For Reals Guys League Weekly Posts: October 2017

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Week 7 Recap!

So this week is going to be a short one guys, I'm acclimating to waking up at 5AM everyday and I just got Evil Within 2, so week 7 is my short week.

However, we are halfway through the season officially with week 8 coming up, so I just wanted to make sure you guys knew this:

If the Playoffs started now....

1. Jared Grube (bye)

2. Nic Meyer (bye)

3. Yuriy Yedinak vs. 6. Andrew Gomez

4. Orest Yaslinskiy vs. 5. Valeriy Shishkin

Out of playoffs

7. Jake Yorke

8. Matt Burke

9. Gary Meyer

10. Alex Gomez

11. Daniel Smith

12. Chris Cone

Both D Smith and Cone are 2-5, everyone else is 3-4 or better, and there are no undefeated teams. The biggest gap between playoffs and not right now is 2-5 < 3-4. So no one is even close to out of this yet. Moving on.

WEEKLY GAME RECAPS

Matt Burke versus Chris Cone

Matt: you play Thompson and good things happen man, this brings you from near last place to back into the light with a 3-4 record which ties you with Andrew and puts you half a game back from Val. Thompson and Bell carried you, as no one else on your team really showed up. Bell is a cool guy to have because if he keeps getting 30+ carries he should keep putting up points.

Cone: this week was a bit of a mess for you, with Fournette out there wasn't much hope, and if Ginn hadn't put up a randomly large day then this loss would have looked worse. Brady is good, but no one else performed and there's a lot of down trends sitting on your team at the moment. Stay diligent though.

Matt wins 113-88

Yuriy Yedinak versus Jared Grube

Yuriy: Alex Smith put up 31 and you lost. When Freeman doesn't perform that team seems much less explosive, but the good news is that you got blown out so astronomically that it doesn't even matter. You got curb stomped but luckily built yourself a cushion so it doesn't hurt too bad.

Jared: dude I know you think you're a genius right now, and you deserve some happiness after the week you had, but I can feel your false sense of security already ripping apart your future. You've got some stupid high scores, but that's probably the best you'll get all year from most of these players, and wouldn't it have been nice to see their bests spread across multiple weeks?

Jared wins 222-104

Daniel Smith versus Orest Yaslinskiy.

On a side note, your guys' names are so similar I literally had to read the score 3 times to figure out who I was talking about.

Daniel: Dak made your team look good! Thank goodness you benched Ryan finally. Ignoring Amendola, AJ Green was literally your weak point which means hey, you're doing something right. I know being at 2-5 is not a good feeling, but you're scoring well man, so you can mix it up a bit but don't panic.

Ory: where the hell did this Reed come from? I dunno, but I stand by what I said last week and 1 week won't sway me. Todd Gurley continues to outperform all expectations so kudos for that, and Mike Evans put up a nice week. You've got some holes in your roster, but they don't seem terrible in comparison to the rest of the league.

Ory wins 149-129

Jake Yorke versus Andrew Gomez

Jake: check it. Shady and Graham score TDs and you win. Crazy I know, but hey maybe that's the ticket. In a week where 6 teams didn't score a single TD somehow you managed almost 1 per starter. This may be your get right week, and luckily it's before the too little too late zone.

Andrew: I can feel your Jordy Nelson pain from a state away, and it hurts me too. Hundley did not look good, and that's a bad place to be for a first round pick. Your RBs aren't very exciting since Cook went down, but the bottom half of your WRs looks pretty good. If you had even one more nice RB to pair in, you might just find something solid, or maybe not.

Jake wins 160-132

Gary Meyer versus Valeriy Shishkin 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

Dad: I don't really want to give the most encouraging words as this win looks about as ugly as a win could. This was like that Panthers v Bears game, where even though there were no TDs someone had to win. Uh, Brees looked good.

Val: you should feel bad, your bench killed your starters, and your bench wasn't even great. Literally Ertz and Ajayi were your only players in double digits. It's a bad look dude.

Oscar beats Val 72-67

Nic Meyer versus Alex Gomez

Nic: the most overlooked fantasy aspect is the consistency that the right kicker and D can bring you, I love it.

Alex: for a while I was legitimately scared, then the Broncos looked godawful and everyone should feel bad. Your receiving corp looks more dead then some people's steaks. Good luck dude, I think you might need it.

Nic wins 120-98

PLAYER PROFILE

(Powered by Jake Yorke)

Ory, you're always good but thus far you haven't achieved your greatness. You haven't made it to the championship despite many good seasons, even if most aren't great. I don't think anyone can view you as a push over, as you have a .542 win percentage with an overall record of 39-32-1. It's interesting because last year you were 9-4, and averaging a whopping 139.1 points per game but every single year otherwise you have been 6-7 or 7-6 (once 7-5-1).

Look I'm not trying to be mean, but Ory that's as close to actual middle of the road I can see. You lost last year to Alex in the semifinals, and your record in the playoffs is 1-2. You should be able to get lucky and actually win once because I don't know anyone as active as you are, but at this point the only fair NFL team comparison I have for you is the Arizona Cardinals. Usually good, but you just haven't gotten over that hump, and everyone but your division mates is rooting for you.

