This season's quarterfinals broke two longstanding records: highest average score (131.10) and highest minimum score (119.75) for a playoff week! (The 2011 quarterfinals held the previous record in each, 128.92 and 114.19.)

Quarterfinals Recap

Schertz def. Scott, 137.91-128.73

You can't ask much more from a playoff game than what this one gave us. Scott jumped out to a big lead on Thursday night after Bijan Robinson (24.23), Chris Godwin, Jr. (10.67), and Chase McLaughlin (12.10) all had good games. But a trio of Texans - Nico Collins (23.33), Ka'imi Fairbairn (17.00), and Woody Marks (10.07) - answered for Schertz in the early Sunday games.

After Scott got an overall mediocre combined total from Dak Prescott (13.90) and CeeDee Lamb (14.80) on Sunday night, the stage was set for Schertz to retake the lead for good on Monday. De'Von Achane (14.93) delivered more than enough, and Schertz will advance to the semifinals for the first time since his championship 2019 season.

Richie def. Rob, 138.03-119.75

Trevor Lawrence (47.60) and Travis Etienne, Jr. (30.93) stole the show for Richie as his magical season reached the semifinals. He needed those big performances, as Breece Hall (4.17), Xavier Worthy (4.67), and Alec Pierce (2.13) all had poor weeks.

Another reason he needed them is that Rob had a good week, himself! Courtland Sutton (21.07) was his high scorer, and only the Texans defense (9.00) and Isaiah Likely (zero) scored less than their Yahoo projections.

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Richie's 138.03 barely beat Schertz's 137.91 for this week's top score.

Slapped Heartbeat

Rob's 119.75 is only deserving of this award in a technical sense.

Weekly MVP

Trevor Lawrence's 47.60 for Richie is the easy winner here.

Dud of the Week

Isaiah Likely's zero for Rob is the easy winner here.

Start of the Week

Schertz was not scared off by De'Von Achane's (14.93) questionable tag and played him over Omarion Hampton (6.63). With 8.30 fewer points, he'd have lost to Scott by 0.12!

Misplay of the Week

Scott only left 1.30 points on the bench by playing Dak Prescott (13.90) over Jordan Love (15.20). He played optimally at every other position.

Rob got the aforementioned zero from Isaiah Likely, but it didn't make a difference in his game. No one will get this award.

Pickup of the Week

It didn't result in a win, but Scott made an incredible call by picking up the Bears defense (20.00) on Sunday morning.

Season Postmortems

Scott, 8-6 (0.571), 1,593.20 points (113.80 average), 6th place, 9.36 expected wins

Scott put together his best season ever and finally made the playoffs. It's a bummer his run didn't last longer.

He doesn't have as full a cupboard as he could for next year, though getting R.J. Harvey, who would cost a 5th to keep, in a late-season trade could pay off nicely.

Rob, 11-3 (0.786), 1,360.70 points (97.19 average), 5th place, 6.77 expected wins

Rob's three-year Blingabowl streak came to an end, and he'll be the first to tell you it deserved to based on the quality of his team.

Emeka Egbuka (8th) looks like a great keeper for 2026. Beyond that, Oronde Gadsden (9th), Jauan Jennings (7th), and even Courtland Sutton (4th) have some potential.

Semifinals Preview

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 12-2, 1st) vs. Barftastic (Richie, 8-6, 6th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 9-5.

It's looked all year like Rabbit's been on a speed run to the Blingabowl. The Top Seasons page is littered with his team, and for good reason. Jonathan Taylor (vs. SF), Trey McBride (vs. ATL), and the Seattle defense (vs. LAR) are all among the best at their positions, and Chase Brown (@MIA), George Pickens (vs. LAC), and Jaylen Waddle (vs. CIN) have all been borderline elite at times. Will A.J. Brown (@WAS), originally drafted by Richie, have a revenge game this week?

Speaking of Richie, he may have been one of the worst playoff teams ever, but he justified his berth with a gigantic quarterfinals performance. Will Trevor Lawrence (@DEN) do it again against a much tougher defense? Can Alec Pierce (vs. SF) overcome Philip Rivers's lack of arm strength? Can Breece Hall (@NO) bounce back? As much as we'd love to see his magical run continue, the pick here seems easy.

Pick: Pralines & Dick.

The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 12-2, 2nd) vs. schertzopotamus (Schertz, 8-6, 5th)

Schertz leads all-time series, 8-7.

Kevin, without very much fanfare, won as many games as any team ever has. His reward, besides a first round bye, is to face a red-hot Schertz team.

Kevin's MVP has been Jahmyr Gibbs (vs. PIT), who has a great matchup this week. Ja'Marr Chase (@MIA) has been up-and-down, but is still Ja'Marr Chase. DK Metcalf (@DET) was a big acquisition just before the deadline, too, and has been worth it.

Schertz's big acquisition was Joe Burrow (@MIA), who nearly cost him his quarterfinal matchup. But De'Von Achane (vs. CIN), Nico Collins (vs. LV), and Kyren Williams (@SEA) did what they've done all year for Schertz: produced. And with Collins, Woody Marks (vs. LV), and Ka'imi Fairbairn (vs. LV) all with about an easy of a matchup as possible, Schertz looks primed to return to the Blingabowl.

Pick: schertzopotamus.

Closing Thoughts

Richie and Schertz each put up their highest score of the season, while Rob put up his third highest, and Scott his sixth highest. It was a shame that any of them had to be eliminated after the week that was.

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