Were back…hopefully for the long haul…your Commish slipped and fell halfway through the 2015 Season…but hopefully we can stay on track with some of the tools put together over the off-season down time…Never hurts to have Luck on your side…Hurricanes knows Running Backs…Wide Receivers to leave you Green with envy…Kickers are better than 1st Round Draft Picks…Where did the Turnovers go…League Records extended for Victory and Futility…The bench is not where you should put your points…and an historical look at Efficiency…Lets Do This…
Andrew Luck (BBA)
The 2 games with the highest Vegas Totals in Week 1 (50+ in each) set the stage for our Quarterback of the Week challengers…Drew Brees went 28 of 42 (66.7%) for a league leading 423 yards and 4 Touchdowns to post the highest Quaterback rating on the day at 131.3…an early Fumble on a 1st Quarter Sack left him with 36 Points on the day…Playing catch up to Matt Stafford…who Posted 340 yards and 3 Touchdowns of his own to reach 29 points…Andrew Luck returned to form going 31 of 47 (65.9%) for the 2nd highest total at 385 yards…he matched the 4 Touchdown outing with 0 give aways (119.5 QB Rating)…a 2 Point Conversion and 21 Rushing Yards on 3 Carries (7.0 ypc) were enough to edge past Brees to his TBFL highest ever score at 39 points (previously 38…2013 Week 13) …It is the 1st Quarterback of the Year award for Luck…and the 1st trophy on the year for Bubba Army…
DeAngelo Williams (HUR)
I know…we are a PPR league…but maybe Running Backs are not getting enough respect…of the 16 Position players to Score 22 or higher in Week 1…9 of them were Running Backs (56.3%)…of those 9…6 were left on TBFL benches (more on that below)…leaving 3 contenders for the week…David Johnson led the way for the Cardinals on Sunday Night with 132 combined yards from scrimmage including a 1 yard Touchdown plunge to reach 22 points…Early Monday Night action saw DeAngelo Williams lead all backs on the week with 32 total Touches (26 & 6)…13 of which came in the 4th Quarter…including capping off 73 and 45 yard drives with Touchdowns against the helpless Redskins to reach 34 points…Carlos Hyde at home in the Late Late Game had at least 6 Touches in every Quarter…collecting 88 Rushing Yards on 23 Carries (3.83 ypc) including the opening and final Touchdowns to reach 22 points…it is the 1st Running Back of the Week award for Williams…and the 1st trophy on the year for Hurricanes…
AJ Green (BBA)
Brandin Cooks did the most damage in the shortest amount of time in Sunday Morning action…his 1st catch came at 13:36 in the 2nd Quarter…he pulled in 5 more of his 9 total Targets over the next 21 minutes of play for 143 yards (23.8 ypc)…including Touchdowns of 15 and 98 yards to reach 33 points…AJ Green was also busy in the A.M. period grabbing 8 Receptions through the 1st 3 Quarters including a 54 yard Touchdown…he continued to trail Cooks until tacking on 58 more yards in the 4th Quarter tying his Career High with 12 total Receptions to lead the league with 180 yards and reach 36 points…On Monday Night…Antonio Brown challenged for the title against the Redskins with 8 Receptions on 11 Targets for 126 yards…3 plays went over 20 yards incuding his 2 Touchdowns of 21 and 29…ending just short at 32 points…It is the 1st Receiver of the Week Award on the year for Green and the 2nd trophy on the year for Bubba Army…
Dan Bailey (WAR)
5 Kick Opportunities…3 Field Goals and 2 Extra Points…that’s all we ask for…11 points…Blair Walsh got 8 Opportunities Sunday Morning against the Titans…he whiffed on an Extra Point and 2 Field Goals of 37 and 56 yards…but nailed 4 Field Goals including a 50 yard bonus earner and another Extra Point to still end on 11 points…Stephen Gostkowski did what he always does…converting on 2 Extra Points and 3 Field Goals including a 53 yarder in the 4th Quarter to end on 12 points…and finally Dan Bailey proved to be the primary beneficiary of the Giants allowing Dallas to dink-and-dunk underneath all day but never find the endzone…he hit all 5 Opportunities with 1 Extra Point and 4 Field Goals including 2 bombs from 54 and 56 yards to end the day at 15 points…it is the 1st Kicker of the Week award for Bailey…and the 1st trophy on the year for the Warriors…
Side Note – How much does it pain Warriors to carry 2 Cowboys on his roster…and the Kicker is the most reliable of the 2?
