Moves Like Jagger busts out!!

Just when you thought it was safe to leave the house, Jagger went and busted another move! In fact, it was a double Jagger move this week, as Jens took the Weekly High Score Prize and picked the most correct winners in the Weekly Matchups! The Weekly High Score Prize was captured thanks to a “to-be-expected” big game from Ray Rice, and a “where-in-the-hell-did-that-come-from” big game from Nate Washington. Rice has been big all season and added 26 points this week, while Washington, who has only scored in double digits twice this year (and never above 15), racked up a solid 23 points. Nice work Jensy! That makes it four Weekly High Score Prizes on the year.

In other interesting developments this week, the Coors Light Drunk Guys won in spite of playing a player on a bye week (Marques Colston, WR), and sprouts won in spite of playing a player who scored zero points (David Nelson, WR) and a player who scored -1 points (Willis McGahee, RB). Normally things like that lead to a sure defeat, but not this week! On the flip side, American BadAss lost in spite of scoring 100 points. Thus far this season, scoring in the triple digits means victory 82.8% of the time. (Historically speaking, breaking the 100-point barrier has led to victory 89.2% of the time.) So you can net -1 points from two of your players and win, or score 100 points and lose!

We are getting down to the nitty-gritty now with only two weeks left until the start of the playoffs!! Amazingly, the South Division Runner-up spot can still be claimed by three teams (sprouts, SOFA KING GOOD, and Frito Pie), and all but one team in the league are still in the hunt to at least snag a wild card. See below for the full breakdown of playoff scenarios. Also, after taking several weeks off from political ranting, I jump back into it full-bore! Booyah!!

Let’s get to this!...

YOU WANNA DIE WITH A MAN’S GUN...

Kevin Smith, RB – Free Agent – 38 pts – Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even on an NFL team as of 3 weeks ago. We’ll see how long his knees hold out this go ‘round.

Matthew Stafford, QB – Lords of Lumberg – 29 pts – Stafford tossed 5 touchdowns against the Panthers, which tied a Lions’ team record, and set a record for the highest passer rating ever in a game from a Detroit QB with a 121.9 rating.

Ray Rice, RB – Moves Like Jagger – 26 pts – Rice is averaging nearly 20 points per game for his last four, and currently has a career high 10 total touchdowns on the season.

Vincent Jackson, WR – Scottish Rebels – 25 pts – V-Jax continues his roller coaster season with another big outing following a dud. His last four game totals have been: 4, 32, 2, and 25. If only games were two weeks apart he might have 500 points this year.

NOT SOME LITTLE SISSY GUN LIKE THIS…

Chris Johnson, RB – SOFA KING GOOD – 2 pts – Johnson had his worst outing of the season, which is extra troubling because it’s not like he’s been exactly lighting it up this year. He managed to only carry the ball for 13 yards on 12 carries (1.08 yards per carry, lol), and had three catches for 15 yards. So in total, he only gained 1.69 yards for each time he touched the ball.

Wes Welker, WR – Frito Pie – 2 pts – After a scorching start to the season where he averaged 22.6 points per game for his first five games, Welker is only averaging 6.6 points per game over his last five. However, he still ranks 2nd out of all wide receivers.

Deion Branch, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – I think Branch’s problem this season is that he’s not a tight end named Gronkowski.

Beanie Wells, RB – Frito Pie – 1 pt – Wells got eight carries for 33 yards and a lost fumble.

Mario Manningham, WR – Scottish Rebels – 0 pts – After averaging 11.3 points per game for the last three weeks, Mario laid an egg on Sunday night against the Eagles. He only managed one catch for a whopping four yards. Go suck your head.

David Nelson, WR – sprouts – 0 pts – Well, at least he wasn’t held without a catch. He did manage to snag one of the four balls thrown his way, but it went for zero yards. Ah I guess he should’ve just dropped that one too…

Willis McGahee, RB – sprouts - -1 pts – McGahee tried to do his best Chris Johnson impression, rushing for only 18 yards on 12 carries (1.5 yards per carry). He topped CJ’s performance though, by losing a fumble and finishing on the wrong side of zero this week.

PLAYOFFS… WHERE WINGS TAKE DREAMS!

