I’m actually writing this intro after everything else - and I’m pretty burned out so this will be short. But I do need to mention the two graphics I’m including just below here for the PR. The first is a spreadsheet of each team’s weekly scoring along with averages. This year’s weekly average is up 4 points from last year (was 107) to 111.87 being the average weekly score for a given team. The second picture is the same data in graph form. I’ll leave it up to you guys find any other exciting or interesting trends you see. I’ll update this again at the end of the regular season. Take a gander, then onto the PR!
12. Go Bark Yourself (2-6), (1-1 div), 786.4 PF, 930.7 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Two Girls, One Kupp 92.64-100.84
Yeah, so everyone on this team outside of Patrick Mahomes literally died. Press F to pay respects. Even Mike Davis, who has been doing pretty well in the stead of Christian McCaffery is back to being a backup with a McCaffery return planned this week. To add insult to injury, the Lions, RJ’s favorite team, are having COVID issues, and their best receiver Kenny Golladay, who is also on GBY, is hurt. With everyone so bunched up in the standings, I doubt a losing record (6-7) will make the playoffs, so it’s win out or bust from here.
11. IIIIIIIIITS TUA TIME (3-5), (1-1 div), 835.1 PF, 901.34 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Wave To The Kids! 61.38-104.88
If I wrote the PR last week, I would have said something about how ironic it was that this team was called TANKIN FOR TUA, and then as soon as Tua was announced as the starter, Aaron scored 159 points, a weekly high. Welp, so much for that! In this week’s matchup, not only was is a weekly low, but Aaron also somehow picked the worst option out of (at one point last week), 4 rostered QB’s. This begs the question: why are we only allowed to roster 3 TE’s when we can roster 4 QB’s? There’s even 2 different slots TE’s can start in compared to only one available for QB’s. I would think these would be swapped. Anyway, I digress. 2 weeks ago was an outlier, and last week was much more like it’s been for Aaron’s team most of the season: in the tank.
10. Sherlock Jones (2-6), (0-2 div), 835.96 PF, 968.48 PA
Last Week: Win vs Cows of Colorado 108.52-102.52
Hey, Kenny won a game! That earns Sherlock Jones a reprieve from the cellar and keeps any slight playoff hopes alive (winning out is probably required). This team hasn’t had the greatest luck, with injuries and a league high PA. In fact, the top 3 RB’s on this team (draft picks 1, 2, and 5) have all missed significant time. So I’m not putting this year’s results on Kenny’s prowess as a manager. Sometimes, it’s just not your year. But, like I said, win out and you never know - starting this week against Brandon’s solo first place team.
9. Wave To The Kids! (5-3), (1-1 div), 849.52 PF, 816.12 PA
Last Week: Win vs IIIIIITS TUA TIME 104.88-61.38
Surprised to see me here? Well, last time I PR’ed, I had just thoroughly walloped Kenny to move to 2-3, had a respectable PR, and ranked myself 5th. Since then I’ve won 3 straight (4 in total). So what happened? Well, mostly, I got pretty dang lucky, as my scores have not been good - below the league average in every week since then. Me winning those matchups really came down to Davante Adams being a literal God. My PR is now in the tier with the teams below me in this list, rather than the teams ahead. Now, I will say that I’ve made more trade offers this season than I have in every other fantasy season combined. And I’m tied for the division lead. But I just don’t feel confident at all in my next few matchups against some good teams - starting this week against a 3-5 team that I am ranking ahead of me.
8. Connor Party (3-5), (1-1 div), 915.24 PF, 915.14 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Team Suspension 92.26 - 109.6
As much as I wanted to rank this team ahead of Team Suspension, Conner Party did just lose to them, so I had to drop them here. But as the season continues and the injuries continue to pile up, I’m beginning to like the 7 RB draft strategy Jared employed more and more. This is a solid team right now and is projected for the third highest score this week. Kyler Murray is behind only Russ and Mahomes right now and having Kelce at TE is such a luxury given the volatility elsewhere at the position. And the RB’s - my goodness. I’m pretty sure nearly every team that’s not Dan or Ethan would take a roster with CEH, Conner, RoJo, and Swift, even though 3 of those are technically in timeshares right now. Jared has been a bit unlucky in scoring - when he’s had some good weeks, his opponents have as well. But it would not surprise me going forward if Connor Party was right in the mix for a playoff spot.
7. Team Suspension (4-4), (1-1 div), 880.2 PF, 893.06 PA
Last Week: Win vs Conner Party 109.6-92.26
So Dalvin Cook did pretty good last week, huh? He accounted for over 40% of Team Suspension’s score alone. (Adams owner relating here.) And good thing too, because the rest of the team is so mediocre right now that Kaelan surely would have lost without him. Right now, this team has a 4-4 record, a middle of the road PF, and a middle of the standings PR rank. Let’s face it: Team Suspension is mediocre this year, and by Kaelan’s lofty standards, that’s a failure. But the good news is that there’s no truly great teams this year, and we expanded the playoffs to 6 teams. Because of that, Team Suspension is right in the thick of it anyway.
6. Cows of Colorado (4-4), (1-1 div), 901.32 PF, 926.78 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Sherlock Jones 102.52-108.52
When so many teams are so close in terms of records this year, losses to teams near the bottom of the standings hurt that much more. Such was the fate of the Cows last week, dropping a game to the (previously) last place Sherlock Jones. And I don’t mean to beat a dead cow, but since I just talked trades with Alex, the thought came up again in my mind - so much of this roster besides Kamara and Keenan Allen is so meh. Kittle being hurt now certainly didn’t help. And I’m not quite sure why Alex traded me Tannehill for Jonnu when he’s been better than Lamar all year. (Probably because of the schedule, I guess.) But like I’ve said in nearly every blurb now: everyone’s really close and it could be much worse than a .500 record.
