The Sanderson Gazette - 2023-11-01 - Boom

Week 8 Recap

Rob def. Mike R., 142.47-132.33

CeeDee Lamb (34.27 for Rob) and DeAndre Hopkins (35.07 for Mike) had an epic WR duel, and Gus Edwards (27.87 for Rob) and Justin Herbert (27.00 for Mike) canceled each other out. Jaylen Waddle (22.13), Rob's third highest scorer, did enough to put the game just out of reach for Mike and Amon-Ra St. Brown (13.90) on Monday night as these two evened up their season series.

Rabbit def. Pat, 129.08-107.48

Christian McCaffrey (25.93) and the Cowboys defense (19.00) were back at the level they set in weeks 1 and 2 for Rabs. Pat saw Alvin Kamara (24.70) nearly match McCaffrey, but when Davante Adams (1.47) put up a huge dud on Monday night, this one was over.

Scott def. Babel, 86.65-81.33

Unlike Mike and Pat, Scott did get enough from his Monday night players - Jared Goff (15.40) and Jakobi Meyers (2.53) - to stun Babel. Kirk Cousins (21.60) led all scorers in this matchup, but his torn Achilles means that Babel will need to find a new QB to break his three game losing streak.

Pulley def. Dave, 149.12-115.48

Pulley remained in first place behind Sam Howell's unexpected 34.45 and Travis Etienne, Jr.'s much more expected 25.23. Dave didn't have enough firepower to take down the Pullman despite A.J. Brown (29.33) having another huge game and newcomer Breece Hall scoring 17.83 of his own.

Ed def. Schertz, 117.33-107.86

Austin Ekeler (19.43) outscored D.J. Moore (7.33) by enough on Sunday night for Ed to take down Schertz. Except for the two defenses, no player scored less than 6.13 (Christian Kirk for Ed) in this one.

Matt def. Richie, 115.07-99.46

Matt took advantage of our last place team and cruised to victory behind - who else? - Jalen Hurts (29.55) and Tyreek Hill (20.93). Gabe Davis (17.60) bounced back from two awful weeks for Richie, but he and Tua Tagovailoa (24.00) could pull the upset.

Kevin def. Derrek, 123.92-61.15

Kevin exploded, thanks to Jahmyr Gibbs (26.13), Taysom Hill (22.37), and DeVonta Smith (19.20). On the other side, Derrek isn't going to win many games when Patrick Mahomes II (6.55) and Isiah Pacheco (3.60) barely crack ten points combined.

Trades

Trade between Dave and Scott

Dave received:

  • Breece Hall - from Scott - keeper cost: 1st
  • Romeo Doubs - from Scott - keeper cost: 9th

Scott received:

  • Michael Pittman, Jr. - from Dave - keeper cost: 5th
  • Javonte Williams - from Dave - keeper cost: 6th
  • Anthony Richardson - from Dave - keeper cost: 8th

Dave continued to wheel and deal, sending possible keeper Richardson to Scott.

The centerpiece of the deal, Hall (17.83), was great for Dave in his loss this week, while Pittman (11.33) and Williams (16.23) put up nice games for Scott. This trade looks like a win-win for now, but ultimately will come down to how good Richardson looks next year.

Standings

Pulley's point total is the third highest we've ever seen at the eight-week mark.

  1. Pulley, 6-2, 976.87
  2. Rabbit, 6-2, 896.10
  3. Matt, 5-3, 930.35
  4. Mike R., 5-3, 890.01
  5. Babel, 5-3, 883.89
  6. Ed, 5-3, 764.65
  7. Dave, 4-4, 821.82
  8. Rob, 4-4, 806.05
  9. Schertz, 4-4, 784.89
  10. Pat, 3-5, 799.09
  11. Kevin, 3-5, 679.11
  12. Scott, 3-5, 673.29
  13. Derrek, 2-6, 707.05
  14. Richie, 1-7, 739.80

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Matt, 742
  2. Pulley, 725
  3. Rabbit, 656
  4. Mike R., 644
  5. Babel, 587
  6. Dave, 508
  7. Pat, 502
  8. Rob, 494
  9. Schertz, 439
  10. Ed, 426
  11. Richie, 381
  12. Derrek, 338
  13. Kevin, 291
  14. Scott, 269

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Pulley's 149.12 was good enough to bring home his second Team Blangums award of the year.

Slapped Heartbeat

Derrek's heartbeat was slapped for the first time this year thanks to his 61.15.

Weekly MVP

Sam Howell's 34.45 led the way for Pulley.

Dud of the Week

Patrick Mahomes II scored just 6.55 for Derrek, but Davante Adams scored 1.47 for Pat in a game he actually could have won. Adams will take this award.

Start of the Week

Gus Edwards (27.87) scored far more points than any RB on Rob's bench, and Rob won by just over ten points.

Misplay of the Week

Babel and Mike R. lost close games, but didn't have a player on their roster that would have flipped their outcomes.

Pickup of the Week

Kevin picked up the Giants defense and got 14.00 points.

Blessed Cahoots

Scott's score was only good enough to beat two other teams. It was good for him that he played one of them, then.

Pryor Play of the Week

Jahan Dotson scored 20.40 of his seasonal total of 50.80 for Schertz this week.

D'Ernest D'oh

Mike picked up Trey McBride (18.67), but still played Evan Engram (9.73) at tight end. That didn't cause him to lose, but it's enough to earn this loosely-defined award.

Week 9 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 5-3, 4th) vs. Double Digits (Dave, 4-4, 7th)

Dave leads all-time series, 11-5.

Our two most recent champions meet at a critical moment for each of their seasons. Just two weeks ago, Mike was in 2nd place with a 5-1 record, coming off his second Team Blangums of the season. Since then he's lost two games by less than fifteen points combined, eroding the buffer he had built above the playoff in/out line. A third straight loss, especially to a team that's currently just one game behind him, could be a huge blow to his repeat bid.