POWER RANKINGS

Jared Grube (5-1-1 955 PF) (previously 2)
Nic Meyer (5-2 902 PF) (previously 3)
Yuriy Yedinak (5-2 892 PF) (previously 1)
Orest Yaslinskiy (4-3 853 PF) (previously 6)

5. Jake Yorke (3-4 845 PF) (previously 10)

6. Andrew Gomez (3-4 855 PF) (previously 5)

7. Matt Burke (3-4 786 PF) (previously 11)

8. Daniel Smith (2-5 860 PF) (previously 8)

9. Oscar Meyer (3-4 742 PF) (previously 12)

10. Alex Gomez (3-4 727 PF) (previously 7)

11. Chris Cone (2-5 808 PF) (previously 9)

12. Valeriy Shishkin (3-3-1 712 PF) (previously YOU DESERVE THIS)

Good luck guys.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Week 6 Recap!

Week 6 was an incredibly good week for me. I left a job that made me unhappy to one that gives me adult like hours, and actual gives me a sense of fulfillment. It was apparent too that my team shared most of my optimism and put up their largest score yet and the highest score of the season. There was some losses strictly due to attrition though as we saw Rodgers go down, Winston got hurt, and Gordon Haywards foot amputated itself.

The most interesting part of the week in my opinion was simply that the Lions and Saints scored like 90 points in a game and Ingram was the only offensive player that actually went off. Go figure.

TOP 5

Deshaun Watson (163 points)

The rookie sensation. He dropped another 29 points and looked good doing it. Chances are he won't be number 1 next week because of his bye, but he's got more than a 10 point lead so he might still hang out in the top 5. Fuller and Hopkins and Watson look like the real deal.

Alex Smith (149 points)

I mean, he had an okay game but.... dude doesn't belong here really, and if it wasn't for Hunt he wouldn't be here. But whatever, I can't keep saying that he's here because of week 1, so instead I'll say that he's here because of the week competition this year.

Tom Brady (148 points)

He didn't have a great week against the Jets, instead he had a good week. The Patriots really should have lost that game with that dumb TD fumble thing, but that game really showed that the Pats aren't unbeatable, and Brady can still play slightly less than godly.

Carson Wentz (142 points)

Honestly if it weren't for the fact that Jared drafted Julio and Cooper he'd probably be rolling everyone right now. His backup QB is solid, and someone has actually played better in his more difficult matchups as opposed to his easier ones. Watch out for the easy cake games, he may not do so well.

Aaron Rodgers (129 points)

Rest In Peace and may you go to clavicle heaven for but a short while.

Kareem Hunt (138 points)

A low scoring week from him still has >100 yards. Whatever, the Chiefs will begin their regression now, and especially if they trot out a "not concussed" Tyreek Hill then there could be problems.

Todd Gurley (132 points)

He only rushed for 116 yards, what do you want me to say?! He's been doing damn good, and although Seattle stomped him he still came back and scored a respectable 12 against JAX.

Leonard Fournette (126 points)

That motherfucking spin move though.

Melvin Gordon (122 points)

Well these last two weeks have been crazy. Dudes as good as can be in PPR, he catches more passes than a receiver and runs like a younger version of Matt Asiata. Whatever though he plays with the biggest crybaby of all Rivers so I feel bad for him.

Le'Veon Bell (119 points)

He's kinda doing the same thing as Gordon but with a QB that self reportedly "doesn't have it anymore." Bell is proven and I wouldn't be surprised if he bounces up real quickly on this list.

Antonio Brown (128 points)

That catch that he had to score the go ahead TD was magician like. Antonio Brown just refuses to be stopped by anything other than Big Ben. That spirit, that determination, that's my Brown ( ;) ).

Deandre Hopkins (108 points)

Quiet week he had, but the TD made it worthwhile. He's the number 1 target of the number 1 QB right now, if the down week includes a TD well than shit yeah.

Larry Fitzgerald (102 points)

I remember watching the hiesman ceremony when he came in second. I was in an Elephant Bar eating a burger and drinking a cherry coke. I was in like my freshman year of high school. Dude has been playing for a long long time. He's like a slap in the face to that dumb saying that Father Time is undefeated.

AJ Green (96 points)

He just had his bye week and he is still here. I dunno.

Devante Adams (89 points)

On one hand RIP to Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand he got all his points with Hundley. This is a fluid situation, and where Nelson is so good because of his chemistry with Rodgers, Adams is just kinda coming into his own as a badass possession receiver.

Zach Ertz (94 points)

For Zach, the floor is the ceiling. His point range is literally 13-17. That's the variance range. That's it. I don't even really get how this isn't part of a robotic simulation.

Rob Gronkowski (88 points)

Huge variance, but the dude scored a ridiculous amount. Arguably the WR1 on the team with Tom Brady throwing the ball there can be many scores.

Travis Kelce (82 points)

When Alex Smith plays against a good team it looks like Kelce can disappear. His attitude is his biggest problem and I think that he doesn't have what it takes to play on an NFL team, that's why he plays for the dirty Chiefs.

Cameron Brate (71 points)

He's already had his bye and yet he is putting up big points each week since. I mean big points in the way that 10+ points is big points for a TE.

