Week 3 - Fit to be tied

And the craziness continues!  In an absolute first for Sacred Sundays, the Week 3 High Score was a tie between Big Sack No TD’s and Joe’s No Pats who both scored 102 points.  But the thing making this week’s tie unique is it was also the result of a tie game!  Five times previously we have had a tie for the weekly high score, but it always involved teams in different matchups.  Never before have we seen an outcome like this!  Joe got to 102 with solid runningback play (Jonathan Taylor 25 pts, Zach Charbonnet 22 pts), plus had four other players score double digits.  Jens got to 102 in spite of his tight end logging zero (Isaiah Likely), but had big games from Saquon Barkley (28 pts) and Lamar Jackson (25 pts).  Nice job both of you!

For a quick trip down memory lane, here are the last times there was a tie for the Weekly High Score Prize: 

• Week 11, 2019 – Scottish Rebels 109 (over CLDG), Vandelay Industries 109 (over Attack of Mahomes).
• Week 6, 2016 – Scottish Rebels 111 (over sprouts), Big Sack No TDs 111 (over Joe’s Pats).
• Week 13, 2012 – BoomGoesTheDynamite 120 (over CLDG), American BadAss 120 (over Sofa King Good).
• Week 15, 2008 – AmericanBadAss 98 (over CLDG), Chief Dredd 98 (no opponent)
• Week 5, 2007 – Scottish Rebels 90 (over Sofa King), Joe’s Pats 90 (over Chief Dredd)

In league standings, there are still two undefeated teams sitting at 3-0: NASCAR Café Honey Mustard in the North Division and American BadAss in the South.  On the flip side there are still two winless teams, as Joe and Jens tied, so both Joe's No Pats and Big Sack No TDs sit at 0-2-1. In the oddest twist of all, Big Sack No TD’s is the highest scoring team so far (308 pts), yet has not logged a victory.  Weird, but What do you know?  The North Division leads the South in wins (8-6) and in total points scored (1,310-1,282).

This week I've got a quick check in on the fantasy scoring by NFL team because you will not believe which team was 2nd in scoring for Week 3, plus we give out the highest Best Bench of the season so far.  Onward!

BIG TIME FOOTBALL

• Jauan Jennings, WR – Free Agent – 38 pts – Here is everyone’s top waiver claim this week.  Jennings was an absolute monster against the Rams, hauling in 11 passes for 175 yards and 3 TDs!  
• Dak Prescott, QB – sprouts – 32 pts – Dak threw the ball an impressive 51 times, but only completed 28 of them (54.9% completion rate).  He did make the most of those completions, as he finished with 379 yards and 2 TDs, plus added a rushing TD.  Dak currently ranks as the 5th best quarterback in fantasy.
• Derrick Henry, RB – Scottish Rebels – 32 pts – The big man can still rumble down the field, as he finished with 151 rushing yards and 2 TDs, plus added 23 yards on one catch.  He is now the 3rd ranked RB.
• Josh Allen, QB – Scottish Rebels – 30 pts – Allen had a massive game, 263 yards and 4 TDs, leading the Bills to touchdowns on their first 5 drives.  And he did all of that without even playing in the fourth quarter.
• Saquon Barkley, RB – Big Sack No TDs – 28 pts – Saquon found the endzone three times…twice for TDs and once for a 2-pt conversion.  (It’s the 2nd 2-point conversion he has this season.) Turns out Quon can still get it done as well, as he currently ranks as the top scoring runningback in fantasy.
• Kyren Williams, RB – American BadAss – 28 pts – Williams found the endzone three times, with all three being TDs!  He did it while getting 89 yards on the ground and 27 yards through the air.  
• Jayden Daniels, QB – Sofa King – 27 pts – Daniels did everything he could to try to eek out a victory for the King, racking up an impressive stat line: 254 yards, 2 TDs plus 39 yards rushing and a rushing TD.  He did it on 21 of 23 passing (91.3%), which set a rookie record for highest completion percentage in a game.

COME ON MAN!

