Bye Bye Byes! Week 8 Fantasy Recap

Welcome to the Week 8 fantasy recap! This past week had two real NFL teams on bye, but this upcoming week begins the time when you really have to navigate bye weeks for each of your teams. Four teams are on bye this week, followed by six in Week 10, four in Week 11, and four in Week 12. Make sure you have replacements for those players on your rosters, are else you’ll be scrambling for Miami Dolphins players to add to your team, hoping they work out.

I am the Goat played Links Dawg Pound this week, which pit two teams desperate for a victory against one another. The fantasy gods struck again, as both teams had two of their highest totals of the season, which seems to be a theme for I am the Goat, who has come close but never gotten over the victory hump so far this season. Saquon Barkley being back for Links Dawg Pound was helpful, as he caught a touchdown and gained 143 yards on the ground and through the air, enough for 20.3 points. Kenny Golladay also continued his fantastic campaign as the undisputed top receiver in Detroit, scoring two touchdowns and 123 yards for 22.3 fantasy points. I am the Goat has benefited from a resurgence in Aaron Rodgers, who is quickly climbing the quarterback rankings and threw for three touchdowns and over 300 yards, good for 27.1 points. The Jacksonville defense also forced three turnovers and racked up the sacks, as they mustered 17 points against a bad Jets team. I am the Goat finally emerged triumphant for once, winning 96.3 points to 91 for Links Dawg Pound.

#FreeAaronJones

#AaronJonesFreed

Provo Cougars Go Cougs and Team John’s Winners went head-to-head, with Team John’s Winners suffering because multiple injured players were in the starting lineup. However, Provo Cougars suffered from some subpar performances from his own players, but seemed comfortably ahead heading into Sunday night’s game, up by 20 points on the Winners. However, #AaronJonesFreed is in full effect these days, and Green Bay put on a clinic against Kansas City. Aaron Jones tallied only 67 yards rushing, but scored two touchdowns and 159 yards through the air. His 34.6 fantasy points were more than enough for Team John’s Winners to pull ahead of Provo Cougar Go Cougs, who also had two players in the Sunday night game. Team John’s Winners pulled off the upset, 66.3-59.4.

Lookin 2 Winovich and Nothin Runs Like a Deere was a matchup of two teams who share an aversion to the letter “G.” Out of respect, we’ll be stayin away from that letter in this particular recap as well. Deshaun Watson seems to be repetitively fantastic, and this week was no exception, scorin three touchdowns and 27.9 fantasy points. Chase Edmonds, however, couldn’t stay healthy lon- enou-h for Nothin Runs to really enjoy his production and only reached 1.3 fantasy points. Lookin 2 Winovich, on the other hand, continued to rely on the New En-land defense, who came throu-h and scored 20 points against a decent offense in Cleveland. Tom Brady also defied time once a-ain and scraped to-ether 18.4 fantasy points. To-ether with steady contributions elsewhere, Lookin 2 Winovich won rather comfortably, 90.8-68.8. Nothin Runs is in a two-gameMATCH losin streak, which they hope to break in Week 9.

Low Fat Greek Goedert took on Better Luck Next Time in a lovers' duel, and it was over almost from the get go. Better Luck Next Time picked up Kirk Cousins for the week and he failed to score a touchdown Thursday night, finishing with a mediocre 11.6 fantasy points. It didn't get better on Sunday, as Greek Goedert's Tevin Coleman scored four touchdowns and 35.8 fantasy points, and Cooper Kupp caught a career high 220 yards and a touchdown for 28 fantasy points on the same team. Despite three touchdowns from his two wide receiver spots, Better Luck Next Time never had a shot in this one. Low Fat Greek Goedert scored one of the highest totals of the season and easily won the matchup, 150.9-99.9.

Goin’ In Blind also doesn’t like “G”, but has the decency to replace it with an apostrophe, so this author is consoled by that small fact. She played England Excessive Force, who has fallen back a bit after a seemingly competitive start to the season. Joe Mixon, despite underwhelming compared to where he was drafted, scored a touchdown and 13.7 fantasy points. Jimmy Garoppolo, however, only got 13 fantasy points in a blowout win over Carolina as the running game took over. Goin' In Blind continued to rely on Christian McCaffrey, who is still an absolute workhorse and got to 23.5 points. Aided by a solid fantasy outing from Josh Allen, who got to 17 points, Goin' In Blind cruised to an early victory, 105.1 to 74.5.

