There were no real upsets in Week 5 of UK dynasty. With a victory over the Leopards the Bandits remain unbeaten in the North, and the Wigan Wombats won over the Spartans firmly putting the Wombats back into the running.
In the Midlands the Eagles comfortably saw off the Cobras and the Fireflies defeated the Otters, so the Eagles and Fireflies are sitting pretty at 4-1 and the Otters and Cobras have just the one win between them – which is unlikely to change significantly come seasons’ end.
The South remains exciting but for now a lone leader has emerged in the Oxford Pythons. As they are just one win ahead of the Seahawks, and 2 ahead of the Beavers and Sandslashers, it’s still everything to play for.
In week 6 the games likely to be the most exciting are all intra-division. The Seahawks v the Wombats, the Sandslashers v the Fireflies and Leopards v the Eagles all have the potential to shake things up in the standings.
The Buzzsaw - Oxford Seahawks
The Nottingham Bandits came away with a respectable 163.08, which were it not trumped twice this week would have been the third highest score of the season so far. But there must have been something in the water in Oxford in Week 5, as both Oxford teams went wild.
The Pythons trio of starting RBs scored 82.6 points between them, which would have been enough to beat the Cobras and Otters this week alone without the other 6 players started. But the Pythons also enjoyed a monster game from Lamar Jackson, and double digit weeks from Claypool and Tyreek Hill, leading to an enormous 171.08 points. It was also almost the Pythons’ perfect lineup for the week, the only improvement possible was to have benched OBJ in favour of Amon-Ra St Brown.
Pipping the Pythons to the post for the buzzsaw by only 0.72 points were their local rivals the Seahawks. Led by big games from Josh Allen and Jonathan Taylor – who would have beaten the Cobras this week without the help of the rest of the Seahawks – the entire lineup put a decent shift in, Corey Davis and Darren Waller being the only pair not to score double digits.
Nottingham Bandits 🏆
Oxford Pythons 🏆
Lurgan Leopards 🏆
Coventry Eagles 🏆
Oxford Seahawks 🏆
Highest Point Scorer - Justin Herbert – Wigan Wombats
Lamar Jackson made a last minute attempt to steal this award away for the Pythons by scoring 41.88 in Monday Night Football. Stealing this incredible stat from the Guardian website: ‘Against the Colts, Jackson completed 86% of his passes on 43 attempts. There have been 4,017 games of 40-plus pass attempts in NFL history, per ESPN Stats & Info. Jackson’s completion percentage ranked as the highest in any of those.’
But beating even that outstanding display in fantasy terms, for the second time in 5 weeks the highest point scorer was Justin Herbert. He had a huge game against a usually sturdy Browns defense, with 398 passing yards, 4 pass TDs, 29 rush yards and a TD on the ground. If Herbert can continue this form the Wombats will certainly have the potential to overtake the Leopards and cause the Bandits to watch their backs.
Flitwick Fireflies 🏆
Oxford Pythons 🏆🏆
Wigan Wombats 🏆🏆
Unluckiest Loser…and Worst Decision - Chippenham Beavers
The Beavers would have beaten 7 of the 11 other teams this week with a very respectable 132.88, but came up against the Buzzsaw winning Seahawks. The Beavers will be particularly disappointed knowing that things could so easily have been different. Had the Beavers set their perfect lineup for the week the Seahawks very impressive 171.8 would have been blown away by almost 20 points. In the Beavers’ defense, starting Antonio Brown would have been a bold decision even with Gronk out so missing out on his 27.9 points is understandable. In the run-up to week 5 Sean McVay had spoken a lot about getting Woods more involved and as is often the case the squeaky wheel got the grease, so keeping Woods on the bench is perhaps slightly more questionable. But the decision which wins Worst decision for the Beavers is benching Tom Brady, perhaps as punishment for an underwhelming revenge game against the Pats the week before of only 11.06 points. Brady bounced back with 37.74 points against the Dolphins, and Brady is the top fantasy scorer after 5 weeks. While starting Brady would not have won the game for the Beavers it would have taken a good chunk out of the difference.
Oxford Pythons 🏆
Wigan Wombats 🏆🏆
Flitwick Fireflies 🏆
Chippenham Beavers 🏆
Closest Matchup - Wigan Wombats
The closest matchup this week was a fairly comfortable 118.12 to 95.52 victory for the Wombats over the Gateshead Spartans, by a 22.6 point margin – though that was essentially down to Justin Herbert’s big day. Had he not been available for some reason and the Wombats started Roethlisberger the result would have gone the other way. The win would likely have been more comfortable had it not been for the winner of the next award.
Flitwick Fireflies 🏆
Andover Sandslashers 🏆
Chippenham Beavers 🏆
Andover Sandslashers 🏆
Wigan Wombats 🏆
Most Impactful Injury - Wigan Wombats
There were a couple of rough season ending injuries in week 5. Maxx Williams, who was beginning to show signs of life six years after being drafted in the 2nd round of the draft by the Ravens, had to be sent to IR by the Fireflies for the rest of the season.
The Nottingham Bandits lost TikTok and Twitch star Juju Smith-Schuster for the season as well, due to a nasty shoulder injury. This would have been a contender for the award had Juju not already been benched by the Bandits, as a poorly utilised asset in an offense led by the ghost of a good quarterback.
The two contenders for the award were for injuries which at this stage do not appear to be season ending. Clyde-Edwards Helaire will be out for at least 3 weeks having been placed on IR by the Chiefs. The Fireflies should be able to get solid replacement level points from Zack Moss who has scored double digits every week since being benched week 1 by the Bills.
The other contender, and winner of the award, is Saquon Barkley, who rolled his ankle and came off the field having scored less than a point for the Wombats. It looked very similar to an injury I suffered playing laser quest, and I was never able to perform at NFL level after that. I went to a nightclub hours later and while stood chatting in the bar I fainted from the pain, but revived as I hit the floor, so I sprang up instantly and shouted ‘Only joking!’. The people I was with seemed quite confused but I managed to escape the notice of the bouncers and stay out drinking so it clearly worked. It’s unclear how long Barkley will be out for – he hasn’t practised yet this week – but the Wombats will be crossing their fingers he can spring back into action rapidly like I did in the nightclub, to help him in the battle for the second spot in the North. His RB core looks very thin and it will be interesting to see who he pairs with Aaron Jones if Barkley misses much time.
Nottingham Bandits 🏆
Oxford Seahawks 🏆
Andover Sandslashers 🏆
Coventry Eagles 🏆
Wigan Wombats 🏆
Worst Decision - Chippenham Beavers
(covered earlier…)
Andover Sandslashers 🏆
Gateshead Spartans 🏆
Everybody Who Didn’t Put Money on the 100/1 Bet Dan Suggested Which Turned Out To Be a Winner 🏆
Derby Otters 🏆
Cymru Cobras 🏆
Chippenham Beavers 🏆
Roll of Honour
Oxford Pythons 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Andover Sandslashers 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Wigan Wombats 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Flitwick Fireflies 🏆🏆🏆
Nottingham Bandits 🏆🏆
Coventry Eagles 🏆🏆
Gateshead Spartans 🏆
Oxford Seahawks 🏆🏆
Chippenham Beavers 🏆🏆🏆
Lurgan Leopards 🏆
Derby Otters 🏆
Cymru Cobras 🏆