Championship Time!

And we are down to two!  In the most unlikeliest of matchups, the Championship game will feature the top seed (Sofa King Great) versus the sixth seed (Big Sack No TD’s).  Looking back, and at least through 2007, we have never seen those two seeds face off in the finals.  King James advanced to the finals in the most glorious of fashion, by also claiming the Week 16 Weekly High Score Prize!  He had big games from Kyler Murray and Mike Evans who both scored 20, followed by Christian McCaffrey with 18 and his kicker, Jake Elliott, added 17 giving Sofa King Great a 97-93 victory over Joe’s Pats.  This marks the first time all season where the highest score is under one hundred.  It also marks James’ 4th Weekly High Score Prize this season!  Well done Major General Captain sir!!!

In the other semi-final, Jens got enough from Lamar Jackson (22 pts), Justin Jefferson (20 pts) and his kicker, Justin Tucker (16 pts), to pull out an 87-79 victory over the Coors Light Drunk Guys.  For Jens, this is the first time since 2012 to make it to the Championship game, and for James it is the first time since 2014.  James has two previous championships (2005 & 2014), and Jens has one (2012).  In the two meetings between these two teams this season, James won both by a combined score of 223-158.  Now as a reminder, if there is a tie in the Championship game, the following tie-breakers will be used:

1) Team with the highest scoring quarterback wins

2) Team with the highest scoring running back wins

3) Team with the highest scoring wide receiver wins

4) If still tied at that point, co-Champions will be declared and the prizes split.

Also, as a reminder, here are the prizes for this season:

Champion = $400

Runner-up = $175

3rd Place = $125

So that means there is a lot still riding on the 3rd/4th matchup between Joe’s Pats and the Coors Light Drunk Guys.  In this game, since the Drunk Guys are the higher seed, they will win in the event of a tie.

Alright this week we’ll take a look at pre-season rankings compared to actuals and give out a big ol’ Best Bench (2nd highest of the season!!).  Lets go!

BIG TIME FOOTBALL

• Amari Cooper, WR – Joe’s Pats – 43 pts – Cooper had an amazing day, hauling in 11 catches for 265 yards and 2 TD’s, plus adding a 2-point conversion.  In terms of fantasy scoring, this performance ties Cooper with Andre Johnson for the 4th best score from a wide receiver all time! (Tyreek Hill holds the wide receiver record of 47 points in a game, Week 12-2020).
• George Pickens, WR – Attack of Mahomes – 34 pts – On just four catches, Pickens managed to rack up 195 yards (!!) plus two TD’s.  Imagine if they had thrown it to him like 10 times..
• Breece Hall, RB – Sofa King Great – 30 pts – Hall led the Jets in both rushing and receiving yards (95 & 96 yards, respectively) plus added 2 TD’s.  
• Joe Flacco, QB – Free Agent – 27 pts – Hard to believe the highest scoring QB this week was the lumbering 38-year-old Flacco who threw for 368 yards and 3 TD’s (2 ints) against the Texans.  

COME ON MAN!!

• DJ Moore, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – Three catches for 18 yards is all Moore was able to put up.
• Will Lutz, K – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – He missed on his only field goal attempt (57 yards), and made his only PAT.  
• Sam LaPorta, TE – Joe’s Pats – 1 pt – A week after catching 3 TD passes, Sam caught just 3 balls for 18 yards.
• Cincinnati, DEF – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 0 pts – In what should have been a favorable matchup, the Bengals got lit up by Pittsburgh for 34 points, while getting no turnovers and only recording one quarterback sack.
• Davante Adams, WR – Sofa King Great – 0 pts – Yes Adams did play, and no he wasn’t hurt.  He was just shut down to the tune of one catch for 4 yards.  That’s it.
• Ja’Marr Chase, WR – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Chase was on the list of inactives, yet was still on the starting roster for WAM.  
• Indianapolis, DEF – Young Guns – 0 pts – The Colts recorded just one sack and gave up 29 points in a loss to Atlanta.

PRE-DRAFT vs. ACTUALS (FANTASY vs. REALITY)

As of September 3rd, here is what the top ten rankings were on Yahoo! based on average draft position, and I’ve added their current rank and points scored:

Rank	Name	Team-Pos	Rank	Points
1	Justin Jefferson	Min - WR	144	106
2	Ja'Marr Chase	Cin - WR	49	156
3	Christian McCaffrey	SF - RB	3	304
4	Austin Ekeler	LAC - RB	131	113
5	Tyreek Hill	Mia - WR	10	244
6	Nick Chubb	Cle - RB	368	18
7	Stefon Diggs	Buf - WR	57	149
8	Bijan Robinson	Atl - RB	56	150
9	Travis Kelce	KC - TE	115	121
10	A.J. Brown	Phi - WR	32	175

After 16 weeks of reality, only TWO of those players are in the actual top 10…Christian McCaffrey who is oddly ranked #3 in actuals just as he was in pre-season, and Tyreek Hill who is currently ranked 10th (down just a few spots from his #5 pre-season rank).  The rest of the players have fallen well back of expectations, either due to injury or just poor playing.

Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy and Jordan Love (currently ranked 4th, 6th and 7th in actuals) were not even ranked in the top 125 in the preseason.  The season’s top two scorers, Josh Allen and Jalen Hurts, were ranked #33 and #23.  The player with the biggest positive difference between pre-season rank and current is Raheem Mostert, who was ranked 98th in the preseason and is now ranked 17th.  On the other end of the spectrum, J.K. Dobbins was ranked 38th in the preseason and is currently ranked 432nd.  He was injured in week 1, but it still just goes to show how wildly off these pre-season rankings can be.  

(A few other notable players:  Mike Evans, pre-rank=71, current=23 (+48); Geno Smith, pre-rank=99, current=26 (+73); Garrett Wilson, pre-rank=14, current=146 (-132); Davante Adams, pre-rank=16, current=106(-90)). 

WORST PLAYER IN FANTASY (so far)

There is still one more week to go, but right now the worst player in all of fantasy this season is a tie between Blaine Gabbert and Gunner Olszewski who have both scored -3 points this season.  Gabbert is currently the back-up quarterback in Kansas City, and has only played in Week 3 where he threw for 31 yards and 2 interceptions.  Oof.  (He also rushed twice for -1 yards).  Olszewski is a wide receiver for the Giants, who had fumbles in Weeks 2 & 5, but did add 1 point on return yardage in Week 8. Also oof.

BEST BENCH

Only one more Best Bench to award after this week and there are still two teams who have avoided snagging one this season.  The week 16 Best Bench was a good one as the winner had a 50-point-improvement possibility on just three roster moves.  That total is second to only the Week 2 Bestie of 57 points scored by yours truly.  But snagging his third Best Bench this year, the Week 16 winner is… Attack of Mahomes!  Timmy needed to only swap his receivers, G. Pickens for R. Rice +29, T Higgins for C. Kupp +15, and D. Montgomery for I. Pacheco +6 to get there.  The three Best Benches ties Attack of Mahomes with Young Guns for the most this year.

Get those rosters set for the final week of the season!!  Good luck Jens and James!!

Playoffs?!?

Playoff matchups are set!  In the South Division, Sofa King Great claimed the top seed thanks to a league best 10-4 record, and in the North Division the Coors Light Drunk Guys came out on top to snag the 2nd seed.  American BadAss and Joe’s Pats were division runner-ups… BadAss by having a better record at 9-5, and Joe’s Pats by tying OH YEAH! at 8-6 and having a better division record (6-2 vs 4-4).  OH YEAH! takes the first wildcard spot (5th seed) by having a better record, and Big Sack No TD’s claims the final wildcard spot by having the best record of the remaining teams (7-7).  No head-to-head or point tie-breakers needed.  Good luck to all playoff teams!  

Team-by-team breakdown:

Seed #1 – Sofa King Great (James)

2023 Record/Points = 10-4 / 1,336 pts

2022 Finish = 6th

Best Finish = Two championships (2005, 2014)

Best Recent Finish = 3rd Place (2020)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = C+

Seed #2 – Coors Light Drunk Guys (Shawn)

2023 Record/Points = 8-5-1 / 1,159 pts

2022 Finish = 9th 

Best Finish = Champion (2011)

Best Recent Finish = Runner-up (2021)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = D+

Seed #3 – American BadAss (Jason)

2023 Record/Points = 9-5 / 1,206 pts

2022 Finish = 5th

Best Finish = Four championships (2004, 2007, 2008, 2013)

Best Recent Finish = 2nd Place (2019)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = D+

Seed #4 – Joe’s Pats (Joe)

2023 Record/Points = 8-6 / 1,195 pts

2022 Finish = 2nd 

Best Finish = Four championships (2015, 2017, 2018, 2021)

Best Recent Finish = Runner-up (2022)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = D-

Seed #5 – OH YEAH!! (Jerry)

2023 Record/Points = 8-6 / 1,290 pts

2022 Finish = 8th 

Best Finish = Two championships (2010, 2019)

Best Recent Finish = 4th Place (2021)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = D

Seed #6 – Big Sack No TDs (Jens)

2023 Record/Points = 7-7 / 1,149 pts

2022 Finish = 7th 

Best Finish = Champion (2012)

Best Recent Finish = 3rd Place (2014)

Yahoo! Draft Grade = B+

Here is a reminder on the playoff prizes this season:

Champion: $400

Runner Up: $175

Third Place: $125

Weekly High Score Prizes continue to run each week and all teams are eligible to win.  For the four teams who did not qualify for the playoffs, here is how the standings finished:

7th – Young Guns – John

8th – sprouts – Russ

9th – Attack of Mahomes – Timmy

10th – Wyld Ass Monkeys – Rob

There are weekly matchups Yahoo! will have for these teams, but those won’t factor in to our final standings.  Those four will have the first picks in next year’s draft, in reverse order:  Rob, Timmy, Russ and John.  Rest of the order of picks is to be determined.