Evan Engram (62 points)

For a damn rookie TE, he's doing good. When the rest of the dominoes fall down around you, that means you are the only domino. So he has all 6s.

GAME REVIEWS

Valeriy Shishkin versus Yuriy Yedinak

Val: Well I think the worst thing that could happen to your team has, Aaron Rodgers got hurt. I didn't mean to jinx him, and as an Adams owner I don't like this much, but here we are. Jay Ajayi finally scored some points, but when your lynch-pin is broken the whole team comes spilling out. Garçon also had his QB replaced to a name that looks like Beat Hard but is pronounced like Beth Hard. Aaron Rodgers is a huge blow to your team, but the good news is that the rest of the team is still pretty consistent.

Yuriy: not the best week, but apparently your presence causes bad luck to Val when you are hanging out with him. My solution, request Sundays off and get ready to see a lot of Val. Your WRs blew but Gordon and the Ravens saved you, feel hopeful but not too much, as without the passing TD from Cohen you might have a majority of roster spots that looked awful.

Yuriy beats Val 125-97

Orest Yaslinskiy versus Jake Yorke

Jake: that was a harsh bye week for you man. Staring Ricardo Louis means that you had to have been in a bad position. Bryant and McCoy on bye means you're gonna start some bad stuff, unfortunately for you everyone but Cousins ended up being bad stuff. A case of bye week hell or teams fallling apart? Find out next week.

Ory: I knew that Jordan Reed trade would be a damn wash. People were serious about vetoing it and I said, betcha Reed sucks. I'm happy to have been right. You won, but you made a few questionable start/sit decisions and next time you should definitely choose differently than what you feel like doing.

Ory wins 130-104.

Alex Gomez versus Daniel Smith

Daniel: my first and main question to you is, how do the Saints score 52 points and Thomas only gets 4?! With AJ Green on bye you put up a respectable game but uh.... Matt Ryan is losing you games man. MVP or not he might literally be your LVP. That's least valuable player just so you know. Look I know that Min D was playing GB but you do know that TEN is absolutely garbage this year right? I mean Jacoby Brissett scored more against them than Matt Ryan scored against Miami.

Alex:I dunno how it's working for you man, but you just won't die. Look the truth is that we had a conspiracy against you where everyone knew who would be injured and who wouldn't be and we made sure that you got a majority of who would be. Why else did you think we gave you first pick? Have you seen that movie Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson? Neither have I. Nice with Ingram picking up now though.

Alex wins 123-118

Andrew Gomez versus Jared Grube

Andrew: I look at your team as a tale of warning, don't get to used to success because it can all come crashing down quickly. On the real though, a Diggs being our hurt your team clearly, and the weird way that CJ Anderson is being treated by the Broncos doesn't make it easier. Carr and Crabtree certainly haven't ,are the team better than Fitzgerald, but again if I've learned anything it's that you never know what way a trade will go. You scored over 100, but I can personally say I'm happy you lost.

Jared: to Zeke or not to Zeke, that is the question. Who the hell knows what's going on in that strange court of law? Wentz is kinda carrying you right now, and if it wasn't for Hunt as well I think you'd be in a precarious spot. Julio doesn't look great, and Cooper is unfortunately the worst of the worst. You have two top 5 players and yet, you're trending in a strange sad downward spiral despite the win. Maybe now you make a trade instead of waiting for change to come to you? Or maybe you deny the problem like a true fantasy football addict and see where this new wave lands you. That choice is yours my friend.

Jared wins 123-105

Oscar Meyer versus Matt Burke:

Dad: how about that, Adrian Peterson really did show up for you. By all means in any game where the Saints score 52 points, Drew Brees should probably score more than 15 points. But he didn't, and instead you should have played Cam Newton. Truly that's neither here nor there though, and your team didn't do bad but it just kind of went against a brutal high scoring team. What I will say though is that AD did look great, and while losing isnt fun, you aren't out of the race yet and the wildcard is still clearly up for grabs.

Matt: you played Chris Thompson and Watson. Hell yeah man, when I tell you and you listen looks it works out pretty well. The two Ty's on your team are the sad part to me, but even then the rest is staring to click. I'm not too naive to believe you're out of it yet, as you always seem to make a late push, but I guess just keep hoping and hoping and hoping.

Matt wins 143-116

Chris Cone versus Nic Meyer

Cone: fun fact: you had the 3rd highest score this week.

Fun fact: you lost by the largest margin.

You had a really good week despite a couple of dead beats on your starting lineup, hell you put up 140 and made. A strong case that you're better than it looks. I do enjoy that every week you start a virtual nobody that somehow puts up points (Hooper). It's a sight to behold.

Nic: 🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾🕺🏾

Nic wins 174-140

POWER RANKINGS

Yuriy Yedinak (5-1 788 PF) (previously 1)
Jared Grube (4-1-1 733 PF) (previously 2)
Nicholas Meyer (4-2 782 PF) (previously 5)
Valeriy Shishkin (3-2-1 645 PF) (previously 3)

5. Andrew Gomez (3-3 723 PF) (previously 4)

6. Orest Yaslinskiy (3-3 704 PF) (previously 9)

7. Alex Gomez (3-3 629 PF) (previously 11)

8. Daniel Smith (2-4 731 PF) (previously 6)

9. Chris Cone (2-4 720 PF) (previously 8)

10. Jake Yorke (2-4 685 PF) (previously 7)

11. Matt Burke (2-4 673 PF) (previously 12)

12. Oscar Meyer (2-4 670 PF) (previously 10)

Good luck guys!

