Teams will always try to play their best when they’re going up against the defending champion. That has never been more true than for the last two weeks as the high scoring team of the week has been whoever is playing BoomGoesTheDynamite. Last week it was Timmy’s Channel 4 News Team, and this week it’s Russ’ sprouts! Sprouts was the only team this week that managed to break the triple digit mark, led by the highest scoring QB in the league (Peyton Manning) and the highest scoring wide receiver (A.J. Green). Manning and Green made up for weak performances from sprouts runningbacks, and led Russ to his second Weekly High Score Prize of the season!! Well done sir!
As mentioned, BoomGoesTheDynamite has had a knack for bringing out the best in teams for the past two weeks. In addition to playing the highest scoring team, Boom has also had the distinct honor of being on the losing side of the biggest blowouts for the past two weeks. Ouch! Coming up in Week 8, Boom faces Timmy’s Channel 4 News Team once again so there is a good chance that they will face the highest scoring team for three weeks in a row. Jens is showing just how hard it is to repeat as champion. Not since American BadAss did it in the 2007 & 2008 seasons has this feat been accomplished.
This week we saw the last undefeated team go down, as Timmy’s Channel 4 News Team (aka SOFAKINGGOOD) couldn’t handle Butkus’ Dick. So the league record for best starting record stands at 6-0. Speaking of the Channel 4 News Team and SOFA KING GOOD, if you were confused when you logged in on Sunday, you were not the only one. Timmy and James decided to engage in an experiment to test whether it is the team name or the team players that bring victories. So SOFA KING GOOD (this is James’ team with spaces between the words) became Channel 4 News Team, and Channel 4 News Team (Timmy’s team) became SOFAKINGGOOD (with no spaces). The results of the experiment were clear – players don’t really matter…it’s all about the team name!! Also this week we had our first tie game of the season, between American BadAss and SOFA KING GOOD (aka Channel 4 News Team). Tie games can feel like a waste, but they always seem to have a way of coming into play on playoff qualification. Last year American BadAss tied with BoomGoesTheDynamite and those two teams ended up playing in the Championship game. Going back to 2007, the only season where there has not been a tie game was 2011.
Okay, let’s get to this!
THESE GUYS ARE GOOD
-Calvin Johnson, WR – SOFA KING GOOD – 30 pts – Calvin put the “Mega” in Megatron this week, going off for 155 yards and 2 TD’s. Last week he looked slowed by the knee injury but this week he looked as good as new.
-Andrew Luck, QB – Vandelay Industries – 29 pts – Luck accounted for 4 total TD’s (3 passing, 1 rushing), as well as 257 total yards (228 passing, 29 rushing), on the way to defeating the previously unstoppable Denver Broncos.
-Andy Dalton, QB – Free Agent – 29 pts – Dalton seems to be hitting his stride, going for 24 points last week, and now 29 points this week.
-Matthew Stafford, QB – Midnight Maulers – 29 pts – Stafford attempted 51 passes on Sunday, and completed 28 of them. He’s on pace to throw 34 touchdowns this season, 14 better than his total last year.
-Matt Forte, RB – Vandelay Industries – 28 pts – Forte didn’t rack up a ton of yards this week (91 rushing, 18 receiving), but found the endzone three times!! That’ll do!
-Peyton Manning, QB – sprouts – 28 pts – Even in a losing effort, this guy still wins. All told, he threw for 386 yards and three TD’s. Had he not thrown one interception, he would have been tied for the most points for the week. Peyton still leads all scorers in fantasy, having scored 205 points so far, with the next closest player trailing by 60. Yes, you read that right… Manning has 60 more points that the 2nd highest scoring player, Matthew Stafford, who has 145. Peyton is averaging 29 points per week…only 25 players in the league have even scored 29 points in a single week.
COME ON MAN
-DeSean Jackson, WR – Channel 4 News Team – 2 pts – Jackson and his QB Nick Foles never seemed to be on the same page. Foles would be rolling right, and Jackson would be running left or vice versa. Should be good for Jackson to get Vick back this week.
-TY Hilton, WR – Vandelay Industries – 2 pts – Targeted 11 times, but only managed 2 catches. Pretty well sums up his night.
-BenJarvus Green-Ellis, RB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 2 pts – Law Firm is playing second fiddle to Giovani Bernard, and only managed to get 24 yards.
-Trent Richardson, RB – BoomGoesTheDynamite – 1 pt – Quite the regression we’re seeing from Richardson, as he only managed 37 yards on 14 carries (2.6 avg) and lost a fumble. Donald Brown looks like the better option among Colts runningbacks.
-Kenbrell Thompkins, WR – Joe’s Pats – 1 pt – Tom Brady will be looking for one guy in the passing game now, and that guy’s name is Rob Gronkowski. Pretty sure that Brady will forget that Thompkins even exists.
