What a way to start the playoffs!! The two wild card games were decided by just
7 points combined, and both had players playing all the way through the final
Monday Night game! In the first matchup,
J LUV U LONG TIME managed to hold on for a 113-109 victory over Luck of the
Irish. Such a tight matchup where both
teams had 30 point scoring wide receivers (Davante Adams with 36 for JLULT and
Mike Evans with 30 for LOTI). It really
looked like it could go either way all the way down to the wire. In the second matchup, Big Sack No TDs held
on for the upset with a 102-99 victory over sprouts. BSNTDs had a big MNF performance from the
Atlanta defense who rattled off 21 points (they had a safety and 2 blocked
kicks, along with 4 sacks and 3 turnovers), plus Lamar Jackson laid down a cool
35 points. Again, this one could have
gone either way, and I was watching it intently all the way up to the end. So close on both finishes! Congrats Jens and Shawn! Big Sack No TDs will face American BadAss in
the second round and J LUV U LONG TIME will face my Scottish Rebels.
Speaking of my Scottish Rebels, thanks to some amazing
managerial work, and one guy named Josh Allen, my Rebs have snagged the last
two Weekly High Scores! Last week was
just insane as I had my second highest score ever with 144 points. That score was made possible by Josh Allen
scoring 51 freaking points, and Isaac Guerendo (yeah, who’s that guy?) scoring
24. This week Josh Allen did his thing
again by dropping a cool 43 points, plus the Denver defense stepped it up and
logged 25. All told I ended this week
with 117 points and my 5th Weekly High Score this season. The record for the most Weekly High Scores in
a season is 6, which is held by the 2017 Joe’s Pats team. Three other teams have snagged 5 in a season,
Timmy’s Ch. 4 News Team in 2013, Joe’s Pats in 2018 and most recently, James’
Sofa King American in 2020.
This week we’ll check in on the Top Fives and I’ll
present the first three nominees for ‘Worst Fantasy Player of the Year’. Plus we have two Best Benches to give
out! Onward!
BIG TIME FOOTBALL
- Josh Allen, QB – Scottish Rebels – 43 pts – To say Allen
has dominated recently wouldn’t do justice to what he has done. The man has scored 94 points in the last two
games he has played. And add in his last 3
games and he is at 120 points! (40 ppg average). Do you
know how long it takes most players to score 120 points? Heck, only 87 players in all of fantasy have
scored more than 120 points all season so far, and Allen has done it in just
three weeks. This week he had 2 passing
and 2 rushing TD’s, and last week he had 3 passing and 3 rushing TD’s, to go
along with 704 yards passing and 150 yards rushing in those two games. Man is on a mission.
- Jared Goff, QB – American BadAss – 43 pts – Goff did all
his damage through the air, in the shootout against Josh Allen, throwing for
494 yards and 5 TD’s! This is Goff’s
best performance this season and moves him to 8th ranked among quarterbacks.
- Davante Adams, WR – J LUV U LONG TIME – 36 pts – These
are the kind of games you’ve been hoping to see since Adams was back with
Rodgers. Davante torched the Jags this
week for 198 yards and 2 TD’s.
- Lamar Jackson, QB – Big Sack No TDs – 35 pts – The Lamar
Jackson point machine just keeps on keeping on.
Just a ho-hum 290 yards and 5 TD’s passing. He is the top scoring player in fantasy with
344 points, leading Josh Allen by 10 points.
(Think about that, even with Allen’s two monstrous games, he still hasn’t
caught Lamar!)
- Mike Evans, WR – Luck of the Irish – 30 pts – Big week
for Evans making 11 catches for 159 yards and 2 TDs! In spite of missing time with an injury,
Evans ranks as the 9th highest scoring receiver in fantasy.
COME ON MAN
- Najee Harris, RB – Joe’s Pats – 1 pt – Six carries for
14 yards and 1 catch for 7 yards. Oof.
- Amari Cooper, WR – 1st to Worst – 0 pts – More
like D.B Cooper, as he just disappeared out there. Get this, Cooper played in 32 of the Bill’s
70 snaps (nearly 46%), yet didn’t even catch a pass, and wasn’t even targeted! What
in the wha…
- Evan Engram, TE – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Engram was
put on IR earlier this week and Mark Andrews was just sitting on WAM’s bench. Check your rosters!
