The Sanderson Gazette - 2022-10-27 - Heads Up

Week 7 Recap

Kevin def. Derrek, 139.37-121.18

For the third time in seven weeks, our #2 scorer of the week lost. Derrek's impressive, yet insufficient, score was driven by Patrick Mahomes II (30.65), Raheem Mostert (17.90), and Juwan Johnson (16.27), and only one player below 7.33: the Tampa Bay defense (1.00).

But Kevin outdid him just about everywhere. The Dallas defense (24.00) had an amazing week, and Eno Benjamin (20.00), George Kittle (19.07), and Rhamondre Steveson (17.77) all had very good scores as well.

Rob def. Schertz, 118.37-95.17

Rob won the Game of the Blingaweek comfortably, and moved into a commanding two-game lead over second place (more on that in a bit). It was Joe Burrow and his 42.55 that did the best for the victor, with Nick Chubb (17.23) continuing to be a top RB.

Schertz got 21.37 from his own first-round RB, Aaron Jones, and a surprising 14.80 from Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but it was Lamar Jackson's (10.40) underperformance that sealed his fate.

Mike R. def. Richie, 109.82-98.59

Ja'Marr Chase (29.33 for Mike) and Austin Ekeler (27.90 for Richie) put on a fantastic duel, which ultimately left Mike standing and above .500. The Tennessee defense (21.00) and Jason Myers (17.00) were key for the Bullies, who overcame 1.20 from Drake London and a zero from Michael Gallup.

Pat def. Scott, 117.37-90.22

Heading into this week, Pat had never broken 100 and Scott had never failed to do so. So of course, Josh Jacobs (33.90) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (22.53) powered Pat to triple digits, while Deebo Samuel (5.80) and the rest of Scott's roster disappointed.

Dave def. Pulley, 106.82-66.93

Dave had a good, if not great, week behind Mecole Hardman (25.07) and several guys who basically hit their Yahoo projections (Travis Kelce (13.07), Dameon Pierce (12.53), and Jakobi Meyers (10.53)). Meanwhile, Pulley had a rough go; James Robinson played, but put up a zero, and only the Ravens defense (14.00) outperformed their expectations.

Matt def. Babel, 101.80-56.99

Matt had a good, if not great, week behind Ken Walker III (28.70) and Mike Williams (17.47). Meanwhile, Babel had a rough go; Keenan Allen and Damien Harris played, but put up only 1.47 and 1.07, respectively, and only the Cardinals defense (15.00) outperformed their expectations.

Ed def. Rabbit, 86.56-66.45

Ed emerged victorious in this disappointing display of fantasy football; Christian Kirk (13.30) and Tyler Allgeier (11.00) were fine for the commissioner. Rabbit only got double digits from Jimmy Garoppolo (16.85) and Tony Pollard (11.77).

Trades

Trade between Ed and Pat

Ed received:

  • CeeDee Lamb - from Pat - ineligible to be kept

Pat received:

  • Chris Olave - from Ed - keeper cost: 7th

A straightforward keeper-for-current-value trade wound up not mattering to this week's outcomes. Both Ed and Pat won, but neither needed the difference between Lamb and Olave to do so. That said, as always, Ed came out on the losing end in the week immediately following a trade, as Olave outscored Lamb 14.13-8.93.

Standings

  1. Rob, 6-1, 783.58
  2. Scott, 4-3, 786.88
  3. Matt, 4-3, 768.95
  4. Ed, 4-3, 747.80
  5. Kevin, 4-3, 691.47
  6. Rabbit, 4-3, 664.81
  7. Mike R., 4-3, 638.37
  8. Schertz, 3-4, 777.64
  9. Dave, 3-4, 720.32
  10. Derrek, 3-4, 720.21
  11. Pat, 3-4, 621.62
  12. Richie, 3-4, 582.07
  13. Pulley, 2-5, 582.06
  14. Babel, 2-5, 564.15

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Rob, 736
  2. Scott, 656
  3. Matt, 643
  4. Schertz, 609
  5. Ed, 608
  6. Dave, 589
  7. Derrek, 556
  8. Kevin, 506
  9. Rabbit, 475
  10. Mike R., 404
  11. Pat, 383
  12. Richie, 284
  13. Pulley, 283
  14. Babel, 267

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Kevin scored 139.37 and took home a Team Blangums award to join his week 4 Slapped Heartbeat.

Slapped Heartbeat

Babel's 56.99 is the new low score for the year.

