Week 16: Semi Final Madness

FantasyPros gave Matt a 51% chance of winning and Rob a 75%, which meant Brady had a 49% chance of winning, and Skyler 25%.  Based on the above numbers, the combined result we got over the weekend had a 12.25% of actually happening.

Game Recaps

Skyler (5) vs Rob (1): This game was the bonanza, the nail-biter, and the Monday Nightmare/Miracle. This game was less than a point away from combining for 300 points, and the separation between the two was less than 7 points. Each team had 4 people in the 20-point club (no 30-point explosions).  Skyler had only 2 people in the single-digit club, and Rob had 3, which certainly helped Skyler, but the biggest issue for Rob was that his Kicker and DST combined for 4 points, while Skyler's combined for 26.  Skyler's Monday Night trio combined for just under 51 points to complete the comeback and punch his ticket to the championship.

Brady (2) vs Matt (3): This game was supposed to be tighter, and of the two playoff games, this was technically the battle of ineptitude and the blowout of the week; however, given that the difference in the scores was still single digits, and the combined score was over 256, this game was not worth of those negative accolades. Both teams were affected by injury, with Matt losing Pacheco and Waddle during the game, and Brady losing Dontayvion "John 'Baba Yaga' Wick" Wicks. Both teams had two players in the 20-point club.  Brady had 4 people in the single-digit club, while Matt only had 2 in the single-digit.  The closeness might make more sense if we look at the 11-point cutoff, as they both had 5 people in that club. In the end, there is no clear-cut reason why Brady won, other than small 1-2 point advantages across the board.

Lucky: With 10 championships between these guys, no one will be called lucky this week.

Unlucky: Rob will win this award given that he was the Highest-scoring team this season, had the highest raw point total ever in a season, was the number 1 seed, and was the second highest-scoring team of the week.

MVP: There are a lot of candidates here, but no single standout player.  Several players had top 2-3 performances for the season at the right time.

LVP: Ignoring injuries -- the LVP will go to Butker and the Packers DST for scoring their season-low totals at the wrong time.

Highest Scorer: Skyler

Lowest Scorer: Matt

King of the Court: Brady takes it from Matt in the second to last week

Game Preview

Skyler (5) vs Brady (2): Let's be honest, no one cares about this week outside of Brady and Skyler.  Skyler winning his 5th would suck and Brady taking second in total championships with 3 would suck.  If there was an underdog who had never won before that people could rally behind, more of the league would care.

Skyler has 1 player on Thursday night, 0 players on Saturday night, 0 players on Sunday afternoon, and 1 player on Sunday Night Football. Brady has 0 players on Thursday night, 1 player on Saturday night, 2 players on Sunday afternoon, and 0 players on Sunday Night.

This is the first division matchup in a championship game, and as such, has the most played games and history between 2 teams.  For this season, Skyler went 2-0 head-to-head against Brady, but Brady would lead the season series 9-6 (that includes week 16 when both had a meaningful game, but not week 15 when Brady was on a bye and didn't start anyone). Lifetime, their head-to-head regular season record is 15 wins for Skyler and 13 wins for Brady. They have played each other twice in the playoffs, both having gone 1-1 (lifetime 16-14 for Skyler in meaningful games). Brady won their first playoff matchup (semi-finals) in 2018 -- the year he won the championship.  Skyler got revenge in 2021 in their playoff matchup (semi-finals) -- which was also the year he won a championship.  It seems fitting that the playoff tiebreaker will happen in the championship this year. 

Skyler is currently on a 2-game-win streak against Brady and is looking for his third 3+ game winning streak. Brady also has two 3 game-winning streaks against Skyler. 2023 was the 5th time Skyler swept the regular season against Brady. Brady has swept the regular season series against Skyler 4 times.  Only once have they met in the playoffs after a team swept the regular season.  Skyler swept in the 2018 regular season only for Brady to win when it really mattered.

