Welcome back everyone. As you smart folks can guess from the title, in this blog post I’m going to be going over how my fantasy football team did in Weeks 6 and 7. So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
First, a quick recap from my last post. After a statement win in Week 5, my record had improved to a solid 3-2. I was on a two game winning streak and my players had all been performing very well, so I was feeling nice and confident going into Week 6.
Hoping to keep my win streak alive, I was facing Jeff Prakash and his team the Chicken Lit Chickens in Week 6. Jeff’s team had been struggling a bit for the past couple of weeks and I was projected to come away with a victory on paper, but I knew that ESPN’s projections are oftentimes a bit off the mark, to say it kindly.
It started off well enough, though. Jeff had Commanders receiver Curtis Samuel playing on Thursday night, and he busted hard, scoring only 2.2 points. However, nothing could have prepared me for the chaos that was to ensue next in this matchup.
It started with the early 12:00 games on Sunday. I had Justin Jefferson playing against Miami, and I was hoping that he would be able to have a monster game against their so-far suspect secondary. He only turned in an average performance however, at least by his standards, scoring 16.7 points. But I wasn’t sweating it too much yet, as I figured that the rest of my team would be able to make up for it.
And that’s when I looked at the score of the other 12:00 game. The Colts vs. the Jaguars. Now, I didn’t actually have any players in my lineup playing in this game because I benched Etienne for the week in favor of Cardinals RB Eno Benjamin, but I did start Jacksonville’s defense. They were supposed to do well in this matchup, as they had been a solid fantasy defense to start the year and the Colts had been struggling to score the ball. You should be able to tell by that lovely foreshadowing that this was not going to be the case.
I watched in a mix of absolute horror and shock as the Colts offense ripped the Jaguars defense to shreds. By the fourth quarter, the Colts had already scored 26 points. Then, to add insult to injury, Colts QB Matt Ryan threw a bomb down the field in the final seconds for the game-winning touchdown. The Colts beat the Jags 34-27, their highest point total of the entire season, and the Jaguars defense finished with an abysmal -4 fantasy points. To make matters even worse, Jeff had the Colts #1 receiver Michael Pittman Jr. on his team, and he finished the game with 13 catches and 26.4 fantasy points.
So after that, the tables had turned, but I wasn’t out of it by any means. The Chiefs and the Bills were playing at 3:25 in America’s Game of the Week, and I knew I could count on Travis Kelce for a big performance. The only problem was that Jeff’s team featured the Bills top receiver Stefon Diggs, as well as the Bills top running back Devin Singletary, who I had actually traded to him. I was not feeling good about that combination.
I watched this game live, and every time that Buffalo had the ball, I prayed that Josh Allen did not throw it to Stefon Diggs. Clearly though, God did not hear my prayers. Diggs caught pass after pass after painful pass, and finished the game with a ridiculous 30.8 points.
However, after all that, I still somehow had a small chance to win the week, and it all came down to the Monday night game, where the Broncos played the Chargers. Jeff had the Broncos defense and I had Chargers receiver Mike Williams. If Mike had a big game, then there was a good chance that the Broncos defense would be bad as well. But unfortunately, Mike Will had one of his worst games of the season, only seeing six targets. The Chargers did win, but as you could probably guess from a game featuring the Broncos, it was a low-scoring affair. I ended up losing to Jeff 104.7 to 120.88, and all respect to him.
After a rollercoaster ride of a Week 6, I headed into Week 7 needing to bounce back. The only problem was that three of my four best players, namely Justin Jefferson, Jalen Hurts, and A.J. Brown, all had a Week 7 bye. If a player has a bye in football, it means that their team is not playing that week for rest purposes implemented into the NFL schedule. So, it was going to be an uphill battle. Looking to get back in the win column, my Week 7 opponent was Aidan Donnelly. His team is stacked at running back, having all of Nick Chubb, Joe Mixon, Ezekiel Elliot, and Breece Hall, who is now unfortunately out for the remainder of the season. I knew that I would need to make some moves to have a chance.
First, I needed to find a wide receiver that could fill in for Justin Jefferson, and the answer was already on my bench. Prior to Week 5, I had picked up the Colts rookie WR Alec Pierce from the waiver wire, and he had been putting up solid numbers over that time span. While he certainly would be no Justin Jefferson, he would be good enough. I then turned my sights towards finding a quarterback to step in for Hurts. Since the Colts offense had just scorched my beloved Jacksonville defense the week prior, I figured it would be a good idea to pick up their quarterback, Matt Ryan. He also would form a nice stack with Alec Pierce, as they both played in the same offense. With my stand-in QB and receiver situation addressed, I just needed to fill my FLEX spot on my roster, so I slotted in trusty Cowboys RB Tony Pollard.
