Well, Week 1 has ended and though it's been 9 months since fantasy football has been relevant for us, it didn't take too long to remember the agony, frustration, elation, injuries, touchdowns, points scored, vultures etc. Yes folks, Fantasy Football is back in full force, and as shown in Week 1, it didn't take long for some teams to go through those wide range of emotions in the matter of a couple hours. We had breakthrough performances, we had big stars come out small, big stars reaffirm their dominance, and yes the dreaded season killing injury bug reared its ugly head. It's a rollercoaster and a marathon and it's only just begun. Here's what happened in Week One of Year 7 of The Wane McGarity Bowl.
Bay Area Tanners (1-0) 117.28
BigBadBob (0-1) 104.16
Well,
it's always great to start the season off with a victory and though the
score might not reflect it, this was really a back and forth affair
that was close until the end of the afternoon games. Thankfully, I had
this in the bag with 2 players to spare and those two players (Michael
Floyd and Martellus Bennett) barely combined for a little over 10
points. Dad had already used up 3 guys who basically got their
projections and right away on Sunday, he got the first two TD's of the
day with Jeremy Langford and Willie Snead. It wasn't looking good at all
for a little while, with my guys not doing dick (my team is always a
slow starter, no matter what combination of players I have) until
Hopkins and McCoy scored TD's within seconds of each other. Hopkins
didn't have the greatest of games, and was overshadowed by rookie
teammate Will Fuller, but hopefully the emergence of Fuller is legit and
that'll open up things for Hopkins. McCoy didn't have the greatest of
games either, but he still managed a TD and I'll take his 15 fantasy
points anyday. My two biggest fears though were Mike Evans and Spencer
Ware. Evans was my 1st round draft pick and already he had a super tough
matchup against Desmond Trufant and the Falcons. He wasn't doing shit
for the longest time, before finally waking up and scoring a nice long
TD and finishing with 99 yards and a score. Spencer Ware was a gamble
only because of rumblings that Charcandrick West was the real #2 RB
behind Charles and that Ware might not get the big workload everyone
expected. Well, despite starting out down 21-3, that was DEAD WRONG.
Ware was a BEAST...in the rushing and PASSING game. Dude is legit, with 7
catches for 129 and nearly 200 total yards and a score. My only worry
is, when Jamaal Charles comes back, it's back to a lesser role, but if
somehow Charles misses again, and Ware performs like this again, I can't
see Ware NOT having a significant workload even with Charles being
back. We'll see what happens there. As great as Ware was, for Dad it was
Willie Snead keeping him in the game. Along with the TD Snead scored,
he had 9 catches for 172 yards. Brees is a passing machine, and Dad
might have gotten a steal here in Snead. Wouldn't be surprised if Snead
has a few more games like this throughout the season and that's a nice
luxury to have as a flex play. Unfortunately Snead easily outscored
Dad's 3 receivers (Emmanuel Sanders, Brandon Marshall, and Golden Tate)
COMBINED. Marshall had a terrible game with only 32 yards. For all the
points Detroit put up, Dad has to be disappointed that Golden Tate only
had 7 catches for 41 yards. I think both just had a bad game, and it's
not indicative on what will happen for the season. Outside of Snead and
Newton, everyone basically under achieved for Dad (Langford scored a TD,
but didn't have much yardage). For me, Eli was Eli, he threw a mind
boggling STUPID pick, but still managed 3 TD's scores for a respectable
finish. Eli's not fun to own, but as long as he puts up stats I'm happy.
Rashad Jennings was boring as fuck, and thanks to some late runs
managed to have a mediocre 75 yard rushing yards. As long as Ware is
doing his thing, and now that Arian Foster got his bad matchup out of
the way against Seattle, Jennings might be the odd man out for me.
Michael Floyd had 61 yards off 3 receptions. His upside will keep him in
my lineup as the Cardinals are going to put up points. The one glaring
thing I'm worried about is my Tight End Situation. I was nervous about
it after the draft, and am even more worried about it now. Even with
Gronk out, Martellus Bennett did nothing on the offensive side (to be
fair, he spent a TON of time blocking). I can't trust him as my tight
end if he's going to be a blocker the majority of the time. I have to
hope Vance McDonald is decent, otherwise I'm super fucked at this
position. I'll take the win, but still feel like I have a lot of
questions on my roster. It doesn't get easier for me as I take on Mayra
next week. Dad will take on Mike in week 2.