Weekly MVP

Joe Burrow scored 42.55 for Rob.

Dud of the Week

This is a tough call, but it should probably go to James Robinson, who had zero touches for Pulley.

Start of the Week

We didn't have any close games swung by a single play - or really any close games at all - this week, so let's recognize Dave's choice of playing Mecole Hardman, who scored 25.07 points.

Misplay of the Week

No close games, no Misplay given.

Pickup of the Week

Mike R. picked up the Tennessee defense as was rewarded with 21.00 points. He also grabbed Jason Myers and got 17.00. Each of those moves was critical to him defeating Richie.

Blessed Cahoots

Ed had the fourth lowest score of the week, but came away with a win thanks to Rabbit's even worse output.

Pryor Play of the Week

George Kittle's 19.07, eight points higher than his previous top score, was a part of his Team Blangums win.

D'Ernest D'oh

Schertz's kicker and defense, Tyler Bass and San Francisco, were both on bye, so he opted for the tactic of waiting to pickup a kicker until he was in a close game and knew he'd need one. Or, at least, that's what it seemed like. But after the Sunday afternoon games, while losing big, he decided to drop Kenyan Drake - not even the 49ers defense, who just had an awful week - to pick up Chris Boswell.

There weren't really consequences for him, but it was a confusing turn of events, which fits this award perfectly.

Week 8 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Rob for Today (Rob, 6-1, 1st) vs. The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 4-3, 5th)

Rob leads all-time series, 9-7.

Rob is no stranger to strong starts - and, unfortunately for him, weaker finishes - but he's never been in first place at the seven-week mark. Even more notable is his lead, as only once before has the first place team had a two-game lead over second place at this point in the season. That was just two years ago, when Pulley and Rob held the top two spots... but then finished 4th and 6th, respectively.

All that is to say: Rob is having a great season so far, with the eighth most expected wins ever through seven weeks. He's been extremely consistent, too, mainly thanks to Nick Chubb (vs. CIN) and getting good production from at least two of Jaylen Waddle (@DET); Michael Pittman, Jr. (vs. WAS); and Terry McLaurin (@IND) every week.

After his Team Blangums last week, it's doubtful anyone will be overlooking Kevin, even if they had been so far. Outside of his Blangums and Slapped Heartbeat weeks, he's put up between 90 and 111 every week, and sits comfortably in fifth place, between Ed and Rabbit among our 4-3 teams.

Cooper Kupp (vs. SF) is back this week, against a defense that allowed every Chiefs receiver to do whatever they wanted last week. Add in Rhamondre Stevenson (@NYJ) and Brandon Aiyuk (@LAR), whose recent usage has been very encouraging, and Kevin's definitely trending in the right direction for the second half of the season. Joe Mixon (@CLE).

Rob will make the playoffs, and Kevin will take a big step towards joining him there with a win this week.

Pick: The Chocolate Donuts.

Other Blingamatches

Live Commish (Ed, 4-3, 4th) vs. Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 4-3, 7th)

Ed leads all-time series, 8-7.

Somewhat surprisingly, this is our only other matchup between two over-.500 teams this week. Ed gutted out a win last week despite putting up his worst score of the year; it's likely Leonard Fournette (vs. BAL), Kyler Murray (@MIN), and CeeDee Lamb (vs. CHI) will put up better scores for him this week. It shouldn't be hard to say the same about Kyle Pitts (vs. CAR), but, sadly, it is.

Mike's suffering through Tom Brady's (vs. BAL) rough year, but Derrick Henry (@HOU) and Ja'Marr Chase (@CLE) have been making up for that lately. The rest of his roster has some usage question marks; will Drake London (vs. CAR), Rondale Moore (@MIN), and Michael Gallup (vs. CHI) get enough targets to make him a contender?

At the risk of jinxing myself, I'll predict that Ed will end his playoff drought, but Mike will be caught on the outside looking in.

Pick: Live Commish.

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 4-3, 6th) vs. Super Bash Bros. (Dave, 3-4, 9th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 12-5.

This is our first rematch of the year! In week 1, Rabbit won a high-scoring contest between these two. Since then, they've each gone 3-3, so neither is a favorite to return to the Blingabowl at this point.

Rabbit suddenly as a very 49ers-centric team, as Christian McCaffrey (@LAR) has joined Jimmy Garoppolo (@LAR) in San Francisco. Tyreek Hill (@DET) has been mixing awesome weeks with single-digit ones, and Amon-Ra St. Brown (vs. MIA) has been injury-plagued. Tony Pollard (vs. CHI) could be his ace in the hole, though, as Ezekiel Elliott could miss a few games.