• Jake Elliott, K – Sofa King – 1 pt – The Eagles couldn’t decide when to kick a field goal, giving up two easy opportunities, causing Elliott to finish with only one made extra point.
• James Conner, RB – American BadAss – 1 pt – It was not for lack of trying… the Cardinals handed Conner the ball 9 times, but he managed just 17 yards for a paltry 1.8 yard per carry average. Yuck.
• Ka’imi Fairbairn, K – J LUV U LONG TIME – 1 pt – The hot kicking had to slow down at some point, but we sure didn’t see this nose dive coming.  After averaging, yes averaging 18.5 points over the last two weeks, Fairbairn missed his only attempt (54 yards) and made just a single extra point.  Kickers…
• Mike Evans, WR – Luck of the Irish – 1 pt – The big 18-point game in Week 1 feels like a distant memory as Evans fell off the map this week.  He managed just 2 catches on 3 targets for only 17 yards.
• Rhamondre Stevenson, RB – NASCAR Café Honey Mustard – 0 pts – Yes he did play, but as Jim Mora would say “He sucked”.  The 23 yards he did gain were negated by a lost fumble.  D’oh!
• Isaiah Likely, TE – Big Sack No TDs – 0 pts – Which player was possibly a Week 1 ‘One Hit Wonder’?  Isaiah, likely.  After that monster game against the Chiefs (111 yards and a TD), Likely has been a ghost as he caught just one pass for 4 yards this week.  
• Rashid Shaheed, WR – Luck of the Irish – 0 pts – The Eagles put the brakes on the Saints high flying offense, holding them to just 12 points (after scoring 47 and 44 in Weeks 1 & 2), and keeping Shaheed catchless.  They did throw his way 5 times, but he failed to catch any of them.
• Mark Andrews, TE – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 0 pts – Being a tight end in Baltimore is a rough gig.  Andrews was targeted once but failed to make the catch.  Through 3 weeks he has scored 6 points, ranking him as the 25th tight end.

FANTASY SCORING BY NFL TEAM

Week 3 was the highest scoring week so far this season with three NFL teams breaking into triple digits.  Two were usual suspects with Buffalo in 1st (127 pts) and Minnesota in 3rd (103 pts).  But remarkably the team which was absolutely abysmal in the first two weeks (35 pts and 25 pts, respectively) somehow figured things out and tallied 113 points!  I’m speaking of course, about the Carolina Panthers.  The Panthers had 11 players score this week, led by Andy Dalton (wtf?!) with 24 pts, Chuba Hubbard with 22, Diontae Johnson with 18, Eddy Pineiro with 13, plus seven others who scored.  On the flip side, the Saints only scored 55 points this week after scoring 124 and 109 the last two weeks.  They only had six players score, led by their Defense with 15 points.  The lowest score this week, which is also the lowest score of the entire season so far, was the New England Patriots (sorry, Joe!) who only tallied 20 points.  Oof!  They did have 8 players score, but the lead scorer was DeMario Douglas (who only Joe has heard of) with 6 points, followed by Joey Slye with 4 points and Jacoby Brissett with an earth-shattering 3 points.  

Here are the top ten:

1) BUF 297

2) NO 288

3) MIN 282

4) SF 258

5) GB 257

6) DAL 255

7) BAL 254

8) ARI 253

9) SEA 245

10) HOU 237

BEST BENCH

There were a couple of 22 point-improvements this week (J LUV and NASCAR Café) but in the end no one really even close to this week’s Best Bench winner.  With an impressive 43-point-improvement-possibility, the Week 3 Best Bench goes to… sprouts!!  Russ needed just 3 roster swaps to get there: D. Prescott for C.J. Stroud +23, M. Nabers for G. Wilson +10 and Z. Moss for J. Jacobs +10.  This is Russ’ first Best Bench this season and is his first since Week 9 last season.

Get those waivers in and get ready for Week 4!  Just two weeks away from my way too early Week 5 playoff predictions!!

F N A! Week 2 Luv U Long Time!

 After a hot start to the season with five teams scoring in triple digits and 916 total points being scored, things cooled off a bit in Week 2 with only two teams cracking the triple digit mark and just 839 points being tallied.  

The big congrats for Week 2 go to Shawn Martin’s J LUV YOU LONG TIME who was the best this week with 118 points!  Shawn got a huge game from Alvin Kamara (41 pts) plus Jalen Hurts added 23 and his kicker, Kaimi Fairbairn, scored 20.  The win puts J LUV in first place tie in the North Division at 2-0, and makes him the highest scoring team overall with 234 points.  Excellent work Shawn!

In league standings, there are three teams at 2-0, three at 0-2 and four at 1-1.  All is in balance as it should be.  The league records for best and worst start both stand at 6… 6-0 has happened four times in league history, most recently in 2013 when Timmy’s Channel 4 News Team accomplished the feat.  0-6 has happened only twice, as yours truly did it in back-to-back seasons, 2011-2012.  Still a ways to go before we talk about any record breakers this year.

