Week 7 - MOTW

Wow, what a finish on Monday night. Thanks to ESPN getting 2 games on Monday instead of 1, there's been many more matchups that come down to the wire on Monday. It might add some unneeded weekday stress, but it's totally worth it. All 6 of the matchups in our league hung in the balance before the games and Jung, Rich, Dan, and Eric were all able to complete the comeback (thanks to Bijan, Jayden, Caleb, and Drake, respectively) and Jon and Paul just came up short thanks to their kickers. Jon's loss was probably the most agonizing as he just needed 5 points from Matt Prater but between the offense being stuck in the mud, Josh Allen's turnovers, and getting one of his FGs blocked, it just wasn't Jon's day. Or maybe it's the start of a new MOTW curse.

With that in mind, let's get into another one, this one near the top of the table.

MOTW

3. Flonkerton (Dan) vs. 4. Suck My Bijan (Jung)

This might be a battle of best name in the league (maybe only because of Dan's commitment to the bit) and the worst name in the league (if someone can figure out the joke in Jung's name, please feel free to e-mail me). I may be cheating a bit, writing this on Friday after the Thursday night game has sent these 2 teams in very opposing directions, but we'll see if the MOTW curse is stronger than on field performance.

QB: Dan ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ Jung

A great stream and play by Jung stakes him a 30 spot on the board before the weekend games. I do expect Caleb to be able to match that against a rather weak Saints team that plays at an incredibly fast pace. Caleb has shown signs of the talent that made him the #1 pick and I think after last week's emotional win that exorcised some demons, he puts up 300 and 3 to keep the win streak going for the Bears.

WR/TE: Dan ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ ◯ Jung

I think before trading away a resurgent BTJ, this circle may have swung completely Dan's way with JSN, Rome, and BTJ. Worthy isn't a terrible WR3 but with Rice's return and Worthy still not looking 100% after that week 1 collision, I'd temper expectations a bit. On the other side, we have a lot of question marks. Deebo has a great matchup but I wonder if he'll be healthy enough to capitalize. Devonta continues to look for sparse targets against a Flores zone scheme that Hurts will struggle with (he's much better against man). And Jakobi has been in trade rumors and even when on the field, hasn't been spectacular. Now with a lower body injury and against a KC team that's finding it's footing on defense, I don't expect a breakout to come. TE swings things a little bit in Jung's favor as LaPorta should be in a shootout while Waller takes on a pretty competent Browns defense, but not enough for the edge to lean Dan's way.

RB: Dan ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Jung

Does Jung have the best backfield in the league? Watching Bijan on Monday night made me sure think so. He's so smooth and has an ability to shed tackles and absorb hits while keeping his balance that Kamara, coincidentally his opponent this week, also has. Kyren still has Mcvay's trust and I can only imagine, after a pretty weak showing by the offense last week, that McVay will make it a point to get it to his weapons. Achane is also elite but gets a rough matchup against the Browns that will probably game plan to take him away. Kamara gets a softer Bears defense but the Saints are never quite as good on the road and the Bears actually did a good job in containing Bill last week. I wanted to give the edge all the way to Jung's side but we'll keep it where it's at.

K/DST: Dan ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Jung

So this is probably the first one where I'm cheating a little bit and utilizing the fact that Dan's defense laid an egg to favor Jung a hair. I think the Giants offense will actually be decent so Denver won't rack up points, but I think it'll be more than 1. The kickers are basically a wash so we'll lean it slightly in Jung's favor.

Winner: Jung

This matchup looks extremely close and I expect it to close within single digits. I think the big difference is going to be the lead that Jung created on Thursday that Dan just quite won't be able to close on as Bijan and Kyren ensure that Jung hangs on to the win.

MOTW Record: 0-1

Good luck to all!

Week 6 - Oops... and the first MOTW!

Man, these weeks can really get away from you. One week I'm teasing all of you with some new content and then 2 weeks later, you're sitting there refreshing to the same Week 3 post that said something awesome is coming. My apologies. I didn't have as much time as I thought I would and I went on a trip with Jonah so... that's all I got.

