As we prepare for week nine of the fantasy season, we are six weeks away from the fantasy playoffs and over halfway through the entire fantasy season. A couple teams can lock in their playoffs hopes while others can start prepping for next season. Galen was on the verge of a comeback late on Monday night to keep his playoff hopes alive, but an early Amari Cooper INT ending up being the difference. Outside of the Piranhas and HSG, the league is full of mediocre squads looking to make a playoff push. At this point, I think every other team has a shot at the playoffs. Maybe not the Sandstorms though.
WINNERS
MISFITS
The matchup against GWW turned out to be a close matchup especially since the Misfits also had a kicker score zero points (McPherson). Tony Pollard (34) went off while DJ Moore and Tyreek Hill both got 23 in a week where they needed every point. Looking back, the last second TD to DJ Moore was the difference. Actually, they can thank Kevin Stefanski for drawing up a play to let Amari Cooper throw the ball and then on top of that Cooper’s decision making to actually throw the ball. That was actually the difference.
HSG
Jalen Hurts (35), Jaylen Waddle (25) and Derrick Henry (38). End of list. Those three players alone almost took down the entire Tropical Thunder team. HSG is dangerous and this 180-point outburst was proof. The emphatic wins moves them to 5-3.
SQUATCHES
It wasn’t Josh Jacobs this week, but AJ Brown stepped up instead and destroyed the hapless Steelers defense. With 34 points along with Tua’s 35, the Squatches got back in the win column and move to 4-4 on the year.
PIRANHAS
Surviving an early scare from the Avalanche, Joe Burrow only needed four points to get a win and move to 7-1. That was actually in doubt midway through the third quarter, but Burrow got the job done fantasy wise. The Piranhas were in line for a loss on Sunday before Christian McCaffrey decided to have a throwing, rushing and receiving touchdown. CMC ended with 38 points while Hopkins added 25. Aaron Jones also helped out with 19 on Sunday night. The Piranhas are an early favorite to make a title run.
ICECAPS
An otherwise forgettable week, the Icecaps are moving to 5-3 beating the lowest scoring team in the league. Cousins (27) and Stevenson (17) helped the cause while Sutton, Robinson, Bryant and Carlson combined for 3 points. It also would be a disservice to the league if I didn’t mention that Daniel Carlson scored zero points, yet another instance that Jack started a kicker with zero points. This time it didn’t hurt him though, but he can thank the schedule makers for that one.
LOSERS
GWW
Things looked bleak going into Monday with a lot of things needing to break right… and they almost did. Actually, if Amari Cooper doesn’t throw an interception, GWW walks away a winner. Yes, you read that right if Amari Cooper doesn’t throw an INT. Outside of kicker Jason Sanders, all starters scored in double digits including Dalvin Cook (23) and Dak Prescott (29). The late TD from Tee Higgins gave GWW hope, but ultimately it ended in a two-point loss. They sit at 2-6.
THUNDER
The Thunder didn’t necessarily have any bad starts, they just weren’t good starts. Outside of Garoppolo’s 21, each scorer averaged about ten points. Average will not get the job done these days as they fall to 3-5 and are in need of a spark.
SANDSTORMS
Travis Etienne (27) and the Eagles defense (17) had great afternoons and gave the Sandstorms hope. Their hopes were quickly dashed when the Raiders decided not to show up and put zero points on the board for not only themselves, but Davante Adams. Adams was just running wind sprints out there hauling in one reception for three yards and destroyed any hopes the Sandstorms had at winning. At 1-7, it isn’t good.
AVALANCHE
The Avalanche were on their way to win thanks to Murray (29) and Kamara (35), but the aforementioned Christian McCaffrey put those winning thoughts to bed. The Avalanche put up 148 for one of their best scoring outputs of the year but they ran into the best team in the league.
HCTM
Easily one of the worst weeks on the season in the entire league, it was an embarrassment for the second-place team in the league. Nick Chubb (25) tried to will this team to over 100 but couldn’t do it. You know it’s bad when Tyler Allgeier is your second highest scorer with 16. Derek Carr (1), Daniel Jones (7), DeVonta Smith (3) and Mark Andrews (3) all contributed to the poor showing. They sit at 5-3 and are the newest members of the sub-100 club.
SUB 100 Club (To Date)
HCTM, Squatches, Avalanche, Sandstorms, Misfits, Icecaps, Thunder (twice)
Survivor Pool
Still alive – Jordan, Tim
Eliminated,
Week 8 – Logan
Week 7 – Jack
Week 6 – Galen
Week 5 – Ezra
Week 4 – Blake
Week 3 – Book
Weeks 2 & 1 – Erk and Ben
Closing
It is fitting that the final two left in the survivor pool are sitting at the top two of the standings. It is also a shock that a 1-7 Sandstorms team was still in the running for the pool. In this league, anything can happen.
Cheers!
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