The Reindeer Gamers and Albuquerque Cat Killas was seemingly a game of players who weren't playing. Pat Mahomes has been out for the last three weeks and remains on the starting roster for the Cat Killas. Alvin Kamara was a late scratch for the Reindeer Gamers too and also got nothing for the Gamers. The Cat Killas did get an unexpected contribution from Demetrius Harris of the Browns, who hasn't been at all helpful, but scored a touchdown and 9.3 fantasy points this week. It wasn't enough for the Cat Killas, though, as Dalvin Cook continues his amazing run with 23.1fantasy points for the Gamers, and the Reindeers beat the Cat Killas 79-64.3.

The high score of the week belonged to Low Fat Greek Goedert with 150.3 points, followed by Goin' In Blind at 105.1. No other team hit 100 points, although Better Luck Next Time was at 99.9. With Provo Cougar Go Cougs' loss, Low Fat Greek Goedert took over sole possession of first place at 7-1 on the season. Goin' In Blind is now in second and Go Cougs fell to third. I am the Goat also picked up his first victory of the season, meaning that no team is now without a victory. Yay! 

Hopefully everyone is still having fun playing! Please keep an eye on your rosters, as news can come out late Sunday morning that has a direct impact on who you will want to start. As always, I'm happy to answer any questions.

The week of the goose egg: Week 7 Fantasy recap

Thanks to all who responded to the poll from last week. We have expanded the regular season to 13 weeks and will now have six teams in the playoffs. The No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams will have a bye the first week, and will play the winners of the 3-6 and 4-5 matchups, who will play in Week 14, in Week 15. The winners of that game will play each other in the final. Each game will be a one-week total and the season will end after Week 16.

This week, there were several results that were extremely low. There were three teams that broke 100 points, two of which were in a matchup with one another, and then the next highest point total was 84.2. While I was certainly not one complaining about the low scores, given that I had the lowest winning score of the week, it was a problem when I noticed that several of the scores could have been significantly higher if the team owners had worked on their rosters a little bit before the weekend.

Nobody wants this guy's eggs in their lineup.

Whether it was noticing that the player in question had been benched for a backup and wasn’t going to play, or realizing that the big red “O” next to the player’s name meant that they are out for the week, there were several teams that could have made their games much more competitive. They might have cruised to victory instead of barely sliding by, or even won their matchup if they had replaced players in their rosters with bench players who were ready and available to use. Instead, they had dreaded "goose eggs" in their starting lineups, which are never a good sign.

Fantasy football is supposed to be fun. As a competitive person, things are always more fun when I invest time in them. So, while fantasy football used to be this game that I maybe thought about a little bit, it’s now a full-blown hobby! I enjoy figuring out which of my players will be good, thinking about the matchups and trying to decide how to win. My record would suggest I’m not that good at it, but I enjoy the effort I put into it! :-) I would encourage everyone to try and do a little bit more research this week and see if it makes things more fun. See if there’s a player on your bench who has quietly been really good for you and could replace that second- or third-round pick who just hasn’t worked out. See if there’s a trade you could make with someone for a player you have secretly coveted #ChrisCarson4Evah. Or see if there’s someone on the waiver wire that nobody else has picked up, but would fit just perfectly in your lineup. There are lots of ways to have fun and increase your chances of winning, and the first thing I’d suggest is making sure your lineups are ready when the games roll around!

Team John’s Winners and Better Luck Next Time played a rock fight of a game. Matt Ryan left the Atlanta game early on with a high ankle sprain, leaving Team John’s Winners at 2.6 fantasy points at the quarterback position, and finished the Sunday afternoon games with 64.3 fantasy points. Better Luck Next Time was looking to cruise, being only ten points behind at that point with three players left to play, including Carson Wentz at quarterback. However, the Cowboys thrashed the Eagles and forced three turnovers from Wentz, who finished with 6.8 fantasy points. Better Luck Next Time still won the matchup, 74.8 to 64.3, but it was much closer than it appeared to be going into Sunday night.

Links’s Dawg Pound played Provo Cougar Go Cougs, who continue to do well. Jimmy Graham of Green Bay was the recipient of one of Aaron Rodgers’ five touchdowns in a win over Detroit, scoring 12.5 fantasy points, an excellent total for a tight end. Russell Wilson struggled in his home game against the Ravens, throwing for one touchdown and 241 yards on his way to 14.3 fantasy points. This was somewhat concerning for a leader in the league, as several other players also underperformed. On the other side, Link’s Rams defense scored a touchdown and forced three turnovers, leading to 22 points and giving the Dawg Pound a chance to pull the upset and win their second game. Unfortunately, Marcus Mariota was benched for Ryan Tannehill in Tennessee and Pittsburgh was on bye, so several players were unable to help Links Dawg Pound out of the immediate hole he was in. Provo Cougars Go Cougs sticks with it, winning 81.8 to 62.9.

Maybe Aaron Rodgers just smoldered the
Lions defense into submission with this stare...

