Attack of Mahomes = Champs!

What an unbelievable finish!  In the highest scoring championship game of all-time, we have a player post the most single-week points ever (55) and we have a 31-point comeback on Monday night… wow!  Down 90-120 going into Monday night, Attack of Mahomes had only Stefon Diggs left to play.  Diggs' best game up to that point was a 24-point performance back in Week 2, but he lit the Patriots defense on fire and went for 145 yards and 3 TD’s, finishing with 32 points and carrying Attack of Mahomes to the championship!  Tim also had 5 other players in double figures, finishing with a close 122-120 victory over sprouts.  Congratulations Timmy!! You are the 2020 Sacred Sundays Champion!!

This is Tim’s 2nd Championship (2009), and for Russ it is the 2nd time he has finished as Runner-up (2010).  In the matchup for 3rd/4th, Sofa King American got back to their winning ways and cleaned up with a 120-87 victory over Longshanks.  This is the 3rd time James has finished in 3rd place (most recently in 2017) and for Longshanks it marks the 3rd time I have finished in 4th place (most recently in 2018).

All these big scores this week and we haven’t even gotten to the Weekly High Score… riding TB12 and the Tampa Bucs for a total of 77 points, and claiming his second prize in as many weeks, big congratulations to Joe’s Pats!  Joe was able to post 123 points to take the final High Score Prize of the season.  He had huge games from Mike Evans (33 points) and Tom Brady (29 points), plus got 15 points from the Tampa Defense and 11 from his new favorite player, Darren Waller.  Well done sir!  Way to finish the season strong!

Just a few season highlights and other odds and ends to get to this week… Onward!

EVERYBODY NEEDS MONEY…THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT MONEY

Here is the final prize money breakdown for this season:

1) Sofa King American – James = $325 (5 WHSP’s, 3rd Place)

2) sprouts – Russ = $325 (4 WHSP’s, 2nd Place)

3) Attack of Mahomes – Timmy = $275 (1 WHSP, Champion)

4) Longshanks – Jerry = $125 (2 WHSP’s, 4th Place)

5) Joe’s Pats – Joe = $100 (2 WHSP’s)

6) Vandelay Industries – Rob = $50 (1 WHSP)

7) American BadAss – Jason = $50 (1 WHSP)

I will reach out in a separate email to the winners to arrange payout.

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

Most points:  sprouts (Russ) – 1,630 points

Highest Single Week Score:  sprouts (Russ) Week 2 – 145

Best Utilization:  Sofa King American (James) – 89.9% (1,530 pts of a possible 1,701)

Largest Margin of Victory:  Week 12 - Sofa King American defeats American BadAss by 96.  (144-48)

Most Best Benches:  Young Guns (John) – 4.5 (Weeks 2(½) , 8, 9, 10 & 13)

Most Waiver Moves:  Attack of Mahomes (Timmy) – 44

LEGENDARY PERFORMANCE

Alvin Kamara had the greatest fantasy performance in Sacred Sundays history this week.  He amassed 155 yards rushing and 17 yards receiving to go along with an unheard of 6 rushing TD’s!  SIX!  This all added up to 55 points which beat the previous record by 1 point.

Doug Martin (Week 9-2012) and Jamaal Charles (Week 14-2013) are now tied for second highest score at 54 points, and only two other players have ever broken 50: Le’Veon Bell (50 pts, Week 14-2016) and Derrick Henry (50 pts, Week 14-2018).

JENS – YOU ARE ON THE CLOCK!

As always, the draft order for the 2021 season will be the reverse of standings this year.  Here is the draft order for 2021:

1) Jens – Big Sack No TDs

2) Shawn – Coors Light Drunk Guys

3) Jason – American BadAss

4) Rob – Vandelay Industries

5) John – Young Guns

6) Joe – Joe’s Pats

7) Jerry – Longshanks

8) James – Sofa King American

9) Russ – sprouts

10) Timmy – Attack of Mahomes

Also once again, each team can designate up to two players as keepers for next season.  Same rules apply:  These keepers will count as a draft pick for where they were drafted in 2020.  (A Keeper being re-kept will count as a 1st round pick.  Players who were not drafted in 2020 will count as a 15th round pick.)  I’ll send out a final roster sheet with draft values in the next couple days.  Keepers will be due one week prior to the 2021 draft.  Labor Day is on 9/6/2021, so we will target the draft date to be Sat, Sep. 4th.  Location TBD. ;-)

BEST BENCH

Two teams have made it through the 2020 season unscathed!  Vandelay Industries and Sofa King American both avoid the dubious distinction.  For Rob, he has not had a Best Bench since Week 5 of last season.  For James, it goes a ways further back.  Like five seasons ago.  It is hard to fathom but yes, James’ last Best Bench came in Week 8 of the 2015 season.  2015!  There have been 88 Best Bench recipients since then.  That sir, is some impressive team management!  Well done, MAJOR!!