Game MVP
Spencer Ware (Bay Area Tanners)
70 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD, 7 Receptions 129 Receiving Yards, 29.4 Points
Rocket Man (1-0) 114.46
Light's Broken Bots (0-1) 100.32
Man
the hits just coming for Matt. It seems like injuries ALWAYS follow his
team. So Matt was already going without Jamaal Charles and Gronk and
despite the great start from Kelvin Benjamin, Matt's team just couldn't
get it together. Add Russell Wilson to the injury list as he rolled his
ankle yesterday and was downright AWFUL. A late game winning TD saved
his day from being a single digit nightmare, but still you don't draft a
QB early to have him score under 14 points. Wilson says the injury
isn't serious but it's still worth monitoring and if he were to miss,
Matt has no real backup because Brady is suspended. Jordy Nelson got a
TD that saved his day, but he only got 32 receiving yards. I'm sure
he'll be fine going forward, just getting eased back into action. I
don't know how much Corey Coleman can be trusted, but he had 2 catches
for 69 yards. Unless he gets a TD, he's a big time hail mary play every
week and now news is out that RGIII is out for a while so who knows what
happens with Josh McCown as the QB. Allen Hurns was OK, with 75 yards,
what you expect from a WR3. This score could've been much more worse
because like Jordy, Jeremy Hill was awful, but saved his day with a TD
and Isaish Crowell had 62 and a score. Still don't like trusting them as
my RB combo. At least Matt seems to have a solid replacement for Gronk
in Dwayne Allen. Allen had 53 and a score and I figure the Colts will be
passing a LOT so he should be involved most weeks just in case Gronk
misses more time. The only downside there are a TON of guys to feed in
that offense (Hilton, Moncrief, Dorsett, and even another Tight End in
Jack Boyle, who had 2 TD's of his own). It wasn't a bad effort, Matt did
score 100 points, just hard to win with so many things going against
you. For Eugene, Melvin Gordon actually came through for him with his
first 2 TD's of his career. Danny Woodhead did still outsnap him and now
with Keenan Allen out for the season, it may mean even more Woodhead,
but for this week he'll reap the benefits. Duke Johnson was non existent
and Eugene's flex is a little shaky with Rishard Matthews not doing
much of note. Luckily, his receiving trio came up huge and along with
Aaron Rodgers was the main reason Eugene got the W. Rodgers didn't even
throw for 200 yards but 2 Passing TD's and a rush TD made up for it.
Julio Jones was quiet for a half before finally getting a TD and ending
up with 66 yards. Even in a difficult matchup, Jeremy Maclin managed 5
for 63 and a score (Eugene's tight end, Travis Kelce, chipped in with 6
for 74 too) and most surprising Jordan Matthews showed he had great
chemistry with Carson Wentz and ended up with 7 receptions for 114 and a
score. That receiving Trio and Rodgers can definitely help make up for
the weakness at Wide Receiver and it's another great start to the season
for Eugene but his brother's superteam lurks next, which will be a
super tough matchup. For Matt, he'll get Mark next, which honestly is a
blessing, since both teams have so many questions and problems, Matt
might be able to sneak out a win there.
Game MVP
Aaron Rodgers (Rocket Man)
199 Passing Yards, 2 Passing TD's, 16 Rushing Yards, 1 Rushing TD, 25.56 Points
Shock The Monkey (0-1) 78.20
It wasn't pretty, but Ryan manages to easily take Week 1 against Mark. Ryan did get a little lucky that he played one of only two teams that didn't break 100 (hell Mark didn't even break 80) but a win is a win and Ryan gets to start the season undefeated. His Steelers combo of DeAngelo Williams and Big Ben were HUGE (combined for 57.4 of Ryan's 105.90 Points) and helped finish up the job. Outside of them though, huge disappointments all around. Sammy Watkins was terrible, John Brown was even worse. Zeke Elliott scored a TD, which saved his day, but he debut was pretty mediocre as he only got 51 yards on 20 carries. The big news too is Devonta Freeman won't be the lead back in Atlanta. Looks like a full blown time share and though Ryan owns Tevin Coleman too, it's going to be tough to decide which guy to go with. For two more weeks, Ryan can bench both, but once Deangelo Williams loses his job to Le'veon Bell, he'll probably have to make that decision. For Mark, I said it was the ultimate boom or bust team and boy did it BUST this week. 2nd lowest score in the league this week. Dez was really bad with 1 catch for 8 yards, and Mark's tight end, Gary Barnidge, was blanked. Not that it matters, but Mark also made the head scratching decision of starting Darren Sproles over Danny Woodhead. I doubt he makes that mistake again but it was Woodhead-20.5 points, Sproles 4.6. Both Murray's scored, but I'd be a little concerned about DeMarco as both of his TD's came from receiving, he only had 42 yards rushing, while Latavius Murray has to worry about rookies Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington eating into his workload. Jarvis Landry had a mediocre game but he'll bounce back and at least Alshon Jeffrey had a good game with 100 yards. Blake Bortles had the yards with 320 but only threw 1 TD pass which was a tad disappointing. Like I said in my draft review, this team is going to be really hard to judge, because I have feeling we'll see games like that, and then weeks were Mark scores among the highest of the leagues. Gonna be tough to predict. Mark gets Matt next week, while Ryan takes on the team that scored the least points this week in Drew.