Skyler is 4-0 in championship games, while Brady is 2-1 in championship games. Both teams have won 1 championship in the 2020s (Skyler 2021, Brady 2020), so whoever wins this will be the first team with 2 championships this decade, and will be the front-runner for the team of the half-decade (2010-2014, Skyler had 2 championships. 2015-2019 Rob had two championships. 2020-present, Brady and Skyler each have one)

This matchup is pretty even on weekly rankings.  For example, Josh Allen is ranked 3 on fantasy pros, and Lamar is ranked 4. They also have the top two kickers. Where the difference will likely come is on the bigger differences at RB, WR, TE, and DST.  As of this writing, both teams are starting 2 RB and 3 WR.  Given that balance, we will keep the analysis that way and not break out the flex separately.  According to FantasyPros, Brady's combined RB rank is at 22 while Skyler's rank is at 43.  At WR, Brady's combined rank is at 49, while Skyler's is at 28. Skyler's TE is 2 and Brady's is at 10.  Skyler's DST is 1, and Brady's is 8.  Those gaps aren't nothing for the TE and DST, but those positions usually don't put up a lot of points. The NFL projections have Skyler winning by 5-6, and the FantasyPros analysis has him winning at a 60% chance.  The projections seem reasonable given how close all the rankings are, but FantasyPros seems way too skewed. 

The last game of the week is Packers vs Vikings.  Skyler has 1 starter and 1 on the bench from that game, while Brady currently has 0 starters and 2 on the bench for that game.  If something happens midweek, perhaps those bench players get called up and make Sunday Night a little more exciting, but the odds are Skyler will be watching with a deficit and will be hoping whatever QB starts only targets JJ, while Brady will be watching with a lead, and hopes that the QB sucks and JJ is triple covered or gets hurt.  It should be for an intense night and someone is going to have a terrible New Year's Eve.

Best of luck to everyone in the consolation, or in the main playoff bracket except Brady.

Weeks 13, 14 and 15 (Playoffs Round 1)

My apologies for the lack of writing again.  Below is a quick summary of the weeks that passed, some first-round playoff information that isn't as relevant, but still may be interesting, and a semi-final preview.

Round 1 Playoff History

It’s obviously a bit late to do a playoff preview since the first round is over. So I’ll provide some context around the teams, their playoff history, and how shocked we should or shouldn’t be about the results.

Of the 6 teams in the playoffs, Skyler, Rob, and Tommy are all back in after taking a 1-year break. TJ and Matt have been to the playoffs in back-to-back years, and this is Brady’s 4th consecutive year, which as far as I can tell, ties Jordan's and Ren’s runs (2011-2014) for the third most consecutive appearances. Chad had a 5-year run (2012-2016), and the record for consecutive playoff appearances is Skyler at 7 (2010-2016).

For the matchups that occurred, TJ was 1-0 over Skyler this season and Matt was 1-0 against Tommy.  TJ would have been 9-5 over Skyler had they only played each other every week this season. Matt would have been 8-6 over Tommy had they only played each other every week this season.

For posterity's sake (aka the NFL website goes down and we need a backup history of what happened), Skyler beat TJ in the blowout and the battle of ineptitude, and Matt beat Tommy in the bonanza, the nailbiter, and the Monday Nightmare/Miracle.

Matt remains King of the Court, and was the highest scorer of the week, the MVP is CMC, and the LVP is Jamar Chase, which feels dirty because he got hurt.  Unlucky was Tommy, and lucky was Skyler. Matt is the highest-scoring team, and TJ is the lowest-scoring team.

Semi-Finals Preview

Back in the spring of 2022, we had a March Madness Final 4 of Duke, UNC, Kansas, and Villanova.  It was considered the first Final 4 of historical college basketball blue bloods.  This year, our Final 4 is made up of our league’s blue bloods since the 4 teams remaining are the only teams that have multiple championships.  Each team has at least 2 championships, and the 4 teams combine for 10 championships, with an 11th coming in 13 days.  This is our ‘Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time', but instead of Alex Trebek, Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer, we have Skyler, Rob, Brady, and Matt. Skyler can create the 5 Times club or one of Rob/Brady/Matt can join the 3 Times club.  Matt could also join the back-to-back club.