I am the Goat appears to be cursed. There’s no other way around it. Just looking at total points scored, I am the Goat has enough points to have won at least two games this season. The problem is points against. I am the Goat has 762.3 points scored against him, more than 40 points more than the next closest player. For whatever reason, every team gets up to play I am the Goat, who is dealing with scores six points higher than the next closest person over the course of the season. This weird curse struck again this week, as Aaron Rodgers must have heard my criticism on this blog last week. He exploded for 43.8 fantasy points, with 429 yards, five touchdown passes and another rushing touchdown. Normally, that would be more than enough to win a matchup, no matter who you are playing. Unfortunately, Marvin Jones was on Lookin 2 Winovich’s team, and became the third player in NFL history with multiple games in which he caught four touchdowns. Marvin Jones caught 93 yards, along with those four touchdown passes, which was good for 33.3 points. Couple that with another dominant Patriots defensive performance in which they grabbed four interceptions, two fumbles, a safety, and shut out the Jets, and you have 23 fantasy points. Lookin 2 Winovich wins again, 120.5-101.7.

Nothin Runs Like a Deere needed a win to keep pace with Goin’ In Blind for a playoff spot, so this matchup was extremely opportune for both of them. The injury bug struck Goin’ In Blind early and often during the games, with Adam Thielen and Kerryon Johnson both leaving their games with injuries. When your RB1 goes out, who is really your RB2 since Christian McCaffrey is on bye, it never bodes well for your team’s prospects. Other players like George Kittle and the Chicago defense struggled, although it wasn’t George Kittle’s fault that he played in a monsoon in the game against the Redskins, who have no offense anyways, but even the 49ers didn't really have an offense with their players sliding all over the field. While Nothin Runs Like a Deere had an inactive Malcolm Brown to hurt him, Todd Gurley caught a touchdown pass for the first time this season, Deshaun Watson was still good, and the Dallas defense was opportunistic in their game against Philly. Add it all up, and Nothin Runs like a Deere got through a tough spot on their schedule, winning 84.2-62.1 against Goin’ In Blind.

Albuquerque Cat Killas has been a pretty soft team to play so far this season, and Low Fat Greek Goedert felt confident going into the matchup. While Pat Mahomes getting hurt didn’t help the Cat Killas team, the Kansas City defense shut down Denver and scored 23 fantasy points, so there was certainly a chance after the Thursday night game. Then, several of the Greek Goederts underperformed, including Marlon Mack (5.6 points), Cooper Kupp (5 points), and Tevin Coleman (6.1 points), while the Cat Killas' Latavius Murray of the Saints scored two touchdowns and 27 poinTsfantasy points. Several players were on bye and still on the Cat Killas’ active roster, so it wasn’t too worrisome for Greek Goedert, but her nerves were definitely settled when Sony Michel scored three touchdowns and 21.4 fantasy points on Monday night. Low Fat Greek Goedert just broke the triple digit mark in the victory, 100.2-76.5.

England Excessive Force, to his credit, has been extremely creative to try and overcome the issues of auto drafting at the beginning of the season. This is compounded by teams hoarding quarterbacks, keeping two or even three of them on their rosters. So the Jimmy Garoppolo start was certainly justified. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to have checked the weather in DC this week, and the rain made the 49ers rushing attack the preferred option in this game. Garoppolo’s 6 points sunk an otherwise impressive performances from Excessive Force’s receiving threats, with two receivers and the tight end all catching touchdowns and recording 65+ yards through the air, for 41 points among the three players. Jared Goff got back on track against the terrible Atlanta defense for the Reindeer Gamers, scoring 25 fantasy points, and Dalvin Cook continued doing his thing, scoring two touchdowns and rushing for 142 yards and 26.9 fantasy points. The Reindeer Gamers also were down a player in Christian Kirk, but it didn’t stop them from emerging victorious, 83.8-71.9.

There is a bit more separation in the standings as teams continue to play one another and sort themselves. Low Fat Greek Goedert and Provo Cougars Go Cougs have the top records at 6-1, with Greek Goedert recording six consecutive wins after a Week 1 setback. Nothin Runs Like a Deer and Goin’ In Blind are separated by 0.2 points in the standing with identical 5-2 records, with Nothin Runs Like a Deere edging out Goin’ In Blind. Lookin 2 Winovich was the high score of the week with 120.5, and her opponent, I am the Goat, was second with 101.7. Low Fat Greek Goedert recorded 100.2 points on the week, and nobody else was close to triple digits.

Have a good week, look over the waiver wire, and feel free to ask me any questions!

Survey Says...! Week 6 Fantasy Recap

Crazy to believe we are halfway through the season! 

