And just like that, the regular season comes to a close. Final tally: Missed only 1 newsletter due mostly in part to the mental anguish that my team brought me this year. This season did lack a certain amount of thrill, Collin and Austin had wire-to-wire dominance and were never really in a position to miss the playoffs, Mike emerged in the back half as a lock, and John Luke had secured his playoff bid before Week 15, so calm seas in the league headed into the postseason.

As a whole, there weren't a ton of historic moments in the league besides the 10-game win streak from Collin. Jahmyr Gibbs' 58.4 point game against GUESS WHO was good for the 5th most all-time, but Collin and Austin both fell short of cracking into the top-5 all-time season points (Austin by only 2 points), and Collin hit 24 Wins/Top5s, which only ties the record originally set by Tmo in 2023.

EDIT: It's been brought to my attention that Collins 13-2 H2H record this season IS in fact an all-time best, topping the previous record of 12-2-1 set by Mike in 2013. So I offer my wholehearted congratulations to Collin, who does finish the season in sole possession of an all-time performance. Austin's 13-2 Top5 record, however, is not a first. Garrett also attained a 13-2 Top5 record in 2018.

So that's that! Time for the postseason. Some quick reminders: Non-Playoff Teams: Your rosters are SET for keeper purposes next year. If you drop players that are then picked up by playoff teams, you lose the right to keep them in the 2026 Draft. We will revisit this next year when teams 7-10 are in the Loser's Postseason, but this year your time is up. Playoff Teams: Your rosters for keepers are not set until after next weekend, when the championship is over. Nathan: As the reigning champ, I'd first like you to send a pic in of the trophy with your name on it, then emotionally prepare yourself to part ways with it to whoever wins this year.

The Playoff Teams

#1: Collin

The team to beat all season, Collin stumbled once out of the gate to Austin, then only once more in Week 12 to TK (hilariously) to break up his streak that would have certinaly set a new record otherwise. Collin's success can be attributed to a great draft and some timely trades. RB5 De'Von Achane was kept for a 7th round pick, RB1 CMC was well worth the 1st round this year, and some trading to land QB1 Josh Allen and WR5 Ja'Marr Chase has set collin up with a starting lineup that averages almost 150 points per game and no glaring weaknesses. Collin looks to finally land in the hall of champions after going 3-5 with 2 championship losses in the last 4 years of playoffs. Frankly, I'm cheering for him. Better than any of the field winning, that's for sure. Collin, fair warning that because I'm cheering for you, chances are you will lose. It's a burden I bear.

#4: John Luke

Ok I guess I wouldn't hate if John Luke won, but I'd prefer Collin. Fortunately one of them HAS to vie for it, so there's basically a 50/50 chance the good guys win. John Luke has maybe the strongest RB corps we've seen a team carry, RB2 Jonathan Taylor and RB3 Jahmyr Gibbs have combined for over 650 points this season. John Luke isn't exactly sprinting into the playoffs though. In the last 3 weeks of the season John Luke went 2-4 including 3 straight H2H losses, trying his hardest to give away his 4th playoff spot to a field that simply didn't want it. This will definitely be an underdog story for JL, he'll need his WR group that isn't the most awe-inspiring to step up and meet Collin's juggernaut team if he wants to bring home his 2nd championship.

#2: Austin

Austin finds himself in the #2 seed almost despite himself. With 5 picks in the first 3 rounds, Austin managed to pick only 1 player that finihsed in the top 5 of his position, Bijan Robinson. AJ Brown has been stronger in recent weeks, but the talent on Austin's team came from his keeper Puka Nacua, landing WR2 for a 7th round pick, and Matthew Stafford having a legacy season at QB2. All that said, Austin did finish the season with the most points scored and 13 Top 5 performances, so while his draft may not have won him games, his waiver action certainly did. Austin is competing for his 3rd trophy, his last one coming in 2018 against Tyler, facing off against a team he's 0-2 against in the postseason.

#3: Mike

Last and hopefully least, we have Mike. Mike looked like he'd be floundering with the middle of the pack after Week 9, sitting at 10-8 and coming off 3 straight losses, but a 7-1 stretch over the next 4 weeks would lock him into the 3 seed and have him primed for another playoff push. Mike is no stranger to championships, with a league-leading 4 under his belt and going for a 5th. He's especially dangerous in the postseason, with a 9-3 all-time posteason record. I think its safe to say no one wants to see him win again, let's band together on that one yeah? Mike has the opposite team to JL. His WR lineup includes WR1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba and WR7 Nico Collins, but his weak point is the RBs. Derrick Henry is still the 12th ranked RB, but has had a tame season for his standards, and his other RB options have not really panned out as reiable producers. But like fuck man why do either of these teams have to go to the championship, either way it sucks.

Power Couples Final

Collin carried most of the weight to be fair, but at the end of the day the much-maligned Collin-Garrett couple from Draft night was victorious. To the victors goes the spoils ($75 each) and back to the drawing board for next year's season-long game.