Week 1 Match Up Preview
Carolina Lions 0-0 AT Miami Sharks 0-0 (-15)
All Time H2H Regular Season (1-1)
All Time H2H Post Season (2-0 Sharks)
In a rematch of Ultimate Dynasty Bowl's I and II, the Miami Sharks and Carolina Lions prepare to kick off the 2014 season just as they kicked off and finished 2013, facing each other. These two teams are not only the only two teams in the league to have championship game experience, they are also number one and two in most career regular season wins (Miami Sharks 18, Carolina Lions 17). The Miami Sharks go into this game on a three game winning streak, looking once again to start their title defense against the Lions. While the Lions look to grab some revenge after being so close to the top of the mountain the past two years, only to have to watch the Sharks ride away with the trophy. The Sharks come into this game looking like the favorites as they boast an advantage at half back (McCoy/Bell over Lynch/Stacy) and a substantial advantage at receiver (Bryant/Jeffery over Djax/Tate). Add in the fact the Sharks are sporting former Lion fan favorite Eric Decker going against Oakland as their flex while the Lions look to be rolling out Andrew Hawkins and you can see why the Sharks are my pick to win 107-92.
Difference Maker: HB LeSean McCoy, Miami Sharks - Tempting to go with the former Lion, Eric Decker. However passing up on McCoy against Jacksonville is hard to do. Look for him to kick off his season with a bang with 150+ total yards with 2 TD's and a Sharks' win.
Red Rockets 0-0 AT Port City Goonsquad 0-0 (-1)
All Time H2H Regular Season (3-1 RR)
All Time H2H Post Season (0-0)
Two teams desperate to make their first playoff appearance face off in week 1. You could make a case for either as a playoff, even championship contender. While it's going to be tough to unseat perennial AFL Division winner CLO Collins, both of these teams have to be in Wildcard consideration. So what will happen when these two teams that have had some very hard times in the past but see 2014 as their year to compete, meet up? I see this game coming down to Sunday Night when Luck, Sanders, Hilton will face off against Ball and JT and to be honest I see this game being an instant classic. Sign me up for the mini upset with Luck and Hilton connecting on Sunday Night to give Goonsquad the victory 101-100.
Difference Maker: HB CJ Spiller, Goonsquad - It all depends on what Spiller shows up. If he can be a low end HB1 or high end HB2, then Goonsquad can win this ball game. If Fred Jackson takes a good portion of the load and Spiller can't get anything going then Red Rockets should post the W. I'm thinking Spiller gets a longggg TD and finishes with over 100 yards and a score.
CLO Collins 0-0 AT Scott's Tots 0-0 (+3)
All Time H2H Regular Season (1-1)
All Time H2H Post Season (0-0)
This is without question the game of the week for week 1. Two teams that were a game away from Ultimate Dynasty Bowl II and are now two of the favorites for Ultimate Dynasty Bowl III may be facing off in a championship preview. CLO Collins starting line up is straight loaded (other than the flex but eh) boasting Rodgers, Charles, Peterson, Megatron, Jimmy, heck all of those players have a good shot at being number one at their position. While Scott's Tots returns much of the same roster that finished 11-3 last year, except now they have a healthy Julio Jones! Get your popcorn ready for this one guys, and it starts opening night with Rodgers going against Russell, Lacy, Nelson, and Hauschka. Right now due to the match ups and Lacy/Nelson having the chance to be limited by Seattle, I have to go with CLO Collins by a field goal.
Difference Maker: WR Jordy Nelson, Scott's Tots - Rare the predicted loser's player is the difference maker, but Nelson definitely fits the bill. If he can get something going against Sherman it will go a long way in whether or not the Tots can win this game. I think Nelson will be held to around 57 yards with no scores and CLO will win this game by a nose.
Dynasty Kings 0-0 AT Beat Skeet Leave 0-0 (-23)
All Time H2H Regular Season (2-0)
All Time H2H Post Season (0-0)
The Dynasty Kings experienced a crazy off season, after spending all of 2013 gathering 2014 1sts the Kings then cashed them in and at one time boasted a McCoy/Charles combo. However after thinking he lacked the depth to win he cashed in those chips for young pieces and 2015 1sts (currently boasting 8 1sts). While the 2015 draft looks to be loaded and that could be a solid move for his future, the Kings are once again coming into the season with a line up no one takes seriously. Then we have BSL, a team picked by many to win the UFL last year and was even an Ultimate Dynasty Bowl pick by some. Well we all know how that turned out, after a disappointing 2013 season BSL has struck a nice balance. They now boast a team that looks deadly for the future, but also have enough pieces to be a fringe/surprise contender in 2014. I think BSL takes this one by a considerable margin 94-71.
Difference Maker: WR Keenan Allen, BSL - You could've picked any of BSL's receivers and plugged them in here, bottom line they're fourth best receiver would be the King's WR1.