Before we go any further, we need to take a moment to hand out congratulations to the 7th different team claim a prize this season!  It was once again the sole team able to score in triple digits taking home the crown.  This week’s winner was American BadAss who finished with a cool 102-75 victory.  Jason got there in the most unorthodox way possible… with his Kicker and Tight End leading in scoring!  Brandon Aubrey was his top scoring player with 22 points (the dude made 3 50+ yarders), followed by tight end Evan Engram with 21 points.  Then a bit more conventionally, he had Derrick Henry with 16 and Travis Etienne and the 49ers defense both adding 12 each.  The 102 points scored is the second lowest Weekly High Score of the season, two points better than the 100-point winner in Week 11.  Nice work bro!

This week I wanted to hand out a few ‘Regular Season’ awards, and of course, give out the week’s Best Bench.  Onward!

Regular Season Awards

With the regular season in the books here are a few notable awards.

• Best Utilization – The team who left the lowest amount of total points on the bench
• Winner = Joe’s Pats, Utilization rate = 89.4%
• Runner-up = Coors Light Drunk Guys, Utilization rate = 87.9%
• Most Points – Most prolific point scorer in the league
• Winner = Sofa King Great, 1,336 points
• Runner-up = OH YEAH!, 1,290 points
• Punching Bag – Team with the most points scored against them
• Winner = Wyld Ass Monkeys, 1,328 points against
• Runner-up = sprouts, 1,246 points against
• Most Waivers – Churning that roster!
• Winner = Big Sack No TD’s, 30 waiver claims
• Runner-up = Attack of Mahomes, 29 waiver claims
• Best Keepers
• Winner = Attack of Mahomes, 342 combined points from Patrick Mahomes & Travis Kelce.
• Runner-up = Young Guns, 338 combined points from Tua Tagovailoa & Saquon Barkley.
• Worst Playoff Predictions
• Jerry – This season I was correct on only 3 of 6 playoff teams.  50%.  With 10 teams, I think I could randomly draw names from a hat and do better than 50%.  Really weak showing on my part, as I predicted Wyld Ass Monkeys, Attack of Mahomes and sprouts to all make the playoffs, and failed to predict Coors Light Drunk Guys, American BadAss and Big Sack No TD’s.  Back to the drawing board…

BEST BENCH

Only three weeks left for Best Benches and still three teams have avoided the honor.  For Week 14, with a very solid 42-point-improvement possibility, the Best Bench goes to… Big Sack No TD’s!  Jens needed just three roster moves to get there:  New Orleans for Green Bay +28, L. Jackson for B. Purdy +8 and T. Lockett for J. Jefferson +6.  This is the second Best Bench for Jens, as he shared one back in Week 8.

Get those waivers in and get ready for the playoffs!

Wyld Ass Monkeys set fire to Week 13!

The points make a comeback!  For the first time since Week 8 there were multiple teams to score in the triple digits.  All four of the teams who did it (Big Sack No TD’s, Joe’s Pats, American BadAss and Wyld Ass Monkeys) all won their games, bucking the trend we’ve seen this year.  For the season the winning percentage for scoring over 100 points has improved to 81.3%, but it is still trying to catch up to the historical average of 86.7%.     The big congratulations this week go to Rob and the Wyld Ass Monkeys who soared to a dominating victory and captured a second Weekly High Score prize!  Rob had huge games from Tyreek Hill (30 pts) and Geno Smith (29 pts), plus had Jamar Chase score 20, and four other players score in the teens to finish with 132 points!  This score ties for the 3rd highest score of the season.  Also, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this before, but Rob got this score while also scoring 0 points on his bench.  Not just a zero point improvement, I mean ZERO points on his bench. Nice work sir!

In playoff standings, American BadAss and Joe’s Pats have both secured a playoff spot by winning in Week 13.  Also due to losing in Week 13, sprouts has been eliminated from playoff contention.  It leaves just two teams fighting for the final playoff spot:  Defending Champion Young Guns and Big Sack No TD’s.  And wouldn’t you know it, those two play each other in Week 14.  So the playoff scenarios for this week literally hinge on the winner of that game.  In the North Division, the Coors Light Drunk Guys can claim the top seed with a win.  Joe’s Pats can claim the 2nd seed with a victory over OH YEAH!.  In the South Division, Sofa King Great has the top seed wrapped up and American BadAss will be #2.  Even if American BadAss wins and Sofa King loses so they tie for overall record, the King holds a better divisional record.  

