Sunday Game Recaps – Week 9

Fantasy game recaps from Week 9

Week 9 is in the books and the fantasy scoring was surprisingly low for all major players. Check your leagues – I’ll bet the team scores are among the lowest overall of the year. There was just one 100-yard rusher and it was Keaton Mitchell who is likely on your waiver wire (for now). None of the other 26 teams that have played this week had a running back that hit that mark.

Of the five 100-yard performances by a wide, two of them were Tank Dell and Noah Brown – both Texans likely on fantasy benches if not the waiver wire.

And of you think this week offered up some low fantasy points for your players, just wait for Week 10 when the Chiefs, Rams, Dolphins and Eagles are on their bye. That’s a lot of player swapping this week as fantasy teams make their starting lineup by either raiding their roster depth or wincing when they look at what is still on their waiver wire.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 8

Week 8 Sunday is in the books and teams seem less settled than last week.

This was the week of the injured quarterback and a batch of MRI’s on Monday will determine who shows up next Sunday. We’re seeing a shift in the NFL with the 49ers looking like a team that peaked too early. The flu is hitting the NFL and that explains, assumedly, why the Chiefs lost to the Broncos after beating them 16 times in a row. And Patrick Mahomes did not throw a touchdown. And… and… she wasn’t there.

The AFC now has a 6-2 team at the top of every division so the playoffs are still wide open. The Eagles keep winning, but seem challenged at first before finally locking in the win. The NFC South doesn’t have a winning record, again. There’s still a lot of football left to play, but injuries keep changing rosters and there’s not a lot of teams that spawn confidence that they are as good as their record. There are several teams that are easily as bad as their record.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 7

Week 6 fantasy game recaps

With six teams on bye, fantasy teams had to stretch to make starting lineups but there were numerous players that came through with high fantasy points. Scoring was higher with seven teams breeching 30 points and only the Commanders and Lions failed to break ten points. Each week serves up a few upsets and the Lions, Bills, and Dolphins dropped in the standings.

There are no byes next week, so everyone is back to full strength. And it appears that amazingly no major fantasy players suffered an injury that impacts Week 8.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 6

Quick rundown of the relevant fantasy stats from each Week 6 Sunday game.

Not a great weekend. Mostly ugly, low-scoring, and filled with far too many injuries. Every season, there is a week – maybe two – where teams just all score much less than usual and in some cases result in an upset. There is usually at least one week where a large number of favored teams lose. Week 7 was filled with upsets, games that were “under”, and far too many disappointments.

There were only two quarterbacks that scored more than twice. There were six quarterbacks with 300 passing yards. Patrick Mahomes was no surprise. The others were Derek Carr, Jared Goff, Gardner Minshew, Geno Smith, and Desmond Ridder. Were any of them started in your leagues?

Only Kyren Williams and Raheem Mostert ran for more than 100 yards. Of the nine 100-yard receivers, only four also scored a touchdown. Only five tight ends scored, and only six managed more than 50 yards.

There were 14 games played so far.  Of 28 teams, only three scored more than 24 points. Half of the teams failed to score more than 17 points. The low scoring week usually happens between Week 7 and Week 13. Not great that we’ve already used up the low-scoring week.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 5

Sunday game recaps with a fantasy spin for Week 5

Week 5 helped sort out the NFL better. The Eagles and 49ers remain undefeated and seemingly on a collision course deep into the playoffs, though they meet in Week 13 in Philly. There were more injuries that should be better defined by Wednesday at the latest – Justin Jefferson, James Conner, Anthony Richardson, Travis Kelce, and Daniel Jones as the most prominent.

You can be sure the NFL has changed when Bill Belichick loses two games in a row by a combined score of 72-3 and both were at home. And both were the biggest losses in his career. Only the Packers and Steelers are on bye for Week 6, but make advanced plans for Week 7 which has six teams on bye – Carolina, Cincinnati, Dallas, Houston, NY Jets, and Tennessee.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 4

Week 4 NFL games breakdown for fantasy football analysis

The day started out in London where it was 6:30 AM on the West Coast and untold people rubbed their sleepy eyes and said aloud, “so what channel is this on?”

There were six teams that scored more than 30 points, but also six more that failed to break ten points. We had several more monster performances from Christian McCaffrey, David Montgomery, A.J. Brown, Stefon Diggs, Josh Allen, and even Justin Fields (don’t worry, they still lost).

There continues to be several head-scratching performances – both good and bad. But only five quarterbacks threw for 300 yards and just barely since none had more than 335 yards.

