Week 1 Recap

One week down, and it's easy to overreact. While some teams that lost this week will likely keep losing (Bruno, sorry about Sammy.) and some favorites will continue their winning ways (Ajay's team looks pretty well-rounded), we also saw some strong teams take a tough L (I guess that's karma for me), and some terrible teams come away with wins (Gutman may get his only win solely due to his predatory trade). For some perspective, Trevor Siemian, Jimmy Garropolo and Carson Wentz won games this week, while Drew Brees, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck lost.

My biggest takeaway is the lack of points being scored in our league, which I think will continue. Part of this is admittedly due to the lack of kickers, but part is also due to a generally weird draft that has left some teams scrambling. Regardless of the cause, I think the solution is some sort of PPR next year. Even adding 0.5 points per reception would help increase scoring overall, and make the league less TD-dependent. This is a discussion for Winter Meetings, but it's one I'll keep bringing up over the season. Based on my experience with kickers, we should get PPR instituted in 2023.

Additional Commissioner's note before we get started: Ajay, AGD and Levine still need to send me their division names. This shit is embarrassing, especially for AGD. No one expects much creativity from Ajay, or much communication from Levine, but AGD's creativity in this league is unparalleled. Give our division some personality.


Team of the Week: Alan

Yes, Levine had the highest score. But his total was fueled by a D-Will performance that has a clear expiration date, in addition to 48(!) passes from Alex Smith. Not that I'm upset that I lost with 100+ points or anything.

Alan may have a resurgent season in him. All of the major questions for his team had positive answers in Week 1. Is Andrew Luck back? Yes. Will Melvin Gordon ever score? Yes x2. Combine that with good performances by Shady and Abdullah, as well as putting up 100+ without much from Robinson/Decker/Olsen, and Alan's team looks better than expected. Could the Muffin Man be in line for a second (first?) chef's coat?


Best Lineup Decision of the Week: Barnard starting Blount over Hurns in the Flex

He doesn't get much love on this blog, but Barnard's lucky lineup management gave him the win this week. I was surprised that he banked on a Pats RB in an unclear situation over a Jags WR in a game where they were going throw 40+ times, but it worked. That said, it was still a terrible decision-making process and you deserved to lose.


Worst Lineup Decision of the Week: Bruno starting the Raiders D on the road vs. the Saints

While it may not be his worst roster management move of the year, I can't possibly understand the logic here. There were several better options out there (Eagles vs. Browns, Bills vs. Ravens, 49ers vs. Rams) that would have put up the 7 points required to take down Gutman. I'm not even really sure how you ended up with the Raiders D on your roster, but my recommendation is to sort the Free Agent Defenses by projected points each week and pick up the one with the highest projection. You may have blown your best chance for a win.


Biggest Surprise of the Week: Weissbard putting up 37.5 points

I could have easily put Weiss benching Kelvin and setting himself up for the Hot Potato as the worst lineup decision of the week, but his matchup would have been lost regardless. I still can't understand the logic of starting White/Pryor/Sharpe over Benjamin, given that all three of them are HUGE question marks on their own, but Kelvin coming back from an ACL against the Broncos at least gives me some pause. Still a terrible decision.

That said, this team isn't a lost cause. If you're going to have a shitty week, you might as well have a REALLY shitty week, as Russell, AP and even Martellus aren't likely to have duds like that too often, especially when Charles is hurt. The rumors around Charles don't sound great, but I'm not ready to give up on Weiss yet.

Biggest Matchup of Week 2: Ajay vs. Alan

It's difficult to have a truly important Week 2 matchup, but our only battle of undefeated teams (sponsored by UPS), is at least marginally interesting. Both teams have stud QBs on the road against stout defenses, and a stable of solid RBs liable to put up anywhere between 3-20 points. Alan can jump out to an early lead with Decker and Shady squaring off on Thursday, but I like Ajay to take the W thanks to Mathews on MNF.


Final Note

I know the podcasts have been few and far between, and I'm going to try and change that based on my/all of your availability. Especially if we have a non-Bruno trade, I'm definitely going to get both sides on a podcast to discuss. But in the interim, blog posts are easier for me, so I'll be posting as much as I can. As always, if you want to guest post, let me know. Fuck you Levine.