5. Crazy Train (4-4), (0-2 div), 903.36 PF, 836.44 PA
Last Week: Win vs Monica Loves Clinton-Dix 111.46-79.46
Getting to .500 after starting 0-3 feels like an achievement, and here we are for the Craziest of Trains. But this team has always felt better than their record, and the numbers charted above really highlight the consistent scoring Sean has been able to put up week to week. He has the second highest low score of any team at 96, and that’s his only score below 100. I can hear Alex saying “Hey, that’s true for me too, we have the same record, and I have the highest low score of any team. So what gives?” Well, given that those two teams are nearly tied in PF, it comes down to which roster I like better and we already know how that goes this year. The Steelers have been the random D/ST to own that scores like an RB1 this year, so Sean won that lottery. And Jonathon Taylor and Chase Edmonds are looking like two strong RB1 and RB2 options (good thing too, with the lack of depth elsewhere). Of course you can’t go wrong with the GOAT at QB either. That all adds up to a solid PR rank and being right in the playoff mix.
4. Two Girls One Kupp (6-2), (2-0 div), 882.88 PF, 796.94 PA
Last Week: Win vs Go Bark Yourself 100.84-92.64
What the heck is the sole leader of the real standings doing at 4th in the PR? It’s simple really - Brandon’s PF is nowhere near the tier of the 3 teams above him in the standings and he has been the clear luckiest in terms of PA so far. And that’s despite of losing a matchup where his opponent scored 68. That 42 was really a putrid score. Now that’s not to say TG1K isn’t a solid team - it is. But I’m just not sure that good luck will continue, so things will have to pick up scoring wise if TG1K wants a bye in the playoffs. 6-2 is a real great start though, no matter the points.
3. Monica Loves Clinton-Dix (5-3), (1-1 div), 934.48 PF, 847.62 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Crazy Train 79.46 - 111.46
When healthy, this MLCD has the most talented trio of RB’s in the league - and it just so happens that they were all hurt at the same time last week. Now that’s some shit luck if I’ve ever seen it. But finally, this appears to be the week that the number one overall pick Christian McCaffery returns. And keep in mind that both weeks he was healthy this team led the league in scoring. And they’re 3-3 in the weeks he missed, so there’s no slouches here. My biggest question is if Josh Allen can return to the fantasy form he had the first 4 weeks of the season, because he’s looked very pedestrian in the last 4. Regardless, despite the 2 game losing streak, Dan is still tied for first in the Waffle division and in the hunt for a playoff bye.
2. CoronaVirus Crowns (5-3), (1-1 div), 1004.06 PF, 936.22 PA
Last Week: Loss vs Big Ben’s Big Balls 115.54 - 125.32
As I see it right now, last week’s Game of the Week was a championship preview. So the fact that the Crowns didn’t come out on top doesn’t bother me at all. The top 2 teams in this PR are in a league of their own as far as PF is concerned. And despite the loss last week and subsequent slide to the number two slot in this PR, I think this is the best roster in the league. They’re highlighted by the #1 QB this year, Russel Wilson, and RB’s 3, 6, and 15 in Henry, Gurley, and Montgomery. That’s not even to mention WR’s 5 and 15 in Hopkins and Moore, and the number 3 kicker in fantasy and best kicker in the league Justin Tucker. This starting lineup is disgusting, and ESPN has thought so too in the past several weeks, with the highest projected score before the week began. BBBB is number one this week - but Ethan is my pick for league champion right now.
1. Big Ben’s Big Balls (5-3), (2-0 div), 1010.56 PF, 970.24 PA
Last Week: Win vs CoronaVirus Crowns 125.32-115.54
This new guy just thinks he can waltz in here and casually lead the league in PF, beat the previous #1 PR from last week, accumulate a league high 3 top scoring weeks, and go 2-0 against his division where 5 out of the 6 league championships reside? I guess Daren’s just that good. And that’s despite having drafted 2 kickers and 2 D/ST’s. That win was even without Aaron Jones, who is RB8 on the year despite missing 2 games. This credit for this great year so far really goes to the outstanding work on the waver wire (James Robinson) and trades (Justin Herbert). DK Metcalf has really been a stud as well for a 5th round price. It really is close between the top two teams, but I give the nod to BBBB this week because of the head to head win. It should be exciting down the stretch to see who will come out on top.
Next Week’s Preview
Game of the Week
MLCD gets McCaffery back and that should make this an exciting matchup. For CVC, it’s a second top 4 matchup in as many weeks. The winner of this could be on the inside track for a playoff bye.
Daren defends his shiny new #1 rank vs another top 5 team in Crazy Train - who would really like to win to go above .500 for the first time this year.
Both teams are coming off of a win, but the lower ranked Sherlock Jones actually had a better score last week. Can Kenny repeat that and knock off the only 6-2 team with a 2-6 team himself?
If you’re Alex, sitting at .500, this is one you’ve gotta have against a last place team. Of course, that’s what we said last week too. RJ looks to salvage any chance of a playoff berth by winning out, starting here.
Neither team here is particularly great, but at least Team Suspension has actual running backs. Aaron’s RB1 this week is Frank Gore, which says everything you need to know about how I predict this one will go.
Two teams who are closer than their record appears. Conner Party needs this one more though and is favored in the matchup.
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