slow start real quick, reeling back-to-back monster weeks, with 73 and 103.5 point performances leading them to post a winning record of 2-1 to start and to grab a piece of the Week 3 Defense of the Week Award. Week 4 and was more of the same with a 78-24 point win over the Battering Rams, and then a 58-49 win vs Gates of Delirium. Week 6 they reeled off their 2nd 100 point game in a victory of 103-63.5 vs the Clowns that gave them their second Defense of the Week trophy of the season. Week 7 was another strong outing, but unfortunately, they lost a close one, 73 – 87.5 to the Doinks. In week 6, they managed to set a new Legion record for defensive points scored in a single game (28).

Gotta Big Defense are led by the number 1 ranked Team Defense of the Patriots who are a huge factor in their success. Just to show the dominance of the Patriots defense this year, there are only 3 team defenses with more than 100 points this season……the Patriots have 217. The Gottas also have 17th Ranked DL Calais Campbell and 18th Ranked Marcus Davenport. To compliment their strong Patriots team defense Gotta Big D also has number 6th ranked Patriot LB Kyle Van Noy and 8th ranked Patriot DB Devin McCourty on roster. Oh, and in non-Patriot news, they also have 5th ranked DB James Bradberry. Going deeper into the year, the Patriots’ schedule will get much tougher than the first half of the season, will this team be able to compensate for that is the big question that the Gottas need to answer if they want to compete for a Legion Bowl Title. Their Draft highlight was their 7th round pick of the dominating Patriots, otherwise they had subpar selections from round 1 through 6.

Sack Race

Playoff Predictions

Now bare with me as I try to throw some predictions out for who is going to make the playoffs. First off, here is a run down of the 5 playoff spots the 12 teams are fighting for:

Division 1 Champion – #1 ranked team by standings in the Rangers Division
Division 2 Champion – #1 ranked team by standings in the Riflemen Division
Standings Runner-Up – highest ranked team by standings from either division after both division champions have been named
Points Wild Card – highest scoring team by regular season points after Division Champions and Standings Runner-Up have been named
Sacks Wild Card – team with the highest regular season IDP sack total after both Division Champions, Standings Runner-Up, and Points Wild Card have been named.

Division 1 Champion: Insane Clowney Posse

The Clowns have had an up and down year, but due to total points scored I think they have an edge over the rest of the Ranger teams with alot of scoring depth and strong team defenses. Also if Von Miller gets back to form they will be a very scary team in their division.

Division 2 Champion: Sleeper Agent

Currently 4-3 and in the 3rd/4th seed game the Agents have a lot to like here. Having the 3rd highest scoring total I think the Agents have the edge over Gotta Big D (currently the highest scoring team) due to a wider range of scoring threats, whereas its hard to bet on Gotta Big D due to the upcoming strength of the Patriots schedule and their reliance on the Patriots altogether.

Standings Runner-Up: Suspension Freaks

With the advantage the Rifleman Division has over the Ranger Division, its going to be almost impossible for a Ranger team to take this spot. The Reigning Champs are my pick to nab this spot over Gotta Big D for many of the same reasons why I picked Sleeper Agent to win the Division. Also I can see Jadeveon Clowney seeing more production, as he gets more comfortable in the Seahawks system. Also with the Bosa Brothers and JJ Watt no other team has as much firepower at DL to match the Freaks.

Points Wild Card: Gotta Big D efense

This is where I finally predict the current points leader making the playoffs. Now I know I have repeated and repeated that the Patriots schedule gets harder, but honestly it’s not going to be so tough that they arent going to keep being a strong team. Being the only team with over 500 points currently they have a big advantage to being able to nab the 1st wildcard spot even before devision championships are settled.

Sacks Wild Card: The Double Doinks

Assuming the Agents (27.5 sacks) and the Clowns (31 sacks) make the playoffs due to standings, the Double Doinks are leading the sack race right now with 24.5 sacks. MPTYCB is close on their tail with 20 sacks but I will bet on Aaron Donald and company over the MPTYCB’s pass rushers. That being said, with 5 weeks left to go, this spot is still – as designed – anybody’s to grab.

Despite predictions made, the real wildcard over the remaining 5 weeks of the regular season is going to be the schedule, as the Legion’s ladder format forces the teams at the top of each division to stand their ground against the top teams, while providing the sprigboard of lower ranked teams for those teams with lesser records to climb a ladder to the top. Buckle up.

Nexecutioner is Associated Fantasy’s resident defensive fantasy anylist and Asst Commisioner of the Legion of Defense where his Insane Clowney Posse is Association powerhouse Suspension Freak’s biggest achille’s heel. He’s the Asst Tournament Director of AF’s Fantasy Circus and manages the BC Blitz in AF’s flagship AFFL.