- David NJoku, TE – 1st to Worst – 0 pts –
Njoku was ruled out earlier in the week, and T.J. Hockenson was just sitting on
the Captain’s bench. Come on guys,
Check. Your. Rosters!
- Detroit, DEF – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard – -4 pts –
Detroit posted no defensive stats, and provided no resistance to the Bills as
they gave up 48 points, and lost 48-42.
Can you imagine an offense scoring 42 points and still losing by a
touchdown?! Detroit can still be Detroit
sometimes I guess.
TOP FIVES
Through 15 weeks of play, here are the top five scoring
players by position:
Quarterbacks:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Lamar Jackson
|
QB
|
Bal
|
344
|
Big Sack No TDs
|
|
2
|
Josh Allen
|
QB
|
Buf
|
334
|
Scottish Rebels
|
|
3
|
Joe Burrow
|
QB
|
Cin
|
302
|
Wyld Ass Monkeys
|
|
4
|
Jalen Hurts
|
QB
|
Phi
|
297
|
J LUV U LONG TIME
|
|
5
|
Baker Mayfield
|
QB
|
TB
|
279
|
American BadAss
|
-Jackson has held the top spot in Fantasy since Week
5. The fact that Allen has scored 94
points in two weeks and hasn’t caught him just shows how big a of a lead
Jackson had, and just how monstrous a season he has delivered. Baker Mayfield holding on to the 5th
spot has also been a surprise this season.
Runningbacks:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Saquon Barkley
|
RB
|
Phi
|
274
|
Big Sack No TDs
|
|
2
|
Derrick Henry
|
RB
|
Bal
|
247
|
Scottish Rebels
|
|
3
|
Jahmyr Gibbs
|
RB
|
Det
|
215
|
Luck of the Irish
|
|
4
|
Josh Jacobs
|
RB
|
GB
|
212
|
sprouts
|
|
5
|
Bijan Robinson
|
RB
|
Atl
|
195
|
Luck of the Irish
|
-In Week 10, Barkley trailed Henry in scoring by 45 points. In the last five weeks, Barkley has scored
112 points while Henry has posted just 40.
(Henry did have a bye week, but still…)
Josh Jacobs has surged up the leaderboard in the last
five weeks as well, as he has posted 104 points across that span, and is now
the 4th overall runningback.
Wide Receivers:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Ja'Marr Chase
|
WR
|
Cin
|
236
|
Wyld Ass Monkeys
|
|
2
|
Amon-Ra St. Brown
|
WR
|
Det
|
169
|
Joe's Pats
|
|
3
|
Justin Jefferson
|
WR
|
Min
|
166
|
American BadAss
|
|
4
|
Terry McLaurin
|
WR
|
Was
|
156
|
Joe's Pats
|
|
5
|
Brian Thomas Jr.
|
WR
|
Jax
|
143
|
1st to Worst
|
Chase, Jefferson and McLaurin have been on the top five
leaderboard all season. The surprise
this week is Brian Thomas Jr., coming in at the 5th spot and bumping
Ceedee Lamb off the list this week.
Tight Ends:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
George Kittle
|
TE
|
SF
|
132
|
Scottish Rebels
|
|
2
|
Brock Bowers
|
TE
|
LV
|
114
|
Luck of the Irish
|
|
3
|
Jonnu Smith
|
TE
|
Mia
|
104
|
sprouts
|
|
4
|
Trey McBride
|
TE
|
Ari
|
101
|
sprouts
|
|
5
|
Mark Andrews
|
TE
|
Bal
|
94
|
Wyld Ass Monkeys
|
Sprouts is killing it on the tight ends with not one, but
two in the Top Five. Who would’ve
thought Brock Bowers, Jonnu Smith and Trey McBride would be up here at the
start of the season? Last season’s top
scoring TE, Sam LaPorta, currently ranks 7th with 79 points, and
Travis Kelce ranks 9th with 75 points.
Defenses:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Minnesota
|
DEF
|
Min
|
188
|
J LUV U LONG TIME
|
|
2
|
Denver
|
DEF
|
Den
|
184
|
Scottish Rebels
|
|
3
|
Houston
|
DEF
|
Hou
|
153
|
W (Dec 18)
|
|
4
|
Green Bay
|
DEF
|
GB
|
151
|
American BadAss
|
|
5
|
Pittsburgh
|
DEF
|
Pit
|
149
|
Joe’s Pats
|
While positions ranked #2-5 have shifted around all
season, Minnesota has been the steady leader since Week 4. And check out the free agent Houston Defense coming
in as the 3rd highest scoring defense this season.
