• Print
• Email

 

 

"The harder you WORK, the harder it is to SURRENDER"- Marv Levy, Buffalo Bills

 

Hello and welcome back to your final TSL Quarterback Power Rankings of the 2021 Spring Season!  We don't do playoff updates, so this is all you get for the rest of the season (you'll have to make do with the much better articles written by the Godfather and the Sentinel next week).

 

This is what we have for you in our final edition of this session:

• The Official Spring 2021 TSL QB Power Rankings - For the first (and hopefully only) time in history we've expanded to the Top 40 QBs in the League.  More QB coverage than ever!
• Division Review - In depth coverage of each divisions leaders on offense, defense and net point differentials, plus playoff "predictions" (kind of) and a final look at favorites, contenders, and pretenders.
• Final Observations on the season

So let's get right to it.  Here are the Final TSL QB Power Rankings for the season:

 

 

#1 David "Bro" Kleckler - Tight Ends in Motion - (Previous Rank #1)

Last Week:  Beat Sloppy Seconds 41-20

 

Tight Ends in Motion are the #1 seed and the #1 offense and the #1 defense and the #1 point differential in the #1 division.  Bro isn't a "contender" for the D1 championship anymore, he is the favorite to win the whole damn thing.  This team is locked and loaded for a playoff run after their first round bye this week.

 

#2 Bobby McConnell - Eyes Downtown - (Previous Rank #3)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Eyes Downtown snuck into a first round bye on their day off courtesy of a Public Enemy upset loss.  Bobby has a better record than Cole and a higher points per game, so he enters the playoffs as the #2 QB in our final Power Rankings of the year.

 

#3 Chris Cole - Public Enemy - (Previous Rank #2)

Last Week:  Lost to Why So Serious 48-43

 

Scoring 43 points isn't bad.  Losing to a 0-8 squad with a first round bye on the line IS bad (even if a full Why So Serious team is hugely underrated).  Public Enemy doesn't have the aura of invincibility they've had in previous seasons.  Is this the end of the line for the Champs or just a blip in the road we'll talk about after they repeat in a couple weeks?

 

#4 Jordan Lawson - Losing Streak / Victorious Secret - (Previous Rank #5)

Last Week:  Beat XTC 62-14 (Losing Streak), beat Travis Henry's Kids 44-36, lost to the BiPolar Express 61-35

 

We agonized over the #4 vs #5 rankings this week, as Jordan and Dean are 1a and 1b in their division right now.  Losing Streak finished the 2021 Spring Season on a six game winning streak and locked up the #1 highest scoring offense in the entire TSL at 42.2 PPG (over 11 PPG higher than Peachy).  We don't know which red hot QB is "better" going into playoffs, but the tie went to the guy with the stats (AND the head-to-head win against Peachy Platoon way back in Week One).

 

#5 Dean Thompson - Peachy Platoon - (Previous Rank #4)

Last Week:  Beat Slytherin that end zone 34-32

 

Imagine winning seven games in a row to end your season (the longest current streak in the League!), overcoming roster absences and playing short handed and using subs along the way, just to get demoted in the last Power Rankings of the year.  Is it fair?  Of course not - we KNOW that, but here we are.  Dean and Jordan seemed destined to clash in the playoffs, if neither team gets upset in the early rounds.  We have no idea who we'd bet on to win that game.

 

#6 Joey Batts - Mountain Dew Me / Cunning Stunts - (Previous Rank #6)

Last Week:  Beat Bullet Club 45-36 (Mountain Dew Me), beat TOX 29-22 (Cunning Stunts)

 

Joey QBed for the 5th and 12th highest scoring teams in the TSL this season, going a combined 14-3 (excluding a forfeit).  If you've forgotten about how good he is (since he no longer has his own podcast to talk about it every week), he'll be happy to remind you in the playoffs.  

 

#7 Mike Thomas - Sticky Bandits - (Previous Rank #7)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Did not play this week, but the Sticky Bandits finished fourth in D1 in record, offense, defense and point differential this season courtesy of a Sloppy Seconds loss to Tight Ends in Motion this week.

 

#8 Alex Buchlis - Sloppy Seconds - (Previous Rank #8)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Did not play this week, marking two weeks in a row without Buchlis at the fields.  We imagine he's played enough games in his career that rust won't be a factor for playoffs, but you never know.

