The league made a lot of changes this year. The draft went online for the second straight year, Covid rules were finally rolled back, the league fee jumped from $50 to $60, and the extra $10 per team went into a weekly high scorer pool paying out $5 a week to whoever put up the biggest number. The NFL also expanded to 18 games, pushing the regular season to Weeks 1-14 and the playoffs back to Weeks 15-17. More football. More money. More ways to lose. Ryan Wingerson won the championship, which means none of it mattered to eleven other people.
Ryan Wingerson. 6-8. The 8-seed. Outscored on the season by 142 points. A man who spent the entire regular season looking like someone who had no business in the playoffs, and then spent the entire playoffs looking like someone who had no business losing. He beat Matthew Beyer 148.58-126.74 in the title game and collected a ring that every rational projection said he had no right to. Ryan Wingerson has now won more regular season titles than anyone in league history and exactly as many championships as Paul Loveland. The bracket has a sense of humor and it is specifically aimed at Ryan Wingerson.
Matthew Beyer dropped 217.7 points in Week 13, the second highest single-game score in league history, in a 123-point demolition of Ryan Wingerson. He led the league in scoring all season. He finished runner-up, losing in the championship to the same guy he had just embarrassed by 123 points six weeks earlier. Matthew Beyer's 2021 season is a masterclass in how this league works: dominate everything, win nothing.
Bernard Lynn went 10-4, won the regular season title, and finished 5th. Derek Hilmer also went 10-4 and finished 6th. Two teams with identical records, zero trophies between them. The regular season champ finishing 5th is no longer a surprise. It is simply the natural order of things.
Phillip Redenius finished last at 2-12, the worst record in the league, posting just 1,353 points. He edged out Paul Loveland 81.58-81.14 in Week 11 for what may have been his most meaningful victory of the season, and then finished last anyway. Phillip Redenius: finding ways to make 2-12 feel personal since 2010. He gets to plan the banquet. Congratulations.
Wk13
Wk11
FINAL STANDINGS
| Finish | Owner | Record | Points For | Points Against | Reg. Finish | Net Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryan Wingerson | 6-8 | 1,662.5 | 1,804.4 | 8 | +$270 | |
| 2 | Matthew Beyer | 9-5 | 1,877.9 | 1,652.4 | 3 | +$160 |
| 3 | Paul Loveland | 8-6 | 1,615.9 | 1,568.4 | 5 | $-10 |
| 4 | Jarod Hilmer | 7-7 | 1,689.0 | 1,578.7 | 7 | $-50 |
| 5 | Bernard Lynn | 10-4 | 1,762.0 | 1,525.7 | 1 | $0 |
| 6 | Derek Hilmer | 10-4 | 1,698.4 | 1,575.3 | 2 | $-60 |
| 7 | Jeft Cavey | 8-6 | 1,742.0 | 1,578.0 | 4 | $-50 |
| 8 | Alex Benedict | 8-6 | 1,553.0 | 1,585 | 6 | $-55 |
| 9 | Wesley Hoops | 6-8 | 1,532.2 | 1,720.4 | 9 | $-60 |
| 10 | Dennis Lynn | 5-9 | 1,625.2 | 1,727.8 | 10 | $-60 |
| 11 | Andrew Vinz | 5-9 | 1,486.5 | 1,684.5 | 11 | $-50 |
| 12 | Phillip Redenius | 2-12 | 1,353.5 | 1,597.5 | 12 | $-60 |