Week 11.5

Week 11 Recap. 

Wow! That's all I have to say. The results from Week 10 leave me excited / nervous for the next two weeks. The highest scoring team was Savage SR (who started setting his lineup and why didn't they start in Week 2?) and the playoff hopes of Corn on the Cobb officially ended in their loss to Team Lee. Team Awbrey kept their playoff dreams alive with a 12 point victory over Chiefs Kingdom. But I digress. We'll get to the playoff drama in due time.

Stud of the Week. 

This award goes to Cam Newton / Jameis Winston with 5 touchdowns each! That's buckets of points right there coach. In fact, 70% of the leading scorers in the league last week were at the QB position. This just goes to show the QB position is important and I love the fact that we have a 2 QB league because it just makes things that much more fun!

Power Rankings.

Here are the Week 11 power rankings. I'll explain the colors below!

Looking ahead. 

Here's where it gets fun. There are 7 teams fighting for three playoff spots. In the power rankings above I highlighted the 7 teams with blue text. (Warning: lots of numbers and records to follow. If I mess it up please let me know.) Here's how it breaks down for each team:

#1 Angry Wookies: The Wookies have made the playoffs no matter what, however they need to win both games in order to solidify the #1 seed. They face #7 Team Awbrey and #6 CHIEFS NATION so the road to #1 is not going to be easy.

#2 Berry Me A Chief: Sitting pretty at 7 wins and 4 losses, this team has a great shot at making it into the #2 spot in the playoffs. They hold the tie-breaker over the #3 team by 1 point. I'm not making this up. A Chief is 1-1 against No Herm No foul with an overall score of 167-166. The A Chief's play #9 Corn on the Cobb this week and #8 Not the Cowboys in Week 13. Winning out would give them a 9-4 record and a solid shot at the #2 seed, especially with the tie-breaker going in their favor. Their schedule seems to favor them making it into the playoffs regardless of final position.

#3 No Herm No foul: 7 wins and 4 losses for these guys as well puts them 1 game clear of the #4 spot for now. They hope to snap a 2-game losing streak as they face Not the Cowboys in Week 12. Their road to the playoffs is a bit tougher as they face two teams fighting for their playoff lives in the #8 non-Cowboys this week and #7 Team Awbrey in Week 13. Keep an eye on these guys as they look to avoid slipping farther down in the playoff seeds.

#4 Team Lee: 6 wins and 5 losses is not where Team Lee wanted to be in Week 5 when they were 4-1. But they rallied from a 4-week losing streak. Ranked #1 after the first week of the season, Team Lee is counting their blessings to be holding the tie-breaker over Chiefs Kingdom. They face 2-9 Savage SR this week but they can't relax because the Savage's have been on the warpath lately, winning 2 of their last 2 games. And then in Week 13 Team Lee faces #5 Chiefs Kingdom in a game that could likely decide who goes to the playoffs in the #4 spot.

#5 Chiefs Kingdom: 6 wins and 5 losses has to be disappointing for a team ranked #1 in Weeks 3 and 4. The common theme is that they have to go head-to-head with two teams facing playoff elimination. They've already beaten their week 12 opponent once this season but one thing to remember is never count out the defending champions #6 CHIEFS NATION. Week 13 holds more woe for the Kingdom as they face #4 Team Lee as discussed above. This has the potential to be the most intriguing game of the regular season.

#6 CHIEFS NATION: These guys have the toughest road to the regular season. They face their rival in Week 12 and the #1 team in the league in Week 13. The NATION cannot afford a loss. And they also need everybody above them in the rankings to lose 2 games in a row. Finishing at 7-6 doesn't guarantee a playoff spot but it puts them in a better spot than they are right now.

#7 Team Awbrey: Team Awbrey holds the tie-breaker over the the non-Cowboys but they will need a miracle to get to the playoffs. If they can beat the #1 Wookies this week then that puts them at 6-6 on the season and in a good position heading into the final week. However they face the #3 No foul's next week so they officially have the toughest road to the playoffs. They absolutely need to win every game and need all the teams above them to lose.

