Week 8: It's Rob and Tyler's World...

...and we are just living in it.  They were the two highest scorers this week (each over 170), and have scored nearly 100 points more than the 3rd highest-scoring team.  They are still in 3rd and 4th though because of some unlucky losses.  In other sad news, Kyle has been eliminated from this year's playoff contention with his loss to Brady.  Let's get to the game reviews.

Skyler vs Matt:  Skyler was able to hang on to a win, even though Matt's DST (Pittsburgh) put up some really good numbers on Miami on Monday night.  Neither team really had any great performances, but Dalvin Cook and Julio Jones were each team's best players.  Skyler moves up to second thanks to Trevor's loss.

Tommy vs Rob: This week's pillaging, plundering, raiding biggest win goes to Rob over Tommy with a 70 point win.  Rob didn't have a single person score over 30, but had five people who put up 20+ points.  Tommy had two people combine for over 56.9 points.  The other seven of his starters combined for less than that.  That kind of inconsistency will do you in.  The win puts Rob at 3rd overall, and first in his division (170 points over Trevor).  If Rob can catch up to Skyler and/or Jordan in wins, he will be in a great position to get a top 2 seed and get a bye week.  Rob is currently the only person in the league over 1200 points.

Brandon vs Tyler: Tyler put a proper beat down on Brandon, and yet this was still the weekly bonanza.  With 3 players going over 30 points (and 1 over 40), Brandon didn't have much of a chance.  The other 6 players on his team combined for 65ish points.  The benefit here is Tyler has several players that can win him a week, but if they all miss, you get unlucky and drop a week.  That's the kind of move that can cause you to drop a week and drop you back in the standings, and if it happens in the playoffs, there's no coming back from it.  All that being said, if he can catch up to Skyler and/or Jordan in wins, he will be in a great position to get a top 2 seed and get a bye week. Tyler is in the same division as Jordan, so if he can get past Jordan, he has a real shot at the 1 seed.

Brady vs Kyle: Based on the standings last week, this was the front-runner for the battle of ineptitude -- and it lived up to the hype.  This was the lowest-scoring game of the week, as well as the nail-biter of the (Monday) night.  Kyle had an interesting trade this week -- he traded away Le'Veon Bell and Zach Ertz for Ezekiel Elliot (on bye).  That trade cost him 2.4 points, which thankfully wasn't enough to make a difference this week in the win column.  With his loss, he is playing for the consolation bracket, and the potential #1 pick next year.  Brady doubled up his season-long victory total by riding on the back of Tevin Coleman and his 4 touchdowns.

Ren vs TJ: Ren's win this week keeps him in the top 6, as well as in the 1,000 point club (the same people in the top 6).  Ren got his win by getting a good game out of Jameis Winston, and a great game from Latavius Murray.  Amazingly, TJ had a 30 point game from the newly reinstated Drew Brees, but wasn't able to overcome Ren's solid-to-really-good week.

Trevor vs Jordan: In what was billed as the potential game of the week, this one didn't live up to the hype.  Trevor's team didn't show up today, but he did make some moves to get Le'Veon Bell and Zach Ertz.  It could work out for him long term, but we'll have to wait and see what happens.  Jordan got the W behind some really good performance by having five people over 20 points each.  The win keeps him in first overall, and has him in the driver seat for his division.

Award Season

Mario Kart Shout Out: Number 11 in the standings, but number 1 in Mario Kart, give it up for TJ.

Highest Scorer of the Week: This contest was the second closest game this week, but Tyler's kicker is able to get him the win as the Highest Scorer of the Week.  This is his second time winning the award this season.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: TJ almost won this award, but he got bailed out on Monday night.  The actual winner is Trevor, as he is the only one to not break 100 this week.

Luckiest Team of the Week: This award will go to Brady.  There were only 4 teams he could have beat this week, and played one of them.  I know he doesn't care how he won, he's just happy that he won.

Unluckiest Team of the Week:  Brandon was the 5th highest scorer of the week, but still came away with a loss because he played the highest scorer of the week.