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Week 5 Recap

You know, I really enjoy the new NFL celebration rules. By far the best part of this rule is that I can find gifs much much easier. The downside to the prevalence of gifs is that there are so many more that are not current. I had so many random Favre gifs this week that I had to get rid of once I realized what was going on.

As I had friends over I didn't actually get to see the weeks games, instead I went and saw King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard live. This was many good fun times had by all. There was train sushi, Airbnb, Lyft featuring a driver that kept saying you betcha, an opening band named Tropical Fuck Storm and a vomit spewing universe destroying android. Anyway, that's my week 5 thoughts, we can move into something more productive.

TOP 5

Deshaun Watson (134 points)

I wanted to say that this is a surprise or it's out of nowhere or that we knew he had it in him, but the truth of the matter is that we didn't. He did not play all of week 1, Tom Savage did, and yet here we are with Watson. I'm certain that we all are thinking that regression is bound to happen, and that at some point he can't score as many TDs. But what if he can? We saw it with Mike Vick and Tom Brady before so, I'm just saying maybe.

Alex Smith (133 points)

31 points again, he's rolling. The stupid Chiefs are still consistently winning games and their offense is moving. Look we've all seen a lot of Smith in the past and the only thing that I can think that would make him good is the fact that so,some got drafted to replace him. We saw it with Kaepernick but this is something totally different.

Aaron Rodgers (129 points)

The only other place you'll see a list with Rodgers below Smith is their draft position. Rodgers has looked good and number 3 sounds disappointing but it's only by about 5 points so less than 1 TD.

Tom Brady (128 points)

This seems like a huge fall for him, but seriously he's 6 points behind rank number 1. I might be worried about his shoulder sprain but only if he goes up against a brutal defense, and that's not this week.

Dak Prescott (126 points)

It's weird cause he seems to score more points than any particular piece of his team. Dudes consistent and he's consistently good which is a perfect thing from the eyes of a fantasy football owner.

Kareem Hunt (123 points)

He's settling into a more realistic ROS scoring range now, but he's holding onto his first place hold. Theres a good reason to believe that he's riding a wave of momentum, that the KC confidence is sky high and it's making them all play better. That doesn't mean it has to stop, but things could realistically change.

Todd Gurley (120 points)

Well he had a huge burst of points against some questionable defenses and the Redskins. Then Seattle punched him in the face, the next long run of defenses he faces are all a bunch of pretty good defenses. I don't think 4 is a weekly thing, but I also don't think 37 should be expected.

Leonard Fournette (105 points)

How about that 90 yard run? That was cool, and he kept running and kept getting faster and faster as everyone slowed down. He looks like the next big true runner. I don't think that means he'll be the best runner this year but man he's doing good so far. If he keeps this up he might be a top 5 pick next year.

Le'Veon Bell (92 points)

The talent and pedigree are palpable and the fact that he's on this list even after CheeseBerger threw 5 picks speaks to this. He had a few bad games but the guys here.

Melvin Gordon (87 points)

Damn that was a week. He had a 3 point week followed by a 33 point week, and against what should be a better NYG team. But as it goes with any game even slightly related to the Chargers all the Giants WRs died and Gordon just ran ran ran.

Antonio Brown/DeAndre Hopkins (99 points)

It's funny because they're tied for the top spots but the guys throwing them the ball are on completely different trajectories. Big Ben is old but trusts Brown with his life and Watson is just running the whole league. Ben throws 5 picks, Watson throws 5 TDs. But here they both are.

AJ Green (96 points)

He's on his bye this week, so he'll probably fall right back off this list but he torched Buffalo and they were supposed to be good. Turns out, as no one would have guessed, AJ Green is pretty good. Can't believe Dalton can pass for that many yards though.

Stefon Diggs (84 points)

He had a couple really insane weeks and he'll float. The dudes got talent but it's the offense I worry about. Bradford getting hurt again cannot help his value or outlook, but the good news is that Keenum doesn't look like garbage.

Chris Hogan (80 points)

The white slot receiver in a Patriots offense ran by Tom MAGA Brady. No surprise from me here guys.

Zach Ertz (79 points)

13-18 points per week steady and solid. The TE position hasn't been an easy position to fill, and yet here Val is with a dude that hasn't even missed a game yet.

Travis Kelce (75 points)

Baby Gronk. The guys still a jerk but when he's not busy catching 1 pass for 1 yard he also plays football. Travis Kelce is a tight end that blows up some weeks and then doesn't do much otherwise.

Rob Gronkowski (62 points)

What even is a leg contusion? What does that mean and why did he look like he should have been playing? I don't think Tom Brady's workout is so great, but at least it was such a good week to miss for my team.