As far as appearances in the Final 4 (including 2023), Skyler has 9, Brady has 6, and Rob and Matt each have 5. Fun Brady fact – in 2016, Skyler had 6 appearances, Rob and Matt each had 2, and Brady had 0. Brady has made the semi’s 6 of the last 7 years, which is an incredible run. Brady, Rob, and Matt each have a winning record in the semi-finals, while Skyler only has a .500 record.  In raw numbers, Brady has lost twice (5 previous appearances), and Matt and Rob have only lost once (4 previous appearances).  Skyler has lost 4 times (8 previous appearances). If Brady, Rob, or Matt lose, they will move down to .500, and if Skyler loses, he will have a losing record in the semi-finals.

Two of the final teams remaining are from the North division, and two are from the South division. Depending on how things turn out, we could have our first championship game where both teams are from the same division. FantasyPros currently has the South teams as the favorites in both games (Rob at 75% chance to win and Matt at 51%). If both Matt and Rob win, this would be only the 3rd time in recorded history that the North didn’t have a representative in the championship (2022 and 2019).  If both Skyler and Brady win, it would be the 6th time (2021, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2010) a team from the South didn’t play in the championship.  

With the West eliminated, they will continue their streak of not having a champion since Tyler won it all in 2013 – a streak that is now 10 years old.  My math might be wrong, but I believe Bella is the oldest kid of the league members, and I believe she was born in the summer of 2013, and Jackson was born in late summer/early fall.  Again, my math might be wrong, but as a league, we have over 30 kids, and the last time a team in the West won a championship, we had a combined 2 kids, and they were only a few months old. Anyway, the West has missed the championship 7 times (2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023).

For the matchups that occurred this year, Rob was 1-0 over Skyler this season and Brady was 1-0 against Matt.  Rob would have been 10-4 over Skyler had they only played each other every week this season. Matt and Brady would each be 7-7 had they only played each other every week this season. The regular season lifetime record between Skyler and Rob is 9 wins for Skyler and 5 wins for Rob. Skyler has beaten Rob once in the playoffs, and Rob has beaten Skyler once in the consolation.  They had no other postseason matchups from what I could tell.  Matt and Brady never played in the regular season until 2021 – since that schedule expansion, Brady has 2 wins and Matt has 1 in the regular season. Brady has beaten Matt once in the playoffs, and Matt has beaten Brady once in the consolation.  They had no other postseason matchups from what I could tell.

Game Previews

Skyler vs Rob: Skyler has 0 players on Thursday, 0 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 4 players on Monday (Christmas Day). Rob is busy playing games with his lineup, but he could realistically start 1 player on Thursday, 2 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 3 players on Monday (Christmas Day).

Matt vs Brady: Matt has 1 player on Thursday, 0 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 4 players on Monday (Christmas Day). Brady has 0 players on Thursday, 3-4 players on Saturday, 0 players on Sunday Night Football, and 0-1 Players on Monday (Christmas Day).

Best of luck to everyone not named Rob.

Weeks 7-12

Is it a little suspicious that the blog didn't come back until I won?  Maybe a little, but I had weeks 7-10 already done, and I was able to update 11 and 12 really quick.  I am still in STG, and the quick blog is a way to pass the time while I listen to my children being sick in the background.  Anyway, here are the quick recaps (except for golf because that's too much time, but assume it's Tommy or Kyle)

The important thing from the last few weeks is that it's Rob's world, and we're just here for the ride. Other interesting notes on the playoff standings include that we have four teams who have hit the 8-win mark.  It's no guarantee of getting in the playoffs as we could end up with seven teams hitting that threshold this year.  With two games left, Scott is 3 games back of the last wildcard spot, and is therefore eliminated. A win by Skyler or Tyler will eliminate Brandon and Jordan.  If Skyler and Tyler lose out, Brandon and Jordan will be eliminated if they lose any more games. No one has won their division yet, but TJ is the clear favorite to win the West.  In order for Tyler to catch him, TJ would need to lose out, Tyler would need to win out, and Tyler would have to catch up on 80-90 points as well.  The North and the South are still anyone's to win as records are tight in those divisions.

Week 6: Injuries Still Suck

I hoped that week 5 would be the end of the injuries, but week 6 came in and was just as awful.  I found a few clips that sum up how the last two weeks have felt.

Anyway, enough of the dramatics, let's get to the week that was.