In player’s scores this week, it was wild as the top three scorers were wide receivers… Deebo Samuel (32), DK Metcalf (31) and Tyreek Hill (30).  Those three were followed by two quarterbacks, Jake Browning (29) and Geno Smith (29).  What kind of topsy turvy season has this become where receivers are leading in scoring, and the best quarterback performance comes from a guy only on 10% of Yahoo! rosters?!  Not only that, the highest scoring running back this week was Derrick Henry who ranked 11th overall with 23 points.  There were 5 wide receivers who outscored him this week.  Just crazy…

Just a short update this week, but as always we conclude with the week’s Best Bench.  From 2017 thru 2022, James only received one Best Bench.  One through 96 weeks of games.  An impressive feat which may never be matched.  But then there is the 2023 season, which coming into this week had already seen Sofa King Great with 2.5 Best Benches.  But since I’m talking about him, you can probably guess where this is going as the King claimed yet another Best Bench this week with a solid 33-point-improvement possibility!  Needed only three roster moves to get there… J. Mixon for B. Hall +19, D. Hopkins for A. Thielen +11 and K. Murray for J. Herbert +3.  Sofa King Great now leads the league with 3.5 Best Benches this year.

Only four weeks of games left!  Get those waivers in and get your rosters ready!

 

OH YEAH!!

When the lowest scorer on your team is a tie between a wide receiver and a tight end who both scored 11 points, chances are your team had a good week.  This was certainly the case for my team this week as I had five players score in the teens, two score in the twenties (Raheem Mostert 21 pts, and Dallas DEF 22 pts), and the man himself, Josh Allen, led my team (again) with 39 big points!  It all added up to an impressive 145 points, which not only is the highest score so far this season, but is the all-time highest score in my team’s history.  (My previous record was 144 points back in Week 7, 2020).  This marks my fourth Weekly High Score Prize this season, the most won by any team since the 2020 season when James took home five.  Six teams have claimed a Weekly High Score Prize this season.

For playoff standings there are five teams whose fate is known, and five still up in the air.  Much more on that below along with playoff scenarios, plus a check on the Top 5’s, and of course the Best Bench.  

BIG TIME

• Josh Allen, QB – OH YEAH!! – 39 pts – Allen threw a crazy 51 passes (completed 29) for 339 yards and 2 TD’s, plus added 81 rush yards and another pair of TD’s.  He now leads all fantasy scorers this season with 23.2 ppg (25.4 ppg over his last five games).
• Jalen Hurts, QB – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 34 pts – Hurts was dominant as usual, racking up 200 passing yards, 3 passing TD's and added 2 rushing TD's.
• Dak Prescott, QB – OH YEAH!! – 32 pts – The only player in the league hotter than Josh Allen over the last five weeks is Dak Prescott.  Since coming off his bye in Week 7, his lowest scoring week was Week 11 when he scored 15, but three of those weeks were over 30.  Weekly totals of 27, 30, 40, 15, 32 for an average of 28.8 ppg over that span.
• Kyren Williams, RB – Attack of Mahomes – 32 pts – This is the way a player should come off injured reserve!  After sitting out four games, Williams picked up right where he left off and racked up 143 yards rushing, plus added 61 yards and 2 TD’s through receiving.
• C.J. Stroud, QB – sprouts – 30 pts – Stroud is proving to be a weekly starter and currently ranks as the 4th highest scoring QB in fantasy.  Not sure anyone saw that coming.

COME ON MAN!

• Cooper Kupp, WR – Attack of Mahomes – 1 pt – All Kupp managed was three catches for 18 yards.  Yawn.
• George Kittle, TE – sprouts – 1 pt – The 49ers put up 31 points on Sunday, but all Kittle got was some bits… 3 catches for 19 yards.
• Riley Patterson, K – Coors Light Drunk Guys – -1 pts – For a kicker to score negative points in our league is not an easy feat.  Negatives are only awarded for a missed kick under 20 yards (-2), a missed kick under 30 yards (-1), or a missed Extra Point (-1).  Kickers don't usually miss those types of kicks, or make up for it with other makes.  In fact, in the last three seasons I only found two other instances where a kicker scored in the negatives, so to see this happen is pretty rare.  And the fact that Shawn had this guy as his starting kicker, well, that just makes it hilarious.

PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

With only two games remaining, there are five teams with known outcomes:

Teams for sure in the playoffs: Coors Light Drunk Guys, Sofa King Great, and OH YEAH!!  (With 8 victories, there are no scenarios where these teams fall out of the top six positions).

Teams for sure out of the playoffs: Wyld Ass Monkeys and Attack of Mahomes (With only 3 victories, the best win total possible is 5, which won’t be enough to finish in the top six, even in a tie-breaker).

The remaining five teams are all still alive for playoff spots:

• American BadAss – Jason – Current record 7-5; Win one of next two games to ensure a playoff berth; Lose both remaining games and it may come down to a tie-breaker.
• Joe’s Pats – Joe – Current record 6-6; Win both of the next two games plus two losses from OH YEAH!! to finish in the top two in the division; Win one game to qualify for a wild card.
• Young Guns – John – Current record 6-6; Win both of next two games plus two losses from American BadAss to finish in the top two in the division; Win one game plus one loss from Big Sack No TD’s and one loss from sprouts.
• Big Sack No TD’s – Jens – Current record 5-7; Win both of next two games plus two losses from Young Guns to secure a wild card; Win one game plus two losses from Young Guns and one loss from sprouts and it will come down to tie-breakers.
• sprouts – Russ – Current record 5-7; Win both of next two games plus two losses from Young Guns to secure a wild card; Win one game plus two losses from Young Guns and one loss from Big Sack No TD’s and it will come down to tie-breakers.

