Hey I got it done on Wednesday!….And it’s even longer than usual!…we have our 1st 3-Peater…5 Backs break loose…Megatron is good…A kick-off tie-breaker…The Jags aren’t the only team that sucks…Packer Power…Dueling Chumps…a Survivor close call…Century Marks…Career Milestones…and our 1st Look at the 2013 Playoff Race…Lets dive in…
Drew Brees (PLA)
A trio of tossers topped 30 to take this title…Cam Newton got us started by butchering a bad Bucs team on Thursday Night…23 for 32 put him over 70% completions for the 3rd straight week…221 yards passing was not spectacular…but 2 Touchdown passes and 50 yards on the ground including 1 Touchdown run ended the night at 30 points…Matthew Stafford became the fastest player to throw for 15,000 yards (53 games played) this week going 33 of 48 (68.8%) for a league leading 488 yards…only 1 Touchdown toss and 2 Interceptions left him at 27 on the day…but he ran in a game winning 1 yard score with :13 left to move up to 33 points…Drew Brees must have gotten plenty of rest and eaten his Wheaties on the off week because he came back a man on fire against the Bills…26 of 34 (76.5%) for 332 yards…5 Touchdowns and 0 Interceptions left him with the highest QB Rating on the weekend at 146.1…36 points takes the title…his 3rd Player of the Week award on the season…the 8th trophy in 8 Weeks for Playground Legends…
Reggie Bush (BBA)
5 Running Backs cracked the 20 point barrier in Week 8…Eddie Lacy had the most carries on the weekend taking 29 hand-offs for 94 yards (3.2 ypc) and a Touchdown against the Vikings…4 receptions for 18 yards capped him out at 20 points…Darren McFadden managed similar stats going 74 yards on 24 carries…but he managed to find the end-zone 2 times to end on 21…Andre Ellington was the most efficient runner gaining 154 yards on 15 carries (10.3 ypc) including an 80 yard Touchdown…2 receptions on his only targets edged him up to 23 points…Knowshon Moreno only found 44 yards in the dirt…but led all Running Backs in receiving yards…he pulled in all 6 targets for 89 yards including his 1st Touchdown reception on the year to get to 24 points…Reggie Bush led in 2 categories…most receptions (8 for 30 yards) and…in his best Barry Sanders impersonation…most yards given back (-20 yards on 3 plays)…he found 92 yards on 21 carries (4.4 ypc) and used a late 4th Quarter Touchdown to end on top at 25 points…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for Bush…it is the 5th trophy on the year for Bubba Army who are a Wide Receiver away from hitting for the cycle…
Calvin Johnson (HUR)
As if he knew he would be the topic of conversation this week…Megatron decided to assault the NFL and TBFL record books…14 catches for 329 yards (23.5 ypc) was just 8 short of taking the NFL record (336, Flipper Anderson) set in 1989…16 teams have not thrown for 329 yards this season…It is the 5th game for Johnson’s career with 200+ yards…tying him with Lance Alworth (10/29/1967) for the most in NFL history…He found the end-zone only 1 time but did have 2 other 4th Quarter receptions end on the 1 yard line…51 points is the most ever scored by a Wide Receiver in the TBFL (50, Wes Welker, 2011 Week 3)…and ties Peyton’s Week 1 explosion as the 4th most points scored at any position…It is the 2nd Player of the Week award for Johnson…only the 2nd player all year to win in back-2-back weeks (Brees)…but the 1st to do so for different teams…It is the 4th trophy on the year for Hurricanes…
Dan Bailey (BAT)
2 Kickers ended tied for the title in Week 8…Dan Bailey got things started early Sunday morning nailing 3 Extra Points and 3 Field Goals…including a pair of distance bonus earning 53 yard bombs against the Cowboys to take the early lead at 14 points…Mason Crosby ran perfect on 8 kick opportunities…putting 3 Field Goals and 5 Extra Points between the uprights against the Vikings in late Sunday Night action…he ended tied for the lead for the 2nd time in 3 weeks…Unfortunately for Crosby…MyFantasyLeague voters love the long ball and voted against him again…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for Bailey and the 4th trophy on the year for Bay Area Thrashers…
Cincinnati Bengals (AND)
After early Sunday games…it was surprisingly NOT the Jaguars who gave up the most points to a Defense (13)…but instead the floundering Dolphins…The Patriots sacked Tannehill 6 times…forcing him to cough 1 up…they then picked him off 2 times…and then blocked a 39 yard Field Goal attempt to end on 14 points…but it would not hold up…The Bengals defense welcomed rookie Geno Smith with open arms…in the form of 4 Sacks and 2 Pick-6 Interceptions…Last week’s POTW award winner Nick Folk managed to score the Jets only 9 points on the day…the low score bonus ending the Bengals with the top spot at 26 points…It is the 1st Player of the Week award for The ‘Nati…and only the 2nd trophy on the season for Armed N Dangerous…
Team of the Week