League organizational item: The playoffs are only six weeks away, and as league manager, I have some thoughts on that if the rest of the league is willing to chime in. The playoffs, as currently constructed, will have four teams, with each playoff round using the cumulative score of two weeks to determine who advances. Greek Goedert, Goin’ In Blind, Provo Cougars, and Nothin Runs Like a Deere would be in the playoffs if the league ended today. They would be broken into two semifinal games, with the cumulative scores over two weeks determining who would advance to the final, which would also be played over two weeks. While that is the “default” playoff setting for fantasy football, as a league we can decide to do whatever we want. And since we have several “new” fantasy players, it might be fun to expand the playoff field. Here is what I propose:

1. Expand the playoff to six teams.

2. Play the games over three weeks, not four, with one-week scores determining who advances.

3. The top two teams from the regular season would get a bye for the first round of the playoffs, meaning they would automatically be in the semifinals.

4. Extend the regular season to 13 games, not the current twelve, and play the playoffs in weeks 14-16. Fantasy doesn’t typically go into Week 17 of the NFL because many “real” NFL teams have already locked up playoff spots at that point and are trying to preserve their players’ health, so many starters (and by extension fantasy starters) rest that week. That means that if the fantasy  championship were held in Week 17, it could be decided by backup players, which isn’t nearly as fun.

I will open up a league poll on our league page this afternoon asking if we should make this change. Vote “Yes” if you WANT the change, vote “No” otherwise. You will be able to find the poll under the “Message Board and LM Poll” section of the “League” tab in the app, or on the right side of the League Office page on the website. Please vote in the next 48 hours so I can make that change.

Now, on to the recaps!

Lookin 2 Winovich appeared to be extremely confident in her star players’ reliability this week, as she elected to ignore the tight end position and left  Eric Ebron, who was on bye, active. That meant she was playing with eight players from the get go. Naturally, that confidence was well-founded after Thursday night’s game, when the New England defense scored two touchdowns, snagged three interceptions, blocked a punt, recovered a fumble, and scored 28 fantasy points.  I read a good article this week about how the New England defense is breaking fantasy football, and I tend to agree. Personally, I love the article because Michigan alum Chase Winovich, who recorded his first NFL touchdown on Thursday, is the article’s headline photo. J Lookin 2 Winovich played Links Dawg Pound, who assured me that he is playing and has suffered from some bad injury luck, which does justify the 1-5 start. Jamaal Williams got to 19.6 points in the Monday night game, but this matchup wasn’t even close, as Lookin 2 Winovich waltzed to victory, 117.2-67.4.

Better Luck Next Time played Provo Cougars Go Cougs in the hopes of avoiding a .500 record midway through the season. The flex spot was a question for Better Luck Next Time this week, with several potential options available. He solicited some friendly advice from a fellow league member, who suggested starting Terry McLaurin of the Washington Redskins. All “F1” McLaurin did this week was reel in four receptions for 100 yards, two touchdowns, and 22 fantasy points, which gave Better Luck Next Time a total score of 98.7 points after the early afternoon  games. Provo Cougars, on the other hand, had three players in the late afternoon games and was five and a half points behind Better Luck Next Time heading into the fourth quarter of those games. Philip Lindsay of the Denver Broncos slammed the door shut on any chance of a Better Luck victory with ten fantasy points in the fourth quarter, bringing his total to 13.5 fantasy points. Alongside Russell Wilson’s 28.9 points, it was more than enough for Provo Cougars to pull away to win, 107.2 to 98.7.

Team John’s Winner’s played Albuquerque Cat Killas. John’s Winners had a lot riding on the Arizona-Atlanta game, with four starters playing in that game alone. While neither real NFL team has been particularly good, it has certainly not been because of their offenses. After a 34-33 shootout, in which Arizona prevailed, Team John’s Winners players had the following fantasy scores:

·         Matt Ryan, Atl QB: 30.9 points

·         David Johnson, Ari RB: 22.2 points

·         Larry Fitzgerald, Ari WR: 6.9 points (pedestrian, but whatever, the is one of the best NFL receivers of all time, he can afford to relax a bit in his golden years!)

·         Austin Hooper, Atl TE: 17.7 points and is the top-scoring tight end at this point in the season.

Those four players would have been more than enough to beat the Cat Killas, who suffered a pedestrian day from Patrick Mahomes and zeros in four other spots. We’ve had several players come close to doubling their opponents’ scores in a given week, but this might be the first time we’ve seen a player come close to TRIPLE the opponent score. Team John’s Winners win, 111.8-46.9.

