Championship Week & Regular Season recap

 

Well gentlemen, it's been awhile since I've typed up a recap, but figured we're due for one now that the regular season is over and Championship Week is upon us.

The top 2 seeds were bounced in the first round of the playoffs, so Zach & I will be vying for 3rd, while Jordan and Ramsey will fight it out for the Championship.

My team did end up winning the regular season and most points scored, but the $200 championship payout and 2023 season trophy will be awarded to whoever emerges victorious between Jordan & Ramsey.  Best of luck!

Longest winning streak: 8 (Zach) - Weeks 1-8

Biggest blowout: Kyle over Jordan (142.36 - 80.06) - Week 7 

Closest matchup: Zach over Eric (119.98 - 119.42) - Week 5

I did individual team awards/highlights/lowlights last year, so figured I could do that again.

Keep in mind, "Biggest Letdown" are just my picks for players who underperformed, or didn't deliver on expectations. Not generally players who lost significant time due to injury.

Brice

• Team MVP: Josh Allen (3778 passing yards, 27 pass TDs, 413 rushing yards, 13 rushing TDs)
• Allen finished as the top-scoring QB. First player in NFL history with 40+ TDs in 4 straight seasons.
• Best Draft Pick: Mike Evans (Round 9, #88 overall)
• 1163 receiving yards, 13 TDs. #3 scoring WR on the year.
• Biggest Letdown: Bijan Robinson (873 rushing yards, 373 receiving yards. 7 total TDs).
• His numbers don't look that bad on paper, but a disappointing result for a first-round draft pick, and several weeks with virtually no production.
• I really wanted to hand Kyle Pitts this title, but he was only a 7th round pick this year, so expectations were limited from the start.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 16 (148.28 points scored)

Dan

• Team MVP: Lamar Jackson (3357 passing yards, 19 pass TDs, 786 rushing yards, 5 rushing TDs)
• Jackson finished as the #4 QB on the year
• Best Draft Pick: D'Andre Swift (Round 9, #81 overall)
• 1,197 total yards, 6 TDs
• Biggest Letdown: Tee Higgins (637 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• In reality, losing Justin Jefferson was the biggest letdown, but at least when Jefferson was on the field, he performed. Higgins did miss a few games in the middle of the season, but he was a ghost in most of the games he suited up for.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 3 (161.78 points scored)

Eric

• Team MVP: Christian McCaffrey (1,932 total yards, 21 TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Keenan Allen (Round 5, #44 overall)
• 1,243 receiving yards, 7 TDs on 150 targets
• Biggest Letdown: Miles Sanders (546 total yards, 1 TD)
• Best Scoring Week: Week 10 (173.58 points scored)

Jordan

• Team MVP: TE Duo of T.J. Hockenson & Sam LaPorta
• Finished as the top 2 TEs on the season in fantasy scoring.
• Best Draft Pick: Sam LaPorta (Round 12, #116 overall)
• 776 receiving yards, 9 TDs
• Biggest Letdown: Davante Adams (972 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• While he had a couple potentially week-winning performances, Adams was drafted in the 2nd round, and had a 2-month stretch in the middle of the season where he never found the endzone.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 8 (142.62 points scored)

Kent

• Team MVP: Patrick Mahomes (3,938 passing yards, 26 TDs, 387 rushing yards)
• Best Draft Pick: DeAndre Hopkins (Round 7, #62 overall)
• 939 receiving yards, 6 TDs on 120 targets
• Biggest Letdown: Austin Ekeler (571 rushing yards, 394 receiving yards, 6 total TDs)
• Ekeler started off the season with 164 yards and a TD in week 1, then missed a few weeks due to injury, and never notched a 70+ yard rushing total the remainder of the year. His receiving usage helped overall production, but essentially half of his weeks left disappointing results. Not what we've come to expect from the #2 overall pick.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 5 (151.84 points scored)

Kyle

• Team MVP: Jalen Hurts (3,778 passing yards, 20 pass TDs, 576 rushing yards, 15 rushing TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Alvin Kamara (Round 8, #71 overall)
• After being forced to miss the first 3 weeks due to suspension, Kamara has been incredibly consistent and reliable every week. Ended up being a steal in Round 8, in a season where solid starts at RB were hard to come by.
• Biggest Letdown: Tony Pollard (886 rushing yards, 295 receiving yards, 5 TDs)
• Pollard broke out last year with nearly 1,400 yards and 12 TDs, while essentially playing 2nd fiddle to Ezekiel Elliott. With the starting role locked in this year on a high-powered offense, there was a lot of hype. But many Pollard was largely inefficient with his touches, and overall had a disappointing season.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 13 (143.82 points scored)

