Hi all,
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Look at it! It’s beautiful! This season is the best.
Top Scores
Ross: 172.44
Evan: 161.00
Aaron: 137.58
This week’s FAAB Bonuses
($2) Evan: Highest score without winning matchup
($2) Chris: Highest scoring bench player, Chris Johnson
($2) Ross: Score leader for the week.
($2) Evan: Weekly leaders in points scored against.
($2): Rick and Gray: Lowest in divisional standings
($3): Rick: Lowest overall seed of those trailing in divisions
Waivers run until Wednesday the 6th
Teams on bye this week: Browns, Chiefs, Pats, Jets
Standings
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Galen is entering the home stretch with a solid lead in the South and the league’s best shot at a first round playoff bye. Barriger is two games behind, and beyond him the rest of the division is locked in a massive 4-5 scrum.
In the North, the brothers Bale have pulled a little ahead, but with 4 games left in the fantasy regular season playoff seeding is still wide open.
Matchups!
Ross (172.44) over Evan (161.00)
This was supposed to be the place where I made fun of Ross for benching Tom Brady (33.18), who finally managed to have a good day against an ancient and ineffective Steelers defense. Instead, Ross started Nick Foles (45.64) who tied Peyton fucking Manning’s record with 406 yards and SEVEN TD’s. Thanks a lot Raiders. Ross also got great days out of AP (23.70) Jason Witten (16.20) and Keenan Allen (19.80). Besides Foles, the best player on Ross’s team this week was Cam Wake (27.00) who took over the Thursday night game with 3 sacks, a forced fumble and a walk off safety in overtime. I think his knee feels better.
Gio Bernard (22.40) had a great thursday night, including one of the highlight runs of the year. Unfortunately for me, he did this from the bench. Marshawn Lynch (14.10) and Fat Eddie (21.00) were far from terrible , maintaining their position as fantasy RB1’s. Lacy may be in for an even bigger workload if Aaron Rodger’s shoulder injury keeps him out long term. My real MVP this week was Andre Johnson (40.90). With UDFA Case Keenum under center, the old man exploded for 229 yards and 3 touchdowns against a Colts secondary that shut down the Broncos earlier in the year. A hometown favorite already because of his college days with the Houston Cougars, Keenum could very well be the Texans’ QB of the future.
Rick (115.09) over Ryan (93.78)
Rick was staring down the barrel of a sixth-straight loss in this one, up by only about 20 points with Aaron Rodgers (1.98) and Jordy Nelson (6.70) still to play on Monday night. Unfortunately for Ryan, Rodgers went down in the first quarter with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, saddling Ryan with a measly 2 fantasy points and the Packers with Seneca Wallace. The disappointing Packers wasted good days from Marlon Brown (19.40) and Gonzo (14.40). DeMarco Murray (5.00) looked pretty good in his return injury, but his fantasy day was limited by only four carries in a surprisingly close game vs. the bottom feeding Vikings.
Rick got another stinker from RG3 (11.34) this week, who rushed for only 17 yards and never found the end zone. Overall, it wasn’t a particularly good week for the Geezers; counting his kicker, Rick only got four players into double digit fantasy points. Thankfully, one of those players was Jimmy Graham (23.55) who is playing at an unreasonably high level given his plantar fasciitis injury. Graham had 116 yards and 2 TDs and played a majority of snaps on offense, easing worries that he would see only limited use going forward. Meanwhile a healthy Trent Richardson (5.30) continues to disappointing. Between Glen Coffee, Mark Ingram, and Trent Richardson, it might be time to stop hyping Alabama runningbacks. Except Eddie Lacy, he’s dreamy.
Aaron (137.58) over Nich (97.02)
With a second win in a row, Aaron is slowly crawling his way back towards .500, while Nich falls just below the mark at 4-5. Romo (20.28) put another respectable day, this time in a surprisingly close last-second win against the Vikes. Rookie phenom Terrance Williams (4.30) was surprisingly quiet against a league-worst Minnesota secondary. Aaron won this week on strength of his two runningbacks. Stevan Ridley (22.40) found the end zone twice in the Pats’ 55-31 rout of the Steelers. The New England backfield is crowded, but Ridley is once again emerging as the true workhorse, garnering 26 of the 34 team carries. Rookie Zac Stacy (29.80) had an even better day, totalling 178 total yards and two touchdowns. With Bradford on IR and the passing offense in the toilet, the 7th round pick out of Vanderbilt has turned into this offense’s feature back and best offensive weapon.
Even without Reggie Wayne, Andrew Luck (24.84) got it done, throwing for 271/3TD’s in a comeback win against division rival Houston. Danny Amendola (18.20) finally showed what he can do when he’s healthy (which is almost never), reeling in over a hundred yards and a touch in the aformentioned rout of Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Nich, Chris Long (1.00) was unable to repeat last week’s sublime three sack performance, ending the day with only one tackle. Jacquizz Rodgers (3.88) is still losing all his touches to a worn-out Steven Jackson. Lamar Miller (10.90) still looks really damn good running the ball, but Dolphins OC Mike Sherman continues to limit his touches, and he fumbled this week.