Only two more weeks of the regular season until we get to the games that really matter… the PLAYOFFS! Team records have been so closely packed for the last several weeks that trying to figure out playoff scenarios was like trying to install window tinting on the back window of a Nissan pick-up truck. (Just ask Tim – That shit is impossible…) . Finally after this week’s games, some clarity has emerged in the playoff race.

There are four teams whose post-season fates are known… In the North Division, Moves Like Jagger and Joe’s Pats have clinched playoff spots, but are still jockeying to see who will be the division champ. Moves Like Jagger holds a one game lead, so by winning out will claim the Division Championship. In the South Division, the Coors Light Drunk Guys have clinched the Division Championship and thus will have a first round bye in the playoffs! Congratulations Shawn!! F’n’A! Also in the South, the Midnight Maulers have been mathematically eliminated from post-season play. Remember, as in year’s past Weekly High Score Prizes will continue to be awarded throughout the playoffs, with all teams being eligible to win.

For the six remaining teams, all are still alive and have a path to make it to the playoffs. Here are possible scenarios for each team to make it in:

American BadAss – Runner-up in North Division – Win two remaining games PLUS two losses from Joe’s Pats and will come down to points scored.

Wild Card – Win one remaining game.

sprouts – Runner-up in the South Division – Win two remaining games, OR Win one remaining game PLUS one loss from Frito Pie AND one loss from SOFA KING GOOD.

Wild Card – Win one remaining game (but may come down to tie-breakers).

SOFA KING GOOD – Runner-up in South Division – Win two remaining games PLUS two losses by sprouts.

Wild Card – Win two remaining games PLUS two losses by Lords of Lumberg AND one loss by Scottish Rebels.

Frito Pie – Runner-up in South Division – Win two remaining games PLUS two losses by sprouts.

Wild Card – Win two remaining games PLUS two losses by Lords of Lumberg AND one loss by Scottish Rebels.

Lords of Lumberg – Wild Card – Win two remaining games; OR Win one remaining game PLUS one loss from Scottish Rebels AND one loss from SOFA KING GOOD and one loss from Frito Pie.

Scottish Rebels – Wild Card – Win two remaining games PLUS one loss by Frito Pie AND one loss by SOFA KING GOOD.

POLITICAL RANT

There is a growing sentiment out there that started online and has moved into the Occupy Wall St. crowd regarding student loan debt. The gist of this sentiment is that people who have student loan debt should be bailed out (much like the bank bailout) and have their loans forgiven. A petition online suggests that forgiving all of this debt would serve to stimulate the economy. At present, over 655,559 people have signed this petition. I find this petition and the support for it troubling on a number of levels. First off, the idea that giving out free money toindividuals somehow stimulates the economy has never been proven to be true. Do you remember that George W. Bush stimulus in 2008 where everyone received a direct payment of $600? Yeah, kinda didn’t help us in our current situation. The only way to stimulate an economy is through increasing production, and increasing the supply of goods and services. Increasing demand (by giving people more money to spend) only stimulates a person to buy that which has already been produced! This can cause short-term blips of economic improvement but does nothing for the long-term health of an economy. Additionally, increasing demand serves to drive up prices (i.e. inflation) because you have more dollars chasing the same number of goods.

Secondly, this petition makes a giant leap by assuming that the government actually has the authority to just willy-nilly wipe away debts and dissolve mutually agreed contracts. In spite of the ever-expanding power exuded by the government over, well, everything, they still do not possess this authority. Nor should they. These are contracts that were agreed upon by the borrower and the lender. Only in a pure dictatorship would the government have this kind of power, and thankfully we are not yet at that point. Those petitioning the government to assume this authority reminds me of a quote by Thomas Jefferson: “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have."

Lastly this petition, and the support for it, shows no regard for the morality of paying your debts. It is immoral to borrow money and not pay it back. The fact is that people who took out loans to go to school did so with the full knowledge of how much money they were receiving and knowing that it must be paid back. Also, it is not as if these individuals did not receive anything for the money they paid… they received an education! If they now feel that they did not get their money’s worth, then they need take that up with the educational institution and file a lawsuit if necessary. Or if they wasted their college education on a worthless liberal arts degree, then they need to go down to their local city park and camp out with the other losers. Otherwise, they need to do as millions of students have done before them and pay off their loans.