Luke

• Team MVP: Tyreek Hill (1,641 receiving yards, 12 TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Rachaad White (Round 8, #75 overall)
• 1,380 total yards and 9 TDs so far. White has become one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 season, and is the #3 scoring RB on the season.
• Biggest Letdown: Dalvin Cook (214 rushing yards, 0 TDs)
• He completely lost the starting role to Breece Hall, and was relegated to essentially a bench/backup role after week 1. He was only a 7th round pick, so not the end of the world.
• Strongly considered Derrick Henry for this. He saved himself by turning it on down the stretch and putting up 7 TDs through the past 5 weeks. But through Week 11, he was only averaging 66 rushing yards per week, with 4 total TDs.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 1 (132.44 points scored)

Ramsey

• Team MVP: Raheem Mostert (1012 rushing yards, 21 total TDs)
• Best Draft Pick: Raheem Mostert (Round 12, #118 overall)
• Absolute steal near the end of the draft. He is currently the #2 scoring RB on the season, on one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL.
• Biggest Letdown: Aaron Jones (425 rushing yards, 2 rushing TDs. 193 receiving yards, 1 rushing TD).
• He has missed some games due to lingering injuries, but even when on the field, he's only hit 100 rushing yards once this season. Not what you wanna see from a 2nd round draft pick.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 16 (143.04 points scored)

Tom

• Team MVP: Stefon Diggs (1,070 receiving yards, 8 TDs on 145 targets)
• Best Draft Pick: James Cook (Round 8, #72 overall)
• 1,038 rushing yards, 433 receiving yards, 6 TDs)
• Biggest Letdown: Garrett Wilson (958 receiving yards, 3 TDs)
• Losing Rodgers was a dagger for Wilson and the Jets. While he still saw an enormous amount of targets (153), Zach Wilson did not do enough to make Wilson pay off on his first-round draft capital.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 10 (120.94 points scored)

Zach

• Team MVP: A.J. Brown (1,394 receiving yards, 7 TDs on 101 receptions)
• Best Draft Pick: Brian Robinson Jr (Round 9, #87 overall)
• With 990 total yards and 8 TDs so far, Robinson was a solid RB pickup near the middle-late rounds.
• Honorable mention for Dallas defense, who put up some ridiculous totals that helped solidify some wins.
• Biggest Letdown: Rhamondre Stevenson (619 rushing yards, 238 receiving yards, 4 TDs)
• He has had unreliable usage & production essentially all season. Zeke has essentially served as the lead back most of the time, with Rhamondre simply not living up to pre-season expectations.
• Best Scoring Week: Week 4 (144.42 points scored)

Thanks again for a great season, and good luck to Jordan & Ramsey in the Championship match!

Cheers, - Eric

2023 - Week 11 Recap & the Playoff Push

Well boys.. believe it or not, we have just 4 weeks of the regular season left.  

Here's how things are sitting currently:

Eric (9-2)

Zach (9-2)

Jordan (7-4)

Kyle (5-6)

Ramsey (5-6)

Brice (5-6)

Luke (5-6)

Dan (4-7)

Kent (4-7)

Tom (2-9)

4 teams make the playoffs, so a lot is still up in the air.  

Both Zach & I lost this week, so nobody has clinched a spot yet.  However, it's probably a safe bet to assume both teams will get in.  

Jordan is in a very comfortable position at 7-4.

We have 4 teams sitting at 5-6, and 2 teams sitting at 4-7.  

One or two of these teams is going to find some late-season magic and go on a run. 

Happens basically every year.

Here are some reminders of previous late-season heroics...

Last season, Brice was 4-7 at this exact point in the season.  He went on to win the remaining 4 regular season matchups to clinch a playoff spot, and won the Championship.

In 2020, Zach was sitting 4-6 after Week 10.  He proceeded to win 3 out of the last 4 weeks and made the playoffs at 7-7.  He not only made the playoffs, but won the Championship that year.

In 2019, Tom was 4-5-1 (yes, he actually tied at 109.22 points with Jordan in Week 10).  Went on to win the next 4 weeks and made the playoffs at 8-5-1.

