A new season begins

A football cliche is “the season don’t begin until after Thanksgiving”. Well, try telling that to the Carolina Panthers (1-9), the Patriots (2-8), Matt Canada (fired), and PP Hurts (eliminated). Of course the sentiment is for competitive teams vying to sneak in the playoffs or grab the coveted first round bye. Our playoff race is heating up as 6-8 is mathematically possible for the 6 seed while 8 wins likely clinches a spot. Team Jeff at 4-7 even has a chance at the first round bye being in the bad division with 30 less points for than the current leader (IPB). This week alone sees 3 matchups between bubble teams which guarantees 3 teams will be alive with 2 to play. Its a perfect week for Thanksgiving that sees 4 games played before Sunday and no teams on bye. Buckle up!

Matchups

Michael Ohers Conservators (118.06) eliminated PP Hurts (97.44) in this week’s toilet bowl. The Conservators were hard carried by 4 players: Lamar (23.96), Davante Adams (21.2), Purdy (26.72), and the Cowboys DST (24). Their next highest scorer was Javonte Williams at 7.3. Kenny Walker (2.6) and Mark Andrews (4.3) were injured early in their games and Garrett Wilson (0.9) was dealing with an elbow injury headed into this matchup. Though eliminated and losing this week, it seems PP Hurts is still affecting his opponents with the injury luck. PP Hurts had put up decent showings despite several injuries but are clearly lacking the superstar talent next to Jalen Hurts (19.9). PP Hurts has only beaten Ruffings this year, but has a chance to spoil Good on Paper (5-6) in two weeks.

Fields of Dreams (127.96) kept their season alive this week against I Pickens Boogies (92.86). FoD survived a pair of duds from stud RBs Derrick Henry (5.4) and Travis Etienne (8.9) thanks in part to a 39 yard TD catch from DJ Moore (22.6) in Justin Fields’ return (21.16). They also are seeing returns from Tank Dell (28.9) who at 5’10” and 165 pounds seems like the real deal. At 5’10” and 175 pounds, whats my excuse? IPB suffered from a their own duds in Ekeler (7) and AJ Brown (1.8). Ekeler’s performance was particularly surprising since Najee and Warren combined for 183 rushing yards while Ekeler only mustered 64 (though averaged 6.4 YPC). Justin Herbert (73 yards) led the team in rushing instead of his usual move of checking it down to Ekeler which helps explain the lack of production. AJ Brown was the main focus of KC’s defense as DeVonta Smith went 6 for 99. I wouldn’t worry too much about this matchup as Justin Jefferson will return eventually.. right?

Team Jeff (151.28) channeled their inner feline hatred this week against Los Gatos Kitties (118.22). Being allergic to cats, Jeff’s body chose fight instead of flight. Tony Pollard (18) scored their first TD since week 1, and Calvin Ridley (31.1) scored their first since week 4. It was Ridley’s first two TD game in 1,158 days. Brian Robinson Jr. (20.1) is apparently Sam Howell’s favorite target as he led the team in receptions (7) and receiving yards (58) for the 2nd straight week. The Kittes continue to get production from their late round QBs (Love - 20.88; Stroud - 18.34), but have a consistency issue at RB (Achane - 1.5; Jacobs 6.1). DK Metcalf (20.4) finally appears healthy after dealing with a back issue and Brandon Aiyuk (26.6) could be a WR1 when the 49ers offense gets rolling but it wasn’t enough in this matchup and the Kitties may need to win out from here.

RIP Kirko Chainz (140.08) liked that this week against the Zach White Commanders (116.64). The Commanders’ pair of Texans (Singletary - 19.8; Collins - 13.5) were serviceable while their pair of Vikings (Addison - 7.4; Hockenson - 9.5) were not. What a wild sentence that would have been entering the year. Rachaad White (17.8) is still a PPR machine, but Christian Kirk’s (7.8) receptions all went to Ridley this week. Kirko Chainz started four players obtained through trades this week and they combined for 66.2 points (Breece, Swift, Waddle, and Puka). Puka saw the return of Stafford and departure of Kupp flipping his stonks way up while Waddle (9.5) struggles to get much going. Waddle last year I think scored the most TDs in the league from 20+ yards out. Though certainly capable of repeating, I think this volatile outcome helps explain only 2 18+ point games this year from Waddle.

