Week 8 - MOTW

 After that amazing week 6 MNF game, week 7's was a clunker. It started off great with DK's big catch and run and then the entire night just became a bore fest. It looked like Kamara was out there practicing his route running.

So instead of looking at last week, let's look forward to a huge matchup this week.

MOTW

2. David Y Team (David Y) vs. 4. Fe-Brees (Jon)

David has stayed in 2nd place after proving me wrong in week 6 and beating up David K in week 7. He takes on Jon, who has a ridiculously explosive team. David will work on keeping himself in pole position for the bye and distancing himself from one of his biggest competitors for that spot. Jon takes his young, potential-filled squad to close that gap on David and get himself in the top 2.

Key Players on Bye: 

David - Mark Andrews (TE1), Josh Jacobs (RB2)

Jon - Latavius Murray (RB3)

QB: David ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ ◯ Jon

I know what you're thinking: how is Hurts an advantage over Stafford? Well, Stafford gets to play the garbage Texans team so he really might only be throwing the ball for 2 quarters as they will not risk injury to Stafford while beating up on a lowly team. The Rams have much higher aspirations than to beat the worst team in the league. On top of that, Hurts doesn't play a tough defense either. Add the fact that Hurts adds value with his feet and you'd actually rather have Hurts than Stafford this week (watch me eat my words after Stafford throws 3 TDs to Kupp in the first quarter).

WR: David ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Jon

Once again, David's receivers seem to be being disrespected here but Jon actually might have the highest TD potential WR in the league. Mike Williams is the clear and obvious target for Herbert in the end zone, Metcalf can outjump almost anybody, and Godwin plays in a monstrous offense that allows any of their receivers to be an end zone threat. Yards and catches might be similar across the 2 teams but Jon's TD chances are much higher.

RB: David ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Jon

Ekeler has been unstoppable and coming off a bye week, he should have more pop than normal. But Taylor is looking like an RB1, not just this week, not just a top 12 RB, but potentially the best RB in all of fantasy (other than Najee, Kamara, and Ekeler, I can't think of any other back involved in both the pass and run with ridiculous volume). So even if you call that a wash, David has to play Mike Davis, who is really more of a CPatt handcuff at this point, against an emerging Javonte who looks way more explosive and home-run hitting than Melvin Gordon.

TE/K/DST: David ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ Jon

Hockensen has an edge over RSJ but it's not as big as you might think. Heinicke loves his TE and with Logan Thomas out, RSJ has feasted. Hock isn't 100% so this matchup will be extremely close. Bass is in the most explosive offense while Succop isn't far behind. In neutral situations, I'd like Bass but with rain expected in Miami and Succop kicking in a dome, I'll call this a wash. Tampa gets Jameis and as much as I'd love to see Jameis throw 5 TDs one the Franchise that abandoned him, I'm thinking he's more likely to throw 5 picks. Carolina gets an improving Falcons offense, albeit, one that is still prone to turnovers. It's a slight edge to David, basically making these entire 3 positions a wash.

Winner: Jon

I'd like David's chances a little more if he had Josh Jacobs and Mark Andrews, as I think they could potentially be enough to tilt this match in his favor. However, with the given situation, praying for Mike Davis is never a position you want to be in if you're trying to win a week.

Good luck to all!

Week 7 - About Monday Night

Holy crap. I don't think I've seen a Monday night game that affected so many matchups without actually changing the result of any of them. Usually by Monday night, there's only 1 or 2 matchups that can actually be swung but even the ones that seemed to be out of reach got way too close for comfort for some of the managers. Although none of the matchups got overturned, let's take a look at each of the matchups before and after Monday night, from least to most intense.

6. Chris vs. Jon

Not going into this one since it was the only matchup that didn't hinge on Monday's night result. Chris had a huge lead and the only player on Monday night. Unless Singletary had run backwards from the opponents 1 yard line into his own end zone and fumbled it multiple times, there was no way this matchup was swinging.

5. David Y vs. Jung

Before: David up 11.18

Final: David wins by 18.18

This one looked like it had some potential to be a nail-biter. With Dawson Knox a legitimate threat and nothing but his kicker to stop the onslaught, David looked like he might have to hang on until the end of the night. Fortunately for David, Buffalo kicked multiple field goals in the first half and Knox was relatively uninvolved. On top of that, Knox fractured his hand, limiting his effectiveness in the second half. What could have been a comeback by Jung became a rather uneventful night.