Back in 2017, Jordan was 5-6 after 11 weeks, and didn't lose a matchup throughout the rest of the regular season or playoffs, to win the Championship.

This just shows that getting hot late in the year can carry you into the playoffs and, often times, all the way to the title.  Team dynamics shift a lot throughout the course of the season, and anything can happen.

Best of luck in your Week 12 matchups!

- Eric

2023 - Week 9 Recap

Week 9

Kyle was the giant slayer this week, convincingly taking down Zach in their matchup.

Jalen Hurts has been amazingly consistent this season.  For the past 8 weeks, his fantasy output has been between 22 points and 28 points each week.  Unfortunately, he won't be able to rely on that consistency in Week 10, as the Eagles are on Bye.

Jonathan Taylor and Jerome Ford both contributed double-digit point totals.

and while Kamara has been on fire lately, he managed a pretty modest final line.

Cooper Kupp (and the Rams) are really hurting without Stafford out there.  The Rams are also on bye this week, so my guess is they are eyeing a return for Stafford in Week 11.  The fantasy production will certainly depend on when he's back on the field.

Due to several teams on Bye, Kyle will have some lineup decisions to make when he goes up against Luke this week.

Well, the undefeated season came to a halt for Zach, who can't exactly be thrilled with the way his roster performed.  Will Levis certainly did not follow-up on his impressive 4-TD outing last week..in fact, throwing precisely zero TDs in Week 9.  

Kenneth Walker virtually disappeared in a game where they were getting steamrolled by the Ravens.

Travis Kelce was actually triple-teamed most of the Chiefs games.  Something that usually only happens to him off the field, from what I've heard.

Despite finding the endzone, even A.J. Brown had an off week, compared to the standards he's set throughout the year so far.

It goes without saying though...Taysom Hill still delivered...not only catching a TD, but throwing one as well.  I mean, is there anything that man can't do?  If I see him kick a field goal in Week 10, I won't be the least bit surprised.

One rough week for Zach puts him at 8-1 now.  I wonder if he'll ever recover.  He will have his 2 best players (not named Taysom Hill) - Kelce & Brown, on bye this week vs Kent...sooo we'll see what happens.

Well, it looks like this pep talk Dan got before his matchup with Kent wasn't quite enough..

Hopefully the words of wisdom will stick with Dan going into Week 10 though..

Kent's duo of Jacobs & Ekeler both had multi-score games, and Mark Andrews showed he's still a focal point of the Ravens offense, as he recorded a season-high 9 catches.

This was a big win for the Garbage Men, and they'll try to keep this momentum in a tough test vs Zach this week.  But they'll need to find a replacement to drive the garbage truck, as Mahomes and the Chiefs have the week off.

Dan, meanwhile, drops to 4-5, and it's best if you don't look at the offensive performances.  Just pretend it never happened, and let's look toward the future.  

Go to your happy place...think about Old Man Thielen, hunting and fishing, and all the times Kent has lost... 

Dan will hopefully take those positive vibes into his matchup with Ramsey in Week 10.

Despite Tyreek Hill's lowest fantasy performance of the year, the rest of Luke's team stepped up to get the victory over Tom in Week 9.  Derrick Henry and Chris Olave both found the endzone, while Rachaad White & Cole Kmet ended up there twice.

This is a big win, and puts Luke to 4-5 on the year.

Luke goes into a week 10 matchup with Kyle, who is going to have several players on Bye...so could be an interesting matchup.  Both teams will be fighting to get back to .500.

Tom actually needed 12 points out of Garrett Wilson last night to catch Luke.  However, relying on Zach Wilson to help deliver on Monday Night is never something anyone looks forward to, and Tom's team fell just short.

There are actually rumblings that Aaron Rodgers may be returning yet this season, which I imagine could benefit Garrett Wilson tremendously.  But at this point, who knows.

Stefon Diggs was one of the sole offensive bright spots, with the rest of Tom's crew not exactly lighting the world on fire.  Cleveland's defense shutting out the Cardinals and putting up 23 points did help, though.

Tom gets a face-off with me in Week 10 to try to turn things around.  With 6 weeks left in the regular season, it is FAR from over.  But he'll need to win the majority of matchups going forward to have a shot at the playoffs.