We move into the byes in Week 5. Time to consider advance planning.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 3

Week 3 Sunday is in the books with high points and bad beats.

Just open the bomb-bay doors and pull that lever. There were several big-time beat downs where the opponent was never remotely in the game and seven games were won by at least 14 points. We had a 200-yard rusher and a 200-yard receiver. And the Dolphins went nuclear on the Broncos, still throwing points on the scoreboard while the first team wore baseball caps and laughed on the sideline.

It ends up that the Cowboys are not that good but the Bears really are that bad. Check out the games from a wild weekend.

Sunday Game Recaps – Week 2

Sunday games – who did what for your fantasy team

Nice bounce back from a low-scoring and sloppy Week 1. Ten teams scored at least 30 points and twice both opponents topped the mark in the same game. There was enough difference in outcomes between Week 1 and 2 that we’ll  need Week 3 to give a better sense of which to expect. Ten quarterbacks threw for 300 yards and four running backs were over 120 rushing yards.

We saw more injuries that will shake up fantasy lineups but at least more fantasy points are rolling in and most games were closely fought matchups that went down to the wire.

Sunday Game Recaps

Week 1 served up surprises and duds, and plenty of opportunity to cash in on.

A brief rundown of each Sunday game from a fantasy football perspective.

Overall, Week 1 used to be one of the highest scoring weeks of the year. For the last two seasons after changing preseason rules and games, it’s become one of the lowest with sloppy play and teams that are not all on the same page. It is also notable that Week 1 tends to be different than the rest in terms of which players excel or flop. It all counts, but never make your mind up about a team or player after just one game.

NFL playoff winners: home vs. visitor from 2012 to 2021

For the last 10 years, there are patterns for whether a playoff game was won by the home (H) or the visiting (V) teams:

For the last 10 years, there are patterns for whether a playoff game was won by the home (H) or the visiting (V) teams:

Wildcard Rounds

The NFL is onto their third season with six Wild Card round games instead of the historical four. Typically this round is rich in visitors winning which is surprising given that all home teams are division winners. In 2020, there were only two home (division winners) teams that won and advanced to the Divisional Round. But last year was a shocker with only one visitor winning – the 49ers were the No. 6 seed and the Cowboys were the No. 3 seed.

In 2020, the only two home teams to win were the No. 2 seed teams from each conference. In the last ten years, the tally is Home – 22  Away 22. In the last five years, it was Home – 11 Away – 13. The No. 7 seed has never won in the Wild Card Round. But aside from that, it has all equaled out to half visitors and half home teams winning. But it was odd that every five years, there were a “correction” of home teams winning to make it 50/50. Visitors did very well from 2017-2020 with 12 wins versus 6 for home teams. In most years, there will be more visitors winning in recent years but it is guarantee.

  • 2012 Winners
    H – Indianapolis 9, Baltimore 24
    H – Cincinnati 13, Houston 19
    H – Minnesota 10, Green Bay 24
    V – Seattle 24, Washington 14
  • 2013 Winners
    H – Kansas City 44, Indianapolis 45
    V – San Francisco 23, Green Bay 20
    V – New Orleans 26, Philadelphia 24
    V – San Diego 27, Cincinnati 10
  • 2014 Winners
    H – Arizona 16, Panthers 27
    V – Baltimore 30, Steelers 17
    H – Bengals 10, Colts 26
    H – Lions 20, Cowboys 24
  • 2015 Winners
    V – Chiefs 30, Texans 0
    V – Steelers 18, Bengals 16
    V – Seahawks 10, Vikings 9
    V – Packers 35, Redskins 18
  • 2016 Winners
    H – Raiders 14, Texans 27
    H – Lions 6, Seahawks 26
    H – Dolphins 12, Steelers 30
    H – Giants 13, Packers 38
  • 2017 Winners
    V – Titans 22, Chiefs 21
    V – Falcons 26, Rams 13
    H – Bills 3, Jaguars 10
    H – Panthers 26, Saints 31
  • 2018 Winners
    V – Colts 21, Texans 7
    H – Seahawks 22, Cowboys 24
    V – Chargers 23, Ravens 17
    V – Eagles 16, Bears 15
  • 2019 Winners
    H – Bills 19, Texans 22 OT
    V – Titans 20, Patriots 13
    V – Vikings 26, Saints 20 OT
    V – Seahawks 17, Eagles 9
  • 2020 Winners
    H – Colts 24, Bills 27
    V – Rams 30, Seahawks 20
    V – Buccaneers 31, Washington Football Team 23
    V – Ravens 20, Titans 13
    H – Bears 9, Saints 21
    V – Browns 48, Steelers 37
  • 2021 Winners
    H – Raiders 19, Bengals 26
    H – Patriots 17, Bills 47
    H – Eagles 15, Buccaneers 31
    H – Steelers 21, Chiefs 42
    V – 49ers 23, Cowboys 17
    H – Cardinals 11, Rams 34
  • 2022 Winners
    H – Seahawks 23, 49ers 41
    H – Chargers 30, Jaguars 31
    H – Dolphins 31, Bills 34
    V – Giants 31, Vikings 24
    H – Ravens 17, Bengals 24
    V – Cowboys 31, Buccaneers 14

