The Sanderson Gazette - 2022-10-05 - Great Scott

Week 4 Recap

Scott def. Mike R., 165.65-100.72

Wow. Scott got 37.87 from T.J. Hockenson, 25.15 from Josh Allen, 22.53 from Tee Higgins, and 21.53 from Deebo Samuel and put up the 15th highest score of all time.

Mike cracked 100 for the first time all year thanks to Tom Brady (28.75), Derrick Henry (21.80), and the Giants defense (18.00).

Ed def. Rob, 131.21-100.19

This wasn't quite a battle for first place (more on that in a minute), but it was close. Ed did especially well in special teams, as the Eagles defense (17.00) and Dustin Hopkins (10.00) both had strong games. And disappointments for Rob from Jaylen Waddle (5.20), Curtis Samuel (5.07), and Michael Pittman, Jr. (4.13) meant that Ed only needed a little from his Buccaneer duo on Sunday night - when Mike Evans (25.73) and Leonard Fournette (13.30) both put up quite a bit more than necessary.

Schertz def. Babel, 115.86-91.13

This one was close going into Monday night, with only defenses to go. The Rams (3.00) put up a dud for Babel, while the 49ers (23.00) scored a late defensive touchdown to not only ice Schertz's win, but push him into first place!

Jamaal Williams added 22.93 for Schertz and DK Metcalf added 19.87 for Babel.

Pat def. Matt, 97.09-86.33

Pat got his first win of the year in a big upset over Matt behind 30.53 from Josh Jacobs and 18.93 from CeeDee Lamb. Matt followed up last week's Team Blangums with a dud, exemplified by Melvin Gordon III's -1.20.

Dave def. Derrek, 127.48-94.52

Dave had a very nice week, with a low score of 7.27 from Elijah Moore. Justin Herbert (24.00) and Dameon Pierce (20.17) led his balanced roster. Derrek saw Justin Jefferson (25.90) return to week 1 form, but has to be a little concerned about Jonathan Taylor (2.33).

Pulley def. Rabbit, 94.91-77.98

Remember two weeks ago, when Rabbit was putting up near-record results to start the season? He's followed that up with two bottom-two finishes; Tyreek Hill (21.23) and Christian McCaffrey (19.50) are fine, but Gabriel Davis (1.73) and Tony Pollard (0.87) were awful in week 4.

Meanwhile, Pulley got an excellent game from Miles Sanders (28.33) and a very good one from Marquise Brown (17.73).

Richie def. Kevin, 91.45-63.04

Austin Ekeler (30.53) and Russell Wilson (27.38) were Richie's only two double-digit scorers, but they flew by that milestone. It also helped that Kevin's team was horrible. He also had only two players crack ten points (Cooper Kupp (16.27) and Joe Mixon (13.83)) and was unable to swap Michael Thomas (zero) out in time for the early Sunday kickoff (more on that later).

Standings

  1. Schertz, 3-1, 481.88
  2. Ed, 3-1, 481.00
  3. Rob, 3-1, 438.02
  4. Scott, 2-2, 469.93
  5. Matt, 2-2, 446.64
  6. Dave, 2-2, 427.30
  7. Derrek, 2-2, 395.98
  8. Rabbit, 2-2, 392.35
  9. Kevin, 2-2, 366.95
  10. Pulley, 2-2, 345.90
  11. Richie, 2-2, 313.78
  12. Mike R., 1-3, 354.48
  13. Babel, 1-3, 330.44
  14. Pat, 1-3, 318.26

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Ed, 791
  2. Rob, 693
  3. Schertz, 683
  4. Scott, 673
  5. Matt, 651
  6. Dave, 639
  7. Rabbit, 515
  8. Derrek, 480
  9. Kevin, 436
  10. Mike R., 361
  11. Pulley, 326
  12. Babel, 280
  13. Pat, 252
  14. Richie, 220

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Scott's 165.65 is his first Team Blangums in franchise history. He went 56 weeks without having the top score of the week, which is the fifth longest drought ever.

Slapped Heartbeat

Kevin's 63.04 was the low score this week (and he'd still have been low with Brandon Aiyuk (4.93) instead of Michael Thomas (zero)).

