Week 11 Recap

Well, that was entertaining. Nice Monday night rebound from the no-account Monday nights of the past few weeks. Several games hung in the balance, not the least of which was the Nationals-Legends matchup which had big implications for James' crew anyway.

His bunch went in with a nice lead and the Tampa kicker playing but the Nats employed Robert Woods and Chris Godwin in a 'death-by-a-million-cuts' strategy. And it almost proved fatal as the Nats chipped slowly away at the Legends' lead throughout the game. If you listened closely as the game wound down you could almost hear James wondering out-loud about a Succop field goal for some breathing room versus risking overtime. 

In the end, the Legends had a three-point win and still held a piece of the Lombardi lead. The loss to the Legends also kept the Nats from clinching the #1 seed. They hold the tie-break over the Heroes and Holes with head-to-head wins. 

The Strawmenn-Pirates game was even closer and it also held big implications for one club. With the reeling Blizzard having already lost, Padilla's bunch had a shot at a slice of first place in the division. Their eight-point lead going into Monday night wasn't huge but with Ronald Jones playing versus Antonio Brown for the Pirates it seemed somewhat comfortable. But then Jones came up really small. A two-point turkey, in fact. Meanwhile, AB put up nine, and with the Bucs' last drive underway, it was obvious Brady had to put the ball in the air. Brown needed just a three-yard catch to gain another point and tie the game for Jack. Sure enough, Brady targeted him on the third play of the drive. But the pass was short. Brady then threw a game-killing pick and the Pirates' hopes for an upset were killed as well. 

Elsewhere the Holes clinched the Hamman by beating the Blizzard. As Paz pointed out to me, he's 3-0 with McCaffrey, 3-5 without. Flyers moved down with a win. Yup, moved down. They would be out of the playoffs if the season ended despite being #2 in league scoring. The Giants leapfrogged them and the Blizzard with a win and now hold the #6 seed chip with two weeks to play. In the 3-way tiebreak, they are 2-0 among the 6-5 teams. The Blizzard went from the #3 seed after week 10 to the no-seed with their loss. They'd lose out to the Strawmenn for the division based on PPG since they split the season series.

If The Playoffs Started Today (I'd be pissed!)
Let's see how things shake out with two weeks to go. Quite a change from a few weeks back.

Byes:
#1  Nats 9-2
#2  Heroes 7-4 (1-0 vs Legends)

Wild Card Round #3 v #6, #4 v #5:
#3  Holes 7-4
#4  Strawmenn 6-5 (1-1 vs Bliz, higher PPG for division)
#5  Legends 7-4
#6  Giants 6-5 (2-0 vs Flyers and Blizzard)
and the Unlucky Dog---Flyers (2nd in league scoring)

Random Thoughts... 

Looks like we may just make it through the season now. I hate to jinx us but the NFL seems to have dodged (or is ignoring) the COVID bullet.. Cook Update: Now we're looking at a possible McCaffrey issue. He is now on track to qualify as he has played just three games and the rule (which probably needs to be looked at) says 'five or fewer games'. Micheal Thomas has played four games but he's not been IR'd so we can write off his chances... I may do a Permutations Tuesday' this year. I'm not sure if the fact that Week 13 contains non-division games for the first time would make it easier or harder...Some big games on tap for Week 12, Flyers-Legends may have the most playoff implications of any of them. Buckle up!

Week Ten Recap

Fight Club!!

Where the hell has the season gone? Everyone jokes how slow time seems to crawl during a pandemic lockdown. But to me, it feels like the season has flown by. We're at Week 11, which in years past has traditionally meant a three-week divisional games stretch to the finish line. It's not quite that way now with this schedule but nonetheless, it's going to be fun. 

The first thing I usually do when the games are over for the week is look at the playoff seeds as they stand. Well, after the Nationals at #1, things get muddled. The other three divisions are led by 6-4 teams and the Lombardi has a second 6-4 team. My fervent prayer is that things sort themselves out before we reach the end. You can check out the seedings as they stand down below. But I wouldn't spend much time worrying about them yet.

Let's look at what happened in the league this past weekend. (I won't spend much time on my game... My season went down the drain with Dak's knee)... The Legends continued to roll as they bounced the R'backs, even with Kittle down and Mahomes and Tyrek Hill on bye. They may be three wins and four seeds behind the Nats but I'd be peeking over my shoulder if I were Dan...His club got back to winning and became the first team to clinch their division... The Heroes actually own the Lombardi Division lead at the moment due to their two-point win over James' Legends in Week 1. Their Week 13 rematch will be a doozy. 

The Blizzard were trounced by the Bombers, of all people, and with the Smenn winning are now just a game up in the Kuhlmann... Never give up, Padilla, Never surrender...The Holes are on the cusp of winning the Hamman. Their 'Magic Number' is one over the Rbacks and Bombers... 

League Doings... 

