The 7-seed. What about it makes it such a winning seed in our playoffs. For most leagues, there is no 7-seed, as six teams only make it to the postseason, rewarding the top two seeds a quarterfinals bye-week. No such luck or love in this league. We’ve been a 8-team playoff since the beginning. Every team needs to earn three victories to bring home the glorious mug. No byes, no breaks. Just win. Yet, why does the 7-seed do it so well?
Sometimes, like in Don’s 2006 and 2008 runs, they’re average teams at best that sorta sneak into the playoffs and through a combination of players getting healthy or better or a great late pickup (Ron Dayne), find a way to win their final three contests. Matt was an average team in 2018, but pulled off one of the better trades in league history that propelled him to a championship. However, with Bob in 2011 and Michael this season, they weren’t bad or average teams, but often a good team during the season. But they were either unhealthy or unlucky through the regular season, but finally had Lady Luck show them some love when it mattered most and were fortunate enough to have their final “up” in the final three weeks.
Michael’s ride finished the season on the up, with four great performances, all wins, with the final one over the beloved Jeff Greenblatt, 2,247 – 1,519. The 2,247 points scored by the Dudes are the most ever in a title game, breaking a 20-year record held by Burrier. It was the third most points ever scored in a postseason game. Michael and Jeff combined for 3,766 points, which was the second most ever scored in a title game (Robio/Eric combined for 3,844 in 2012) and third most in the postseason. Want more? I got more. Michael’s 728-point margin of victory was the fourth largest in the title game.
On top of that, Jeff scored a total of 4,929 points this postseason. That’s the 15th most by any team and third most by a team that failed to win the mug. Michael finished with 5,497 points per game, which is the third most ever, behind Neatock’s 5,684 in 2017 and my 5,664 in 2019.
Yet, before we start fluffing Evangelist, let’s honor Jeff.
FOOTBALL? (JEFF GREENBLATT)
For Greenblatt, like Mike, his season was also an up-and-down roller coaster. He started slowly, dropping his first two games, barely scoring over a grand in defeats to Burrier and me. Players like Warren, London and Pittman were struggling to put up numbers. Jared Goff looked averaged and even McBride wasn’t delivering a ton. Yet, the first good decision he made was grabbing Chuba Hubbard (cut by me), giving him an unforseen elite RB1 off the wire. However, he would still just split his next two, scoring over 1,500 in a win over Eric, before falling to Bob in week four, as Tyreek’s stats, without Tua, had disappeared.
Yet, the wins would start to come. Some of it was a favorable schedule. He would win his next five games, despite only topping 1,500 once. Three of those victories would come against non-playoff teams and none were against teams that would finish among the top-six. Still, wins were wins and Jeff was cruising now at 6-3. The next four games would be his toughest, as he would face the four highest scoring teams in the league. It wouldn’t turn out well. He would score 1,940 in a week 11 win over Matt, but he would lose to Calderon, Burrier (by just six points) and me.
At 7-6, he was a playoff team, but was he a good playoff team? I mean, he only topped 1,500 twice. Yet, to those paying attention (clearly not Don), they could see his squad was starting to come around. Williams and Hubbard were now a dangerous 1-2 punch at RB, Goff was showing the ability to put up big numbers, while Hill had Tua back and even Jennings was playing like a WR1. In the season’s final week, Jeff scored 1,940 and crushed Eric, helping to kick Lil’ Vozzola from the postseason.
That kind of performance would become Jeff’s theme for December, as he finished in fourth place. He escape in the quarterfinals with a 55-point victory over Bob, scoring well, winning 1,610-1,555, thanks to a 624-point effort from Goff. In the semifinals, he ended Colby’s dream of a three-peat, beating him easily 1,800-1,265, thanks to 768 points from his running backs. That was three straight contests over 1,600 points. He was rolling.