#8 Not the Cowboys: the non-Cowboys face the #3 No foul's and the #2 A Chief's these next two weeks and making the playoffs are not impossible. But it will be a steep road to climb. They are predicted to outscore the #3 No foul's as of the publishing time of this blog. But the Not Cowboy's tend to be "boom or bust" this year. So we will have to see if they will put up 100+ points, or 100+ bummers. Once again, a 7-6 record doesn't guarantee anything but it's better than 5-8.

#9 Corn on the Cobb: the Cobbers can't make the playoffs. They can, however, help out the playoff hopes of #6 teams by beating the #2 team this week.

#10 Savage SR: the SR team can also affect the playoff hopes of several teams if they beat Team Lee this week.

That's a wrap! Enjoy Thanksgiving football my friends. I'm grateful to be in a league that's so competitive! It makes it fun and keeps it interesting right down to the wire!

Good Luck. God Bless. God Chiefs. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Week 9.5

Week 9 Recap. 

Week 8 was a bye-week for the Chiefs so the staff here at Metros League Blog also took a bye week. Thanks for hanging in there while we were away. We know you missed us. We know it. We love you too.

Stud of the Week. 

This award goes to the Corn on the Cobb roster. Despite getting a goose egg from Charles Clay, the Cobb rode Aaron Rodgers and DeAngelo Williams (30+ points apiece) to for their third win of the season. Great job!

Power Rankings.

This week we are skipping the coaches poll (we took a week of last week, so you get a week off this week) and going strictly with the power rankings. The power rankings are decided upon using the following formula:

• Each Win = 1 point
• Total Points For: ranked 1-10 and giving 10 points to #1, 9 points to #2 etc
• Average Points against: ranked 10-1 and giving 10 points to #10, 9 points to #2 etc
• Difference between PF and PA: ranked 1-10 and giving 10 points to #1, 9 points to #2 etc

So using that formula here's the power rankings going into Week 10 of Metros League Fantasy Football: 

1. Angry Wookies (7-2)
2. Berry Me a Chief (6-3)
3. Chiefs Kingdom (6-3)
4. Chiefs Nation (4-5)
5. No Herm No foul (7-2)
6. Team Awbrey (4-5)
7. Team Lee (4-5)
8. Not the Cowboys (4-5)
9. Corn on the Cobb (3-6)
10. Savage SR (0-9)

Looking Ahead. 

This season just got good! There are 4 teams headed to the playoffs right now BUT, there are four teams with the record of 4-5. With four games left there is plenty of time for these four teams to make it into the top four slots in the league.

Angry Wookies plays Berry Me a Chief in the matchup of the week (only a single digit spread) but there are two other matchups worth noting: Not the Cowboys and Team Awbrey face-off in a big game for two teams that are 4-5. Team Lee needs to win but faces the 7-2 No Herm No foul in a tough game that looks to be decided by 5 points or fewer.

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 7.5

Week 7 Recap. 

I can't really think of anything to say about Week 7. There were no real surprises in the game results. There were very few disappointing performances (outside of Travis Benjamin). I'm really not sure what else to say besides we're now officially halfway through the season!

Stud of the Week.

I'm giving this award to Chief Kingdom's entire lineup. His team scored the most points of any team this week, and that was despite having two players put up goose eggs. That's right, absolutely zero points from TWO players and his team STILL scored 136 points. Here's your sign!

Rotisserie. 

In Metros League fantasy football the scoring is determined on a head-to-head basis. In other news, the sky is blue. What you may or may not know is that there are two options for fantasy scoring: head-to-head, or rotisserie. In rotisserie scoring the top 5 teams in scoring each week receive a W and the bottom half receive a L. I got curious about what our league would look like if we used rotisserie scoring so I did some limited edition simple addition and came up with the results.

I think the biggest thing I found while doing this research is that the winning teams in the original format stay at the top of the standings with two noticeable exceptions. There is also less of a disparity between positions 2-9 in the standings. I'm not saying we should use this format. I think head-to-head has it's advantages and strategies that make it a lot of fun. I just love playing with numbers and alternate realities and had a lot of fun putting this together.

The Poll. 

Nothing changed in the coaches poll! Everybody stayed in the same spot. The voting, however, was insanely close. 3 points separate positions 1-3 and 1 point between the 4 and 5 spots. Take a look:

Looking Ahead. 