MVP of the Week: Tevin Coleman wins the award this week for getting 37.80 points (not the leading player) on Brady's team (not the highest scorer). Brady only won by 6 points in a week that he needed a win for his playoff hopes, and Tevin Coleman was the man to take him to the promised land.

LVP(s) of the Week: The Jets DST (4), Corey Davis (2.9), Darrel Williams (1), TJ Hockenson (3.1), Brandin C00ks, the Packers DST (5), Ty Johnson (4.8), Greg Olsen (3.3), Frank Gore (3.4), Demarcus Robinson (2.6), Gerald Everett (3.5), Kyle Rudolph (4.7), Larry Fitzgerald (2.8), Joey Sly3.

Game Previews

Skyler (2) vs Rob (3): Skyler has one player on Thursday night and three players in primetime. He has no players on bye. Rob has no players on Thursday night and eight players in primetime (not all of his starters are on primetime, but I've decided to include bench players as well). He has two players on bye.  Based on the standings, this looks like the potential game of the week.  This also has the potential to be the nail-biter of the night will all of the primetime players.

Matt (8) vs Tommy (7): Matt has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. He has one player on bye. Tommy has two players on Thursday night and no players in primetime. He has two players on bye.

TJ (11) vs Trevor (5): TJ has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime. He has four players on bye. Trevor has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime. He has no players on bye.

Jordan (1) vs Ren (6): Jordan has one player on Thursday night and five players in primetime. He has one player on bye. Ren has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime. He has five players on bye.

Tyler (4) vs Brady (10): Tyler has no players on Thursday night and three players in primetime. He has two players on bye. Brady has five players on Thursday night and three players in primetime. He has five players on bye.  This game has the potential to be the battle of ineptitude simply because of the large number of players (and how important those players are) on bye.

Kyle (12) vs Brandon (9): Kyle has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. He has four players on bye. Brandon has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. He has two players on bye.  Based on the standings, this has the potential to be the battle of ineptitude.

That does it for this week.  Good luck to everyone, except Rob, next week.

Week 7: Halfway There

It hurts to say, but we are already halfway through the regular season.  This week took years off of my life.  But it's over now, and we're headed into the back half of the season.  Through 7 games, eight teams have a winning record.  Historically, 6 wins could make the playoffs, and it was incredibly rare to miss the playoffs at 7 wins, but with so many teams with high win totals, it might take 8 wins to secure a playoff spot.  Time for some game recaps.

Skyler vs Kyle: This was the nail-biter of the night.  Skyler ended up winning by 2.14.  The Jets and Nugent combined for 9 points tonight for Skyler, and Le'Veon got 8.6 tonight for Kyle.  It was a nerve-wracking week that actually came down to the defensive matchup.  Skyler dropped the Chargers and picked up the Jets (a net loss of 2 points), and Kyle proceeded to drop the Ravens and pick up the Charger (a net loss of 15 points).  Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Ren vs Brady: In one of the lower scoring games of the week, Ren scored 108, and managed to beat Brady by almost 30.  It was an ugly week all around for them.  Latavious carried Ren to victory, with Austin Hooper having a TD in back to back weeks.  He has had double-digit weeks the last 5 weeks and is actually the top-scoring TE of the season.  That surprises me, but it's been a nice benefit to Ren. Two benches would have beaten Brady's starting lineup (including Brady's own bench(

Trevor vs Brandon: The weekly bonanza, Trevor took Brandon behind the woodshed and dropped 180 on him.  A little bit of spoiler, but Trevor would have destroyed everyone this week (destroyed being 15-20 points at least). Four of Trevor's players combined for over 125 points -- those four players would have beat 9 other teams by themselves. A Rog and Trevor's two lowest starters would have outscored Trevor, and nearly Tyler as well.

TJ vs Rob:  I need to find a new title for biggest blowout besides "biggest blowout", but this was it for the week.  Rob was 7 points away from tripling TJ's score.  Robs Defense and QB were enough to beat TJ on their own.  Three benches would have beat TJ this week.  Rob's defense continues to be unreal.  They have 183 points on the year.  That's more than every RB, WR, or TE, and only behind Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson, and Deshaun Watson - it's unreal.  Rob is still the leading scorer in the league, but is somehow in 5th place -- it makes no sense.