 

#9 Garrett Beesing - Frodo Swaggins - (Previous Rank #11)

Last Week:  Beat TopShot 48-33

 

Maybe we shouldn't crown TopShot just yet.  Garrett led Frodo Swaggins to a win against his previously undefeated opponent this week and sent a message that D3 is still up for grabs.  Frodo Swaggins is STILL undefeated this year when Garrett QBs; Dylan cannot say the same (see the division review at the bottom of this article for more detail).  We cannot imagine any D3 finals other than these two teams.

 

#10 Dylan Jaloza - TopShot - (Previous Rank #11)

Last Week:  Lost to Frodo Swaggins 48-33

 

Dylan finished with the best record and the highest scoring offense in D3, and he's not even the highest ranked QB in his own division?  Seems questionable at best, corrupt at worst (is Garrett funneling his charitable donations to the Power Rankings Committee?).  That's what happens when you drop the biggest game of the season to your biggest rival though.  TopShot will still be the favorites for D3 over the coming weeks, but they got a gut check this week that nothing is a given.

 

#11 Travis Cleavenger - Breast Friends / A&A - (Previous Rank #9)

Last Week:  Played half a game for A&A, no game for Breast Friends

 

Impossible to legitimately rank Travis at this point.  He's been benched on A&A for the returning Matty Ice* so at this point he's quarterbacking for a D5 gender team that has only played six games this session and an undefeated Breakfast Club team (which doesn't REALLY count for our Power Rankings).  What do we do with that?  A Power Ranking of 11th felt right to us, but an argument could be made for much higher or much lower, depending on how you feel about his backup work with A&A this season.

 

*Note that we're leaving Matty out of the Power Rankings entirely this week for similar reasons.  How DO we evaluate someone who missed half the season, and played other games through obvious injury?  The answer is, we don't.  Matty will resume his place at the top of the Power Rankings next session we're sure... unless he decides to build another house or something instead.

 

#12 Patrick "Topper" McGovern - When Dove Cries / TOX - (Previous Rank #13)

Last Week:  Lost to A&A 43-22, beat Passed Our Prime 41-28

 

Several weeks ago we were convinced Topper would come crashing back to earth after a hot start with When Dove Cries... but it never really happened.  They've continued to play well (even this week without several crucial players) and Topper has looked like a "young" man again.  He finishes the season a long shot to win any championships, but still #12 in our Power Rankings.

 

#13 Brandt Dubey - XTC - (Previous Rank #12)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Dubey misses a game, XTC gets destroyed.  This team is capable of being very good or very bad in any given week, mostly due to attendance it seems.  Dubey had Dilfs as the favorite to win D2 last season and then missed the playoffs.  Will he show up this year?

 

#14 Scott Drosendahl - Bullet Club - (Previous Rank #14)

Last Week:  Lost to Mountain Dew Me 45-36

 

Bullet Club has lost their seventh in a row after starting the season 2-0.  Scotty doesn't drop in the Power Rankings (fortunately for him no one below him really justified a rise either) but confidence must be low for the Club right now heading into playoffs with zero momentum (unless you count downward momentum).

 

#15 Jeremy Olsen - Passed Our Prime - (Previous Rank #18)

Last Week:  Lost to When Dove Cries 41-28

 

The Passed Our Prime season is over with a 1-8 record (and 0 for 9 on Bloomfield sightings).  We didn't see that coming after their dominant indoor season... maybe Robin Makula was a bigger part of that team than we thought?  The talent was there (when they showed up) and Olsen finished 9th in the TSL in overall points per game, but they couldn't overcome the worst defense in recent memory.  

 

#16 Matt Newman - Slytherin that end zone - (Previous Rank #15)

Last Week:  Lost to Peachy Platoon 34-32

 

The Slytherin regular season sputters to an end as QB inconsistency and inability to win close games doomed them to a 3-6 record.  It's not impossible they get their act together for a playoff run... but they haven't really given us a reason to suspect that's coming either.  Will we see Newman in the Top Ten again next session, or is this a sign of things to come?

 

#17 Andy Clark - Buffalo Vice - (Previous Rank #19)

Last Week:  Beat Woodpeckers 51-38, beat Freeballers 51-34

 

A 102 point final week is enough to propel Andy up to the #17 Ranking and a four way tie for first place with a 7-2 record.  The Buffalo Vice defense wasn't great this season, but Andy more than made up for it with offensive firepower.  It'll be interesting to see if Vice ends up as the Godfather's favorite to win the division (they're OUR pick, if we get one).

