Howdy, Big League managers. Congrats to the 16 victors and condolences to the 16 losers. Week 2 saw some very interesting matchups and surprising real life results. In any case, I’ll go over some housekeeping first:
Housekeeping:
- Starting last week, all previous week matchups can be found in their entirety in the “The League” tab. Even further, you are able to view previous years’ weeks and their scoring.
- In this same vein, starting this week, you will be able to see your overall record, your divisional record, and your total points.
- Lastly, starting in Week 5, the “Playoff Watch” button will be updated so that you can see how you rank in terms of potential playoff spots.
- This week saw 5/36 teams submit an entire afternoon, night, or MNF lineup. While that is legal in our league terms, it is not exactly encouraged. If you wish to do this, just be warned that you are severely limiting your player selection pool. AND the expectation is always that you submit a competitive lineup.
- Perhaps news to some and a reminder for others, you are allowed to submit rosters for future weeks ahead of time and you can still tinker with them. This may be useful for those who are out of town or know they will have a busy week.
- There were a few SNF players whose points did not update by the end of the game. This was because we shut down scoring before the game ended. Once the Monday games began, those players were updated. Matthew and I have devised some potential solutions to prevent this from happening going forward, but as always (and as happened over the weekend) please contact me if you feel anything is ever fishy or incorrect.
- There was some confusion over which defense was which with respect to the two New York teams. This is being addressed currently and we hope to add team abbreviations to all players to avoid the issue.
- Player performances is a tab that we do not currently have data in yet. But in the weeks to come, we are hoping to input all of the current player scoring information. This way you can see in real-time who are the leaders in certain positions. We also aim to add previous years. Hopefully, this will be helpful.
That’s all the housekeeping for now! On to the re-cap!
Highest Scorer: The Realest (163.24 points)
This one hurts. If it were not obvious, I am The Funks and am certainly not The Realest in this league. In fact, this is The Realest‘s first forray into the world of Fantasy Football. For this team to be 2-0 is a true accomplishment, beating both commissioners in succesive week. In any case, this week was not an easy sweat for The Realest. He banked big on the Giants in a surprising twist after their 40-0 blowout loss to the ‘Boys from Dallas. Rostering Danny Dimes, Saquon, and Waller was a gamble on talent and matchups seeing as the Giants faced the Cardinals. And through the first half of the game, that gamble was dead wrong. I could see victory in sight. I’d go 1-1 through two weeks and not be half bad. But no, all the players turned it on for the second half to rally the team to a shocking win. Not even my decent plays of Swift, Higgins, and Mims could save me. Instead The Realest really blew right past and stomped me in the dirt by a cool 40 points. Welcome to the Big League, The Realest, may all your lineups be so plentiful. And for whoever I play in Week 3, may God have mercy.
Honorable mentions: Woman in S.P.O.R.T.S (160.42)
Biggest Blowout: Pay Day Gray vs. Woman in S.P.O.R.T.S (81.92)
This is a searing second blowout in our dear Big League. Twice now, the winning team has more than DOUBLED their opponent. While Brooke and her Women didn’t exactly put up a budget lineup, they put together a trouncing group of players that would’ve beat anyone in the League except the aforementioned Realest. If her roster was drafted in a real Fantasy football league, no one would have lasted after round six. In fact, if we only count the players she rostered that play in the NFC East she would’ve recorded 77.92 points, less than a point within Pay Day Gray‘s entire roster. Pay Day Gray shouldn’t be rubbed in the mud though, he made some good gut calls that just didn’t pan out. Jamaal Williams has not been the redzone menace he was last year, and you’d hope to squeeze some juice out of the lemon before Kamara returns. Josh Kelley looked like a stud last week, but when he got the reigns, he let the horse run out from under him. Partner those budget-plays with known commodities like Waddle and DJ Moore, and you can usually pull out a win. Alas, Pay Day Gray sits at a 0-2 standing with a sizable point margin.
Honorable Mention: Billy Hoyle’s Big Bounce Academy vs. The Score-Box Munchers (75.56 points)
Closest Matchup: Jalen “oh god yes it” Hurts vs. Skid Marks (5.64)
After suffering the biggest blowout last week, Joe’s Hurts must’ve gone to a local fortune teller to see the future top players of the week. I could list each player one by one to sing their praises. But it’s easier to say this: if the lineup from Woman in S.P.O.R.T.S was all top draft picks in Fantasy, Joe’s team was entirely undrafted. Talk about running the hot-hand, Joe selected Josh Reynolds (WR10 on the season) and Kyren Williams (RB6 through two weeks) to lead the way with over 50 points between those two. Skid Marks didn’t necessarily play an all-star matchup, nor a cheapo-deepo team. Rather, this assembly was middle of the road with upside. While a late rally by Daniel Jones brought Skid Marks into contention, there was still a gap to make up. Going into Monday Night Football, I’d wager both teams were relatively confident. Skid Marks had Miles Sanders and Michael Thomas to make up around 26 points, and Joe was sitting on a lead of that size. Either are achievable. And while Thomas hauled in 7 catches, he only nabbed 55 yards, a paltry 7.9 YPC. Furthermore, Sanders couldn’t get anything going against that Saints’ fierce rush defense. 14 carries for 43 yards just won’t get it done. Ever worse though, is he caught three dumpoffs for a total of a mere four yards. Yuck! In a nailbiter that wen’t to the last moments of Week 2, Jalen “oh god yes it” Hurts put the hurt on Skid Marks, retaining the lead by the end.
Biggest Find: Hunter Henry (17.2 points)
In a year where Tight End scoring has been as erratic as ever, six teams saw the light to expoit a blindspot in the Dolphins solid Defense: guarding tight ends. In week one, three different tight ends caught passes from Justin Herbert when they played the ‘Fins. They combined for 50 yards and a touchdown. While this didn’t support one player above others, Belichick found the weakness and plugged the former Charger Hunter Henry in to the tune of 6-52-1. Will this be a matchup to exploit going forward? Time will tell. But whenever you can notch a touchdown at this weak of a position, you’re doing something right.
Biggest Bust: The New York Giants Defense (-1 point)
Joshua Dobbs passed 31 times and wasn’t sacked or intercepted on any of his attempts. While he only averaged for 7.4 yards, this exemplefies two things to me. 1) Ball security by a consumate vet; 2) A failure by the Giants to affect the game when Cards had the ball. While this could’ve been the “revenge game” for 8th overall draft pick in 2020, Isaiah Simmons, it was instead a porous excuse of the concept of ‘defense’ for about 35 minutes. Fantasy Football hasn’t exactly cracked the code on how to translate real-life D’s to fun and games, alas, -1 point is an accurate depiction of how the Men in Metlife performed. I’m no football polymath, but I couldn’t tell you a single offensive lineman for the Cards. They’re ranked 31 (PFF), just ahead of the Tennesee Derrick Henry’s. Compare this to the Giants’ 9th ranked D-line (again, PFF) rostered with proven commodities Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams as well as hopeful youngins Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari. -1 is so bad when you’re up against the projected worst team in the NFL. The four teams in this league who played the NYG Defense communicated with me to ensure it was in fact the Giants and not the Jets. The fact that this was so intentional is hilarious to me. Boo, Giants.
Weekly Oddity:
Circling back to the biggest find of Hunter Henry, oddly enough when faced against Henry, the opposition fared very well. With only two of the opposing tight ends scoring non-double digits (9.3 and 5 points).
Denver, Chicago, Houston, New York (Giants), Las Vegas, and Green Bay all scored 0 or fewer points. What a tough week for defenses.
That’s all, folks! Have a great week and good luck on your matchups!
