The season’s first four weeks can feel like a wild roller coaster ride—one minute, you’re soaring high, and the next, you’re in freefall. Just ask Christian McCaffrey, who’s become the posterchild for unexpected injuries that send shockwaves through fantasy rosters. Meanwhile, adding to all the injuries, some players defy the odds, delivering unexpected performances, whileothers who we expected to be studs reveal themselves as flawed. It leaves us all, including the so-called experts, wondering if we really knew anything about football at all.
The good news? We are only a quarter of the way through the season, so plenty of time remains for adjustments. The bad news? Buckle up because those four weeks were the easy part.
Enter the bye weeks. As we all continue to adjust to injuries and new performance expectations, the bye weeks jump in to unleash more chaos. Assembling a lineup can be like trying to assemble those cabinets I just bought from Lowes with their crappy instructions, challenging and frustrating.
So, you have injuries piling up, key players on bye weeks, and those soul-crushing, last-second come-from-behind losses on Monday night football leading to the inevitable bad beat stories.Fantasy football misery. But on the flip side, you have the last second come from behind wins that have you yelling at the TV after your last-second pickup scored two touchdowns. Fantasyfootball thrills. All you can do is embrace the chaos and enjoy the ride. Here is my favorite visual for a fantasy football season.
Woo Hoo! That little girl’s face completely explains a fantasy football season. By the way, definitely click that link. Makes me laugh every time.
Okay, as we dive into the roller coaster results from the first four weeks of this season, let’s take a moment to reminisce about each of last year’s record-breaking championships. What a remarkable season it was! Those great championships can provide a foundation for whatever storylines develop this season. I, for one, am looking forward to them, so let’s find out.
FAMILY DIVISION
Last year, we had our first two-time Champion in the family division when Abbey’s Coastal Wave took home the title. Maybe even more impressive is that Abbey has twice been in the family division and won the title both times. Watching her progress in the First Division this season will be fun.
Here are the current standings.
After a heartbreaking playoff miss last season thanks to a nail-biting three-way tiebreaker, the Lynchburg Lemonades (Ryan) have come out swinging this year with an impressive 4-0 start. Clearly, they are determined not to leave it in the hands of a tie–break this season. But don’t take your foot off the gas. There is a long way to go.
Hot on the Lemonade’s heels are the Columbus Cowboys (Ben) and Hawaii Volcanos (Paul), both lurking a game back, waiting for their opportunity to strike. With none of these three teams facing each other this week, the suspense builds as we wait to see if the standings become more jumbled next week. I mean, typically, chaos will strike.
Now, let’s look at all of this week’s matchups.
FIRST DIVISION
The First Division also had a historic Champion last season! The Dakota Dragons (Butch) became the first team to tally a championship on two different levels. Plus, their impressive 5th title overall solidified the Dragon’s hold on third place on the all-time Champions list, only one championship behind the second-place Minnesota Blizzard (Geri) who currently hold six titles. The Dragons are hot on the Blizzard’s tail, and the competition is heating up.
While the Dragons have returned to the Dynasty Division, four teams in the First Division will be looking to match the Dragon’s achievement of winning a title on two different levels. The Virginia Pioneers (Dave), Pennsylvania Poultry Platoon (Erika), Olney Ospreys (Kirsi), and Coastal Wave (Abbey) will all look to accomplish the feat this season.
Here are the current standings.
There is one monster matchup this week in the first division, the two 4-0 teams will meet to determine who will take early control over the league. Good luck to the Pioneers and Louisiana Lycanthropes (Kiley) in this monster game.
FANTASY FOOTBALL IS STUPID
Before looking at the Dynasty Division, let’s do a fantasy football is stupid discussion. In the last three weeks of the First Division, the second-highest scoring team in the league earned a loss.
WEEK TWO
Sorry Abbey, that’s a bad beat.
WEEK THREE
And then a bad beat for Cody.
The Dynasty Division has also had a few victims.
WEEK ONE
Sorry, Dakota. I mean, there are 14 teams in this league, and you outscored the other 12. Sucks! Add that game to last Monday night when Jamison Williams’s late touchdown resulted in a two-point loss. Dakota has a firm hold on the worst bad-beat season to this point.
WEEK FOUR
Yes, Chuck, fantasy football is stupid. But you need to coach that team up a little bit, 70 is just not going to cut it.
Overall, in twelve weeks overall across three levels, four times (33%) the team that scored the second-most points lost. Amazing! That’s a shocking percentage of bad beats.
DYNASTY DIVISION
The Louisiana Lightning (Denny) also had a historic win in Super Bowl XXXIV. Not only did they become the first promotion team to win the Super Bowl, but they did it in their first season. Maybe, someday, someone will match this record, but it will never be beaten.
There is an interesting matchup this week in the Dynasty Division.
The DC Braves (Shehbaz) are the number-one scoring team in the league. However, they also are number one in points scored against them. Typically, that is a recipe for problems, but the Braves have impressively overcome this to reach 3-1.
Weirdly, their opponent this week, the New Orleans Hurricanes (Jamie), is the second-highest-scoring team and has had the second-most points scored against them this season. So, you would obviously expect this to be another high-scoring affair.
Nah, probably not, just not how it works. Nothing ever happens the way you expect in fantasy football.
Have fun everyone!