Short doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Take Tyreek Hill, for example. At 5'10" and 185 lbs, he's certainly below the average height and weight of a typical receiver in the NFL. But, there's an incredible amount of athletic ability and talent in that small frame of his. And that can make all the difference.
This week, Hill led the league in scoring with 43 points, beating out his own QB. His 11 receptions, 186 yards, and 3 TDs helped lift Christian McMingle out of their funk to defeat a Who Is You team that hadn't seemed to have lost a step since winning the championship last year.
In a bit of irony, You's own QB, Patrick Mahomes, was the one feeding Hill all of those yards and touchdowns. And even though Mahomes had a great day himself, 41 points, it proved to be just a touch short of what they would need.
The loss to McMingle was Who Is You's first of the season and their lowest weekly score, 107 points. Additionally, that loss also ended their 9-game regular season winning streak going back to last year. But I'd be careful to read too much into one game. Who Is You is a team full of talent and I'm certain they'll bounce right back.
Also coming up short this week, but with a little better luck than You, was Baby Got Dak who scored 99 points, just shy of breaking 100. And while a 99-point outing doesn't usually translate to a win, consider the fact they played Badazz Bri. That was enough for them to remain the only unbeaten team in the league.
In all honesty, this Dak team is one that I haven't given enough attention to. But they have my attention now, as well as the rest of the league's, I'm sure. Keep your eye out for this team. They're looking like a serious contender coming out of the Cactus division.
As for those that came up short, but without luck on their side, you could count Do Not Panic, Thundabuddies, and Pork Chop Express among the group.
Do Not Panic took the worst loss of week, losing by 77 points to Los Perros Locos. That was also their worst loss in team history...albeit, only 4 games. To make matters worse, they were also eliminated from the Survivor Challenge, but more on that later.
The Thundabuddies had been on a little bit of a roll lately and even though they still haven't dipped below 105 points in a game, they faced the only other team with a similar standing, Jergoff Passout. On the season, Passout has yet to score less than 108 points in a game and they've won their last three straight. Passout may not be the highest scoring team in the league, but they're consistently putting up scores that give them a good chance at victory.
I'm not sure what to make of Pork Chop Express. All I know is that this is not the same team we've seen over the past few seasons. They started the season with 105 points in week 1 and though that isn't anything to brag about, it was more than enough to take care of Los Perros Locos.
Since then, however, they've scored 95, 90, and 84 points. You don't need to be a statistician to understand that that's a very bad trend line. But correcting it shouldn't be too difficult. Their opponents aren't putting up the types of scores that guarantee victory. Rather, the Pork Chops just aren't scoring themselves. With plenty of season left, they still have time to right this ship if they can find a way to score.
And finally, while we're on the topic of short trends, have any of you paid attention to the overall league scoring each week?
Meh, who am I kidding? Forget I asked that. I can't even get some of you to pay attention to instructions and make your Pick'Em entry name the same as your team name.
Well, in case you're wondering, the total league scoring has continually declined each week. Don't believe me? Look it up yourself.
In week 1, you wags scored 1338 total points. In week 2, you scored 1334 points. And, in weeks 3 and 4, you scored 1301 and 1290, respectively. That's a trend if I ever saw one. At this rate, you'll likely score less than 1000 points, as a league, by the end of the season with teams averaging less than 89 pts/gm. No, seriously. I did the math.
DEFEAT THE COMMISH
After last week's decimation of the six remaining teams, I was curious to see how well I would do this week. Could I possibly defeat all six teams again? Or, would they actually put up a fight and make me earn my victories?
In short, I was happy to see that many of you had a good week and made it a little more challenging for me. For the first time in this contest, I wasn't able to defeat multiple teams. While I did nab one team, Thundabuddies, I missed out on a second victory by the slimmest of margins. My team scored 103 points and so did Baby Got Dak. And since the tie goes to the runner, Dak will live to fight another day. I'm comin' for you Dak.
Here are the teams I defeated this week and the players I chose:
Thundabuddies - Derrick Henry
SURVIVOR CHALLENGE
In case it wasn't bad enough to get blown out by Los Perros Locos this week, Do Not Panic also bowed out of the Survivor Challenge for good measure. When it rains, it pours.
Inexplicably, good things are happening for the teams at the bottom of the league in this contest. For starters, NH Bounty Hunters won immunity for week 5 by posting their highest score of the season, 128 points, in week 4.
Also worth noting is the fact that the two lowest scoring teams in the league are still active. Pork Chop Express and Badazz Bri are proving that you don't need to be the highest scoring team in any week to survive, you just can't be the lowest. On the season, they're averaging 93.5 and 84.25 pts/gm, respectively, and that is well below the average of any other team in the league. Good work, gentlemen.
PIGSKIN PICK'EM
For the first time this season, neither Who Is You or Christian McMingle were at the top of the weekly results. Instead, Chief Sticky Balls and Pork Chop Express were the leaders with 11 wins each, followed by Los Perros Locos and You with 10 wins each.
For their effort, McMingle came up just short of the 10-win mark, finishing with 9 correct picks. While still enough to keep them in second place, just 2 picks off the leader, it also allowed Balls and Perros to climb into contention.
COMMISH'S PICKS
Although it helped improve my winning percentage, a 3-3 week is not what I was gunning for. On the season, my record is now 10-14 and the most problematic team is Los Perros Locos, who I have yet to pick correctly. However, I should also point out that I have picked Golden Tate's games correctly 100% of the time...so I've got that going for me.
Good luck in week 5!
-- Commish
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