The biggest game this week is between #2 Chiefs Kingdom and #3 No Herm No foul. This game is predicted to be decided by less than 5 points and I expect that tensions will be high in the Wilkes' household all weekend.

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs ROYALS!

Week 6.5

Week 6 Recap. 

The Eastern Conference swept Week 6 as three of the teams extended their winning streaks and the other two bounced back from Week 5 losses. The top two teams in the league are from the East and its going to be a race to the finish as all of the Eastern conference teams have 2 or more wins.

Dud of the Week. 

The award goes to ALL of Team Lee. When you have eight of your nine starters put up single digits, you're gonna have a bad time. That's just very sad.

The Poll. 

Here's the seventh edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll.

Not much debate between the coaches as to who is the top ranked team this week. The major debate comes when you talk about teams 2-6. And then you get another round of debate with teams 7-9. 

Looking Ahead. 

#1 Angry Wookies faces #4 Team Lee in a matchup that may be decided by the fact that this is a big bye week for Team Lee. This is the only close matchup rankings-wise but it doesn't mean your game isn't important. 

CONSIDER THIS YOUR REMINDER TO CHECK YOUR BYE WEEK PLAYERS BEFORE 7:30 TONIGHT. 

*ahem* there are several teams that have by week players in their starting lineups and I just wanted you to be aware. 

Good luck. God bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 5.5

Week 5 Recap. 

There are no more undefeated teams in Metros League! Both #1 and #2 lost last week which means there are four teams at 4-1 and 3 others within striking distance. Special shoutout to O'Dell Beckham Jr. for giving Not the Cowboys their first win of the season.

Dud of the Week. 

For all of us, but especially from Chiefs Kingdom, the dud of the week goes to Jamaal Charles' right ACL. C'mon man. Why you gotta be like this?

The Poll. 

Here's the sixth edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll.

There are some very interesting opinions of who is the best team in this league right now! Half the teams received a first-place vote, something that has never happened this season. The top 7 teams all look to make a push for the playoffs heading down the homes stretch, and if the bottom three win out then they'll be a lock to be playing in week 14 and beyond. 

Looking Ahead. 

There are several matchups to keep an eye on this weekend. I don't know about you guys but every time I open my app to check on my team, I tap the scoreboard button and check on all of your scores as well! 

#1 Angry Wookies plays #2 Chiefs Kingdom as both teams are 4-1 and looking to cement their spot in the playoffs. 

#5 Berry Me a Chief is riding a two game winning streak and takes on #3 Team Lee. Look for Berry Me a Chief's defensive unit to be a big factor in this game. 

And #9 Not the Cowboys takes on #7 Corn on the Cobb in the only time we'll get to see the team owners who are fathers play one another this season.

That's about it! With all the Royals playoff excitement I was a little behind this week but with any luck you'll forgive me.

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 4.5

Week 4 Recap. 

What a low-scoring week! If you throw out the highest and the lowest scores, the average score across the league was 72. That's abysmal guys. Seriously. It put this guy to sleep, that's how bad it was. And he's a professional football player!

Dud of the Week. 

I guess I have to eat my words for this portion of the blog this week. I made fun of Chiefs Kingdom last week for not starting Larry Fitzgerald. Well, this Dud of the Week goes to the Angry Wookies for gambling on the waiver wire and picking up Devonta Freeman, and then having Devonta Freeman, the guy who scored 3 rushing touchdowns in consecutive weeks, sit on the bench.

You just don't do that, man.


Transactions. 

Lots of wheeling and dealing going on! Corn on the Cobb traded San Diego RB Melvin Gordon to Gotta Catch Jamaal for Arizona RB Chris Johnson. And Chiefs Kingdom traded New York Giants QB Eli Manning to Team Lee for Cincinnati RB Jeremy Hill. Four and half weeks into the season and three trades? Not bad guys, not bad at all.

It's nice to see trades happening in a fantasy football league because that means the owners are at least somewhat invested in their teams. Invested owners = enjoyable league. Keep it up!

The Poll. 

Here's the fifth edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll

For the first time all season Savage SR is NOT ranked last! That's a milestone that we will not soon forget.

Looking Ahead. 

Two big matchups on the docket this weekend!