Weekly MVP

T.J. Hockenson (37.87) put up a tight end week for the ages for Scott.

Dud of the Week

Melvin Gordon III (-1.20) dipped into the negative for Matt.

Start of the Week

Pat won the only close game of the week, but didn't have anything that qualifies here.

Misplay of the Week

Matt lost the only close game of the week, and played Melvin Gordon III (-1.20) over Rex Burkhead (11.20) and Corey Davis (15.87).

Pickup of the Week

Scott picked up Josh Reynolds and got 16.80 points out of it.

Blessed Cahoots

Pryor Play of the Week

Richie will get this for Austin Ekeler, whose 30.53 is more than 19 points better than his previous season high.

Week 5 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Live Commish (Ed, 3-1, 2nd) vs. Three Digit FC (Scott, 2-2, 4th)

Ed leads all-time series, 4-0.

Ed is not quite in first place (due to a sub-point gap in total points between him and Schertz), but he's the best team in the league by expected wins (3.17) and all-play record (42-10). In fact, those two figures are both the fifth best marks through four weeks in league history. His team is taking a hit with Cordarrelle Patterson heading to IR, so his full complement of WRs - Mike Evans (vs. ATL), A.J. Brown (@ARI), Christian Kirk (vs. HOU), and Chris Olave (vs. SEA) - will all need to start this week.

Scott is second in all-play record (38-14) and, even though he's just 2-2, has never started this well before. His team name, which was once self-deprecating, is now a bit of a flex. Josh Allen (vs. PIT) has been his star, but Deebo Samuel (@CAR) and Tee Higgins (@BAL). If Breece Hall's (vs. MIA) week 4 is a sign of things to come, Scott should contend for a bye all season.

Pick: Live Commish.

Other Blingamatches

schertzopotamus (Schertz, 3-1, 1st) vs. Harrison Hammers (Matt, 2-2, 5th)

Matt leads all-time series, 9-2.

The Blingabowl XII rematch features two of our four Team Blangums winners so far and was just barely edged out for Game of the Blingaweek.

The only time Schertz has had more expected wins at this point in the season was when he took home the Sanderson Cup; given that he was just 2-2 in 2019, he must feel good right now. Having Lamar Jackson (vs. CIN) and Stefon Diggs (vs. PIT), despite their subpar week 4 scores, must enhance that feeling. And Jamaal Williams (@NE) sure looks like he'll keep capitalizing on D'Andre Swift's abscence.

Remember how Ed has the fifth most expected wins through four weeks? Well, two of the four teams ahead of him belong to Matt. So his 2.60 mark in 2022 isn't especially notable. He has his own stud QB, Jalen Hurts (@ARI), to counter Lamar Jackson, and Saquon Barkley (@GB) looks like an excellent first round pick. If Melvin Gordon III (vs. IND) shakes off his fumbling woes and seizes they opportunity to become the clear #1 RB in Denver, watch out.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

Rob for Today (Rob, 3-1, 3rd) vs. Super Bash Bros. (Dave, 2-2, 6th)

Dave leads all-time series, 9-8.

Rob joins Scott as the only two teams to have broken 100 every week, and has his second best expected wins mark ever through four weeks. Nick Chubb (vs. LAC) has been outstanding for Rob, but his record has more closely followed Jaylen Waddle's (@NYJ) performance; with Miami down to their backup QB, that could be a little concerning.

Dave's had better expected win totals before, so his championship follow-up isn't very impressive... but at least he's not having a hangover. Justin Herbert (@CLE) looked a lot better in week 4 than week 3, and Travis Kelce (vs. LV) has been solid all year. Dave's also milking a lot of value out of mid-round and waiver wire RBs, as Khalil Herbert (@MIN), Dameon Pierce (@JAC), and Jeff Wilson, Jr. (@CAR) are all producing well.

Pick: Rob for Today.

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 2-2, 8th) vs. DK Country (Richie, 2-2, 11th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 6-4.

Rabbit's expected winning percentage (.515) and all-play record (24-28) are middling, a consequence of him being the first team to ever score 120+ in the first two weeks and sub-80 the next two. A team that's all over the place is nothing new for Rabs, though; he notched three Team Blangums and two Slapped Heartbeats back in 2019. He'll need production outside Christian McCaffrey (vs. SF) and Tyreek Hill (@NYJ) to bounce back, though. Will Gabriel Davis (vs. PIT) step up? Or Marcus Mariota (@TAM)?