Game MVP
DeAngelo Williams (Hoosier Daddy)
143 Rushing Yards, 2 Rushing TD's, 6 Receptions, 28 Receiving Yards, 32.10 Points
Bigger Balls (1-0) 137.46
SCLSU MudDogs (0-1) 131.22
Wow...surprisingly the most competitive and high scoring matchup of the week. Looking at Alex's roster, I doubt anyone but Alex gave himself a chance in hell of beating Mayra this week, but not only did he come close, he scored the 2nd most points in the league this week...just sucks for him that he played against the team that scored the most points this week. Yes...Alex would've even beaten Leland's all star studded team this week (what a trap game THAT WOULD'VE BEEN). Alex kept no keepers, and started off fresh. If anyone had any kind of competitive disadvantage (which would have been admittedly self induced since it's Alex's decision not to keep anyone) it was Alex, as the rest of us kept 2 guys, yet Alex was going nose to nose with the highest scoring team in the league. Proof that Football (ESPECIALLY Fantasy Football) is wildly unpredictable and to not just give up, play the game and just go with the flow, just like Eugene did with his "crappy looking team on paper" from last year. Will this be a consistent thing? Who knows, but the bottom line is, in a weekly head to head league, all it takes it one week to have it all come together. And Alex came real close to pulling off a major upset. Kudos for the effort. Both teams played pretty flawless and unfortunately all it takes is one team to proverbial "blink" to lose a tight contest. Tavon Austin wasn't able to get the job done unfortunately. That, combined with Tyler Lockett and Delanie Walker's bad games sunk Alex's upset chances. Oh..that and Antonio Brown proving once again he's the best fantasy football player in the WORLD, going for 8 catches for 126 yards and two TD's. That guy is totally on another level, on his own and it's not even close. On Alex's side, Drew Brees had a typical Drew Breesy game with over 400 yards and 4 TD's. If this defense is going to blow bad again (sure looks like it is), Brees is in for a MONSTER season. Also, apologies to Larry Fitzgerald for claiming he was on the decline. Fuckkkkk me, lol. Fitzgerald was amazing with 81 yards and two scores. Julian Edelman wasn't terrific, but he still Jimmy G's go to guy and as long as the targets are there, he'll be fine until Brady gets back. How about Theo Riddick?? Shit, two scores and over 100 total yards? It seems a little fluky, but even half that production for two more games until Le'Veon Bell gets back would be great for Alex. Carlos Hyde once again dominated a Monday Night Opening (ironically like he did for Mayra last year) with 88 yards and two scores. Hopefully for Alex's sake, it doesn't end up being the best game of the season like it was for Mayra before he completely unraveled and busted and got hurt. Well, it was a scare, but Mayra showed she definitely has the kind of team that can outscore anyone. Outside of Brown being god-like, Matt Ryan had a great game with over 330 yards passing and two scores. He's teased us before, but he's fully capable of putting up these kind of games on a weekly basis. Amari Cooper was a beast with 137 yards receiving and DeSean Jackson, usually a low catch boom or bust type player, actually caught 6 balls for 102 yards. Lamar Miller didn't score, but got a hefty workload and made the most of it with with 106 yards on 28 carries. Just a matter of time before he adds TD's to those stat lines. Matt Forte is in the Arian Foster spot where you plug him in, hope he performs and, cross your fingers he stays healthy. There was supposed to be a timeshare with Bilal Powell but that wasn't the case as Forte DOMINATED the work. He had 155 total yards. As long as healthy (big IF), he's a great #2 guy to have. Julius Thomas had 64 and a score as I think considering the TE landscape, he's going to be one of the better ones to own. The only disappointing play was Gio Bernard, but luckily he wasn't needed in this matchup. Bitter loss for Alex who next plays Albert in Week 2, while it's an early battle of undefeateds as Mayra plays me next week.
