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Fantasy Football – Week 11

2015_week11_newtonIs there some way that the Seahawks can play the 49ers every week? They make the Seahawks look good. The first two series were awesome. It was three and out for the 49ers and then the Seahawks drove down the field and scored, just like a real team! They have very little chance of making the playoffs, but if they want to keep a glimmer of the dream alive, they need to win these tough games against Pittsburgh and Minnesota.

I continued my slide and my run for the longest losing streak of the season. Congrats to Logan who is now tied with me for first place! He has also climbed to the top of the power rankings. Watch out for Austin though who is on a 4 game winning streak and is looking to repeat his late season run from last year. We have three games left before the playoffs. Logan and I have clinched spots but the other two spots are still up for grabs.

Here are the power rankings I mentioned earlier:

1. Logan (+2)
2. Austin (-1)
3. Ben (-1)
4. Luke (+2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Logan had 150.95 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Jim had 63.68 Andy had 62.50 (Week 10) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Logan beat Dad by 53.74 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Ben by 7.92 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Cam Newton had 41.44 for Austin. Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 4 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 5 game losing streak Was Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 25, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 10

2015_week10_kirkcousinsIn all likelihood, the Seahawks have pretty much knocked themselves out of the playoff hunt with this latest loss. On any Sunday in the NFL, you have a hard enough time beating your opponent, but if you’re also beating yourself then you’re pretty screwed. The Seahawks destroyed themselves with penalties. They put a lot of points on the board but the defense gets credit for 14 of those. Sure there were a couple close calls and plays where the game could have gone the other way, but that’s the difference this year: they’re always playing from behind and hoping to get lucky.

In our league, Logan reinforced my loss from last week and got me thinking about the possibility of ending the season with a seven game losing streak. To top it off, I lost Julian Edelmen to injury. Earlier this season I also lost Arian Foster and Jamaal Charles. It’s hard to survive losing three superstars like that so we’ll see where the season leaves me.

Dad and Logan both won their games so they are just one game behind me with 4 games left until we start the playoffs. Austin continued his push from last week and is looking very strong. His optimal roster was over 180 this week. Speaking of optimal rosters, Andy almost started his optimal roster, but instead of starting Peyton Manning, he should have started Philip Rivers… who was on a bye. Peyton had -6.6.

Austin has now claimed the top spot in our power rankings and Jim climbs into 4th place.

1. Austin (+1)
2. Ben (-1)
3. Logan
4. Jim (+2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Austin had 152.68 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 62.50 Was Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Austin beat Tim by 48.43 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Dad beat Luke by 1.81 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Kirk Cousins had 36.96 for Logan Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin has a 3 game winning streak Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 4 game losing streak. Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 18, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 9

2015_week9_mariotaI was up by less than a point against Luke at the end of the Cowboys Eagles game on Sunday night. If the Cowboys missed their field goal, the game would have been over and I would have had 9 games in a row. As they snapped the ball for Dan Bailey to kick it, the announcer said that he was one of the best in the game. Perfect. A jinx! The kick went up and started curving left. He was going to miss! CLANG! It hit the upright… and fell through. The game went into overtime and my streak ends at eight wins. It was fun while it lasted. Kudos to Luke for starting an optimal roster.

Elsewhere in the league, Tim defeated Logan and Dad beat Andy so Logan and Dad are once again tied for second. Austin has sole ownership of 4th and everyone else is tied for 5th with five games left until the playoffs start. Week 10 features me against Logan, Dad against the streak killer (Luke), Austin against Tim and Jim against Andy.

In the last two weeks, Austin has moved up 5 spots in the power rankings. Could he be making another run like he did at the end of last season? And after two weeks out of the top four, Tim has re-entered the list.

