Thursday, September 27, 2012

The Reckoning Has Cometh



 “Interceptions count as touchdowns?! I’m coming back!!” – tweet from Brett Favre.

What a weekend!  The replacement refs are really hitting their stride!  I heard on the radio that viewership for NFL games is up 8% this year, which I would guess is largely due to the fact that no one has any idea what will happen in these games.  To hear the announcers going apoplectic over the refs so hilarious—they sound as if there has never been an incorrect call made in a game prior to this season.
But alas, all good things must come to an end, and I just saw the news article that an agreement has been reached between the referee union and the NFL.  Sigh…oh well...

The big congratulations this week go to Gotham’s Reckoning!  Timmy put up a commanding performance and became the third different Weekly High Scorer in as many weeks.  His performance was all the more impressive by the fact that his optimal line-up was in the game!  That is not something that is accomplished very often, so well done Tim-may!!

Joe’s Pats remains the sole unbeaten team, and my Scottish Rebels remain in the basement with no wins.  The best ever starting record is 6-0, which has been accomplished 3 times (Jamie in 2007, James in 2010, and Jens in 2011), and the worst starting record is 0-6, accomplished by yours truly last year.  So Joe, we are halfway to tying the records!  Let's keep up the good work!

Now, on with it…


THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!
Jamaal Charles, RB – Gotham’s Reckoning – 37 pts – Charles had the second best day for a runningback in Chief’s history, going for 233 yards and a touchdown.  The best day also belongs to Charles, when he went off for 259 yards against Denver in 2009.  This is the kind  of game that Timmy has been dreaming about since that day!

Ben Roethlis--something, QB – Joe’s Pats – 34 pts – Big Ben has tossed 8 touchdown passes through the first three games.  He’s certainly got the hot hand right now… too bad he’s on a bye in Week 4.

A.J. Green, WR – Frito Pie – 28 pts – Dalton to Green is becoming a deadly combination.  A.J. caught 9 of the 11 passes thrown his way, with the longest being a 73-yard touchdown beauty. 

Joe Flacco, QB – Midnight Maulers – 28 pts – Flacco played great against the Patriots racking up 382 yards, 3 touchdowns and only 1 interception.  His next opponent is the Browns, who are without their best cornerback, and are the team that Flacco has had his best games against. 

Maurice Jones-Drew, RB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 27 pts – In spite of playing for the Jaguars, MJD continues to be an offensive machine.  He rushed for 177 yards and a touchdown. 

Jake Locker, QB – Frito Pie – 27 pts – Who would’ve thunk it?  Jake Locker looked like a solid quarterback tossing two touchdowns and racking up 378 yards in the process.


IT’S NOT FUNNY…IT’S NOT FUN…
Antonio Gates, TE – Scottish Rebels – 2 pts – Good thing I used a third round pick to net 6 points so far this season.  Yuck.

Rob Gronkowski, TE – sprouts – 2 pts – For the first time in a year, Brady actually threw to his wide receivers instead of his tight ends.  I don’t expect to see Gronk finish with only 21 yards very often.

Philip Rivers, QB – Frito Pie – 2 pts – Rivers played a horrible game, only throwing for 173 yards, no touchdowns and 2 picks.  He finished with a passer rating of 45.2, which frankly is generous.  I score this one a big fat zero.

Demaryius Thomas, WR – American BadAss – 1 pt – Thomas was targeted 12 times, but only managed to catch 3 of those for 34 yards.  Wide receivers are supposed to catch the balls.

Jordy Nelson, WR – sprouts – 1 pt – Nelson had 15 TD’s last season, but has yet to find the endzone this year.  Seattle’s defense really put the clamps on him in this one, holding him to only 2 catches for 19 yards.

Kevin Smith, RB – American BadAss – 0 pts – Smith was active, and did play, but was used only sparingly.  In fact, he never actually touched the ball.  Hard to score any points that way.

Lions, D – Scottish Rebels – 0 pts – The Tennessee Titans walked all over the Lions and rang up 44 points, gave up no sacks, and only had 1 turnover.  Buh-bye.


MAYBE YOU SHOULD CHANGE NAMES TO SOFA KING GIANT
Taking a page from the old Chief Dredd days, James has compiled a team consisting of six New York Giant players.  Week 11 will be tricky as those players plus two more will be on their bye week.


REALITY VS. FANTASY
The tracking of points scored in reality versus fantasy is getting interesting.  The top scoring team in real points is Washington with 99, but they rank only 7th on the fantasy scoring list with 284.  Meanwhile the lowest scoring teams in real points are Philadelphia and Dallas (both with only 47), but they rank 19th and 26th in fantasy points with 225 and 211 points, respectively.   
Here are the top five fantasy scoring teams:
Baltimore – 315
New York Giants – 310
Atlanta – 298
Detroit – 293
Cincinnati – 285


PLAYOFFS?!
Can we already be talking about the playoffs?  As Jens would say, oh you betcha!!
I now have 5 years of data from which I have tracked the results to see what starting records make it to the playoffs most often.  After three weeks of play, the record that is the lock to make it in is 1-1-1.  The only time that record has been seen in the past ended with the team making it to the dance.  (That was the Midnight Maulers in 2010).  The record that is sure to exclude a team from qualifying is 0-2-1, which has also only been seen once, but ended with the team not making it in.  Fortunately, no team has that record this year so everyone is still alive!  Remarkably, an 0-3 start has been seen 6 times in the past five years, with 3 of those teams making it to the playoffs.  So this is exactly the start that I was looking for... I’ve got all of you right where I want you!
In any event, based on the current records, here are my predictions for the teams that will qualify for the playoffs:
American BadAss – 1-1-1 (Record qualifying percentage = 100%)
BoomGoesTheDynamite – 1-1-1 (Record qualifying percentage = 100%)
Joe’s Pats – 3-0 (Record qualifying percentage = 77.8%)
Frito Pie – 1-2 (Record qualifying percentage = 66.7%)
Gotham’s Reckoning – 1-2 (Record qualifying percentage = 66.7%)
Scottish Rebels – 0-3 (Record qualifying percentage = 50%)


BEST BENCH
We have our first repeat champion of the season!  With four roster moves, and a 39-point improvement, the Best Bench for Week 3 goes to… the Coors Light Drunk Guys!  Shawn needed to sub in Arizona for Green Bay (+27),  A. Brown for M. Floyd (+7), A. Luck for D. Brees (+4) and M. Bush for CJ Spiller (+1).


Get ready for another Thursday night game, and the first week of byes!!!

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