Week 17: Dah Commish ends long title drought

 

MNF score boosts Saints! to FB 32 title

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- RB K. Williams LAR rushed for 92 yards on Monday Night Football to give Saints Preserve Us! a 38-36 victory over Hurricane Quags for the Finger Bowl 32 championship. 

Saints! owner, Dah Commish, entered the MNF contest trailing Quags (11-6) by one point after the other Week 17 games. Dah Commish won his first Finks League title in his third season with the Saints! brand. The Saints! (12-5) tied Wilcox's record for wins in a season. All three of Dah Commish's titles ended with 12 wins. Dah Commish won his first Finks title since Anthony Munoz and Cleopatra won FB 19 in 2012. Dah Commish also won with As You Hike It in 2003. 

Saints! QB Maye NE was named FB 32 MVP for scoring 20 points on 256 yards passing and five TDs. QB Mahomes KC started the whole season for the Saints! but tore his ACL in Week 15. Maye started for the Saints! on Mahomes' bye week and in the two playoff games.

"Three titles in 32 years. This is easy," Dah Commish said. "I'm coming after Goff's record of five titles next."

SAINTS! (38)

QB Maye NE   20

RB K. Williams LAR  3

RB Pollard TEN 3

WR St. Brown DET zero

WR Sutton DEN   zero

K Fairbairn HOU  12

QUAGS (36)

QB Burrow CIN   13

RB Etienne JAX 3

RB Harvey DEN 6

WR Pittman IND   zero

WR Evans TB  6

K Santos CHI  8

Week 17: Third place for Fantasy

 Kicker powers Fantasy to Third place

GURNEE, Ill. -- K Reichard MIN scored 19 points and QB Lawrence JAX and RB C. Brown CIN had 17 points each to lead Just a Fantasy to a 53-29 third place victory over Chicago Heights Mafia in Week 17.

Fantasy (11-6) overcame a game-high 20 points from K Aubrey DAL for Mafia (10-7). 

MAFIA (29)

QB L. Jackson BAL    INJ

RB Gibbs DET  zero

RB Jav. Williams DAL  6

WR Lamb DAL zero

WR Pickens DAL  3

K Aubrey DAL  20

FANTASY (53)

QB Lawrence JAX  17

RB C. Brown CIN  17

RB Warren PIT   zero

WR JSN SEA    zero

WR Collins HOU  zero

K Reichard MIN   19

Week 17: Finger Bowl 32 preview

 

Saints Preserve Us! (11-5) vs. Hurricane Quags (11-5) 

at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla.

Playoff records: Wilcox 9-7; Quags 8-11

Head to head: Quags 43, Saints! 36, week 6; Quags 40, Saints! 21, week 14

The skinny: Both owners are seeking their third Finger Bowl titles. The winning owner moves into a tie for second place among FB champions. Goff leads all Finks League owners with five titles. ... FB 32 features a third meeting this season between the top two teams in the Parcells Division, won by Quags. ... The Canes enter the Finger Bowl with a five-match win streak. .. Quags seeks his second title in four years. Quags won FB 29 in 2022, beating the Jays 39-38. Quags' first title came in FB 14 in 2007. .. Dah Commish's last title came in FB 19 in 2012 (Anthony Munoz and Cleopatra) and first came in FB 10 in 2001 (As You Hike It). 

Starting lineups: Saints! -- Maye, K. Wiliams, Pollard, St. Brown, Sutton, Fairbairn; Quags -- Burrow, Etienne, Harvey, Pittman, Evans, Santos.

The pick: Quags 45, Saints! 40

Quags, Saints! advance to FB 32

 

Burrow propels Quags into Finger Bowl

MIAMI -- QB Burrow CIN threw for 130 yards and four TDs to score 19 Finks points for Hurricane Quags in a 48-23 Week 16 semifinal win over Chicago Heights Mafia (10-6). K Butker KC also added 14 points for Quags (11-5). WR Pickens DAL led Mafia with 11 points for the Cowboy-heavy South Siders. 

MAFIA (23)

QB L. Jackson BAL  zero

RB Gibbs DET 6

RB Jav. Williams DAL zero

WR Lamb DAL zero

WR Pickens DAL 11

K Aubrey DAL 6

QUAGS (48)

QB Burrow CIN 19

RB Jacobs GB zero

RB Hampton LAC 9

WR Evans TB 6

WR Pittman IND zero

K Butker KC

Saints! win kicking battle over Fantasy

GURNEE, Ill. -- K Fairbairn HOU outkicked K Reichard MIN to push Saints Preserve Us! to its first Finks League semifinal victory with a 48-29 win over Just a Fantasy (10-6). Both kickers had three Field Goals in Week 16, but Fairbairn had more distances to top Reichard 19-14 for Saints! (11-5).

