The Sanderson Gazette - 2024-12-11 - Chasing History

Week 14 Recap

Kevin def. Dave, 187.11-129.01

That sound you heard on Monday night was Ja'Marr Chase scoring 37.00 and causing Kevin to break his own record for most points in a week... with some room to spare! Sam Darnold (36.05) and Jordan Addison (35.73) also had huge games, while no one scored less than 10.93 (DeVonta Smith) for Kev.

Dave took a very tough loss - it's the 18th highest losing score ever - and fell out of bye position because of it. Justin Jefferson (29.60) and Josh Jacobs (24.60) led him in scoring.

Mike R. def. Matt, 132.15-103.67

Puka Nacua (35.20) helped Mike exorcise some of his Rivalry Week demons and pass Dave for said bye. Jared Goff (24.35) and Chuba Hubbard (17.20) also had nice weeks. Meanwihle, Matt couldn't get enough from Bucky Irving (2.30) or Nick Westbrook-Ikhine (2.53) to assert his dominance for another year.

Babel def. Ed, 114.20-95.00

It wasn't Chase or Nacua that put up the high score of the week, though - it was Josh Allen and his whopping 55.30 for Babel. Mark needed that, because Tyler Lockett (zero), Jonathon Brooks (-0.30), and Kareem Hunt (3.33) were all huge disappointments. CeeDee Lamb (18.50) put up a good effort on Monday night in Ed's halfhearted comeback attempt, but the commissioner mostly just went gentle into that good night.

Richie def. Scott, 126.66-93.17

Richie entered the playoffs on the right foot with Joe Burrow (27.25), Cooper Kupp (18.27), and Tyrone Tracy, Jr. (15.57) leading the way. Zach Charbonnet (33.27) and Kyle Pitts (1.87) represented the opposite ends of Scott's team.

Schertz def. Pat, 115.90-79.90

Kyren Williams (22.03) and Isaac Guerendo (26.47) helped Schertz get back to .500 on the year. Pat was undone by Cole Kmet's zero.

Rob def. Pulley, 97.38-77.03

The Clash of Hatred was uneventful. Rob got 26.85 from Tua Tagovailoa, but also -3.00 from the Arizona defense. Pulley got 24.00 from Matt Stafford, but zero from Bailey Grupe.

Rabbit def. Derrek, 76.21-56.36

Derrek played a QB on bye (C.J. Stroud) and got 0.67 combined from three WRs (Jayden Reed (zero), Ricky Pearsall (0.67), and Ladd McConkey (zero)). Rabbit didn't do much better, getting 0.80 from Devin Singletary and 7.30 from Aidan O'Connell.

Standings

  1. Rob, 12-2, 1,536.43 (b)
  2. Mike R., 9-5, 1,589.70 (b)
  3. Dave, 9-5, 1,545.16 (x)
  4. Babel, 9-5, 1,389.34 (x)
  5. Richie, 8-6, 1,536.89 (x)
  6. Matt, 8-6, 1,423.83 (x)
  7. Schertz, 7-7, 1,390.94
  8. Rabbit, 6-8, 1,445.85
  9. Ed, 6-8, 1,403.62
  10. Pat, 6-8, 1,361.16
  11. Kevin, 5-9, 1,516.33
  12. Scott, 5-9, 1,300.76
  13. Pulley, 4-10, 1,217.06
  14. Derrek, 4-10, 1,189.84
  • (b) - clinched bye
  • (x) - clinched playoff berth

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Mike R., 660
  2. Rob, 639
  3. Dave, 613
  4. Richie, 590
  5. Kevin, 543
  6. Rabbit, 532
  7. Matt, 529
  8. Schertz, 492
  9. Ed, 490
  10. Babel, 474
  11. Pat, 432
  12. Scott, 410
  13. Pulley, 305
  14. Derrek, 291

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Kevin's 187.11 is now the highest score we've ever seen. It's just the tenth time a team has scored 170 or more.

Slapped Heartbeat

Derrek's 56.36 is the fifth worst score of the year.

Weekly MVP

Josh Allen's 55.30 for Babel is the highest score by a QB - and the second highest score ever - in Blingaleague history.

Dud of the Week

Jayden Reed was healthy and scored zero for Derrek.

Start of the Week / Misplay of the Week

The lowest margin of victory this week was 19.20. Only week 12, 2019 and week 12, 2020 had no games closer than that.

Pickup of the Week

Babel grabbed Mack Hollins and his 13.60 points.

Blessed Cahoots

Rabbit was the second lowest scorer of the week, but won.

Season Postmortems

Derrek, 4-10 (0.286), 1,189.84 points, 14th place, 4.07 expected wins

Quietly, Derrek had a really awful season. His expected winning percentage of .291 is the ninth lowest ever. His all-play winning percentage of .236 is the fourth worst ever. Those two figures are, unsurprisingly, his worst marks in franchise history. So is his 84.99 average score, which is more than three points less than the mark set by his 2013 team (which, somehow, finished above .500).

His season culminated in him not starting a QB because he felt he had a roster saturated with potential keepers. The most notable among them is probably Ladd McConkey, and depending on how offseason trends go, Tank Bigsby, Rashid Shaheed, or Ricky Pearsall might also look pretty good heading into 2025.