1. Ben
2. Austin (+1)
3. Logan (-1)
4. Tim (+3)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Austin had 143.59 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy had 92.73 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Luke beat Ben by 16.07 Ben beat Dad by 111.43 (Week 8) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Tim beat Logan by 9.52 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Marcus Mariota had 41.34 as a free agent. Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (Week 8) Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench (2015)
Longest Active Winning Streak Austin and Luke have 2 game winning streaks Ben had an 8 game winning streak (Week 8) Micah (2011) and Ben (2015) had an 8 game winning streak
Longest Active Losing Streak Andy has a 3 game losing streak. Luke, Austin and Tim had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5, 7 and 8) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 11, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 8

2015_week8_drewbreesThe Seahawks squeaked out a win. It wasn’t the prettiest game with an offense that still can’t score in the redzone, but they did figure out a gameplan that helped to avoid any sacks for Wilson. This win brings them back to 0.500 on the season and keeps them limping along with a hope for the playoffs. They get a bye week in Week 9 to rest up and maybe make a trade to improve their offensive line.

This was a big week for our league as Drew Brees set the all time record for most points in our league (sitting on Tim’s bench, oops), I tied Micah’s all time consecutive win record, and I almost broke the all time biggest blowout record. With six games left until the playoffs, Logan and I are looking like pretty good bets to participate. Dad currently has a solid hold on third and the rest of the league is fighting for the fourth spot. Even if you’re one of the teams with a 2-6 record, you’re only one spot out of the playoffs right now!

The Power Rankings stayed mostly stable except that Austin jumped up to take Dad’s third place spot.

1. Ben
2. Logan
3. Austin (+4)
4. Andy

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 184.04 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Dad had 72.61 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Dad by 111.43 Ben beat Austin by 68.23 (Week 4) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Logan beat Jim by 21.41 Ben beat Andy by 2.46 (Week 7) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Drew Brees had 60.54 on Tim’s bench Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has an 8 game winning streak Was Ben had a 7 game winning streak (Week 7) Was Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Active Losing Streak Tim has a 5 game losing streak Luke and Austin had 5 game losing streaks. (Weeks 5 and 7) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens November 4, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 7

2015_week7_lamarmillerThe 49ers and the Seahawks came into the game with the same record, but the Seahawks played like the dominant team. It was nice to see the offense working and Lynch getting some good carries. Both defenses put on a clinic showing how to rush through porous front lines. The win didn’t inspire a ton of confidence, but there was no fourth quarter collapse so that’s something. Here are some stats which further my belief that they won’t make the playoffs:

  • The Seahawks rank 30th in drives that result in first downs or touchdowns.
  • They rank dead last in touchdowns per red zone appearance.
  • They are last in offensive line pass protection.

All of these stats come from footballoutsiders.com. They have tons of statistics and you can lose a lot of time digging through them and having fun.

In our league, my streak was almost ended by Andy. It came down to the final plays of Monday night, but I eeked out another win. Next week I have a tough game against Dad to tie Micah’s 8 game winning streak record. Dad and Logan won their games this week too and kept their tie for second place. For a while it was looking like the surprise late scratch of Jeremy Maclin from Austin’s roster might lose the game for him but Logan had enough points that Austin would have needed more than just that one change to win. After last year’s massively tied leaderboard, we have a pretty stretched out set of teams this year. We’re only halfway to the cutoff for the playoffs so a lot can still happen.

In this week’s power rankings, Andy jumped up an impressive three spots to claim the fourth slot. In weeks 5 and 6 he was in last place so he’s making a strong comeback.

1. Ben
2. Logan
3. Dad (+1)
4. Andy (+3)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Dad had 138.57 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Luke had 71.52 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Jim beat Luke by 49.27 Ben beat Austin by 68.23 (Week 4) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Ben beat Andy by 2.46  Was Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Lamar Miller had 37.10 for nobody Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has a 7 game winning streak Was Ben had a 6 game winning streak (Week 6) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Active Losing Streak Austin has a 5 game losing streak Was Luke had a 5 game losing streak. (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens October 28, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 6

2015_week6_staffordThe Seahawks. Ugh. The offense and defense actually looked ok-ish until the fourth quarter. The flea flicker play was one of the best plays we’ll see all season.