Hamas Rockets (134.38) ignited Good on Paper (100.4) this week. The Rockets had steady performances from most players (eg DMont - 17.8; DeVonta - 15.9; Thielen - 15.4), but especially benefitted from Saquon’s 30 point game against the Commanders. Is Tommy DeVito actually a good QB? Or is the Commanders’ defense about to be historically bad through the rest of year? DeVito went for 246 yards and 3 TDs, scoring 31 team points after averaging 11 the past 3 games. Good on Paper suffered a trio of injuries to Burrow, Aaron Jones, and Cooper Kupp which also affected Ja’Marr Chase’s game (9.2). Gibbs (21.5) put up his 4th consecutive 20+ point performance, but Travis Kelce (15.4) faile to give Good on Paper and advantage at TE with Kittle (22.9) facing him. Its time to make some moves for Good on Paper at 5-6 winning only 1 of the last 4 games.

Mr. Big Chest (170.32) three-peated this week, taking down Token Female (132.86). Token Female had the highest points in a loss this week with only 3 players failing to reach double digits (Diggs - 6.7; Deebo - 9.2; Mayer - 8.6). Diggs and Deebo were largely unecessary as their teams dominated and Mayer outscored his projection of 8.6. She made perfect start/sit decisions as her entire bench combined for 0 points. Justin Herbert (QB3 on the year) was boosted with 73 rushing yards, and James Cook (19.2) looks like a true workhorse back (17 carries, 3 catches), but there weren’t enough TDs for Token Female. MBC on the other hand had only two players without TDs and they were his TE (McBride - 9.3) and defense (Miami - 13). Dave’s game of trading two good RBs for the RB#1 CMC combined for 3.8 less than he shipped off, but its impressive Dave got 12.9 from an RB (Darrell Henderson) who was cut from the team on Tuesday (to be fair in a procedural move to be added back to the practice squad). The WR1 and 2 on the year (Hill/Allen) combined for 20 catches, 162 yards, and 58.2 points. Even Sam Howell (20.7) who had a stinker against the Giants with 3 interceptions clawed back 35 rushing yards and a rushing TD in garbage time.

Trades

The last trade was on Halloween.. come on guys, this section is dead. If we don’t get action by next week I think I’m just going to propose some trades here.

Power Rankings

  1. Michael Ohers Conservators (7-4) - 3-4 in the last 7 weeks? averaging 108 points over that stretch? Who cares? I’m still rolling.

  2. Mr. Big Chest (8-3) - 170 points a week after 188. Lets hope that WR volatility hits a low in week 16.

  3. Zach White Commanders (8-3) - A little weak at WR but the best RB depth in the league and a new OC for Josh Allen. Biiig gap between 3 and the rest of the league

  4. I Pickens Boogies (7-4) - His division sucks, but gets Michael Ohers Conservators and MBC next.

  5. RIP Kirko Chainz (5-6) - In comes Puka if Kupp is out, but out goes Amari Cooper with DTR at QB.

  6. Token Female (6-5) - Finally decided to sit Gabe Davis, nice.

  7. Team Jeff (4-7) - Like his brother, I think the teams are much better than the records, but they go head to head this week and the loser is probably done for.

  8. Fields of Dreams (4-7) - Big win to stay alive but has to keep it rolling.

  9. Hamas Rockets (6-5) - How does this team keep winning?

  10. Los Gatos Kitties (4-7) - How does this team keep losing?

  11. Good on Paper (5-6) - Trio of injuries with rough timing.

  12. PP Hurts (2-9) - First eliminated from playoffs.

Picks

Apparently I forgot to make picks last week? so just slap me the same record as ESPN at 4-2 as we sit at 39-27 and 38-28 respectively. This week winners will be: Michael Ohers Conservators, Ruffing, Mike though I think both teams score a lot, RIP Kirko Chainz, ZWC, Good on Paper (bad matchup for Buffalo this week), and MBC

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