The average Best Bench this season was 38.6 with the highest being 60 in Week 4 (Big Sack No TD's) and the lowest being 25 in Week 2 (tie between Joe's Pats & Young Guns).  The Best Bench for Week 16 came in right at the average, with a 40-point-improvement-possibility.  Needing a four player swap to get there, and for the second time this season, the final Best Bench of the season goes to... sprouts!  Here are the changes Russ needed to make:  B. Cooks for D. Hopkins +16, R. Gronkowski for M. Andrews +10, J. Smith-Schuster for J. Jefferson +7, and D. Montgomery for A. Jones +7.

Hard to believe another season has come and gone…  Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021!

2020 Finale!

Just two teams remain!  Sprouts made quick work of my Longshanks boys with a dominating 127-62 victory.  Sprouts had big games from Kyler Murray (35 points), David Montgomery (27 points) and Deandre Hopkins (23 points).  In the other semifinal, aka ‘The Hand Bro Showdown’, Attack of Mahomes took care of Sofa King American 84-52.  The loss brought Sofa King’s 8-game winning streak to an end.  (Win streaks are not a stat I’ve kept track of, but 8 has to be one of the longest in league history).  

Attack of Mahomes and sprouts have played once this season… back in Week 6 with AoM pulling out a narrow 91-88 victory.  On the season, AoM is averaging 93 points per game while sprouts is averaging 101.  However, over the last three weeks it’s AoM averaging 102 per week with sprouts averaging 97.  Should be an even matchup…the Yahoo! projections has the game within 2 points.  Timmy finished 3rd last season and is going for his 2nd championship, as he last held the crown in 2009.  Russ finished in 9th last season, and is going for his first championship, with his best finish being 2nd in 2010.  Way to turn it around this season, Russ!  And congratulations to both teams for making it to the championship game!

The other big congrats this week go to Joe’s Pats, who finally, after 14 weeks of play managed to have everything come into alignment, much like the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn, and post 135 points to take the Weekly High Score prize!  Joe had 20+ point games from four different players (Tom Brady 26, Calvin Ridley 25, Darren Waller 24 and Melvin Gordon 20).  The 135 points posted is the fourth highest score we have seen all season. This is Joe’s first high score this season and marks the 7th different team to claim a high score prize this season.  Well done senor!  Better late than never!

BEST BENCH

Some Best Benches are impressive because of the number of improvement points, and some Best Benches are impressive because of the number of players involved in the improvement.  Then you have a Best Bench like this week which is impressive in both!  With a 52-point improvement possibility (3rd highest this season), and an incredible 5 player swap, the Best Bench for Week 15 goes to --- the Coors Light Drunk Guys!  Shawn could have more than doubled his point total this week with this laundry list of roster changes:  M. Jones Jr. for J. Jones +17, J.D. McKissic for T. Gurley +15, Cleveland for Houston +10, J. Landry for D. Metcalf +8 and D. Brees for A. Rodgers +2.  This is the 2nd Best Bench this season for the Drunk Guys.  Two teams have yet to have a Best Bench this season…will both make it through unscathed?

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas holiday and a Happy New Year!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!

ATTACK!!!

Across 9 teams this week, the average score was 78, in a range of 62 to 103.  Then, in a different zip code, was this week’s high scoring team, Attack of Mahomes, with 132 points!   The 29-point margin between that and the second highest scoring team (Big Sack No TD’s) ties for the largest margin we’ve seen this season.  Timmy got there with big games from Patrick Mahomes (20 pts) and Travis Kelce (19 pts), of course, plus got 31 points from runningback Johnathan Taylor!  This is Tim’s 1st Weekly High Score Prize this season and marks the 6th different team to win a prize so far.  Well done Tim-may!!

In playoff matchups, Sofa King American continued his winning streak with a solid 91-81 victory over Joe’s Pats, and will now move on to face sprouts in the semis.  Should be a high scoring game, as both Sofa King and sprouts are averaging nearly 100 points per week.  In the other game, my Longshanks boys overcame a total of 3 points combined from my wide receivers and defense (DJ Chark, Corey Davis and the Ravens each scored just 1 friggin’ point a piece) to beat Young Guns 80-67.  I’ll now move on to face Attack of Mahomes.  It’s down to the top four seeds remaining!