4. Eric vs. Paul

Before: Eric up by 6.92

Final: Eric wins by 12.42

Eric had a small lead and Derrick Henry against THREE players for Paul. Sure, Eric had the best player of the bunch but with the Titans expected to need to throw a lot to stay in the game against Buffalo's explosive offense, AJ Brown got a bump in value while Henry should have had a more mediocre game. Instead, the Titans defense came out of nowhere to force turnovers and limit the effectiveness of Josh Allen (kind of) and were able to control the ground game all night. Henry fell into the end zone three times, neutralizing the threat of a comeback every time one of Paul's guys would get a decent chunk gain. If one of the TDs had flipped from Henry to an AJ Brown fade, it would have been enough to flip this score.

3. Mike vs. David K

Before: Mike up by 41.38

Final: Mike wins by 6.66

Honestly, even though Josh Allen is explosive, I had written this one off as a win for Mike. There was no way that Allen was posting another 40burger a week after he dropped 42. But from the get go, Josh Allen looked unstoppable. Sure, there were drives that stalled out into field goals but he was racking up points consistently and before their final drive, Josh was 9.96 points away from pulling off the comeback. I don't know if David was doing the match, but with 82 yards to go, he would need a couple of Josh Allen runs on a TD drive to win the week (to be exact, he would need 12 yards rushing and 70 yards passing). They moved down the field with ease, getting him the passing yards he needed, but once Zach Moss took it inside the Titans 10, it was GG for David. You might think the failed 4th and 1 was what killed David's chance but it was actually over 3 plays before (unless you think about the fact that maybe they shouldn't have gone for it in the first place, kicked the FG, and gotten Allen more stats in OT).

2. Simon vs. Cho

Before: Simon up by 8.1

Final: Simon wins by 3.56

I felt pretty confident going into this matchup. I assumed that even if Tannehill threw, he would have to pepper Julio with targets and that Buffalo could do a good job in limiting the Titans. But once it got to the 4th quarter with Julio out, Tannehill having rushed a TD himself, and Buffalo looking like they couldn't stop a peewee football team, I started to get nervous. Thankfully, the Titans kept feeding Henry, limiting Tannehill's chances to continue to score points. Additionally, McDermott's decision to go for it on 4th down and failing allowed the game to end, rather than giving Tannehill some additional chances at adding more points AND allowing Tennessee to break the 35 point threshold, making me lose 3 more points in the process. All in all, an extremely stressful night.

1. Dan vs. Rich

Before: Rich up by 23.48

Final: Rich wins by 4.08

Outside of Eric and Paul's matchup which was a true tossup, this one looked to be the most realistic one to be overturned. Sure, Diggs hasn't performed up to his potential but he always performs in primetime and with the number of targets he's been getting against a weak and banged up Titans secondary, this one looked like a comeback special waiting to happen. And it should have... if the Titans hadn't had a HUGE defensive pass interference penalty in the 4th quarter. With 1:48 to go, Diggs beat the corner so bad, he had no choice but to tackle him before the ball got there. Diggs still almost made the catch but almost isn't good enough in fantasy. That catch would have given Dan 10.9 points, more than enough to win the matchup. But alas, he stays in the cellar, hoping for a better week 7.

Good luck to all!

Week 6 - MOTW

We're 5 weeks in and nobody is winless or undefeated. It may be early to say (especially in the new 17 week fantasy season), but I think it portends a crazy end to this season where multiple teams will have a shot in week 14 to get into the playoffs. Let's focus on two teams that can either create some distance from the rest of the league or fall further into the muddled middle.

MOTW

2. David Y Team (David Y) vs. 4. Najee in your bahjee 🍆 (Jung)

Surprisingly, David and Jung are actually 2 of the 3 newest members to our league, even though they joined in 2013 and 2015, respectively (Note: Jung was part of season 1, along with Nelson and Sim, but he took a break for 4 years before making his glorious return). Both have been to the playoffs a handful of time in their years in the league but neither have placed in a money position. With both off to a 3-2 start with high point totals, this could be a great year for one team, if not both, to make their mark on the history of the league. Winning this week would be a key step in improving those odds by getting them closer to the much desired bye.

QB: David ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ Jung

While at first it looks like this will be an advantage for Hurts, who will be in a shootout against a secondary that can't stop anyone at the moment, the previous sentence can perfectly fit the description of Heinicke's matchup as well. Somehow both Super bowl participants can't stop anyone through the air and that requires the QB to put up big points. Expect 25+ from both.

