Week 3: The Injuries Start Coming and They Don't Stop Coming

There was another string of injuries throughout the league again this week.  I won't list them all, because I have to draw the line somewhere -- and last week to this week is that line.  What a rough year for health.  On the positive side, we had a lot of good QB games this week.  In real football terms, the league is in a good place -- our league is in an interesting place.  Returning league member Chad is 3-0, and division moving member Brandon are the only undefeated teams left.  If they can keep it going, that will make for an interesting week 6 when they meet up.

Game Recaps

Brady vs Skyler: The nail-biter of the week was also the battle of ineptitude.  I will have to look it up tomorrow when I have more time (I'm trying to get this out tonight), but I can't remember the last time we had two sub-100 teams face off.  It was ugly for injuries and for scores on both sides, but it was only slightly less ugly for Brady since he won. Kyler Murray broke 25 and CEH broke 18.  Skyler's leading scorer got less than 15 points.  His lowest scorer was 0.9 points.

Tommy vs Chad: It's the Return of the Chad, or maybe Batman Returns? Either way, he is 3-0 and the rest of the division is 1-2.  This was the biggest blowout of the night.  Chad had a great week all around, but the Tyler Lockett was phenomenal at 37 points.  Tommy scored 90 points, 30 of which came from Keenan Allen.  Other than Allen, his team was bad/injured.

Matt vs Trevor: This was the weekly bonanza, and had Mahomes not taken it easy and only gone for ::checks notes:: 48 points, this could have been the nail-biter of the week.  Unfortunately for Matt, Trevor put up a redonkulous (I don't use that word lightly -- only for movies like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) 189 points as a team.  Six of Trevor's players got 20+ points. 

Rob vs Brandon:  In another tank job, Rob knew he was getting worked and decided to lean into the skid and tank. Brandon had DangeRuss Wilson cooking up 46 points.  In real life football, the Seahawks are fun.  In fantasy football, they need to feed Carson and stop Russ from cooking -- especially next week.

TJ vs Kyle: In the upset of the week, #12 beats #2 by 32 points.  Josh Allen took TJ on his back and carried him to the promised land.  Tyler Boyd and Mike Davis helped get him there as those 3 combined for over 80 points.

Jordan vs Tyler: Jordan had a solid week of 127 points, but Tyler still managed to beat him by nearly 50 points.  Sunday Night Football was great for Tyler as A Rog and Kamara combined for 70 points, and for good measure, earlier on Sunday, Nick Chubb dropped 24.  Speaking of mid 20 point games, Jordan's leading scorer was Gostkowski with 25 points. He's a kicker for those of you who live under a rock.

Award Season

Eliminator:  Tommy wins the overall pool as Trevor was eliminated this week with the Jags.

Pick 'em: Skyler got 10 this week, Tyler and Tommy each got 9 this week, and Skyler leads the season standings by 2 over them.

Highest Scorer of the Week:  Trevor with his 189 points.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Skyler with 69 points -- not nice.  And that was without tanking.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Brady was the 3rd lowest scorer of the week, but it was enough to get him his first win.

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Matt was the 3rd highest scorer of the week, but it was not enough to get him his first win.

MVP of the Week: This was tough as there weren't very many close games where the top scorers helped the team eke out a win.  I'm going to give the MVP this week to Russell Wilson.  He did so great that he made Rob quit in back to back weeks.

LVP of the Week:  Again, this was another one as no one player cost his team the game.  I'm giving it to Skyler.  His starters only outscored his bench by 8 points.  That would be nice if your starters are putting up great numbers, but when your bench plus your starters combined would have scored less than the 6th best team this week, it becomes a team award.

Game Previews

Skyler (11) vs Brandon (1): Skyler has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. Brandon has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. This looks to be the blowout of the week.

Tommy (8) vs Trevor (4): Tommy has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Trevor has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.

Chad (2) vs TJ (6): Chad has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime. TJ has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime. This could be the bonanza as this has the highest-ranked matchup this week.  Julio is TJ's only Monday player (currently on the bench).  If TJ starts him, Julio won't play, and TJ will lose by 2.  If TJ sits him, Julio will go off for 35, and TJ will lose by 30.

Brady (7) vs Jordan (10): Brady has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Jordan has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. This could be the battle of ineptitude as this is the lowest-ranked matchup this week.