With my lineup set to go, it was time to square off against Aidan. And thankfully, this week went a lot smoother than the last. Despite Matt Ryan and Alec Pierce not playing particularly well and the Jaguars defense giving me negative points for the second week in a row, I was able to get past Aidan. I was aided by a bounceback game from Mike Will, a breakout performance from Travis Etienne Jr., and a huge 28.8 point outing from my new favorite rookie Kenneth Walker III. I won with a final score of 118.62 to 107.14.
With my overall record now sitting at 4-3, and my hole at running back seemingly filled, I am excited for the rest of the fantasy season, and hopefully finding myself in the playoffs.
Hi, Jack. I’m glad I found your blog. Fantasy has been a wild ride for me this year. I started the season fairly well as you did. I started 4-0! Since I’ve lost 4 in a row. I’ve been projected to win every single matchup, and I think I’ve been making the right pickups, but my players have been underperforming, and the other team’s players seem to go off every single week they play me. I assume you lost against Aidan. I have Nick Chubb and we went off this week. If you haven’t, I suggest you check your FA lists and see any trending players who may perform well in the coming weeks. Some players are injured right now, so their backups will get lots of playing time. The real winners are the teams who succeed last few weeks, so any teams that have uprising players in the coming weeks would be excellent pickups. Also, make sure you have a strong kicker in the weeks to come. In these final weeks, teams would love to get points on the board as they are fighting for their wildcard spots or wanting to give their fans a little bit of hope to end the season. Get yourself a strong kicker! I wish you good luck with the rest of your fantasy season. You’re going to need it just as I am!
I’m always excited to read these blogs and I’ve come back each time. Each time, your detail never fails to amaze me. I love how honest you are about your team and the other team . I can see that you are a fair blogger and by that, I mean that you give props to the other side or in this case, the opponent’s team. Even in your loss to Jeff, you didn’t “crap” on his team. You also didn’t say anything like “I should have won” or “If I just started that one player”. This really goes to show that you are fair and although you took an L, you move on. I also like how you give information about your thought process and that gives us insight into how you think when about deciding who to start and who to bench. Even during your bye week, you didn’t lose hope and you came out with the W. As I’ve said before, you gave props to the other team even though you won. You stayed humble. Reading this blog is something that I look forward to every time we have to do reviews.
Hi Jack!
I have to admit, ever since joining a fantasy football league with my friends earlier this year, I’ve been an avid follower of your fantasy football blogs. At this point, I’m just as invested in your team as my own. I love the insight you provide into your thought process; your writing style is super entertaining, and for a fantasy newbie such as me, it’s useful to hear how someone with more experience approaches the whole process.
Unfortunately, my team does not seem to have enjoyed the same amount of success as yours. Despite being projected 10th by ESPN after the draft, right now, I’m in a very depressing dead last 14th place with a record of 2-6.
I made the mistake of taking Joe Mixon and Najee Harris (because the internet told me to) in the first two rounds, which derailed my entire season from the start. I also have Kenneth Walker III, but I don’t think even he can save my doomed team. To add insult to injury, two out of my three wide receivers are on bye this week (Courtland Sutton and George Pickens), meaning I have to snag someone off the free agency, though my options look quite scarce.
Without almost zero chance of making the playoffs, at this rate, I’m just hoping to move out of last place. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to your next blog!
Hey Jack! To start off, I’m a little envious of your vast knowledge of fantasy football. For the longest time I thought fantasy football was a game you actually could watch with your drafted team and I could not understand how that would work. Now that I’m in a league of my own, with literally half the roster in our lit class, I still do not know what I’m doing. It’s so interesting to see how when you write about your team, it’s like you’re watching them first hand. The way you’re able to track down your team’s points and teams makes me a little ashamed that I can barely name a single one on my team. So far I’ve been on a slightly losing streak, but still remain 8th as of now out of 14 (Evelyn Wang). For some reason, I had originally thought you needed to max out the quarterbacks on your team, so I was stuck with four quaraterbacks and an even more random lineup. As of now, I’m against Kaetlyn Patnaude with a projected loss against her. But I’ve learned those numbers aren’t always true, and maybe I’ll spend some of my days watching the football games to see how my own players are doing.