Jordan won a close one vs Ramsey, on the backs of Amari Cooper and Gus Edwards.  Justin Herbert didn't contribute much last night, but that was mostly due to game-script reasons.  The game-script being "the Jets are trash, we won't need you to do much".

Davante Adams is not having a great time.  I like to think I follow the NFL fairly closely during the season, but I had to google who the current Raiders QB was.  Adams hasn't found the endzone since week 3, and is averaging just 4 catches per game over that stretch.

Jordan goes head-to-head with Brice in Week 10.

Ramsey drops a third straight, as Geno Smith provided next-to-nothing, and Ja'Marr Chase had his worst outing since Week 2.  Sort of surprising to see, as the Bengals have looked like a completely different team for the last month, and have now won 4 straight.  Sounds like Chase is nursing an injury though, so that could be a contributing factor in his output.

Gabe Davis put up the dreaded goose-egg in the Bills game... but DeVonta Smith and Raheem Mostert both added a TD.

Now sitting at 3-6, Ramsey will look to get back in the win column when he goes up against Dan this week.  Based on his roster, I feel like Ramsey could be a dark horse candidate maybe?  

Last matchup.. and it wasn't exactly pretty from either side.

I took down Brice to move to 8-1.  No thanks to most of my lineup... but thankfully CeeDee Lamb, Joe Burrow, and the Chargers Defense decided to show up.

Brice had productive showings from Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley, while Bijan Robinson failed to get much going.  

As is often seen, when you get no TDs out of your position players, it makes it pretty difficult to walk away with a win.  

Brice's team is still sitting comfortably at 4-5 and will go up against Jordan to try to get back to .500

Best of luck in your Week 10 matchups!

- Eric

2023 - Week 8 Recap

Week 8 

Happy Halloween, gentlemen.

Jordan secured a big win this week over Kent, and finds himself back at .500.

Gus Edwards powered his way to 3 TDs, while Joe Mixon and T.J. Hockenson also found the endzone.

Really the only negative to his week was Davante Adams only managing 1 catch on 7 targets.  But this can be mostly chalked up to Jimmy Garoppolo being absolutely terrible.

There have been rumors that Adams may be traded, and at this point, it seems like ANY landing spot would be an improvement for his fantasy outlook.

Kent is on a 3-week skid and drops to 2-6.  Must be out camping or hunting, because this is all he had to say about the season 8 weeks in:

Certainly didn't help that Mahomes had one of the worst games of his career, with 2 picks and no TDs

His RB squad of Jacobs, Ekeler, and Javonte Williams looks to be pretty strong though, especially considering how rough that position has been this year.  So hopefully he can claw his way to a win in Week 9.

Kyle had a 14 point lead going into Monday, but then Jahmyr Gibbs decided to have his breakout game for Dan's team on MNF...

Gibbs went for 189 and a TD, so it will be interesting to see the usage between him and David Montgomery when he gets back in action.  Old Man Thielen contributed a solid game, and Jaylen Waddle finally had his first 100+ yard game of the season.

Dan's team climbs back to .500, while Kyle drops to 3-5.

Kyle didn't have a bad week necessarily, but the loss of Matthew Stafford has to be worrying for Cooper Kupp and the outlook for the Rams offense going forward.

Alvin Kamara has been looking great, and his constant usage in the passing game makes him virtually game-script proof.  But Kyle will have a tough test in week 9, when he goes up against Zach's undefeated squad.

Speaking of Zach....live look at him this morning:

Clearly playing at another level, Zach's team is now 8-0.

A.J. Brown now has 6 consecutive games with 120+ yards.

Travis Etienne has established himself as the Jags' workhorse, and has 4 games in a row with 21+ fantasy points.

He does have Taysom Hill riding his bench, who managed 100+ yards and 2 scores this past week.  We'll see if he makes the ultimate "Chad" move and starts Hill over Kelce at TE in Week 9.  Probably not, but knowing Zach, it'd probably work out for him.

Luke faced the Zach buzzsaw, so he drops to 3-5.

Tyreek Hill does have the occasional "off" game, but apart from those rarities, he is basically a lock for a 20 point performance every week, with massive games sprinkled in.

Talented youngster Chris Olave has had a disappointing season after breaking out last year.  I'm confidently putting 80% of the blame on Derek Carr for that, but maybe they can figure things out.

Luke will try to bounce back vs Tom in Week 9.

