2020 Power Rankings-Week 6

## Introduction

A lot has happened in the last week. Historically, the week2 between games 4-6 tend to be very active with trades and what not because a.) teams begin to panic about their seasons and b.) there are a lot of moves in the NFL as injuries mount and certain teams become aware of the futility of their season.

The week started with Pain Train Chris'ing Chantel in an obviously terrible deal and then ended with Pain Train getting out-Chris'ed by Jared. What will the ripple effect be of these trades? Will we have any more games delayed due to COVID? Did Shotti get better or worse with the Le'Veon Bell news? Is Commish going to do a whole bit about how screwed he gets, or do we get the week off from hearing him whine?

## The #BellGate Trade

So for those who are not in the know, we had a controversial (?) trade take place this week. Pain Train had proposed a trade of Mixon for CEH with momma. This was right when Bell was released by the Jets and his rumored landing spots were Miami, Buffalo, or KC.

Now personally, I am always a little suspicious when a trade is straight up RB for RB, or WR for WR. It basically airmails to the other guy "hey, I like your RB better than mine, want to trade?" It's different than WR for RB, where it's more like "I'll give you a good player at this position of need, you give me a good player at this other position of need." But hey, analyze your guys, do whatever.

In this case, the trade sat for a day, and then Bell signed with KC. Chris, being at work and unable to access his phone, was blissfully unaware of this happening and Jared quickly accepted the trade before Chris could cancel it.

A lot to break down here and this would be a great chapter in my hypothetical book of Fantasy Football ethics.

On the one hand, Jared had to know that Chris no longer would want that trade. He accepted the trade with the understanding that this suddenly ONLY benefits momma, unless Bell gets hurt or proves to be a bust (entirely possible). That's a little shady. But on the other hand, what was Chris thinking by having that trade out there with Bell possibly landing in Kansas City? Was he hoping that Jared would panic trade CEH and then Bell would land in Miami instead (sidenote, how nervous was Jared that his two star backs play for two of the three possible teams Bell was considering?)? If so, that's a little shady too.

At the end of the day, did Jared do anything wrong by simply accepting a trade proposed to him? Did Jared do anything that Chris would not have done, had the roles been reversed? Did Chris, in trying to pull a fast one on Jared, get a fast one pulled on him? Or were both parties completely innocent, with Chris proposing what he felt was a fair trade and Jared accepting what he still believed to be a fair trade, even after the KC acquisition of Bell? After all, Mixon hasn't exactly lit it up outside of that one game. And CEH has been a lead back in an offense that frankly has not been as potent as in years prior.

Maybe this all ends up as a big nothing. Maybe one player has a stellar season while the other gets hurt. Maybe both suck. Maybe both are great.

But it was certainly an interesting conversation for those of us who are fans of #FantasyFootballEthics.

## Stat Chat

* Duck Punchers has the best record in the league through five weeks for the 5th time in 10 seasons.
* Papa becomes the 8th team to reach 60 combined wins.
* RIP becomes the 6th team to reach 60 regular season losses.
* RIP & Papa have not won back-to-back games against each other since RIPDab won 5-straight from 2015-2017.
* Sweet Dee becomes the last team to score below 200 points this season. Her streak of 4 straight was the longest active in the league. The longest streak of regular season games above 200 is 17.
* Sweet Dee has not scored over 200 points against Shotti since October 2016.

## Matchup Recaps

* Stupid Idiots saves their season with a commanding victory against the reeling Commish (2-3). **Next Matchup: Week 9**
* The Posse reminds the league that he's still the king Papa with a MNF come-from-behind victory against RIPDab (8-9). **Next Matchup: N/A**
* Duck Punchers puts a hurting on Pain Train for the second time this season and moves into 1st place (8-6). **Next Matchup: N/A**
* Ma ma momma said takes advantage of Paddck 9's pumpkin brain and wins their third straight (7-6) **Next Matchup: Week 10**
* The Shotti Bunch refuses to go away and hands Sweet Dee her first loss of 2020 (8-2). **Next Matchup: Week 9**

## Trade Tracker

Funny enough I actually forgot that this is not the first trade in 2020. I was actually part of the first trade, and it was so forgettable I didn't even realize it happened. We might as well track it though, fuck it.