Game MVP
Antonio Brown (Bigger Balls)
8 Receptions, 126 Receiving Yards, 2 Receiving TD's, 28.6 Points
Channel 4 News Team (1-0) 129.50
Belfast Bruiser (0-1) 73.86
From the tightest contested to matchup, to the biggest blowout, Drew's team got just STOMPED by Albert this week in a match that was never close. After a super disappointing 2015, Andrew Luck MORE than made up for it in his season debut. 385 yards, 4 TD's and zero turnovers for nearly 40 points in what was the best single fantasy performance of the week. The Colts look AWFUL and if Luck can stay healthy he's going to put up some MONSTER games like this. Also, A.J. Green....total BEAST, 180 yards (against "Revis Island") and a score. Also, Doug Baldwin's trying to prove he's not a one year wonder and he's got a case so far with a 9 catch, 92 yard, 1 TD performance. Doug Martin, LaGarrette Blount, and T.Y. Hilton weren't great but all managed double digit efforts. The only disappointing plays for Albert were Antonio Gates (though now with Keenan Allen out, he might be in line to get more targets) and Vincent Jackson (V-Jax was awful, but because Albert has a potential fantasy star in the making on his bench in Texans rookie Will Fuller, V-Jax probably won't be sniffing Albert's lineup again). Overall great performace, and like I said in my draft results, Albert's a team you have to consider a favorite to have a shot to win it all. For Drew....deflating debut as he scored the least points in the entire league. He seemed to have a combination of guys who just had off games who will bounce back (Eddie Lacy, Allen Robinson) to guys who you might have to be legit worried about (Kirk Cousins, Adrian Peterson, Coby Fleener). Peterson is just alarming because with running backs you just never know when it's over, and though it's still week 1, it's a little concerning how little Peterson did. At least Donte Moncrief looked good, but I worry about consistent production only because there are a TON of guys to feed in that offense. Also Tajae Sharpe looks like a solid week to week play as he's the clear #1 receiver for the Titans. Ryan Mathews also had a great game with 77 and a score. I don't think Drew's team will be this bad again, but there are concerns. He'll take on Ryan next week, while Albert plays Alex.
Game MVP
Andrew Luck (Channel 4 News Teams)
385 Passing Yards, 4 Passing TD's, 21 Rushing Yards, 39.5 Points
No Soup For You (1-0) 125.60
Woe Is You (0-1) 110.56
So Leland survives an early Thursday scare and ends up taking this pretty easily but for Mike he not only loses but loses big because Keenan Allen tore his ACL in the first half of the first game of the season and is out for the season. Crushing blow to Mike's squad, as Allen was having a great game before the injury. Going to be tough to replace that production. Mike put up points, Derek Carr and Stefon Diggs did great along with of course the CJ Anderson Thursday play. Eric Decker did score a TD, but barely had over 10 points for the week, and both Odell Beckham and Jordan Reed scored under 10 points a piece. Leland's team reminds me of Mayra's team from two seasons ago where you just gotta be firing on all cylinders to be able to beat him. He's got too much talent, that even with bad plays (Randall Cobb, Demaryius Thomas and Todd Gurley) the rest of his team can more than make up their low scoring efforts. Led by Brandin Cooks (who had an AMAZING 98 YARD TD, and ended up with 143 yards and two total TD's), the rest of Leland's team was pretty solid. David Johnson had 132 total yards and a score, Matt Stafford had 340 passing yards and 3 scores, and even at his "weak" Tight End position, Eric Ebron had 46 and a score. Marvin Jones was kind of bla, but still managed a little over 10 points. The only minor thing I'd worry about here is Demaryius Thomas and Todd Gurley's offensive situations. They aren't the greatest, and I'm sure they will still be good fantasy players, but they might not live up to expectations. The good thing is, if they don't, Leland has enough talent around them that it won't matter much. He takes on his brother Eugene in a brother vs brother undefeated matchup, while Mike takes on my Dad in a matchup where the loser will go 0-2.
Game MVP
Brandin Cooks (No Soup For You)
6 Receptions, 143 Receiving Yards, Two Receiving TD's, 11 rushing Yards, 30.40 Points
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