Getting things off to a good start with Episode 01 landing just after Week 01 of the Season…I’ll try to keep some momentum going this year…a double dose of passer perfection…39 and counting for the running back title…TBFL coaches love some receivers on the pine…7 tries or you’re out…a Defensive dilemma…Team of the Week…Champ to Chump…and some TBFL 1sts…lets get to it…
Players of the Week
Lamar Jackson (XFA)
Andy Dalton led all passers with 418 yards in Free Agency…Kyler Murray (RNT) left his league leading 54 pass attempts on the bench…but some of the top Quarterbacks were started this week…Patrick Mahomes (BAT) lost Tyreek Hill early…but still managed to find plenty of other targets hitting on 25 of 33 passing for 378 yards and 3 Touchdowns to climb to 31.10 points…Deshaun Watson (FUD) worked his way thru the Saints on Monday Night gaining 268 yards with his arm on 20 of 30 passing and 3 Touchdowns…and adding 40 yards on the ground including a 21 yard Touchdown run to finish with 34.40 points…Lamar Jackson (XFA) destroyed the Dolphins Defense in an efficiency clinic completing 17 of 20 passes (85%) including 5 Touchdowns (1 in every 4 passes) that accounted for 169 of the 324 completed yards (52.2%)…a perfect 158.3 Passer Rating was achieved on the way to 36.80 points for X-Factor…but Josh still chose wrong…Dak Prescott on the X-Factor bench completed 25 of 32 passing (78.1%) for 405 yards (16.2/completion) and 4 Touchdowns of his own (1 in 8 passes) to match the perfect passer rating of 158.3 and reach 37.45 points…
Christian McCaffrey (MNY)
There were 24 Running Back starters in Week 1…9 of them posted scores of 20+ points…Dalvin Cook (GWF) led all the Active backs with 21 carries (Marlon Mack 25|174|1 and Josh Jacobs 23|85|2 both left benched by XFA) for 111 yards and 2 scores on the way to a 26.00 point day…Austin Ekeler (BBA) led all backs with 3 total Touchdowns…1 on the ground and 2 thru the air on 6 Receptions…while piling up 154 All-Purpose Yards to reach 39.40 points…Christian McCaffery (MNY) led the backs with 10 receptions for 81 yards…he crossed 200+ All-Purpose yards after adding another 128 yards on the ground from 19 carries…2 trips to the end-zone allowed him to finish as the top dog at 42.90 points…
DeAndre Hopkins (HUS)
The list of the top Wide Receivers who did not play in the TBFL this week is much more impressive than the Active players…Sammy Watkins (BBA) led everyone with 198 yards and 3 scores on the way to 46.80 points for the Bubba Bench…Jamison Crowder led in both targets (17) and Receptions (14) as an undrafted Free Agent…Marquise Brown (FUD) had only 4 catches…but 2 of them resulted in 47 and 83 yard trips to the end-zone posting 30.70 points on the Whales Bench…but DeAndre Hopkins (HUS) did manage to strike ACTIVE player gold…13 Targets resulted in 8 catches for 111 yards and 2 Touchdowns to claim the top Starting Wide Receiver award with 31.10 points…
Harrison Butker (BAT)
The classic Golden Rule of 3 Field Goals and 2 Extra Points to reach 11 for Kickers went out the window last year…and Week 1 already has 4 Kickers surpassing that mark with at least 7 Kick Opportunities…Will Lutz (RNT) took 3 Extra Points and hit on 3 of 4 Field Goals including Bonus Earners of 47 and a 58 yard game winner to reach 13.50 points…Greg Zuerlein (WAR) matched him with 3 Extra Points and 3 of 4 Field Goals with bonus balls of 49 and 56 yards ending on the same 13.50…in the rout over the Steelers…Stephen Gostkowski (MNY) had 3 Extra Points…but went 4 for 4 on Field Goals to reach 15.10 points…Harrison Butker (BAT) went perfect on 8 Kick Opportunities getting 4 Extra Points and 4 for 4 on Field Goals with one bonus earner of 46 yards to finish as the Top Leg in Week 1 on 16.60 points…
Minnesota Vikings (FUD)
The Ravens Defense (BBA) did not want the Offense to have all the fun against the Dolphins…Ryan Fitzpatrick was harassed…getting sacked 3 times including throwing 2 interceptions and then forcing a fumble from Jakeem Grant…the Offense left just a little too much time in the clock in the 1st half allowing a Dolphin Touchdown with 18 seconds left getting only a 5 point bonus on Points Allowed to reach 14…The Patriots Defense (HUS) only totaled 1 Sack and 1 Interception against the Steelers…but they did hold them to only 3 points to move just ahead to 15 points…the Minnesota Vikings Defense (FUD) tied for the 15 point total…but hit the Full House with 4 Sacks, 2 Interceptions, a Fumble Recovery, a Blocked Punt, and a Points Allowed bonus…earning them the title in Week 1…
All Bench Team
Adding insult to injury…X-Factor had a Potential Score this week of 192.25 and Bubba Army had a Potential Points of 207.55…both would have been records on their own…but Kittle also had 2 Touchdowns called back for Bubba…meaning he could have covered the All-Bench score with 219.55+…
Team of the Week