Congrats to Luke! He’s on the board with his first win and through the magic of our playoff system, he’s still in the game along with everyone else. Andy gets kudos for starting a perfect roster. My improbable run continues and I now have a two game lead. Something about “farther to fall” comes to mind. Dad and Logan are tied for second with Andy in fourth. But there’s a long way to go before the playoffs.

Power Ranking:

1. Ben
2. Logan
3. Tim (+1)
4. Dad (+1)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 165.00 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Austin had 96.52 Austin had 64.70 (Week 5) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Tim by 30.83 Ben beat Austin by 68.23 (Week 4) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Dad beat Jim by 21.17 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Matthew Stafford had 41.90 for Dad Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Active Winning Streak Ben has a 6 game winning streak Was Ben had a 5 game winning streak (Week 5) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Active Losing Streak Austin has a 4 game losing streak Luke had a 5 game losing streak. (Week 5) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens October 21, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 5

2015week5_joshmccownThe Seahawks. Bleh. I hope they finish above 0.500. The first half looked ok but then things fell apart in the second half and ended with four consecutive punts. I just don’t see how they can plan around their non-existing offensive line for an entire game.

Our league got a little more spread out but we still have four teams tied at 2-3. Luke continues to look for his first win, but take heart Luke. You’re not the lowest average score and your average score is almost exactly the same as Dad’s and he is 3-2. Luke also has had the second toughest schedule to this point. I think the game of the week was Andy and Tim. Going into Monday night, Tim had a reasonable chance of winning his match with less than 70 points!

There are a ton of high profile injuries floating around right now so please make sure you’re checking your rosters. I won’t call deadbeat on anyone yet but there have been a few situations that surprised me that a player was started despite the reports. I’ve got the league checker robot running again to send out notifications on Thursday and Saturday mornings. You’ll get notified if you have anybody in a worse than Probable state. Every year total points end up deciding the final spot in the playoffs so every game counts!

The power rankings have shifted a bit. Austin dropped out and Jim jumped onto the list. I’m still inexplicably on a good run that I expect to end any week. Jamaal Charles is out now so maybe that’s the start of the end for me.

1. Ben
2. Logan (+1)
3. Jim (+2)
4. Tim (-2)

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 150.86 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Austin had 64.70  Was Andy 70.73 (Week 2) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout   Ben beat Austin by 68.23 (Week 4) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Andy beat Tim by 8.83 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Josh McCown had 39.48 for NO ONE. Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben has a 5 game winning streak Was Ben had a 4 game winning streak (Week 4) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Luke has a 5 game losing streak Was Luke had a 4 game losing streak. (Week 4) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens October 14, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 4

2015week4 freemanWhew, the Seahawks squeaked out an ugly victory against arguably the worst team in the NFL. But even the Lions were able to run through that porous offensive line. Jimmy Graham is great, but was losing Unger worth it? And then we had “batgate” after the game was over. Apparently the touch in the endzone was illegal. Yes, it would have been better if the rules were properly enforced, but I don’t feel nearly as bad about this one as I did about the Packers one. Nobody seemed to even notice that something incorrect had happened (or maybe I just missed it as I fast forwarded to get to the action.)

We had some close games in our league. Luke and Andy faced off to see who would win their first game. Sorry Luke. Maybe next time? You are the closets to Detroit so I guess it fits. We had a lot of low scores, but looking at the rosters, a large part of it was some surprises about who made the points. There were a lot of points on the benches this week. I’m trying not to mention my streak because I know it will go down in flames.