Things have really started oddly this season, even by Fantasy Football standards.  Here are just a few weird points I’ve noted:

• The highest scoring quarterback through the first two weeks is Baker Mayfield with 47 points, who is leading Derek Carr (also weird) by 5 points (42 points).  (Both were undrafted.)
• The third highest scoring player in all of fantasy is the Minnesota Vikings defense who has scored 43 points so far. (11th defense drafted, taken in the 13th round).
• The highest scoring wide receiver is a tie between Jayden Reed, GB, and Chris Godwin, TB, who have scored just 31 points.  This ranks them as the 27th highest scoring player in fantasy.  (Both drafted in the 9th round.)
• Four kickers(!) have scored 31 points or more, outscoring all wide receivers thus far: Jake Moody, SF (31 pts), Chris Boswell, PIT (35 pts), Ka’imi Fairbairn, HOU (37 pts) and Brandon Aubrey, DAL (38 pts).  (Moody and Boswell were undrafted).
• The highest scoring TE is Isaiah Likely, BAL, with just 19 points, ranking him 95th overall in fantasy.  (Undrafted.)
• In our league, the second highest scoring team, Jens’ Big Sack No TDs has scored 206 points, yet is 0-2 to start the season.
• In the AFC North, the Steelers are 2-0 while the Bengals and Ravens are both 0-2.
• The New Orleans Saints have scored 91 points (most in the NFL), and lead in fantasy scoring with 233 points through two weeks. (Only two Saints players were drafted… Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara.)  Arizona is the second highest scoring team in fantasy with 198 points scored.  

Just a quick write up this week, but we’ve always got to give out the Best Bench.  Last week we had a historic Best Bench when American BadAss claimed the High Score and Best Bench, something which had only happened 10 times previously.  But wouldn’t you know it, and to add to the weirdness we are seeing this season, we’ve done it again!  The Week 2 Best Bench is also the Week 2 High Scorer, as Shawn Martin takes the Week 2 Best Bench with a 30 point-improvement-possibility!   He needed just three roster moves to get there:  C. Godwin for S. Diggs +14, Minnesota for Philadelphia +14 and D. Adams for C. Lamb +2.  Way to double-dominate this week Shawn!

Get those waiver claims in and get ready for Week 3!!                                      

2024 Sacred Sundays Arrives!!

Sacred Sundays is back for our 21st season overall, as well as the 8th season with all the same teams!  Well, there have been some new names surfacing (J LUV U LONG TIME, Luck of the Irish, NASCAR Café Honey Mustard, Joe’s No Pats) so not necessarily the same teams, but eight seasons with all of the same owners.  James begins his title defense run, with the aptly named “Sofa King”, and Jens has got to be hoping to come in first this season after the runner-up finish last year.  Only two teams have ever gone back-to-back…American BadAss in 2007-08 and Joe’s Pats in 2017-18.  Last year’s defending champion, Young Guns, ended up finishing in 7th.  Two years ago though, Joe’s Pats nearly repeated as champs having won in 2021, but then finishing 2nd in 2022.  On the flip side, John, Russ, Timmy and Rob were the four bottom finishers last season and the four teams who did not make the playoffs.  Redemption season for at least one of you, I’m sure.  Out of all ten teams in the league, only two teams have yet to claim a Sacred Sundays championship: sprouts and Wyld Ass Monkeys.  Russ has two runner-up finishes and Rob’s best finish has been 4th.  Can’t wait to see how things shake out this season!

The big congrats to open the season go to American BadAss who overcame a bit of a slow start but came roaring back to finish with a mighty solid score of 120 points!  Led by Joe Mixon (25 pts), Dallas D (23 pts) and kicker Brandon Aubrey (21 pts), Jason took down a tough opponent in Big Sack No TDs by a final score of 120-110.  Last year in Week 1, Wyld Ass Monkeys scored 104 points in a losing effort.  Brutal to see 100+ point scorers lose in Week 1 for two years straight!  Last season, scoring over 100 points led to victory 83.3% of the time and since 2007 scoring over 100 points wins 86.7% of the time.  Scoring was pretty evenly distributed between divisions with the South outscoring the North 466-450 for Week 1.

Alright so lets jump right into this with a draft recap, player observations and of course, the Best Bench!

BIG TIME

-Josh Allen, QB – Scottish Rebels – 30 pts – The big man delivers in a big way, racking up 232 passing yards and 2 TD’s, plus 39 yards rushing and 2 more rushing TD’s!

-Saquon Barkley, RB – Big Sack No TDs – 30 pts – What a day for the ‘Quon as he tallied 109 rushing yards, 2 TD’s plus 23 receiving yards and another TD.  He is the first Eagle to score 3 TD’s in his debut game since T.O. did it in 2004.

-Baker Mayfield, QB – Free Agent – 29 pts – Baker should be a hot commodity on the waiver wire if he can keep scoring like this!  Finished with 289 yards and 4 TD’s!  He only had 6 incompletions in 30 pass attempts.  (Caveat – He was playing the Commanders.  Much tougher week next week against Detroit.)

-Jayden Reed, WR – American BadAss – 28 pts – He only caught 4 passes but he made them count, going for 138 yards and a TD, plus adding a single rush attempt for 33 yards and a TD.  Not bad for a 9th round wide receiver.