Jordan vs Matt: Jordan beat Matt by 55.  Darren Waller was the only one to score over 30 for Jordan, which means his team had a really solid week overall. It didn't help that Matt didn't break 90 this week.  Mahomes getting hurt will do that to you.  No one getting over 20 on your team will also do that to you. He also is currently in 7th place after this week -- aka out of the playoffs.  We will see if this makes him more desperate for a trade.

Tyler vs Tommy: As the lowest score of the week, this was the battle of ineptitude -- neither of them broke 95 points.  You might be wondering how that happened to Tommy -- the answer is McCaffrey had a bye week. Tyler had a lot of people on bye as well, and the starters didn't end up pulling their weight.  Unfortunately for the rest of us, that means we will have to deal with these two at full strength (or close to it) the rest of the season.  The loss drops Tyler from 1st to 6th.  Not a great week for him. 

Award Season

Mario Kart Shout Out: Brady is destroying everyone and it's not even close.  Congrats to him -- I think he needs it this week.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Trevor won this and it wasn't even close.  The win and the points put him into second place.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: TJ managed to sneak this away from Tyler this week by 7 points.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Tommy was the lowest scoring winner this week, so he wins luckiest team.  I will do my best to not change my mind and give this award to Skyler for holding on to win by a narrow margin.

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Kyle was the highest scorer to lose, and he almost managed to win, but Le'Veon Bell let him down.

MVP of the Week: Aaron Rodger was the highest scorer of the week, and he was on the highest-scoring team of the week.

LVP(s) of the Week: David Johnson (0.2), the Jets DST (2), Philip Lindsay (4.2), the Chargers DST (4), Devonta Freeman (4.5), the Vikings DST (3), the Texans DST (3), Larry Fitzgerald (2.2), Darren Fells (4.7), Mohamed Sanu (1.3), Terry McLaurin (2.1), Matt Ryan (2.56), Damien Williams (2.6), Randall Cobb (4.9), Jordan Akins (3.7), Darius Slayton (4.8), Jake Elliot (4), Kenny Golladay (3.1), Noah Fant (1.7), David Montgomery (1.9), Rex Burkhead (0), Marquise G00dwin, Evan Engram (1.6),  Matt Breida (4.6), Kerryon Johnson (2.3), the Eagles DST (1).

Game Previews

Skyler (3) vs Matt (7): Skyler has two players on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Matt has no players on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has one player on bye.

Tommy (4) vs Rob (5): Tommy has one player on Thursday night (though he might be out injured) and two players in primetime.  He has no players on bye. Rob has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye.

Brandon (9) vs Tyler (6): Brandon has one player on Thursday night and four players in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Tyler has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye.

Brady (11) vs Kyle (12): Brady has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Kyle has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has two players on bye.  This is the front runner to be the battle of ineptitude.

Ren (8) vs TJ (10): Ren has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime (depending on injury).  He has no players on bye. TJ has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has one player on bye.

Trevor (2) vs Jordan (1): Trevor has no players on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Jordan has no players on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has three players on bye.  Despite Jordan's bye week issues, this still has the potential to be the game of the week/bonanza.

I decided to look back at our history to see if we have ever had a start like this.  2013 was the closest we came, when the 7th place team was 4-3, but 8th place was 3-4.  We will see how this year pans out for everyone.  Wins will come at a premium the next few weeks.  It should be a fun 6 weeks.  Half of the games this week will feature teams with winning records going against each other.

Good luck to everyone except Matt next week.  Sorry for the delay in getting this posted.

Final RPI Update

This is my final output from my model.  Unless a few out of state scores get reported in the next 6 hours, this is what I believe the RPI output will be, or very close to it. Here is the link to the dashboard where the data can be found.


6A

5A

4A

3A

2A

UHSAA RPI Updated Friday October 18

This will be another post with screenshots of the brackets, and a link to the dashboard where the data can be found.

I will update the out of state information tonight once I am home and the games have gone final.  There is a chance that certain scores won't be recorded before tomorrow's release, and if that's the case, the game data won't be included.

