“It took just 24 hours to lose control of the city. Tonight, Gotham is relying on one man to save us all”.
That man was James Cook and he fell three points short. The city is now in ruins and I hate the Bills for it. Just catastrophic.
“Some people are just allergic to winning”. Week 10 was a not a good week for suspense in the playoff picture. With an opportunity to make it exciting during the last month of play, the mountain became that much steeper to climb. While not impossible, two teams would need to win out to even have a chance at the postseason.
Ben’s trades
Does anyone want Trevor Lawrence? Drafted in the third round by the Misfits, Ben shipped Lawrence out to Tim in week five, only to trade for Lawrence back in week 10. Lawrence rewarded Ben with two points.
What about Ja’Marr Chase and K9 Kenneth Walker? Despite being traded twice, the two have remained together as a package deal. Drafted by the Sandstorms, Chase and Walker were sent to the Misfits in week four, only to be traded once again in week ten to Tim. That worked out well (not for Ben) as Ben continues to micromanage his roster.
Speaking of Ben, let’s take a look at some players he has moved on from too quickly. Players that were once on Ben’s roster includes,
Rashee Rice, Travis Kelce, D’Andre Swift, Stefon Diggs, Travis Etienne, Justin Tucker, Josh Palmer, Keaton Mitchell, Cortland Sutton, Javonte Williams, Ja’Marr Chase, and Kenneth Walker.
Yet, Ben finds himself at 1-9. Talk about roster mismanagement at its finest.
On to the recaps!
Icecaps survive late push from Squatches 146-143
“This win got me cheesing from cheek to cheek”. Jack was waiting patiently all night to use that one. In the most entertaining (and most spirited) matchup of the week, it certainly did not disappoint. Always an instant classic when Jack and Ezra square off, it came down to Monday night to decide a winner. The Icecaps were carried by Justin Herbert (37), David Montgomery (18) and TJ Hockenson (22) and finished with 146 points after Sunday’s slate of games. All they could do it wait until Monday night. Nervously sweating on the last drive of the game from the Bills, the Icecaps survived thanks to questionable play calling from the Bills offense throughout the game. Next week should be another thriller when the #1 seed Icecaps battle the #2 seed GWW with playoff seeding implications on the line.
Pure agony. Gut wrenching stuff. Gotham almost regained control of the city. Needing 15 points from James Cook, an early fumble did not help. However, what also didn’t help was James Cook getting benched after that fumble. For most of the night, Cook was not going to be close to that 15-point mark, until the Bills had an epiphany to use James Cook against the statistically worst run defense in the league as Cook exploded for 65 rushing yards on the final drive of the game. It was too late unfortunately as Josh Allen ran it in himself to seal the loss for the Squatches. Cue after game rant. I think it is fair to say Ezra is not a fan of the Bills. Actually, he hates the Bills too. I can’t fault him after watching that game last night.
However, there are other reasons to be angry because he can look right on the bench. Benching the San Francisco defense (23) and George Kittle (18) Ezra could have easily walked away a winner. Instead, it’s 2-8. Ezra would need to win out while either the Piranhas, HSG or the Thunder lose out for a possible playoff appearance. It should be an entertaining final month of the season.
Avalanche bury another victim, take down HSG 165-146
Nobody wants to play the Avalanche right now. Knowing when to hold and when to sell is an important part of fantasy football and Erk may have figured it out. After dropping six straight the Avalanche have won four in a row and have put themselves back into the playoff picture. CeeDee Lamb (31), Austin Ekeler (19) and Jahmyr Gibbs (25) have been the spark that has carried this squad back into relevance. The Avalanche haven’t scored less than 130 points during their four-game winning streak and will look to make it five after they battle the Sandstorms this week. Only two games out of the playoff hunt, the postseason dream became a lot clearer over the last month of play.
It’s week ten and CJ Stroud is still good at football. Having immense faith in CJ Stroud and Justin Fields for the rest of season, they made two separate trades involving Trevor Lawrence and Brock Purdy, gaining Ja’Marr Chase, K9 Kenneth Walker and Sam LaPorta. Those proved to be good trades, especially with Chase and Walker scoring 19 points each. With 33 from Keenan Allen, it was the blowup week that HSG wanted to see out of the roster. The people want to know though, what if Tim kept Brock Purdy? The combination of Purdy and Everett would have gotten 30 points while the combination of Wilson and LaPorta went for 20. Even with a net gain of ten points, Tim still would have lost this week. With six wins on the year, it would take a disaster for this team to miss the playoffs. Until then, HSG has set themselves up for postseason success. I think it’s also safe to say they are glad their waiver claim for Bagent didn’t go through, because Zach Wilson ended up outscoring Bagent.