At the end of Sunday Afternoon games…Playground Legends POTW Quarterback Drew Brees had thrown 2 of his 5 Touchdowns to fellow Legend Kenny Stills to stay competitive with POTW Wide Receiver Calvin Johnson for the Hurricanes…114 to 121…It looked to be a certain Elvis situation between those 2 as we entered the Sunday Night game with Armed N Dangerous sitting in 8th place at 94 points…but we forgot that they are actually ANDGB…As the Packers piled points on the Vikings…They also piled onto Miller’s total…Lacy, Jennings, and Crosby totaled 65 points in Sunday Night action to top out at 159…Hurricanes got a Packer Powered boost in Rodgers while Legends got a few from Cordarelle Patterson…each one left with a Monday Night hope in Zac Stacy and Steven Hauschka…but when that game came in under STIB expectations…they were both left short 132 to 148…It is the 2.33rd Team of the Week award for Miller…the 2nd team to win it in back-2-back weeks this year…It is the 3rd week in a row where the outcome of TOTW has been altered due to my miserable trade with AND…(Jackson/Lacy 32 vs Bell/Jennings 13)…I can feel Kevin typing “Don’t Trade With Miller” as I post this…
Chump(s) of the Week
In our 1st tie for Chump of the Week since Week 3 of the 2010 Season (BBA and FUD, 84 points)…the 2 teams took different paths to the bottom…X-Factor continued their rubber ball bounce pattern to land here for the 4th time this season…8 of 16 roster positions scored 0, zip, zilch, nada, nothing, nyet, goose egg, & donut…yet they still managed to leave 3 points on the bench…getting 95.7% of their potential 69…UO Grandmasters took the route of inefficiency…after making trades for future keepers…they took single digits in 5 of their 8 starting positions…on their way to scoring only 55.0% of their potential 120 points…their 5th Coulda Won game for the season…
Chump Survivor
Average scoring in the TBFL rose a single point to 104 in Week 8…and 7 teams fell below that line…Entering Monday Night…Fudgie Whales and Runs N Throses were at the bottom of our Survivor heap with Gasper having a 9 point advantage 77 to 68…Shawn climbed to the lead getting 13 points from the Seahawks Defense while Whales took a 0 from Sidney Rice who missed on all 3 of his targets…Greg Zuerlein scored 9 points on 3 Field Goals before missing a 50 yarder in the 4th quarter leaving the Whales at 85…Shawn had Marshawn Lynch left to climb back up…but he only got 9 touches on the night ending with 3 points…leaving them 1 shy at 84…and out of the competition…
Notes & Numbers
Bay Area Thrashers win over X-Factor is their 100th Regular Season victory…They are the 3rd team to reach the Milestone…and the 2nd fastest with 175 games played (57.1% Win Rate)…They have won 7 Games in a Row…tied with 6 teams as the 9th longest streak of all time…
Armed N Dangerous victory over Fudgie Whales extends that streak to 6 in a row…It is their 100th Overall Win…they are the 5th team to reach that Milestone…the 4th fastest taking 188 games played (53.2% Win rate)…
Hurricanes have defeated Playground Legends for 4 straight games…Playground Legends 132 points ties as the 6th Most Points Scored in a Loss…along with Hurricanes 148…the 280 Combined Points ties as the 7th highest output of all time…the 6th Combined Point total to make the top 20 this season…
Cam Newton is the fastest players to reach 50 Touchdown passes and 25 Touchdown runs…This week made the 17th time he has thrown and run for a score in the same game…matching the career totals of Randall Cunningham…Steve McNair…and Jeff Garcia…
Drew Brees 5 Touchdowns and Tom Brady’s 1 Touchdown move them both into a tie for 4th Most TD’s (343) just past Fran Tarkenton (342)…77 away from 3rd Place on the list (Dan Marino, 420)…
Cordarrelle Patterson’s 109 yard opening kickoff return for a Touchdown ties as the longest play in NFL history…and they both happened at the Metrodome…Antonio Cromartie returned a missed Vikings Field Goal 109 yards for a Touchdown in 2007…
Playoffs
Queue up Bruce Buffer because…It’s Time!…Our 1st look at how the 2013 TBFL PLayoffs are shaping up…
If the Playoffs started today:
#1 Seed - BAT (7-1-0) - Div Champion #2 Seed - HUR (6-2-0) - Div Champion #3 Seed - FUD (5-2-1) - Div Champion #4 Seed - MNY (5-3-0) - Wildcard (by H2H Win over BBA) #5 Seed - BBA (5-3-0) - Wildcard #6 Seed - RNT (4-3-1) - Wildcard (by Div Record over AND)
RNT has lost 2 in a row to fall to the same record as AND who have dominated the last 2 weeks…Their Week 10 Head-2-Head T&A Night game will break this tie…Seeds 3, 4, and 5 will be hotly battled for within the Bandit Division who find themselves with the Most Wins in the league at this point in the season (17.5) since 2002 (21.5)…
On the Outside Looking in:
AND (4-3-1) PLA (3-4-1) WAR (2-6-0) (by Div Record over XFA and HUS) HUS (2-6-0) (by 88 Points over XFA) XFA (2-6-0) UOG (1-7-0)
UO Grandmasters are officially eliminated from the Storm Division title hunt sitting 6 back with 5 to play…But with 4 wins still the threshold for a Wildcard…no teams are officially in the Empire Cup tournament…
Strength of Schedule Remaining
Hurricanes have a virtual stranglehold on the Buccaneer Division title with a 1½ game lead and the easiest schedule going forward…Thrashers is sitting on a 2½ game lead but Armed N Dangerous has won the last 2 Team of the Week awards and has the easier schedule including a potential Wildcard tie-break ending head-2-head game with Runs N Throses in Week 10…Among the 3 teams with 5 wins in the Bandit Division…Bubba Army has the easiest path with 3 games against divisional bottom dwellers….while Money Inc has the roughest schedule among all teams currently in contention…