Goin’ In Blind played I am the Goat, and was the first player to suffer significant bye week issues, with her QB, two receivers, and defense all on bye. As a result, she started Andy Dalton, which would normally be a very bad thing, particularly when Paul Richardson, a backup wide receiver, scores zero points. However, when you have Christian McCaffrey on your team, things go well for you. McCaffrey scored 17.7 points to lead several other double-digit scorers, and I am the Goat was unable to take advantage of a pedestrian 87.7 points from Goin’ In Blind. Austin Ekeler scored 2.8 points, and Aaron Rodgers has failed to live up to the high expectations of the preseason. Rodgers, who was drafted as one of the top three quarterbacks of the year, has scored more than 20 points, a benchmark fantasy total for quarterbacks,  just once this season. Goin’ In Blind wins, 87.7-75.7.

Nothin Runs Like a Deere and the Reindeer Gamers- a matchup made in cervine heaven! This looked like it would be a good matchup, with  both teams at 3-2 and each team having solid performances throughout the season. What happened instead was an uneven performance from both teams. Nothin Runs Like a Deere got a ton of production out of Deshaun Watson, who has been awesome the past few weeks, with 29.4 fantasy points, but only two other players scored in the double digits. Malcolm Brown, filling in for Todd Gurley on the Rams, only managed a measly four points in a breakout opportunity. Even with that lackluster performance, Nothin Runs Like a Deere destroyed the Reindeer Gamers, whose point total fell over 80 points between Weeks 5 and 6. Jared Goff only scored 1.1 fantasy points, the Eagles defense cost the Gamers a point, and Hollywood Brown was inactive for the game but remained in the Gamers’ lineup. Nothin Runs Like a Deere bid the Reindeer Gamers a deere goodbye, 83.9-56.4.

Last but not least, England Excessive Force played Low Fat Greek Goedert. England Excessive Force followed a pattern described a bit too much in this recap, leaving an inactive player as a starter! Wayne Gallman was out with a concussion and got England Excessive Force zero points. England Excessive Force did take the strategy of using whatever defense is playing the Dolphins, and that netted him twelve points in a battle of the worst teams in football. Low Fat Greek Goedert, on the other hand, suffered a bit of a scare when Amari Cooper was ruled out of the Dallas-Jets game after only getting 0.3 points. No problem though, as Lamar Jackson and James Conner were both awesome for their AFC North teams. Lamar broke 30 points and James Conner scored two touchdowns and 23.9 fantasy points. Low Fat Greek Goedert won in a laugher, 95.4-45.9.

As a league, we tied a weekly low of triple-digit totals, with Lookin 2 Winovich scoring the most points with 117.2. Team John’s Winners came in second with 111.8, and Provo Cougar Go Cougs got 107.2. Nobody else broke 100 points. For the season, Low Fat Greek Goedert remains in first place with a 5-1 record and 618.2 points over six weeks. Provo Cougars Go Cougs is in second at 5-1 and 611.2 points, and Goin’ In Blind is third at 5-1 and 607.3 points. Nothin Runs Like a Deere would also be in playoffs if they were held today at 4-2, and then 5 other teams are at 3-3. It is still anyone’s game, so please stay active on the waiver wire and trade market! Good luck, please let me know if you have any questions!

You play fantasy football like a girl! Week 5 Fantasy recap

As I started tallying this week's scores and writing the recap, I was reminded of a certain scene in a particularly iconic movie:

To a group of boys in 1993, Porter saying that Philips plays ball like a girl is an absolute insult to the sanctity of Philips's boyhood and his ability to play baseball. I imagine there are still lots of boys out there who think this is still a classic insult, but I would like to think that female athletes are a bit more recognizable now. The American women's World Cup team won consecutive World Cups this summer and there is a seemingly endless stream of dominant American Olympic swimmers. We even have our own resident Big Ten Champion collegiate rower in our humble fantasy football league. 😉

After this week's games of fantasy football, we could all try to play fantasy football like girls a little bit more. Low Fat Greek Goedert shot herself a Deere to propel herself to the top spot in the league, followed closely by Goin' In Blind, who scored the top score of season, obliterated her competition, and sits 3.1 fantasy points behind Low Fat Greek Goedert. Those two teams look locked in for the season and will be surefire competitors the rest of the way. Good luck playing the girls! On to the recaps!

The Low Fat Greek Goedert and Nothin' Runs like a Deere matchup pit two of the top teams against each other. Both teams had significant investment in the Thursday night Rams performance, and neither team was disappointed in that high scoring affair. Neither team was prepared for the sudden onslaught of points that came on Sunday though. Deshaun Watson threw for 426 yards and five touchdowns, or 41.7 fantasy points, which accounted for nearly half of Nothin Runs like a Deere's points for the week. As an interesting bit of trivia, this week was the first week since 1965 that five players scored over 40 fantasy points. That individual brilliance though, wasn't enough to overcome the systematic excellence of Low Fat Greek Goedert's team. No player scored fewer than eight fantasy points, seven scored between 10-19 points, and Amari Cooper highlighted the team effort with 226 receiving yards and a touchdown, or 28.6 fantasy points. Greek Goedert took Nothin Runs like a Deere to the house, 132.4-98.7.