Wow… I feel so much better now...

L.V.P. (Least Valuable Player)

So just who is the worst player in fantasy football this season? Lots of players have scored zero points on the season, owing to never getting an opportunity to play. But it really takes a special player to have negative points overall after 11 weeks of play. Willis McGahee, who scored in the negative for this week, still has 91 points total for the season.

At this point, there are only three players in the league with negative overall point totals. There is currently a tie for the 2nd Least Valuable Player, with Michael Robinson (RB, SEA) and Mike Kafka (QB, PHI) both with -1 points on the season. The current frontrunner for Least Valuable Player this season is Josh Johnson (QB, TB), who has racked up a grand total of -2 points! He has accomplished this monumental feat by completing 2-of-7 passes for 14 yards, rushing for 11 yards on 4 attempts and also losing a fumble in the process. (His rush yards have come in different games, so he has yet to actually register any positive points in a game). I’ll keep an eye on Josh for the remainder of the season to see if he can dig himself out of the hole…

BEST BENCH

There was not a team within 14 points of the winner of the Best Bench for this week, which goes to none other than yours truly… my Scottish Rebels! I could have improved my point total this week by a solid 32 points with three roster moves: Oakland D for Cincinnati D (+20 pts), D. Jackson for M. Manningham (+9 pts), and J. Starks for S. Jackson (+3 pts).

Don’t forget to have your roster set for Thursday’s games! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!!

Joe's Pats on fire for Week 10!

It was a week of blowouts! The NFL had final scores of 44-7, 37-9, 30-3, 37-13 and 45-7, while our league had final scores of 83-56, 128-92 and 115-67. The 115-67 score belonged to the What Do You Know?! Bowl, where the Coors Light Drunk Guys walloped Moves Like Jagger by 48 points! Shawn must really have a thing for big margins of victory, because he holds the record for this season’s largest margin of victory when in Week 6, he defeated Frito Pie by 67 points, 101-34.
F ‘n’ A!!!

But the big congratulations this week go to the team that ran it all the way up to 128 points… Joe’s Pats!! Joe had great performances from his usual suspects, Tom Brady and LeSean McCoy, but was bolted to the top this week courtesy of a tremendous show put on by Michael Bush! This is Joe’s first Weekly High Score Prize this season making him the 5^th different team to win the prize in the last five weeks and the 7^th different team to take home the prize on the season. Well done Joe!!

With Thanksgiving right around the bend, that always means two things: a) that playoffs are not far off and b) the trade deadline is even closer. With that in mind, this week we’ll do a little primer for the playoffs and take a look at all the trades that have happened this season.

But first, the observations…

BIG TIME FOOTBALL

Michael Bush, RB – Joe’s Pats – 32 pts – Three weeks in a row now, Bush has rushed for more than 100 yards. This week he had 157 yards rushing, which when combined with his 85 yards receiving, gave him the most yards by a Raider since they joined the league in 1970! (Bo Jackson held the record previously). It should be interesting to see what the Raiders do with their backfield once McFadden is back off injury next week.

Arian Foster, RB – Lords of Lumberg – 30 pts – Over his last four games, Foster’s scores have been 40, 18, 20 and 30, for an average of 27 points per game. He’s good.

Aaron Rodgers, QB – American BadAss – 28 pts – Rodgers has not scored fewer than 21 points in any week this year. He is averaging 27.33 points per game, and leads all fantasy players this year with 246 points scored. The next closest is Drew Brees, a full 24 points behind.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR – Frito Pie – 26 pts – Fitzgerald was at his finest on Sunday, gaining 146 yards and scoring two touchdowns. He nearly had a third TD, just barely coming up short on a lunge after a remarkable over-the-head catch.

POWDER PUFF

Vincent Jackson, WR – Scottish Rebels – 2 pts – After scoring 32 points last week, Jackson did what he has done all season after a big game and took the following week off. In weeks following Jackson’s three big games this year (with scores of 32, 16 and 32 points), he has scored 6, 3 and 2 points. Yuck.

