The Sanderson Gazette - 2024-10-23 - At Midfield

Week 7 Recap

Pat def. Rabbit, 113.45-102.58

Pat got a statement win thanks to Derrick Henry's (24.63) big Monday night. Kenneth Walker III (22.10) and Aaron Jones (18.37) helped, too - offsetting a zero from Courtland Sutton on Thursday night.

Rabbit nearly pulled off a Monday night comeback as Lamar Jackson went for 36.25, but it wasn't enough as he fell to 4-3 on the year.

Dave def. Ed, 133.13-117.49

Kyler Murray (21.65) and Mark Andrews (17.47) led Dave to his own Monday night reversal of fate, set up by George Pickens's 20.80 on Sunday evening. Ed saw Breece Hall go for 23.53 against Pickens and also got 16.93 from Tee Higgins and 14.80 from Amari Cooper.

Matt def. Richie, 117.67-83.34

Hello, Matt! For the second straight week, Matt found himself in the mix for Team Blangums. Baker Mayfield (29.20), Najee Harris (16.20), and Drake London (14.40) can all share credit, but it was Rashod Bateman's surprising 22.13 on Monday night that elevated him to the second highest score of the week. Richie wasted 24.70 from high highest scorer. Joe Mixon.

Rob def. Mike R., 108.36-89.80

Rob survived a week where his bench put up zero points because of a pair of Eagles: Saquon Barkley (25.07) and their defense (17.00). Mike got just 8.00 from Kirk Cousins and 2.87 from Alvin Kamara and took the loss to fall to 4-3.

Babel def. Derrek, 110.79-80.96

After getting 22.00 from the Denver defense and 23.80 from Tank Bigsby in the first two games of the week, it looked like Derrek would cruise. But it turned out that Babel was the one who had a drama-free victory in hand heading into Monday night. Josh Allen (23.75) and Kareem Hunt (20.47) were the biggest reasons for Babel's move to 5.2, while Derrek can ask the Texans - namely, C.J. Stroud (4.20) and Tank Dell (zero) - what the heck went went wrong.

Schertz def. Scott, 105.57-64.34

Schertz followed up his two straight Slapped Heartbeats by cracking the 100-point barrier. His high scorers were Cameron Dicker (22.00) and Jalen Hurts (21.90). Scott got zeros from Deebo Samuel, Sr. and Jordan Whittington.

Kevin def. Pulley, 103.65-59.68

Jahmyr Gibbs (29.47) and Ja'Marr Chase (14.43) helped Kevin avoid the cellar. (DeVonta Smith (-0.27) did not help.) Pulley had just two guys score in double digits: Josh Jacobs (15.73, thanks to his first career receiving touchdown!) and the Seahawks defense (18.00).

Standings

It took him 15.5 years, but Pat is finally in bye position!

  1. Rob, 6-1, 762.30
  2. Pat, 5-2, 750.20
  3. Babel, 5-2, 719.89
  4. Rabbit, 4-3, 788.59
  5. Mike R., 4-3, 766.31
  6. Ed, 4-3, 731.70
  7. Dave, 4-3, 696.20
  8. Richie, 3-4, 697.92
  9. Scott, 3-4, 674.50
  10. Matt, 3-4, 664.48
  11. Schertz, 3-4, 635.23
  12. Kevin, 2-5, 693.53
  13. Derrek, 2-5, 611.90
  14. Pulley, 1-6, 578.64

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Rabbit, 675
  2. Rob, 665
  3. Mike R., 608
  4. Pat, 579
  5. Ed, 567
  6. Babel, 533
  7. Scott, 501
  8. Dave, 483
  9. Kevin, 482
  10. Richie, 449
  11. Matt, 444
  12. Schertz, 409
  13. Derrek, 346
  14. Pulley, 259

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Dave reached the top of the mountain with 133.13.

Slapped Heartbeat

Pulley's 59.68 is his lowest score of the year and the first time he's failed to hit 60 points in the regular season since 2015.

Weekly MVP

Rabbit might have lost, but Lamar Jackson (36.25) was the only 30-point player this week.

Dud of the Week

Rabbit lost in part because Jameson Williams (-0.53) was so bad.

Start of the Week / Pickup of the Week

Matt will double dip with Rashod Bateman, who put up 22.13. He didn't need the points to claim victory, the Ravens WR was a fantastic pickup and start.

Misplay of the Week

None this week!

Pryor Play of the Week

George Pickens (20.80) had the kind of week this award was made for.

Week 8 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Keep Calm & Keon (Babel, 5-2, 3rd) vs. Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 4-3, 5th)

Mike R. leads all-time series, 11-8.

Babel, as implied by his team name, has been keeping calm and Ke-ing(?) on despite injuries to both his keepers (Nico Collins and Brandon Aiyuk) and general ineffectiveness from his second round pick (Travis Kelce (@LV)). Picking up Kareem Hunt (@LV) has been a big reason for Babel's continued success, and Josh Allen's (@SEA) outlook is even higher now that Amari Cooper has joined the Bills.

Mike laid an egg against a five-win team last week; will he do it again? His Jared Goff / Amon-Ra St. Brown (both vs. TEN) stack has a nice opponent, but Terry McLaurin (vs. CHI) and Alvin Kamara (@LAC) have tough ones. He'll need big games from a couple of players he certainly didn't anticipate starting this late in the season, Chuba Hubbard (@DEN) and Jordan Mason (vs. DAL).

Pick: Bernie's Bullies.

