The Sanderson Gazette - 2025-10-22 - Midseason Crisis

Last week, I wrote about how week six's excitement index was one of the worst ever. To that, week seven said, "Hold my beer" - it came in at the even worse mark of -2.38!

If that's not a midseason crisis, I don't know what is.

Week 7 Recap

Kevin def. Scott, 132.12-112.40

The Game of the Blingaweek lived up to the hype, with the duo of Monday night games deciding its outcome. On the week's final night, Jahmyr Gibbs more or less won this one on his own for Kevin with 36.53 points, though Jared Goff did add 10.75. And Scott got just 5.30 from ChaseMcLaughlin and 6.60 from Kenneth Walker III.

Prior to Monday, Kevin saw both the highest high (Ja'Marr Chase (27.47)) and lowest low (Jacksonville defense (-6.00)) of this matchup. Scott got 20.67 from CeeDee Lamb in his first game back from injury.

Mike R. def. Derrek, 166.57-94.90

The Bullies gave a big f-you to those who were leaving them for dead (including Marvin Mike, himself?) with this explosion. A.J. Brown scored 28.13, Chris Olave scored 25.07, and Daniel Jones scored 24.60 as Mike rolled to an easy victory and - spoiler alert! - Team Blangums win.

Derrek got more than thirty points each from Christian McCaffrey (34.50) and Justin Herbert (30.60), but less than thirty combined from his other seven players.

Rabbit def. Rob, 113.33-65.95

Rabbit kept rolling behind Jonathan Taylor (32.47) and Jalen Hurts (25.80). Rob's leading scorer was Brandon Aubrey (18.70). That sums up this one pretty well.

Dave def. Matt, 108.99-69.40

Dave eclipsed the .500 mark on the season with DeVonta Smith (30.40) and Josh Jacobs (17.90) leading the way. Matt finally had George Kittle back... which was a bad thing, as the TE put up zero points.

Pulley def. Pat, 88.58-55.01

This game looked like a tossup heading into Monday night, but turned into a laugher as Amon-Ra St. Brown (17.47) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (22.40) put up huge games for Pulley. It also didn't help Pat that none of his four Monday night players - Sam Darnold (9.75), David Montgomery (4.50), Nick Chubb (0.93), and Mike Evans (zero) - reached double figures.

Ed def. Schertz, 88.66-69.27

If you add up Ed's QB and DEF (Caleb Williams (5.90) and Cleveland (27.00)), they combined for a pretty reasonable total. The same was true for Schertz (Bryce Young (11.40) and New England (21.00)). Javonte Williams (17.87) and Tucker Kraft (13.73) once again put up good scores for the commissioner, who took home this victory after Nico Collins (3.60) and Jameson Williams (zero) put up duds on Monday night for Schertz.

Babel def. Richie, 99.93-62.05

Babel just missed fulfilling his long-time goal of hitting 100 on the head, but will have to settle for a blowout win, instead. Quinshon Judkins (26.40) scored three touchdowns and Drake Maye (23.30) continued to have a breakout season. Richie got just 3.00 from his QB, Justin Fields.

Trades

Trade between Dave and Richie

Dave received:

  • Denver - from Richie - keeper cost: 9th

Richie received:

  • Kyle Monangai - from Dave - keeper cost: 9th

Dave apparently signed some sort of deal that forces him to make a trade for only the Denver defense every ten years. I have no other explanation for this one.

Denver scored 3.00 for Dave, while Monangai scored 15.83 on Richie's bench. "Winner" is not the term to use for either side of this trade, though at least Richie got a longshot keeper option out of it.

Standings

  1. Rabbit, 6-1, 837.42
  2. Kevin, 5-2, 798.78
  3. Scott, 4-3, 838.15
  4. Pulley, 4-3, 729.50
  5. Dave, 4-3, 711.61
  6. Schertz, 4-3, 698.04
  7. Rob, 4-3, 685.51
  8. Mike R., 3-4, 768.21
  9. Babel, 3-4, 646.32
  10. Pat, 3-4, 639.00
  11. Richie, 3-4, 534.14
  12. Derrek, 2-5, 665.12
  13. Ed, 2-5, 648.49
  14. Matt, 2-5, 624.67

Blingalytics Ratings

  1. Rabbit, 757
  2. Scott, 739
  3. Kevin, 623
  4. Mike R., 587
  5. Pulley, 566
  6. Dave, 530
  7. Rob, 487
  8. Schertz, 487
  9. Derrek, 444
  10. Pat, 403
  11. Ed, 394
  12. Babel, 370
  13. Matt, 366
  14. Richie, 248

Weekly Awards

Team Blangums

Mike R. earned his first Blangums since week nine of last year with 166.57. That's his second highest total in franchise history and pulls him even with Derrek for the most Team Blangums wins in the modern era (2018-present).