Ohh Kill'Em 0-0 AT Kory Adams 0-0 (+2)
All Time H2H Record Regular Season (3-1 OK)
All Time H2H Record Post Season (0-0)
Ohh Kill'Em proved to the masses that they do in fact belong in the league, finishing 2nd in the NFL division and stayed in the Wildcard race until the bitter end. Kory Adams on the other hand takes a very laissez faire approach to his team rarely making too many big splashes or moves. Perhaps rightfully so, as he boast a team that could very well challenge for the NFL Division crown and maybe even the Ultimate Dynasty Bowl Championship. This game should be a good one as these teams match up pretty well vs each other, but write me down for the Matt Boles week 1 upset special 105-103.
Difference Maker: HB Chris Johnson, Ohh Kill 'Em - I'm not huge on CJ?K for the 2014 season, but I do think he could look close to vintage CJ against Oakland week 1 posting 100+ and a TD with upside for a good bit more.
Purists 0-0 AT Super Manning 0-0 (-27)
All Time Regular Season H2H (2-0 SM)
All Time Post Season H2H (0-0)
A year ago around this time, Super Manning kicked off the season with an unbelievable showing setting the all time record in Ultimate Dynasty for points in a game. Can they do it again in 2014? Ehh maybe not, but they should be able to cruise to a win against a Purists team clearly building for the future. Now the Purists do have a few players that could make this interesting and I think a line up of (Newton, Martin, Woodhead, Cooks, Dobson, Stills, Rudolph) has the fire power to pull off the upset if everything and I mean everything broke right. However it looks as though the Peyton-DT combo will be back in full force and Super Manning now has a better running back situation than they had in 2013. I still think 2013 was their year with Peyton going ballistic, but Super Manning will still have a very solid team and they'll get past week 1 unscathed 100-73.
Difference Maker: WR Demaryius Thomas, Super Manning - The Purists have no one that can compete with this monster bottom line. Could see DT having a 150 yard 1 TD game against Indy.
Power Rankings Week #1
1. CLO Collins - Flex and depth issues, sure, but when your team boasts Rodgers/Charles/Peterson/Mega/Jimmy heading into the season you're going to get ranked #1. After two years of finishing one game away from the Ultimate Game, is this the year CLO finally breaks through?
2. Scott's Tots - A fully healthy Julio could very well put this team over the hump. Forte/Lacy and Julio/Nelson with Cameron at Tight End, you don't get much better than that. Can Tray navigate this team to back to back UFL Division titles all the way from the West Coast?
3. Miami Sharks - Boast more depth than the aforementioned top two teams with slightly less star power, but they still come into 2014 with plenty of fire power making a three peat a very realistic possibility.
4. Red Rockets - Well it looks like Gordon is riding the pine for all of 2014, but the Rockets are still good enough to make a run. If they had an non suspended Gordon, they may be one to two spots higher, but even still their running back depth and solid starting line up will have them as the favorite for the wildcard.
5. Kory Adams - Brees/Murray/AJG/Gronk. That right there could be the number one QB, HB, WR, and TE if things went right in 2014. Probably a little bit far fetched but bottom line this team has talent, possibly even Ultimate Dynasty Bowl talent.
6. Goonsquad - There are a lot of obstacles in this team's way (namely CLO and the RR), however they have Darkhorse sleeper appeal. I love that Spiller/Tate combo and think it's not hard to believe one or both of them could finish as a HB1. Add to that a potential breakout season from Luck and you can see why GS is my darkhorse title pick.
7. Super Manning - Again I've said this a million times and I'll say it a million more 2013 was their year to walk away with a title. Not saying they can't do it this year but they'll need someone to surprise (like a Jeremy Hill) in their backfield to challenge the Tots.
8. BSL - Goonsquad may be my dark horse, but BSL is not far off. I love this team for the future and think they could be pretty dang good in 2014 as well. While they may not punch a playoff ticket this year, the good times are about to start rolling for BSL.
9. Ohhh Kill'Em - A team that no one can overlook any given week, but that will be way too inconsistent to put together a winning record. Could see them being a big time seller at trade deadline (Reggie, CJ?K, Marshall, Welker, Nicks, Vernon).
10. Carolina Lions - It's a tradition, I rank them low and they end up finding their way to the Ultimate Dynasty Bowl...every time. I'm not crazy over this roster, but if RG3 and Djax catch lightening in a bottle then there are enough pieces around to get the Lions in the playoff conversation...again.
11. Purists - Newton/Martin/Sankey/Cooks/Dobson/Stills/Rudolph is a line up that'll be maddeningly inconsistent this year but could literally beat even the best teams if they catch their receiving trio on the right day.
12. Dynasty Kings - Will be a pushover in 2014, but come May they'll be very glad they took the year off. Knowing Dylan he will still do everything he can to put up W's and I could see him pulling off some upsets but no more than 5 wins seems doable this year.
