Mike White everybody! There were plenty of surprises this week in the NFL, most notably the Jets beating the Bengals, the Saints beating the Bucs and the Patriots beating the Chargers in Los Angeles. Plus, coming off a bye and playing against a backup quarterback, the Vikings faceplanted in primetime and lost to Cooper Rush and the Cowboys. Credit to Cooper Rush though because other than a couple turnovers, he played a relatively clean game. The BBL this week was rather low scoring, as the average score was only 120.14 points, the lowest this season. The Sandstorms once again won as did the Icecaps, as those two franchises continue to separate themselves at the top in the league.
On to the recaps!
Sahara Sandstorms 135.62 – 116.87 Everglade Squatches
Sandstorms – After Thursday night, the Squatches were in great position to pull off an upset after starting James Conner who scored two touchdowns while the Sandstorms got Kyler Murray’s worst performance on the year. It didn’t affect the Sandstorms as they still had the likes of Burrow, Kupp, Harris and Henderson pick up the slack that Murray left. Just an all-around solid team, the Sandstorms are set up well going forward. At the beginning of the year, the Sandstorms rededicated themselves back to the game of fantasy football and vowed to their fans that ‘new and improved ownership’ would turn this franchise around. That certainly seems to be coming true as they sit at 6-2.
Great Starts: Joe Burrow (26), Cooper Kupp (18), Najee Harris (19), Darrell Henderson Jr. (22)
Tough Starts: Kyler Murray (9), Mike Williams (1)
Squatches – As mentioned above, two touchdowns from James Conner and a poor Kyler Murray performance set up the Squatches well going into Sunday. That never materialized as the Squatches losing streak is up to two. Forced to start Geno Smith due to Dak Prescott’s injury, Smith did much better this week against the Jaguars, accounting for all three Seattle touchdowns. Jonathan Taylor and Cordarrelle Patterson did their thing for this squad, but it wasn’t enough. DeVonta Smith and Kyle Pitts let the team down in this one. The Squatches sit at 4-4 now.
Good Starts: Geno Smith (26), Cordarrelle Patterson (13), Jonathan Taylor (19), James Conner (14)
Bad Starts: DeVonta Smith (1), Kyle Pitts (1)
Tundra Icecaps 135.55 – 127.22 Amazon Piranhas
Icecaps – The Icecaps are resilient. They just keep finding ways to win despite half the roster not having good performances. Needing a solid performance from Tyreek Hill to win on Monday, Hill came through with a touchdown. Matthew Stafford, Justin Fields, and waiver wire pickup of the week Michael Pittman Jr. put the team on their backs and carried the Icecaps to their seventh win. As previously mentioned, those five starters in single digits included DeAndre Swift, Javonte Williams, Tyler Higbee, Zach Moss and Evan McPherson. The Icecaps have had to deal with multiple injuries and basically have just had to hold down the fort until they return. Well, the Icecaps have done that exactly and keep winning despite so many injuries. To add on to that, the Icecaps are slated to get Russell Wilson and David Montgomery back in the near future which will make this team a force to be accounted for come playoff time. They are 7-1 but would have to do something really bad to miss the playoffs at this point.
Great Starts: Matthew Stafford (30), Justin Fields (28), Tyreek Hill (17), Michael Pittman Jr. (21)
Bad Starts: DeAndre Swift (3), Javonte Williams (5), Tyler Higbee (3), Zach Moss (6)
Piranhas – Every single week on this program I say that this team is dangerous. And every single week this team continues to let itself down. Here is a prime example of what could have been a win this week, but instead is a loss. Where we can fault the Piranhas is benching Devonte Booker in favor of Kadarius Toney in the flex position late Monday night. Toney went on to score three points while Booker scored 13 on the bench. That ten-point swing would have given the Piranhas their third win of the year. Three other starters scored in single digits which plagued this roster. Tom Brady as always is a great start as well as the missile; Eli Mitchell, who had an excellent week. But it all doesn’t matter. The Piranhas lost again and sit at 2-6. Sure, this team has the potential to be great playoff team, but the problem lies in getting to the playoffs now. With six weeks to go in the regular season, there is no more margin of error for this team. It’s time to show up or they will miss the playoffs for the second straight year.
Great Starts: Tom Brady (29), Eli Mitchell (20)
Bad Starts: Marvin Jones Jr. (4), Robert Tonyan (5), Kadarius Toney (3)
Benched: Devonte Booker (13)
GalensWinningWinners 126.44 – 105.71 Hipple’s Heroes
GWW – After ranting at the conclusion of the Thursday night game in our league chat threatening to abolish the kicker position, if GWW would have realized the opponent he was playing, the matchup was never in doubt. GWW kept their playoff hopes alive by beating Hipple’s Heroes to move to 3-5 on the season. GWW got strong performances from Ryan Tannehill, Aaron Jones, Austin Ekeler, and waiver wire pickup Pat Freiermuth on the day. Kicker and special teams were clearly an issue, as those two positions combined for three points. Otherwise, a much-needed win for this roster.