Game Recaps

Skyler vs Tyler: With 4 major players going on IR, this week did not look promising for Skyler.  That bleak outlook continued after his WR scored 0 on Thursday night.  Tyler gave Skyler a small spark of hope when Mr. Unlimited and Javonte turned in stinkers on Thursday night as well.  And despite Deebo Samuel going out after 9 plays, Skyler managed to win this tickle fight by a narrow margin. Even though this was the clear battle of ineptitude, it still had its drama as it was also the nail-biter of the week and had several lead changes throughout the day.  This game would have been more intense had it not ended on the Sunday afternoon games, but such is life.  Neither team had a 20+ point player. Skyler managed to get a win as he had 5 players score double digits, while Tyler only had 4.

Kyle vs Tommy: This was the second closest game of the week, and it required Tommy to come from behind on SNF.  He ended up winning comfortably, but he had to sweat out his defense for a while until Josh Allen scored enough to give him a cushion. Kyle had zero players in the 20+ point valley of death, while Tommy had two players in the 20+ point squad. Tommy should also be commended for getting more diverse by swindling Matt and no longer having only white guys in his 20+ club.

Matt vs TJ: This game was the weekly bonanza -- it outscored the Kyle/Tommy by 0.42 and the Brandon/Scott game by 2.34 Matt ended up being the high scorer of the week and helped lead the charge to the bonanza, but TJ was no slouch as he at least scored over 100, unlike some other losers in this league. This bonanza was brought to us by Matt having Raheem Mostert in the 20+ point union, while TJ also contributed only one player (Keenan Allen) to the 20+ point cavalcade. Despite it being the bonanza, it wasn't all that exciting or dramatic as Matt led wire to wire and this was the blowout of the week.

Rob vs Jordan: This game had a little back and forth, and Rob decided he was done giving away wins to the West, and tried this week.  It didn't help that Jordan had a key player who fell victim to injury this week. Rob had two people in the 20+ point kinship, and Jordan also had two people in the 20+ point squad. They also had the same number of people in the double digit club, which makes his win by 15 all the more perplexing.  I suppose it was a game of inches for each player matchup, and Rob won enough of those to get the win this week.

Trevor vs Brady: The game started competitively and was close with several back and forth score lines, and then Trevor decided to quit messing around and finish Brady off -- and I'm pretty sure it was Trevor's fault that Montgomery got hurt and left early.  I assume he used his shady doctor network and got in touch with the Lions doctor and had him injury Monty somehow. Trevor had two players in the 20+ point network.  Brady also had two players in the 20+ point unit.

Brandon vs Scott: In the battle of defeated players, Scott got his first win of the season as well as his first career win. This was the second biggest blowout of the week.  Brandon started out mediocre and had all of his players finish in the morning games. Scott took advantage by gradually chipping away at Brandon's lead in the afternoon games until he took the lead thanks to Hurts and Kupp. Brandon had two people on the 20+ point team, while Scott had two on the 20+ point side (the aforementioned Hurts and Kupp) as well.

I didn't lead off with it because I wanted to be dramatic about all of the injuries, but the whole West division lost this week.  I just wanted to call that out specifically, and I'm sure that won't come back to haunt me in week 7.  If it does, I can just skip another week of blogging.

Award Season

MVP: Mostert was the highest scorer on the highest scoring team.  I thought about giving it to a player on Skyler's team since this was the closest game, but none of his team were MVP's, they were just the least LVP on the team.

LVP: Speaking of LVPs and Skyler vs Tyler, Davante Adams had his lowest game of the season after having the lowest game of the season the week before. If Davante had hit his season average of 20, Tyler wins his game.

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Kyle was the highest scoring (5th overall) loser, so he wins the Unluckiest Award.

Luckiest Team of the Week: With all the injuries he had, and for being the 3rd lowest scorer and still finding a way to win, Skyler was the obvious choice.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Matt beat out Scott for this award by 5 points.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Tyler takes the cake no one wants this week.

King of the Court: Tyler picked a really bad week to be the Lowest Scorer of the Week, and Skyler takes the crown this week. Congrats to Kyle on winning it next week.