UO Grandmasters took the early lead with a 17.2 point effort from Allen Robinson in the Thursday Season Opener…after early Sunday action…they still held strong at 90.05 in 2nd place only to Money Inc who climbed to 106.05 on the backs of Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry…Sunday afternoon games launched 3 more teams into 3-Digit territory with Bubba Army picking up 111.40 points in the frame to lead at 137.30 points…but capped out for the week…after Sunday Night action they still held the top spot…but with 4 Monday Night Teams there was plenty more action to come…Money Inc was closest to start the night at 126.85…Hunter Renfrow only added another 3.30 leaving them short at 130.15…X-Factor got a 22.30 point explosion from Michael Thomas to reach 133.20 with the Broncos Defense still to play…but the Orange and Blue managed no points in the late game and stalled out…sitting in 5th place to start the night…Fudgie Whales kept slowly rising as Deshaun Watson picked apart the Saints Defense…his final pass with 36 seconds on the clock for a 37 yard Touchdown to Kenny Stills (+5.85 points) crossed the threshold for a 4.60 point victory 141.90 to 137.30 for the 1st Team of the Week title on the Season…it is only the 8th time Fudgie Whales have claimed this award in 144 Regular Season games played for a 5.56% Champ Rate…
Chump of the Week
Poor defensive options dragged 2 teams into the 1st Chump of the Week race for the 2019 Season…After starting with the 2nd highest point total (17) on Thursday Night…Rookie team Da Bears was hampered with a goose-egg from injured Kicker Mike Badgley…and then DROPPED a net 2.5 points in the early Sunday frame while the Titans had their way with the Browns Defense to a -9 result…Jordan Howard and David Montgomery both failed to find 2-digit scoring capping the team out at only 61.60 points in their debut…but the 2018 TBFL Champions also had points to throw back…their Jaguars Defense hung a -10 on the Hurricanes scoreboard completely negating Cam Newton’s Quarterback efforts…then the afternoon frame saw Marquise Goodwin and Penny Rashad combine for only 3.50 points…even while their teams piled up a combined 52 points in wins against their opponents…going into Monday Night the Kicker was the highest scoring player at 11 points…Darren Waller managed to pile up 14 points against the Broncos…ending Hurricanes with a final score of 46.45…it ends a 13 Game streak for Hurricanes avoiding this award…their 11th Chump Score overall from 144 Regular Season Games played for a 7.64% Chump Rate…
Notes & Numbers
The only other team to follow up a TBFL Championship with a Chump Score was…Warriors…who finished as the 2000 TBFL Champions and then stumbled out of the gate with a 42 point effort in Week 1 of the 2001 Season…
Hurricanes 46.45 points in Week 1 is their 2nd lowest score in Franchise History…dating back to a 43 point effort in Week 1 of 2009…it also ends a 9 game streak including the 2018 Playoffs of scoring 100+ points…
Bay Area Thrashers is on a 14 game Regular Season streak of scoring at least 110.40 points…
Fudgie Whales 141.90 points scored is their highest ever to open a Season (126|2013) and follows Back-2-Back Seasons opening with the Chump Score…Gasper’s win over Runs N Throses ends a streak of 10 winless outings against Shawn including a 126-126 tie in 2013 (0-9-1) dating back to Week 7 of 2009…
The loss by Runs N Throses now extends their streak to 6 straight losses dating back to Week 9 of the 2018 Season…
Money Inc’s victory over Da Bears ends their 7 game losing streak that ended the 2018 Season…
X-Factor’s win over Husslers ends a 3 game slide against Justin…and extends their Regular Season win streak to 5 games going back to Week 10 of the 2018 Season…
Dak Prescott and Lamar Jackson both throwing Perfect Passer Ratings on the same day has only happened 1 other time in NFL history…Steve Grogan for the Patriots and Brian Sipe for the Browns both did it on October 29, 1978…but I bet no one else had them on the same Fantasy Team…congrats Josh…
TBFL 1sts
With Da Bears opening our 1st Rookie Franchise Season in 8 years… I thought I’d look at some other 1sts for all the teams…
Money Inc is the 1st franchise to defeat Da Bears…
Husslers has the highest 1st score of all the franchises…but only Hurricanes claimed a Team of the Week in their 1st ever game played…
7 franchises claimed their 1st Champ Score in their 1st Season of play…Husslers needed 1 extra game…X-Factor needed 2 extra games…Gorilla Warfare needed an extra season + 2 games…and Bay Area Thrashers finally claimed their 1st title in the final game of their 4th season…
Only Hurricanes and UO Grandmasters avoided getting their 1st Chump Score in their 1st season of play…Hurricanes took 1 more game…while UO Grandmasters got it on the final game of their 2nd season (14 games in 1999)…