Darren Sproles, RB – Midnight Maulers – 2 pts – Sproles got stuffed by Atlanta, gaining only 3 yards rushing and 2 yards receiving. His only points came from the fact that he had 102 return yards on the day. Yuck. Yuck.

Dwayne Bowe, WR – Lords of Lumberg – 1 pt – Bowe was only able to manage 2 catches for 17 yards with Matt Cassel at the helm. Not sure if his prospects are improving with Tyler Palko throwing. Triple yuck.

BARTER SYSTEM

The trade deadline is upon us. All trades must be completed by this Friday, November 18th. There have only been four trades so far this year, so this probably won’t really affect any teams.

Speaking of trades, here is a look at this year's trades. Basically, I just took a look at the total points scored by players after they were traded to see which teams came out ahead and which got the shaft. Whether the traded player was on the active roster in a given week was not considered, only the total points scored.

Sept 24 – Joe’s Pats trade Cam Newton (Car, QB) and Mario Manningham (NYG, WR) to Scottish Rebels for Brandon Marshall (MIA, WR) and Josh Freeman (TB, QB). Since the trade, Newton and Manningham have scored 188 points, while Marshall and Freeman have combined for 144 points. That puts my Rebels +44 points ahead on this trade so far.

Oct 1 – Joe’s Pats trade LeGarrette Blount (RB, TB) to sprouts for Antonio Gates (TE, SD) and Steve Smith (WR, Car). Since the trade, Blount has scored 38 points while Gates and Smith have tallied 112. Joe’s Pats are +74 points ahead in this exchange so far. Extra note on this trade… Antonio Gates has scored 38 points since the trade, exactly matching Blount’s total. So basically, Steve Smith was just a bonus in this deal for Joe’s Pats.

Oct 1 – **Blockbuster deal** – Scottish Rebels trade Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Pit), Arian Foster (RB, Hou) and Nate Washington (WR, Ten) to Lords of Lumberg for Adrian Peterson (RB, Min) and Julio Jones (WR, Atl). Since the trade, Mendenhall, Foster and Washington have racked up 224 points, while Peterson and Jones have scored 153. Lords of Lumberg are winning this one by +71 points, so far. Note – The Lords of Lumberg traded Rashard Mendenhall in Week 8 (see next trade), thus was not credited for the 38 points Mendenhall scored in Week 8, 9 and 10. Had Timmy not traded Mendenhall, he would be dominating this trade by +109 points.

Oct 28 – Lords of Lumberg trade Rashard Mendenhall (RB, Pit) to sprouts for Dwayne Bowe (WR, KC) and Mark Ingram (RB, NO). Since this trade, Mendenhall has 38 points while Bowe and Ingram have only totaled 16. That gives sprouts the edge by +22 points in this trade.

Here are a couple of weird stats about the trades this year... All four of these trades involved only four teams in the league, with each team being involved in two deals. All four teams came out ahead in one of the deals and on the short end in the other deal. However, the most amazing stat from all of the trades this year is that SOFA KING GOOD was not involved in a single one!! I remember in years past where James would have made 5 or 6 trades before the start of the season!!

PICK THE WINNERS

There were only four teams that got their picks in for the weekly matchups this week, and the Coors Light Drunk Guys came out as the winner picking 3 of 5 games correctly. Thus, the Drunk Guys were moved to the top of the waiver list this week. This is the first time since Week 2 that we have had a clear-cut winner in the weekly matchup picks. But it looks like Shawn opted to not take advantage of moving ahead 9 spots in the waiver list and did not make any waiver claim this week.

Make sure to pick the winners each week on the Matchups page. You never know when you may need that top waiver spot…

Playoffs?! Don’t talk about playoffs!! PLAYOFFS??!!

It is hard to believe, but there are only three weeks left of the regular season until it is PLAYOFF TIME!! Here is a refresher on the rules of getting into the playoffs: The top two teams in each division automatically qualify for the playoffs. Two wildcards are given to the next two highest ranked teams in overall league standings. (i.e. both wildcard teams can come from the same division.) Division winning teams receive a first round bye. Second place teams will play against wildcard teams starting in Week 14. Here is how standings are determined:

Divisional standings –

• Overall record
• Division record
• Head-to-head record
• Points scored
• If still tied, it will be determined by a coin flip.