SAINTS! (48)

QB Maye NE 15

RB K. Williams LAR  zero

RB Pollard TEN  5

WR St. Brown DET  zero

WR Sutton DEN  9

K Fairbairn HOU 19

FANTASY (29)

Hurts PHI 6

RB Henderson NE zero

RB Judkins zero

WR JSN SEA  9

WR Collins HOU zero

K Reichard MIN 14

Week 16: Semifinals

 

Saints Preserve Us! (10-5) vs. Just a Fantasy (10-5)

at Warren Township High O'Plaine Stadium, Gurnee, Ill.

Playoff records: Wilcox 8-7; Newton 12-10

Head to head: Saints! 53, Fantasy 21 (week 4); Fantasy 88, Saints! 37 (week 7)

The skinny: This year's playoffs feature all 10-5 teams for the first time in Finks League history. In 2011, the Finks playoffs featured three 10-5 teams and one with a 9-6 record. ... This semifinal features a pair of playoff teams from 2024. Fantasy placed second, losing 54-33 to the Eggers in Finger Bowl 31, and the Saints! took third. ... The Saints! must carry on without starting QB Mahomes KC, who started 14 of 15 games for the Saints! with the exception of their bye week. Mahomes tore his  ACL in Week 15. ... Fantasy owner Newton won his sixth division title. 

Projected starters: Saints! -- Maye, K. Williams, Hall, St. Brown, Sutton, Fairbairn; Fantasy -- Hurts, C. Brown, Judkins, Collins, JSN, Reichard. 

The pick: Fantasy 42, Saints! 34

Chicago Heights Mafia (10-5) vs. Hurricane Quags (10-5)

at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Fla. 

Playoff records: Goff 13-11; Quags 7-11

Head to head: Quags 38, Mafia 21 (week 8)

The skinny: Mafia's five game losing streak ended in Week 15 with a loss to Fantasy. ... Quags ended the regular season with a four-game win streak. ... Mafia advanced to their second playoff appearance in three years. ... Three playoff teams this year needed wins in Week 15 to advance. Mafia was the only playoff team to lose in Week 15. ... Quags' last playoff appearance came in 2022. .. Mafia will likely start four members from his beloved Cowboys. The Cowboys are hosting the Chargers Sunday. ... Quags clinched his fourth division title. 

Projected starters: Mafia -- L. Jackson, Gibbs, Jav. Williams, Lamb, Pickens, Aubrey; Quags -- Burrow, Jacobs, Etienne, Pittman, Rice, Butker.

The pick: Quags 35, Mafia 28

Week 7: How Fantasy did it

 

With one more player to go in the final game of Week 7, Just a Fantasy had a chance to break the Finks League record for points scored in a single game. That player was WR Smith-Ngiba SEA. but the Ohio State product fell short. 

Fantasy earned 11 points for Smith-Ngiba's performance against the Texans, but it wasn't enough to give owner Jeff Newton an  opportunity to tie or exceed the Finks record of  91 points in a week. That mark was set by Mike Miazga's Eggers in week 2 of 2020. 

Fantasy's 88 points likely set a franchise record for points in a week. Fantasy beat Dah Commish's Saints Preserve Us! 88-37 in Week 7. Fantasy's RB Judkins CLE and K Reichard MIN scored 21 points each. Judkins scored three TDs and had 84 yards rushing. Reichard had five field goals and one PAT. 

Here is how Fantasy did it: 

QB Hurts PHI 16 pts.

RB Mason MIN 6

RB Judkins 21`

WR D. Smith PHI 13

WR Smith-Ngiba SEA 11

K Reichard MIN 21.

Week 1: The real season opener

Welcome Finksters to another Finks League season. So glad to have the regular crew back. I regard the first NFL Sunday as the real season opener. That's when I wake up with anticipation, pour through my newspaper sports sections (yes, I am the last person alive who has print subscriptions to both the Sun-Times and the Tribune on Sundays. And yes, when I die my children will not replace me as a print subscriber). 

NFL openers on a Thursday are a gimmick. It's not like Sunday morning when I catch occasional doses of Phyllis George, Irv Cross, Chris Berman or the annoying Fox guys. I hate predictions. Sometimes that's all you get is predictions. Predictions don't mean a thing since the Sunday morning Talking Heads aren't accountable for making bad predictions each week. But I remain a sucker for every NFL human interest piece about some defensive back from a crappy team like the Jaguars or Cardinals that has a brother in prison, or went homeless for a time, or had to survive street gangs growing up in Miami or L.A.

Feel free to take a moment and remember my favorite NFL GM, who died just a few months before this fantasy league started: https://www.jimfinks.org/about-jim-finks.html

Our annual Finks auction featured only one blind draw last week. That featured the Saints! over the Jays when my daughter Anna picked a random slip for RB Pollard TEN for one penny. 

Here is how the high bidding prices went by position: QB -- J. Allen BUF $35 by Distillers; RB -- B. Robinson ATL $32 by Jays; WR -- Chase CIN $32 by Jays; K -- Butler KC $4.11 by Quags.

Good luck to you all this season.