Minnesota Vikings (BAT)
According to Elias…There were only 28 turnovers in the 16 games of Week 1 (yep…I checked…they’re right)…the lowest total for a Week with 7 or more games in NFL history (I’ll take their word on that part)…so our Defenses had to find other ways to score…The Dolphins got a pair of those Turnovers along with 3 Sacks…a Blocked Kick…and a 3 point low score bonus to reach 12 points…Seattle still beat them getting 0 Turnovers in return but sacking Tannehill 5 times…and Blocking a Field Goal to earn a 5 point bonus and also reach 12 points…the Eagles managed 1 Interception…Sacked RG3…3 times (and onto the IR)…and forced a Safety while only allowing 10 points…to reach 12 points of their own…the Vikings Defense got tired of waiting for Shaun Hill to accomplish anything and took matters into their own hands against the Titans…they pressured Mariota into 2 Sacks…getting a 24 yard Fumble Recovery Touchdown for their efforts…and also a 77 yard Pick-6 to end the day at 20 points…it is the 1st Defense of the Week award for the Vikings and the 1st trophy on the year for Bay Area Thrashers…
Team of the Week
Runs N Throses took the early lead with Cam Newton scoring 23 on Thursday Night…and then rode Cooper and Cooks in their shoot-out and the Philly D to 89 points in early Sunday action…Bubba Army started slowly with only Green seeeing 2-digits halfway thru the early Sunday period…but slowly all the position players found their opportunities…and the Army led with 101 points going into afternoon snaps…Runs N Throses took over the lead again in the afternoon period with 44 points to reach 133…but Luck’s final 4th Quarter scores gave Bubba Army the edge at 140 going into Sunday Night…6 more from the Cardinals D set the bar at 146…Armed N Dangerous started Monday Night at 84 points…with Brown and Hyde still to play…the 54 point explosion from those 2 brought Miller to just 8 points short at 138…Bubba Army has now claimed 3 of the last 4 Team of the Week awards and has back-2-back seasons grabbing the award in Week 1…it is their league lead extending 30th time earning the title…
Chump of the Week
X-Factor had the lowest Potential Score with 106 points in Week 1…still 2 points lower than the Scoring Average of 108…but it was the battle of Roster Ineficiency between Husslers and Warriors that determined this Award Winner…Husslers left Spencer Ware sitting with KC having the 2nd highest Vegas Spread on the board (7 points)…to finish with 61.2% efficiency…but Warriors 2 1st Round Picks took early leads in the Bust category managing just 4 catches for 40 yards combined…while Abdullah and Snead scored 54 points on the bench to end at 57.1% efficiency…76 points scored is Warriors lowest Opening Day output since 2005 (62 points)…it is their 2nd Chump Award in the last 4 Weeks…and it is their league lead extending 22nd time earning the title…
Chump Survivor
Everyone gets a pass in Week 1 for this contest to figure out their roster…but next week We Do It LIVE!…Average scoring this week was 108 points…a number only the Top-5 teams managed to reach…
Notes & Numbers
Bay Area Thrashers win over X-Factor is their 5th straight going back to 2010…with an average score of 113-97 over those 5 meetings…
Bubba Army defeating Playground Legends ended a 6-Game losing streak…also extending back to 2010…that oddly managed to have all games played on either Weeks 4 or 10 over that span…
Hurricanes win this week makes them now 7-0 against Money Inc in the Regular Season since joining the league in 2008…however Money Inc is still 2-0 against Hurricanes in the TBFL Playoffs…
Coulda…Woulda…Shoulda
While reviewing all the points left on the Bench this week…I compiled all of the Power Rankings reports going back to 2006 (Our 1st Year on MyFantasyLeague) to see just what some of those Efficiency/Inefficiency Records were…Apparently I DID NOT set the record for Most Bench Points in a Season last year…that title goes to the 2013 Bay Area Thrashers with 1,273…my 1,234 from 2015 ranks 4th highest…but a Team Record…previously 1,190 from 2012…
Other interesting tidbits…
UO Grandmasters 1-12 Season in 2013 set the Record for the Most ‘Coulda Won’ games with 7…
Fudgie Whales 7-3-3 Season in 2013 set the Record for the Most ‘Woulda Lost’ games with 7…
Runs N Throses 9-4 Season in 2011 set the Record as the Most Efficient ever with 94.1% of Potential Points…
UO Grandmasters 2013 Season above was also the Record for Least Efficient ever with 73.0% of Potential Points…
Armed N Dangerous 12-1 Season in 2006 had the Record for Best All-Play Record at 118-24-1 (82.9%)…just narrowly beating out Hurricanes 8-5 Season in 2012 at 117-24-2 (82.5%)…
X-Factors 2-11 Season from 2013 set the Record for Worst All-Play Record at 33-109-1 (23.4%)…although Hurricanes 4-9 Season from 2009 technically ties it at 32-108-3 (23.4%)…
Hurricanes 8-5 Season from 2012 holds the Record for Most Potential Points in a Season at 1,986…
Money Inc holds the Top-3 positions for Lowest Potential Points in a Season with 1,240 (2006)…1,285 (2008), and 1,345 (2010)…