One of the stranger things I've noticed taking shape in the early part of this season is just how lopsided and uneven things are. In a typical season, there's more parity and less divide between the have's and have-not's. Not this season, though. The difference is noticeable and it's growing.
As I say that, the first thing that probably comes to your mind is the Segundo League contest between the Disgruntled Runningbacks and Belichicks Hoodie last week. What I though might be a close game was anything but.
The Runningbacks came out of the backfield with a ferocity like I've never seen. Stacked with Bears players, they were able to come away from the Thursday Night game with 105 points - more than halfway to the never-before-reached threshold of 200 points in the Segundo League. If I had the energy or interest to look it up, I'm pretty sure I'd find that to be the highest total ever after a Thursday game.
Off to what was likely a record-setting start to their game, and the victory already in-hand, the Runningbacks set their sights on reaching that elusive 200-point mark. But, to do so, they would need their remaining 6 players to score 95 more points - an average of 15.8 points each. That's a tall ask.
Early on Sunday morning, the London game between Buffalo and Jacksonville delivered for the Runningbacks where Etienne and McManus contributed almost 45 points towards their goal...just 50 more to go with 4 players left.
But for as good as things went on Thursday night and early Sunday morning, they slowed to a crawl during the first round of the Sunday games where Allgeier, Waddle, and Wilson scored 24 points combined, leaving them with a total of 174...26 points shy of legend status.
With only the Bengals D/ST left to play, the odds of reaching the summit were slim. Through the first 4 weeks of the season, the Bengals D/ST hadn't scored more than 20 points in any week and their average was 9.5 pts/gm. Plus, the Bengals were facing an Arizona Cardinals team that D/ST units averaged only 4.75 pts/gm against.
Most coaches might opt to play conservative and sit their starters when they're leading by nearly 100 points late in the 4th quarter of a game. Not the Disgruntled Runningbacks. Their coaching staff sent their starting D/ST back out onto the field with under a minute left in their contest against Hoodie and the Bengals D/ST came away with exactly 26 points, putting the Runningbacks into the Segundo history books. Well done.
Beyond one-sided games like that, though, I see imbalance throughout the standings, particularly when you compare the divisions in both leagues.
I'm not sure why, but the Scheduling Department decided to front-load our schedule this year with inter-league contests. If you haven't been paying attention - be honest, you probably haven't - you probably didn't notice that 4 of the first 5 weeks of the season have been inter-league weeks. The result is that one division in each league already appears to be the more dominant one.
In the Sagebrush Cactus League, the Cactus division has had their way with the Sagebrush teams. After 4 weeks, Cactus teams hold a 15-9 record against their counterparts and they've outscored them by an average of more than 14 pts/gm in those contests.
Similar could be said for the Segundo League, though the sides are swapped. The teams from the Yucca division hold a 15-9 record against the Cholla division and their average margin of victory is only slightly lower, 11.83 pts/gm.
Because of this, the division standings are a little wonky. If you're in the Sagebrush or Cholla division, you're in luck. If you've been struggling this season, you're likely only 1 game or so out of the playoff race - unless you're Ridley's Parlays.
However, if you're in the Cactus or Yucca division and you haven't been doing so well, you're probably already falling a little too far behind.
But don't worry. Over the next 9 weeks, 7 of them are divisional contests which means that you'll have the chance to turn things around and make up some of the difference.
Good luck this week!
Commish
GOLDEN TICKET CHALLENGE
Baby Got Dak continues to hold onto their lead over the rest of the field as they managed to shake off the threat from Digg-A-Watts and Thundabuddies who were hot on their trail. However, they're now being targeted by 2 teams that made great progress this week, Do Not Panic and NH Bounty Hunters, who are each only 49 points behind.
Week 5 was not kind to Get In D Carr as they saw their position fall more than any other team, from #10 to #22.
Here's a small list of some of the top players through the first 5 weeks:
Tua Tagovailoa: #1 QB, 1.5x multiplier, 177 total points
Josh Allen: #2 QB, 1.0x multiplier, 138 total points
D'Andre Swift: #1 RB, 2.0x multiplier, 142 total points
Christian McCaffrey: #2 RB, 1.0x multiplier, 131 total points
DJ Moore: #1 WR, 1.75x multiplier, 170 total points
George Pickens: #2 WR, 2.0x multiplier, 126 total points
George Kittle: #1 TE, 1.50x multiplier, 57 total points
Mark Andrews: #2 TE, 1.25x multiplier, 53 total points
SURVIVOR CHALLENGE
The fact that Who Is You was still alive in the Survivor Challenge was one of the few bright spots for them this season. Not anymore. This week, You was sent packing with only 71 points.
Though they haven't been a scoring juggernaut, Shiva Kaminis has been on an upward trend since week 1. But this week, Kaminis' scoring took a dramatic fall and their 64-point performance was the lowest among the remaining survivors.
Our top scoring teams, Disgruntled Runningbacks and Baby Got Dak, earned immunity and will guarantee they last until, at least, week 7.
PIGSKIN PICK'EM CONTEST
While there was no change at the top of our leaderboard, several teams certainly gained ground on Jalenhouse Rock and Tallaassee Tator Tots this week.
MaxxCasualties and Baby Got Dak each finished the week with 9 correct picks, moving them from #8 place to #4, leaving them just 4 picks out of 1st place.
But the biggest gain this week was Disgruntled Runningbacks who topped the list with 11 correct picks this week and saw their standing improve 11 spots, from #15 up to #4.
The Ohio State Gunkeyes and Badazz Bri both struggled in week 5 with just 6 correct picks each, leaving them at #12...a fall of 8 spots from their previous ranking inside the top 5, at #4.
ELIMINATOR CHALLENGE
You guys are doing much better in this contest than I anticipated. After 5 weeks, there are still 6 of you remaining: Baby Got Dak, Digg-A-Watts, Golden Tate Warriors, NH Bounty Hunters, Ohio State Gunkeyes, and Ridley's Parlays.
However, the Buffalo Bills loss to Jacksonville on Sunday morning cost Belichicks Hoodie and Gotham Rogues their chance at being the last team standing.
Looking at next week, I can see where some of our remaining contestants might struggle having already used the 49ers, Eagles, Chiefs or Bills. The choices are dwindling and those teams look to be quality picks if they're still available. If not, they might be forced to gamble on a risky contest.
COMMISH'S PICKS
For a 5th straight week, the Sagebrush Cactus League delivered me 4 correct picks. While not disappointed at a 4-2 record, I'd certainly like to improve to 5-1 or 6-0.
In the Segundo League, Belichicks Hoodie was the only team that stood in the way of a perfect week. Well played, Disgruntled Runningbacks...well played.
POWER RANKINGS
There wasn't much movement in the Sagebrush Cactus League Power Rankings this week. In fact, only 2 teams moved at all. The Los Perros Locos and Who Is You traded the #7 and #9 spots, though neither is very newsworthy.
Apparently, the Ranking Committee is very impressed when you're the first team in your league's history to score 200 points. After their historic performance, the Disgruntled Runningbacks move up 3 spots to take over as the #1 team in the Segundo League.
One week after scoring 191, and after scoring more than 100 points through the first 4 weeks, the Gunkeyes scored only 75 points and fell 3 spots in the rankings to #4.
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