Multiple ties at almost every position are decided by some unknown byzantine formula….X-Factor piles up the awards this week with a huge point explosion….Kicker roulette finally comes to an end with a Spinal Tap result….And we get our first look at the Playoff Picture….lots of charts and pretty colors after the break….

The Army was hesitant coming out the gate….but after stumbling around for the first two weeks they turned over command of their squad to their Rookie signal caller and have won 6 straight games….This week Cam managed a 117.6 QB Rating hitting 63% of his passes for 290 yards and 3 TD strikes with 0 interceptions then rushed for First Downs on 4 of his 6 carries for 53 yards….he did make some Rookie mistakes with 2 fumbles lost….but still managed to double up the production of 4 other starting Quarterbacks this week….This is the 1st POTW award for Cam and the 3rd trophy on the year for the Army….

Fudgie Whales running back Steven Jackson exploded for 159 yards and 2 scores in securing the win this week against the ailing Grandmasters….This is his first 100+ yard rushing game since Week 13 of the 2010 season and his first multiple touchdown game since 2008….Another 4 receptions for 32 yards helped him to edge out standout performances this week from LeSean McCoy and Adrian Peterson and left him deadlocked in a 34 point tie with X-factor’s newly acquired Ray Rice as the highest scorer of Week 8….Rice had 1 more scoring run but Jackson doubling up his total yards from scrimmage seems to have given him the edge in the eyes of the MyFantasyLeague voters….This is the first POTW trophy for the Whales RB and their 3rd Week in a row with an award winning player….

Speaking of X-Factor….don’t feel bad for them as they will not go home empty handed this week….Calvin Johnson converted on 6 of his 7 targets for 125 yards and his league leading 11th touchdown on the year in the monster win against the Legends….This is his 4th straight week cracking the 100+ yard mark and he has scored in every game except the Week 6 contest against the Warriors….He actually ends up in our 2nd tie of the week with Armed N Dangerous wide receiver Steve Smith who also went off for 100 yards and a touchdown in their underdog win against the Hurricanes….Ultimately the MyFantasyLeague voters give Megatron his first Player of the Week award….

8 Different Weeks….8 Differen….[insert screeching record needle sound here]….Whoa!….Going into the Monday Night game we had 5 different kickers all tied up with 10 points each (And the MFL voters already had Shaun Suisham locked in to be our 8th different kicker….from an 8th different…) but Nick Novak got that extra push over the cliff and put it up to 11….he takes the lead in the Kicker of the Year race by becoming the first to claim 2 trophies….and X-Factor’s 2nd award of Week 8….

We of course have one last tie at the Defense position to sort out this week….Bubba Army’s Buffalo Bills squad and X-Factor’s Detroit Lions unit both ended at 30 points tied for 5th highest Defensive score in TBFL history….The Bills pitched the full shutout while the Lions gave up 10 points….The Bills gave up only 178 total yards from scrimmage vs the Lions 312….The Bills earned 9 sacks vs the Lions 7….The Bills had 2 interceptions vs the Lions 1….but none of that matters….the MyFantasyLeague voters apparently only looked at the Touchdown total here and gave the Lions their 2nd POTW award of the year based on their 2 to 0 advantage in this one statistic????

Team of the Week

When you have the highest scoring Running Back, Wide Receiver, Kicker, and Defense all in the same week….you should win this award….X-Factor’s 2nd on the season….Their 165 point outing is the 6th highest TBFL score of all time….the 4th 150+ point game in the league this year….the 2nd highest score on the season….and a team record….Their 83 point victory margin over Playground Legends ties for 12th highest ever….X-Factor is currently the best 4-4 team anyone has ever seen….a complete victim of their schedule….they lead the league with 945 points scored against them….but their 989 points scored trails only Runs N Throses who cracked 1,000 points this week….The MyFantasyLeague Power Rankings currently list them as #2 but they have the best All-Play record in the league at 66-21-1….

Chump of the Week

UO Grandmasters fans have not had anything to cheer about in quite awhile….The team is now on a 6 game losing streak dating back to Week 3….Average scoring in the league had continued dropping until it spiked up this week to 105….but UO has averaged 22 points below that figure only cracking the 100 point barrier once in that time frame….Injuries have been a huge issue but that does not forgive poor roster management this week….The team only used 1 of their 2 waiver moves and left a Bye Week Defensive unit on the starting roster….Even 100% efficiency could not have saved them from their 2nd Chump Award in a row as their potential 87 points was still lower than every other team scored in Week 8….

Playoff Picture

With 5 Weeks left to play in the regular season no team has locked up a Division Title and no teams have been eliminated from Wilcard contention….If the Playoffs started today the teams would be seeded:

#1 RNT 7-1
#2 BBA 6-2 (By head-to-head win over BAT in Week 8)
#3 BAT 6-2
#4 HUR 6-2
#5 XFA 4-4 (By head-to-head win over PLA in Week 8)
#6 PLA 4-4

Winning 6 games has been good enough to contend for the last Wilcard slot in 3 of the last 5 seasons….All of the 6 remaining teams are still within 2 games of wrestling those last 2 slots away from X-Factor and Playground Legends….Divisional Matches make up 4 of the last 5 games meaning even the current Division Leaders are not safe from someone going on a 5 game run to take them down….To see who looks safe and who has the toughest road ahead of them here is the remaining strengh of schedule for each team….

Strength of Schedule Remaining

Bubba Army has already faced their worst competition and has the easiest remaining schedule with a combined 33% win rate among their last 5 opponents….Runs N Throses is most likely guaranateed a Wildcard slot even if they lose out with their current 7 wins….But the Buccaneer Crown is still very much up in the air….Hurricanes, Throser, and an X-Factor squad who as we see above has re-tooled for the playoff run will all have to battle each other for the title….As for the 3 teams just on the Wildcard Bubble, Armed N Dangerous and Husslers both get the advantage of facing sub .500 squads from here on out while the Warriors will spend 3 of their next 5 games facing off against a combined 83% win rate….Their only relief comes from their last non-Division game with the Grandmasters in Week 10….