I tried testing some of state opponent data to see how much it would change the current RPI if a team won or lost.  I was able to see a change as large as 0.02, and data as small as 0.0001 by changing different games to wins or losses.  What I am trying to say is that don't expect any drastic changes tonight, but if your team is very close to another team, and one of them has an out of state opponent, things could slightly change.

6A

5A

4A

3A

2A

UHSAA RPI Update Thursday 10-17 with Brackets

Lone Peak's appeal was overturned.  I updated the original dataset to show that -- because it is faster to use the original dashboard than the new one I added yesterday.  Also, to make the information easier to digest, I created some brackets and took screenshots that are below.  They aren't the easiest to read, but they are the best I could do on short notices.

*Edit - Please remember these aren't official.  If you haven't been following along all season, there were some very minor discrepancies between my model and the official model.  For whatever reason, it has only really affected East and Monticello.  There is a chance that they could be one spot lower than their current seed.

6A

5A

4A

3A

2A

RPI Update Wednesday, October 16th

With news that Lone Peak had to forfeit all of their games before tonight, I am publishing two datasets.  This dataset is giving Lone Peak losses for every game.  My original link is if Lone Peak wins their appeal and they don't lose any games.

Utah high school football playoff scenarios

With the UHSAA not releasing the RPI the last week, people are relying on data they captured almost two weeks ago to have any idea where their team stands.  I created my model with the purpose of giving Utah high school football fans something to look at when UHSAA decided to go dark right before the playoffs.  I also decided I should try and highlight the scenarios for playoff purposes.

This is infinitely trickier with RPI, because each team playing will be affected by its own game, the games of their previous 8-9 opponents, and the games of those opponents opponents.  If I was trying to evaluate every team's situation, I would have to do an impossibly large number of scenarios involving all of the teams I previously mentioned.  For the sake of time and sanity, I will simply look at how each team's RPI will be affected by a win or loss, in their last game.  The RPI will only be affected by the WP going up or down based on that win, and the OWP and OOWP will only go up or down based on playing the last opponent -- the in-depth version would have a lot more fluctuation in the OWP and OOWP.

I also only plan on looking at teams right near the cutoffs of different tiers.  So instead of analyzing all 27 teams in 6A, I'll look at the top seed, the teams right on the edge of getting a bye week, and the teams around the edge of getting a home game or an away game.  I will then proceed to do the same from 5A down to 2A.

6A
Corner Canyon has the number one seed locked down.  No result can change that. The top 5 seeds get a bye week in 6A.  At the moment, American Fork is the 5th seed with an RPI score of 0.63251.  Based on the basic tests I am doing, if a team has a score of 0.63 or higher, they should get a bye week.  Herriman is in 2nd place at 0.662982.  If they lost, and enough teams beneath them all won, Herriman would drop to at least 6th place and miss out on a bye week.  Lone Peak is currently in 9th, and they are the lowest team who could still get a bye week if everything goes their way.  They would need to win, and for basically everyone in front of them to lose, but they could, in theory, get a bye week.

For the bottom teams, West Jordan (17), Westlake (18), and Jordan (19) each have a chance at moving up and getting the 16 seed (from Davis), which is the lowest slot to get a home game.  Only one of those teams could move up though as Fremont looks locked at 15, and no one above Freemont can drop down below 15 either.  It looks like everyone at West (20) and below are eliminated from getting a home game.  Of course, they could get different matchups based on their seeding, so it still benefits those teams to win and get a better matchup, but they will have to play on the road no matter what.

5A
Salem Hills has the number one seed locked down. No result can change that. The top 6 seeds get a bye week in 5A.  At the moment, Highland is the 6th seed with an RPI score of 0.613438.  They play Brighton this week, who is currently the 7th seed.  Winner will get a bye week.  That is a huge game this week. Based on the basic tests I am doing, if a team has a score of 0.61 or higher, they should get a bye week. Provo is in 2nd place at 0.654425, if they lost and enough teams beneath them won, they could miss out on a bye week. Orem is currently in 9th, and they are the lowest team who could still get a bye week if everything goes their way. They would need to win, and for basically everyone in front of them to lose, but they could, in theory, get a bye week.

For the bottom teams, I cannot find any team below 16 seed Maple Mountain who can move up to host a first-round game.  It looks like teams from Box Elder (17) on down are playing for pride and better road matchups.