Piranhas win again, beat HCTM 138-127
Needing a win to separate themselves from the bottom, they did exactly that. Without stellar quarterback play, the Piranhas got a balanced attack from the position players with five players scoring over 12 points. D’Onta Foreman (18), Mike Evans (22) and Bijan Robinson (19) paved the way for their sixth win of the year, furthering the gap for the postseason. Currently holding the final postseason berth, they will need to hold off the red-hot Avalanche down the stretch. The Squatches wait in week 11.
If you weren’t in the playoff picture, you needed HCTM to pull this out, but why? Because it’s not HCTM you are competing against to make the playoffs, it’s the Piranhas. The Piranhas hold the last postseason berth and as they keep winning the playoff magic number becomes smaller and smaller. Prepare to be disappointed because HCTM squandered a 22-point performance from kicker Jason Myers. The unfortunate reality is they could have won. Jordan Love (20) and waiver wire snag Keaton Mitchell (13) were left on the bench. Replace either of those instead of Derek Carr (5) or Zack Moss (0) and HCTM gains a full game on the postseason picture. The postseason is (all but) out of the picture for this team.
GWW dismantles Sandstorms 157-82
If there were any doubters after last week’s poor showing, they were silenced this week. Essentially clinching a playoff spot, GWW scored over 150 and McCaffrey didn’t even have a touchdown. That didn’t stop San Francisco from trying to force a CMC touchdown late though. Gaining depth from a trade earlier, GWW added Javonte Williams to help with their championship aspirations. The only glaring issue with this team? Wide receiver. Look for this team to make one more splash before the trade deadline to make this team a juggernaut. Making proclamations about avenging Ezra next week against the Icecaps, GWW is looking to make it two wins against the Icecaps this season.
Sandstorming – verb – to crumble in clutch moments once expectations are set, unable to handle pressure moments, make bad start sit decisions, cannot win big games.
I sandstorm, you sandstorms, he-she-we sandstorm, they sandstorm, we’re sandstorming
Example in a sentence. After cruising through the season with no turnovers, Billy sandstormed when he threw three interceptions in their playoff matchup to end their magical season.
The Sandstorms are going to sandstorm everywhere, like they normally do. Generally flying under the radar as a good team, once this team has the slightest hype and expectation, they falter in the bright lights of prime time. After taking down the Icecaps last week to make a name for themselves in the playoff picture as a contender, they barely scored over 80 this week, getting blown out by GWW. Opting to bench Geno Smith (28) for Will Levis (5), it is those kinds of decisions that will hinder the success of this franchise to take the next step. Next week will be an entertaining matchup when the dominant Avalanche take on the Sandstorms. Can the Sandstorms meet expectations next week? I’m not sure, but just recognize Will Levis is a certified stud and he’s not available for table scraps.
Thunder gets back on track, beats Misfits, 125-73
The Thunder got back in the win column, but it wasn’t pretty. The win came against the worst team in the league and the 125 points would have beaten only one other team this week. Not having Patrick Mahomes wasn’t the issue because the Trop got a combined 59 points from the answer Sam Howell and newly acquired Brock Purdy. Cleary making a move for the postseason, the Thunder traded for Brock Purdy earlier this week to further the quarterback depth on the squad. However, it was the position players who underperformed this week with five starters combining for 25 points. Luckily, it got it done this week, but it won’t get it done if this team wants to make the postseason for the first time since 2020.
It’s over. Officially eliminated from the playoffs, this team pulled out all the stops to get a victory. Never knowing when to stand still or when to pull the trigger, the Misfits either make one trade too many or not enough. This past week they traded Ja’Marr Chase and K9 Kenneth Walker (19 points each) for Pittman (10), Mattison (4) and Lawrence (2). Cue circus music. Failing to score over 75 points, the Misfits goal now should be to not finish last. This season, coupled with his first season in 2021, last season’s championship run in ‘22 looks like a fluke. They have a chance to humiliate other teams in the next four weeks but will probably just humiliate themselves.
CURRENT STANDINGS
- Icecaps, 8-2
- GWW, 8-2
- Sandstorms, 7-3
- Thunder 6-4
- HSG, 6-4
- Piranhas, 6-4
- Avalanche, 4-6
- Squatches, 2-8
- HCTM, 2-8
- Misfits, 1-9
For anyone concerned about the BBL playoff ratings being an all time low, have no fear, Galen had this to say. “The BBLs most enduring team brand will be participating, I think we’ll be ok”.
Cheers!
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