Yet, despite the solid regular season and hot run, he entered his fourth career title game as the underdog to the 7-seed. He would face Dudelove without Hubbard, who was now on IR. He benched Tyreek Hill, after Tua was declared out. None of it really mattered, as Michael’s squad was too good, producing a record breaking score. In defeat, Jeff actually topped 1,500 for a fourth straight game, scoring 1,519 points. He was led by Jared Goff’s 382 and McBride finally scored a TD and finished with a season high 306 points. Benching Hill cost him 76 points and Jerome Ford was unable to deliver Hubbard-type numbers, finishing with only 44 points. Meanwhile, his first-team All-Robio kicker scored only 50 points (with one 36-yard field goal and one extra point).
Despite another title game defeat, Jeff continues to show he’s a team to deal with in this league…at least in the postseason. Over the last decade, he’s only made the playoffs six times in the last ten seasons, but he’s undefeated in the quarterfinals (6-0) and an impressive 4-2 in the semifinals. The only problem is, he’s not finding ways to win in the finals, going 1-3 (winning it all in the 2020).
Looking ahead, he can keep either Chuba Hubbard in round ten for two more years or Jared Goff in that same round for one more season. I expect him to keep Kyren Williams in round two over Tyreek Hill in round one. Thus, Jeff should be in a good position to make another postseason run in 2025.
DUDELOVE (MICHAEL EVANGELIST)
The season began with a matchup against the only other team not to ever win a title in this league, Rob Masterson. While that game didn’t go as planned for Michael, losing 1,139-927, the year began like many of Mike’s seasons in this league…well.
He would win his next four games, topping 1,500 twice. At 4-1, he looked to be among one of the elite. He would split his next two, scoring 1,500+ again in a win over Griff. At 5-2, his squad look good and hungry…much like his wife. Gibbs, despite splitting time, was producing like a stud RB, while Jordan Mason was the league’s best free agent add of the season in week one, putting up elite RB numbers. Meanwhile, Kittle was an elite tight end and Michael was getting just enough from his quarterbacks (Love/Purdy) and his receivers (Nabers, Thomas, Olave), waiting for Nucua to come back.
Yet, starting with a week eight 76-point defeat to Jeff, things started to fall apart. Michael would drop his next four contests and five of six games. Over the previous eight weeks, his only victories came against non-playoff squads. With McCaffrey back, Mason was no longer able to help. The QBs has become too inconsistent and he was relying on rookie wideouts to lead him. Yet…
In week 14, he unexpectally crushed Matt, 1,703-1,068, behind Gibbs, a suddenly hot Purdy and his twin rookie receivers, along with Kittle and Nacua. In the quarterfinals, led by Thomas Junior, he stunned the scoring champ (Me), 1,578-1,395. In the semifinals, three players topped 300, Michael scored over 1,500 for a third straight game and kept Neatock, who lost Jalen Hurts in the first quarter, out of the finals with a 1,677-1,466 victory. In the finals, despite being the 7-seed, the writing was written in bold on the wall. He was the favorite over Jeff and he cruised to a record breaking 2,247-1,519 victory over Greenblatt.
He got a pair of 400-point efforts, led by Nabers, who finished with 462 and Purdy, who scored 434 points on Monday night. Gibbs added a cool 386 points, while three others added 200+ points, led by Thomas Jr, who finished with 278, Nacua, who scored 258 and Kittle, who produced 224 points. Just like that, he became a Robioland Football Champion.
In just seven seasons in this league, replacing Marc, who replaced Molly, he made it to the postseason six times, reaching back-to-back title games and earned that first championship in 2024…leaving poor Masterson as the only person never to win a mug.
However, let’s take a moment to appreciate the improbability of this team winning it all…and not just because he became just the fourth team to start just one running back and win it all (Bob in 2005, Don in 2006 and Eric in 2021). Of Michael’s eight starters who won him the title game, he drafted six of those players, including the quarterback, the running back, all three receivers and the tight end. In fact, the only players who started for him that he didn’t select in the draft were Tyler Bass (who he picked up in week 14 after benching Jason Tucker) and the Vikings DST, who he added in week three. Thus, if you just skim the surface, you might think Michael is just a guy who drafted well and won a championship. You would be wrong.
This squad was not supposed to be the squad that led him to glory. At quarterback, it was supposed to be Jordan Love, taken in round three, leading the way. Instead, he got hurt, struggled with consistency when he returned, so Michael had to fall back on Brock Purdy, a QB he selected in round eight.