Matt (12) vs Tyler (3): Matt has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime. Tyler has no players on Thursday night and four players in primetime. This is looking like the Monday night nail-biter with 3 players on Monday night for Tyler

Rob (9) vs Kyle (5): Loser dies first in mafia! Rob has no players on Thursday night and up to two players in primetime -- depending on injuries and tank jobs. Kyle has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.

That is all for the week, good luck to everyone next week except Brandon.

Week 2: Injuries Galore :(

Last week, we saw major injuries to Marlon Mack, Le'Veon Bell, and Michael Thomas -- and that was just the people on Tommy's team.  Others like George Kittle and A.J. Brown played hurt last week and ended up sitting this week.  In addition to Kittle and Brown, injuries this week included CMC, Saquon, Sutton, Barkley, the 49ers lead running backs, the Giants lead running back, the second overall pick from 2019, the second overall pick from 2018, and Davante Adams.  It was a rough week all around.

Game Recaps

Skyler vs Chad: Chad put up a good solid win to go 2-0 in the division and be the only undefeated team in the division.  He had a solid game from everybody, with a standout game from Gesicki.  Skyler had a "bleh" week from everyone -- and he wasn't helped by Saquon getting hurt and only getting 2.8 points.

Tommy vs Brady: The weekly bonanza, they combined for the highest score.  Tommy had some huge boosts from Cam Newton, Aaron Jones, and Darren Waller.  Brady did his best to keep pace with Kyler Murray, DJ Moore, and Jordan Reed (aren't we all a little surprised by that last one?), but sadly couldn't pull it off.  This was also the nail-biter since it was the closest game -- but given their scores were about 27 points apart, it wasn't much of a nail-biter.  It was also the Monday Night Miracle -- but considering Tommy was down by less than 2, it wasn't much of a miracle.

Brandon vs Matt: This was a little tank by Matt as he only didn't play a kicker.  Brandon made Matt tap out with 43 points from Russell Wilson and 29 points from the newly acquired Steffon Diggs.

Rob vs Trevor: This was a big tank by Rob as he didn't play a QB, WR, K, and DST. Rob quit after Trevor had 34 points from Tannehill and 20+ points from Hill and Hopkins.  Rob was let down by Davante Adams, and he let down the league.

Tyler vs TJ:  This was a manhandling of Tyler beating TJ by nearly 60 points.  Kudos to TJ for not giving up and trying to get a better waiver spot.  Tyler put up his high score with help from basically everyone except Gronk.  Gronk got shut out.  After that, his lowest scorer was his DST at 9 points, and then his next lowest was his K at 15.  Half of his players had 20+ points.

Jordan vs Kyle: Kyle whooped Jordan, and made Jordan cry uncle. Kyle had a great trio of Matt Ryan, Kareem Hunt, and Christian McCaffrey.  Jordan struggled with a lack of output from his DST, TE, Gurley, and AJ Green.

Award Season

Eliminator:  And after two weeks, Trevor has won the paid Eliminator pool.  We clearly did a great job on this contest.

Pick 'em: Skyler has a 1 game lead over Tyler and Tommy.  Everyone else seems to have given up.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Tyler was able to maintain the high score over Tommy with help from Kamara.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Jordan scored 67 points.  Granted, he phoned it in this week, but even if he had started a kicker, he would have been lucky to break 75.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Kyle wins the Luckiest Team of the Week.  He was the lowest scorer to win (7th in the league this week).

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Brady was the third-highest scorer, and lost because he played the 2nd highest scorer.

MVP of the Week:  Aaron Jones helped get Tommy the win by being Tommy's highest scorer.  It wasn't enough to get Tommy the highest scorer, but he helped enough to get Tommy passed Brady in the nail-biter game of the week.

LVP of the Week: Rob, Jordan, and Matt for tanking.

Game Previews

Skyler (8) vs Brady (10): Skyler has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Brady has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime.

Tommy (6) vs Chad (3): Tommy has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Chad has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime.

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

Rob (7) vs Brandon (1): Rob has one player on Thursday night and could have up to 5 players in primetime -- it is hard to tell because of injuries. Brandon has no players on Thursday night and three players in primetime.

TJ (12) vs Kyle (2): TJ has no players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. Kyle has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.

Jordan (9) vs Tyler (4): Jordan has one player on Thursday night and one player in primetime. Tyler has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime.