In keeping with our cervine theme (look it up kids!), the Reindeer Gamers played I am the Goat, who I think was supposed to be the Greatest Of All Time this season. Unfortunately, there are GOATs:

Exhibit A: GOAT

And then there are goats:

Exhibit B: goat

Which one is I am the Goat? Well, despite the team's decent weekly projection, games actually have to be played, and the Charger's defense was the top performer with 12 points. We'll just leave it at that and let you decide whether this team's a GOAT or a goat. This narrator will keep it neutral with Goat.
On the other side, the Reindeer Gamers continued to benefit from a breakout year from Chris Godwin, who had 24.5 fantasy points and two touchdowns this week. The Philly defense got in on the action as well, annihilating the New York Jets 31-6, accumulating ten sacks, three takeaways, and scoring two defensive touchdowns against one of the several teams jockeying for "worst team in the NFL" status. Their 35 points were more than enough to let the Reindeer Gamers coast to an easy victory that almost doubled I am the Goat's score, 136.4-70.8.

Goin' In Blind, as mentioned previously, scored the top score of the week and was one of the beneficiaries of those five players who scored more than 40 points. Christian McCaffrey is having himself a SEASON, and is currently projected as third in the MVP race. If he keeps this up, though, that is sure to rise. 176 yards rushing, two rushing touchdowns, 61 yards receiving and another score. 41.7 fantasy points. 'Nuff said. At that point, it was pretty much over for Lookin 2 Winovich, who had a respectable 18.5 fantasy points from Chris Carson. But Going' In Blind got the added bonus of a monster week from newly-acquired D.J. Chark, who scored twice to go with his 164 receiving yards, culminating in 28.4 fantasy points. Lookin 2 Winovich broke the 100-point barrier with 102.7, but Going' In Blind won this matchup without breaking a sweat, 150.1-102.7.

Team John's Winners needed a win this week, sitting at 1-3 and taking on England Excessive Force, who sat at 3-1 despite a fairly low number of points scored up to this point in the season. Luckily, Team John's Winners had one of the golden tickets of the week, with Aaron Jones putting up 42.2 fantasy points in the 34-24 Packers victory over the Cowboys. He was not only the leading rusher for the Packers, he was also their top receiver for the game and he scored all four of the team's touchdowns. #FreeAaronJones has been a rallying cry among Packers fans, as the Packers have been extremely reluctant to let what appeared to be a star running back flash his full ability. This game represented a prime opportunity for Aaron Jones to show his stuff, and he delivered. Fly, Aaron Jones, be free!
Excessive Force had several players fail to show up, but Allen Robinson of the Chicago Bears didn't get the memo, nearly winning a game over the Oakland Raiders in London singlehandedly with his 97 receiving yards, two touchdowns, and 21.7 fantasy points. Despite the effort, England Excessive Force never came close, as Team John's Winners smashed his previous weekly high and moved within one game of .500, 130.7-72.1.

Links Dawg Pound started the week in the hole against Better Luck Next Time, as the Rams allowed 30 points to the Seahawks on Thursday and ended with NEGATIVE one point. The rest of the team seemed content to sleep through the week as well, as Tyler Boyd's 18.3 and Justin Tucker's 16 fantasy points were the only Dawg Pound players to score in double figures. Better Luck Next Time cashed in one of those golden tickets too, as Michael Thomas scored twice and gained 182 receiving yards, good for 30.2 fantasy points. The 49ers defense also took the Cleveland Browns to school, with four forced turnovers, four sacks, and only allowed three points to the tune of 19 fantasy points. It was more than enough for Better Luck Next Time to cruise, as 119 points nearly doubled Links Dawg Pound's score of 59.9.

Last but not least, if we're going off of names alone, Provo Cougars Go Cougs seemed doomed to fall to the Albuquerque Cat Killas. Fortunately for the Cougars, the Cat Killas may or may not be showing up every week. Several players, including the kicker, laid goose eggs in the scoring column, either because they are just #badatfootball or injured. I'm not sure what kinds of cats the Cat Killas are planning on taking on, but this one might be worrisome:

Mewww...