The power rankings are back! Here’s what my super secret, proprietary formula says:

1. Ben
2. Tim
3. Logan
4. Austin

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben had 139.79 Tim 200.51 (Week 3) Tim 200.51 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Austin had 71.56 Andy 70.73 (Week 2) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Ben beat Austin by 68.23 Was Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Andy beat Luke by 5.53 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Devonta Freeman had 35.40 for Ben Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim (Week 3) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben has a 4 game winning streak. Was Ben has a 3 game winning streak (Week 3) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Luke has a 4 game losing streak. Was Luke and Andy have 3 game losing streaks. (Week 3) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens October 7, 2015 Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 3

2015week3_aaronrodgersThe Seahawks finally put a tally mark in the win column against the hapless, injured Bears. Yay. The first half looked pitiful. I don’t see how they can get very far in the playoffs (if they even make it) given their offensive line situation. It’s a mess. And yes, Kam is back. I would have loved it if Pete benched him for the first half, but whatever. Hopefully they’ll dump him at the end of the season and get a couple offensive linemen.

Our league had some really high scores. Jim got his first win, but the big news is that Tim set an all-time record for single week points. And he could have had another 15 points with a perfect roster! I’m now the only undefeated team but I expect to break that streak next week when I have a really tough bye week situation.

Now on to the weekly awards.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Tim 200.51 Was Ben 145.30  (Week 1) Was Tim 195.50 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Luke 102.53 Andy 70.73 (Week 2) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Tim beat Austin by 48.50 Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Jim beat Luke by 5.18 Austin beat Jim by 2.49 (Week 2) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Aaron Rodgers had 44.92 for Tim Was Ben Roethlistberger had 36.66 for Dad (Week 2) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben has a 3 game winning streak Was Ben, Logan, and Austin have 2 game winning streaks (Week 2) Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Luke and Andy have 3 game losing streaks Was Jim, Luke, and Andy have 2 game losing streaks. (Week 2) Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)

Don’t forget that there is a very early game in London on Sunday so make sure your rosters are set.

Power Rankings return next week!

benmartens September 30, 2015 Commentary, Fantasy Sports

Fantasy Football – Week 2

roethlisberger2015week20-2. It’s a rough start to a Seahawks team that has one of the toughest schedules in the league. (For examples, they face more teams coming off bye weeks than anyone else and have fewer opponents on a multi-game road trip than anyone else.) Was Kam the reason? No. Fine him. Dump him. Or better yet, find some way to make him holdout past the point later in the season when he loses his pension and any benefit he had from being in the players union. Penalties were a big killer in the game. As Cris Collinsworth pointed out 572 times during the game, Aaron Rodgers invented the free play and the Seahawks gave him plenty of opportunities to show it off. We’ll see what happens with the home opener, but though the Seahawks haven’t looked terrible, they’re not hitting the ground running.

In our league, the winners from last week continued their winning except for Tim. There are still three people tied at the top (Logan, Austin and me.) Luke, Jim and Andy are still looking for their first wins.

Now on to the weekly awards. I’ll put the new season records in bold.

This Week Season All-Time
Highest Team Score Ben 144.81 Ben 145.30  (Week 1) Tim 195.50 (2013)
Lowest Team Score Andy 70.73 Was Dad 84.40  (Week 1) Luke 47.01 (2011)
Biggest Blowout Dad beat Andy by 45.86 Ben beat Dad by 60.90 (Week 1) Luke beat Andy by 113.02 (2010)
Closest Win Austin beat Jim by 2.49 Was Tim beat Luke by 8.33 (Week 1) Jim beat Ben by 0.12 (2012)
Highest Scoring Player Ben Roethlistberger had 36.66 for Dad Was Tom Brady had 35.62 for Ben (Week 1) Peyton Manning had 60.28 for Andy (2013)
Longest Winning Streak Ben, Logan, and Austin have 2 game winning streaks Was Ben, Logan, Austin and Tim have 1 game winning streaks Micah had an 8 game winning streak (2011)
Longest Losing Streak Jim, Luke, and Andy have 2 game losing streaks. Was Jim, Luke, Andy and Dad have 1 game losing streaks. Kyle had a 14 game losing streak (2011)
benmartens September 23, 2015 Fantasy Sports