Wildcard standings –

• Overall record
• Head-to-head record
• Points scored
• If still tied, it will be determined by a coin flip.

With three games left of the regular season there is only one thing that we know for sure: Moves Like Jagger is in. Other than that, nothing is definite. I started putting together playoff scenarios, but with the multitude of teams with similar records, it is still anyone’s game. There will be complete playoff scenarios next week. Here is the ultra-generic playoff scenario that applies to all teams: In order to make the playoffs, win your remaining games.

BEST BENCH

It wasn’t even close this week… the award for Best Bench for Week 10 goes to – the Lords of Lumberg! With a swap of half of his roster, Timmy could have improved his point total this week by a cool 47 points! He needed to play the Texans for the Chiefs (+18), T. Romo for M. Stafford (+11), S. Holmes for D. Bowe (+11) and R. Bush for J. Battle (+10).

Okay, so after a week with no byes, we have one more week with four teams on their bye week, then the byes are done. (I’m really not sure what the NFL was doing with their schedule this season… I don’t ever recall a one-week break in the bye weeks during the season.) Get your team ready for Week 11!!!

And how about one more Gisele pic... :-)

Rebels tops in Week 9!!

Two weeks in a row now the Weekly High Score Prize has been determined by only one point. This week it was my Scottish Rebels edging Joe’s Pats by the thinnest of margins, 103 to 102, to take the prize for Week 9. It was all thanks to a monumental performance by Vincent Jackson, who caught an amazing three touchdowns against the Packers on his way to scoring 32 points! Also, with my Rebels taking the prize this week, that means that there has been a different high scorer for each of the last three weeks.

In other news, Moves Like Jagger is the first team to snag a playoff spot, courtesy of an 8-1 record. The next two closest teams are at 6-3 (Joe’s Pats and the Coors Light Drunk Guys). The Wild Card race could prove very interesting, as all teams are still very much alive. Now is the time to make sure that you have your best roster in every week! And speaking of that, don’t forget that there is a Thursday night game (11/10/11), Oakland at San Diego.

This week we get all geared up for the famed “What Do You Know? Bowl” and take an in-depth look at player’s draft positions versus season production. But first, some observations…

THROW THE BALL AND CATCH THE BALL!

Vincent Jackson, WR – Scottish Rebels – 32 pts – Jackson was on fire against Green Bay and finished with 3 touchdowns and 141 yards. He matched his total from Week 2 when he scored 32 points against New England. That means he has a total of 64 points playing against two of the top teams in the league, and only 33 points total playing against MIN, KC (twice), MIA, DEN and NYJ. Look for him to go to sleep again until Dec. 18 when the Chargers play the Ravens.

Willis McGahee, RB – sprouts – 31 pts – Do you remember the days when Denver was known as a great rushing team? McGahee finished with 163 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns, which is the highest rushing total for a Denver RB since Nov. 21, 2004, when Reuben Droughns (yeah, remember that guy?) tallied 166 yards.

Aaron Rodgers, QB – American BadAss – 30 pts – To say that Rodgers is having a Pro Bowl season would be understating it by about a factor of 10. This season with 24 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, Rodgers has a 129.1 passer rating…the next closest being Drew Brees, at 100.6. Amazing.

Julio Jones, WR – Scottish Rebels – 28 pts – Jones showed off his speed, scoring on 50-yard and 80-yard plays, his first two touchdowns of the season.

Philip Rivers, QB – sprouts – 28 pts – Rivers went off with 385 yards and four touchdowns, but also had 3 interceptions. That gives him 14 INT’s on the year, which is the most in the league.

WEAK SAUCE

Robert Meacham, WR - Coors Light Drunk Guys – 0 pts – I’m not even sure if Meacham played in this game. Seriously, does anyone know?

Kansas City, DEF – Lords of Lumberg – 0 pts – The KC defense was projected to score 21 points against a hapless Miami team. Instead they got walloped, losing 31-3. The only thing that saved them from being in the negative was having 95 return yards. They didn’t even record a sack. Yuck.