4A
Word of warning: Dixie/4A is why I created my model, so I'm going to spend more time here than with the classifications.

Park City is currently the number one seed.  I am not able to find a scenario that they lose the number one seed.  However, in the scenarios I try, Park City's RPI score gets very close to Sky View's -- so maybe if every single game in the state goes against what Park City needs, they could drop to the two seed.  I am not sure that scenario even exists, so it's pretty safe to say Park City will be the one seed in 4A.  4A is a little different than the other classifications.  In the other classifications, if you have a bye week, you will play someone who played the week before.  In 4A, there are 4 teams (7-10 seeds) who will earn a bye, but will play against a team in the 2nd round that also earned a bye in the first round.  I feel this is a result of too many teams making the playoffs, but that's not the point of this post.

The first cutoff happens at the 6 seed (Pine View).  They are currently the last team who will earn a bye, and play an opponent who had to play in the first round.  Region 9 has finished playing all of their games, so PV's fate rests in the hands of other teams.  If Mountain View beats Tooele (MV currently favored in RPI) and Ridgeline loses to Viewmont (Viewmont is a 5A team), and if Highland loses to Brighton (both 5A teams) PV could drop from the 6 seed to the 7 seed.  They would still have a bye week, but they would have to play a team coming off of a bye week as well.  If you are wondering why Ridgeline and Highland are involved they are the only teams that PV has played this year that will play this week, so PV's OWP could drop enough if those teams lose that it will drop PV in the standings.  If you are wondering why I care so much, I hold a special petty hate in my heart for PV that hasn't gone away in the 12+ years since I graduated, and probably never will.  Anyway, Mountain View is the only team from the group of 4 that can jump up past Pine View/Stansbury.

As far as I can tell, Sky View, Green Canyon, and Dixie can't drop out of the top 6 (they can't even drop out of the top 4 spots).  Green Canyon would drop below Dixie with a loss, and it looks like Sky View can't drop below the 2 seed.  They have an exhibition game this week which has no effect on the RPI calculation.

Tooele is the only team outside of the top 10 who could jump into the top 10 and get a bye week, and Mountain Crest and Snow Canyon appear to be the only teams who could fall out of the top 10.  There is a very small chance Desert Hills could fall out, but that would require their opponents to all do terrible, all of Snow Canyon's opponents to do great, and for Mountain Crest and Tooele to win, but I don't want to have to dig in-depth on DH's and SC's opponents to prove if it's actually possible.

The 16 seed looks like it will come down to Ridgeline and Ogden.  If Ridgeline wins (against a 5A team) they stay at 16 and will host a playoff game (Ogden), if Ogden wins (against Ben Lomond), and Ridgeline loses, Ogden will move up to 16 and would host Ridgeline the next week.  So it would appear that Ridgeline and Ogden will play each other in the first round -- the only question is where.

3A
Based on the fact that there are no bye weeks on the 3A bracket online, two of the eighteen teams won't make the playoffs in 3A.  No one has locked in the top seed yet. Manti, North Sanpete, and Morgan all have a realistic chance at the first seed.  Juab and Grantsville could get it if they get some help in the OWP/OOWP areas.

Currently, the teams from 7-13 all have a shot at the 7 or 8 seed and hosting a playoff game.  I don't know how realistic those chances are, but I found scenarios for Richfield (currently at 13) to move up to a host a playoff game.  So all of those teams have a lot on the line.

Looking at the two teams who will be eliminated, there are 4 teams in contention: South Sevier, Emery, Judge Memorial, and Carbon.  South Sevier and Carbon play each other this week, the loser is for sure eliminated.  If Carbon won and Judge Memorial lost, Judge Memorial would be eliminated.  But if Judge Memorial beats Juan Diego, Carbon will be eliminated even if they win. But if South Sevier beats Carbon, Judge Memorial would need to win, as well as needing Emery to lose.  The bottom 4 look like a crazy mess, it's getting too late to think about, and I still need to look at 2A.

