We have our first division winner and guaranteed playoff place taken! Congratulations to Josh and his Bandits as they have taken the North title with three games to go and that is quite an achievement in the normally ultra-competitive North (Not so much this year but still giving the credit!). It has been well deserved as they are the second highest overall scorers on the season so far but luck has also played its part as they have also faced the fewest points of anyone. The bye is still in contention so Josh will need to keep setting his line up!
In the other bye position are my Eagles and the only thing I need to do to lock up my playoff spot is to win just one more game if the Fireflies win out. If they drop any games, especially our week 13 meeting, then the playoff spot is mine. Once again, the push for the bye week means no resting on laurels.
The South took a big step to being resolved but it isn’t a done deal yet. The Seahawks now have a commanding 2 game lead over the Beavers but the Beavers are up against the Bandits in week 11 and the Seahawks are against the Eagles. Olly’s push for a division winning spot or record spot took a bad hit this week but still have the edge in the HPS race but the gap is narrowing between them and the surprising Otters and the frustrated Spartans.
In was the week of the Midlands as all four teams won their match ups with only the Bandits and the Seahawks getting wins in the other divisions.
The Buzzsaw: Nottingham Bandits
Exactly 1 point separated the top three teams this week and it was an usually low scoring week which could have something to do with the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Chargers all being on a bye and there are some big fantasy players on those rosters. Josh decided that if he was locking up that playoff spot then he needs to do it with a little swagger and the Buzzsaw award is just that. Winning it by starting Salvon Ahmed and two running backs on the same team is just flexing!
The injury to Brees was perfect timing for the Bandits as they now have the QB1 back from a bye to carry them through the playoffs and maybe if Dalton returns for the Cowboys after the bye, then Zeke could be a relevant player down the stretch. Add all this together and FantasyPros has the Bandits at a 31% chance of winning it all.
Gateshead Spartans - 🏆
Chippenham Beavers - 🏆🏆🏆
Nottingham Bandits - 🏆🏆
Flitwick Fireflies - 🏆
Oxford Pythons - 🏆🏆
Andover Sandslashers - 🏆
Highest Point Scorer - Chippenham Beavers
We all knew it was going to happen! Tom Brady was coming off a less than three point performance against the Saints and was now angry and facing a much friendlier secondary in the Panthers. So it came to be that Tom Brady is the week 10 highest point scorer for Tom and the Beavers and that makes him the 8th overall player on the season. I tried to jinx him by wearing a Chinese knock off Brady Bucs jersey but it wasn’t enough! At the start of the season, I wasn’t planning on comparing the Brady and Belicheck seasons but given how badly the Pats have fallen…
My boy Alvin is building up a head of steam and with the Brees injury, the Saints might rely on him a lot more in the coming weeks so I’d like to thank Olly for bringing up how I acquired him in the group chat: Demaryius Thomas for Kamara and a 2nd. (for balance, my Adams + 3rd for DGB is probably the worst trade made in the history of our league).
Guess where league destroying Dalvin Cook finished this week? 53rd! It’s a week to week game!!
Wigan Wombats – 🏆
Chippenham Beavers – 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Nottingham Bandits - 🏆🏆
Lurgan Leopards - 🏆
Flitwick Fireflies - 🏆
Oxford Pythons - 🏆
Unluckiest Loser - Chippenham Beavers
I don’t think we came up with an answer to who should get last weeks award so I’ll give it another week or let the editor inform me that I missed the messages on it. (You didn’t - Ed)
Now this week? This week very much had an unlucky loser, and it was the Beavers. They were just one, lonely, single point away from having the Buzzsaw this week but instead they have the third highest score and the Otters beat them into second by 0.08 points! That is just 2 passing yards so even though Brady was the best player this week, just 3 more yards on a pass would have been a result changer. If Michael Thomas was actually the player he was supposed to be or Dalvin had a normal week… Plenty for Tom to rage over especially with the 9th highest scoring Chargers with just 76 points got a win.