Let alone one that looks at you with this level of contempt:

The game played out about as expected. Das Prescott led the Cougars with 23.2 fantasy points, even on an off day in which he threw three interceptions. Philip Lindsay carried the ball for 114 yards, a score, the Denver Broncos' first win of the season, and 20.7 fantasy points.  Leonard Fournette built upon last week's performance with 19.7 fantasy points to try and pull the Cat Killas out of ignominy, but the matchup was never really that close. Provo Cougars Go Cougs blew the pants off of the Albuquerque Cat Killas, 106-60.7.

For the week, we have a new high score for the season! Going' In Blind is leading us into the light with 150.1 points, with Reindeer Gamers second with 136.4 and Low Fat Greek Goedert third with 132.4. Team John's Winners, Better Luck Next Time, Provo Cougars Go Cougs, and Looking 2 Winovich also all broke the 100-point mark. As said WAYYY at the beginning of this post, Low Fat Greek Goedert is in first by virtue of her 4-1 record and 522.7 fantasy points. Going' In Blind needed 32 more yards out of George Kittle on Monday Night Football to take the top spot, but fell just short, so she's in second at 4-1 and 519.6 fantasy points. Provo Cougars is a bit behind, also at 4-1 and 504 fantasy points. Everyone else is 3-2 or worse, with Reindeer Gamers currently in the fourth playoff spot.

There are four teams on bye this week, so be prepared for those players to miss a game! As always, you can reach out with any questions, comments, complaints, or compliments. Have a good week!

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Deere? Week 4 Fantasy recap

We have finished Week 4 and a third of the fantasy football regular season! This week we saw somebody bag a Cougar, a couple’s quarrel, and a wacky, weird week of fantasy football. If you want to read about exactly how weird it was, I found a great recap of fantasy football on the Ringer website here. If you want our league-specific recap, keep reading! It’s a good one!

Provo Cougar Go Cougs came in hoping to continue his unbeaten streak against England Excessive Force, who shook off a rough start to the season to reel off two straight victories. England Excessive Force made some wide-scale changes to his roster shortly before tipoff, rostering Daniel Jones and Wayne Gallman of the New York City Giants and starting them immediately. It ended up paying off twofold, as Daniel Jones threw a touchdown to Gallman, who fell into the endzone for another one, and the two players scored 34.1 fantasy points together in the game. Provo Cougar Go Cougs started the week off rough, as the Packers defense cost the team a point in the Thursday night game, and it didn’t get much better from there. Go Cougs players scored one total touchdown before the Sunday night game, when Zeke Elliott and Dak Prescott took on the New Orleans Saints with a chance to take the lead for the Provo Cougars. They followed the same pattern the rest of the Go Cougs team set, leaving plenty of points on the field and losing a low-scoring slugfest to the Saints. Provo Cougars Go Cougs saw his unbeaten streak end, as England Excessive Force won this matchup 69.3-61.7.

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Nothin Runs like a Deere was in line to take advantage of a Provo Cougars loss, and went up against Team John’s Winners. Team John’s Winners has had some terrible matchup luck, as he has the fifth-most points scored, but a league-high 419 points scored against him thus far in the season. Once again, Team John’s Winners was frisky throughout the day. He was perhaps the only fantasy beneficiary of the Cowboys-Saints slugfest, as Will Lutz put four field goals through the uprights for 14 fantasy points. Matt Ryan continues to rely on tight end Austin Hooper to move the ball, and that connection  paid off for John’s Winners as Austin Hooper caught 130 yards and 13 fantasy points off of Matt Ryan passes. On the opposite sideline, Nothin Runs like a Deere got a surprising amount of production out of Corey Davis, who scored a touchdown and 15.1 fantasy points in a Titans passing offense that was a bottom-feeder through the first three weeks. Todd Gurley is no longer the dominant fantasy force he was the last two years, but he proved he is still a top-flight running back with 19 fantasy points and two touchdowns. Unfortunately for Team John’s Winners, all his efforts weren’t quite enough, as Nothin Runs like a Deere used the Steelers’ defense to pull away late Monday night. Nothin’ Runs ran away with this one, 112.8-93.7.

Goin’ In Blind reclaimed her lead as the “top female” in Week 3 and was looking to continue that streak against Links Dawg Pound, who has had some unfortunate injury luck with both Cam Newton and Saquon Barkley going down in consecutive weeks. Christian McCaffrey got back on track for Goin’ In Blind, racking up 23.9 fantasy points  with 179 total yards and a touchdown. He’s the top running back in the league right now with Barkley out, and his stats reflected that. Meanwhile, Links Dawg Pound took full advantage of a Detroit Lions-Kansas City Chiefs game that was billed as a shootout, and it lived up to every expectation. Kenny Golladay was the top receiver for the Lions, with two touchdowns and 67 yards, bumping his fantasy output to 18.7 points. For the Chiefs, LeSean McCoy barreled into the end zone and gained 14.9 fantasy points along the way. In another cruel twist of fate, Links Dawg Pound was bit by the injury bug yet again, as Mitch Trubisky left his game after only scoring 0.4 fantasy points, which was more than enough to sink Links Dawg Pound. Goin’ In Blind moves to 3-1, 78.3-57.3.