BIG TIME

• Derrick Henry, RB – Vandelay Industries – 36 pts – Henry bulldozed through the Jags defense to a total of 212 yards and 2 TD’s.  I think he must have a fear of the number 13, because check out his scores the last 4 weeks:  Week 11 – 19 pts, Week 12 – 38 pts, Week 13 – 4 pts (??), Week 14 – 36 pts.  
• Lamar Jackson, QB – Vandelay Industries – 34 pts – Ho-hum day for Jackson passing—just 163 yards and 1 TD—but he went crazy on the ground for 124 yards and 2 TD’s!  He is now ranked 10th among QB’s with 247 points scored this year.  Thru Week 14-2019, Jackson had scored 338 points, so he is a bit off pace this season.
• Johnathan Taylor, RB – Attack of Mahomes – 31 pts – He had a solid day rushing for 150 yards and 2 TD’s.  Over his last three games, he has scored 61 points, and now ranks as the 11th highest scoring runningback in fantasy.
• Aaron Rodgers, QB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 30 pts – Who would have thought Aaron Rodgers could keep doing it all these years?  Shawn f-ing Martin, that’s who!!  Rodgers has been spectacular for the last 8 weeks where he has not scored less than 21 points, and is now the 3rd highest scoring player in all of fantasy.  Only Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray have scored more points this season. F-N-A

COME ON MAN

• D.J. Chark, WR – Longshanks – 1 pt – Just nothing…absolutely nothing.
• Corey Davis, WR – Longshanks – 1 pt – He was on track to deliver a whopping 3 points, until he lost a fumble.
• Baltimore, DEF – Longshanks – 1 pt – The Ravens were really bad against the Browns, and should have finished with -1 point, but on an idiotic final play somehow scored a safety and thus avoided the negative points.  They started the year averaging 15 points per week through the first 7 weeks, but are averaging half that (7.2) for the last 7 weeks. 
• James Conner, RB – Sofa King American – 1 pt – Tremendously ineffective and likely still suffering from his quad injury, Conner had 10 carries for just 18 yards.  Not hard to do the math on that to see that he pretty much sucked.
• Devontae Booker, RB – Vandelay Industries – 1 pt – Well, it wasn’t from a lack of opportunity… Booker rushed 4 times for just 8 yards and caught 3 passes for just 11 yards.  
• Trey Burton, TE – Vandelay Industries – 0 pts – Splitting time with Doyle and Alie-Cox does not leave much for Burton.  He wasn’t even targeted this week.

ALL UNWANTEDS

Those who shalln’t be drafted have had a remarkable finish to their season.  After starting the season 1-5, and hitting rock bottom with a low score of 56 points in Week 5, The Unwanteds scored no less than 71 points from Week 7 on and actually crossed triple digits four times (Weeks 7, 10, 12 and 13).  Over that span, they amassed a record of 6-1 to finish with a record of 7-6!

Here was their Week 14 roster:

QB Gardner Minshew II    Jax 13

WR Keelan Cole Sr.            Jax 12

WR Laviska Shenault Jr.    Jax 4

RB James Robinson          Jax 7

RB J.D. McKissic             Was    7

TE Logan Thomas     Was 4

DEF Washington     Was 25

K Dustin Hopkins     Was 13

TOTAL  = 85

With a final record of 7-6, that would have put the UW’s in a tie with Joe’s Pats to make it into the playoffs.  In total this season, they scored 1,153 points which trailed Joe’s Pats by just 7 points!  Looks like you just edged them out Joe... ;-)

BEST BENCH

Coming into Week 14, three teams had avoided being Best Bench, but now that number is down to 2!  When three players combine to score only 3 points, you’re setting yourself up for some bench improvement.  So for the first time since Week 6, 2019, the Best Bench goes to… Longshanks!  There was much improvement to be had, as I could have improved by 49 points (3rd highest Best Bench this year) with three roster moves:  LA Rams for Ravens (+27), N. Agholor for D. Chark (+15), C. Kupp for C. Davis (+8).  Two weeks left and only two teams have not had a Best Bench: Sofa King American and Vandelay Industries.

Crazy to think we are down to just four team vying for the title, this season has just flown by… get those waivers in for these final games!