Golf Week Review

Kyle keeps his green jacket from last week.  He really knuckled down to be the guy to finish in the least amount of strokes. TJ tried to finish in as few strokes as Kyle but sadly finished two behind. He kept pace with Kyle 5 of the 7 days but came up just short on Thursday and Monday. Tommy managed to be in their tier and was only 5 strokes behind Kyle.  Matt, Brandon, and Skyler were in the next tier and finished 13+ strokes behind Kyle. Scott, Brady, and Rob only got into the golf game once this week because they have lives apparently and don't feel the need to stroke it that often. In a surprise move, neither of the doctors got in on the golf game this week -- losers.

	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Total
Kyle	8	9	8	8	8	9	8	58
TJ	8	9	9	8	8	9	9	60
Tommy	9	10	9	9	8	9	9	63
Matt	9	12	9	10	10	10	11	71
Brandon	10	9	18	9	9	9	10	74
Skyler	10	12	10	11	11	12	9	75
Scott	11	13	12	12	13	13	12	86
Rob	11	13	19	12	12	13	12	92
Brady	11	13	19	12	13	13	11	92
Trevor	11	13	19	12	13	13	12	93
Jordan	11	13	19	12	13	13	12	93

Game Previews

Skyler (1) vs Kyle (9): Skyler has 0 players on Thursday and 1 player in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Kyle has 2 players on Thursday and 1 player in primetime. This game will determine the king of the court.  

Brandon (12) vs Brady (3): Brandon has 1 player on Thursday and 3 players in primetime. He has 2 players on bye. Brady has 1 player on Thursday and 0 players in primetime. He has 0 players on bye. Based on standings, this looks to be the biggest blowout. 

Scott (11) vs Trevor (7): Scott has 0 players on Thursday and 2 players in primetime. He has 2 players on bye. Trevor has 1 player on Thursday and 2 players in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Based on standings, this is 1 of 3 games that could be the weekly nail biter – it could also be the battle of ineptitude based on standings.  However, based on projections, this could be the bonanza. 

Jordan (10) vs Matt (5): Jordan’s team is a mess thanks to the bye week and injuries. He could have 1 player on Thursday and 1 player in primetime. He has 3 players on bye. He doesn’t currently have a healthy/startable TE/K/DST. Matt has 0 players on Thursday and 4 players in primetime. He has 0 players on bye. 

TJ (4) vs Rob (8): TJ has 0 players on Thursday and 1 player in primetime. He has 0 players on bye. Rob has 1 player on Thursday and possibly 2 players in primetime. He has 3 players on bye. Based on standings, this is 1 of 3 games that could be the weekly nail biter. 

Tommy (2) vs Tyler (6): Tommy has 1 player on Thursday and 0 players in primetime. He has 3 players on bye. Tyler has 1 player on Thursday and 4 players in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Based on standings, this looks to be the bonanza. Based on standings, this is 1 of 3 games that could be the weekly nail biter. 

The only game with fewer than 3 total players in primetime is Skyler vs Kyle.  All the other games look to have 3-5 players (per my estimates), which should make for some fun and late drama. 

Good luck to everyone this week but the Green Jacket wearing goon.

Week 5: Injuries Suck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQtHCeabAR8 

Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even flopped
Then somebodies dropped
Very expectedly 

Just a little change
He could possibly thrive
His team has started bad
The rest of the west is mad
Rob tanked week five 

Ever just the same
Always a big pain
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the commissioner will complain
Oh
Oh 

Mmm, oh-oh-oh 

Ever just the same
Always a big pain
Ever as before
And ever just as sure
As the commissioner will complain 

Oh, oh, oh 

Tale as old as time (ooh-ooh)
Tune as old as song
Committed a fantasy sin
Giving Tyler an unearned win
Learning your assumptions were wrong 

Certain as someone in the West
Certain as someone in the West
Missing the playoffs due to this crime
Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Rob tanked week five  

Tale as old as time
Song as old as rhyme
Rob tanked week five 

Oh, oh, oh
Ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh 

Rob tanked week five  

Game Recaps -- Speed Round

Skyler vs Trevor: Skyler lost by 85, and this still wasn't the blowout of the week.  However, it was the battle of ineptitude despite Trevor's best efforts.  Skyler lost multiple players to injury, and even more players to sucking, while Trevor finished as the 3rd highest scorer. Skyler had no one in the 20+ point range, while Trevor managed to get four people in the 20+ point organization.