 

#18 Joe Miano - Jabronies - (Previous Rank #17)

Last Week:  Beat Freeballers 28-21

 

Joe wrapped up a 7-2 campaign with a thrilling comeback win over Freeballers and has his team looking better than ever as playoffs approach.  This is a balanced squad with great athletes on both sides of the ball - if we get the "good" version of Jabronies to show up (always attendance question marks here) they'll be a tough out.

 

#19 Brandon "B" Ford - Practice Squad - (Previous Rank #18)

Last Week:  Lost to Itches and Ohs 37-22

 

With a shot at 7-2 and a share of first place on the line, the Squad couldn't get the job done, falling to Itches and Ohs 37-22 to end their regular season at 6-3.  Clearly this division suites them better than D5 (remember when Practice Squad and Mountain Dew Me were ruining that division last season?) as they're right in the thick of this playoff race.  We believe in B but damn... imagine finishing 6-3 and being "rewarded" with a first round matchup against Buffalo Vice.  

 

#20 T.J. Ferguson - Puckett All-Stars - (Previous Rank #23)

Last Week:  Beat Interdimensional Lightning Falcons 32-20

 

It took us forever to recognize T.J. but now we can't look away.  Puckett finishes the regular season 7-2 and with one of the best offenses in the division (part-time team Breast Friends has better points per game, when teams don't forfeit against them).  This is THE pick to win the division by most, and will surely get the best odds by the Godfather this week (we think).

 

#21 Dylan Day - Scared Hitless - (Previous Rank #21)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

We're told that it was a backup QB (Johnny Football?) who led Scared Hitless to a thrilling comeback down 27-0 against A&A with ~16 minutes left in the game.  Amazing story... doesn't help Dylan's QB rating.  We don't THINK this will lead to a QB switch next season, but what do we know?

 

#22 Dave Baker - Interdimensional Lightning Falcons - (Previous Rank #22)

Last Week:  Lost to Puckett All-Stars 32-20

 

I.L.F. finishes their first season with Dave Baker with a winning record (the first for this team) and a first round matchup against the Bambs (who they've beaten twice this season).  They don't seem to be a threat to Puckett at this point (outscored 75-50 in two losing efforts this season) but the playoffs are a different animal and anything can happen.

 

#23 Terrell Bolden - Why So Serious? - (Previous Rank N/R)

Last Week:  Beat Public Enemy 48-43

 

T-Time is NOT the 23rd best quarterback in the League, let's start with that.  He beat freakin' PUBLIC ENEMY this week in one of the biggest upsets of the year!  But he also hasn't been available for his team most of the season, and they were 0-8 coming into this week as a result.  How do you balance a Top Ten talent with a Bottom Ten reliability?  You split the difference and rank him 23rd, apparently.

 

#24 Vince Taverna - All We Do is Quinn - (Previous Rank #20)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Vince doesn't show up, Quinn gets destroyed, and their regular season ends with a 7th place finish.  We did NOT see this coming for the perennial D3 favorites.  We have almost no faith that they'll turn it around for the playoffs (TopShot and Frodo look way too good right now, and the Angels and Grey Hair - Don't Care ALSO look like better teams) but wouldn't it be fun if we were wrong again?

 

#25 "Coach" Jay Jaskier - Wasted Potential - (Previous Rank #24)

Last Week:  Lost to the Bambs 46-30

 

Wasted Potential started 3-1 and limped to the finish line with five straight losses.  Coach Jay is doing the best he can but D5 looks too strong right now to survive his team's last place defense... and Wasted Potential has a first round matchup with Puckett All-Stars this week.  Yikes.  Feels like an early playoff exit and then free agency where Jay will have to get a few more weapons around him to compete next season.

 

#26 Dave Eickhoff - Grey Hair - Don't Care - (Previous Rank #28)

Last Week:  Beat the Angels 37-33

 

Grey Hair - Don't Care went 3-0 against the Angels this week, and 2-4 against everyone else in their division.  Unfortunately for Eickhoff and Co, they do NOT draw the Angels for the third week in a row for playoffs, but Untouchaballs should still be a winnable matchup for them as their first game this season was decided by only 2 points.

 

#27 Darryl Carr - Cobblestone - (Previous Rank #25)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Cobblestone somehow crammed an entire season into only 22 days (not an exaggeration), taking bye weeks early and bye weeks/forfeits late.  In 22 days they went 3-5, and they haven't played since May 29th.  We think rust isn't a factor for someone like Darryl who's got to be right up there for all-time TSL games played, but that first round matchup against Jabronies is going to be a tough one.