Brice was the recipient of a huge game out of Josh Allen, and finally got to witness Saquon's first 100 yard rushing game of the year, although it was in one of the ugliest NFL games I've ever witnessed.  The first half of the Jets/Giants game saw 691 YARDS.... of, punts.  There were a total of 24 punts in that game.  How thrilling.

Kyle Pitts was predictably mediocre again.  I'm sure he'll break out eventually..

Brice also moves up to .500 and faces me this week.

Tom had a rough week out of the RB position, but this was a close matchup that could have swung either way.  

C.J. Stroud contributing just 140 passing yards and no passing TDs doesn't help.

Kittle finally saw double-digit targets, which he probably should be getting every week, and Garrett Wilson saw his first 100 yard receiving game of the season.  Oh, what could have been, had Rodgers not gotten hurt on the first drive of his Jets career...

Tom & Luke get to fight it out in Week 9.

Lastly, my squad bumps up to 7-1 on the backs of CeeDee Lamb & Christian McCaffrey, who combined for nearly 62 points by themselves.  Appreciated Darren Waller testing out his hamstring, only to leave the game after 1 catch...

Ramsey put up a respectable 106 points, getting solid games out of Ja'Marr Chase & Breece Hall.  Kirk Cousins will be out the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles, so hopefully Trevor Lawrence can fill the shoes for Ramsey's squad going forward.  However, he'll have to find another option at QB this week, as the Jags will be on Bye.

Good news is that David Montgomery is looking likely to return after Detroit's bye this week.

Ramsey gets a matchup with Jordan this week.

Alright I think that about does it. 

We have 7 weeks of the regular season remaining, which is plenty of time for the Standings to change significantly.  Everyone is still very much in contention, but the next 2-3 weeks will be crucial.

Hope you guys have a good Halloween and best of luck in Week 9!

Cheers!

- Eric

2023 - Week 7 Recap

 Week 7

Kent (aka Mr. Garbage) dropped a close one to me this week, despite outscoring me at the QB position by 35 points.

Big shoutout to DeShaun Watson for throwing a pick and then leaving the game.  Always fun to end up with negative points out of your QB.

The result was hinging on whether or not Christian McCaffrey would even play on Monday night, let alone get me 13+ points needed to win.  But, my faith held steady, and my ride-or-die approach managed to work out this time.

Jacobs and Ekeler had weeks worthy of the "Garbage" moniker, which was the biggest contributing factor to the end result.

Kent gets a date with Jordan in week 8, who is dealing with his own running-back woes.  

AREN'T WE ALL.

Zach's quest for the perfect season continues through 7 weeks, putting a Charles Barkley style "whoopin" on Dan this week.

Travis Etienne now has 3 straight weeks with 2 rushing TDs, and Kelce has been gettin' that T-Swift production boost through the same timeframe.

A.J. Brown looks like the best receiver in the NFL (not named Tyreek Hill) right now.

Zach is averaging 126 points per week, if anyone was wondering.

We'll see if his luck continues vs Luke this week.

At least Old Man Thielen will be off the shuffleboard court and back in action for Dan's team this upcoming week.

Jahmyr Gibbs finally showed what he is capable of when given the ball, despite the Lions getting demolished.

The loss of Justin Jefferson is certainly being felt, and K.J. Osborn can't quite fill those shoes. Jordan Addison may be able to though, but he's on Kyle's roster (we'll get to him in a minute).

With Tua & Waddle on Dan's roster, any off week from Miami is probably gonna sting a bit.  They should get an opportunity to bounce-back vs a Patriots team that's allowing opponents 30 points per game over the past month.

More "whoopins" this week, as Kyle's team erupted for 142 in his win over Jordan. 

Jalen Hurts continues putting on clinics week-in, week-out.

Also, I'm pretty sure Jerome Ford ran for 70 and a TD on like the first play of the game, yet ended with 74 rushing yards.  So congrats, I think?

Jonathan Taylor finally got double-digit carries for the first time this year, and is likely to be the primary ball carrier going forward.  

Kyle is the extremely rare fantasy owner this year who actually DOESN'T seem to have RB problems.  Note to self: Propose lopsided trades to Kyle

It was gonna be tough for Jordan to keep up with that gauntlet from Kyle this week, but Keaontay Ingram being benched by the Cardinals certainly didn't help.

Gus Edwards was the sole bright spot, breaking off an 80 yard catch, and also adding a rushing TD.  