Brandon vs Tommy:  This also wasn't much of a game as Brandon lost by 77, but it was the bonanza as Brandon actually had a solid week, and Tommy broke 200. Brandon had three people in the 20+ point bunch, while Tommy had four people in the 20+ point squad.  The big difference that got Tommy the win was he had a 50+ point player and two 30+ guys, while Brandon only had one guy score 30+.

Tyler vs Rob: Tyler only won because Rob had no faith and assumed his DST wouldn't outscore a low-level GB RB and Davante Adams. Maybe he genuinely believed he would lose, or maybe he didn't want to get his hopes up and then get them dashed, but he dropped the Packers, and it gave Tyler the 5-point win in the Monday Nightmare/Miracle and the weekly nail-biter. Tyler had two people in the 20+ point union, and Rob also had two players in the 20+ point club.  The big difference was Rob dropping his DST, because Rob had more double-digit scorers than Tyler did.

TJ vs Brady: This ended up being the biggest blowout of the week as Brady won by nearly 132 points. A combination of 211 points from Brady and a season-low from TJ made this blowout possible. Brady led from start to finish in this blowout.  TJ only had one member in the 20+ point kingdom and Brady had a 20+ point sextuplet on his team.

Jordan vs Scott: Jordan won by a lot and led the whole way, but it ended up being one of the better games given it was one of three games to be decided by 30 points or less -- instead of the 75+ points in the other three games. Jordan had three people in the 20+ point division, while Scott had two players in the 20+ point initiative. Fields dropping 40+ before getting hurt was the big difference-maker in this game.

Kyle vs Matt: This was the second-best game of the week as it had multiple lead changes, and the final score only had a difference of 21 points. Kyle got the win thanks to having two people in the 20+ point cohort, while Matt only had one player in the 20+ point kinship.  I know that doesn't sound like the reason Kyle won, and it's probably not. The real reason Kyle won is because he had 7 people in double digits and Matt only had 6.  Nope, that still doesn't sound like a good reason.  What is impressive though is despite having those narrow advantages, he also had someone score him 0 points, and he still managed to win. Let's just chalk it up to Kyle wanting it more and working harder for it?

Award Season

MVP: I try not to give 2 of these out, but DJ Moore deserves to be here because he was the highest scorer on the highest scoring team, and did it on a Thursday night. I also want to give an MVP award to the 49ers DST for getting their highest score of the season in a game where Tyler narrowly won. Had the 49ers given up 3 more yards, they would have given up 3 more points, and maybe Rob starts a DST and wins his game.

LVP: Rob

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Brandon gets this award as he lost as the 6th highest scorer.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Tyler was the lowest scoring winner, and he was lucky to play a team who likes to tank.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Brady flirted with the all time single game record and put up 211.44.  It is the highest score of the season and has earned him a temporary spot in the history books (5th highest score listed -- though it's possible it's not the 5th highest score of all time).  Will anyone be able to dethrone him in 2023?

Lowest Scorer of the Week: Skyler had a lot of injuries and some terrible healthy performances as well and couldn't even break 60 points.  Let's hope that this is the last of the injury bug and that it doesn't come back to bite us as soon as week 6.

King of the Court: Tyler retains his crown for a week and looks to defend it against Skyler next week.

Golf Week Review

Kyle easily keeps his green jacket as he was the top player 6 of the 7 days

	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Total
Kyle	10	8	9	9	9	9	8	62
TJ	10	9	9	9	10	9	8	64
Tommy	10	9	10	10	12	8	9	68
Brandon	12	9	11	9	15	11	9	76
Skyler	14	12	12	10	14	13	12	87
Matt	16	10	14	10	16	14	10	90
Rob	16	13	12	11	16	14	13	95
Scott	15	13	15	11	16	14	11	95
Trevor	16	13	15	11	16	14	13	98
Brady	16	13	15	11	16	14	13	98
Jordan	16	13	15	11	16	14	13	98

Game Recaps

Ha, we already know how that went since I'm behind.