Dave has gone all-in (again) with two big trades recently, but is just 1-1 since making that commitment. Falling to 4-5 would create an uphill battle to return to the playoffs.

Unfortunately for Mike, he'll be without his most reliable player, Amon-Ra St. Brown (bye), this week. Adding to that, Justin Herbert (@NYJ) faces a defense that's been quite tough on QBs. Dave is at full strength, and should expect A.J. Brown (vs. DAL) and Travis Kelce (vs. MIA) to carry him to victory.

Pick: Double Digits.

Other Blingamatches

Keep Calm & Dameon (Babel, 5-3, 5th) vs. Ed Gross (Richie, 1-7, 14th)

Babel leads all-time series, 8-5.

Speaking of seasons on the brink, let's move on to Babel. He was undefeated and sitting alone in first place just three weeks ago, but has lost three straight - while failing to hit 90 points in any of the losses. Even more devastating is the fact he's lost those three games by less than 12 points combined. And to top it all off, he's lost QB Kirk Cousins for the year and team namesake Dameon Pierce (vs. TAM) has barely been startable. Can Baker Mayfield (@HOU) break Babel's losing streak? Puka Nacua (@GB) and Keenan Allen (@NYJ) will need to play like they did in the first few weeks, if so.

Richie started off 0-5 with a brutal schedule, but it's hard to say he's had that much bad luck when he's only broken 100 twice. He's battling his own injury woes, but David Montgomery and Deebo Samuel were always going to miss this week due to byes. George Pickens (vs. TEN) has been what Richie hoped for, and Josh Jacobs (vs. NYG) bounced back with a good game this past week. A good Gabe Davis (@CIN) game could lead to Richie pulling of an upset.

Pick: Ed Gross.

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 6-2, 2nd) vs. Live Commish (Ed, 5-3, 6th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 12-6.

Rabbit's scored more than 112 points six times, and less than 87 points twice. He's a very appropriate 6-2. Ed, on the other hand, is lucky to be 5-3. Yes, you read that right: for the first time since 2012, the commissioner has more actual wins than expected wins after eight weeks.

It's all set up for Ed's fortune to continue this week, as Rabs will be without his two best individual players, Christian McCaffrey and Sam LaPorta, both on bye. His other best player, the Dallas defense (@PHI), faces a potent opposing offense. Ed will be without Christian Kirk (bye), but will still have Austin Ekeler (@NYJ), Bijan Robinson (vs. MIN), and Josh Allen (@CIN).

Pick: Live Commish.

Harrison Hammers (Matt, 5-3, 3rd) vs. Rob for Today (Rob, 4-4, 8th)

Matt leads all-time series, 14-5.

Matt's on the short list of best teams this year, having won four straight to overcome his bad-luck 1-3 start. Tyreek Hill (@KC), Mark Andrews (vs. SEA), and Kenneth Walker III (@BAL) have been key contributors to the Hammers' run.

Rob followed up his week 7 Slapped Heartbeat with a near-Blangums, thanks to his WRs finally living up to their preseason hype. CeeDee Lamb (@PHI) has a tougher matchup this week and Calvin Ridley is on bye, but Jaylen Waddle (@KC) and Tee Higgins (vs. BUF) will look to build on last week's success.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

schertzopotamus (Schertz, 4-4, 9th) vs. Slap it Again! (Scott, 3-5, 12th)

Schertz leads all-time series, 4-2.

Schertz put up a valiant effort this past week, but fell to .500 anyway. Some good news is that Kareem Hunt (vs. ARI) and Saquon Barkley (@LV) have good matchups. Some bad news is that Justin Fields is still out, meaning Derek Carr (vs. CHI) will be his QB again and D.J. Moore (@NO) is weakened. Also, T.J. Hockenson (@ATL) doesn't have Kirk Cousins throwing to him anymore.

But that might not matter against Scott's depleted roster. Javonte Williams is on bye, which isn't a huge deal on its own. So while Scott should be able to swap in a startable player, his options are limited by his hoarding of four QBs - all of whom are projected for zero points by Yahoo at the time of writing! That's right: Jared Goff and Brock Purdy are on bye, Anthony Richardson is on IR, and the latest reporting is that Jimmy Garoppolo (vs. NYG) will be benched. At least Scott didn't use a waiver claim this week on Garoppolo. Wait, what's that you say?

Pick: schertzopotamus.

The Vistas are Back (Pat, 3-5, 10th) vs. The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 3-5, 11th)

Pat leads all-time series, 10-4.

These two both need a win to stay alive, though they've gotten to this point in very different ways. Pat was 3-3 and has since put up two of his three highest totals of the year... but lost both games. Kevin was 0-5 and looked like he might join the list of worst teams in league history, but is now on a three game winning streak on the back of his three highest totals of the year.

Alvin Kamara and Chris Olave (both vs. CHI) look to take advantage of a weak matchup for Pat. And while Davante Adams (vs. NYG) has been very disappointing lately, Ja'Marr Chase (vs. BUF) appears to have returned to form. It will also help that Jahmyr Gibbs, who's been so hot lately, will be on bye for Kev. Maybe Taysom Hill (vs. CHI) can hit double digits for the third straight week, though?

Pick: The Vistas are Back.

Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 6-2, 1st) vs. D's Nuts (Derrek, 2-6, 13th)

Pulley leads all-time series, 11-8.

Our reigning Team Blangums winner vs. our reigning Slapped Heartbeat winner. This one's easy.

Pick: Pullman's MondoSquad.

Closing Thoughts

Week 8 is now the sixth highest scoring week ever.