-Jay Cutler, QB – Midnight Maulers – -1 pt – I don’t normally highlight guys that scored low because they got injured in the game, but an exception is made when the score is in the negative territory. And honestly, I can’t think of a more painful sounding injury than what Cutler suffered: “torn groin”. The word “ouch” just doesn’t even come close to describing that one…
INJURY BUG COMETHWhat a week for terrible injuries to big names:
-Sam Bradford, QB, STL – Torn ACL; out for season.
-Jay Cutler, QB, CHI – Torn groin; out 4-6 weeks.
-Lance Briggs, LB, CHI – Shoulder injury; out 4-6 weeks.
-Reggie Wayne, WR, IND – Torn ACL; out for season.
-Jermichael Finley, TE, GB – Neck injury; likely out for season.
-Doug Martin, RB, TB – Torn labrum; likely out for season.
I’m expecting quite a bit of activity on the waiver wire this week…
TRADE TRACKER
The cut-off date for completing trades this season is November 22nd, which is the Friday before Thanksgiving. If you want to get any trading done, do it before that date!
To this point in the season there have been two trades: Vandelay Industries & SOFA KING GOOD and Butkus’ Dick & American BadAss. Here is how those have worked out so far:
Week 5 Trade:
Vandelay Industries – Players received: Roddy White, WR, ATL; Darren Sproles, RB, NO; Steven Jackson, RB, ATL.
Total points since trade: 15 (5.00/week)
SOFA KING GOOD – Players received: Doug Martin, RB, TB; Matt Ryan, QB, ATL; Montee Ball, RB, DEN.
Total points since trade: 52 (17.33/week)
Winner so far: SOFA KING GOOD
Week 6 Trade:
Butkus’ Dick – Players received: Larry Fitzgerald, WR, ARI
Total points since trade: 16 (8.00/week)
American BadAss – Players received: Jordan Cameron, TE, CLE
Total points since trade: 17 (8.50/week)
Winner so far: American BadAss
OREGON – FUN WITH TAXPAYER MONEY
During the recent government shutdown, many federal workers that were furloughed applied for unemployment benefits. Once these workers were reinstated, and back pay was granted, those in Washington (the state, not DC) were informed that they would have to pay back any unemployment money they received. Not so in Oregon! Oregon announced that the federal workers could keep their unemployment checks because, and I quote: “The federal workers didn’t know if they were going to get paid for the time they were furloughed.” So these people got to have a week and a half off of work, got paid for it, didn’t have to use any leave time AND received unemployment checks. They must be wishing for a government shutdown every other week.
ESOTERIC JOKE OF THE WEEK
Did you hear about the jurisprudence fetishist? He got off on a technicality.
FOREVER (increasing) STAMPS
Pop quiz – Do you know the current price of a stamp? Postage stamps used to have the denomination printed right on them, so it was easy to tell how much a stamp cost. Now with the proliferation of the Forever Stamps, you never see the price of the stamp anymore, you just see “Forever”. Forever Stamps were introduced in May 2007 along with an increase in postage from 39 cents to 41 cents. At the time, and still to this day, Forever Stamps seem like a good deal for consumers because it was always a big hassle to have to get 1 cent or 2 cent stamps, and it was especially annoying to get a letter returned due to insufficient postage. But I got to thinking about the flip side of the coin…
Since the introduction of the Forever Stamp, first class postage has increased four times to where it now stands at 46 cents. (There’s your answer to the earlier question.) Most likely you didn’t even notice that postage was increased in January of this year. Part of this is surely due to the fact that people don’t mail letters nearly as often as in the past, but also it is surely in part due to the fact that we don’t see the price anymore! Postage has been increased five times in the last 6 years, which is the most increases over any span of time since the Postal Service began in its current form in 1863. Essentially what the Forever Stamp has done is give the Postal Service free reign on increasing postage, because no one sees or feels the change anymore.
So it is 46 cents to mail a letter these days. But don’t get too locked in on that price because, you guessed it, postage rates will be going up again in January 2014 to 49 cents. That will make it 6 increases in 7 years… 39 cents to 49 cents or a 25.6% increase since Forever Stamps hit the scene (not that anyone is noticing).
BEST BENCH
Having a player score in the negatives is always going to make you a candidate for Best Bench, especially when that player is your starting quarterback. So the award for Best Bench in Week 7 goes to… the Midnight Maulers! Jamie only need 3 roster moves to improve his point total by a solid 42 points! M. Stafford for J. Cutler (+30 pts), S. Rice for A. Dodson (+8 pts) and C. Shorts for G. Jennings (+4 pts).
There are 6 teams on a bye week for Week 8, so make sure you get your roster set. And bring your #2 pencil and answer sheet next week because it’s time for midterms!!
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