Richie is 2-2 but ranks last in expected wins (0.88) and all-play record (10-42). He's out-won his peripherals like this before, when he started 3-1 with just 1.40 expected wins in 2016; that season didn't turn out so well for him. But he has some cause for optimism, as Austin Ekeler (@CLE) and Russell Wilson (vs. IND) may be back to their old ways again.

Pick: Pralines & Dick.

D's Nuts (Derrek, 2-2, 7th) vs. The Vistas are Back (Pat, 1-3, 14th)

Derrek leads all-time series, 9-4.

Derrek's followed up his week 1 Team Blangums with three sub-100 scores and finds himself in 7th place. The good news is that his 25-27 all-play record is identical to his championship 2018 team at this point in the season. Jonathan Taylor (@DEN) has been disappointing, but he was like this last year, too. If he and D.J. Moore (vs. SF) can live up to their potential, D could once again find himself playing for the Sanderson Cup.

Surprisingly, Pat's only been in last place at the four-week mark once before, in his legendary (for the wrong reasons) 2018 season. Dalvin Cook (vs. CHI), like Taylor, has been a big disappointment, but Josh Jacobs (@KC) finally showed signs of life last week.

Pick: D's Nuts.

The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 2-2, 9th) vs. Swift Justice (Babel, 1-3, 13th)

All-time series tied, 7-7.

Kevin's team hit a snag and had its heartbeat slapped last week, which pushed his expected and all-play win percentages down below .500. The last time he was this mediocre through four weeks he finished the season in 14th! Michael Thomas (vs. SEA) is probably going to play this week, and Cooper Kupp (vs. DAL) is as reliable as they come, so Kevin should be able to reverse course.

That's also because he's playing Babel, who has had a rough go of it so far. He's only been this bad once before. And in that year, he failed to crack 100 for the first five weeks, but still rallied to make the playoffs. Najee Harris (@BUF) could see his numbers go up now that Pittsburgh is playing Kenny Pickett at QB, and Damien Harris (vs. DET) faces a defense that is giving up more than 35 points per game.

Pick: The Chocolate Donuts.

Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 2-2, 10th) vs. Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 1-3, 12th)

Pulley leads all-time series, 8-7.

Pulley went nine years without having a truly bad start to the year, but now he's done it two years in a row. He's scraped out a .500 record, though, so he still has a reasonably positive outlook. Miles Sanders (@ARI) looks like he can put up RB1 numbers, so if Alvin Kamara (vs. SEA) can come back and be even 75% of his former self, Pulley could be a dangerous opponent from here on out.

Mike is no stranger to poor starts, and his week 4 score means he at least won't join his 2017 self on the list of teams that never broke 100. Tom Brady (vs. ATL) finally figured shit out in week 4, so that's good for Mike, and Derrick Henry (@WAS) has been a solid #1 overall pick. Too bad Allen Robinson II (vs. DAL) and Darren Waller (@KC) have been so lackluster.

Pick: Pullman's MondoSquad.

A Rule Clarification

Kevin ran into some issues when he tried to replace Michael Thomas in his lineup with Brandon Aiyuk, in that the move wasn't saved by Yahoo. He sent the commissioner a message at 8:32 am central time (kickoff was at 8:30). My being in another country didn't help with the confusion, as I don't currently get texts, so I didn't see an additional Google Chat from Kev until later.

Initially, I made the swap for him, but then some others pointed out that the rule has always been that the commish will honor any roster requests as long as they are made before kickoff, and Kevin did just miss that cutoff. So I reverted the change and left Thomas in his lineup so as to not open this sort of issue up to judgement calls from me (e.g. is 5 minutes OK? what about 15? and so forth).

So this is a warning that the responsibility is on each of us to make sure the moves we make are saved after we make them. And, as always, if there is a problem, let me know right away, and I'll make the move for you (even if I don't see it until after kickoff).

Closing Thoughts

We've had four different teams in first place through four weeks. The only previous time that's happened was in 2010, when Rabbit, Dave, Ed, and Derrek started off as our first four first place teams.