-Jayden Daniels, QB – Sofa King – 27 pts – Daniels did his damage on the ground, where he got 88 yards and 2 TD’s to go along with 184 passing yards.  He faces the Giants in Week 2, so he could be poised for another big outing.

COME ON MAN 

-Cincinnati, DEF – Joe’s No Pats – 2 pts – Disappointing performance when going against New England, where they only managed 1 sack, and gave up 16 points.

-D.K. Metcalf, WR – Big Sack No TDs – 2 pts – Nothing ever really got going for Metcalf as he caught 3 balls for just 29 yards.

-Mark Andrews, TE – Wyld Ass Monkeys – 1 pt – Just 2 catches for 14 yards, and his counterpart, Isaiah Likely, had a monster game.

-Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR – Joe’s No Pats – 1 pt – Well, he got the ball thrown his way 6 times, caught 3 of them, but only managed 13 yards.  Oof.

-Drake London, WR – sprouts – 1 pt – Just 15 yards on two catches.  One week is too early to panic, but dang, Atlanta did not look great.

-Dalton Kincaid, TE – Luck of the Irish – 1 pt – Kincaid just wasn’t involved in the Bills offense to start the season, catching just one ball for 11 yards.

-Chris Olave, WR – Sofa King – 1 pt – Derek Carr threw for 200 yards and 3 TD’s, but somehow only 2 were thrown to Olave, and for just 11 of those yards.  Weird.

“I would punch myself in the nuts many, many, many times to be able to draft him” – Bill Belichick (probably) on the possibility of drafting Bo Jackson.

2024 DRAFT TIDBITS

-All NFL teams had at least two players selected in this year’s draft. 

-The Kansas City Chiefs were the most selected team, with 10 total players drafted.  (NASCAR Café Honey Mustard led the way with 7 of these picks).

-Three teams had 7 players selected:  Houston, Miami and Philadelphia.

-Four teams only had 2 players selected:  Denver, New England, New Orleans and New York Giants.

-Five teams had a player in every position selected:  Kansas City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo and Dallas.

-There were 20 quarterbacks selected.  You would think that means every team drafted two, but you’d be wrong.  American BadAss selected 3 QB’s and NASCAR Café only had one.  (When Patrick Mahomes is your QB, you don’t need anything else).

-Two teams selected 6 wide receivers: Wyld Ass Monkeys and NASCAR Café.

-Three teams selected 2 defenses:  Luck of the Irish, American BadAss, and J LUV U LONG TIME.

-Thankfully, no backup kickers were selected this year. 

YAHOO DRAFT GRADES

Yahoo may need to recalibrate it’s grading criterion.  This season’s three highest draft grades (Wyld Ass Monkeys ‘A+’, Sofa King ‘A+’ and Big Sack No TDs ‘A’) all lost in Week 1 and the three lowest grades (J LUV U LONG TIME ‘F’, NASCAR Café Honey Mustard ‘D-‘ and American BadAss ‘D’) all won.  One week is certainly not enough to draw any conclusions, but dang!  Also, Yahoo hilariously predicts final records with the top prediction going to Sofa King with a predicted record of 9-1-4.  Yahoo predicts four ties from you James!  Since 2007, a single team having multiple ties has happened only 5 times, and that was those teams finishing with 2 ties.

WEEK 1 UNWANTED DOMINATION

QB – Baker Mayfield, TB – 29 pts

WR – Allen Lazard, NYJ – 20 pts

WR – Jameson Williams, DET – 19 pts

RB – Alexander Mattison, LV – 11 pts

RB – Jamaal Williams, NO – 10 pts

TE – Isaiah Likely, BAL – 17 pts

K – Chris Boswell, PIT – 26 pts

DEF – Chicago – 28 pts

Total = 160 pts

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE KICKERS!

Last season there were only 7 instances of a kicker scoring over 20 points, and the highest single week score from a kicker was 24.  In just one week this season, we see FOUR kickers score over 20 points, with two beating last season's highest:  Chris Boswell (26), Jake Moody (26), Blake Grupe (22) and Brandon Aubrey (21).  Moody made six field goals including 2 from 50+, and Boswell also made six with 3 from 50+!  This is the kind of kicker production I can get behind!

BEST BENCH

For being only the first week of the season, team management was strong this week with seven teams having just single-digit bench improvements this week.  This week’s winner had a historic Best Bench, as it is something which has only happened 10 times previously with the most recent being 5 years ago in 2019.  The feat accomplished was being both the Weekly High Score winner and the Best Bench.  Exactly five years ago, Attack of Mahomes did it with a high score of 112 and a bench improvement of +36, and now this time it is American BadAss with a high score of 120 and a bench improvement possibility of +28 points!  Jason needed to swap just two players to get there… J. Reed for T. Dell +23 and J. Conner for K. Williams +5.  Nice work bro!  Dominating starting rosters and the bench!

Get your waivers in and get ready for Week 2!