At running back, it was meant to be Gibbs and Zach Moss. Gibbs was a risky first round pick, because we all knew he was in a timeshare. Yet, the Lions offense was so good, he still managed to put up All-Robio numbers. However, Zach Moss put up two good games in weeks three and four, got hurt and never earned his starting job wither either Cincy or Dudelove. Of course, he was on Mike’s bench thanks to the Jordan Mason pickup, but once Mason turned back into a pumpkin, Dudelove was forced to turn into a three-wide team, which didn’t sound appealing at first, outside of Nacua.
The Rams wideout got hurt in week one, missed five games, but once he came back, he was a top-10 wide receiver the rest of the way. Yet, Michael couldn’t rely on Chris Olave (9th round keeper and projected starter) who couldn’t stay on the field or Christian Watson (7th round pick), who couldn’t do anything while on the field. Instead, Mike had to rely on two rookie wide receivers, Malik Nabers (4th round) and Brian Thomas Jr. (10th round). Not only would Mike be trying to become the first person to win a championship starting two rookie wide receivers, but both those rookies were playing on terrible teams who were starting backup quarterbacks. That’s not typically a recipe for success. This season it was.
Nabers would score 822 points in the three postseason games, led by 462 points in the finals. However, it was Brian Thomas (the 10th round pick), who was the consistent stud. The Jaguars wideout scored 932 points in the three playoff games, scoring at least 278 points in all three contests, thanks to 37 targets, 26 catches for 328 yards and four touchdowns.
Of course, to win it all, every champion needs a little luck. Matt losing Jalen Hurts in the semifinals was huge. He had scored 88 points midway through the first quarter, before getting knocked out with a concussion. The Eagles would score 33 points that day with a backup QB, so one has to assume Hurts might have been able to makeup the 211-points Matt lost by to Michael. On top of that, the biggest injury wasn’t to any of Mike’s opponents, but to Gibbs’s teammate, David Montgomery. With Monty gone, the Lions backfield belonged to Gibbs, who turned into the best back in fantasy. In three playoff games, he would score 1,102 points (348, 368, 386) behind 62 touches, 431 yards and four scores.
Thanks to those rookies and those stats from Gibbs (as well as Purdy and Kittle), Michael became the ninth 7-seed to reach the finals. That’s the second most appearances by any seed, one more than the 2-seed and only two less than the 1-seed. He became the fifth 7-seed to win it all, which is tied with the top-seed for second most (five). One could argue, based on the numbers, Michael’s 2024 seven-seed is the greatest 7-seed champion ever.
SEVEN-SEED CHAMPIONS:
2006 – Don defeated 3-seed Robio, 1,617-844 (Don finished 10-6, averaging 1,145 points per game)
2008 – Don defeated 5-seed Robio, 1,216-1,041 (Don finished 9-7, averaging 1,180 points per game)
2011 – Bob defeated 3-seed Burrier, 1,590-1,283 (Bob finished 9-7, averaging 1,340 points per game)
2018 – Matt defeated 5-seed Calderon, 1,631-1,578 (Matt finished 9-7, averaging 1,423 points per game)
2024 – Michael defeated 4-seed Jeff, 1,000-1,000 (Michael finished 10-7, averaging 1,459 points per game)
The moral of the story is what? Well, the gold rule remains the golden rule, “just get to the playoffs and win three games.” On top of that, maybe keepers are overrated. Michael’s only keeper was Olave and he contributed jack shit to his success. And finally, every pick matters. Sure, Michael’s first pick (Gibbs) and second pick (Nacua) played important roles, but he also had an 8th round QB (Purdy) starting, along with a 10th round receiver who scored over 900.
Looking ahead, Mike should continue to find success. He’ll need to decide between Gibbs in round one (12th overall pick) or Nabers in round four. In category two, Purdy can be kept in round eight, but my money is on Brian Thomas on round 10. He didn’t have good keepers this year, but he will next year.
Anyhow, congratulations to Michael Evangelist. Be sure to put that mug (once you get it) somewhere for all to see. You earned it. Be proud of it, because any liquid drunk out of it just seems to taste better.