Slapped Heartbeat

Pat's 55.01 earned him his second straight Slapped Heartbeat.

Weekly MVP

Kevin got a whopping 36.53 from Jahmyr Gibbs, which was critical for him - even a good score like 16.53 would have resulted in a loss.

Dud of the Week

Schertz got a healthy zero from Jameson Williams in a winnable game vs. Ed.

Start of the Week / Misplay of the Week

Only two games had a margin less than 20 points this week, and even then, both barely did. These two prizes go unawarded for week seven.

Pickup of the Week

Scott didn't win his matchup, but he'll get a shoutout here for grabbing the Carolina defense - which scored 19.00 - off waivers.

Blessed Cahoots

Ed and Pulley will share this award, as they each won far more comfortably than they deserved thanks to their opponents' players completely shitting the bed on Monday night.

Pryor Play of the Week

Mike R. had been patiently waiting for both Chris Olave (25.07) and Tee Higgins (18.80) to score more than 13.47 and they both came through in big ways this week.

D'Ernest D'oh

On Wednesday, Ed dropped Luke McCaffrey for Sterling Shepard. On Saturday, he dropped Sterling Shepard for Luke McCaffrey. While they scored just 1.33 combined, all of that was from Shepard. LOL, commish.

Week 8 Preview

Game of the Blingaweek

Let him Lay them Bricks! (Scott, 4-3, 3rd) vs. Rob for Today (Rob, 4-3, 7th)

Rob leads all-time series, 7-1.

Scott is coming off a tough loss, but looks like he'll be a contender for the long haul. CeeDee Lamb (@DEN) is back, which means that Dak Prescott (@DEN) should remain a top fantasy QB. Bijan Robinson and Drake London (both vs. MIA) have already had their byes, so Scott won't have to worry about that. This doesn't look like a classically dominant team, but it looks like a classically very good one, which means Scott has a solid shot at snagging a bye.

Rob is at an inflection point. He's still very much a contender, but he's just shaky enough that a loss this week should make him very nervous. Baker Mayfield and Emeka Egbuka (both @NO) showed they were mortal last week. Saquon Barkley's (vs. NYG) shown that all season. But Alvin Kamara's (vs. TAM) primary backfield competition tore his ACL, so that gives Rob a little more upside than he had a week ago. And Brandon Aubrey (@DEN), who already has incredible range, gets to kick in Denver this week...

Pick: Rob for Today.

Other Blingamatches

Pralines & Dick (Rabbit, 6-1, 1st) vs. schertzopotamus (Schertz, 4-3, 6th)

Rabbit leads all-time series, 11-4.

What will it take to beat Rabbit? He's scored at least 102.04 every week, and at least 113.33 in each of the last five. So do you just need to hope a few of Jonathan Taylor (vs. TEN), Jalen Hurts (vs. NYG), Tyler Warren (vs. TEN), and George Pickens (@DEN) have a rare dud? Probably. And you'll also need to have a good game yourself, which means Schertz's current state of having one of his best players (Kyren Williams) on bye and also relying on the Texans passing game (C.J. Stroud and Nico Collins, both vs. SF) probably won't cut it.

Pick: Pralines & Dick.

Double Digits (Dave, 4-3, 5th) vs. The Vistas are Back (Pat, 3-4, 10th)

Dave leads all-time series, 11-6.

Dave has shot all the way up to fifth place thanks to Josh Jacobs's (@PIT) arrival, DeVonta Smith's (vs. NYG) resurgence, and Justin Jefferson's (@LAC) overall steady production. Jayden Daniels (@KC) might be out, but Marcus Mariota (@KC) waits in the wings in both real life and on Dave's bench.