...the Consolation Round is probably dead in the water. I've learned to read the tea leaves after forty seasons in this seat... I know we've previously gone a year without a trade. Will that happen again? I hope not...(edit: we've had a trade..it was ME and Dan. Sheesh, I'm an idiot!) Lose a guy to someone else in waivers? Satisfy your curiosity with a peek at the Previously Processed Waiver Report. There's something depressing about knowing that while you were changing your bid and priorities 37 times over two days the guy you wanted had been bid on at triple your price on  Sunday...btw...that's kind of a long way around to answer a question I got a few weeks back and neglected to address... I have been managing six different teams this year stretched across four different platforms. Every week I'm playing against myself. Never again. Next year it's this league and maybe my dynasty league. Period.

I'm thinking of tweaking the Dalvin Cook Rule for next season. The last qualifier reads like this: "He was active for five or fewer games during the Hughes League regular season" I may make that read "...the  Hughes League season, including playoffs." That would mean NFL weeks 1 thru 16. And I will definitely adjust the wording to reflect my original intent as to the number of games. It was supposed to be 'fewer than five games'. 

If The Playoffs Started This Week:

I'm pretty confident that this is correct, for now. I swear I'm going to re-visit tiebreaks in the offseason (again!). Points will be #1, for everything. It's easy and the only way to make any sense of all this.

#1  Nationals 9-1/bye
#2  Heroes 6-4/bye (1-0 v Legend for Division; 1-0 among games w/Bliz and Holes for seed)
#3  Blizzard 6-4 (104.4 PPG vs Holes 101.9, no head-to-head yet)
#4  Holes 6-4 (See Blizzard above)
#5  Legends 6-4 (0-1 v Heroes for Division)
#6  Flyers 5-5 (110.8 PPG, Giants, Smenn, Flyers all 1-1 among their games)

Week 9 Recap (We've Almost Made It!)

I had unofficially pegged Week 9 as the point where I could say we've had a 'complete' season in 2020. And we are there. After this weekend's games, I'd have no problem declaring a champ if the NFL had to close up shop due to COVID-19. Luckily for us, the NFL has somehow maneuvered thru the minefield with relatively few problems. 

Week 9 is the second in a row that was pretty much in the books before the Monday Night game even began. That's what happens when two dud teams get the MNF spotlight. Four of our six games were final after Sunday. One game was awaiting the last player on a team that had won (the Legends). In the last game, Strawmenn-Holes, Jim would have needed 28 points from Lamical Perine for the Holes to pull out a win.  He got four.

Looking around the league, well, you can count the Nats out of any chance to run the table unbeaten. The Bliz reached up and smacked 'em with a 125-78 win. Paz has McCaffrey back and that trouble for all of us (although I see that he was dinged up again)...I'm not shedding any tears for the Nats, though. I'm still a believer despite their off week....the Bombers had a nice showing, 101 points, but the Legends were way too much for them. And don't look now but the Lincoln boys are 5-4, tied for the top of the Lombardi (it's a three-way tie!), and lead the league in points scored. I bet that little nugget snuck up on you. I know it did me...

The Bobbsey Twins (i.e. the Strawmenn and Sticks, who seem to have followed the same trajectory all season) are suddenly well within reach of the Wild Card slots. They both won in what was a very sunny weekend for the Kuhlmann Division... the Giants have now won three in a row and are only a hair out of the #6 seed now. The division title looks unlikely but they could slip into the playoffs and get the chance to defend their title. That didn't seem possible a few weeks back. The Holes stumbled after a two straight win rebound but on the whole (pun kinda intended), still look pretty comfy over in the Hamman.

Re-reading this one thing is obvious...there are a bunch of teams in contention, if not for the #1 seed, certainly for 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. It may become a very sticky situation sorting it all out after 13 weeks. I almost wish the NFL would collapse under the weight of + tests and I could just get a trophy made for Dan and call it a year. 

If the playoff started today...

Seed---Team---Reason (if necessary)
1...Nationals 8-1 (bye)
2...Blizard 6-3 (bye)
3...Flyers 5-4...own division tie break w/2-1 over Heroes and Legends
4...Holes 5-4...behind Flyers on PPG for 3/4 Seed tie break
5...Heroes 5-4...Tiebreak over Legends (and over Giants in 3-way tie break)
6...Legends 5-4...defeated Giants
Unlucky Dog ...Smenn (987 Points, 4th best in the league)

Assorted Thoughts...

And from the "Not All My Ideas Are Good Ones" Department... having some sort of reward for the consolation bracket winner garnered responses that ranged from a yawn to FU. LOL And that's fine, I always appreciate everyone's thoughts, even Rick's the goofy ones. 

The point of the 'conso' bracket was to motivate participation through the end of the season. And, at least in my mind, the stick is worthless without a carrot at the end of it. I'm perfectly happy to not have to mess with it so we will probably just move on. I may run it as an experiment for this year, possibly offer some waiver cash to the winner with a bonus to the league champ as well. 