The worst part is, I missed out on a monster matchup last week. Mike and David went at it in a true 1 vs. 2, undefeated vs. undefeated matchup. After the Stafford and Puka explosion on Thursday, it looked like Mike would cruise to 5-0 but David had other plans. It came down to Travis Kelce on Monday night, who delivered the win after James Cook shat the bed in the Sunday night game. What a win for David to remain the only undefeated team. Meanwhile, Mike can take solace in leading the league in points as he fights another direct challenger in a 2 vs. 3 matchup this week.

But instead of looking at the top right now, since we assume most of those teams will still be there, let's take a look at one of the biggest rivalries in the league.

MOTW

10. Never Gonna Gibbs You Up (Jon) vs. 12. #winnable (Chris)

Truly one of the biggest rivalries in our league (even if Chris is unaware), Jon vs. Chris this year matters in week 6. Right now, every team is only 2 games back of a playoff spot but with both these teams sitting at 1-4, losing this week might put them 3 games back and potentially looking at a near impossible slate to make it back into contention. The winner will get back on track at 2-4 and will "only" need to win 6 of the remaining 8 games to most likely secure their spot. Who falls out and who recovers?

QB: Jon ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Chris

Probably one of Jon's weakest points is his QB situation. In Nix and Fields, he has 2 QBs that are fringe QB1s with some spike potential. Assuming he sticks with Nix against a hapless Jets defense, Jon should get decent points from the QB position. He'll need it as Goff takes on a leaky KC defense that may bleed points in what I see as a potential shootout.

WR/TE: Jon 🟢 ◯ ◯ ◯ ◯ Chris

In most weeks this would be much closer but with Jettas on bye and Godwin and McLaurin questionable, Chris's WR lineup is going to end up as Sutton, Kupp, and whichever questionable player is able to come back by Sunday (or Monday in Terry's case... but can Chris risk playing McLaurin on Monday night if he's questionable?). While Jon's receivers have been disappointing (don't read my pre-season blurb on Ladd), Egbuka has been a revelation and Olave has been getting enough targets, even if they're relatively low value, to carry this team forward. I also think this week, against a porous Giants defense, AJ Brown gets back on track and might outscore Chris's entire WR corp. If Brock had played at full health, maybe he could have helped even this out but Theo Johnson just can't keep up with Tyler Warren, one of the focal points of the resurgent Colts offense. Massive advantage to Jon here.

RB: Jon ◯ 🟢 ◯ ◯ ◯ Chris

If WR didn't push this far enough in Jon's favor, his RBs should carry him across the line. Gibbs has been red-hot and playing like the top 3 pick he was. Judkins has been getting ridiculous volume and looks good while doing it. I temper my expectations on Quinshon a little this week as I see them trailing a lot in this game but his efficiency should make up for it. Dobbins has been a sneaky pick for Chris but I don't know if Rachaad White is running wild like he did last week, even if Bucky isn't back. Remember, there's a reason Irving took over in the first place.

K/DST: Jon ◯ ◯ ◯ 🟢 ◯ Chris

I'll give a slight edge to Aubrey here as he's the one kicker that has truly set himself apart to be in the S tier (similar to Justin Tucker for a few years when he was hitting up the massage parlors) but both kickers should get opportunities to score. Neither defense is that enticing to me but neither actually looks like terrible picks. The Giants front 4 have been frisky all year and with Philly's offensive struggles, could be a sneaky play on a short week. Indy on the other hand has been solid all year and been beating up on mediocre teams, and the Cardinals fit right into that category.

Winner: Jon

Jon gets a big rivalry win for himself while Chris has no idea that he's involved. I see a 40+ point beatdown by Jon. Chris's team has just been super unfortunate with injuries and it reflects on the options he has to play. The players are too good to drop which prevents him from cycling out for people that can help his team today.

Good luck to all!