He'll get a chance to get back to .500 vs Garbage in Week 8.

After an 0-5 start, Tom now has back-to-back wins, and a pretty convincing one this week, despite a "Bye week hell" situation.  

When you have double-digit scoring production from basically your entire starting lineup, it tends to bode well.

It also appears that adding "garbage" to your team name makes for instant results.

Tom gets to face off with Brice this week.

Ramsey was certainly feeling some Bye Week Blues in Week 7.  Being without two star players due to Byes, and David Montgomery injured, it was tough sledding.  

Mostert was a victim of Miami's lackluster offensive performance, and the same can be said for Aaron Jones and the Packers.

At least Ramsey's squad should be back at full strength this week for when he plays..... me.  Oh, fantastic.

Last, but not least, matchup.  Ok, actually, it was the least scoring matchup of the week.

An absolute barnburner, with Brice's team putting up 88 points to Luke's 58.  

Bijan Robinson mysteriously left Sunday's game "not feeling well?"  I guess?  These kinds of things just happen to Brice's teams, so nothing out of the ordinary here.

Kyle Pitts put up his standard mediocre day, although he did show us he still has the talent, when given the opportunity...

Saquon being back in action is nice to see, although apparently add an elbow injury to his list of ailments.  Well, join the club, Saquon.  Name a running back that isn't hurt, I'll wait.

Everyone's starting roster is starting to look something like this:

QB: Underperforming 

WR: Q

WR: O

RB: IR

RB: IR

TE: Q

W/R/T: Some guy nobody's ever heard of, but his college tape "looks solid"

K: Mediocre

D: Decent

As far as Luke's team is concerned.. Tyreek put on his usual theatrics, going for over 88 yards and a score, on 11 receptions.  Apart from that...well, Jaylen Warren fell into the endzone.  I guess that's a positive.

DK Metcalf was a DNP, and Cole Kmet was a "DNTT" (Do Not Throw To) in Week 7.

Derrick Henry being on Bye didn't help, but nothing was gonna save it this week. 

At least you get to play Zach this week.  He's due for a loss, right? ...right.

Between Bye weeks and injuries, finding reliable production seems to be getting tougher each week.  On the bright side, injuries do open the door for more waiver pickups that can turn the tide for teams.  Happens every year.  We have 6 teams sitting at 3-4 and two teams sitting 2-5, so everyone is definitely still in contention.  We've got a long way to go.

Best of luck to you nerds in Week 8.

- Eric

2023 - Week 5 Recap

Week 5

As discussed in the League chat, trades will now automatically go through once both sides agree.  If there are any questions, please let me know, or bring it up in our group chat.

It was also brought to my attention that a few people didn't know that you can drop players on your bench at ANY time.  Even if their game has already been played.  Yahoo has been setup this way for as long as I can remember.

Now on to the matchups..

Kent easily led the pack in scoring in Week 5.  I'll be sad when he inevitably changes his team name....but maybe it's good luck at this point?

DJ Moore put on a clinic, going for 230 yards and finding the endzone three times.  Hell, I didn't know the Bears were capable of putting up 230 total yards in a game, let alone one player.

DeAndre Hopkins (one of my all-time favorite players to watch) looked back to form, going for 140 on 8 catches.

Ekeler and Elijah Mitchell are still nursing injuries, but if he can get Ekeler back this week, it's going to make for a pretty formidable lineup.

Brice's team was going to have a tough time keeping pace with the Garbage Men this week. ..and hold on...did Kyle Pitts actually have a serviceable game?  87 yards, on 11 targets?  Wow.  Glad the Falcons have figured out they should probably throw to the highest drafted Tight End in NFL history.

Calvin Ridley had his best game of the season, going for 122 on 7 grabs.

Unfortunately, Khalil Herbert left his game with a high-ankle sprain, and it's sounding like there's a chance he'll be placed on IR.

With Saquon nursing his ankle also, things are looking a little dire at the RB position at the moment.

Brice gets a sibling rivalry matchup with Ramsey this week.

Kyle got the best of Tom this week.

Let's go through the list of people Kyle has back in action now...

In his debut, Cooper Kupp resumed right where he left off, with 118 yards on 12 targets.

Alvin Kamara has now put up a couple solid back-to-back games since returning from suspension.