 

#28 Zack Elphick - Zack Attack - (Previous Rank #26)

Last Week:  Did Not Play

 

Due to an Elphick wedding, Zack attack gets the week off and takes a forfeit loss to cost them the #1 seed.  Seems preventable, but okay! 

 

#29 Nolan Perry - the Untouchaballs - (Previous Rank #27)

Last Week:  Beat Vaspian 31-6

 

One last dominant victory of the year wraps up the Untouchaballs regular season at 4-5 and right in the thick of the D3 standings.  They started the season 0-3 and are 4-2 since, so this team is definitely trending in the right direction as playoffs approach.  Don't count them out against Grey Hair - Don't Care this week, Untouchaballs could easily be playing in the D3 semi-finals next week.

 

#30 Nick Hawes - Spinelli's Plumbing - (Previous Rank #29)

Last Week:  Beat Tater Tots 33-21

 

Question: answered.  Spinelli's is the strongest team in D6 this session, Tater Tots is #2.  Spinelli's finishes the season fourth in the TSL in offensive points per game, and Nick has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the D6 playoffs.  Looks like Spinelli's lost one game back on May 8th to TMA and has won six in a row since.  Don't bet against these guys.

 

#31 Mark Harzynski - Tater Tots - (Previous Rank #30)

Last Week:  Lost to Spinelli's Plumbing 33-21

 

No, Mark didn't play this week, so HE hasn't lost to Spinelli's yet (even if his team has).  If Tater Tots want to beat Spinelli's in the playoffs they're going to need Mark to show up though.  Unless TMA crashes the party, these WILL be the D6 Finals teams, and we can't wait to see what both teams can do at full strength.

 

#32 Ward Blewitt - Wolfpack - (Previous Rank #33)

Last Week:  Beat All We Do is Quinn 20-6

 

Wolfpack continues to peak at the right time winning their third in a row after starting the season 1-5 (it would be four in a row if not for a 3 point loss to the Angels before that).  Ward beats Quinn and sets up a first round date with the Angels this week.  Momentum vs Girl Power.  Who are you betting on?

 

#33 Steve Moser - Itches and Ohs - (Previous Rank #36)

Last Week:  Beat Practice Squad 37-22

 

The Mosers may think there's a conspiracy against their quarterback as they proclaim him a "Top Ten" or "Top Fifteen QB" in this League... but there are 24 QBs that play in a higher division against better competition (D2 games are harder to win than D4 games) and there are 27 quarterbacks that have scored more points per game than Itches and Ohs (who are fifth even in their own division in scoring).  Simply put, there is no metric other than pure wins and losses that would put Steve in the Top Fifteen (there are 15 teams that are 7-2 or better, so if we ignored level of competition AND offensive output, then sure, but that's a stretch).  It's not personal Steve, it's numbers.  More on that in the Division Recaps below.

 

#34 Brian Orzechowski - Vaspian - (Previous Rank #32)

Last Week:  Lost to Untouchaballs 31-6

 

Brian's injury apparently has him playing some QB and some receiver.  He's good at both, but not by enough to beat the surging Untouchaballs this week.  Vaspian has the incredible misfortune of playing TopShot this week, and we don't think they've got the guns to win that shootout.

 

#35 John Langley - Travis Henry's Kids - (Previous Rank #34)

Last Week:  Beat the BiPolar Express 38-24

 

Travis Henry's Kids finish a strong debut season in the TSL with a 5-4 record and a win over the BiPolar Express.  John's arm talent has impressed many throughout the League this season and this team could be one to keep an eye on for future sessions... but their 31 point loss to Spinelli's last month makes us wonder if they can really contend right now in the Spring of 2021.

 

#36 Gordon Kus - The BiPolar Express - (Previous Rank #38)

Last Week:  Beat Victorious Secret 61-35

 

Gordon dropped 61 points on Victorious Secret this week? We can only assume that's a team record (our record keeping isn't THAT great, but wouldn't you think 61 would be a record?).  He really knows how to utilize his players as BPX finishes the season in the top third of the League for total offense.