Meanwhile, Pat just became the fourth franchise - and first in nearly ten years - to score below 60 in consecutive weeks (see "Closing Thoughts" for more on this). D'Andre Swift (@BAL) has been awesome lately, and Josh Allen and Keon Coleman (both @CAR) are back from their bye, presumably hungry to make up for two straight losses against a good fantasy matchup. But Pat also has to start Rashid Shaheed (vs. TAM), Nick Chubb (vs. SF), and Sterling Shepard (@NO), which is far from ideal.

Pick: Double Digits.

Pullman's MondoSquad (Pulley, 4-3, 4th) vs. Keep Calm & Stefon (Babel, 3-4, 9th)

Babel leads all-time series, 15-12.

Pulley, like Dave, has rallied into solid playoff position after a rough start. He can thank Patrick Mahomes II (vs. WAS), Amon-Ra St. Brown (bye), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (bye) for that. But with those latter two players on bye, he'll be beatable this week unless a few of Terry McLaurin (@KC), Khalil Shakir (@CAR), and Troy Franklin (vs. DAL) step up.

Babel's playoff prospects are a lot weaker even with his week seven win. Bo Nix (vs. DAL) and Drake Maye (vs. CLE) give him both a lot of upside and a lot of agonizing decisions at QB, but Quinshon Judkins (@NE) and Jake Ferguson (@DEN) are nice set-and-forget starters. This game will probably come down to whose down-roster players come through; Pulley's (listed above) or Babel's (Josh Downs (vs. TEN), Kenneth Gainwell (vs. GB), and Marvin Mims, Jr. (vs. DAL)).

Pick: Pullman's MondoSquad.

Bernie's Bullies (Mike R., 3-4, 8th) vs. Live Commish (Ed, 2-5, 13th)

All-time series tied, 9-9.

Mike's coming off a huge week with renewed postseason dreams. Will week seven be the new normal for A.J. Brown (vs. NYG), Tee Higgins (vs. NYJ), and Chris Olave (vs. TAM)? Will James Cook (@CAR) come back from his bye and look like his week 1-4 self? Or will the Bullies slide back into mediocrity?

Ed has six of his nine players consolidated into the Bears-Ravens and Cowboys-Broncos games, with Caleb Williams (@BAL), Derrick Henry (vs. CHI), Javonte Williams (@DEN), Rome Odunze (@BAL), Courtland Sutton (vs. DAL), and Tyler Loop (vs. CHI) all going. Two shootouts there means he should have enough to pull the upset; two sloppy games and he'll be in line for Slapped Heartbeat.

Pick: Live Commish.

The Chocolate Donuts (Kevin, 5-2, 2nd) vs. Harrison Hammers (Matt, 2-5, 14th)

Kevin leads all-time series, 12-9.

Kevin is all alone in second place and should be expected to play past week fourteen... but this week could be rough with Jahmyr Gibbs and Jared Goff both on bye. Ja'Marr Chase (vs. NYJ) can make up for them on his own, as we've seen historically, but which versions of Keenan Allen (vs. MIN) and Rico Dowdle (vs. BUF) will he get? Can Jaxson Dart (@PHI) avoid a dud against a divisional foe seeking vengeance?

It might not matter, as Matt's team has been bad lately. He just put up consecutive sub-70 weeks for the first time since our inaugural season (see "Closing Thoughts" for more on this), and while you can say that he can turn it around with Lamar Jackson (vs. CHI) back, that's (a) not a sure thing yet and (b) you could have said the same thing about George Kittle (@HOU), who put up a zero last week.

Pick: Harrison Hammers.

A... Strange...season (Richie, 3-4, 11th) vs. D's Nuts (Derrek, 2-5, 12th)

Derrek leads all-time series, 9-4.

Richie and Derrek both show up on the Top Seasons (through seven weeks) page, but not in positive ways. Richie's 534.14 points are the third-fewest ever at this point in the season, and his .248 expected winning percentage is fifth-worst. Derrek's 811.30 points against are the eighth-most faced through seven weeks.

Pick: D's Nuts.

Closing Thoughts

I referenced some stats earlier about teams having streaks of games below 60 or 70 points.

Scoring below 60 for multiple weeks in a row is rare. The only franchises to do it are:

Scoring below 70 in consectuive weeks is, expectedly, more common. Some interesting notes on these streaks: