Playoff Week 1 Update: I play in 17 dynasty leagues, 3 of them startups. Out of the remaining 14, I made the playoffs in 13, so there is the potential for a big year this year with a little luck.

FFPC: Starting with my highest stakes leagues, I play in 7 FFPC leagues. Unfortunately, the one non-startup team that didn’t make the playoffs was one of these high stakes teams. However, that still leaves 6 that made it in. Two teams received week 14 byes ($750 FFPC Dynasty League #2 and $750 FFPC Dynasty League #3), while the remaining four had to battle it out with 3 other teams for the right of 2 of the 4 teams to make it into the final 4 for a two-week championship playoff.

One of those teams is Piano Man in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #10. This is the team where I traded two first round picks (one of which could be no worse than the 1.4) for Peyton Manning and Jamaal Charles. This team now has a top player at each starting position with Manning, Charles, CJ Anderson, Calvin, Julio, Alshon, Cobb and Graham. With that lineup, this team has a decent shot at winning the title but it first had to make it past Week 14. It doesn’t help when your star QB puts up 6 points and your super stud TE puts up 7, but the rest of the gang pulled their weight for a cool 189 and a Final 4 berth. In the Championship, If Julio is out, my replacement would be Dwayne Bowe....OUCH!

Another powerhouse team looking to make it into the final four is possibly my best Dynasty team out of all of my teams in any competition, the team in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #4. This team has Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan at QB, CJ Anderson and a crew of mediocre options at RB led by Denard Robinson and Rashad Jennings, a stud WR core of Calvin, AJ Green, Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas and Alshon Jeffery (and Patterson in development) and TE stud Rob Gronkowski. Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, this team did not get one of the 2 byes despite again being in the top 2 during the regular season in total points (last year was #1). Last year, the team unceremoniously got knocked out in Week 14. This year, in Week 14, the team scored 241 points! That’s after sitting Alshon Jeffery’s 21 points for Demaryius’ 3. The Julio injury will hurt of course, but at least Alshon Jeffery and his elite projected numbers can finally crack the lineup. Of course, a gimpy Demaryius Thomas to go with Julio being out could spell doom for this team's chances against the toughest final 4 out of all my FFPC leagues.

The stakes are at their highest in the $2500 FFPC Dynasty League #2. In this league, my young team was possibly the hottest team in the league going into the playoffs but due to a slow start to the season, the team did not secure a Week 14 bye (just missed it). This team has Big Ben, CJ Anderson, Justin Forsett, Gio Bernard, Doug Martin, Bishop Sankey, Dez Bryant, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr, Deandre Hopkins, Jeremy Maclin and Jordan Reed (along with 3 1sts next year). I could really use Julio in the Championship rounds, but for now, this team and its 199 points in Week 14 easily advanced into the final 4.

Last but not least (well, possibly least) is my team in $750 FFPC Dynasty League #7. Like most of my teams, this one has a crazy good set of WRs in AJ Green, Julio Jones, Alshon Jeffery and Mike Evans along with more than capable back ups of Vincent Jackson, Brandon LaFell and Roddy White. At RB, this team has CJ Anderson, Gio Bernard and Christine Michael. TE is weak with Jared Cook who now may have a concussion, so I’ll have to dig up a waiver wire TE. Russell Wilson is at QB. This team scored 225 points in Week 14 and is Final 4 bound.

To recap, that leaves me with 6 teams in the FFPC in the Final 4 and a decent shot at winning a league, two or three.

DFWC:

It has been a bittersweet last few weeks and season in the DFWC. On the sweet side, my team in League #5 took down #1 overall in the regular season, and my team in League #8 finished 7 overall. My team in League #1, which I thought would be my best team in 2014, finished 15th overall. 3 out of 3 second-year teams finishing in the top 20 out of 288. Pretty good. These overall finishes will help one of these teams (probably the team in League 5) win the Dynasty King $2,000 prize in 2016 - my main goal in this competition from day 1.

But going into week 14, my focus was on the overall championship for 2014 and the $7,500 prize, and that’s where the bitter comes in. Unlike my FFPC teams, my DFWC teams flopped at the worst possible time. In fact, they were outscored by most of my FFPC teams despite an extra position player in the lineup.

First in League #5: An issue with having 6 top flight WRs (Calvin, Dez, Julio, Gordon, Jeffery, Brown) is that I will inevitably choose the wrong WR to sit at the worst possible time - its just what I do. That was the case this week when I opted to start Josh Gordon over Alshon Jeffery. To be fair, Alshon was “reportedly” coming off of an injury. I was concerned that he would pull a Calvin and serve as a decoy for Marshall against Dallas. Gordon had issues of his own, but Cleveland was starving for pass catchers and Gordon was the most targeted receiver in the NFL over the last two weeks. It may have been the percentage play call at the time, but regardless, the call cost me 18 points that I could not afford. My team in League 5 ended up with an average week (which took Julio’s heroics to even get there) while many of the other top teams put up 200+ points. I’ve got a tough road ahead to climb back into contention, but you never know in a 3-week playoff and a team that could put up 230+ points in any given week. Julio’s injury of course does not help. For now, I’m just hoping I can secure the league championship and the additional $1,500 prize with it (on top of the $500 that the team has already secured by its regular season performance).

My teams in Leagues 1 and 8 were even worse, thanks to dud performances from Demaryius Thomas, Jimmy Graham and Denard Robinson. Those teams are likely out of the running for their league championship as a result and are near the bottom in the overall playoffs. Very bitter.

Other Leagues:
Starting with Legends of Dynasty ($200), my first Dynasty league ever and where my team is looking to win its fourth title in a row, my team received a bye in Week 14 and is in the final 4. The Brandon Marshall injury makes things tough, but Brandon LaFell is an adequate fill in.

I was getting hammered in Badlands ($250) in the wild card round until Monday night and you guessed it, Julio Jones. This team advances, but is not likely to win it all if Julio misses games.

In The Dynasty League ($500), with the 6-team 3-week playoff format, my team is mathematically still in the race but after a poor Week 14, it will take a miracle to win it all. My team in that league is a perennial 3rd or 4th place type of team and just doesn’t have the health or firepower to make it any higher.

In Monster League ($250), my team received a bye and is in the final 4. If I recall correctly, this team has received a bye every year since this league’s inception, which makes 5 years in a row. I don’t draft startups this way often, but I drafted this team to win now and win later, and I’ve been fortunate that it has worked out that way. Thanks to that bye, I was able to survive Peyton Manning’s, Demaryius Thomas’ and Josh Gordon’s combined 12!

Final Score Card:

Going into Week 15, I now have 10 teams left with a legitimate chance to win a league title (a number of which are the favorites to do so, possibly even with the Julio injury) and 3 others that are shooting for 2nd or 3rd for a little extra dough. The ten chances gives me hope that I can bring home the title in 3-5 leagues which would be a pretty good year. A lot will depend on which 3-5 in determining just how good.

Good luck in Weeks 15 and 16 to everyone reading this! Feel free to chime in with your success (or heartbreak) stories!