 

#37 Joe K - Lenny's Ladies - (Previous Rank #37)

Last Week:     Lost to TMA 54-0

 

This week was not kind to Lenny's Ladies with a 54-0 shutout, but that's the nature of gender teams - some weeks you have all your talent and you're competitive, other weeks your girls have conflicts with their "primary" teams and you're scrambling to put a team together.  Joe K guided the Ladies to a 3-6 record this season to take the last D6 playoff spot after missing last season with an injury.  Their prize: a date with Spinelli's Plumbing in Round One.  Ouch.

 

#38 Anthony Buono - The Bambs - (Previous Rank #39)

Last Week:  Beat Wasted Potential 46-30

 

The Bambs scored 46 in a big win to grab some momentum heading into the playoffs.  Sure, they haven't beaten the Interdimensional Lightning Falcons yet in two tries this season, but you know what they say about the third time being a charm.  The Bambs finished the Spring 2021 season ranked fifth in offense, defense and point differential, so they're just a hair below average on the season.  If they can get their whole team together and fired up, it could be the start of a successful playoff run.

 

#39 Mike Boccio - Not a Starting QB, Anywhere - (Previous Rank #35)

Last Week:  Lost to Peanut Butter Kelly Time 38-14

 

Last week Mr. Boccio made history as the lowest ranked quarterback in the history of our article at #35.  He narrowly avoids that fate this week dropping to #39 after a loss to Peanut Butter Kelly Time in Breakfast Club.  We'd like to see him actually try QBing his own team next session, it seems like he's good enough.  A seventh gender team maybe (a name jumps to mind, but we can't print it)?  His own breakfast club team?  Or maybe he can replace Tommy on TOX, the way he replaced him as Public Enemy's QB2?

 

#40 Sean Weisensal - Freeballers - (Previous Rank N/R)

Last Week:  Lost to Buffalo Vice 51-34, lost to Jabronies 28-21 (did not start)

 

We're not ranking Sean "last" here - his #40 Ranking is more a reflection of the fact that he's seemingly just taking over the Freeballers starting position now in the last week of the season, so we don't have a big sample size yet.  We thought George Lombardo was doing well, but rumor has it that the team mutinied and installed Sean as their QB this week.  Sean rallied the team back to take a late lead in the Jabronies game, then scored 34 against Buffalo Vice.  Combine that with his 36-6 thrashing of TOX the week before and maybe he's good enough to make some noise in the D4 playoffs as QB?  Of course the huge downside to this move is that Freeballers are now missing their top receiver, but maybe the sacrifice is worth it.

 

 

...Whoa, whoa, that can't be IT, can it?  We named forty QBs and your guy STILL didn't make the list? Maybe that's because you never wrote to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to tell us about him!  Remember, we can do this better if you write to us and HELP us.  Keep that in mind for next session.

 

***

 

Division Review

 

For our final stats review of the season, we're going to show you the following:

• The breakdown of best offenses, defenses and net point differentials per division
• A graph of average point differentials per game for each division with the same "Favorites, Contenders, Pretenders" logic we used earlier this year (if you're winning games by an average of 6+ PPG, you're a Favorite in green; if you're losing by an average of 6+ PPG, you're a Pretender in red; all other teams are yellow in the middle; these are not OUR judgments on who falls into each category, it's strictly based on the math)
• A quick twitter sized recap of the division heading into playoffs, and then identifying which teams are "overrated" and "underrated" in each group.  Note that these last two categories are based purely on what we see in the scores and stats, NOT our own personal feelings of players on each team (we might personally think Joey Batts is overrated, but if the underlying numbers say his teams are in fact underrated, that's where we'll include them below) so TRY not to be offended.

 

And away we go.

 

Division 1

 

 

The Headline:  It's Tight Ends in Motion's division to lose, with two realistic challengers and three "they could upset some teams, but not three times in a row" teams

 

Underrated:  Statistically, it's Tight Ends in Motion.  Look, sometimes the favorite is the most underrated, and that's exactly the case here.  They're outscoring Eyes Downtown by 4.2 PPG and every other team in the division by at least 9 PPG.  Their defense has been debatably even better as they're allowing less than 20 PPG (almost 9 PPT better than everyone else in their division), and just look at the graph above: the point differentials aren't even close.  This team has lost once all season to Eyes Downtown, and they've had only one other close game.  If you're not betting on TEIM, you're not paying attention.