2A
The number 1 seed is still up for grabs between Beaver and Milford.  Beaver has the inside track, but if they lose and Milford wins, Milford gets the one seed.  The 3 seed is also up for grabs between Millard and Duchesne.  Duchesne doesn't play this weekend, so it all comes down to Millard vs Enterprise.  If Millard wins, they get the 3 seed and the bye.  If they lose, Duchesne gets the bye and Millard has to play in the first round.

The 8 seed (aka the last team to host a playoff game) is between Monticello and Nort Summit and kind of Kanab (Kanab is currently in 7th, and can't finish worse than 8th).  If North Summit wins, they get the 7 seed (they play Kanab head to head), Kanab gets 8, Monticello gets 9.  If Monticello loses, then Kanab gets the 7 seed, North Summit gets the 8 seed. and Monticello gets the 9 seed.  If Monticello wins and North Summit loses, then Kanab gets the 7, Monticello would get the 8 seed, and North Summit gets 9.  It doesn't help that Monticello is playing Rich (who is not so good), so even if Monticello win, it doesn't help them much.


I think those are all the major situations I could find. I'm sorry if I didn't mention your team, or missed something.  I plan on publishing the data each night this week after games go final.  With 28 games Wednesday, a lot of the data will be finalized on day one, 11 more games wrap up on Thursday, and then 3 more on Friday.  So hopefully it should be pretty clear going into Friday where everyone stands.

Best of luck to all the teams this week.

Week 6: I'm too tired to come up with something creative

Welcome to week 6.  Each of the last 3 nights, I have gone to bed after 1 AM, and I have no good ideas what to write as the title for this week.  So how about some game recaps?

Skyler vs Tyler: This was the weekly bonanza as this was the only game to combine for over 300 points.  Skyler had a breakout game from Stefon Diggs, who scored more this week than he had all season.  Everyone else for Skyler was really solid, which was enough since Tyler had some really good scores, some really bad scores, but nothing really great.  Tyler doesn't believe in moral victories, but if he did, he could take some comfort in the fact that he is still in 1st place in the league, is the only person over 900 points on the season, and that he was the 3rd leading scorer even though he had three starters with 6 points or fewer.

Tommy vs Kyle:  Tommy was able to breathe easy going into Monday night.  He had one player left to go tonight, but managed to take a half a point lead last night -- so tonight was all about running up the score.  Stop me if you've heard this before, but McAffrey is really good and led Tommy to a victory.  I should just put that phrase on a clipboard for easy access. Five of Kyle's players scored 9 points or fewer -- including a 1.12 from Goff.  Unfortunately, in the grand scheme of things, these guys did not perform well, and this game was this week's battle of ineptitude.

Brandon vs Ren:  Aaron Jones wasn't enough tonight to get Brandon the victory, or even get him close.  Ren got a combined 60 from his three Falcons -- they all scored season highs this game.  Even with Kamara only scoring 13 points, Ren got the win.  If the Falcons have turned a page, and Kamara gets healthy, Ren could have a great second half of the year.

Brady vs Trevor:  In the nail-biter of the night, Trevor's pair of Packers, pulled off the improbable, and put up enough points to put Trevor past Brady.  Brady was one Detroit yard away, but the NFL refs love Aaron Rodgers and hate Brady.  The real commissioner might not investigate this gross injustice, but I will.  I may have to give Brady points back.

Matt vs TJ: TJ's Falcons players showed up, with a guest appearance by his DST and Kicker, but for the most part, TJ's team thought they had a bye week.  Matt got the win behind Mahomes, Carson, and Godwin, who combined for a smidge over 75 points.  58% of your points from 33% of your roster is a dangerous place to live, but Matt made it work this week.

Rob vs Jordan: Jordan was the second-highest scorer this week and would have challenged for the highest score had he picked up a kicker.  Instead, he decided to keep his bench the way it was, miss out on a handful of points, and still beat Rob by 20+ points. Sounds like a rough week of work.  The Patriots scored 30 points for Rob, but that still wasn't enough as the rest of his team only put out a mediocre performance/Kelce had his worst game of the season, followed closely by Hopkins.  I know Hopkins still had 16 points, but I imagine people are hoping for a better floor than that.  And by people, I mean fantasy players everywhere, not just everyone who has owned/traded him this year.