Jason Witten (57 points)

Just when you want to cut bait he puts up a good week. Not that Yuriy would cut players.

Charles Clay (56 points)

This is unfortunate :(.

GAME REVIEWS

Matt Burke versus Jake Yorke

Matt: you were the last team to win a game, but you did win one. I want that fancy Watson sitting on your bench, much like Chris Thompson, it's the two magical weeks of the year where someone new does something cool and he's sitting on Matt's bench screaming please let me make an impact in For Reals Guys league. Anyway, you won so I won't help you lament as there isn't an occasion for it.

Jake: close man, close. Buck Allen coulda won you the game, but it's understandable that you wouldn't play him over Bilalala Powell. Realistically you came across Matt in the one week where his team was so desperate for a win that you could have score 145 and he would have scored 146. Just never again play Bilal Powell. Lesson learned right?

Matt wins 128-124

Chris Cone versus Oscar Meyer

Chris: sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes Deonte Thompson doesn't actually exist. This time Thompson didn't exist. This is the scary thing about having such a top heavy team, is say if Tom Brady doesn't show up then your team looks significantly less exciting. Good news could be that your top heavy players are Tom Brady and Leonardo Fournetty. They've been pretty solid.

Dad: Beckham went down and that was sad. Clay went down and that was sad as well. Funchess, Ellington and Newton off the waiver have helped you maintain relevancy and I can't ignore the trade we made, may it work in the favor of both of us. I'm not truly a huge fan of your team looking at the roster but, if it's working it's working and persistence is at least 5% of the battle.

Oscar wins 118-102.

Ory Yaslinskiy versus Yuriy Yedinak

Ory: sometimes it hurts less to lose when you score 47% of the oppositions points. Those times are only when the opponent scores over 200 points. I mean being completely fair and honest I definitely could have told you not to play Roethlisberger. Gurley uncharacterisically performed like a human against the Seahawks, and Evans really hasn't done a whole lot has he? But put this out of your mind I suppose because you didn't have Deshaun Watson on your bench so you couldn't really make the game swing the other way.

Yuriy: highest scoring week was while Freeman was on a bye? Trade that guy man.

Yuriy wins 167-80

Daniel Smith versus Andrew Gomez

Daniel: definitely played the wrong Packers RB, as I scored twice as many points as him from a King Gizzard concert. Carlos Hyde was surprisingly your biggest underperformer though and it actually didn't matter a whole lot. Your WR corp went green bananas and allowed you to roll over the guy playing Palmer and CJ2k in 2017. Getting Michael a Thomas and Kamari back sounds like a great deal, sometimes early byes are good.

Andrew: look some of us have been there before, you're at a place where you feel it's necessary to start CJ2k. It's not completely your fault, there's a reason why week 5 byes are called gateway byes and you've recently suffered a traumatic experience with losing Dalvin Cook. What I suggest, since you're still new to this, is you drop the baggage and move on, bring back CJ Andersen, don't participate in any more Shady waiver wire deals and drop Diggs before he hurts you more than you already have been.

Daniel wins 144-92

Alex Gomez versus Valeriy Shishkin

Alex: that injury bug has made shit brutal for your team. It's so bad you're starting a person named JuJu. Adam Humphries sounds like a person who should be dating a Kardashian, Alex Collins biggest highlight is spinning so hard he fumbles, Tyler Kroft makes mac-n-cheese, Stafford is the highest paid player in NFL history, and Gallman sounds like the life of a party. With that said, you still put up more points than Ory or Andrew so there could definitely be moral victories.

Val: so I'm happy we never made a trade for Ajayi. Good player bad offense sounds like a shitty 70s movie but it also sounds like Gurleys season last year and that's a boring thing to think about. Which one of Alshon or Pierre is going to go off each week, and which name is more likely to be brought back into the pantheon of baby naming books? (My money is on Pierre). Ertz is arguably your best player not named Rodgers and even then I'm not certain Rodger isn't his middle name.

Val wins 116-99

Nic Meyer versus Jared Grube

Jared: you got beat by a team starting Eli Manning. Your highest scoring nonQB was Cole Beasley in a revenge game, and Amari Cooper makes me just as sad as it does you so I won't make fun of you too much for him. Your armor is cracked and the signs point to a clear downward trajectory. Win->tie->loss is consistent downgrading of your situation. You know what really did you in though? Your defense and kicking units, they simply are nut up to par. Much like Folk cost the Mighty Wind their friendship, Folk cost you this game.

Nic: 🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿

PLAYER PROFILE

(Powered by Jake Yorke)

VALERIY SHISHKIN

Val, what can I say man? You've been in two championships and won once. You've proven that you're a contender. You have a .551 win percentage and the worst you've ever finished in a season is 6-7. That's impressive. Your name has stayed Greenbowl Packers since pretty much the leagues inception, which makes you similar to the Redskins. You've also lost a championship to Jake, but beat D Smith, further proving our divisions sincere and complete dominance over every aspect of fantasy football. You're 3-2 in the playoffs and have never looked bad, how do you manage that?

Well, the players that are common to your team can help answer this. You've owned Aaron Rodgers many years (HINT THATS PROBABLY THE SECRET GUYS, I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT), and also have owned Ertz more times than his spotty history suggests is even wise. Luckily your a glutton for punishment and always come back for more. Greg Jennings and Arian Foster were familiar names on your team before they both faded away like candles in the wind.