Week 4: A Cursed Week for the South

A little behind the scenes for everyone, but when I write my blog, I will pull open a version from the last year or two so I can copy the preview section, paste it into this year, and then update the numbers of players on Thursday, in primetime and on bye. I didn't check for 2022 because I thought I missed it (turns out it exists) and I went straight to week 4 of 2021 to copy the information.  The title of that week was "Week 4: The South All Lost Again".  It seems very fitting given the same exact scenario played out this week. I ended up checking for the 2022 blog because I tried to name all the games in 2022.  That trend didn't last long and I'm glad I stopped it. 

That's not much of an intro, but it's better than last week.

Game Recaps

Skyler vs Brandon: This was probably the most 'meh' game of the week.  It wasn't the closest, and it also wasn't the biggest blowout.  It was low-scoring, but it wasn't the battle of ineptitude.  There were no primetime games, so the score was decided by Sunday afternoon, and there was no primetime rally to make the game exciting. Skyler had three players in the 20+ point cohort (Richardson, Henry, and Jefferson), while Brandon had one player in the 20+ point oligarchy (Achane).

Brady vs Jordan: This was the best game of the week.  It was the bonanza as it had the biggest score, it was the weekly nail biter as it was the closest game of the week, and it was the nightly nail biter as Brady and Jordan had to sweat it out all Monday night.  The only thing that was missing was the Monday Nightmare/Miracle with Jordan not able to complete the comeback.  Brady started out hot with Goff playing solid and Monty returning to championship-winning form with 34 points, and then managed to keep the lead all week with a 36-point performance from Diggs.  Jordan made it close with Fields and AJ brown actually outdoing Brady's top duo and scoring a combined 73 points. DK Metcalf tried to get Jordan the victory, but he fell short of victory by 4.1 points. This game ending in a tie would have been amazing.  It has never happened in our league, but we will continue to hope it happens. Brady had two people in the 20+ point vicinity, while Jordan also had two people in the 20+ point intersection. Jordan actually had more people in double digits, but I believe the biggest difference was having a DST in the negative digits.

Scott vs TJ:  Another middle-of-the-road game as #1 handled #12 as expected. TJ led for most of the game, with Scott having a brief lead in the middle of Sunday, before TJ took it back for good. Scott had two people in the 20+ point den with Hurts and Andrews, while TJ also had two people in the 20+ point wigwam with McLaurin and the Cowboys DST. The game decider was the fact that Scott had 3 people score double digits, while TJ had 7.

Tyler vs Matt: This was the second-best game of the week, though the next game might dispute that fact. This was the third closest game, and it came down to Sunday Night Football.  Matt started with a narrow lead Thursday that Tyler made even closer on Sunday. Sunday afternoon Tyler took the lead and built a cushion with a recently returned from injury Brandon Aiyuk. Before SNF, the projections had this incredibly close, which made sense given the fact Matt had Mahomes and the Chiefs DST going against 'ol Zach 'The Cougar Lover' Wilson and the Jets. Unfortunately for Matt, Mr. Cougar Lover was playing like he was a BYU Cougar again, which meant Matt's DST only scored 6, while Mahomes only scored 15.  This was Mahomes' first game since December 5, 2021 where he threw more interceptions than TD's. He had 3 of those games in 2021 (4 if you count the Superbowl in early 2021), 1 of those games in 2020, 0 in 2019, 1 in 2018, and 1 in his only game in 2017.  I just wanted to emphasize how rare this type of game was.  Due to the Chief's woes, Matt didn't keep his crown, and Tyler became the new King of the Court.  Tyler had two people in the 20+ point arrangement (DangeRuss and Aiyuk) while Matt had no one in the 20+ point squad. Despite my gushing and long writing, this was actually the battle of ineptitude as this was the only game that didn't combine for over 200 points.

Kyle vs Rob: This was the underrated game of the week. The score graph on the website had more random bumps and dips than a BYU super soaker -- which isn't actually a real thing, but I'll move on. This was the second-highest-scoring game and the second-closest game of the week. Kyle had the lead going into Sunday night while Rob still had Geno yet to play.  Unfortunately for Rob, Geno got hurt in the middle of the game (but eventually came back), and the DST did a lot of the heavy lifting, so Rob didn't have many opportunities to keep Kyle defeated as Geno was limited, and needed to do limited throwing. Kyle's big hitters came to play as he had four people in the 20+ point range (Herbert, Kamara, Jacobs, and the Ravens DST), while Rob only had one player with 20+ point energy (K Williams).