That's all for this week.  Good luck to everyone next week -- except Brady.

Week 1: Sometimes it's Better to be Lucky than Good

Welcome back fantasy football degenerates.  I apologize for the delay, but when the late Monday Night Football game features your team in a close game, my commissioner duties of writing the weekly recap get postponed.   Luckily in real football, the Gostkowski missed field goals didn't cost the Titans the game, and luckily in fake football,  I played against Tommy.

Skyler vs Tommy:  In the lowest scoring and most boring game of the week aka the battle of ineptitude, Skyler beat Tommy by 17 points, and Skyler only scored 100.7 points this week.  Tommy was let down by Bell, who got hurt, Thomas who got hurt, and the Vikings DST who got -8 points.  Quick side note, but -8 is the absolute lowest a DST can score you.  That only happens if they allow the top tier of yards and points, and don't record any sacks or turnovers.  We should probably change the scoring on that, but when you allow over 500 yards and 40 points, you definitely deserve to be punished -- maybe just not -8 points of punishment. Skyler only had one person (Chris Carson) score over 20 points this week, but it was enough to snatch a victory.

Chad vs Brady: This was Chad's first game in a year and a half, and he wasted no time letting his old division know he was back.  In the biggest blowout of the week, Chad beat Brady by 30 points.  Both started out hot on Thursday night, where each team started 1 player who scored right around 20 points, but the good times only rolled after that for Chad.  Chad had four players who scored 20 or more points, and Brady only had one -- which proved to be the difference this week.  Brady was let down by Kittle who got injured in the first half and played hobbled the rest of the game.  Interestingly enough, Brady was one of two teams in the league who didn't have an LVP (LVP is 5 points or fewer), and both of those teams still somehow lost.

Matt vs Rob:  This was the weekly nailbiter as it was the closest margin of victory, and it was also the weekly bonanza as it had the highest combined score.  However, the game was decided by the end of Sunday night.  Rob only had his kicker left (we weren't even sure if Rob would play a kicker), and Matt needed a miracle from Cooper and Elliot to get back into the game.  They combined for 45 points, but it left Matt's team 3 points shy of catching Rob, and guaranteed Rob the victory.  Rob picked up a kicker anyway, and only got 2 points out of him, so Rob ended up winning by just a shade under 5 points.  What really hurts for Matt is he was the second-highest scorer of the week and still lost, but more on that later.  Rob had a lot of solid players (15+ points), and a strong contender for the MVP of the week, but we'll save that for the awards section.

Brandon vs Trevor: With the offseason acquisition of Chad coming back to the league, this was Brandon's first game in a new division.  He showed his new division his hospitality by beating Trevor in the second-biggest blowout and scored the 4th highest point total in the league -- and was only the 3rd highest scorer in his division.  Brandon let Russ cook and was rewarded handsomely for it.  There may be an internal investigation into the ethics of Brandon have Russell Wilson on the team.  There are allegations made that Brandon has played pick up ball at a church with a member of Pete Carroll's immediate family, and may have used that connection for his own gain. We will reach out to Brandon for a comment once this slander breaking news is released.

TJ vs Jordan: This week has the distinction of being the Monday Night Miracle, and spoiler alert, it has TJ losing -- again.  I don't know anyone who hates Monday Night Football more than TJ. TJ was down by about 10 points at the start of the Steelers game (the first of the MNF doubleheader), and relied on their defense to give him a narrow lead.  He then had to sweat out the Titans Kicker and DST to see if he could keep the lead.  Fortunately for Jordan, those two players did just enough to give him the 6 point win.  This was the nail-biter of the night, but not of the week.  If it is any consolation to TJ (it won't be), for sites that do negative points for kickers, it seems to be -1 for each missed kick.  That would have given Jordan's kicker a score of 0 (instead of 4), but Jordan still would have won.  It just would have been by 1.5 points.  Jordan was helped to the victory by the Dynamic Duo of Lamar Jackson and Josh Jacobs.  If that sounds familiar, it's because Jordan often rode Lamar Jackson to victory last year, but the other half of the duo was usually Mark Ingram.  Aren't we all glad that Jordan found a new RB to pair with his QB?  TJ is the other person (in addition to Brady) to not have an LVP, and yet they somehow both lost -- fantasy football can be cruel.