WR: David ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Jung

This is no diss to Tyreek, Evans, or Toney (especially Toney who has been ridiculous after the catch; Toney has a chance at being a pickup of the year winner) but Jung legitimately fields 3 top 18 WRs. Adams is a top 3 WR, especially against the Bears. Cooper is a bit more of a dice roll but I expect Bill to focus on stopping Zeke or CeeDee, allowing Cooper to put in a great week. Chase has proven that his year off hasn't prevented the chemistry with Burrow from disappearing and is carving out a WR1 role in an underrated Bengals offense, and this week, he gets a terrible Lions defense.

RB: David ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ Jung

At first I wanted to give this to Jung but as good as Najee and Swift have been, Ekeler is on another level. He's legitimately pushing RB1 status in this ridiculous Herbert-led offense. Damien Williams and Jacobs both can put up enough points to make sure nobody gets the advantage in this matchup.

TE/K/DST: David ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ ◯ Jung

Kickers and DST look to be about even so the edge goes to David for having the 3rd best TE in fantasy you can have right now. Andrews seems like he's on a tier by himself just below the Kelce-Waller level but ahead of every other TE option. Knox has been a legitimate weapon but he's not getting enough weekly volume to put him on the same level as Andrews. 

Winner: Jung

I think the key will be that Heinicke can keep up with Hurts. When Wilson went down, it looked like this week might be a lost cause for Jung, but instead, he's found the best possible replacement. The WR difference should be the deciding factor in this pivotal matchup. This should be a close matchup with both managers watching the Monday night game closely to see how it ends.

Good luck to all!

Week 5 - Why are the weeks flying by so fast?

I didn't even realized I missed last week's post until halfway through the Bengals Jags game. For some reason, this year's season seems to be flying by and we're already a quarter of the way through the NFL season (I guess a little less than a quarter since we play 17 weeks now).

I would try to make up for last week's miss but let's just move on and look forward to the MOTW

MOTW

11. Justice Beaver (Dan) vs. 12. Trey Lance Refrigeration (Eric)

The sight of these two FPI juggernauts as the 2 teams fighting to avoid being the laughingstock of the league seems surreal. But I guess everything in 2021 seems not quite normal. Let's see what brought each of these teams to this point and who is going to avoid being in the cellar going into week 6 (if Eric wins, he would be ahead of Dan in the standings even though they're both 1-3 thanks to being ahead in PF at the moment).

Dan: Usually, Dan's strategy has revolved around having a great QB and a great TE and looking for some flyers at the other positions. He did take a flyer on Pitts, who was supposed to be a top 4 TE, in the 4th round, but didn't pick up a QB until the 10th round. With Pitts not living up to expectations and the QB he waited on (Trevor Lawrence) not being able to take on the expectations that have dogged him from day 1 at Clemson, the bookends of Dan's lineup was not carrying the weight needed to lead his team to victories. He did get his first victory last week thanks to picking up the greatest rushing QB in the league named... Sam Darnold? If Darnold can consistently produce 20+ point outings, it may be enough to support his monster backfield and WRs, who are sure to regress to the mean (Diggs and Tee have been disappointing and injured, respectively).

Eric: His drafted started off great, nabbing two RBs that could both finish in the top 12. But it all kind of went downhill when he started drafting his WRs. ARob is living through Nagy hell (as are all Bears fans), Aiyuk somehow became forgotten after an incredible rookie season, Jeudy got hit with the injury bug after a promising week 1, and Pittman has been getting looks but not producing. His bench is pretty thin outside of his main starters but he has enough top level talent to compete most weeks. Maybe he considers trading a star into 2-3 usable players.

STUDS: Henry vs. Diggs

These two guys are about to go off this week. I don't just mean 100 yards and a TD. I'm talking 25+ for both of them. Henry goes against the Jags where he should get 30+ touches because the game will be in hand by halftime. With Brown and Julio still on the mend, I expect to see them trust Henry in the backfield for a game they should win. Diggs is going to be involved in a shootout on primetime and there's nothing he likes more than showing he belongs in the "elite" conversation. Expect him to hang one of his top 3 performances of the year against KC.

DUDS: Pittman vs. JuJu

Pittman is most likely going to be taken out of the game by Humphrey and with the Colts o-line banged up, I can't see him getting a lot of time to get downfield, even if he gets by the coverage. Juju's bust won't really be his fault but more due to the fact that the rapist can't seem to throw anymore. Combine that with an underrated Broncos defense that's been making life living hell for QBs and it makes it hard to see a big day for any of the Steelers receivers.

Winner: Eric

I think Eric staves off the 0-5 start thanks to his backfield in what will end up being a close matchup. Henry and CEH are just enough to edge Saquon and Robinson, leaving Lamar to be the best of the rest. Lamar should perform well enough against Indy to lead  Eric to victory.

Good luck to all!