Good Starts: Ryan Tannehill (27), Aaron Jones (18), Austin Ekeler (20), Pat Freiermuth (10)
Bad Starts: Matt Prater (3), Chicago defense (0)
Heroes – And another forgettable week from the Heroes. Barely scraping over 100, this team has been doomed ever since the numerous lopsided trades this team has made. Chris Godwin and Amari Cooper were the lone bright spots for this team on the day. Everyone else basically just existed on Sunday, as the Heroes sit at 2-6 on the year. While not mathematically eliminated from playoffs, another loss would almost certainly derail any playoff hopes.
Good Starts: Chris Godwin (21), Amari Cooper (19)
Bad Starts: Sam Darnold (13), Taylor Heinicke (14), Antonio Gibson (5), Hunter Henry (3), Rob Gronkowski (0), Tampa Bay defense (4)
All I do is Winston 154.44 – 120.56 Philly Special
Winston – The wins keep coming for Winston as they move to 4-4 on the season. Josh Allen, Deebo Samuel, Joe Mixon and the Seattle defense led the way on the week with strong performances. However, this win comes with caution as star running back Derrick Henry is feared to be out for the season after suffering a foot injury on Sunday. If that wasn’t enough, Jameis Winston tore his ACL and is also out for the year. That definitely hurts Winston’s chances going forward of being a top contender this season but will take the win this week.
Great Starts: Josh Allen (34), Deebo Samuel (18), Joe Mixon (21), Seattle defense (20)
Bad Starts: Tyler Conklin (5), Terry McLaurin (4)
Philly Special – Setting a competitive lineup this week, they just fell victim to a quality opponent. Up and down the roster they got solid performances from every position except running back and tight end. Limited at the running back position due to injury, Philly was forced to start Myles Gaskin and Tony Pollard and that went how you would have expected it to go. Noah Fant also did not help as he didn’t even score a single point. DK Metcalf, AJ Brown and Nick Folk were the stronger starts on the day for Philly who drops to 5-3.
Good Starts: Dk Metcalf (16), AJ Brown (22), Nick Folk (16)
Bad Starts: Tony Pollard (3), Myles Gaskin (6), Noah Fant (0)
Benched: Jimmy Garoppolo (27)
Tropical Thunder 103.53 – 75.54 Hurts so Good
Thunder – The Thunder scored the second lowest points this week yet are walking away with a win. Their 103 points was enough to beat HSG who only scored 75 and broke the three-game losing streak the Thunder have been on. Consistently underperforming and putting up forgettable weeks, the Thunder should have been given a loss this week. Half the roster scored single digits and did not really have any impressive starts. They for sure had uninspiring starts in Matt Ryan, DJ Moore, and the Cincinnati defense. Sure, they got a win, but this team is nowhere near a championship caliber, let alone playoff roster. They are 4-4.
Very OK Starts: Carson Wentz (20), TJ Hockenson (10), Keenan Allen (14), Tyler Bass (11)
Bad Starts: Matt Ryan (8), DJ Moore (6), James Robinson (4), Cincinnati defense (9)
HSG – What a terrible week for HSG, whose losing skid drops to five games. After starting out promising at 3-0, five weeks later they are staring at a 3-5 record. Six players scored in single digits and no players scored more than 16 points. Justin Jefferson, Leonard Fournette, and Travis Kelce decided to all have bad weeks which led to HSG poor performance. I’m also not sure how many times HSG has to start Robby Anderson before deciding to start someone else in the flex spot. Anderson has consistently let HSG down week in and week out and did so again this week, scoring zero points. Waiver wire pickup Ryan Succop (on his third different team in as many weeks), scored three lone extra points. Only Tyler Lockett outperformed projection by scoring over 15 points. This team needs something to change immediately before the losing streak drops to six after next week.
Solid Starts: Tyler Lockett (15), Buffalo defense (14)
Tough Starts: Justin Jefferson (2), Leonard Fournette (4), Travis Kelce (0)
Bad Starts: Robby Anderson (0), Ryan Succop (3)
Week 9 Matchups
Tundra Icecaps 7-1 vs. Everglade Squatches 4-4
Sahara Sandstorms 6-2 vs. All I do is Winston 4-4
Philly Special 5-3 vs. GalensWinningWinners 3-5
Tropical Thunder 4-4 vs. Hipple’s Heroes 2-6
Hurts so Good 3-5 vs. Amazon Piranhas 2-6
Around the League
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