WHAT DO YOU KNOW??? Version 2011

The most bitter rivalry in all of Fantasy Football takes hold this week, with Moves Like Jagger battling the Coors Light Drunk Guys in the annual “What Do You Know? Bowl”! The match up this year is extra special, as these two teams are the two division leaders. Will this be a preview of the Championship game? Possibly. Will the loser of this game never hear the end of it? Absolutely. I can’t wait!

DRAFT DIFFERENTIALS

This week, I took a look at where players were drafted versus where they currently rank in terms of point production. For the purpose of this analysis, all offensive players, kickers and defenses were ranked based on their point totals for the season. That was then compared to their draft position to get their differential score. The higher the differential, the better the pick, the lower the differential the worse the pick. Keepers were included in this analysis.

Overall, out of 150 players drafted there were 44 players with positive differentials, 104 with negative differentials, and two with a zero differential. Those two players were Matt Forte and Dwayne Bowe. Forte was taken with the 19th pick by the Coors Light Drunk Guys and with 133 points currently ranks 19th. Bowe was taken with the 69th pick by sprouts and with 85 points currently ranks 69th.

The highest single differential belongs to Michael Vick, taken as a keeper with the 150th pick and currently ranked 10th, for a differential of +140. The second highest differential is +122 held by the Detroit defense, taken by the Coors Light Drunk Guys with the 143rd pick and currently ranked 21st. Peyton Manning, having been selected as a keeper by Frito Pie with the first pick, and having scored no points this year due to injury, holds the lowest differential. The second lowest differential goes to Jamaal Charles, having been selected as a keeper by the Lords of Lumberg with the 15th pick, and only scoring 11 points this year before getting injured. The lowest differential of a non-injured player goes to Chad Ochocinco, having been picked by Joe’s Pats with the 53rd pick, and being currently ranked #268 for a differential of -215.

When the differentials for each position are combined together, only two positions come out with positive numbers: defenses and quarterbacks. There were 14 defenses selected in our draft, and 11 of those currently rank higher in the scoring list than where they were drafted. The combined defense differential is +559. Quarterbacks have a combined differential of +424, owing to there being 22 quarterbacks selected, with 15 of those currently being ranked higher than their draft position.

The lowest combined differential is -3,536, which belongs to runningbacks. There were 49 runningbacks selected and only 9 have positive differentials. The runningback with the highest differential is Darren Sproles (+118), drafted by the Midnight Maulers with the 145th pick, and currently ranked 27th. The second lowest combined differential is -3374 belonging to wide receivers. Our draft had 43 wide receivers taken, and only five of those have positive differentials. Steve Smith ranks highest with a differential of +84, having been drafted by sprouts at #109 and currently being ranked 25th. Tight ends have a combined differential of -1521 and kickers have a combined total of -68. (The only thing holding kickers back from a positive differential is Nate Kaeding, who was taken with the 105th pick by the Midnight Maulers, but got injured before scoring any points this season).

At the end of the season, there will be a complete team-by-team breakdown of draft differentials, and yes, final grades will be given out.

PICKING THE WINNERS

Eight teams made their picks for the weekly winners in Week 9, and six of those teams were correct with three of their picks. So the waiver order was set to the reverse order of standings. Be sure to pick the winners each week, as the owner who picks the most correct will be moved to the top of the waiver order.

BEST BENCH

Everyone has been doing a good job maximizing points on their roster and minimizing points on their bench. The award for Best Bench for Week 9 goes to…. sprouts! Russ could have improved his point total by 24, with only one roster move – W. McGahee for L. Blount (+24).

Allright, get your rosters ready to go for Week 10! You may get lucky and get some playoff scenarios starting next week…

Week 8 -- Back to it!

Back in business after a week hiatus!

Last week I was involved in a debate with the Beaverton city government over their ridiculous plans to impose an “Urban Renewal Zone” in the downtown area of my city. I was asked to be a part of a voter’s forum as an opposing voice to the mayor and a city councilor. I figured that with all the political ranting I do that it was time to actually do something instead of just talking about it. Here is a link to the debate: http://www.beavertonoregon.gov/index.aspx?nid=268 . My opening statement is at 00:35:21, and I call the city out for reckless spending at 00:43:05. Apparently I really struck a nerve with the mayor, because at 01:01:40 he is all out of sorts and in his closing statement says that in regards to the budget he “doesn’t even want to go there.” Fun times!

