The Sanderson Gazette - 2016-10-19 - Happy Birthday, Pulley
"I'm 80% sure Pittsburgh is a Madden franchise." - Rob
Week Six Recap
Ed def. Matt, 94.89-92.83:
Matt and I basically had the same week. One of our receivers (Odell Beckham, Jr. (39.60 for me) / Julio Jones (24.53 for Matt)) went off. Our QBs (Andy Dalton, 23.40 / Cam Newton, 29.20) both did well, and only two other ten-point scorers each. So it's fitting that we had our closest margin since 2008.
Babel def. Allen, 76.61-75.57:
Jaelen Strong (4.80) had a 36-yard catch late in Sunday night's game, pulling Allen to a 1.04-point deficit. That was it for this one, which was the closest game in the history of this series (and its sixth ever within a ten-point margin).
Dave def. Pat, 69.91-63.16:
The high scorer in this one was Aaron Rodgers, with 14.90 for Pat. Dave had the only four other players in double figures, though, and came away with a lucky win.
Pulley def. Mike R., 98.17-90.48:
Tom Brady (29.50) had another great week for Pulley, and both he and Jonathan Stewart (20.50) were key in keeping Bernie winless. Mike did finally get a good game from Eli Manning (27.65), though.
Kevin def. Derrek, 128.65-93.53:
Kevin had his second straight Team Blangums thanks to who else but David Johnson (32.70). Brandin Cooks (29.27) and Andrew Luck (24.40) had very good games for D, but that wasn't enough to beat our current top team (who had seven of nine players break double digits).
Rabbit def. Richie, 124.07-103.34:
Rabs got two thirty point games from LeSean McCoy (32.27) and Lamar Miller (30.77), which was just too much for Rob Gronkowski (27.60) to overcome.
Rob def. Schertz, 121.62-70.82:
With all due respect to BlingaWoj (link), I think I really dropped the ball when I called this the Game of the Blingaweek last issue.
https://blingaleague.com/week/2016/6/
Current Standings
Kevin, 5-1, 680.02
Rob, 5-1, 676.09
Dave, 4-2, 660.14
Pulley, 4-2, 654.14
Richie, 4-2, 585.34
Schertz, 3-3, 648.39
Matt, 3-3, 630.39
Ed, 3-3, 600.99
Allen, 3-3, 573.70
Rabbit, 2-4, 671.49
Derrek, 2-4, 547.42
Babel, 2-4, 510.16
Pat, 2-4, 504.90
Mike R., 0-6, 516.90
https://blingaleague.com/standings/
Weekly Awards
Team Blangums: Kevin's 128.65 earns him $10 for the second week in a row.
Slapped Heartbeat: Pat's back in a familiar place, as his 63.16 gets him a Slapped Heartbeat.
Weekly MVP: David Johnson's making a case to name this award after him. He scored 32.70 this week.
Start of the Week: Mark could have played
Misplay of the Week: Allen played Jaelen Strong (4.80) and Tyler Lockett (3.27) over Mohamed Sanu (12.27) and lost by barely one point.
Pickup of the Week: Mike R. picked up C.J. Fiederowicz and was rewarded with 17.33 points. Even though he lost the game, this counts as a win for Bernie's Bullies.
Week Seven Preview
Game of the Blingaweek
Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 4-2, 4th) vs. Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 2-4, 10th):
All-time series tied, 4-4.
Pulley's weathered the storm of losing his top RB (Jamaal Charles, vs. NO) and top QB (Tom Brady, @PIT) to make it to 4-2. And similar historical teams (link) offer some hope. Of the eight previous teams that were 4-2 and within 50 points and 0.5 expected wins through six weeks, two won the Sanderson Cup. (And those two teams were the historically dominant 2010 Rabbit and 2012 Matt.)
Rabs has not had the fortune that Pulley has. Despite being third in points, Rabbit finds himself two games below .500. His RB trio (Lamar Miller (@DEN), LeSean McCoy (@MIA), and DeMarco Murray (vs. IND)) have been outstanding so far, and provide him with some hope to make the playoffs. Rabbit's win/points/expected wins combination is actually unique historically, so if we allow for 3-3 teams (link), we'll find his 2011 version as a future Blingabowl champion.
Pick: Pralines & Dick.
Other Blingamatches
Live Commish (Ed, 3-3, 8th) vs. Not Mos Def (Rob, 5-1, 2nd):
Ed leads all-time series, 6-4.
Historically, Rob's in good shape; three of his four comparables (link) went onto make the Blingabowl, and two won. Mine (link) include a couple of runner-ups and another regular season #1 along with two teams that missed the playoffs altogether.
Pick: Not Mos Def.
The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 5-1, 1st) vs. Inconceivable (Richie, 4-2, 5th):
All-time series tied, 2-2.
Kevin's comps are basically the same as Rob's (link), so he's in excellent shape to make some noise come playoff time. Richie's (link) include our very first champion... and most frighteningly, for Rich: the 2013 version of himself, which finished in tenth.
Pick: The Chocolate Donuts.
Super Bash Bros. (Dave, 4-2, 3rd) vs. schertzopotamus (Schertz, 3-3, 6th):
Dave leads all-time series, 3-1.
Dave's only six points ahead of Pulley, so his historical comparables (link) are the same: two champs and only one team that missed the playoffs. (But of course, Dave's found creative ways to miss the playoffs before.) Juju's (link) suggest he's destined to sneak in as the sixth playoff team.
Pick: Super Bash Bros.
Vinegar Strokes (Pat, 2-4, 13th) vs. Optimus Prime (Allen, 3-3, 9th):
All-time series tied, 4-4.
The last three version of Allen - none of whom finished above tenth - are all similar to Pat (link). Three of the past four Pats match up with Allen (link). Allen could also follow the path of 2008/2009/2013 Rob and make the semis.
Pick: Vinegar Strokes.
Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 0-6, 14th) vs. D's Nuts (Derrek, 2-4, 11th):
Mike R. leads all-time series, 6-4.
Bernie's comps are sad (link). Derrek's best-case scenario is the 2012 Babel Video Game Bosses year (link).
Pick: D's Nuts.
Harrison Hammers (Matt, 3-3, 7th) vs. Keep Calm & Le'Veon (Babel, 2-4, 12th):
Matt leads all-time series, 7-2.
Matt's comparables (link) look a lot like Schertz's. Mark's (link) are kind of sad.
Pick: Keep Calm & Le'Veon.
Closing Thoughts
Week six was the 25th-lowest scoring of all time... but also the 17th-closest in terms of average margin of victory. So, um, yay?
https://blingaleague.com/blingalytics/weekly_scores/
Eddo