2020 Playoffs are upon us!

It took a Wednesday game, two Monday night games and a Tuesday game, but the 17^th regular season of Sacred Sundays has come to a close.  The top seed this season goes to the South Division champion, sprouts, who dominated early and often and finished with a league best record of 10-3.  In the North Division, Attack of Mahomes takes the top spot by virtue of an 8-4-1 record, and thus receives the 2^nd seed.

Third seed goes to Sofa King American with the second best record in the South Division (9-4).  The King is the hottest team in the league now, currently riding a 7-game winning streak and a 3-week streak for Weekly High Scores!  James was the only team to break 100 this week, thanks to four players in double digits led by Davante Adams (24), Deshaun Watson (18), Harrison Butker (17) and Chris Carson (16).  This marks James’ 5^th Weekly High Score Prize this season, overtaking sprouts for the most.  The league record for most WHSP’s in a season is 6, set by Joe’s Pats in 2017. 

Fourth seed goes to Longshanks, by having the second best record in the North Division (8-5).  The two wild card teams are:  Young Guns and Joe’s Pats by being the teams with the two next best records (8-5 and 7-6, respectively).  After all the scenarios, tie-breakers and what-ifs, it simply came down to the overall records.

So there you have it… playoff qualifiers for 2020:  sprouts, Attack of Mahomes, Sofa King American, Longshanks, Young Guns and Joe’s Pats.  Do you know what this means?  It means that my playoff predictions in Week 5 were 6-for-6!  I’m getting that dialed in!

For the non-qualifying teams, the ranking as of now determines the final standing order and thus the draft order for next season.  The order for the 1^st four picks will be:  Big Sack No TDs, Coors Light Drunk Guys, American BadAss and Vandelay Industries. (Teams finished 10^th, 9^th, 8^th and 7^th).  The remaining positions will be determined by the playoff matchups.

First round matchups will be (3) Sofa King American vs. (6) Joe’s Pats and (4) Longshanks vs. (5) Young Guns.  For any tie game prior to the Championship game, the tie goes to the higher seeded team.  If there is a tie in the Championship game, the champion will be decided by the following tie-breakers:  1) Team with the highest scoring QB wins, 2) Team with the highest scoring RB wins, 3) Team with the highest scoring WR wins, 4) If still tied at that point, co-champions will be declared.

EVERYONE NEEDS MONEY, THAT’S WHY THEY CALL IT MONEY

Here is a reminder on the prizes for this season:

Weekly High Score Prize = $50

Count of WHSP's so far = Sofa King American (5), sprouts (4), Longshanks (2), American BadAss (1), Vandelay Industries (1)

Champion = $225

Runner-up = $125

3^rd Place = $75

4^th Place = $25

LEGENDARY TIGHT END PERFORMANCE

Las Vegas Tight end Darren Waller accomplished something never achieved by Tony Gonzalez, Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Antonio Gates or any other legend of the position…he led all fantasy scorers this week!  Waller posted 35 points on 200 yards receiving and 2 TD’s, which also happens to be the highest score ever posted by a tight end in Sacred Sundays history.  (George Kittle has the next closest with a 30 point performance in 2018.)

BEST BENCH(ES)

Double duty on handing out Best Benches this week… for Week 12, it was the team with the second-longest non-Best Bench streak in the league.  Not since Week 16 of 2018 had this team won the honor, but alas, all things must come to an end.  With a solid 41-point improvement possibility, welcome back to the Best Bench – Coors Light Drunk Guys!!  Shawn needed only 3 roster moves to make it happen:  J. Landry for J. Jones +20, Houston for Cleveland +19 and J. McKissic for T. Gurley +2.

From a team we haven’t seen win a Best Bench in a while, to one we’ve seen here quite a bit this season… in fact this marks the 4-and-a-halfth time this season for the Week 13 winner.  Also with an impressive 41-point improvement possibility, the Best Bench for Week 13 goes to… Young Guns!  John needed to swap J. Allen for J. Herbert (+29), W. Gallman Jr. for M. Sanders (+10) and R. Woods for A.J. Brown (+2).

We are just three short weeks away from crowing a champion!  Let’s do this!! 

Sofa King American is on a roll!

Gettin’ it done, Sofa King style!  Since starting the season 2-4, Sofa King American has gone on a 5-game winning streak, starting in Week 7 and 8 with back-to-back Weekly High Score prizes, and now claiming a third Weekly High Score prize in that span!  No team has scored more than the Sofa King over the last five weeks, averaging just over 100 points per week.  James got to 105 points this week courtesy of Deshaun Watson’s 30 points and both his wide receivers, Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill, posting 16 points.  The win puts Sofa King American in a tie for 2nd place in the South Division.  Excellent work senor!