Trevor vs Tommy: This was the biggest blowout of the week.  Tommy was the highest scorer, and Trevor decided to concede and didn't even pick up a kicker.  Trevor was actually leading for a while, even with Josh Allen scoring 44+ points, and then CMC decided to score not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 touchdowns for Tommy and put this game to bed. As someone who watches a lot of 49er football, CMC and the 49ers are very fun. Trevor was kept in the game early on with Puka Nacua getting his first career TD as a walk-off win in OT, but was let down by some mediocre games from almost everyone else.  Trevor only had Puka in the 20+ point area, while Tommy only had two people in the 20+ point league.  Fortunately for Tommy, they both scored 44+ points!

Award Season

MVP: In the closest game of the week, Montgomery gets this for 34.10 point game

LVP: On the flipside of this game, the Steelers DST get this award for scoring -2 points. Just to make this clear -- 32 teams played this week and if Jordan had played any of the 29  right teams, he would have at least tied. 26 of those 29 teams would have gotten him a win. Before this game, their minimum was 3 sacks and one turnover a game.  If they hit their season minimum, Jordan wins.

Unluckiest Team of the Week: Sticking on the Jordan topic, Jordan was the 5th highest scorer and still lost -- add in DK not doing anything in the second half and losing by 4 points, he takes this award with ease.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Tyler would have beaten 2 teams this week, and luckily enough he played one of them.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: From King of the Court and Undefeated to Lowest Scorer of the Week, Matt had a far fall this week.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Tommy won this award by being the highest scorer by 10+ points.

King of the Court: Tyler takes the crown off of Matt and will look to defend his Kingdom against canine invaders next week.

Golf Week Review

Kyle straight-up dominated this week.  He tied for the most single-day wins, and his grand total was 3 strokes better than second-place TJ.  Between the golf win and the fantasy win, everything looks to be on the upswing for Hit Squad.

	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday	Monday	Total
Kyle	9	10	10	9	10	9	9	66
TJ	8	10	10	9	11	12	9	69
Matt	10	12	11	9	10	13	9	74
Skyler	10	13	12	10	11	16	10	82
Tommy	13	14	14	9	9	13	11	83
Brandon	11	15	16	11	14	9	11	87
Rob	12	12	13	12	15	35	12	111
Scott	11	16	16	12	15	34	12	116
Trevor	14	16	17	12	15	35	12	121
Brady	14	16	17	12	15	35	12	121
Jordan	14	16	17	12	15	35	12	121

Game Previews

Note - I only include players on bye if they look like they were regular starters, so the number you see below might not match what you believe it should be.

Skyler (2) vs Trevor (8): Skyler has 0 players on Thursday night and one player in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Trevor has 0 players on Thursday night and 0 players in primetime. He has 0 players on bye.

Brandon (11) vs Tommy (2): Brandon has 1 player on Thursday night and 0 players in primetime. He has two players on bye. Tommy has 0 players on Thursday night and 2 players in primetime. He has 0 players on bye.

Tyler (4) vs Rob (7): Tyler has 0 players on Thursday night and 4 players in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Rob has 0 players on Thursday night and 0 players in primetime.  He has 0 players on bye, and 0 QB's or DST's on his roster. This game is for the king of the court.

TJ (1) vs Brady (3): TJ has 1 player on Thursday night and 3 players in primetime. He has 3 players on bye. Brady has 2 players on Thursday night 1 one player in primetime. He has 1 player on bye.

Jordan (10) vs Scott(12): Jordan has 1 player on Thursday night and 3 players in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Scott has 1 player on Thursday night and 0 players in primetime. He has 2 players on bye. This is the front runner for the battle of ineptitude

Kyle (9) vs Matt (5): Kyle has 1 player on Thursday night and 1 player in primetime. He has 1 player on bye. Matt has 0 players on Thursday night and 0 players in primetime. He has 0 players on bye

Good luck to everyone this week.  Extra luck to Trevor's bad luck of playing the toughest schedule/the toughest opponent each week.