Dave's got another roster full of high-end guys, several of whom have been acquired by trade: Davante Adams (@NO), A.J. Brown (vs. PIT), and D'Andre Swift (vs. MIA) lead the way this week, but Travis Kelce is on bye. The latter situation hurts, because Dave could really use this win to bolster his repeat hopes.

I don't think either of these two will drop out of the playoff conversation all season, but forced to make a prediction now... I think both of these guys just miss the playoffs.

Pick: Pralines & Dick.

Three Digit FC (Scott, 4-3, 2nd) vs. schertzopotamus (Schertz, 3-4, 8th)

Schertz leads all-time series, 3-1.

Scott took an unfortunate loss, but stayed in second place. And he gets Josh Allen (vs. GB) and the Buffalo defense (vs. GB) back this week (and the latter actually has a good matchup, despite what you'd have thought before the season started). Ezekiel Elliott (vs. CHI) might be joining Breece Hall on the "out" list though, which means Scott has to rely on guys like Josh Reynolds (vs. MIA) and Isaiah McKenzie (vs. GB) more than he'd like.

Schertz is looking to end a three game skid, which coincides with Lamar Jackson's (@TAM) recent fantasy struggles. Stefon Diggs (vs. GB) is back from bye, and Aaron Jones (@BUF) has seized control over the Packers' backfield, which makes our 2019 champ scary again.

It's too easy to predict bad luck for Scott, so I'll instead say he makes the playoffs. And Schertz's roster - and point total - is pretty solid, so let's say he'll make it, too.

Pick: schertzopotamus.

Harrison Hammers (Matt, 4-3, 3rd) vs. DK Country (Richie, 3-4, 12th)

Matt leads all-time series, 6-5.

Jalen Hurts's (vs. PIT) last three weeks haven't been at the same level as his first three, but he's still a top tier QB for Matt. Courtland Sutton (@JAC)? That's a different story. But Saquon Barkley (@SEA), Ken Walker III (vs. NYG), and Mark Andrews (@TAM) - despite the latter's current injury issues - are all stars. Matt's got, as usual, a formidable team.

Richie nearly smoke-and-mirrorsed his way to 4-3, but instead sits at 3-4 and in what feels like a very appropriate 12th place. Amari Cooper (vs. CIN) has been a pleasant surprise, but with Austin Ekeler on bye, it looks like this could very well be the week Richie's non-contender status is cemented.

I can't pick against Matt's roster making the playoffs. I can pick against Richie's, though.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

D's Nuts (Derrek, 3-4, 10th) vs. Swift Justice (Babel, 2-5, 14th)

Babel leads all-time series, 8-7.

Derrek won Team Blangums back in week 1. Since then, he's either scored 121 and change or failed to hit 100. Justin Jefferson (vs. ARI) had a couple bad weeks, but otherwise has not been a problem. Jonathan Taylor (vs. WAS), on the other hand, really needs to live up to even close to his preseason projections for D to have confidence in extending his five-year postseason streak.

Babel's already in keeper mode, having nabbed Dameon Pierce (vs. TEN), Khalil Herbert (@DAL), and Jameson Williams (IR) from Dave. His 2-5 record isn't unique among 14th place teams, but it is rare. So that's at least something to hang his Timberwolves hat on.

Babel won't make the playoffs. Derrek has a shot, but there are just too many quality teams already ahead of him for me to predict he will.

Pick: D's Nuts.

The Vistas are Back (Pat, 3-4, 11th) vs. Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 2-5, 13th)

Pulley leads all-time series, 12-1.

Pat's feisty. He's won two in a row and three of his last four. Josh Jacobs (@NO) has been an absolute stud, and Chris Olave (vs. LV) is already a good WR and should be a solid keeper.

Pulley hasn't cleared 95 points yet. He's off to his worst start in eleven years. Despite that, he has some good RBs in Alvin Kamara (vs. LV); Travis Etienne, Jr. (vs. DEN); and Miles Sanders (vs. PIT).

Both these guys will be in the draft lottery next year.

Pick: The Vistas are Back.

Closing Thoughts

Only 0.11 points separate Dave and Derrek, and only 0.01(!) separate Richie and Pulley (though Richie has a full win more, too). That's all I have this week.