Worst Line-up Decision
This one was difficult because either the games were complete blowouts (average win was by 51 points if you take out mine and Olly’s match up), were plays forced by the large number of byes, or weren’t obvious beforehand.
The most impactful decision was my gamble on Jalen Richard whilst Lynch was suspended. That didn’t work out, as the Raiders went behind and threw the ball 49 times, with Richard seeing only 5 carries. Playing Mo Sanu instead would have won the matchup, but if I had played him instead of Antonio Brown or Julio Jones it would be the same, and nobody is starting Sanu ahead of them.
The worst decision, but less impactful, was probably the Wombats playing Fat Rob ahead of the current fantasy darling (and according to me the same value as a Jets running back in a timeshare), Juju Smith-Schuster. Juju was the 4th highest scorer this week, and Fat Rob is Fat Rob: he had averaged 1.6 points in his last 4 games! Ballsy Jonathan to take on our Reigning Champ like that, and to be fair, Kelly did get his highest score of the season!
Chippenham Packers – 1
Irish Flyers – 1
Oxford Seahawks – 1
Oxford Pythons – 1
Wigan Wombats – 1
Most Impactful Injury
I don’t think that it takes a genius to realise that this one is for Zach Miller. The guy dislocates his knee, severs an artery and the motherf*ckers take away his TD catch! That is ice cold from the refs. If a player is going to lose a leg, the least you can do is give him the benefit of the doubt and let his last catch be a TD.
Hamza’s unwavering belief in playing Miller every week was admirable even when he was trading for other TEs, but this week is a bad for him to lose Miller as Gates and Shaheen are on a bye, so he has to decide between Ben Watson and Tyler Higbee as his new Romo-Witten style BFF!
Oxford Pythons – 1
Nottingham Bandits (Invalids) – 2
Andover Sandslashers – 1
Bradford Championz – 1
Closest Matchup
I remember waking up, checking my phone and seeing that I had lost by 0.5 points in the final of the Britannia Bowl. I didn’t talk to my family at breakfast and I was irritable (to put it mildly) for the rest of the week. That was close to how I felt on Monday morning when I saw how badly the Pythons were beating me. I had been trying to acquire McKinnon but couldn’t make up my mind on Olly’s asking price and he punished me for it. Then I woke up Tuesday morning and saw how close I’d come to stealing the win and I almost didn’t write these awards!
Andover Sandslashers – 2
Oxford Pythons – 2
Gateshead Spartans – 1
Unluckiest Loser
I had the 6th highest score this week and I wasn’t fortunate to play any of the tomato cans that couldn’t break 50 points. Nope, I faced Jack Doyle and Jerrick McKinnon who posted season highs and a combined scored more than the Sandslashers and almost the Championz!
Wigan Wombats – 1
Coventry Eagles – 2
Hereford Chargers – 1
Derby Otters – 1
The Buzzsaw
I get the feeling that Tom might regret taking on a team in this league. He might have fancied his chances against the Seahawks. I think the prediction before the game slightly favoured the Seahawks but instead he faced a team with 2 of the top 3 point scorers for the week! 11 players either on bye, suspended or injured going into the week and Dan shows no mercy. Why Dan? Why be so mean to Tom?! He is trying! He is hoping that Josh Gordon can save his season, that is how bad it is going for him!
Irish Flyers – 3
Wigan Wombats – 1
Oxford Seahawks – 1
Highest Individual Player Score
Dan missed out last week but he made damn sure he was getting this award this week! Russell Wilson scored 35.1 points and DeAndre Hopkins backed him up with 32.4. Dermy tried to get his fourth award with 32.8 points by Watson but that was only good enough for second place. Dan is benefitting from facing the least amount of points scored against in the entire league, but he is making sure of things by playing the likes of Wilson and Hopkins.
Irish Flyers – 3
Wigan Wombats – 1
Oxford Seahawks – 1