TOP FIVES

-Dak Prescott and C.J. Stroud are new additions to this list, while Allen, Hurts and Herbert have been atop the scoring all season.

-CeeDee Lamb is the only new addition, as Hill, Allen, Brown and Diggs have been leaders all season.

-Since Week 6, the top two have remained the same, but the next three have all changed.  

-Hockenson overtook Kelce for the top spot and is the first tight end to score over 100 points this season.

-Dallas has been the top defense all season, while Baltimore has now jumped into the top 2.

-The only free agent on the list, Blake Grupe is tied with 3 kickers for 4th… the one not listed here is Justin Tucker who also has 107 points on the season.  Since the last check in back in Week 6, the only kicker still in the top five is Brandon Aubrey, who was the 5th ranked kicker at that time.  The other four are all newcomers to the list.  Freaking kickers!!

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

Just a reminder on the prizes for this season:

Weekly High Score Prize = $50/week (all weeks through Week 17)

Playoffs:

Champion = $400

Runner-up = $175

Third place = $125

Current tally on Weekly High Score Prizes:

• OH YEAH!! – Jerry – 4
• Sofa King Great – James – 3
• Joe’s Pats – Joe – 2
• Wyld Ass Monkeys – Rob – 1
• Attack of Mahomes – Timmy – 1
• sprouts – Russ – 1

BEST BENCH

Sometimes it only takes a couple players.  That was the case this week as only two players were needed for a solid 32-point-improvement possibility.  The Week 12 Best Bench goes to… Attack of Mahomes!  Swapping K. Williams for D. Montgomery +17 and R. Rice for C. Kupp +15 was all it took for Timmy to get there.  This ties for the 4th lowest bench improvement possibility this season, and is Timmy’s 2nd Best Bench, having claimed another back in Week 1.  There are 5 weeks of games left and 3 teams still have avoided a Best Bench.

Get those waivers in and get ready for Week 13!! 

Thrice is nice!

Oh yeah!!  In each of the last three weeks there has been only one team to break into triple digits.  Prior to that, five teams posted triple digit scores in a single week, and four teams did it the week before that.  But this week, it was my team barely making it, finishing with a 100-74 victory and taking home my 3rd Weekly High Score Prize this season!  Three players did all the heavy lifting for me this week:  Brandon Aiyuk (24 pts), Josh Allen (22 pts), and the Dallas D (21 pts).   Three high scores ties me with Sofa King Great for the most this season.  Six different teams have claimed a high score so far this season, and remember those extend through the playoffs for all teams.

In league standings, the Coors Light Drunk Guys still hold the top spot with a 7-3-1 record, followed by Sofa King Great and OH YEAH!! at 7-4.  The South Division is starting to show their dominance as they lead in both total wins (28-26) and total points (4,715-4,580).  Only three weeks remain until the start of the playoffs, so we’ll jump right into playoff scenarios.

As a reminder, here are the rules for playoff qualification.  The top two teams in each division will automatically qualify.  Two additional teams will qualify as wild cards.  Both wild card teams can come from the same division.  Divisional standings are determined by the following criteria:  Overall record, Divisional record, Head-to-head record, Points scored.  Wild card standings follow the same criteria, except Divisional record is removed.  In both cases, if there is a tie on points scored (how crazy would that be), I will settle it with a coin flip.  

Three teams currently have 7 wins, and to fully guarantee a playoff spot will only take one win.  It is likely that teams getting to 7 wins will qualify anyway, but getting to 8 wins assures a playoff spot.  I ran a couple scenarios where two teams finished tied at 7-7 for the final wildcard spot, which would mean one of those teams misses the playoffs.  I'm thinking this will be pretty unlikely.

The worst record in the league belongs to the Wyld Ass Monkeys at 3-8, meaning the best finish possible is 6-8.  There is a scenario where four teams could finish with that record for the final wild card spot, which would mean it would come down to points scored.  The Ass Monkeys trail in that category, but you never know what can happen.  For Attack of Mahomes, with a record of 3-7-1 there is a path to the final wild card spot without going to tie-breakers, but it means winning the next three games and having a lot of help.  For all of the remaining teams, getting to 7 or more wins should be the goal.  Next week I’ll have team specific playoff scenarios. 

