Week 3: 2,1,0

3, 2, 1, 0 -- a countdown that is often used by kids playing ball in the driveway, as part of a countdown on New Year's Eve, or even a shuttle launch.  This week, however, it perfectly describes each division from the top (3 wins) to the bottom (0 wins).  This kind of pattern isn't uncommon -- there's usually a division that follows this pattern at least once a year, sometimes even twice a year.  2024 is only the second time every division follows this pattern.  The only other time it has happened was actually last year.  If we put too much stock into last year's results, Brady, Matt, and Jordan (all 3-0) will all make the playoffs, and one of them will win the whole thing. Two of the 2-1 teams (Scott, Trevor, TJ) will make the playoffs this year, and only one of the 1-2 teams (Skyler, Rob, Kyle) will have a shot.  Sorry to the 0-3 teams (Tommy, Brandon, Tyler), assuming history holds.

Game Recaps

Skyler vs Brady: Skyler started off strong Sunday morning -- whether that was because his Vikings did well, or just because he had more people than Brady in the morning game, it doesn't really matter -- but Brady's RB's made it a close game Sunday afternoon. Monday night ended up being a Josh Allen clinic has he gained Brady a lead and then kept building on it until he had Skyler's team (and the Jaguars) in a chokehold.  Despite the 'comeback' nature of this game, it wasn't even close to the best game of the night. As previously mentioned, Allen was a big player in getting Brady the win, but Brady's Lions (Montgomery and ARSB) joined the 20+ club with Allen. Skyler had 3 people in the 20+ group as well (Daniels, Jones, Jefferson).  The big difference in this game was Brady having 6 people score double digits while Skyler only had 3, and Skyler having two players at 5 and under, while Brady only had 1. This was somehow the bonanza -- most of that having to do with Brady being the high scorer of the week.

Tommy vs Scott:  This was the 2nd place for the battle of ineptitude, but it was the best game of the week as it was closest, and went back and forth several times on Monday night aka Nail-biter of the night and week, and also a Monday Nightmare/Miracle. Scott's team wrapped up on SNF, while Tommy still had his DST and RB going on MNF. Tommy may have been thankful that his players weren't going head to head, but in the end, the players ended up canceling each other out to some degree, with his DST getting negative points, and ETN wasn't able to do enough to counteract. By my count, there were 4 lead changes during the night, and in the end, Scott walked away with a win by less than 4 points.  The small bit of consolation for Tommy is that at least it was far enough away that it wasn't like he lost by 10 yards or anything.  Tommy's only 20+ point player was Nabers, while Scott had no players in that group. It probably won't help Tommy feel any better that he had 6 people score double digits, while Scott only had 5.  The thing that set this game apart was Tommy's bottom 2 people scoring a combined -0.7, while Scott's bottom two players combined for 6.5

Matt vs Trevor: This was the first week Matt finally played a full roster, but that actually ended up helping him, as Trevor's defense scored negative points.  Trevor probably felt he had a small chance going into Monday night, but then Matt's two players combined for nearly 50 and secured the come-from-behind win by nearly 25 points. Despite the two MNF players combining for almost 50, only one of Matt's players got 20+ points (Ja'marr Chase). Trevor's only entrant into the 20+ point club was Rashee Rice.  Matt's win came on the margins as he had 4 double-digit scorers to Trevor's 3, and his 5U club had 0 members, while Trevor's had 2 (combined for negative points).

Rob vs Brandon: Rob would have been the high scorer of the week, but he decided to sit his DST and instead buy a lotto ticket called 'the Bills backup RB'. He could afford to do that thanks to this being the biggest blowout of the week.  Rob was able to secure said blowout on the backs of Dak, Kyren, and Charbonnet as they all scored 20+ (the first two actually went for 30+), while Brandon only had one person score 20+ (Derrick Henry with 30+). 6 of Rob's 8 starters went for double digits, while Brandon only had 2.  Rob was so top-heavy, it made no difference that he had 3 slots score 5U, while Brandon only had 1.

TJ vs Kyle: This wasn't a wire-to-wire win, but TJ led for most of the game and ended up winning comfortably.  Kyle started out alright with a quick start from Olave, but then TJ clawed back, with some back and forth in the morning games, and then TJ took the lead early in the afternoon game and never looked back.  TJ's win was made possible by Burrow and Taylor joining the 20+ point group, 5 people with double digits, and only one 5U player.  Kyle had the workhorses at the top by also having two people in the 20+ point group (Mahomes and Olave), and 4 people with double digits, but was let down by three 5U players.