(btw-->I thought my idea of an extra year for one player was genius, though, and I'll fight anyone that doesn't agree. LOL)

Dalvin Cook Update... 

McCaffrey played this week. That's his third game of the year. I figured he was good-to-go from this point but he's dinged again. He could conceivably qualify.  ... Chubb is practicing and set to play this week. He'd be off the DCR radar if he's out there... Godwin has now played five games and he's off the watch list... Michael Thomas is back on the field, he's played two games (I still think he's some sort of head case), but he wasn't IR'd so he won't get the Cook collar... and Barkley is done obviously.

I haven't posted a Johnny U. pic in awhile. Here he is with some other, vastly inferior quarterback. 

Week 8 Recap

The Undefeated...
The Nationals continue on their upward trajectory. Now at 8-0 they are threatening to become the first undefeated team since Stevie B. led them to an 8-0 record in a strike-shortened season. (That's them at the HB below.) They topped that run off, as you might recall, with a Hughes Bowl win over the Flyers. The Nats' schedule looks a wee bit tougher down the stretch so we'll have to delay etching the trophy for a bit, but I wouldn't bet high against them. 

The Unlucky...
Last week the Strawmenn got pummelled by the Flyers who had just the second pair of 40 point starters in league history. This week it happened again. The Legends are smacking the Smenn around and have two 40 point starters, Mahomes and Cook. 

The Unreal...
I'm typing this on Monday so there is a chance that James' guys (with 152 at the moment) could top the high mark for 2020 which is 161. They'd need 10 out of Succop in the MNF game. It's certainly possible. And keep in mind that they got only four from George Kittle who got hurt, and a donut from Diontae Johnson. With a couple of different starter picks (Moss and Miller) they would be at 179 and likely to break the all-time game scoring record of 181 (Holes, Wk 12, 2018)

The Random...
I'm 99.9% sure I'm going to implement a consolation bracket this year. The six teams that miss the 'championship' bracket will play in a parallel universe with the prize being, well, that part I haven't figured out yet. I'm thinking that it'll either be the #1 draft slot, the right to pick his draft slot or a waiver cash bonus. I'd seed those six teams just as I do the top six and award two byes. Then off we'd go. If you have thoughts as to what the consolation winner should get let me know. 

If the playoffs began this week (with seeds)

#1 Nats (bye)
#2 Flyers (bye) (2-0 vs Heroes for division, best PPG for seed vs Bliz and Holes since the three have not all played each other yet)*
#3 Bliz (Higher PPG vs Holes)
#4 Holes
#5 Heroes
#6 Legends (1-0 vs Giants)

WC Week-Bliz v Legends, Holes v Heroes.

Odds that this will stay the same for even one week...  0.00%

*=this is another good reason for the balanced schedule that comes with four divisions of three teams...every team plays every other team by years end so three-team ties are easier to break.

This is the first week of 2020 that has had the games wrapped up on Sunday (five are official, the Legends over the Smenn is a lock)... I still hate the way our tie-breaks read. My intention has been to go with head-to-head when possible and then PPG as second criteria. I planned to fix/simplify/clarify all of that this past off-season but preparing for the rest of the possible craziness got me distracted... Waivers have begun to settle down a bit, only four guys awarded last Wednesday. I think the thin level of talent to fill injury holes is the reason... the injury update email that came from my dynasty league team last Friday had 12 (TWELVE!) guys on it listed as IR, Out, Doubtful, or DNP (Did Not Practice). That's on a roster of 26. I got a few guys back by Sunday morning but with byes and breaks, I barely had a lineup. Luckily I do have Mahomes and Cobb. 

Dalvin Cook Update... McCaffrey still on track to return this week, of course, there was a chance last week and he didn't make it... Chubb, well I'm dubious that he's coming back soon. It's been too quiet on the Browns media...  Bell is on the field now, so he's off the 'watch' list... Godwin is hurt again and is deemed '50/50 for Week 9. If he plays one more game he's off the watch list... Michael Thomas is (apparently) some sort of head case. But he isn't IR'd so he's unlikely to get the Cook collar... and Barkley is done obviously.

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The Tech-ish...
Early last week Strawmann Mike alerted me to the fact that his browser was telling him that the league home page was 'Not Secure'. That sent me down a rabbit hole of coding and security issues I hadn't been down very far previously. I certainly learned a lot. 

That screenshot shows you what the URL of a 'secure' site should look like in your browser address bar. Of course, yours will vary according to which browser you use. In Firefox when the site wasn't secure I was getting a big yellow triangle there where the 'lock' symbol is. Others just use bold text for a warning.

To make this long story (sort of) shorter...I found that, in general, the warning was coming from images I've placed on the site that had an http:// address rather than https:// ....missing that single letter 's' is the culprit. I had pics hosted all over the place, Google, Photobucket, Flickr, etc, and I got them all moved to Imgur.com which is secure. I also found a bunch of small coding errors I'd made in the custom add-ons modules. Finally, as of this morning, I had everything cleared up, and the site shows as secure.