Pulley, 4-10 (0.286), 1,217.06 points, 13th place, 4.27 expected wins

Like Derrek, Pulley's 2024 stands alone as the worst in his team history. (And, like D, he also wound up with seven wins in his second worst season.)

He made a play for keepers via a trade with Dave that brought over Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Xavier Legette, and Nick Chubb.

Scott, 5-9 (0.357), 1,300.76 points, 12th place, 5.73 expected wins

Scott topped the league in points and expected wins after week three, and was as high as fourth by expected wins as recently as week eight. But from then on, he failed to score 100 points in any week, putting up totals below 70 twice in that span.

Jayden Daniels could have good keeper value heading into 2025.

Kevin, 5-9 (0.357), 1,516.33 points, 11th place, 7.61 expected wins

Kevin started 0-3, but showed what he was capable of with 136.75 in week four. He rallied late in the year, winning three of his last five and scoring 137 or more in weeks 12 and 14. He winds up as the unluckiest team this year, with an expected winning percentage .186 higher than his actual winning percentage. In fact, he's just the second team ever to have seven or more expected wins while finishing 11th or worse.

Ja'Marr Chase looks like he'll be on Kevin's roster next year in some form - either kept for 1.02 or later or drafted at 1.01 if Kev wins the lottery - and Jahmyr Gibbs and Jordan Addison could also provide good value.

Pat, 6-8 (0.429), 1,361.16 points, 10th place, 6.05 expected wins

Pat was 5-2 and in bye position following week seven. But he then went into freefall, with five of his last seven games failing to hit 90 points.

Malik Nabers has been on his roster all year, and guys like Josh Downs and Braelon Allen might end up with some surplus keeper value by the time the draft rolls around next season.

Ed, 6-8 (0.429), 1,403.62 points, 9th place, 6.86 expected wins

Ed peaked at 4-2, but ultimately was undone by a streak of four sub-100 games (three of which were sub-90) from weeks eight to eleven.

His best options for keepers might be two first rounders, CeeDee Lamb and A.J. Brown.

Rabbit, 6-8 (0.429), 1,445.85 points, 8th place, 7.45 expected wins

Rabbit started 4-1 and looked great, but then lost seven straight games (despite scoring 100+ in four of them) and fell into irrelevance.

He traded for Brian Thomas, Jr. early in the year, which looks like it will pay off handsomely for 2025. His next best keeper might be Rashee Rice, depending on how his offseason recovery goes.

Schertz, 7-7 (0.500), 1,390.94 points, 7th place, 6.89 expected wins

Schertz drafted Christian McCaffrey first overall and stumbled to a 3-7 record while he waited patiently for the 49ers RB to play. Once he did come back, Schertz won four of five, but it was too late to make a difference.

His 2025 keepers will probably be the same as his 2024 keepers, Kyren Williams and De'Von Achane.

Quarterfinals Preview

#3 Double Digits (Dave, 9-5) vs. #6 Harrison Hammers (Matt, 8-6)

Matt leads all-time series, 11-8.

Dave's five game winning streak may have been ended by Kevin's record-setting week, but he's still the hottest team in the Blingaleague. He's scored at least 99 points in every game from week five on, and players like Justin Jefferson (vs. CHI), Josh Jacobs (@SEA), and Bijan Robinson (@LV) are playing as well right now as they have all year. The biggest questions for Dave's title hopes are: will Kyler Murray (vs. NE) avoid a dud at the wrong time, and is Amon-Ra St. Brown's (vs. BUF) three week run of duds a sign of things to come?

Week five was also a turning point for Matt, as it kicked off a ten-game stretch where he won eight times and broke 100 seven. Tyreek Hill (@HOU) has been an overall bust, but if he plays as well has he has the past two weeks from here on out, that won't matter. David Montgomery (vs. BUF) and George Kittle (vs. LAR) have been great all year, which means Matt will depend on two choices to make a deep run. The first is at QB, where Brock Purdy (vs. LAR) and Baker Mayfield (@LAC) are both good, but not elite. The second is among rookie WRs Marvin Harrison, Jr. (vs. NE) and Rome Odunze (@MIN), who have both had awesome games mixed in with duds.

Pick: Double Digits.

#4 Keep Calm & Keon (Babel, 9-5, 4th) vs. Ed Gross (Richie, 8-6, 5th)

Babel leads all-time series, 10-5.

This matchup features...

  • Two elite QBs: Joe Burrow (@TEN) for Richie, Josh Allen (@DET) for Babel;
  • Two age-defying RBs: Joe Mixon (vs. MIA) for Richie, James Conner (vs. NE) for Babel;
  • Two Chiefs RBs: Isiah Pacheco (@CLE) for Richie, Kareem Hunt (@CLE) for Babel.

If those three duos cancel each other out, then I'm going with Cooper Kupp (@SF), Mike Evans (@LAC), and Garrett Wilson (@JAC) for Richie over Nico Collins (vs. MIA), Travis Kelce (@CLE), and Mack Hollins or Keon Coleman (both @DET) for Babel.

Pick: Ed Gross.

Closing Thoughts

The odds of getting next year's first overall pick are:

  • Derrek: 19.35%
  • Pulley: 19.19%
  • Scott: 14.41%
  • Kevin: 13.15%
  • Pat: 9.77%
  • Ed: 9.53%
  • Rabbit: 9.28%
  • Schertz: 5.31%