With just two more weeks of the regular season here are the known items:

• In the playoffs = sprouts.  Russ has all but locked up the top seed in the playoffs with the best record and most points scored.  (One more win will assure the top seed.)
• Out of the playoffs = American BadAss, Coors Light Drunk Guys and Big Sack No TD’s.  Getting to seven wins is the minimum to qualify this season, so these teams are out of contention.
• Win one to get in = Four teams have records of 7-4… Sofa King American, Young Guns, Longshanks and Attack of Mahomes.  By getting to 8 wins, any of these teams can secure a spot.
• Win one plus get some help to get in = Joe’s Pats can qualify for the playoffs with only one win, but tie-breakers would likely become a factor.  With a record of 6-5, if Joe wins his next two games, he assures himself a playoff spot.
• Win two plus get some help to get in = Vandelay Industries.  With a record of 5-6, Rob needs to win the next two games to get into a tie-breaker with other teams.  

Other interesting playoff tidbits:

• Week 12 Pivotal Game – Joe’s Pats vs. Vandelay Industries = A win by Joe’s Pats eliminates Vandelay from playoff contention.
• Week 13 Pivotal Game – Sofa King American vs. Young Guns = Depending on what happens in Week 12, this game could likely determine the 2nd seed in the South Division.

Crazy scenario possibilities:

• There is a scenario where four teams could finish tied with a record of 7-6, with only three playoff spots remaining.  I'll have a full breakdown of all the tie-breakers if it comes down to this. 
• Another possibility has Longshanks, Attack of Mahomes and Joe’s Pats all finished tied for 1st place in the North Division at 8-5.  In this case, rankings could likely come down to total points scored, where these three teams are all currently within just 16 points (1,016, 1,004 and 1,000 points scored).

Last note - The tie-breakers we use vary from the Yahoo! tie-breakers, so don't rely solely on what the site says.  If any of these crazy scenarios come to pass, I will send out the official playoff qualifiers along with the full tie-breaker breakdown.

BEST BENCH

Some teams get hot with stacking up the wins, like Sofa King American, while other teams get hot stacking up Best Benches.  Fortunately for Young Guns, they left only 11 points on the bench this week and thus avoided a 4th-in-a-row Best Bench.  But it is another familiar face taking the crown this week… with a respectable 30-point improvement possibility, and for the third time this season, the Week 11 Best Bench goes to – American BadAss!  Jason needed to swap three players to get there:  J. Goff for M. Ryan +21, J.K. Dobbins for K. Drake +5, and C. Lamb for T. Boyd +4. 

Everyone is still alive for Weekly High Score Prizes so make sure to check your roster every week.  

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Week 10 - sprouts dominance continues!

Where has the scoring gone?  With only 729 points scored this week, it ranks as the 4th lowest scoring week of all-time, and the lowest score since Week 15, 2018 when only 691 points were scored.  But it wasn’t due to poor team management, the players simply scored less this week.  The highest individual score was 31 (by Tom Brady), which is the lowest high score of the season so far.  Across all players in the NFL this week, there were 2,088 fantasy points scored, which is lower than the weekly average by 390 points.  For comparison in Week 2 of this season, there were a total of 2,724 fantasy points scored including 6 players scoring 31 points or more.  Even last week, there were 2,398 points scored and 4 players over 30 points.  We need more points!

In spite of low scores, one team continues to pour it on week after week, and that team is sprouts!  Russ demolished his opponent, Vandelay Industries, by 50 points, and beat the next highest scoring team, Joe’s Pats, by 20.  He had big games from Kyler Murray (29 points), Alvin Kamara (27 points) and Deandre Hopkins (18 points) to finish with 127 and claim a 4th Weekly High Score Prize this season!  Russ gets extra props on this one because it was an optimal High Score…there were no bench point improvements to be had on his roster.  sprouts owns the league’s best record, 8-2, and leads the league in scoring (1,050 points scored… the only team over 1,000).  Excellent work Russ!

The league standings are as tight as ever behind sprouts with five teams tied at 6-4 and one team at 5-5.  Four teams are still alive to take the North Division title, and the wild card spots are shaping up to be tight battles.  It is more important than ever right now to get your waiver claims in, and make sure your roster is set every week.  

This week we will check in on the surging All Unwanteds, get caught up on last week’s What Do You Know?! Bowl, and hand out two Best Benches…(spoiler alert – only 1 team gets called out in the Best Bench section).  Onward!