Award Season

Mario Kart Shout Out: TJ is dominating in Mario Kart this week.  Roughly 3,500 points ahead of second place.  Maybe we will try challenging him next week in the new cup.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Skyler wins the award this week thanks to Stefon Diggs.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Kyle puts up a goose egg this week to win this award.  To add insult to injury, he still has a goose egg in the win column.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Tommy was the lowest scoring winner this week, so he wins luckiest team. In a first-ever overnight change, I am changing luckiest team of the week to Trevor. He won by a narrow margin, it wasn’t until the very end of the game he took the lead, he was one Detroit yard away from losing, and part of the one only happens because of some questionable penalties, and the heads up play by Jamaal Williams to fall on his butt when he noticed that Detroit was trying to let him score.

Unluckiest Team of the Week:  Tyler finishes with the 3rd highest score, but still found a way to lose.  In another moral victory, he did win this award this week over Brady.  I strongly considered putting Brady here, but this award traditionally goes to the highest-scoring loser.

MVP of the Week: Stefon Diggs scored the most points in the league of any player this week, and he did it for the week's best team.

LVP(s) of the Week: Mike Nugent (5), CJ Prosise (1.3), Juju Smith-Schuster (1.7), Gerald Everett (2.9), the Cowboys DST (5), Jared Goff (1.12), Malcolm Brown (4), Derrick Henry (4.3), Tyler Boyd (4), Greg Zuerlein (1), Giovani Bernard (4.4), Jimmy Graham (3.7), Amari Cooper (1.3), Chris Thompson (4), Will Dissly (0), Demarcus R0bins0n, Gus Edwards (3.4), Kaimi Fairbairn (5), Vance McDonald (1.5), Jordan's non-existant Kicker (0).

Game Previews

Skyler (3) vs Kyle (12):  Skyler has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has no players on bye. Kyle has three players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has 3 players on bye.

Ren (8) vs Brady (11):  Ren has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Brady has one player on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has no players on bye. There are no great candidates for the battle of ineptitude, so I’ll hesitantly pick this one.

Trevor (5) vs Brandon (9):  Trevor has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Brandon has three players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye.

TJ (10) vs Rob (7):  TJ has three players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Rob has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has no players on bye.

Jordan (2) vs Matt (4):  Jordan has one player on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Matt has one player on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. This one of the leading candidates for the bonanza, but it depends how each team can handle the bye week. Given the number of primetime players, this is also a candidate for the nail-biter of the night.

Tyler (1) vs Tommy (6):  Tyler has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has three players on bye. Tommy has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has four players on bye. This one of the leading candidates for the bonanza, but it depends how each team can handle the bye week. Given the number of primetime players, this is also a candidate for the nail-biter of the night. 

Week 5: Watch out for the Kicback

Last week was a very low scoring week, and this week was the kickback where the score jumped significantly.  The average this week was about 20 points higher than the average last week.  Last week, only three teams cleared 120 points.  This week seven teams cleared 120 points.  Last week only one player (Godwin) cleared 40 points, this week six people cleared it, and Amari Cooper was 4 yards away from making it seven people.  Anyway, time for the recaps.

Skyler vs Trevor:  Of the six people who cleared 40 points this week, Trevor started two of them.  That more or less sums up the whooping Dr. Irvine dished out this week.  I feel like there's a joke in there somewhere about procedures or prescriptions or something, but I don't know enough about the type of doctoring Trevor does make that joke.

Ren vs Tommy: Tommy started one of the 40 point club members, plus he had a solid week from his other players.  Ren actually had a pretty good week: he was one of two people to not have any LVP's in his lineup.  He just didn't have anyone with a game-winning week to keep him in the game with Tommy.

Jordan vs Brandon:  In this low-scoring affair, Brandon was led by DangeRuss Wilson to victory.  Jordan's usual stalwarts (aka his Ravens players) let him down this week.  The 49ers DST did their best to bring Jordan back, but they only put up 26 when he needed 40.

TJ vs Brady:  The battle of ineptitude and the nail-biter of the night all rolled into one.  The Monday Night-mare ends for TJ, but not without a fight, as Brady got 20 points from Kittle (needed about 27).  This was the only game that was really undecided going into MNF, so at least it was fun entertainment for those of us not involved.