Starts:

* Freeman: 1
* Miller: 1

Will Scotty Miller even get another start? Tune in!

Starts:

* Chark: 1
* Metcalf: 1
* Kelley: 1
* Slayton: 1

Do I need to say anything about this? Does anyone think this is a good deal? Is pregnancy brain finally taking over for Sweet Dee?

Deep breath, it's only been one week. Maybe Chantel knows something we don't. Maybe she went into the future and got the sports almanac and saw that Metcalf pulls a hammy in week 7 or something and Kelley suddenly becomes good at football. Let's just wait and see.

Adding CEH and Mixon to this next week should be a lot of fun.

## Records Through 50 Games

This week Butt hit a milestone of 50 games (regular and post-season combined). Let's see how he stacks up against the rest of the LOC in W/L record through this point in their franchise histories.

### Best Win/Loss Records Through 50 Combined Games

Okay, so not great. But he's not exactly in the worst company. Both Sweet Dee and Paddock 9 have since won championships.

What does Butt have to look forward to? Here is the W/L list of all those teams in games 51-100 of their LOC franchise histories:

## The Greatest Game - Week Five

Week five of 2020 gave us yet another photo finish as an injured Keenan Allen opened the door for late lineup addition Mike Williams to go off against RIPDab. With 3 TDs between him and Hunter Henry, Papa's Posse got a much-needed victory to keep their playoff hopes alive. But was it enough to earn a spot among the greats?

### 2011 - Paddock 9 vs. bob's bananas

* Final Score: 151.07-148.10
* Why it's Nominated: The Fantasy Gods emerge as a powerful force in the LOC after a collusion plot between bob's bananas and GregCincoDos is foiled. Meanwhile, Paddock 9 would not win another game after forgetting to set their lineup.

   This game has to be nominated, and not for the same reason as the others. In fact, this game may also qualify as a "worst game of all-time." The teams combined for less than 300 points, something virtually unheard of in the LOC. The QB matchup was Josh Freeman vs. Jay Cutler, and in a league where the best guys were scoring over 100 a game, Freeman somehow only managed 16.67. Not only did Paddock 9 not set his lineup (two players were on a bye), but one of the flex spots was left completely empty. Bob's bananas also had two bye players starting. P9 left 97 points on his bench and BB left 126. So why is this game so special? Because the Fantasy Gods know no bounds.

Bob's bananas had just been foiled in a collusion plot with GregCincoDos, then the worst team in the LOC. This wasn't your basic trade-good-players-for-picks scenario. Bob and Greg really tried to trade three bad players for three great players, and expected no one to notice or care. They were caught, defeated, and both essentially quit the league mid-season in protest.

But Paddock 9 also needed to be punished for their actions. By not setting their lineup, they had awoken angry forces. Paddock 9, then 2-3, finished the season 2-11 and then went 0-3 in the consolation tournament, finishing with a never-to-be-beaten record of 2-14.

### 2014 - Pain Train vs. Paddock 9

* Final Score: 187.69-187.63
* Why it's Nominated: A rivalry is born in a matchup that would lead to scoring reforms after Steven Gostowski puts up 28 points in Pain Train's 0.06-point victory.

Three years later, Paddock 9 once again finds himself facing Jay Cutler in week five. This time, the QB duel favors Paddock as Russ Wilson outscores Cutler 51.69-32.21. But Paddock 9, then named "The Show Offs," would not taste victory this time around. Pain Train did not have himself a great day. Six of his 11 starters scored under 8 points, including 3.98 from Montee Ball and 1.80 from a washed up Chris Johnson. Surely, the magic of the 2013 campaign had worn off for Pain Train. Gone were the days of Peyton Manning and the trio of Johnson's. But despite a roster of has-beens and nobodies, Pain Train still managed 44.20 from Andre Ellington and then an amazing 28 points from kicker Steven Gostkowski. This was back when a 30-yard kick was worth 5 points, and a 40+ was worth 6.

Kickers have always been a hot button issue in the LOC, with a recent poll looking to abolish them from the sport (I wish, but people voted to keep them). Yet the game turned on Monday night, when Paddock 9 had Wilson, Alfred Morris, and Seattle Defense all playing with a chance for a comeback victory. The play that defined the game? A reception by Alfred Morris in the 3rd quarter. The one point reception was off-set by a two yard loss, a deduction of 0.2 points. Had Morris not gained a yard, or only lost one yard, Paddock 9 would have won. Instead, the two-yard loss was the difference between victory and defeat for Paddock 9.

Kicker reform took place at the end of the 2014 season as a result of this and other games with similar high-scoring kickers.

## Power Rankings

### 1(1). Duck Punchers

For the second year in a row, Duck is 4-1 and sitting atop the standings. The difference is in 2019 he was just the 4th highest scoring team, while this year he is the top scorer by close to 100 points over RIPDab.

### 2(3). Paddock 9

Over 200 for the fourth straight week now, tied for the longest active streak, P9 was a start/sit decision away from being 4-1 and off to their best start in franchist history. Up next? a get-right matchup with Garoppoblow Me.

### 3(5). RIPDab

Another team that moves up despite a loss this week, RIPDab is the league's 2nd highest scoring team and had victory in hand until a precautionary sit of Keenan Allen mid-game cost them the MNF victory. They'll get the streaking momma in week six.

### 4(7). The Stupid Idiots

Maybe losing Chubb didn't put an end to the season, after all. They should easily get to .500, even if they do forget to add a kicker.

### 5(2). Sweet Dee

This was about the worst week you could have if you're Sweet Dee. The team loses DK Metcalf and Dak Prescott, the latter loss immediately devaluing Amari Cooper, and then on top of that the Chargers bye week moved up to week 6 so now one of the players they traded Metcalf for isn't even playing this week. And both other players involved in that trade are game-time decisions. And it's their biggest game of the season, against first place Duck Punchers. You just hate to see it.

### 6(8). Ma ma momma said

How does this team have the longest active win streak in the LOC? Now they add Joe Mixon to the mix after the #BellGate trade.

### 7(6). Pain Train

I don't know what to make of this team after all that has transpired, but their performance this week was really lackluster. They need to get everyone back healthy and then we'll see, and they need to do it fast.

### 8(10). Papa's Posse

The thing I love most about Papa's Posse is that the team has so much heart, and they have a great locker room. The guys in there want to play for Papa. They define grit.

### 9(4). Garoppoblow Me

A four-game losing streak for just the third time in franchise history, GBM needs this win more than anything and they are without Alvin Kamara/Michael Thomas. It's going to be really tough to not start 1-5, at which point they at least need to go 5-2 in order to make the playoffs.

### 10(9). The Shotti Bunch

Let's list all the players currently on Shotti's roster that are not able to play this week due to injury or bye: Melvin Gordon, Latavious Murray, Le'Veon Bell, Emmanual Sanders, Josh Jacobs, Drew Brees, Sterling Shepard. Should be a fun week for him.

## Matchup of the Week - Dee vs. Duck

Dodge, duck, dee, dive, and dodge. Just two weeks ago we were looking forward to this matchup of unbeatens, wondering if it would be 5-0 vs. 5-0. Well, it's 4-1 vs. 4-1, which is just as good, but the air has been let out of the room a bit with the loss of Dak Prescott. Duck is favored by over 20 points, but he has Wilson and Lockett on a bye, so his team isn't at full strength either. It should still be exciting, as the winner takes first place. And this is still fantasy football, so you never know what could happen.