BIG TIME

• Tom Brady, QB – Joe’s Pats – 31 pts – After his dismal outing last week versus the Saints (3 interceptions and only 2 points scored), TB12 bounced back with a phenomenal game… 341 yards, 3 passing TD’s and 1 rushing TD!
• Kyler Murray, QB – sprouts – 29 pts – Over the last 5 weeks, Murray has scored no less than 28 points in any week and is averaging a crazy 32.4 points per game over that span.
• Alvin Kamara, RB – sprouts – 27 pts – Kamara only had 98 total yards (83 receiving and 15 rushing), but made the most of it by getting into the endzone three times!

COME ON MAN

• J.K. Dobbins, RB – American BadAss – 1 pt – Dobbins only got 5 carries in the crowded Baltimore backfield.  
• T.J. Hockenson, TE – Big Sack No TD’s – 1 pt – A hurt toe limited his production as he only caught 2 passes for 13 yards.
• Baltimore, DEF – Longshanks – 1 pt – Ravens were the top defense coming into the week, and had a favorable matchup against New England.  But they ended up giving up 23 points (3rd most they’ve surrendered this season), recorded no turnovers (for the first time this season) and only registered 1 sack. What in the flux capacitor is going on?
• Travis Fulgham, WR – Longshanks – 0 pts – Fulgham was completely lost in the shuffle with Philadelphia getting 3 injured players back.  He finished with just 1 dumb catch for 8 pathetic yards.
• Julio Jones, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 0 pts – It is hard for a guy to score points when he doesn’t have a game!  Check your roster Shawn!
• Todd Gurley, RB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 0 pts – It is hard for a guy to score points when he doesn’t have a game!  Check your roster Shawn!!
• Philip Lindsay, RB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 0 pts – Lindsay did play this week, but barely.  He carried the ball 4 times for a whopping 2 yards.  Check your roster Shawn!!!!
• Jared Cook, TE – Attack of Mahomes – 0 pts – Timmy only needs a back-up tight end for one week, and Cook goes out and lays an egg.  Just how in the hell does that happen? 

WHAT DO YOU KNOW?! BOWL

The “What Do YOU Know”?! Bowl is the annual meeting between the Coors Light Drunk Guys and whatever team name Jens is going by.  Some years we have been blessed with two WDYK?! Bowl games, but it looks like this will be the only one this season.  

In last week’s meeting, the Drunk Guys dominated, led by Aaron Rodgers with 28 points and DK Metcalf with 16 to finish with a solid 89 points.  Big Sack struggled with only three players in double figures (led by R. Tannehill with 14), and finished with just 59 points.  The 30-point victory by Shawn marks the 3rd largest margin of victory in WDYK?! Bowl history.  Congrats on the victory Shawn!

Historically speaking, Jens still leads in total wins, 12-9, but Shawn has now taken the lead in total points scored, 1,717 to 1,698.  Until next year… What do YOU know?!?!?

ALL UNWANTEDS

After a rough start to the season, the AUW’s have hit their stride and now own a three-game winning streak!  Last week they finished with 83 points, which narrowly edged the league average (82.3), and this week they absolutely destroyed:

QB Alex Smith WSH  - 18
WR Keelan Cole JAX - 18
WR Cam Sims WSH - 5
RB Antonio Gibson WSH - 18
RB James Robinson JAX - 10
TE Logan Thomas WSH - 6
DEF Jacksonville JAX - 15
K Dustin Hopkins WSH - 10
TOTAL = 100

With the league average only 72.9 this week, this was an easy victory, moving their record to 4-5.  (They have one fewer game because the Jags & Potatoes were both on byes in Week 8).  Side note: The All Unwanteds – a team comprised solely of undrafted Jacksonville and Washington players – outscored my team by 63 points this week.  Just wanted to point that out in case you missed it.

PLAYOFFS?  DON’T TALK ABOUT PLAYOFFS!  PLAYOFFS??!!

Only three regular season games left before playoffs begin.  As always, the top six teams will advance to the playoffs starting in Week 14.  The top two teams in each division automatically qualify with the top team in each division receiving a first round bye.  The next two highest ranked teams receive Wildcards.  Wildcards are not division specific…both can come from the same division.

Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs are still eligible to win the Weekly High Score prize, but do not compete in head-to-head games.  Final standings at end of regular season determines the teams that finish in 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th place.

Here are the criteria used for Divisional and Wildcard rankings:

Divisional standing ranking
Overall record
Division record
Head-to-head record
Points scored
Coin flip

Wildcard standing ranking/tiebreakers
Overall record
Head-to-head record
Points scored
Coin flip

Tune in next week for playoff scenarios!