 

Overrated:  The numbers don't say that Public Enemy is "overrated": they say that they're third in their division in Offense and second in their division in Defense.  It FEELS as if they're overrated as favorites by the TSL though, as their performance hasn't matched their reputation as "the champs".  They could still win the whole thing (they were considered the favorites by many until VERY recently), and then being "overrated" will seem like a bad joke, but the numbers right now do not support that this is their division to lose.

 

 

Division 2

 

 

The Headline:  Three teams stand alone as clear favorites; a couple others have a shot at an upset run, but the rest of them aren't going to go the distance

 

Underrated:  When Dove Cries may have a quarterback born during the Nixon administration, but they also have the best chance of knocking off the three favorites in the playoffs.  They beat Losing Streak early in the season, they tied Peachy Platoon, and they only lost badly to A&A when they were missing several players this past week.  No other team has had more success against D2's elite.  And other than that A&A game, their only other losses were by 14 to Mountain Dew Me and 6 to XTC, so they still haven't been badly beaten while at full strength.  

 

Overrated:  They're not "overrated" as a team because they are and SHOULD be among the favorites to win the division, but we'll say statistically that Losing Streak are the most "overrated" team here simply because of their inflated point differentials.  Two of their biggest wins were against a shorthanded Passed Our Prime (won by 55) and a QB-less XTC (won by 48).  Throw out those two outliers and their average point differential drops from 16.78 PPG (best in the division) to 6.86 PPG (which would still leave them in the "favorites" category, but now in third place behind A&A and Peachy Platoon).  We're not blaming Losing Streak for running up the score in these games (it's not their fault when the other teams' players don't show up) but the math suggests that they're not really a full touchdown better than their competition when they're playing against full teams.

 

 

Division 3

 

 

The Headline:  TopShot are massive favorites, while other flawed contenders try to knock them off on the road to D3 glory.

 

Underrated:  Frodo Swaggins may be the most underrated team in the League right now, as they have still not lost a game with their starting Quarterback present.  Look at the charts above and you'll see that they're ranked third in offense, sixth in defense, and fifth in total point differential (a negative point differential for a second place team is VERY rare, but more on that later).  Fine, but nothing that would make you think they're going to win a division.  If we adjusted their metrics to erase the games that Garrett missed (and similarly adjusted their opponents for those games to pretend those games didn't happen as well) Frodo would jump from third/sixth/fifth in offense/defense/net points to first/third/second in those same categories.  Yes, when Garrett is present, his team is actually outscoring TopShot on a per game basis (and that's NOT including an adjustment for the game he subbed for them and put up 56 points).  If the TSL gave out Spring MVP awards, this would be our argument for why it's Garrett Beesing by a mile.

 

Overrated:  Grey Hair - Don't Care are one of only three teams with a winning record in D3, but that's about the only thing they have in common with TopShot and Frodo Swaggins.  Of their five wins, three of them came against one team (the Angels, against whom they obviously match up well) and the fourth was against Frodo when they were missing their MVP QB.  Their only other win this season came against last place Vaspian.  They're not overrated as athletes (again, that's never what we're trying to say here, the team is loaded with good athletes) but as the #3 seed and a team with a winning record you would expect them to have more encouraging big wins this season, and they're just not there.

 

 

Division 4

 

 

The Headline:  The TSL's most wide open division with several viable contenders (and a few that either missed the playoffs or have no realistic shot of winning them)

 

Underrated:  Buffalo Vice are the fourth seed in their division, but they have the best offense, best point differential, and they're tied for the best record in the division.  We're splitting hairs a bit here because no one in this division is statistically "underrated" (most good teams have winning records at the expense of Not So Sticky and Woodpeckers losing everything) but Buffalo Vice may get lost in the shuffle a bit as the fourth seed, and the stats say they're probably the most complete team in the division (by a very small amount over Jabronies)

 

Overrated:  At the risk of yet another complaint on Facebook, there's only one clear answer to this question:  Itches and Ohs, IT'S NOT PERSONAL, but your team finished with the best record on tie-breakers... and also a negative point differential on the season.  We cannot recall this ever happening before for a first place team.   There's a theorem created by Bill James for baseball that ESPN now uses to analyze football which boils down to "point differential is a better indicator of FUTURE winning percentage than winning percentage itself" (google it if you want). In other words the fact that you won close games in the past doesn't mean you'll win them in the future; your point differential is a better estimate of how you'll do in future games.  And in this case, the first place team in D4 ranks seventh in their division in point differential.  It's no disrespect to your quarterback or your athletes to say that the MATH suggests you're a long-shot to win the division.