Tyler vs Kyle:  In normal weeks this game would have likely been the nail-biter of the week and the bonanza has the game was decided by 10 points, and they combined for a score of 286.  Unfortunately for them, there were some other games with slightly bigger fireworks and tighter margins.  I'm sure they are just so sad as they don't win any fake awards on this blog post that is read by less than 15 people.  I don't want to spoil too much of the unluckiest team write up below, so I'll just say that Kyle was led to victory by three guys (Ryan, CMC, Thielen) who scored at least 20 points, and one of those three (Thielen) actually got up to 30 points.

Award Season

Mario Kart has been abandoned by the league, so the new awards that get a shout out will be the eliminator challenge and the pick 'em challenge

Eliminator:  A lot of upsets this week, so the only people still alive are TJ, Trevor, Tommy, and Rob.

Pick 'em:  Tommy had the best week 1 and sits at 11 points.  I will update the weekly winner and the season leader as we go along, but since it's only week one, Tommy is both of those things.

Highest Scorer of the Week:  Rob, the defending champion, is your highest scorer of the week.  Yay for him /s.

Lowest Scorer of the Week:  Tommy wins this dubious award.  Let's hope the first waiver pick, the Eliminator and Pick'em shout outs help ease his pain.

Luckiest Team of the Week:  Skyler, and it wasn't even close.  He was the second-lowest scoring team of the week, and he still somehow won.

Unluckiest Team of the Week:  Tyler had three people who scored 20+ points, and two of those three even scored 30+.  He had the highest top 3 scorers of anyone in the league.  His top 3 combined for just over 90 points and Jordan's (next best top 3 of the league) barely cracked 80. He was a top 6 scorer of the week, and still got a loss.  And after all of that, he isn't even going to win the Unluckiest Team of the Week.  Instead, that award will go to Matt, who was the second-highest scorer of week, and he still lost.

MVP of the Week: Rob beat the second highest scoring team by less than 5 points.  His stud WR Davante Adams got him the win, and Davante will win the MVP of the week.  Davante, if you see this, congrats to you -- I'm sure this is the highest honor of your life.

LVP of the Week:  I used to do LVP's of the week and list everyone who started that got less than 5 points, but that was too time-consuming for not a lot of reward.  This season, I'll award the LVP to one singular person.  It will be a combination of their score, their expectations, and if their fantasy team lost, and not just the lowest scoring starter. I will also try not to include injuries.  On that note, the LVP will actually go to the Vikings for scoring -8, and they actually were the lowest scoring player of the week.  The average score of the other 11 starting defenses this week was 9.27 points.  Had Tommy had a league-average defense, he would have won week 1.  Other contenders were Mike Evans, and someone from Matt or TJ's team.  Matt and TJ's team didn't have a person who clearly underperformed that you were expecting a much bigger game from, and Mike Evans was hurt for Tyler.

Game Previews

Skyler (6) vs Chad (4): Skyler has one player on Thursday night and one player in primetime. Chad has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime.

Tommy (12) vs Brady (11): Tommy has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Brady has one player on Thursday night and no players in primetime. Based on seedings, this is the early front runner for the battle of ineptitude

Brandon (3) vs Matt (7): Brandon has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Matt has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. The seedings might not show it, but this is 2 of the top 4 teams and is the early front runner for the weekly bonanza

Rob (1) vs Trevor (10): Rob has no players on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Trevor has no players on Thursday night and no players in primetime.

Tyler (8) vs TJ (9): Tyler has one player on Thursday night and one player in primetime. TJ has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime.

Jordan (5) vs Kyle (2): Jordan has one player on Thursday night and two players in primetime. Kyle has one player on Thursday night and one player in primetime.  Given the seedings, this is another contender for weekly bonanza.  Also, with 3 players playing on Monday night, there is a good chance of this being a Monday Night Miracle and/or the weekly nail-biter.

Division Smack Talk

This won't be a regularly occurring segment, but I wanted to mention that the North Division is basically the SEC -- lots of championship pedigree and tough defense with low scoring games. The South Division is the Big 12 -- lots of scoring, no defense, and probably not for real when it comes to championships contenders.  The West Division is the Big 10 --  somewhere in the middle of the SEC and Big 12, and they have that one team that everyone loves to hate (The Ohio St. University).

I'm so happy that fantasy football is back -- it just makes life so much better. Good luck to everyone this week, except for Chad.