BEST BENCH(ES)

The Best Bench has been dominated by one team in recent weeks.  In fact, one team has owned the Best Bench for the last three weeks!  The point improvement totals haven’t been a whole lot to speak of… 26 points in Week 8, 27 points in Week 9, and now 35 points in Week 10.  But getting three in a row is a pretty rare event.  Not since the Drunk Guys took 3 in a row back in 2015 have we seen such command of the Best Bench.  All of these totals belong to… Young Guns!!  Just as it hasn't been a lot of points, John hasn't needed many players to do it.  Last week, he needed only two player swaps to get to it:  J. Allen for J. Herbert +15 and J. McKinnon for J. Jackson +12.  Again this week, just two roster moves to get there:  R. Jones II for D. Johnson +21 and A. Thielen for A.J. Brown +14.

Four teams have yet to claim a Best Bench this season, and one manager still has a five year streak of no Best Benches working!  Make sure to check your roster every week...

Time to get ready for Week 11!!

2020 Midterms!

 

Eight weeks of the fantasy football season are in the books.  Been a wild one so far… did you know we have seen a player score over 40 points in all but two weeks this season?  And Week 2 actually gave us two players over 40 points, so the 2020 season has already seen 7 players do it.  Last season there were only 11 players to do it for the entire year!  

This week it was Dalvin Cook who was back in the lineup after being injured in Week 5, and absolutely ran wild over the Green Bay Packers.  Cook racked up 163 yards rushing and 3 TD’s, plus 63 yards receiving and another TD, to finish the day with 49 points scored!  This is the highest single player score we have seen so far this season, and in spite of Cook not scoring any points in Weeks 6 & 7 (out injured), he is the highest scoring running back and leads the 2^nd place RB (Alvin Kamara) by 17 points.  What can I say, Cook is cooking!

The big congratulations this week once again go to the big man up north…no not Santa, it’s Sofa King American!! USA! USA!  James had four players score in the 20’s this week (Philly D-24, Davante Adams-23, Matt Stafford-22 and Tyreek Hill-21), and was one of two teams in triple digits, finishing with a very nice 113 points.  Two in a row now for Mr. Hand…great work Major!!

In league action, the total points scored dropped for the sixth week in a row, with only 800 total points scored this week.  We apparently blew our collective load in Week 2.

Crazy graph right?  Not one blip in the nice gentle glide from 1,034 points down to 800. 

Across league standings, 7 teams have four wins or more and four teams are tied for 2^nd place with records of 5-3.  Much too early for playoff scenarios, but it’s the perfect time for some midterm grades, so let’s get right to it!!

 

MID TERMS

This will be the fourth year in a row using the same methodology on calculating mid-term grades.  It is a purely analytical analysis on seven categories measuring each team’s success so far and the effectiveness of the manager.   In each category, the highest ranked team receives 10 points, 2^nd place receives 9 points, 3^rd 8 points and so on.  If there is a tie, the points are allocated evenly across the tied teams.

Here is a breakdown of the grading categories:

• Overall Record:  More points awarded to teams with better records.  Sprouts takes the top spot here, and four teams tie for 2^nd place.
• Points Scored:  More points awarded to teams who have scored more points.  Sprouts, Longshanks and Sofa King American are the top three point scorers so far.
• Points Against:  More points awarded to teams who have had more points scored against them.  American BadAss leads the way here with 846 points scored against them, followed by Big Sack No TD’s with 787.
• Weekly High Score Prizes:  More points awarded to teams who have collected WHSP’s.  Five different teams have won a WHSP this season, with sprouts leading the way with 3.
• Best Benches*: Teams with more Best Benches are awarded fewer points.  Both American BadAss and Big Sack No TD’s have claimed 2 Best Benches this season.
• Waivers*:  Teams with more waiver moves are awarded more points.  Attack of Mahomes leads everyone in waiver moves with 24 so far, while the Coors Light Drunk Guys have the fewest with 5.
• Keeper Production:  Teams who have had the best keeper production thus far are awarded more points.  Attack of Mahomes is tops in this category (300 points between P. Mahomes and T. Kelce), with Vandelay Industries in 2^nd (267 points between D. Henry and L. Jackson).
• Utilization:  Teams who have done the best on leaving the fewest points on the bench are awarded more points.  Sofa King American has the best utilization rate so far (92.0%), with sprouts close behind (91.3%).  Big Sack No TD’s has the lowest utilization rate so far (78.6%). 