Gray (127.18) over Justin (81.22)
With this win, Gray and Justin both move to 4-5 in the South Division’s basement bloodbath. Justin’s team was thoroughly disappointing this week; Coming off a career day against the Jets in week 8, Andy Dalton (6.72) was ugly, turning the ball over four times against the Dolphins. Vincent Jackson (1.10) was repeatedly mugged by pass interference enthusiast Brandon Browner, managing only 11 yards on two catches. Ryan Matthews (3.40) and Bilal Powell weren’t much better, collecting only 63 yards rushing between them. Justin could take some comfort in the resurgence of Rob Gronkowski (20.30) who hauled in 9 of his 10 targets for 143 yards and a touch. Justin showed some pretty extraordinary patience holding on to Gronk through his lengthy injury, and its finally paying off.
This is it folks. Gray gave up a fourth round pick to to have Russ Wilson (22.28) as his second QB. While other teams picked up Antonio Brown, Eric Decker, DeSean Jackson and Gio Bernard, Gray bravely chose the backup QB. It paid off this week, as Wilson cracked 20 points in a comeback victory against the Bucs at home. I mean, I guess Gray would have won even without a QB this week, but whatever. CJ Spiller (15.50) looked like he’s regained some old form, totalling 155 all-purpose yards against a tough Kansas City D. Greg Olsen (13.60) found the end zone in a rout of the Dirty Birds, while AJ Green’s (13.80) whole day was on yards alone. I’m really confused about he Patriot’s rookie WR situation– at the beginning of the year it seemed like Kenbrell Thompkins was the guy to own. This week, he didn’t even make the box score, while Aaron Dobson (25.00) exploded for 130 yards and 2 TDs.
Barriger (134.65) over Chris (92.01)
Barriger comes out ahead in the battle of the South Division 4-4’s. Case Keenum (28.60) shined as a spot start for Peyton Manning, throwing for 350/3TD. Of course, 229 yards and all three of those touchdowns went to Andre Johnson (not that I’m complaining). Barriger was nearly blanked by an early Darren Sproles (0.20) injury, but Matt Forte (23.90) more than picked up the slack. The veteran put the team on his back Monday night, carrying a Cutler-less Bears to a 27-20 victory over the Packers. Barriger’s keepers choices look more prescient each week, as TY Hilton (30.95) went off to the tune of 121 yards and 3 TD’s. With Reggie Wayne done for the year, Hilton looks like the Colts WR1 from here on out.
Chris got hosed at RB, absolutely hosed. Darren McFadden (1.50) reinjured his hamstring (surprise!) before he could take advantage of a tasty matchup with the Eagle’s D. Arian Foster (0.00) had also been struggling with a hamstring leading up to Sunday, but went out early in his game with a back injury, leaving poor Chris with less than 2 points from his RB position. Adding insult to injury, Chris Johnson (29.00) had an fantastic day on Chris’ bench, rushing for 150/2TD against the Rams. Its becoming clear that we should start all runningbacks facing the Rams. DeSean Jackson (21.97) hauled in one of Nick Foles’ seven (!) touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough, especially with Kenbrell Thompkins (0.00) and Dexter McCluster (0.50) laying goose eggs. On a bright note, Philip River’s (19.04) career renaissance continues, as he threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort against the Redskins.
Galen (111.56) over Brad (89.56)
Galen’s win streak continues, and he moves to 7-2 this week with another solid performance against Brad. Brees (19.18) managed to put up a decent fantasy day, despite being under seige all morning by a terrifying Jet’s D line. Outside of Jimmy Graham, Brees wasn’t able to get much going through the air, and the Saints lost this one on the road in the Meadowlands. Jamaal Charles (9.60) was again denied his “customary touchdown”, but still managed 96 yards against a scrappy Buffalo defense. Alfred Morris (18.10) had a better day, carrying the load for the Redskins in a late win against the Chargers. Tamba Hali’s (9.28) day would have been substantially worse if he hadn’t scooped up a TJ Graham fumble and taken it 11 yards for a touchdown. Jeff Tuel was the Chief’s third 3rd-string QB opponent in a row, so it’s not too surprising that they’re going into their bye 9-0. Things get a bit tougher in week 11 when they face Denver on the road.
Cam Newton (18.16) was pretty sloppy on Sunday, but the Panthers got the win and he still managed to put up a decent fantasy day (largely because of his rushing TD). LeSean McCoy (14.00) and Le’Veon Bell (13.90) were similarly solid for Brad at runningback. Mothers of America, can we stop adding “Le” to the beginning of names please? LePierre Garcon (17.20) is one of the most heavily targeted receivers in the NFL this year. That didn’t change this week, as he hauled in 7 of his 11 targets for a whopping 172 yards. Delanie Walker (1.30) didn’t drop either of his two targets, but managed only 13 yards on the day. Brad forgot to play his kicker this week, but Dan Carpenter (7.00) wouldn’t have made a difference either way.
Next week’s games:
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Have a good week y’all
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