If there is anything this season will be remembered for, it is the scoring. Records have been broken and tied at a rate I haven't seen before.
First, we saw the 14-year-old high-score record of 199 points fall in week 3 when Blue Ribbon became the first team to break the 200 point barrier - an unthinkable feat for sure. That new record lasted for about 5 minutes before Team RamRod absolutely shattered it with 233 points in week in week 5.
And now, another record - the lowest score - came under threat this week when Who Is You posted only 25 points. That is 65 fewer points than their previous low score for the season, 90. It was such a poor performance that it defies common adjectives in describing it. Poor, pitiful, terrible, awful, and the like, just don't seem to capture the essence of a 25-point week.
Side note: Has anyone else noticed that the common denominator in all of these games is Badazz Bri?
It certainly takes a "special" kind of week to hit your head on a bar that has been set that low. Who Is You's highest scoring player, Leonard Fournette, finished with only 9 points. The average individual score for a starter was 2.8 points, and they were outscored by a bench that featured only 2 players that bothered to show up this week.
But that is not the only thing that I cannot find the right words for this week.
I'm looking at you Cactus division.
I could simply point out that the Sagebrush division won 5 of 6 games against their league rivals this week, but why stop there?
Not only did the Sagebrush division open up a 2-game lead in the inter-league standings, but they also evened up the overall scoring at 104.7 pts/gm on the season. The average margin of victory for Sagebrush teams this week was 28.6 points, but it looks even more lopsided than that when you consider the fact that one Sagebrush team scored only 56 points and still won by 31. My brain hurts.
I'm not sure who should be more disappointed about the inter-league results this week: Hit Em With The Hein!!! for being the only Sagebrush team that didn't win, or the Cactus division because the struggling Los Perros Locos were the only thing that stood in the way of a Sagebrush sweep.
In another shocking turn of events, it appears the Patriots defense is human after all. Heading into the week, they had been carrying the Balls this season with their 31.9 pts/gm, but were only able to muster 1 point against a Ravens team many thought might beat them. However, despite the Patriots poor showing, Chief Sticky Balls still had enough firepower from Jimmy Garoppolo and Josh Jacobs to squeak by the Bounty Hunters.
Oh, and I probably wouldn't worry about the Patriots D/ST either. They're still averaging 28.4 pts/gm which is well above the best D/ST season in league history, the 2013 Seattle Seahawks who averaged 20.1 pts/gm. In fact, this week's performance literally put them 1 point closer to breaking that record. At the onset of the week, they needed 67 points to match that 2013 Seattle team. Now, they only need 66. Baby steps.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom in week 9. On a more positive note, Blue Ribbon and Flash Dem TD's each ended their 2-game losing streaks.
Blue Ribbon's victory came on the back of another huge day for Russell Wilson (51 points) who should certainly be in the discussion for fantasy MVP this season. Having scored 30 fantasy points or more in 5 of 9 weeks this season makes him a bargain at the $5 price tag that Ribbon paid for him.
Flash Dem TD's finally saw some of the production they've been waiting for since Melvin Gordon ended his holdout with the Chargers. With 80 yards rushing and a pair of TD's from Gordon, and a pair of TD's from Montgomery, the TD's defeated Pork Chop Express by more than 3 TD's.
Another player having a great season is Team RamRod's Christian McCaffrey. Perhaps we should take a moment to recall that RamRod acquired McCaffrey in a trade with Hein!!! back on October 2nd. Before the trade, McCaffrey was having a very good season, averaging 25.5 pts/gm for Hein!!!. Since then his season has gone from good to record-setting. After joining RamRod, McCaffrey's average has jumped 9 points to a monstrous 34.5 pts/gm. That puts McCaffrey's season average at 30.0 pts/gm. The best season by a running back was LaDanian Tomlinson in 2006...when he averaged 29.3 pts/gm.
But, there are two sides to every trade. So what happened to the players that Hein!!! got in return for McCaffrey? Glad you asked. George Kittle is now with Blue Ribbon, Dak Prescott is with Flash Dem TD's, and Todd Gurley II has averaged 13 pts/gm since joining Hein!!!.
In case you haven't noticed, we have quite a race shaping up in the Pigskin Pick'Em contest. There is a 3-way tie at the top between Hein!!!, Sticky Balls, and Blue Ribbon with Pork Chop Express sitting just 1 game back. With 8 weeks remaining in the regular season, it's still anyone's contest.
And lastly, with Pork Chop Express falling out this week, we're down to just 3 teams remaining in the Survivor Challenge: Thundabuddies, Team RamRod, and Chief Sticky Balls. Based upon the past 3 weeks, the case can be made that Chief Sticky Balls looks like the favorite to win. However, if you examine the past 5 weeks, Team RamRod holds the higher average score, thanks largely to their 233-point game in week 5. And yet, somehow, Thundabuddies has somehow found a way to stay alive despite scoring less than 90 points in 2 of the past 3 weeks.
I'm on a roll. For the second straight week, I finished 5-1 in my picks. You guys are too predictable.
There was plenty of talent out there on the free agent market this week, many of which were previously owned by teams in this league. Maybe some of you should consider asking them to come back?
Good luck in week 10!
-- Commish
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