INJURIES

Perhaps it is recency bias, but sure seems like this season has had more than its fair share of injuries to significant players.  Here is just a quick list I pulled together of players who are either out or on injured reserve:

Deshaun Watson, QB, Browns

Justin Jefferson, WR, Vikings

Aaron Rodgers, QB, Jets

Anthony Richardson, QB, Colts

Kirk Cousins, QB, Vikings

J.K. Dobbins, RB, Ravens

Kyren Williams, RB, Rams

Nick Chubb, RB, Browns

Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals

Mark Andrews, TE, Ravens

Not to mention the countless players who have missed a couple weeks here and there due to injuries.  Just seems extra this year.

WHERE’D THAT COME FROM?

The New York Giants are not having what one would describe as a “good season”.  They currently sit with a 3-8 record, with opponents outscoring them by 136 points (149-285).  From a fantasy perspective, coming into Week 11 the Giants were the lowest scoring team.  The Giants defense was absolutely abysmal to start the season, scoring a sum of 1 point through the first three weeks of the season, and it took them until Week 6 to score 25 points TOTAL for the season.  

Prior to this week, their highest single week score was 16 back in Week 7.  But then something strange happened this week, where these same Giants led all teams in defensive scoring with 23 points.  They did it thanks to 6 turnovers, 4 sacks and 1 defensive TD.  Adding 23 points to their season total increased it by 38%!  My question is…where in the frick did that come from?!

BEST BENCH

Week 11 saw my team capture a third high score prize this season, and we also have a team claim their third Best Bench.  With a very impressive 48-point-improvement possibility, nearly double any other team, the Week 11 Best Bench goes to… Young Guns!  John needed just three roster moves to get there:  C. Ridley for S. Diggs +21, T. Lawrence for T. Tagovailoa +14, and S. Barkley for B. Robinson +13.  The 48 point improvement is the second highest we’ve seen this season, as my 57 point improvement from Week 2 still holds the mark.  Three teams (Joe’s Pats, Wyld Ass Monkeys and the Coors Light Drunk Guys) have yet to claim a Best Bench this season.

Hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving and eats lots of food!

Week 10 is sprouting!

Sprouts comes alive in Week 10!  After a low scoring week last week (60), sprouts more than doubled it this week with an impressive 126 point performance!  Russ had big games from Amon St. Brown (24 pts), C.J. Stroud (21 pts), Jason Myers (21 pts), plus Kenneth Walker III, Bijan Robinson and George Kittle combined for 51 points.  If you can get 21 points from your kicker, you’re gonna have a good day!  Sprouts was the only team to crack triple digits this week, and the 126 points is the 2nd highest weekly total this season.  Russ becomes the sixth different team to take home a Weekly High Score Prize.  Nice work sir!

Last week it was Joe’s Pats as the only team capable of breaking the triple digits, with a solid 121-point performance.  Joe did it thanks to his Cleveland defense scoring 26 points, plus having five players score in the high teens (Sam Howell 17, Amari Cooper 19, Austin Ekeler 18, Jake Ferguson 15, and Younghoe Koo 19).  This was Joe’s 2nd Weekly High Score Prize this season, having also won back in Week 1.  Nice work Joe!

The best record in the league is 7-2-1 held by the Coors Light Drunk Guys, followed by four teams at 6-4 (Sofa King Great, American BadAss, OH YEAH!!, and Joe’s Pats), and one at 5-5 (Young Guns).  If the playoffs started this week, those would be your six teams.  But fortunately, we still have four weeks to go before the playoffs start.  In the last five seasons, there have only been three teams to qualify for the playoffs with less than 7 wins.  And with the extra week of the regular season the year, it will probably take 8 wins to guarantee a playoff spot.  Next week I’ll start looking at playoff scenarios.

BIG TIME

-Dak Prescott, QB – OH YEAH!! – 40 pts – In Week 1, when the Cowboys beat the Giants 40-0, Dak scored 5 fantasy points.  This week when the Cowboys beat the Giants 49-17, Dak scores 40 fantasy points.  He tallied 404 passing yards and 4 TD’s, plus added a rushing TD.

-Keenan Allen, WR – American BadAss – 32 pts – Great day for Allen, racking up 175 yards and 2 TD’s on 11 catches.  He now ranks as the 4th highest scoring WR this season.

-CeeDee Lamb, WR – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 31 pts – Through the air and the ground!  CeeDee went for 151 receiving yards and a receiving TD, plus ran for 14 yards and a TD.  Gotta be the hottest receiver in the league as he’s scored 82 points over the last 3 weeks.

COME ON MAN!

-Diontae Johnson, WR – sprouts – 1 pt – DJ managed just 1 catch for 17 yards.

-Evan Engram, TE – American BadAss – 1 pt – Amazingly, Engram caught 4 passes, but gained a mere 12 yards.

-Taysom Hill, TE – Big Sack No TDs – 1 pt – Hill’s scoring streak for the last three weeks (12 pts, 20 pts, and 16 pts) came to a screeching halt, as he netted 2 catches for just 17 yards.

-Cade Otton, TE – Coors Light Drunk Guys – 1 pt – Two catches for 10 yards.  Yeck.