What might be the most curious and insane part of your team is also tied to your NFL team:

The New Orleans Saints I would say you are akin to the Saints after they attained Brees in particular. One super bowl win, one almost completely consistent QB, a weird mishmash of RBs that kinda but not really works, a high scoring offense, and a super bowl winning year where you tore the doors off the place. During your winning year you averaged 145.2 points per game. That's almost 150 points per game (for those hard of reading numbers). That shits crazy, and I still blame it on some weird cosmic voodoo of the baby being on the way.

POWER RANKINGS

Yuriy Yedinak (4-1 663 PF) (previously 3)
Jared Grube (3-1-1 610 PF) (previously 1)
Valeriy Shishkin (3-1-1 548 PF) (previously 8)
Andrew Gomez (3-2 618 PF) (previously 2)

5. Nic Meyer (3-2 608 PF) (previously 6)

6. Daniel Smith (2-3 613 PF) (previously 10)

7. Jake Yorke (2-3 581 PF) (previously 7)

8. Chris Cone (2-3 580 PF) (previously 5)

9. Ory Yaslinskiy (2-3 574 PF) (previously 4)

10. Oscar Meyer (2-3 554 PF) (previously 11)

11. Alex Gomez (2-3 506 PF) (previously 9)

12. Matt Burke (1-4 530 PF) (previously 12)

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Week 4 Recap!

I'm confident in saying that week 4 could be renamed to the destruction of Alex's team week, and it would be apt. Many injuries, and some anger later, and now we are seeing the separation of teams, kind of. Barring stat corrections we only have one undefeated team, and that's only technically undefeated (which is the worst type of undefeated). Our current reigning champ is 0-4, and still has Chris Thompson on his bench, although this week it may not have helped much. Derek Carr broke something in his back 😭 but should be back pretty soon, but until then just remember all those fantasy relevant WRs that EJ Manual made in Buffalo.

Aside from that, I think that this week shows how fast things change in the NFL. Bye weeks start and now after the first two weeks we have people that looked like studs just falling off, and people that looked like nothing showing up, and if you're like me you can't even remember all those people that have quickly dissipated into irrelevance. Things can also quickly change again in the next two weeks, and I'll talk about that with which I am most intimately associated with, my team. Doug Martin is back, bringing either false hopes or awesome support when it is needed, Andrew Luck is supposedly coming back in two weeks and we all know who Luck is, a fantastic scorer. Two weeks from now my team could look completely different, could yours? It just is such a strange game where season long there are cornerstones and things that change and with a rapid pace that can make great teams look bad and bad teams look great.

Speaking of which, only 5 teams have scored more than 100 points each week:

Nic

Jake

D-Smith

Cone

Andrew (score exactly 100 each)

So, clearly best teams.

Top 5

Tom Brady (114 points)

He's Brady and his defense is literally just a bunch of guys from the streets playing for his autograph. He can't stop throwing because he can't keep a lead, but he throws TDs and yards like no other.

Alex Smith (102 points)

Stupid Alex Smith is back in this spot again. Who knows maybe I'm wrong, but history tells me I'm not. He keeps performing and he has stayed in this spot for 4 weeks, the Chiefs look good, but wait for a post game-6 regression.

Aaron Rodgers (100 points)

He can really do no wrong. Hell, he hit Jordy on a pass that even Jordy didn't think was possible. His offensive pieces are dropping around him though, and while Rodgers can absolutely play hero ball, I don't think you like to see him having to do it all the time.

Russell Wilson (94 points)

He's number 4 on the year with an absolute garbage o-line. I think after the first two weeks he started drinking more Miracle Water ^tmand got over whatever ailed him. I would call his RB corp thin at this point, but Lacy is back there so that's demonstrably incorrect.

Drew Brees/ Dak Prescott (91 points)

These guys arent blowing up, but they are incredibly consistent from week to week. That London game looked bad for Brees but somehow he still put up over 20 and hasn't thrown a pick. Prescott has a good running game, and has started airing it out more. His defense isn't great, so he keeps throwing as well.

Todd Gurley (116 points)

Well, Hunt has been replaced. This dude has been good, him and Goff have that whole offense clicking right now. The defenses they have played aren't as good as the defenses they will play, but he's taken that top spot from Hunt, something that was seemingly impossible after the last few weeks.

Kareem Hunt (110 points)

He now has less points than Tom Brady, so the fantasy world is coming back into balance. But damn! A bad game for Hunt is 16 points and he has scored more than every other QB. Dudes been great, but can now be considered a bust after losing spot 1 to Gurley. Sell while you can Jared.

Leonard Fournette (74 points)

Look at that gap between Hunt and Fournette. Wow. Fournette has been good for number 3 through 4 weeks and he has been a consistent force. Jax actually has a defense that is good against teams without Bilal Powell, and that helps Fournette a lot.

Devonta Freeman (71 points)

He's looked better than number 4 in my opinion, but Atlanta has a ton of offensive weapons. He's great, and maybe with Julio and Sanu out he can have a good game. Assuming they use him instead of Brate, Howard, and Coleman. We will see I suppose.