Other Blingamatches

Rob for Today (Rob, 6-1, 1st) vs. Double Digits (Dave, 4-3, 7th)

Rob leads all-time series, 10-9.

Rob is in first place at the midway point of the year, but has no Team Blangums awards. The last team to do that was 2022 Rob, who also took his only loss in week four. Dak Prescott (@SF), CeeDee Lamb (@SF), Brandon Aubrey (@SF), Rico Dowdle (@SF), and D'Andre Swift (@WAS) are all back this week. So basically, the Cowboys will need to play fairly well against a tough opponent for Rob to break triple digits for the eighth straight week (tenth if you go back to last season).

Dave has one more Team Blangums award than Rob thanks to Mark Andrews (@CLE), Bijan Robinson (@TAM), and George Pickens (vs. NYG). This week, he can really set the tone on Thursday night, when Justin Jefferson and the Vikings defense (both @LAR) will be playing.

Pick: Double Digits.

Live Commish (Ed, 4-3, 6th) vs. Let him Cook! (Scott, 3-4, 9th)

Ed leads all-time series, 5-1.

These two are coming off a big trade, exchanging QBs and two WRs each. As a result, Ed has Jordan Love (@JAC) and A.J. Brown (@CIN) in his lineup for the first time, to add to the red-hot Breece Hall (@NE) and the steadily good Brian Robinson, Jr. (vs. CHI).

Scott looks like he'll be going with one of two new acquisitions at QB: Jayden Daniels (vs. CHI, from Ed) or Tua Tagovailoa (vs. ARI, from the waiver wire). He also now has Marvin Harrison, Jr. (@MIA) and Amari Cooper (@SEA) courtesy of his opponent.

Ed's team might look better on paper this week, but it's hard to ignore how his team plays on the heels of big trades...

Pick: Let him Cook!

The Vistas are Back (Pat, 5-2, 2nd) vs. D's Nuts (Derrek, 2-5, 13th)

Derrek leads all-time series, 10-6.

Break up the Vistas! Pat's been on a roll of late and sits in bye position for the first time in franchise history. A trio of veteran RBs - Derrick Henry (@CLE), Kenneth Walker III (vs. BUF), and Aaron Jones (@LAR) - is the biggest reason for Pat's lofty position, and Caleb Williams (@WAS), who has also been on a roll lately, is back from his bye.

Derrek saw C.J. Stroud (vs. IND) and Tank Dell (vs. IND) hit new lows last week, so I guess there's nowhere to go but up? D.J. Moore (@WAS) had an epic game against the Commanders last year; he might need to do that again for D to pull the upset this week.

Pick: The Vistas are Back.

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 4-3, 4th) vs. Ed Gross (Richie, 3-4, 8th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 8-4.

Rabbit has scored 100 points and lost thrice this season, the most in the league. That's how you have a 22-point cushion on the second highest scoring team, yet still sit at 4-3. Lamar Jackson (@CLE) has been playing at MVP levels for Rabs, and Brian Thomas, Jr. (vs. GB) was a fantastic trade acquisition. Jonathan Taylor (@HOU), acquired alongside Thomas, appears likely to be back this week, which should help Rabbit get back in the win column.

Richie is still in contention, but will need fewer weeks like this last one if he wants to stay there. Joe Burrow (vs. PHI) has been solid, if not spectacular, and Joe Mixon (vs. IND) has been pretty awesome when healthy. If the Jets can figure their shit out, that should bode well for Garrett Wilson (@NE), Davante Adams (@NE), and Richie.

Pick: Pralines & Dick.

Harrison Hammers (Matt, 3-4, 10th) vs. The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 2-5, 12th)

Kevin leads all-time series, 12-8.

Over the past two weeks, only Pat has scored more points than our Monster Heel. This hot streak has taken him from the doldrums to mediocrity (his word, not mine). Drake London (@TAM) has been as good as advertised and George Kittle (vs. DAL) has been far and away the top TE this year. If Tyreek Hill (vs. ARI) can even reach his previous heights with Tua Tagovailoa coming back, Matt could go from mediocrity to the playoffs!

Kevin's also gone from the bottom of the standings to, well, a little higher. Jahmyr Gibbs (vs. TEN) and Ja'Marr Chase (vs. PHI) have performed up to expectations, but DeVonta Smith (@CIN) has been all over the place, and Zamir White (vs. KC) and Zack Moss (vs. PHI) have ceded carries to other RBs. Like Dave, Kevin can take a big step towards winning this game on Thursday, when he'll have the Sam Darnold / Jordan Addison (both @LAR) stack in play.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

schertzopotamus (Schertz, 3-4, 11th) vs. Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 1-6, 14th)

Pulley leads all-time series, 10-4.

It's been six years since Schertz has been in the bottom quartet at this point in the season. A huge reason for that has been Christian McCaffrey's absence, but don't overlook the "scrubs" part of Schertz's stars-and-scrubs roster. Sure, Kyren Williams (vs. MIN) has been amazing, but having to rely on Jerry Jeudy (vs. BAL) and Cody Parkinson (vs. MIN) in a must-win game is not where you want to find yourself.

Pulley sits all alone in last, and the Gazette actually missed that last week was his first time ever in 14th place! That's right, Pulley had not been in last place since after week 6, 2011 (when, for some reason, the Gazette headline was "Damn It Feels Good to Be a Pullman").

Pick: schertzopotamus.

Closing Thoughts

I've added a Playoff Odds page to blingaleague.com. I have no idea how accurate it is, historically (maybe that's a future project), but for now, it can be a fun feature on the site.