Jordan vs Tyler and the Half Iron Man: Thanks to the Half Iron Man, Tyler only rostered half a team.  That's not entirely true -- Mark Andrews was active, he was just awful.  Mixon was declared out almost 24 hours before the game though, so that's definitely on Tyler. Thanks to Tyler's poor showing, Jordan didn't even roster a full team and was the 5th highest-scoring team this week without a DST. Jordan had two 20+ point players (Saquon and DK), while Tyler only had one in Lamar Jackson. Jordan also had a noticeable lead in the double-digit count as he had 5 players score double digits, while Tyler only had 3. Jordan had two 5U players (one being no DST), while Tyler had three (two bad players and an inactive Mixon) 5U players. At least Tyler apologized to the league, but I feel he owes a few more apologies.  He owes one to Tony Stark since Tyler thinks he can call himself Iron Man now. He owes one to social media -- Shalyse called him an Iron Man on Facebook for completing a half Iron Man.  If we gave full titles for halfway completing something, I hope we can get 4-time league champ Chad back in the league.  Lastly, he owes God an apology for using his body to be out exercising on the Sabbath, instead of vegging on the couch and watching football all day.

Award Season

MVP: This is tricky because most games were some version of blowouts, so I want to give the award to someone on Scott's team for helping him get the win, but his team was kind of 'meh' individually.  Let's give it to the Seahawks DST for their best game of the season.  I know we're only 3 weeks in, so there's plenty of time to pass that number, but I'd be surprised if they get over 17 the rest of the season.  The runner-up goes to Josh Allen for having 35 points at halftime for the highest-scoring team of the week.

LVP: It would be easy to give this to the Bengals for getting negative points on MNF in a game that was decided by less than 4 points.  But I'll go a little deeper and say the newly acquired Rhamondre Stevenson was the real downfall for Tommy. Before this week, Rhamondre was averaging 19.3 a week -- this week he left the 19 at home and only scored 0.3.  

Unluckiest Team of the Week: The numbers say Skyler should win as the highest-scoring loser, but as the 6th highest-scoring team, that hardly counts.  Let's give this one to Tommy for the timing of his loss in addition to all of the LVP comments about his team above.

Luckiest Team of the Week: Scott was the lowest-scoring winner, and got the win in the last minutes of the MNF doubleheader. But hey, he's 2-1, and sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Highest Scorer of the Week: Brady wins this award after a big night by Allen, and a concession by Rob.

Lowest Scorer of the Week: I would say the half Iron Man was a touchdown catch away from being half of Brady's points, but no one on his team actually caught a touchdown (rushing and passing only this week), so instead I'll just keep it classy and say "Tyler is the low scorer of the week".

King of the Court: Scott holds on to his crown last minute after the nail-biter that was Monday Night and will try to hold onto it another week when TJ comes to town.

Centurion Watch: Congrats to Jordan and Rob for joining the Centurion Lounge this week. We hope you enjoy the amenities, and the towels that look like $100 bills should stay by the pool/hot tub area when you're done. Matt finally passed Chad and is in sole possession of 5th place all-time in wins at 94.

Game Previews

Skyler (9) vs Brandon (11): Skyler has 0 players on Thursday and 2 players in primetime. Brandon has 0 players on Thursday and 3 players in primetime.  This is far and away the front-runner for the battle of ineptitude

Brady (1) vs Jordan (2): Brady has 0 players on Thursday and 3 players in primetime. Jordan has 0 players on Thursday and 1 player in primetime.   This is the clear front-runner for the bonanza and the game of the week.

Scott (6) vs TJ (5): Scott has 3 players on Thursday and 2 players in primetime. TJ has 0 players on Thursday and 1 player in primetime. 

Tyler (12) vs Matt (3): Tyler has 0 players on Thursday and 3 players in primetime. Matt has 0 players on Thursday and 3 players in primetime.  

Rob (8) vs Kyle (7): Rob has 1 player on Thursday and 3 players in primetime. Kyle has 0 players on Thursday and 4 players in primetime.   4 of the 7 primetime players are on MNF, so this should be a nail-biter

Tommy (10) vs Trevor (4): Tommy has 2 players on Thursday and 0 players in primetime. Trevor has 0 players on Thursday and 0 players in primetime.