Zeke Elliott/ Chris Thompson (70 points)

What does it say about Thompson that some scrub like Elliott can catch up to him this early in the season? Maybe this is the end of the Thompson era, maybe it's time to drop Thompson, I think the huge amount of carries are catching up with him.

Stefon Diggs (83 points)

Creating separation against the Lions is apparently not easy. That's a sentence I wouldn't have typed before the season began. Diggs did it and now has two consistent weeks back to back, so that's a good sign.

Antonio Brown (74 points)

Throw that Gatorade Brown, throw it. Ben missed him getting wide wide open about 3 times, and knowing how the Steelers have played that probably won't happen again.

Deandre Hopkins (72 points)

He's got that league leading target count. Watson blew up! If Fuller being on the field opens shit up this much for the Texans, then expect good things from that offense as a whole.

AJ Green (67 points)

Consistently above 10 points, not too shabby. Dalton looks better, even if it was against the Browns, and that can only help AJ Green. I would be maybe more worried when they start going against better teams again.

Jordy Nelson (66 points)

Good going Andrew, two of the top 5. Nelson and Rodgers are just god damned the same mind. Nelson has the comebacks when Rodgers scrambles and they complete crazy looking things. I don't even think Nelson is amazing, just has probably the most chemistry with a HoF QB.

Rob Gronkowski (62 points)

Same with Brady, if they keep having to score, Gronk will benefit. It's not just TDs Grink gets huge plays out of seemingly nowhere at all.

Zach Ertz (61 points)

Once again, the consistency is there. Color me hugely surprised, I didn't think he had it in him. Congrats to Wentz or Ertz (whoa, their names are similar!!!!) but either way, it's working here.

Travis Kelce (58 points)

Hey look a big game! Kelce is good, but he's still a punk. I'd be worried about him getting suspended for something dumb, or catching 1 ball for 1 yard.

Charles Clay (51 points)

15, 5, 15, 16. Take out week 2 and wow, that's almost exactly the same. I think he might be the first passing option after Shady on that team. That consistency is rad.

Delanie Walker/ Jason Witten (45 points)

Tied for fifth, they're averaging only 11.25 ppg. The vets are doing alright, but I just feel bad for TEs this year.

D/ST

Lions (57 points)

This is the most strange thing about this season imo. Think back to... forever. When have the Lions had a good defense? I didn't think football allowed that.

Jaguars (52 points)

Kitty Cat teams dominating. Read what I said above and also apply that here.

Steelers (49 points)

Unsurprisingly both the last teams have played the Ravens and managed to make their way onto this list. This is probably the first time they've made it here since Polamalu played for them.

Texans (43 points)

Watt is good, but really their D isn't that scary anymore. They've just got a whole d-line that is made of physical freaks.

Bills (41 points)

Not a bad showing for a team that people thought would be one of the absolute worst teams before the season started.

Greg The Leg. LEGATRON.

GAME REVIEWS

Yuriy Yedinak vs Matt Burke

Matt had his first really respectable week and still got stomped. Sorry Matt :(

Matt: so this matchup should have been yours, except for the fact that your WRs all decided to take a week off. I mean holy crap Lamar and Bell played great, Rivers actually threw some TDs and Seattle D destroyed the Colts. At 0-4 what do you do? I know last year I tried to make sensible trades and hold still, but it didn't work for me. Ty Mont being injured is just a sad sad thing, but can you hold him while at 0-4? Sanu is out for 2-3 weeks, Matthews broke his thumb, and Thompson (still on your bench) fell to earth. I don't think I'm crazy, I think you gotta make some moves to survive man.

Yuriy: you've got good players man, but they seem so inconsistent. Who's blowing up each week? I guess as long as someone does it's okay, but do you think that someone always will? If so good going my man. I don't really know what to say, maybe watch out for Gordon's bone bruise can keep him hurt for a while, and to be completely honest I don't believe that Mixon will ever become anything more than what he is now. This year anyway, I mean Bernard isn't going away and clearly they like Hill, Mixon is just one piece of the three. Witten might not continue to be a good bet with Dak getting more comfortable throwing to Dez.

Yuriy wins 140-129.

Oscar Meyer vs Daniel Smith

This one was close for most of the weekend.

Daniel: let's just be clear here, Matt Ryan cost you that week. Very clearly if you had played Dak you would have won. Can you keep playing Ryan? He does have two first names. Your RBs and WRs are starting to come around and look solid, maybe Amendola will stay healthy for a bit longer than last time. Landry on them Dolphins scares me, they pass to him a bunch but he doesn't get anywhere with those passes.

Dad: your team is like the tale of two different parts. There is consistency with Brees, Howard, and Odell. Then there is the week-to-week high variance of Gillislee, Watkins, and Ginn. Serious kudos to picking the waiver wire and choosing the right people to play. Clay, Ellington and Funchess look to be good depth and matchup plays for you in the future. I think youre teetering the line of being scared of a lost season, but I also know that you've been there before and made it to the playoffs so you do what you do.