Divisional Rounds

The divisional round rarely contains more than one road winner.  Totaling up the wins from the ten years – Home 29 Away 11. In the last five, Home  14 Away 6 but again, last year was different with three of four games going to the visitor. But the three previous seasons only totaled two teams winning as visitors. Last season had those three visitors win, but each game was decided by three points, so they were all very close. Overall, this is usually the round with just one visitor winning and twice it had all home teams win.

  • 2012 Winners
    V – Baltimore 38, Denver 35
    H – Houston 28, New England 41
    H – Seattle 28, Atlanta 30
    H – Green Bay 31, San Francisco 45
  • 2013 Winners
    H – New Orleans 15, Seattle 23
    H – Indianapolis 22, New England 43
    V – San Francisco 23, Carolina 10
    H – San Diego 17, Denver 24
  • 2014 Winners
    H – Ravens 31, Patriots 35
    H – Panthers 17, Seahawks 31
    H – Cowboys 21, Packers 26
    V – Colts 24, Broncos 13
  • 2015 Winners
    H – Chiefs 20, Patriots 27
    H – Packers 20, Cardinals 26
    H – Seahawks 24, Panthers 31
    H – Steelers 16, Broncos 23
  • 2016 Winners
    H – Seahawks 20, Falcons 36
    H – Texans 16, Patriots 34
    V – Packers 34, Cowboys 31
    V – Steelers 18, Chiefs 16
  • 2017 Winners
    H – Falcons 10, Eagles 15
    H – Titans 14, Patriots 35
    H – Saints 24, Vikings 29
    V – Jaguars 45, Steelers 42
  • 2018 Winners
    H – Chargers 22, Patriots 41
    H – Colts 13, Chiefs 31
    H – Cowboys 22, Rams 30
    H – Eagles 14, Saints 20
  • 2019 Winners
    V – Titans 28, Ravens 12
    H – Vikings 10, 49ers 27
    H – Seahawks 23, Packers 28
    H – Texans 31, Chiefs 51
  • 2020 Winners
    H – Rams 18, Packers 32
    H – Ravens 3, Bills 17
    H – Browns 17, Chiefs 22
    V – Buccaneers 30, Saints 20
  • 2021 Winners
    V – Bengals 19, Titans 16
    V – 49ers 13, Packers 10
    V – Rams 30, Buccaneers 27
    H – Bills 36, Chiefs 42

Championship Rounds

For many years, both home teams usually won. It happened in six of the last ten seasons and yet, 2012 and 2018 saw both visitors win.  The most common outcome of the last five years has been one home and one visitor win. And again, last year both conferences were won by only three points. In 2018, not only did both visitors win, but they did so in overtime games.

  • 2012 Winners
    V – 49ers 28, Falcons 24
    V – Ravens 28, Patriots 13
  • 2013 Winners
    H – New England 16, Denver 26
    H – San Francisco 17, Seattle 23
  • 2014 Winners
    H – Packers 22, Seahawks 28
    H – Colts 7, Patriots 45
  • 2015 Winners
    H – Patriots 18, Broncos 20
    H – Cardinals 15, Panthers 49
  • 2016 Winners
    H – Packers 21, Falcons 44
    H – Steelers 17, Patriots 36
  • 2017 Winners
    H – Jaguars 20, Patriots 24
    H – Vikings 7, Eagles 38
  • 2018 Winners
    V – Rams 26, Saints 23 OT
    V – Patriots 37, Chiefs 31 OT
  • 2019 Winners
    H – Titans 24, Chiefs 35
    H – Packers 20, 49ers 37
  • 2020 Winners
    V – Buccaneers 31, Packers 26
    H – Bills 24, Chiefs 38
  • 2021 Winners
    V – Bengals 27, Chiefs 24
    H – 49ers 17, Rams 20