 

 

Division 5

 

 

The Headline:  Two favorites, two teams clearly good enough to win the whole things, four other longshots.

 

Underrated:  Puckett All-Stars have won six in a row since starting 1-2, and they've topped 40 points scored in four of those games.  Clearly peaking at the right time and with the second best point differential in the division, this is the most "underrated" team in D5 (if any team that Topper has consistently predicted will win the division can be considered "underrated").

 

Overrated:  We'll give you two: First, Zack Attack has a legit defense that deserves all the credit it gets... but they can only bail out their 6th ranked offense so many times before they run out of good luck.  Throw out their huge 38-0 win over University Wealth Management (who crushed them in turn the next week) and their point differential on the year goes down to +1 point.  Not one point per game, but one point total.  Zack was very fortunate to go 7-2 (7-1 not counting their forfeit!) outscoring their competition by exactly one massacre win plus one other point throughout the season.  We don't think that will translate into a deep playoff run, as their luck eventually runs out.

 

Second, Breast Friends went 4-2 this season.  That's a good record, but it's not a 7-2 record.  We've never seen a team benefit from THREE forfeit wins in a single season before.  Of course that doesn't mean they wouldn't have won those games anyway, as they might have finished 7-2 regardless.  But: they haven't proven they're a 7-2 team yet, they've proven they're a team that has won two out of three.  That extrapolates to a 6-3 season, which would have been good for third in the division, not first.  Great team, but "overrated" as a #1 seed.

 

 

Division 6

 

 

The Headline:  Two big favorites and a handful of dark horse contenders, with three teams that are not even close to contention yet.

 

Underrated:  Easily TMA.  We talk about Spinelli's vs Tater Tots as THE feud in this division, but TMA is just a game behind the Tots in the standings, they ALSO boast a huge point differential at +11.6 PPG, and they're the only team that's actually beaten Spinelli's Plumbing this season (which immediately makes them contenders).  One of their losses was even to a D4 team, so that barely even counts! (Never mind how that team has done since they got moved up to D4...).

 

Overrated:  Ehh... no obvious candidates for an overrated team in D6 this session, as each team's record generally matches its performance.  If we had to pick one though (and we do!) we'll choose Lenny's Ladies only because their record is three games better than Juiced, but their average point differential is actually worse.  This is likely a product of attendance issues throughout the season that caused them to lose a few games by huge amounts.  With each division playing at different timeslots for round one of the playoffs, it's possible that Lenny's Ladies gets all their players and has a dominant performance this week.  But we're basing our analysis on past results, and that -15.7 PPG looks daunting when their first round matchup is against Spinelli's Plumbing and their +16.0 PPG.

 

**

 

Final Observations on the Season

• There was one undefeated team last week... and then they lost.  With TopShot's loss against Frodo Swaggins this week, there were NO TSL teams (outside of the Clarke's Breakfast Club team) that went undefeated this session.  That marks three seasons in a row without a true undefeated squad in the main League.
• There were two remaining winless teams last week between Why So Serious? (D1) and Juiced (D6)... and Why So Serious pulled off a huge upset over the defending D1 champions to strike its name from that list.  In the process Juice became the only winless team this session (there weren't any last Fall).  Hopefully they make a few roster changes and stick with it in the Fall session.  Losing isn't fun, but it DOES make you appreciate eventually winning that much more.
• The longest winning streak in the League now belongs to Peachy Platoon at 7 games in a row (8 games unbeaten, since they tied the game before that).  Can you BELIEVE we knocked Dean down in the Power Rankings this week??
• With upset wins by Why So Serious and University Wealth Management the last couple weeks, the longest losing streak in the League now belongs to Juiced at 9 games in a row.
• This was the largest season in recent memory with 52 teams in our standard divisions and 8 breakfast club teams.  We generally leave the philosophizing and deep reflection to our other website contributors who do it much better than we do, but damn, that's really impressive that we pulled it off even with the looming threat of COVID still around at the beginning of the season.  You just can't stop the TSL it seems.

 

And that's it for this season!  As always, if you have any thoughts on why you hate this article (your team’s QB should be ranked higher?  you wanted us to rank all 52 starting QBs this year?  you have better ideas for other people/positions/t-shirts/league executives that we can rank?) please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..   Seriously, we can do this BETTER if you TELL us about your team!

 

What’s YOUR ranking?

• Prev
• Next