Do not try to predict the NFL, whatever you do, do not! Just when you think the NFL is predictable, the league has a way to remind you that it isn’t. Gardener Minshew throwing for 305 yards and three total touchdowns against that stout Browns defense? Didn’t see that coming. Tyson Bagent, D’Onta Foreman and the Bears destroying the Raiders 30-12? Patriots stunning the Bills? Ravens obliterating the Lions? No chance. And finally, the 49ers defense allowing Kirk Cousins to throw for 378 and two touchdowns? Yeah no one saw that coming, that’s why we play the game!
We are halfway through the fantasy regular season! Some teams need this halfway point as a mental reset for their squads. If there was any time to turn the season around, it would be right now. You know who you are.
Quick Highlights from Last Week
Before I get into the breakdowns, I must highlight two of the matchups from last week quick. Here are the headliners.
Jordan Addison completes epic comeback for Avalanche, earn first win over Squatches.
GWW gets cute, swaps out Goff for Watson and pays the price, handed first loss by Piranhas.
This week will follow a team-by-team breakdown in order of our current standings as a signal to the halfway point of the season.
On to the breakdowns!
ICECAPS, 6-1 (1049.68)
Easily a front runner for a title run this season, the Icecaps are in prime position to dominate, especially averaging just south of 150 points per week (149). Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill and usually some other player will account for all the points on any given week. This past week, it was kicker Dustin Hopkins with 24. Other weeks it has been running backs Kyren Williams, David Montgomery or De’Von Achane. If this team gets healthy, watch out, as anything short of a championship would be a failure and a disservice to everybody on this roster. Which is not off the table because mismanaging the roster has been a staple for this manager during their tenure in the BBL. An easy matchup with HCTM is on deck for week 8.
GALENSWINNINGWINNERS, 6-1 (975.04)
That one is going to sting. There are no more undefeated teams in the league after GWW had a prime opportunity to go to 7-0 but a questionable decision on Sunday morning cost them the victory. Jared Goff was sitting in the starting roster all week until he wasn’t. Late on Sunday morning Galen subbed Goff out for Deshaun Watson. Cue instant regret. If Goff stays in the lineup, it’s 7-0. Instead, -1.5 points from Watson and GWW suffered their first loss of the year. Not even fantasy league MVP McCaffrey could save this manager’s bad decision making, although he tried to. Outside of Josh Allen, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and sometimes Amon Ra St. Brown, there is no one. And I mean, no one. Sure, make an argument on Calvin Ridley… I’ll wait. Otherwise, four players this past week scored less than two points. Yikes. The good news is that Allen and McCaffrey are going to cover a lot of glaring issues that this team might have. The question then becomes, does Galen make some trades before the deadline to bolster the squad? I’m not sure, depends on where the panic level is. Averaging 139 points a week, maybe they will shy away from picking up the phone to field trade offers. A battle with the Thunder is on tap for week 8.
THUNDER, 5-2 (985.72)
The highest scorer in the league once again, the Trop has rebounded nicely with two convincing wins. After a lull in weeks 4&5 (averaging 114pts) resulting in two losses, the Thunder have scored a league high 152 and 178 the past two weeks. Averaging 140 points a week on the season, this is a different Thunder team from the past two years. Even with the 152 last week, the Thunder were looking ahead to December, opting to trade draft day steal Raheem Mostert in an attempt to bolster their quarterback room. I say attempt because who did they get in return? The answer, Sam Howell. However, as it normally goes, Howell was not the answer this week (9pts) and you wonder why the Thunder made the move for this quarterback in the first place. Nonetheless, that’s okay when Patrick Mahomes puts up 40 and covers for Howell’s poor play. Pair that with Travis Kelce and Mahomes and Maauto might be the best bundle in the league. (If you know you know). Seemingly dominating the waivers this season, it’s almost unfair who this team has acquired for cheap. $1 Sam LaPorta, $4 Adam Thielen and this past week $2 D’Onta Foreman (33) have all been incredible contributors to this squad. As long as Mahomes and Kelce stay healthy, meaningful matchups in December are certainly attainable. Another tough test awaits next week when the Thunder face GWW.
SANDSTORMS, 5-2 (942.18)
Winning streak snapped! After winning five straight, the Sandstorms dropped their second contest of the season. Scoring over 134 a week, the Sandstorms have consistently put out a solid roster week in and week out. Is there cause for concern though? Outside of Lamar Jackson, Travis Etienne, Stefon Diggs and sometimes Isiah Pacheco and Josh Jacobs, it seems like this team has no depth. It’s probably why they wanted to trade with Tim last week. Just look at this past week when they scored 129, thanks most in part to Lamar Jackson’s 40 and Travis Etienne’s 21. While the Sandstorms making the postseason is a great story, Kenny Pickett and Bryce Young as the other quarterbacks will hold this team back from making a deep push into the postseason. Next week will be a great indication of whether this team is a contender or a pretender the rest of the way. The Sandstorms will look to avoid a two-game losing skid and battle HSG week 8 in a critical tilt of two 5-2 teams. This will probably be yet another week Logan doesn’t trade with Tim, because why would you trade with your opponent on a given week?
HURTS SO GOOD, 5-2 (901.34)
After winning five straight, HSG is amid a two-game losing streak. The back-to-back losses alone isn’t good, but coupled with the low scores this team is not strong. This team was going to go as far as Justin Fields would take them, which up until now has been week 5. There are certainly enough pieces around for success with the likes of DaVante Adams, Cooper Kupp, DeAndre Swift, Kennan Allen and even the resurgence of Darren Waller. The talent is there, but can it be sustained? This past week it didn’t work but over time I think HSG has what it takes to play meaningful matchups in December. As alluded to previously, a crucial matchup against the 5-2 Sandstorms awaits in week 8. It’s way too early to call this a must win but if HSG drops another for their third straight loss, maybe it will be time to reevaluate.