And Jonathan Taylor is BACK, BABY!  aaaand proceeded to get 18 rushing yards on 6 carries. 

I guess Zack Moss wasn't ready to let go of the job, as he had 195 total yards and 2 scores.

Zack Moss was actually the 1st RB to run for 100 yards vs the Titans since Week 1.....of 2022.  Could be a fun time for Kyle deciding who to play in Week 6.

Tom's team still leans on the talent of Stefon Diggs, who has 100+ receiving yards in all but 1 game so far this season.  

Isiah Pacheco has now scored in 3 straight games, and clearly is the top option in the Chiefs backfield right now.  

George Kittle's 3 TD performance was nice to see, as he hasn't done much with his limited opportunities up until this point.  In fact, he only had 3 TOTAL catches in the game.  So it's all-or-nothing with Kittle I guess.

Tom will head to the landfill to take on Garbage in Week 6.

I guess this week proved that Brock Purdy is better than CMC and CeeDee Lamb combined.  Zach's team won our extremely close matchup due to Purdy's heroics.  The 49ers certainly look like a force to be reckoned with.

A huge game out of Travis Etienne didn't hurt either, as he went for nearly 200 all-purpose yards, 2 TDs, and a 2-point conversion for good measure.

In a moment that likely left Zach (and his fellow Swifties) gasping, Kelce left his game with a non-contact injury just prior to halftime, but actually ended up returning to the game.  Apparently it's an ankle sprain, and at this point he's expecting to suit up for Week 6, but will be something to monitor.

In another close matchup, Jordan got just enough out of Davante Adams on Monday Night to take home the victory vs Dan.  Sam LaPorta delivered 2 scores to lead the way for his team.

Kyren Williams had an off week, but will look to bounce back vs a porous Cardinals D in Week 6.

Jordan moves to 3-2 on the year and will get to face Zach, the only remaining undefeated team, this week.

Old Man Thielen must be taking his Prevagen, or whatever his doctors are prescribing him these days.  11 catches for 107 and a TD to lead Dan's team in scoring.  He'll undoubtably be needed again this week, as the Panthers face a Miami team that can put up points at will.

Unfortunately his former teammate Justin Jefferson had the rare off week, and also tweaked his hamstring in the 4th quarter.  His week 6 status is still up in the air, but it's not looking good at this time.

Dan will look to rebound vs Luke this week.

Speaking of Luke, in yet another tight matchup, his team came out on top vs Ramsey.  

Emanuel Wilson was not the team savior as Ramsey had hoped.  

Leading Luke's team, Tyreek Hill put on a show (as he has a habit of doing), and Justin Fields now has back-to-back 4 TD weeks.

Ramsey got to witness the resurgence of Ja'Marr Chase, who was making plays everywhere, ending the day with 15 catches for 192 yards and 3 scores.

David Montgomery has also firmly established himself as "the guy" in Detroit, and is coming off consecutive big games.

Luke will battle Dan in week 6, while Ramsey and his brother get to fight it out.

That's all I've got for now.

Best of luck in your matchups this week!

- Eric

2023 - Week 4 Recap

Week 4

Well the Garbage Man CAN.  As long as he has Josh Jacobs and Mark Andrews manning the truck, anyways.

Kent got his first win of the season over Ramsey this week.  As I mentioned last week, maybe Josh Jacobs just doesn't turn it on until Week 4 every year.  And that appears to be the case.  Jacobs not only ran for 58 and a score, but more importantly had 11 targets and 8 receptions for 81 yards.  That sort of usage bodes well going forward for sure.

Mark Andrews found the endzone twice this week, and allowed all Andrews owners to finally exhale.

Kent also threw out a "land mine" by dropping Joshua Kelley and letting Brice do the suffering going forward.  A bold move, but looks to be a pretty good one based on yet another lackluster performance out of Kelley.

Kent actually faces off against Brice this upcoming week, but the Chargers are on Bye, so I'm fairly certain Kelley won't be in Brice's lineup.  Probably a blessing.

Ramsey had to deal with a couple rough RB performances.  Aaron Jones was apparently on a snap count on his return, notching only 5 carries, and Raheem Mostert (who has essentially been doubling his point total every week), went from nearly 42 points last week, to just 4 fantasy points this week.

On the positive side though, David Montgomery is clearly still a focal point of the Lions offense, as he had a ridiculous 32 carries, totaling 121 yards and 3 scores.  With Breece Hall's usage still a bit confusing, Ramsey will have some decisions on who to start at RB this week vs. Luke.