Kyle vs Matt:  Kyle was a soft piece of wood this week, and Matt was a buzzsaw as he easily won by 70 points.  Matt was "letdown" by Mahomes and his measly 20 points.  After an 18 point game last week, Mahomes is in a slump.  If you want to sell him low Matt, I have some ideas.  Anyway, Matt was led by the recently acquired Amari Cooper, and looks like he will have the most well-balanced team in the league if he can figure out his TE situation.

Tyler vs Rob:  This game was basically decided before MNF, but Tyler did his best to make a game of it.  For the combined high score, and the overall closeness of the scores, this was the weekly bonanza. Tyler had one of the six members of the 40 points club (Watson actually had 50), but unfortunately for him, Rob had two of them.  Rob was stacked from top to bottom with two 40 pointers, and no LVP's for the week.  If Rob can figure out his QB situation, he will be right there with Matt for the title of the most well-balanced team.

Award Season

Highest Scorer of the Week: Rob wins it this week, as he flirted with the 200 point barrier this week.  If he had a better QB (or kicker), he probably would have crossed it.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Brady and Jordan were battling it out for this award, and the 49ers DST did just enough to pull Jordan ahead of Brady, and give Brady this *prestigious* award for the week.

Luckiest Team of the Week: TJ gets the award this week.  There were only two teams this week he could have beaten, and he got matched up with one of them.

Unluckiest Team of the Week:  Tyler was the 4th highest scoring team of the week, but still lost.  Plus he was the only team to have one of the 40+ guys that lost.

MVP(s) of the week:  Aaron Jones, Michael Thomas, Christian McCaffrey, Will Fuller, and the Eagles DST for being part of the 40+ point club, and leading their teams to victory.

LVP(s) of the week: Golden Tate (4.3), MVS (2.8), Delanie Walker (2), Joey Slye (4), Greg 0lsen, the Packers DST (5), Phillip D0rsett, Rams DST (2), Eddy Pineiro, Emmanuel Sanders (1.9), LeSean McCoy (2.3), Wayne Gallman (1.4),  OJ Howard (2), and the Bears DST (5).

*New Award
Mario Kart Shout-Out: Skyler wins this brand new and prestigious award.  Mostly this is to boost my own ego because I won it this week, but I lost to Trevor, but also because we have been taking it pretty seriously and it's been pretty fun.  In honor of last week, Matt also gets a late shout-out as he was the one leading on Monday night last week.

Game Previews

Skyler (5) vs Tyler (1): Skyler has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Tyler has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. This is one of the two contenders for the game of the week as it is tied for the lowest score after adding the standings.

Tommy (7) vs Kyle (12): Tommy has one player on Thursday night if Barkley is healthy and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye. Kyle has two players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye. This is the leading contender for the battle of ineptitude as they have the highest score after adding the standings.

Brandon (8) vs Ren (9): Brandon has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has no players on bye. Ren has no players on Thursday night and 2 players in primetime if Davante Adams is healthy.  He has no players on bye.

Brady (11) vs Trevor (6): Brady has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Trevor has no players on Thursday night and four players in primetime.  He has two players on bye.

Matt (3) vs TJ (10): Matt has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  He has one player on bye. TJ has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.  He has two players on bye.

Rob (2) vs Jordan (4): Rob has two players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. Jordan has one player on Thursday night and three players in primetime.  He has two players on bye. This is one of the two contenders for the game of the week as it is tied for the lowest score after adding the standings. This also looks like the leader for the nail-biter of the night since they have a combined 5 players in primetime, and 3 of them on Monday night.

Other notes

We currently have 8 teams with a winning record.

1 team has less than 500 points, 2 other teams have less than 600, and 2 teams have over 700. 

The gap between the 1st place team (Tyler) and the 2nd place team (Rob) is about 30 points and 1 win.

The gap in points from the 3rd place team (Matt) to the 9th place team (Ren) is 40 points and 1 win. I have a feeling that the fight for the wildcard will be a messy affair.

Good luck to everyone except Tyler next week.