Kickers:
|
Name
|
Pos
|
Team
|
Total
|
Owner
|
|
1
|
Chris Boswell
|
K
|
Pit
|
173
|
Luck of the Irish
|
|
2
|
Ka'imi Fairbairn
|
K
|
Hou
|
158
|
J LUV U LONG TIME
|
|
3
|
Brandon Aubrey
|
K
|
Dal
|
156
|
American BadAss
|
|
4
|
Cameron Dicker
|
K
|
LAC
|
134
|
1st to Worst
|
|
4
|
Wil Lutz
|
K
|
Den
|
134
|
W (Dec 18)
|
Chris Boswell is having himself a season, as he has
scored 173 points through Week 15. You
have to go all the way back to 2017 to find a kicker who scored more points
than that in a full season (Greg
Zuerlein scored 180). Last season’s
highest scoring kicker was Brandon Aubrey who scored 168 points in 17 games.
WORST PLAYER IN FANTASY NOMINEES
There have been some pretty bad fantasy performances this
season, and at the conclusion of the year, I will give out an award to the “Worst
Player in Fantasy”. Here are some
nominees:
Nominee #1 - Dee Williams, WR, NYG – -2 pts (season) –
Dee Williams point total for the season would make you think he’s just played one
time and lost a fumble one time. You’d
be wrong. He has scored -2 on three
occasions, but has somehow offset that with four single-point outings. So this means there have been three times
where this guy got on the field, caught a pass and fumbled it without gaining
even 10 yards. Three times!
Nominee #2 – Will Levis, QB, TEN – -5 pts (Week 15) –
Levis and the Titans have not been good this season, and it really showed in
Week 15. Levis was benched in the game
after going 8-12 passing for just 89 yards and 3 interceptions, plus losing a
fumble. Oof! This is the lowest single week score of any
player this season.
Nominee #3 – Cincinnati, DEF – -4 pts (twice!) – Overall Cincy
ranks 24th in fantasy scoring so they are not the worst defense, but
here is why they are a nominee. In our
scoring system, the absolute lowest score a defense can achieve is -4. This is the penalty to the team if they give
up 35 points or more. Defenses have
plenty of ways to score points: sacks, interceptions, fumble recoveries,
blocked kicks, 4th down stops, safeties, touchdowns and even return
yards. For a defense to score -4 means
that they gave up 7 or more touchdowns and recorded no meaningful defensive
stat including return yards. Cincinnati has done this not once, but twice
this season…first time in Week 8 versus Philadelphia, and again in Week 10
against Baltimore. Man that’s bad.
We’ll see if we have any additional nominees by the end
of the season, and I’ll award a crown to one of these pathetic losers. I think I’m going to call it the ‘Skelton
Crown’ in honor of John Skelton (QB, ARI) who was the first player to ever score
-8 points in a game by throwing 4 interceptions PLUS losing a fumble, while
gaining only 74 yards passing. That was
way back in Week 14, 2012, and was matched in Week 11 of 2017 by Nathan
Peterman (QB, BUF) who threw an incredible 5 interceptions while gaining only
66 yards passing and 4 yards rushing.
BEST BENCH(ES)
The Week 14 Best Bench was interesting because it was the
lowest bench improvement possibility we’ve seen this season, and was the team
who had the 2nd longest streak of avoiding the Best Bench. With just an 18-point-improvement-possibility,
the Week 14 Best Bench goes to… Big Sack No TDs! Jens needed just a single roster move to get
there: Z. Charbonnet For D. Achane +18. This was Jens’ first Best Bench this season
and his first since Week 8 last season.
The Week 15 Best Bench winner did not have a matchup, so
their failure to put forth their best team did not cost a victory. But with a solid
38-point-improvement-possibility, the Week 15 Best Bench goes to… American
BadAss! Jason needed three roster moves
to get there: J. Conner for J. Mixon
+20, J. Goff for B. Mayfield +16 and J. Reed for T. Dell +2. This is Jason’s 2nd Best Bench
this season, having also snagged it back in Week 1. Only one team remains, who has not gotten a
Best Bench this year… can the Luck of the Irish hold through the end of the
season?
Just two more weeks of fantasy football! Get those waivers in and get ready for Week
16!!