Oscar beats Daniel 133-123

Alex Gomez vs Jake Yorke

Alex changed his name and as far as I'm aware it's incredibly apt.

Alex: how many of your players a week are dying? Bye Carson, bye Adams, get well soon guys. Ingram seems incredibly frustrating to own, as does Crowell. Dalton put up 35 and you still scored less than 100, that's scary. With the rest of your bench nursing injuries too your depth and starters are disappearing faster than Blockbusters in the early 2010s. Stafford isn't performing greatly after that first week, and they are winning so who knows if that changes. DT and Maclin aren't consistent, and they would appear to be your best hope. I won't tell you what to do, but I would tell you you need to do something.

Jake: I'm pretty amazed that you almost completely chose all the wrong players to start and still won easily. McCoy isn't killing it but he also isn't losing you games, Brandin Cooks is a boom/bust officially I think. Abandon all ye Ravens players, even against Oakland. Your bench this week makes me think that there isn't a huge problem with your team, you just have to make the right choices when you go against an actual healthy team.

Jake wins 117-87

Chris Cone versus Andrew Gomez

Andrews team looks hot right now.

Chris: Brady is helping you a ton, but I'm thinking you might need some depth so you can not start players like Mercedes Lewis and Brandon Coleman. They're players that probably shouldn't be on your starting lineup, but at the same time I wonder if you have better choices. Now your not near panic mode yet, there have been great things for your team, and Tom Brady will consistently give your whole team a safe floor.

Andrew: your WRs are on fire man. Your RBs this upcoming week are suddenly nonexistent. They're scoring at crazy paces that can keep you afloat through many games. That trade for Crabtree and Carr kinda blew up in your face with Carr's injury happening 😭. You might need some depth but if the rest of your team can stay healthy then you can at least keep scoring points.

Andrew wins 143-104

Valeriy Shishkin versus Jared Grube

Third tie ever in the league (as it stands now).

Val: those running backs I spoke of being amazing for you before suddenly aren't looking so hot. Rodgers is pulling you through some adversity, and a last second TD helped you not lose. Your whole team outside of Rodgers is becoming boom or bust and this was one of those bust weeks. Your bench also didn't show much so it's not really that you made the wrong decision, it's just that no decision was the right one.

Jared: Kareem came down to earth, even if his descent wasn't so far. 16 points shows he's at least something near human. Julio getting hurt at least happens right before his bye, so good news there. Cooper losing Carr😭 makes a bad situation worse for his outlook. Theo Riddick didn't do anything and hasn't looked amazing, Tyreek showing that low score bust game, and Fleener being nonexistent can hurt. Blount on your bench looks nice, but we can see now that your team isn't bulletproof. If you had gone against 9 of the other teams then a tie wouldn't be something you'd even have to worry about, but that's fantasy football.

No one wins, everyone loses.

Nic Meyer vs Ory Yaslinskiy

Nic: I could have won and I hate it. The funny thing is, I asked Janice before the games start if I should start Fuller or Richardson, and Lynch or Abdullah. If I had listened to her I would have won, but I didn't. Lesson learned. I feel good about my team though, my low score on the year is 106 and my high score is 122. That's consistency, and after adding some potentially high scoring pieces to my bench I think 2-2 is a fine place to be. Also, Muscle Hamster and Luck are showing their faces on the horizon.

Ory: WTF with Gurley dude. Bench him for fairness of the league plz. Russell Wilson killed me and he absolutely should not have, unless they were all to Richardson. Tate, Kearse and McCaffrey didn't look brilliant, but they didn't look terrible either. That Jordan Reed trade hasn't helped you a ton either.

Let me take a moment here to acknowledge the situation with Ory's brother Arkadiy. Arkadiy is an amazing nice guy, and it's a tragedy what has happened to him. I know we are a small group, but if you have anything to give I would absolutely urge you to help with his recovery. Show some solidarity and keep Arkadiy in your thoughts. Please do donate.

Arkadiy Yaslinskiy's generosity page.

Ory wins 138-118

Player Profile

(Powered by Jake Yorke):

Alex Gomez!

Alex, a father to two, a husband, a son, and a brother. Also the self-made expansion team heel who manages to upset everyone by doing a damn good job every year. He's a great shit talker and a great opponent, he's carved out his role in our league quickly and it's better for having him.

In the years since he has had his own team, he is 18-12 for a good .600 win percentage, which is pretty damn good. He has a average ppg of 133.3! His best season w/l was 10-3, and his overall best season was a loss to Matt Burke in the championship. Dude has 111 player acquisitions since he has been in the league, which is good for the first place in acquisitions, surprisingly beating me out in that same time. He's not a champion, but he is a contender, and unless we see some regression he has a high probability of getting one at some point. Although, he is 1-2 in the playoffs...

The player we see linked to Alex most often is Carson Palmer, his favorite late round QB.

The team in the NFL that bares the most similarity to Alex's fantasy teams is probably the Jaguars. The Jags were an expansion team that came straight out the gate looking like they were going to be good contenders. They had some great teams but never won a super bowl, and of course we know how badly the team looked for a while, and who knows, maybe Alex's bad years are still upcoming. This 2 game losing streak certainly makes a case for that.

POWER RANKINGS