Chinstrap Ninjas 2011-2012 fantasy football contest: Playoffs Week 4 lineups, Playoffs Week 3 results

Team Name Here extended his slight lead over Dante Bruno this week but Cartisimo was the biggest mover. Cartisimo claimed the Conference Championship Week title and moved into fourth-place in the overall race.

As usual, skip to the comments to post a lineup for this week’s game — the Pro Bowl — or read on to find out what else happened in the contest this week.

Congratulations to Cartisimo, who scored 20 points this week to lead all teams.

Regardless of the final score, Cartisimo was going to get some serious compliments this week. It doesn’t pay for C to follow the leader because he is trailing the leaders by a couple week’s worth of points. Just like last week, Cartisimo made some off-center picks and this week it paid off. Joe Flacco was our top quarterbackand Victor Cruz — started by only one other team — tied with Torrey Smith to be the top wide receiver.

Cartisimo was the only team to not start Rob Gronkowski.

We’re near the end of a month, the end of the playoffs and the end of the overall race, but it is far too close to call any of these titles early.

Team Name Here and Dante Bruno continue their battle atop the overall and playoff races — Bruno has a slight edge over Team Name in the playoff standings 65-62.

Bruno also leads the January race with 71 points, however, with the Pro Bowl coming up this week there are plenty of points to be scored. Schizophrenic Smurfs and Team Name are tied for second in January with 62 points.

Despite disappointing performances from Tom Brady, Ray Rice, Hakeem Nicks and Rob Gronkowski, Purple Coconuts maintained his hold on the No. 3 overall spot with 104 points.

Like Cartisimo, Smurfs went with an off-center pick, starting Ravens receiver Torrey Smith.

Top performers this week:

Quarterbacks

Our highest point-scorer of the week was none other than Joe Flacco. Flacco threw for 306, two touchdowns and an interception. The difference-maker for him was a 27-yard rushing performance. Eli Manning trailed Flacco by just .32 points, 20-94-20.62. Manning threw for 316 and two touchdowns. He also had -2 yards rushing.

Running backs

Dark horse running backs took the top spots this week. One playoff round after Aaron Hernandez led the Patriots in rushing, BenJarvus Green-Ellis retook control of the ground. He rushed for 68 yards and the only rushing touchdown of the round. Law Firm scored 12.8 fantasy points. Ahmad Bradshaw was a close second with 12.6 fantasy points. Bradshaw rushed for 74 yards and caught six passes for 52 yards. Frank Gore and Ray Rice, the two running backs started by every team in the contest scored a combined 19.7 fantasy points.

Wide receivers

Victor Cruz and Torrey Smith scored more points than the rest of the receivers in the conference championships but did it in very different performances. Cruz, who had eight catches in the first half, finished with 10 receptions and 142 yards. Smith caught only three passes, but turned them into 82 yards and a touchdown. Each player scored 14.2 fantasy points. Our No. 3 wide receiver, who would have provided tough-luck points this week if anyone had started him, was Anquan Boldin. Boldin caught six passes for 101 yards.

Tight ends

Vernon Davis‘ 100-yard, 2-touchdown performance led all fantasy scorers in the conference championships this weekend. Davis caught only three passes, but scored on two of them and finished with 112 yards to score 23.2 fantasy points. Dennis Pitta — we all saw that coming — was our No. 2 tight end, catching a touchdown among his five catches. He finished with 41 yards and 10.1 fantasy points.

Conference Championship Round

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2011-2012 playoffs standings

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2011-2012 Overall standings

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SPECIAL PLAYOFF RULES

These rules won’t take effect until after Week 17′a games are complete, but rest assured that you’ll want to stick around because things are going to get crazy:

Every team that participates after Week 17 (beginning with Playoffs Week 1) will receive five points just for playing every week. Post a lineup in every week of the playoffs through the Super Bowl and get a longevity bonus of five extra points. That means a team that posts a lineup in all four weeks will earn 25 points just for playing. We recognize and reward sticktoitiveness at Chinstrap Ninjas.

Other bonuses:

• 10 bonus points for starting a week’s top overall scorer. (Example: In Week 16 last year, Aaron Rodgers was started by Chickenheads&Pigeons and was the top point scorer. In the playoffs his performance would be worth 15 points, not just five.) This could be a real game-breaking jackpot. However, there will be far fewer players to choose from each week and there will likely be several “hits,” especially once we get to the conference championships and Super Bowl. Should be interesting.
• The Pro Bowl does count toward this competition.
• Last year we awarded one bonus point for Tough-Luck Award winners. This year, Tough-Lucks have been worth one point all season. Since we’ve upped the ante elsewhere, let’s award another point. So, in the playoffs, runners-up are worth two points.
• Of course regular season bonuses still stand, so selecting multiple correct responses will get you the usual bonuses.

Post a lineup for the Pro Bowl in the comments. It’s never too late to join up.

To learn more about the contest, including scoring/lineup rules or to see Week 1′s lineups thread, go to the original post.

Week 1 results, Week 2 lineups

Week 2 results, Week 3 lineups

Week 3 results, Week 4 lineups (with September’s champions)

Week 4 results, Week 5 lineups

Week 5 results, Week 6 lineups

Week 6 results, Week 7 lineups

Week 7 results, Week 8 lineups

Week 8 results, Week 9 lineups (with October’s champion)

Week 9 results, Week 10 lineups

Week 10 results, Week 11 lineups

Week 11 results, Week 12 lineups

Week 13 lineups

Week 12 results (with November’s champion)

Week 13 results, Week 14 lineups

Week 14 results, Week 15 lineups

Week 15 results, Week 16 lineups

Week 16 results, Week 17 lineups (with December’s champion)

Week 17 results, 2011-2012 NFL Playoffs Week 1 lineups (with Regular Season Champion)

NFL Playoffs Week 1 results, Playoffs Week 2 lineups

NFL Playoffs Week 2 results, Playoffs Week 3 lineups