-Trevor Lawrence, QB – Young Guns – 1 pt – Forgettable day for Lawrence, as he amassed only 185 passing yards and had 3 turnovers—2 interceptions and 1 lost fumble.

-Detroit, DEF – Wyld Ass Monkeys – -2 pts – Lions gave up 38 points and managed just a single sack.

BEST BENCH(ES)

Last week’s Best Bench is this week’s winner!  As mentioned earlier, sprouts more than doubled their score from last week, because last week they were all on the bench.  With a very solid 38-point-improvement possibility, the Week 9 Best Bench goes to sprouts!  Just three roster moves needed to get there… C.J Stroud for D. Watson +26, J. Ford for K. Walker III +6 and Philadelphia for NY Jets +6.  That was Russ’ first Best Bench this season.

In Week 10 we had a repeat offender, and for an impressive 40-point improvement possibility!  For the second time this season, and for the second time at 40 points, the Week 10 Best Bench goes to… American BadAss!  Jason needed a half-roster swap, 4 positions, to get there… San Francisco for Buffalo +17, J. Williams for D. Henry +14, D. Metcalf for R. Rasheed +6 and L. Thomas for E. Engram +3.  This is Jason’s second Best Bench, having also claimed it back in Week 3.

Get those waivers in and get ready for Week 11!!

Midterms!

 

OH YEAH!

Eight weeks into the season, and the best and worst records in the league are only separated by 3 ½ games.  The Coors Light Drunk Guys hold the league’s best record at 5-2-1, and two teams sit at the bottom at 2-6 (Wyld Ass Monkeys and sprouts).  Four teams sit at 5-3, and one each at 4-4, 3-4-1 and 3-5.  The North Division holds a slight edge in total wins (20-19), while the South Division has the lead in total points scored (3,503-3,422).  It is going to be a tight race to the playoffs.

In Week 7, it was continued domination from the Great One, as Sofa King Great took home a third Weekly High Score prize with a 109 point performance.  James had big games from D’Onta Foreman (29 pts), Christian McCaffrey (19 pts), Mark Andrews (18 pts) and Mike Evans (14 pts).  The King is dominating in total points scored this season (828 pts), leading the second place team by 107.

In games this week, my score of 112 points managed to hang on to the top spot and snag my second Weekly High Score Prize of the season.  I got there thanks to big games from Josh Allen (28 pts), Jaylen Waddle (18 pts), Dallas DEF (18 pts), Brandon McManus (16 pts) and T.J. Hockenson (14 pts).  James and I are the only teams thus far to claim multiple Weekly High Score Prizes.  Great work señor!

 

Rather than dilly-dally, we are just gonna jump right straight into mid-term grades…

 

MID TERMS

We are done with basically half of the fantasy season, so it is time once again to dole out midterm grades.  Following the same methodology for the last six seasons, teams are graded in eight categories – five categories award a max of 10 points and three categories award a max of 5 points.  Grades are given on a strict curve: 2 A’s, 2 B’s, 2 C’s, 2 D’s and 2 F’s.  Here are the grading categories:

-Overall Record (10 pt) – Team with the best record (Coors Light Drunk Guys, 5-2-1) receives 10 points, the two teams tied for last (Wyld Ass Monkeys and sprouts, 2-6) receive 1.5 points each.

-Points For (10 pt) – Team with the most points (Sofa King Great, 828 points) receives 10 points.  Lowest scoring team (Young Guns, 644 points) receives 1 point.

-Points Against (5 pt) – Team with the most points scored against them (Wyld Ass Monkeys, 795 points) receives 5 points.  Team with the least points scored against them (OH YEAH!, 620 points) receives a half point.

-Weekly High Score Prizes (10 pt) – Team with the most prizes (Sofa King Great, 3) receives 10 points.  Teams who have not won a prize receive zero points.

-Best Bench (5 pt) – Teams who have not had a Best Bench this season (Joe’s Pats, Wyld Ass Monkeys, sprouts and Coors Light Drunk Guys) receive 4.25 points each.  The team with the most Best Benches (Sofa King Great, 2.5) receives a half point.

-Waivers (5 pt) – Team with the most waiver claims (Attack of Mahomes, 20) receives 5 points.  Team with the least waiver claims (Coors Light Drunk Guys, 3) receives a half point.

-Keeper Production (10 pt) – Team with the most points from keepers (Attack of Mahomes, 234 points) receives 10 points.  Team with the fewest points from keepers (Joe’s Pats, 63 points) receives 1 point.

-Utilization (10 pt) – Team with the best utilization score (Joe’s Pats, 90.0%) receives 10 points.  Team with the lowest utilization score (Young Guns, 79.4%) receives 1 point.