Now on to the stuff that really matters… Big congratulations to the Coors Light Drunk Guys for scoring 117 points in Week 7 and taking home the Weekly High Score Prize! Shawn got a huge boost from the Saints 62-7 shellacking of the Colts, racking up 71 points on Saints players (Brees – 33, Colston – 21, Graham – 17 and Meacham – 2). Nice work Shawn! F’n’A!! Week 7 also showcased the Basement Battle between my Scottish Rebels and the Midnight Maulers, with my Rebels notching their first victory of the year! Woohoo!

Week 8 saw the Midnight Maulers roar to life and take the High Score prize with 106 points, just barely edging out Moves Like Jagger by one! The Maulers were the kings of consistency with 6 of 8 players scoring between 11 & 15 points, and only one player not scoring double digits (Darren Sproles finished with 9). Great job Jamie!! The league standings are really tightening up now, with three teams at 5-3 (Joe’s Pats, Lords of Lumberg, and Coors Light Drunk Guys), two teams at 4-4 (American BadAss and sprouts), and two at 3-5 (SOFA KING GOOD and Frito Pie). Alone at the top of the pack is Moves Like Jagger with an impressive 7-1 record. But, with five games left in the regular season, the playoff picture is far from clear…

Now, with more than half of the season gone it is time once again for mid-term grades! See below for how your team is doing so far based on my highly scientific and highly subjective grading system.

But first, some observations…

BOOM-DIGGITY

Detroit, D – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 36 pts – Crazy to have a defense lead all scorers in a week, but perfectly understandable when you see the stat line racked up by the Detroit defenders – 7 sacks, 1 interception, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 touchdowns and only 10 points allowed. Damn.

LeSean McCoy, RB – Joe’s Pats – 34 pts – McCoy had the luxury of playing against a Dallas defense that was solely content with stopping one player – DeSean Jackson. There were some holes that McCoy ran through that were literally 7 yards wide. He certainly made the most of it, racking up 185 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Buffalo, D – Free Agent – 34 pts – The Bills sacked the Washington quarterback 9 times, had 2 interceptions, blocked a kick and allowed ZERO points!

Steven Jackson, RB – Scottish Rebels – 33 pts – Jackson finally broke out this year, nearly equaling his production from the prior three weeks combined! The Rams shocked the Saints, and it was mostly due to Jackson’s 191-yard (rushing & receiving), 2-touchdown performance.

Cincinnati, D – Free Agent – 32 pts – Let’s hear it for defenses this week! Three defenses with over 30 points… simply astounding! The Bengals did it with 4 sacks, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery, 1 defensive TD, 1 return TD and allowing Seattle only 12 points.

Adrian Peterson, RB – Scottish Rebels – 27 pts – AP is averaging 23 points per game over his last four games, and currently leads all runningbacks with 149 points on the season. All Day baby!

Ray Rice, RB – Moves Like Jagger – 27 pts – With the exception of his Week 7 3-point performance, Rice has not scored less than 15 points in a week. Across his other six games, he is averaging 19.6 points per game. Nice!

COME ON, MAN...

Dan Bailey, K – Scottish Rebels – 1 pt – This just highlights how horrendously bad the Cowboys were against the Eagles on Sunday night. Bailey never even attempted a field goal and only logged one extra point on the night.

Robert Meacham, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – This really wasn’t a horrible outing for Meacham considering he had only scored two points the week before.

Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis, RB – American BadAss – 0 pts – American BadAss scored exactly zero points in the runningback department this week, with Green-Ellis only managing 9 yards and Matt Forte getting zero, due to being on a bye week. That’s two weeks in a row that American BadAss has had an active roster player on a bye… Is Lilly managing your team bro? Lol!

MID-TERM GRADES

American BadAss (4-4) – Owner – Jason

Hot start to the season, but playing players on bye weeks is no way to make it to the end.

Best move – Designating Aaron Rodgers as a keeper.

Questionable call – Playing David Akers on his bye week, then playing Matt Forte on his bye week in the following week.

