Pack Attack (119.56) vs PackerFANatic7 (80.19)
Well there it is! It only took 8 weeks to get there but Pack Attack finally gets their first win of the season. It wasn’t like they played great to get their first win but fortunately for them PackerFANatic7 had their worst week of the season. This is a tough one for PackerFANatic7 as they fall to 4-4 after having won three of their last four games. Were they overlooking this one and getting their eyes set on their next game against U Don’t Know? Possibly but either way they came out flat and it allowed Pack Attack to steal the win. PackerFanatic7’s road to the playoffs just got a bit tougher but they are very much in the mix with 5 games to play.
Bossman (157.73) vs 16hrs Ahead of You!! (70.30)
This was exactly the kind of performance Bossman (5-3) needed to start making that push to the top of the leaderboard. They had been struggling the past few weeks but a performance like this can really boost their confidence. Part of that confidence building is the way at which they won as they scored 157pts and only 13 of those points came from C. Ridley and J. Allen both of whom were big parts of their early success. I get it… 50 points from D. Cook likely is not happening again but it was good to see this team perform at a high level in a different way this time. 16hrs unfortunately is at it again and since I said unfortunately that isn’t a good thing. They fall to 3-5 on the season which is an improvement from last year but this is what has caused this team to miss the playoffs for 9 straight years. They have had seasons where they stay competitive for the first half but when we hit November and they need to win they seem to only find ways to lose. Sitting at 3-5 there is time to change the narrative but it needs to start next week!
pack slayer (87.06) vs Big Papa (81.30)
U-G-L-Y again! Yep, that is what the last two weeks have been for Big Papa only difference is that this week they didn’t win. pack slayer (3-5) was able to keep their season alive with a big win this week. It is kind of unusual for pack slayer to win these type of low scoring games but they did and it keeps them in the hunt with 5 weeks remaining. There road to the playoffs did just get tougher however as G. Kittle went down due to injury and likely will not be back again this season. That is tough news especially given the fact that the player they traded to get Kittle (C. McCaffrey) is likely to return next week. Sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn’t but they are still alive and they will do their best to keep finding ways to win and keep their playoff hopes alive. Big Papa on the other hand… I am not really sure what to think of this team right now. One week they look amazing in putting up 184 points and the next week they lose while scoring 90, oh but wait… the next week they score 145 in a win BUT they follow that up with a 98 point effort the next week. Overall three of their last 4 weeks they have failed to score 100 points. Is this team a contender or a pretender? They have a 5-3 record which would make you think contender but the product on the field has yet to prove it. They need to string together some solid performances before I would put them in the true contender category.
BIGBOY! (112.01) vs Rapids Plungers (110.47)
What a game this turned out to be as it came down to the 4th quarter of the last game of the week. BIGBOY! needed 15.98 points from T. Brady to seal the victory and I think most of us would have agreed with the way Brady had been playing and the fact they were playing the Giants that 16pts is a done deal. However, the Giants played a good game and made things tough for Brady and co. It came down to the final quarter and with 9:02 left in the game Brady found M. Evans for a TD which put BIGBOY! on top and sealed the win. This was a HUGE win for BIGBOY! as they moved to 4-4 on the season. In addition, of their five remaining games 4 of them are against teams with .500 or below records. It is setting up nicely for this team to make a move. For Rapids Plungers this slows some of the momentum they had coming into the week and pushes them back to .500 for now. I really look at this one as a blip rather then a sign of things to come as they were missing 4 key players this week and will be getting at least 3 of them back next week. I expect them to bounce back rather quickly.
DaUnderdog (101.11) vs HHH (68.65)
When you only have two wins after the first seven weeks of the season every game becomes critical for the remainder of the year and that was the case for DaUnderdog as they come away with a huge win to move their record to 3-5 on the season and keep their playoff hopes alive! They didn’t do anything special this week but I think you can point to the fact that A. Jones didn’t play for HHH and J. Williams was the benefactor for DaUnderdog. DaUnderdog has a brutal three game stretch ahead of them so if they do in fact make it to the playoffs this year they will have no doubt earned it! HHH is struggling right now and if the panic button isn’t out yet it certainly is getting dusted off! They have now lost three straight games and 4 of their last 5 to fall to 4-4 on the season. The worst part is that they keep getting worse each week as they have scored, 102.05, 98.91 and 68.65 respectively the last three weeks. If there is something to look forward to it is that they hope to get A. Jones back this week who has missed the last two weeks due to injury. They are going to need to turn this thing around quick as a loss next week to Big Papa would mean full on panic mode engaged!
U Don’t Know (151.23) vs Sportsfreak (124.34)
That’s a little bit more like it! This is the U Don’t Know (7-1) team that started out the season on a tear and looked like the best in the league. They got points from all across their team as 7 positions scored in double figures and DK. Metcalf led the way with 42.05. The win moved them to 7-1 on the season and thanks to teamAlaska’s loss they also reclaimed first place! I am having a bit of a hard time completely overlooking the previous two weeks where they failed to score 100 points in each but needless to say this is a top team in the league and not only does their record show it but the standings reflect it as well! Sportsfreak falls to 1-7 on the season and they just can’t seem to put it all together. After last week’s performance you thought that maybe this team was ready to make a little noise but unfortunately for them U Don’t Know had other plans. Sportsfreak actually played a solid game and they would have beat 10 other teams this week. That pretty much sums up their season.
Starrfavrerodg (152.19) vs teamAlaska (102.02)
Impressive! That is the best way I can describe my thoughts of this win by Starrfavrerodg (6-2). I had my doubts and really I have had my doubts this entire year because I was waiting for them to show me that they could win a shootout against a good team. I know this wasn’t a shootout as teamAlaska didn’t hold up their end of the bargain but going into the week you expected that Starrfavrerodg would need 140+ to win this one. They put up 152 and dominated what was the #1 team in the league. I think it also needs to be mentioned that their defense is legit! If their offense can start performing the way they did this week and the D continues to dominate… this could soon be the team taking over the top spot in the league! Pretty impressive for a rookie! teamAlaska falls to 6-2 on the season and back to 2nd place. I am not sure if it was the pressure of being on top or what happened this week but they certainly didn’t have their A game. This was their worst scoring week of the season by 20 points. This feels like a combination of playing a good opponent and guys struggling this week, not to mention K. Golladay going down before he scored a point. I expect them to bounce back and these two teams very well may meet again come playoff time! Round 1 advantage goes to Starrfavrerodg!
That’s it for this week everyone. Have a great week!