PIRANHAS, 4-3 (828.74)
Despite a terrible point average (118 per week), the Piranhas will take 4-3 and laugh all the way to the bank. Why? Because this team could easily be 1-6, like another team in the league. Outside of an outlier 173 points in week 2, this team has yet to crack the 127 mark in all other weeks. Hoping Jalen Hurts could carry the team, he has somewhat done the job. The problem is, he has no help from his fellow Piranhas. First round draft pick Bijan Robinson could be great, but he has not only a Tyler Allgeier problem but an Arthur Smith problem. Don’t look now but the Piranhas need help. They tried with $65 Jerome Ford earlier this year but that’s going to haunt them all season. Ford just got injured this past week, so that doesn’t bode well either. The Piranhas are really putting a lot of faith into Kyler Murray to save them, or this team might try to trade Murray for immediate contributors. That’s what I would recommend because the chances of getting four wins again while averaging just 118 points is not sustainable. Just ask Ezra.
HOT CHUBB TIME MACHINE, 2-5 (799.94)
Winners of two straight, HCTM has surprisingly put themselves into the playoff mix after an 0-5 start. Averaging a little over 114 points per week, HCTM should be glad about their two wins. Drafted to carry the team, Joe Burrow has underperformed and, well, has been a letdown. Derek Carr and Jordan Love haven’t exactly done the trick either as Blake should be in the market for a more stable quarterback room going forward. Taking a stab in the draft at Jonathan Taylor, that finally paid off seven weeks later. HCTM didn’t want to take a chance either by guessing wrong and opted to start the entire Colts backfield this past week in Taylor and Moss (a combined 27 points). Not bad. With Dallas Goedert and AJ Brown, Blake will need this core of players to carry this otherwise unimpressive squad of players. Facing the Icecaps in week 8, HCTM best bet is to compete with the Piranhas for the last playoff spot through the rest of the year.
MISFITS, 1-6 (850.74)
Well, there goes the survivor pool. The Misfits lost their sixth game of the season and it’s not looking good. Perhaps making one trade too many, at one point this season, the team had Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Stefon Diggs and De’Andre Swift. Now they are left with K9 Kennth Walker, Ja’Marr Chase and Puka Nacua. Rivaling some of the Thunder waiver adds, Puka needs to be in the running for pickup of the year. Even with that tremendous pickup, the Misfits need some work. And by some, I mean a lot of work. Only three games out of a playoff spot, even at 1-6, it’s still doable. This team needs a QB 2 outside of Kirk Cousins because Desmond Ridder is not it. This past week could have been a win but starting two players with zero points (Kmet and the Bills def) cemented their sixth loss. Averaging 121 a week, the schedule might be partly to blame for the slow start. I am really hoping the Misfits get a couple more wins because I want to read their victory poems after each week. In the meantime, I’ll as well as the rest of the league will have to settle for one victory poem through the first seven weeks. They get the Squatches next week. Let the comedy ensue.
AVALANCHE, 1-6 (789.94)
Wow. Just wow. I was preparing to write this little blurb as the 0-7 Avalanche, but I was proven wrong. IT’S WHY WE PLAY THE GAME. Jordan Addison went off for 25 points and pulled off the upset on the Squatches late on Monday night. That’s the end of the compliments for this team because there is nothing else to note here. Plagued by the Austin Ekeler injury early in the year, along with a couple other underperformers early in the draft, the team could not recover going late on quarterbacks. Finally getting solid production from Jaymyr Gibbs (21), this team is still a tire fire. What do you get when you have a trio of Stafford, Mayfield and Russell Wilson with the other position players? One of the most uninspiring rosters in the league. While not mathematically eliminated, if this team actually wants a shot at the postseason, look for some trades to be made soon. The Piranhas are their week 8 matchup, which is actually winnable considering the state of the Piranhas.
SQUATCHES, 0-7 (838.56)
“My team invents a new way to lose each week”. This is unprecedented. We might just be witnessing one of the worst seasons in league history. What’s even more surprising is that it is last year’s champion. Things have just kept going south for this squad and there is no better example than what occurred last night. Everything was looking good. A four-point lead with George Kittle and the San Francisco defense going up against Jordan Addison had the looks of a Squatches win. Well, as referenced above, Addison decided to have a career night, destroying any hopes the Squatches had of getting their first win. Even after trading for Gardener Minshew (31), it wasn’t enough. To be frank though, this team shouldn’t be winless. Scoring slightly more points than the Piranhas on a weekly basis (119), the Squatches did not have the schedulers on their side this season, catching zero breaks. They were also probably expecting more out of recently acquired Raheem Mostert who only scored six points. I have no words for this squad. Is it a solid squad? No, it’s certainly not a great team by any means, but it is a team capable of winning and better than some of the others in the league. But hey, maybe Dak Prescott, Derrick Henry, Chris Olave and George Kittle can really kick it into gear during the next seven weeks. Probably not, but one can dream. Nonetheless, it’s 0-7 for the reigning champ. They face the 1-6 Misfits next week. That should be a good one.
Survivor Pool
Scores from week 7,
Jack 134.20
Ezra 120.54
Galen 108.50
Ben 107.72 – ELIMINATED
Closing
“No friends in the industry”. Even when one manager tries to compliment another manager on a trade, the immediate response is add some smack talk to the chat. Apologies for misunderstanding Jack!
Good luck to all on the second half of the season!
Cheers!
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