#2 Gotta Catch Jamaal is undefeated and taking on #4 Angry Wookies in a game that looks to be decided by 5 points or fewer. If Andrew Luck is healthy and on target this game will come right down to the last second on Monday Night.

#1 Chiefs Kingdom is also undefeated and enjoying their second week in the top spot of the coaches poll. They face #3 Team Lee, the only other team to hold the #1 spot for two weeks this season. This one might not be as close, the deciding factor will be the four players listed as "Questionable"* on Team Lee's roster.

Well that about does it for this post! I'm excited for Week 5 and want to take this moment to remind you that the playoffs are only 9 weeks away!

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 3.5

Week 3 Recap. 

What a week. 3 matchups were decided by the Monday Night Football game. Aaron Rodgers, Randall Cobb and Jamaal Charles propelled the Wilkes' clan to victory in Week 3. Three W's for the W's. OK enough with that. Let's move on to this detailed breakdown of the Kansas City Chiefs' secondary from their game on Monday night.

Walk of Shame. 

If you try to set your lineup while waiting in line at Sonic, you're gonna have a bad time. Let's just hope you don't have Larry Fitzgerald on your bench when he goes off for 25 points against the 49ers. Let's just hope you don't realize your mistake until Sunday at 12:01 pm CST. Let's just hope.

The Poll. 

Here's the fourth edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll:

As you can see by this week's edition of the poll, some of the coaches in our league think very highly of themselves. Other coaches vote honestly. Only one coach actually manage to vote the same way the poll turned out. And one of the coaches actually texted me today, curious about how the poll turned out. So thanks for caring guys. I appreciate it. Enjoy your poll

Looking Ahead. 

The biggest game of the weekend will be #1 Chiefs Kingdom on the road against #4 CHIEFS NATION. The game is predicted to be decided by fewer than 10 points and these teams are #1 and #2 in most points scored so far this season, respectively. Carson Palmer has been money for the Kingdom so far this year and NATION is hoping that Antonio Brown and Vincent Jackson continue being the workhorse WR that he's been able to depend on for the past 3 weeks. Keep on eye on this one as it's going to come down to the wire.  

Interesting Stat of the Week. 

The Bengals and the Chiefs, who play this week, both had their most recent playoff wins against this team: 

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 2.5, 2015

Week 2 Recap. 

That was a doozy of a week! Is it just me or is the injury bug out in full force this year? Tony Romo went down with a broken collarbone on Sunday night and this afternoon the Cowboys acquired Matt Cassell from the Buffalo Bills in a desperate attempt to plug the impending dam of doom that's headed towards AT&T Stadium. Drew Brees is another big name that joined the injury list this week. We'll finally get to see celebrity backup QB Jake McCown in action. Here's to the backup QB, the best job in football.

Reasonable Results. 

The matchups went as expected this week. Andrew Luck tried his best to sabotage Gotta Catch Jamaal in their game against Berry Me a Chief but Jamaal hung on to stay undefeated. Team Lee stayed undefeated and as was mentioned last week, Big Ben Roethlisberger put up 30 points to carry Lee to victory.

Disappointing Players. 

The author is not even going to comment on Adam Vinatieri.

Transactions. 

In the first recorded trade of the 2015 season the Angry Wookies traded Cowboys WR Terrance Williams and Cincinnati Bengals RB Giovanni Bernard to Team Awbrey for the injured Dez Bryant.

The Poll. 

Here is the third edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll:

The top 3 teams remain the same as they remain undefeated on the year. Spots 4-8 went through the blender with 3 of the teams winning to even their record and stay in the hunt for the playoffs. Take heart! It's early in the season and there are lots of chances left to get into the top 4.

Looking Ahead. 

The only notable matchup in Week 3 (according to the poll) is #6 Angry Wookies on the road against #7 Team Awbrey. Both teams are looking for their second win and score is predicted to be close. Look for the battle between Carlos Hyde and Lamar Miller at the RB2 position to play a crucial roll in deciding this game.

Good Luck. God Bless. Go Chiefs. 

Week 1.5

Week 1 Recap.

Week 1 is in the books! It came and went before you could say "it's fantasy football time" and left us only wanting more. The 2015 fantasy football season is officially begun. Dez Bryant, Andre Ellington, DeSean Jackson, Julius Thomas, CJ Anderson and TY Hilton headlined a long list of players who suffered a substantial injury in Week 1.