Chippenham Beavers - 🏆🏆
Gateshead Spartans - 🏆🏆
Coventry Eagles - 🏆
Andover Sandslashers - 🏆
Wigan Wombat - 🏆
Oxford Pythons - 🏆🏆
Closest Matchup - Derby Otters
Once again the matchup that sees the unluckiest loser also sees the winner of the closest matchup. Just 0.08 points between the Otters and the Beavers which has got to be the closest result we’ve ever had (and once again I’m having flashbacks to the first UKD final). Chris / autopilot would have gone to bed on Monday night expecting the worst as the Beavers needed just 20.8 points from Dalvin Cook and Allen Robinson to take the win, but Cook was denied a TD for the first time this season.
The Chargers vs Sandslashers matchup would normally be considered a close one as their match ending up with just 0.56 points difference which pretty much kills the Sandslashers outside chances of making the playoffs and annoys Olly as he has the Chargers 1st pick (and pleases Dan as he has the Leopards 1st!)
Oxford Seahawks – 🏆🏆
Coventry Eagles – 🏆🏆
Flitwick Fireflies – 🏆
Oxford Pythons - 🏆
Gateshead Spartans - 🏆🏆
Nottingham Bandits - 🏆
Derby Otters - 🏆
Most Impactful Injury - Nottingham Bandits
Not a great week to be a quarterback. It is said that getting hit in the NFL is like crashing a car into a wall at 30 mph but imagine taking that hit and then the car lands on top of you and that is probably how Drew Brees felt on Monday morning. Broken ribs, punctured lung and probably a lot of bruises but I don’t think that should have been called a penalty as the defender was bumped into by another player. Still the impact of this is probably not for the Bandits as they have a decent replacement in Mahomes (although nothing else, so Josh will be crossing his fingers every time he gets hit), but the WRs that Brees would have been throwing to who now have Jameis instead, although why pay Taysom Hill so much to be a gadget guy and not the actual backup?
The same logic applies to the Bears situation as Foles might not be back after the bye and neither would Trubisky so Allen Robinson’s value takes a hit for the Beavers The Leopards lose Teddy but have 3 starting QBs to replace him and the Beavers lose Stafford but Brady seems to be back in the groove.
I only have 1 share of CMC in all my leagues and this could be the most frustrating situation of the year, seeing how good he was before and on his return only for him to miss last week and probably this week, I expect the next time we see Chris, he has shaved his head as he would have pulled most of it out anyway!
The Wombats probably thought they might have the next winning ticket for the SF running back lottery but Hasty is probably done for the season and who knows who will be the starter when he gets back.
The most impactful injury is probably Tyler Lockett for the Bandits. The Seahawks have less time for him to get healthy as they play on Thursday night and he is dealing with knee problem and the Bandits don’t have much depth behind him.
Gateshead Spartans – 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Coventry Eagles – 🏆
Oxford Pythons – 🏆
Chippenham Beavers – 🏆
Lurgan Leopards - 🏆
Nottingham Bandits - 🏆🏆
Worst Decision - Chippenham Beavers
Ronald Jones has been a rollercoaster this season and it was easy to predict a career day against the Panthers but he may have been a better gamble for the Sandslashers than JK Dobbins. Jones has a similar floor but a much higher ceiling than Dobbins so far this season.
DeAndre Washington over Rex Burkhead? Washington has done almost nothing this season and was traded to the Dolphins who don’t like to use running backs that they trade for (see Howard and Breida) whilst Burkhead has been a decent to good contributor for the Patriots. I can see why Dermy made the play, big risk and big reward but it didn’t pay off.
I understand that Michael Thomas is one of the best receivers in the league and was a record breaker last season but I don’t think he is start able with his myriad of issues right now. I have no doubt that at some point he is going to explode and put up stats like his old self but John Brown offers a safer bet and that would have been enough to steal the win for the Beavers.
Chippenham Beavers - 🏆🏆
Gateshead Spartans - 🏆
Andover Sandslashers – 🏆🏆🏆
Lurgan Leopards – 🏆🏆
Oxford Pythons - 🏆🏆