(*The points in these categories are weighted to only count half as much as the other categories.)

 Points are awarded across those categories, summed up and compared across the league.  As always, grades are doled out on a strict curve, with 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s, 2 D’s and 2 F’s handed out. 

Here are the 2020 Midterm Grades:

Russ - sprouts		Pts
Record:	7-1	10
Points For:	841	10
Pts Against:	707	6
High Scores:	3	10
Best Bench:	1	2.25
Waivers:	11	1.75
Keepers:	201	6
Utilization:	91.3%	9
Total Points:		55
Grade		A+

 

Jerry - Longshanks		Pts
Record:	5-3	7.5
Points For:	765	9
Pts Against:	725	8
High Scores:	1	7
Best Bench:	0	4.25
Waivers:	18	4.25
Keepers:	87	1
Utilization:	89.3%	8
Total Points:		49
Grade		A

 

James - Sofa King American		Pts
Record:	4-4	4.5
Points For:	755	8
Pts Against:	667	2
High Scores:	2	9
Best Bench:	0	4.25
Waivers:	11	1.75
Keepers:	230	7
Utilization:	92.0%	10
Total Points:		46.5
Grade		B+

 

Rob - Vandelay Industries		Pts
Record:	5-3	7.5
Points For:	651	3
Pts Against:	609	1
High Scores:	1	7
Best Bench:	0	4.25
Waivers:	14	3.25
Keepers:	267	9
Utilization:	87.7%	7
Total Points:		42
Grade		B

 

 

Timmy - Attack of Mahomes		Pts
Record:	5-3	7.5
Points For:	739	7
Pts Against:	668	3
High Scores:	0	0
Best Bench:	1	2.25
Waivers:	24	5
Keepers:	300	10
Utilization:	81.9%	3
Total Points:		37.75
Grade		C+

 

Jason - American BadAss		Pts
Record:	2-6	2.5
Points For:	685	4
Pts Against:	846	10
High Scores:	1	7
Best Bench:	2	0.75
Waivers:	14	3.25
Keepers:	237	8
Utilization:	81.0%	2
Total Points:		37.5
Grade		C

 

Joe - Joe's Pats		Pts
Record:	4-4	4.5
Points For:	730	6
Pts Against:	723	7
High Scores:	0	0
Best Bench:	0.5	3
Waivers:	10	1
Keepers:	134	4
Utilization:	85.4%	5
Total Points:		30.5
Grade		D+

 

John - Young Guns		Pts
Record:	5-3	7.5
Points For:	713	5
Pts Against:	690	4
High Scores:	0	0
Best Bench:	1.5	1.5
Waivers:	13	2.5
Keepers:	183	5
Utilization:	83.7%	4
Total Points:		29.5
Grade		D

 

Shawn - Coors Light Drunk Guys		Pts
Record:	2-6	2.5
Points For:	606	1
Pts Against:	693	5
High Scores:	0	0
Best Bench:	0	4.25
Waivers:	5	0.5
Keepers:	129	3
Utilization:	86.1%	6
Total Points:		22.25
Grade		F+

 

Jens - Big Sack No TD's		Pts
Record:	1-7	1
Points For:	628	2
Pts Against:	787	9
High Scores:	0	0
Best Bench:	2	0.75
Waivers:	18	4.25
Keepers:	116	2
Utilization:	78.6%	1
Total Points:		20
Grade		F

 

So what do midterm grades mean?  Nothing really.  Although looking back historically, this has been a pretty good predictor of top finishing teams.  In 2017, Joe’s Pats & Bubble Craps Bandits received the top grades, and they finished 1^st and 2^nd overall.  In 2018, Joe’s Pats and Young Guns received the top grades, and they finished 1^st and 3^rd overall.  Last year, American BadAss and sprouts received the top grades, and they finished 2^nd and 9^th overall.  2019 is the outlier year, as my grade last year was a C+ and yet I ended up in 1^st place. 

 

BEST BENCH

There were not a lot of points left on the bench this week, as five teams had just single digit improvement possibilities and only 3 teams even had >20 point improvement possibilities.  But claiming his first full Best Bench this season and with a 26-point-improvement possibility, the Week 8 Best Bench goes to… Young Guns!  John needed to swap only 2 players to get there, R. Woods for A. Thielen (+18) and J. McKinnon for R. Jones II (+8).

 

Playoffs are going to be here before you know it!  Get those waiver claims in and get ready for Week 9!!