If I can give you any advice it'll be this: don't panic. It's Week 1. Wait about ten more days before you start to freak out. A guy at work was already looking to shop Adrian Peterson because he doesn't think he was worth the #1 overall pick. Don't be this guy. Don't be Skinny Mike Tomlin.

Upsets Galore.

Week 1 saw 4 upsets according to the Coaches Poll. Here they are in no particular order:

-- #9 Berry Me a Chief beat #3 Angry Wookies 129-103

-- #8 Team Awbrey beat #7 Not the Cowboys 109-78

-- #6 Team Lee beat #1 CHIEFS NATION 112-109

-- #5 Chiefs Kingdom beat #2 Corn on the Cobb 112-65

The best game of the week was decided by Colin Kaepernick's 10-point performance in the late game on Monday night. Team Lee squeaked past CHIEFS NATION and stayed perfect through one week.

Honorable mention goes to Sam Bradford's final interception that opened the door for Team Awbrey to steal a win on the back of Carlos Hyde.

The Poll. 

Here is the second edition of the Metros League Coaches Poll:

Several changes in the coaches poll this week! Team Lee jumps from a previous ranking of 6th to take the top spot. CHIEFS NATION falls to 5th despite winning their opening game, and Berry Me a Chief rises 5 spots to occupy a spot in the top half of the rankings.

Looking Ahead. 

There are two key matchups coming up in Week 2!

- #1 Team Lee visits #6 Team Awbrey in the battle of "Team Lastname." Team Lee is predicted to win this one easily but as we saw last week with Team Awbrey, anything can happen. Watch for Ben Roethlisberger to be a deciding factor in this game.

- #4 Berry Me a Chief hosts #3 Gotta Catch Jamaal as both teams leap forward in the rankings and look to be dead even in the points predictions. Payton Manning's performance on Thursday night will be pivotal in this matchup.

Good luck. God bless. Go Chiefs. 

2015 Metros League Preview

It has begun. 

It's here it's here it's here! The long-anticipated 2015 fantasy football season has arrived! Seriously, I have been texting Marcus once a month since the Super Bowl with ideas and thoughts and musings concerning this year's version of Metros League. Last year ended with a bang as CHIEFS NATION won the championship over the Angry Wookies. 

The draft. 

The draft was everything a draft should be: entertaining, surprising and effective. 

The first round held the most surprises with Aaron Rodgers and Andrew Luck going 2nd and 6th overall, respectively. The biggest surprise, however, was the Chiefs D/ST going off the board with the 4th overall pick. Tim Tebow went 132nd to the defending champions and Johnny Manziel went 156th to Team Lee. Denard Robinson takes home the Mr. Irrelevant award this year after being drafted by Chiefs Kingdom. 

The most entertaining part of the draft was watching the strategy in which the QB position was filled. Here is a breakdown of how QBs were taken before all 10 teams had chosen: 

2nd - Aaron Rodgers
6th - Andrew Luck
20th - Russell Wilson
24th - Ryan Tannehill
27th - Drew Brees
28th - Alex Smith
38th -  Peyton Manning
45th - Ben Roethlisberger
59th - Matt Ryan
90th - Matthew Stafford

As you can see there is quite a wide variety of value placed on QBs in Metros League. Time will tell how these different strategies will pan out. The effectiveness of the draft is measured by the fact that all ten teams drafted (no auto-draftees this year) and the fact that the draft is now over. 

The Poll.

The coaches votes are in for the Preseason edition of the Coaches Poll. Here are the results: 

 We are probably going to call this the "Popularity Poll" as it would appear everybody voted based on team names, favorite people, or self-interest. But it is what it is.

The Anticipation.

The first week STARTS TONIGHT and here is the most interesting match up of Week 1. Besides your own matchup, of course. 

#5 Chiefs Kingdom at #2 Corn on the Colb. Two of the oldest teams 

(like, you've been in the league for the longest time, this is not an age joke or a bald joke) 

square off in Week 1 in a battle between father and son. 

That's all for this round folks. I will bug you again once the first week is over so you can vote in the coaches poll. And no excuses this time around. Got it? 

Good luck. God bless. Go Chiefs.