The Reindeer Gamers played a lovers’ spat of a game with Lookin 2 Winovich. As the league commissioner, I don’t have a ton of hot takes, but in Week 2 I said that the Patriots defense wouldn’t be able to continue to produce fantasy points the way they did against the Dolphins in Week 2, when they scored 35 points. The Dolphins are terrible, and I thought the Patriots’ defensive output was an aberration. While they haven’t reached 35 points again, the New England defense is on pace to be one of the best fantasy defenses of all time through four games. They scored 23 points on Sunday via  four interceptions, five sacks, a blocked kick, and a touchdown against a solid Bills team. Chris Carson also scored 14.5 points of his own and didn’t fumble the football in a game for the first time this season. The Reindeer Gamers saw Jared Goff throw for an insane 517 yards, 68 attempts, and two touchdowns on Sunday, but was undone by three interceptions and a fumble, leading to an average 20.8 fantasy points from Goff. This matchup was extremely tight, but the Reindeer Gamers had a chance to win Sunday night when the Saints and Alvin Kamara took on the Dallas Cowboys. Alas, Alvin Kamara was underwhelming in the game, leaving the Reindeer Gamers three and a half points short of victory. Lookin 2 Winovich wins again, 82.8-79.5.

Albuquerque Cat Killas took on Better Luck Next Time, and with both teams at 1-2, they both needed a victory to try and stay relevant. Albuquerque Cat Killas saw Leonard Fournette of the Jaguars finally live up to his billing as a top running back for this season. Fournette rushed for over 100 yards for the first time this season…and decided to do it again in the same game, finishing with 225 yards rushing and another 20 yards receiving for 24.5 fantasy points. We previously mentioned the Lions-Chiefs game as a shootout, and while it was a high-scoring affair, Pat Mahomes was left out of the touchdown department for the first time this season, limiting his total production to a pedestrian 18 points. Better Luck Next Time had a similar story as the Cat Killas, as a premiere running back, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns, went off, scoring three touchdowns and 183 total yards, leading to 36.3 fantasy points. Carson Wentz also overcame a tough Packers defense to get to 19.7 fantasy points for Better Luck Next Time. Better Luck Next Time had better luck this week, winning 97.5-77.1.

I am the Goat was shooting for his first victory of the season against Low Fat Greek Goedert, and got off to a great start in the Thursday night game. Aaron Rodgers scored 25.4 fantasy points in the game to finally display his offensive prowess in the season for the first time. In other important Thursday news for I am the Goat, Melvin Gordon finally decided to come back to the Chargers team, which may bump Austin Ekeler out of a starting running back spot for the mighty billy goats. Ekeler seemed determined to keep it his gruff going though, as he hit endzone paydirt twice and hung 122 total yards up for 24.2 fantasy points against the Dolphins. Greek Goedert was also the beneficiary of Aaron Rodgers being awesome, as Davante Adams caught 180 yards of Aaron Rodgers’ passes and scored 18 fantasy points along the way. Lamar Jackson also showed once again how fun he can be and scored 24.4 fantasy points for Greek Goedert, but she was still nine points behind I am the Goat heading into Monday night’s game.  Fortunately, the Steelers relied on the legs of James Conner, who caught a touchdown, gained 125 yards, and earned 18.5 fantasy points in the contest to get their first victory of the season. Low Fat Greek Goedert left I am the Goat still winless on the season, winning 110-100.8.

We didn’t have nearly as many triple-digit scores this week, but we still had some solid showings. Nothin Runs Like a Deer had the high score of 112.8, with Low Fat Greek Goedert close behind at 110 and I am the Goat with his first triple-digit score of 100.8. We’re starting to get into tiebreakers now, as five teams sit at 3-1. In the event of ties, the standing are based on number of points scored for the season, so Nothin Runs like a Deere takes the top spot from Provo Cougar Go Cougs. We also have a new “top female” champion, as Low Fat Greek Goedert has 21 more points on the season than Goin’ In Blind. These are also the current playoff standings if they were to begin today. The rest of the teams are somewhere between 3-1 and 0-4, so nobody is too far behind. Keep working at it! When I played two years ago, a friend of mine went from 0-5 to 7-6 to make the playoffs. So there’s still hope for everybody! Make sure to check your lineups frequently as we are getting into the bye weeks and the worst thing you can do is leave someone on bye in your starting lineup.

As always, let me know if you have any questions.