Zach's point total has been increasing every week so far, and he really put an exclamation point on that statistic, tallying 144 points in Week 4 with his win over Tom.

A.J. Brown finally found the endzone (a couple times), and now has back-to-back games with at least 13 targets.  Dallas' defense is AVERAGING 20 points a week by the way...yeah, I'd say that's pretty helpful.  

Zach has cruised to 4-0 and plays me this week.  So the good news is, one of us has to lose.

Tom slides to 0-4, but in his defense, he's had some rough matchups, especially the last couple of weeks.  He has the most points scored against him by a fairly wide margin, which never helps.  

Joe Burrow and the Bengals have been...frankly, pretty abysmal.  He is the lowest scoring QB in the NFL this year that has played in all 4 games.  Yikes...

He did get a huge game out of Diggs, which saw him find the endzone three times.  Isiah Pacheco also wound up with a ton of work, totaling over 150 yards and a TD.

Tom will lick his wounds and look to get his first win of the season vs Kyle in Week 5.

In a super tight matchup, Jordan outpaced Luke this week to move back to .500

Kyren Williams led the way with nearly 30 touches and 2 scores.  He might very well end up being the waiver wire pickup of the year.  He did get a little banged up in his game on Sunday, so he'll be one to monitor going into the weekend.  Brandon Aiyuk came back this week and broke off several long catches for 148 yards in total.  Davante Adams failed to find the endzone, but he is still a target monster and a focal point of that Raiders offense.

Jordan will try to get a winning streak going vs Dan this week.

Luke came out on the short side of a close one this week.  Talented WR Chris Olave almost pulled a complete disappearing act.  I blame most of that on Derek Carr, so hopefully just an outlier game.

Derrick Henry returned to form with 22 carries for 122 yards and a score.  His yardage totals have left a little to be desired so far, but Henry has a tendency to get stronger as the season goes on and defenses get banged up.  Tyreek Hill also failed to find the endzone for the first time this year.  

Luke will look to get back on track when he faces Ramsey in Week 5.

Brice got the better of Kyle this week, in another close matchup.

Josh Allen went nuclear for 4 passing TDs and 1 rushing score.  Bijan Robinson had a solid bounce-back game with 105 rushing yards and another 32 through the air.  The aforementioned Joshua Kelley STILL isn't Austin Ekeler.  But hey, maybe roll him out again when he's off Bye in week 6?

The clip above can also be used for Kyle Pitts.  He is like a walking, talking, shoulder-pad wearing disappointment.

The GOOD news is, Saquon is gonna be back (maybe this week?), and Khalil Herbert is emerging as maybe the only bright spot on an awful Bears team.  So there are some RB options at least.

Brice heads to the dump to face the Garbage Man in week 5.

Kyle got another solid performance out of Jalen Hurts, and a massive game out of waiver-wire wonder Nico Collins...but when nobody else in the lineup finds the endzone, it tends to make for a rough week.  Tony Pollard was pretty quiet in game where Dallas stomped New England, but I guess that happens when your defense is scoring half the points.

Kyle did get Kamara back in action, and it looks like he'll be a solid start rest-of-season.  Cooper Kupp is apparently going to be back at practice, but hell if I know what's going on with Jonathan Taylor.  Is he playing?  Is he getting traded?  Is he going on a long vacation with Le'Veon Bell?  Nobody seems to know.

Kyle will try to get back in the win column vs Tom this week.

Last but not least, Christian McCaffrey beat Dan this week.  The rest of my team didn't really matter.  

Dan did get a multi-TD game out of Mr. Justin Jefferson, although what's the deal with him not being able to get 150 yards?  Does he suck now, or what?  I'm sure he'll just double it this week, and put up 300 to stay on-pace.

Speaking of sucking, Tee Higgins...no, scratch that.. the BENGALS.  They suck.  It's full-blown panic mode in Cincinnati right now.  If they lose to the Cardinals this week, which is actually possible in this world we live in now, they might as well just pack it up.

One more note... I can't believe old man Thielen has returned to relevance and is a Top 10 WR on the season right now.

Dan faces Jordan this week, to try to get back to a winning record.

Alright boys, that's all I've got for now.  Best of luck on the waiver wire and in Week 5!

Cheers,

- Eric