Grade – C+

Coors Light Drunk Guys (5-3) – Owner – Shawn

After a slow start and going 1-3, the Coors Light Drunk Guys have come alive and currently have the longest winning streak in the league with 4 in-a-row. The Drunk Guys are also one of only two teams in the league averaging over 100 points per game. Shawn has also done this essentially with the team he drafted, having only made two waiver claims all year.

Best move – Drafting Fred Jackson in the 8th round.

Questionable call – Carrying Tim Hightower on the bench.

Grade – A-

Frito Pie (3-5) – Owner – Rachel

Rachel’s season took a big hit before it even began with Peyton Manning and his flimsy neck. Since then it has been a struggle to find a quarterback capable of putting up consistent points.

Best move – Drafting Wes Welker in the 4th round.

Questionable call – Sticking with Kevin Kolb as quarterback.

Grade – C+

Joe’s Pats (5-3) – Owner – Joe

The Pats are the only team that has been able to crack the armor of Moves Like Jagger. That alone is quite an achievement this season.

Best move – Adding Jonathan Stewart in Week 7.

Questionable call – Going with the Dallas Cowboys defense.

Grade – A-

Lords of Lumberg (5-3) – Owner – Timmy

Timmy leads the league in moves with 16, and it appears that it is finally paying off. A rocky start to the season led to a blockbuster trade with the Scottish Rebels, in the hopes of shaking things up. His players have responded to get him to a 5-3 record, and in the driver’s seat for the playoffs.

Best move – Picking up A.J. Green on waivers.

Questionable call – Dropping, then re-adding Jamaal Charles.

Grade – B+

Midnight Maulers (2-6) – Owner – Jamie George

The season has been a struggle for the Maulers, but in spite of everything, Jamie has nabbed a Weekly High Score prize.

Best move – Dropping Tim Tebow.

Questionable call – Not drafting LT this year. LT not on the Maulers is just too weird to handle.

Grade – C

Moves Like Jagger (7-1) – Owner – Jensy

Only one loss on the season, and three Weekly High Score prizes. Jens also leads all teams with 842 points scored, and has the fortunate distinction of having had the fewest points scored against him (601).

Best move – Changing team name to “Moves Like Jagger”.

Questionable call – Changing team name to “Moves Like Jagger”.

Grade – A

Scottish Rebels (2-6) – Owner – Jerry

At the end of the day, it is all about victories, and it took my Rebels six weeks to make it happen.

Best move – Trades for Cam Newton and Adrian Peterson.

Questionable call – Dropping A.J. Green before even seeing him play.

Grade – D+

sprouts (4-4) – Owner – Russ

Sprouts has been outscored this year by 125 points, yet has battled to a .500 record.

Best move – Drafting Rob Gronkowski with a 13th round pick.

Questionable call – Trading Antonio Gates and Steve Smith for LeGarrette Blount.

Grade – B

SOFA KING GOOD (3-5) – Owner – Cap’n

The King has the unlucky distinction of having had the most points scored against him thus far this season. And by a wide margin too— in total 832 points have been scored against him, with the next closest team surrendering 779. Something about James just brings out the best in his opponents…

Best move – Drafting Baltimore Defense in 7th round.

Questionable call – Drafting Chris Johnson in 1st round.

Grade – B

BEST BENCH(ES)

Week 7 saw very few points left on the bench. In the case of sprouts, owing to bye weeks and weak performances, there were zero points on his bench. Literally no points scored by his bench players. In fact, the Best Bench Award for Week 7 had the lowest point improvement total that I can recall from any Best Bench winner. That distinction now belongs to the Midnight Maulers!! Jamie could have improved his point total by 16 points with two roster moves, T. Tebow for J. Cutler (+12 pts) and San Diego for Chicago (+4 pts).

Week 8 also had only a few points left on the bench. There was a “Battle of Bests” between sprouts and American BadAss, where both teams had their optimal line-ups in the game. In the end, it was last week’s high scorer taking home the crown for Best Bench… the Coors Light Drunk Guys! Shawn would have been able to improve his point total by 20 with three roster moves, E. Manning for D. Brees (+11 pts), D. Branch for R. Meacham (+8 pts) and R. Wayne for M. Colston (+1 pt).

Get your ream ready for Week 9! Only five weeks left of the regular season! Playoff scenarios coming soon...