Just as we discussed last evening via group chat, the playoff picture for 2017 is wide open. What a fun time to be playing fantasy! Every single team still has a shot to make the playoffs with four games left. The 7-win margin is what everyone is looking to hit to secure a playoff spot. If teams pull away at the top, that means there’s a chance for 6-win teams to wildcard their way in.
Also WHAT MATCHUPS this past week! Apart from Melton’s outlier score, the swing from 81.5 to 106.1 is a pretty small gap over 9 teams. I want to give a shout out to Chasen and Ventura who got ruined by the random schedule this week by scoring 3rd and 4th highest this week, respectively, in their losses. Their misfortune gave a chance for a team like Garrett’s to pull off some crazy wins. With 6 TOTAL ACTIVE PLAYERS, Garrett won this week in a never-before-seen-in-this-league fashion.
Week 10 Power Rankings
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TEAM DYNASTY - @IanC . PF and PA champ still with 9 weeks in the books. Teams have scored 55.5 points more against this team than the next highest. Back-to-back almost comebacks from opponents on Monday nights also have kept things interesting. This team is in first for now, but the competition will not relent. There are no freebies in THE JACKMAN league. This week finds three usual starters on bye with the Ravens and Eagles taking a break at the bird bath… or the bird feeder… or some bird thing… idk. I hate writing my own section. (Last Week’s Rank: 1. Weeks at #1: 3)
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No Time to Run or Hyde - @ianamunrud . With a comeback win, Ian A moves himself into the scrum that is a 4-way second place tie. Even with bye weeks for the Raiders and Eagles, this team has fantastic fantasy matchups for week 10. Apart from two players, the whole starting lineup is set to face opponents ranked 20th or worse against their respective positions. This team is hungry, not just for wings, but for cementing a playoff spot in the next week or two. Watch out. (Last Week’s Rank: 4. Trending UP 2)
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Santa Barbara Sailors - @jonathan . While I would usually default this team as a top-2 pick, Kareem Hunt is on bye this week. Even though he has scored less than 7 points for two consecutive weeks, he has too much talent and a historically good KC run scheme to take lightly. AB is back in the lineup however against a very, very beatable Indy defense. Ultimately, this team’s success this week comes down to which Cam Newton shows up (Alex Smith on bye) when they host Miami on Monday night. (Last Week’s Rank: 2. Trending DOWN 1)
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Brady is Bae and Bae is Life - @Alex . The Patriots are back, but with a very interesting game this week. They go to Denver to face a usually good Denver team that is coming off an embarassing blowout loss to Philly. The RBs don’t have great matchups, but after Jonathan Stewart’s performance this past week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see McCaffrey with more usage. He had double-digits carries for the first time since week 1 after the Stewart fumbles… (Last Week’s Rank: 5. Trending UP 1)
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This is No Fun(chess) - @chasenrogers . What a close game!! I have to give Chasen a ton of credit. His team fought the adversity of no Fournette and Zeke coming off of being suspended (again) to pull off the 3rd best score in our league last week. What a show by Marvin Jones and Doug Baldwin! The latter goes up against Arizona this week who has played nice for receivers this year so far. Why is this team not higher? QB1 aka Carson Wentz aka Maybe-Related-To-Pete is on bye this week. However, if Zeke doesn’t play this week and Chasen can have a Dallas RB in addition to Fournette, we might be on to something big! (Last Week’s Rank: 7. Trending UP 2)
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Brandon McManus - @mikeastock . The Aaron Rodgers-less effect is real for everyone with Green Bay players. Once the top team in the league, Mike has dropped four of his last five games. He turned it around this last week by barely beating out a Patriot-less Alex squad in week 9. While there aren’t any bye week issues for this team, Davante Adam’s 6.5 points and Jordy Nelson’s 4.8 points in the Packers last two games COMBINED is cause for concern. Mike Evans is currently set for suspension for a game, so it looks like it could be a tough week for the team named after a kicker. There are some good things for week 10, Russell Wilson is going up against a recently toothless Cardinals defense ranked 28th against the QB in fantasy this year. Todd Gurley is RB1 which means he is seemingly matchup-proof at this point even against a stingy Houston run defense. Mike will be relying on his runners and some good WR selections to pull off the win this week. (Last Week’s Rank: 6. Weeks at #6: 2)
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San Francisco Eagles - @awmelman . Tough showing this past week. Melton was low score for the first time all year after being high score for 3 of the previous 8 weeks. Unfortunately I see a trend to continue in that direction as Deshaun Watson’s absence drastically hurt Will Fuller V’s numbers this past week. Perhaps Robby Anderson (WR15) will take that place of deep-ball scoring receiver for this team? Tyreek Hill is on bye this week (WR3) and has been Melton’s most consistent receiver. On top of all that, Kirk Cousins faces a Minnesota team that will have had two weeks to prepare for him as they are coming off their bye week. It’s not a huge recipe for success. Mr. Consistent Melvin Gordon (RB5) is back in the lineup however and you know the Chargers are going to have to run on the Jags. Ingram also has a fairly favorable matchup, so this 4-5 team that is 2nd in PF has some things going for it. (Last Week’s Rank: 3. Trending DOWN 4)
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I Need One TD Dance - @ventura . Even with Zeke playing, there are some tough matchups in store for Andrew’s team this week. K. Drake may become the guy in Miami (still up in the air), but Carolina hasn’t been that nice to RBs this year. Keenan Allen faces the Jags secondary, and Maclin/J. Allen are on bye. I’m curious to see if Robert Woods can repeat this performance against a Houston team that has been getting beat up lately. If there is ever a certain thing about a team in this league, it’s that Ventura’s squad needs Zeke to Zeke badly. (Last Week’s Rank: 10. Trending UP 2)
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Mack n Cheesin’ ALL DAY - @PaulDawg . I want to put this team higher up!! That Jags defense man! But I just can’t trust Paul Richardson yet. Alshon is on bye and AP gets to face Seattle. There aren’t a lot of great matchups for team ALL DAY this week with the exception of Big Ben against a not-so-hot Indianapolis team. Paul needs 3-of-4 wins in the coming weeks and some luck to make playoffs, but the dream is still very much alive! (Last Week’s Rank: 9. Weeks at #9: 5)
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Hemingway’s Horde - @gbhart . My least favorite part in regards to ranking teams is that someone has to be last. I want a good reason to put a team last, and the possibility that Garrett might not touch his lineup with three players on bye (again) and one on IR (again) is as good a reason as any. But hey, he won with 6 players last week, so who’s to say he won’t do it again? (Last Week’s Rank: 8. Trending DOWN 2)
As a final note, next Sunday (the 19th) is Buffalo Wild Wings day!! Ensure your schedules/travel plans/calendars are all up to date. It’s a glorious, glorious time indeed!
Blessings to each of you.