Here are each team’s report cards:

Sofa King Great - James		Pts	Rank
Record:	5-3	7.5	2nd
Points For:	828	10	1st
Pts Against:	717	3.5	4th
High Scores:	3	10	1st
Best Bench:	2.5	0.5	10th
Waivers:	13	3.75	3rd
Keepers:	215	9	2nd
Utilization:	84.3%	4	7th
Total Points:		48.25
Grade		A+

 

Attack of Mahomes - Timmy		Pts	Rank
Record:	3-4	4	7th
Points For:	672	5	6th
Pts Against:	699	3	5th
High Scores:	1	7	3rd
Best Bench:	1	2	6th
Waivers:	20	5	1st
Keepers:	234	10	1st
Utilization:	86.0%	8	3rd
Total Points:		44
Grade		A

 

Wyld Ass Monkeys - Rob		Pts	Rank
Record:	2-6	1.5	9th
Points For:	692	7	4th
Pts Against:	795	5	1st
High Scores:	1	7	3rd
Best Bench:	0	4.25	1st
Waivers:	9	2	7th
Keepers:	209	7	4th
Utilization:	89.9%	9	2nd
Total Points:		42.75
Grade		B+

 

OH YEAH! - Jerry		Pts	Rank
Record:	5-3	7.5	2nd
Points For:	721	9	2nd
Pts Against:	620	0.5	10th
High Scores:	2	9	2nd
Best Bench:	1	2	6th
Waivers:	12	3	5th
Keepers:	136	3	8th
Utilization:	84.6%	5	6th
Total Points:		39.00
Grade		B

 

Joe		Pts	Rank
Record:	5-3	7.5	2nd
Points For:	659	2	9th
Pts Against:	679	2	7th
High Scores:	1	7	3rd
Best Bench:	0	4.25	1st
Waivers:	11	2.5	6th
Keepers:	63	1	10th
Utilization:	90.0%	10	1st
Total Points:		36.25
Grade		C+

 

sprouts - Russ		Pts	Rank
Record:	2-6	1.5	9th
Points For:	707	8	3rd
Pts Against:	739	4.5	2nd
High Scores:	0	0	6th
Best Bench:	0	4.25	1st
Waivers:	8	1.5	8th
Keepers:	172	6	5th
Utilization:	85.7%	7	4th
Total Points:		32.75
Grade		C

 

Coors Light Drunk Guys - Shawn		Pts	Rank
Record:	5-2	10	1st
Points For:	678	6	5th
Pts Against:	631	1.5	8th
High Scores:	0	0	6th
Best Bench:	0	4.25	1st
Waivers:	3	0.5	10th
Keepers:	129	2	9th
Utilization:	85.6%	6	5th
Total Points:		30.25
Grade		D+

 

Big Sack No TDs - Jens		Pts	Rank
Record:	3-5	3	8th
Points For:	661	3	8th
Pts Against:	732	4	3rd
High Scores:	0	0	6th
Best Bench:	0.5	3	5th
Waivers:	13	3.75	3rd
Keepers:	144	4	7th
Utilization:	83.7%	3	8th
Total Points:		23.75
Grade		D

 

Young Guns - John		Pts	Rank
Record:	4-4	5	6th
Points For:	644	1	10th
Pts Against:	689	2.5	6th
High Scores:	0	0	6th
Best Bench:	2	1	9th
Waivers:	17	4.5	2nd
Keepers:	211	8	3rd
Utilization:	79.4%	1	10th
Total Points:		23
Grade		F+

 

American BadAss - Jason		Pts	Rank
Record:	5-3	7.5	2nd
Points For:	663	4	7th
Pts Against:	622	1	9th
High Scores:	0	0	6th
Best Bench:	1	2	6th
Waivers:	4	1	9th
Keepers:	152	5	6th
Utilization:	79.6%	2	9th
Total Points:		22.50
Grade		F

 

The real question is do these midterm grades mean anything?  Well, since 2017, the eventual champion’s midterm grade has A+, A+, C+, C+, C+, and D+.  Really nothing to infer from those grades, other than being graded with a "+" seems to be a positive sign.  

 

BEST BENCH(es)

Multiple Best Benches to hand out, starting with last week (Week 7).  In what proved to be the lowest Best Bench winner of the season so far, Young Guns took it with just a 27-point improvement possibility.  John needed only two roster moves to get there:  Baltimore D for LA Rams +20 and T. Lawrence for T. Tagovailoa +7.

For Week 8, we had a Best Bench occurrence which has only happened twice in the last five seasons…the double Best Bench!  The other times this has occurred, two teams tied at 25 and 13, but this week’s tie was for a solid 36-point-improvement possibility.  The two teams sharing the Best Bench crown this week are… Sofa King Great and Big Sack No TDs!

James needed three roster moves to get there: D. Hopkins for D. Adams +29, C. Godwin for A. Thielen +5 and J. Mixon for J. Hall +2.  Jens also needed three moves:  T. Hill for K. Pitts +17, T. Lockett for C. Kirk +10 and B. Purdy for L. Jackson +9.  This is the third time this year Sofa King Great has snagged a Best Bench, and a first for Big Sack No TDs. 

 

Okay, it’s only six weeks until the playoffs start!  Get those waivers in and get ready for Week 9!!