2018 Power Rankings-Week 8

## Introduction & Glory Bowl VIII Logo Reveal

Folks, it's week eight of the LOC fantasy season and we are in the year of our "Lord" 2018 and this is the eighth season of the league's existence. The devil's number is 666, but Glorio's number is 888. Little known fact. Only fitting that this is Halloween week in the LOC. Very sppoooooky. Only right that since we're in a week of eights that I unveil the logo for this year's Glory Bowl VIII.

The theme this year is "Diamonds are Infinite." Earlier this year we unveiled the LXC slogan, "Dynasties are Forever," and we continue that here in the LOC. The theme honors Nate and Chantel's marriage and is a way to honor this year's winner, who gets the championship ring (diamond) and glory that will last forever in the annals of LOC history. To put the cherry on top, the symbol for "infinity" looks an awful lot like an 8 on its side, and so this is just another way to honor the eighth season of the LOC. Without further adieu, our Glory Bowl VIII logo.

BEHOLD!

These patches will be worn on all the jerseys of the fantasy players partaking in the game. I cannot wait to see how fresh this looks on Alvin Kamara's chest. Also sort of unbelievable that I put more effort in to my fantasy league's championship logo than the NFL does. I mean how long do you think it takes them to come up with the logo each year? Five minutes? What the fuck is this shit?

That's insulting. The Super Bowl 51-53 logos are literally copy-and-paste jobs and they just played with the color wheel for the "Super Bowl" line.

## Stat Chat

TSB breaks the record for best record in the first 100 games of a franchise. They are 67-33, beating Browns record of 62-38 set last season. Next to hit 100 would be Sweet Dee, who already sits at 53 losses through 82 games. Papa holds the record for most losses through 100 games with 59.

Another rare phenomenon occurred this week that may be ushering in the end of 2018’s parity. Every single team is on either a winning streak or losing streak of multiple games.

I can’t remember the last time that’s happened, but considering it required every week 6 winner to face off and beat every week 6 loser, I have to imagine it’s never happened.

## Most Wins Against an Opponent Without a Loss

As we are a few weeks away from 100 regular season games in the LOC, you may have noticed that I'm ramping up the "obscure stat" machine. Well I have another one for you this week. With the win against Bell of da Ball, Browns4You improves to 3-0 against them. It got me to thinking: Who has the most regular season wins against an opponent without a loss? I looked back at all matchups with all teams to find the top records. While most of us have at least one win and one loss against each other, some matchups started out one sided, while one in particular is so one-sided no one will ever be able to beat the record.

What stands out to me is just how dominant Browns4You was in the pre-Shotti Dynasty era. 4-0 starts vs. 3 teams, with the possibility of adding a 4th 4-0 start later this year when they rematch with Bell of Da Ball.

The RIPDab vs. Sweet Dee record is just incredible to me. We'll see if he can extend to 9-0 when the two teams face off next week. Though to make Sweet Dee feel better, they did beat RIP once and it came in the postseason.

## What a Difference a Year Makes

So paddock 9 is once again atop the leaderboard, and Ball seems to have made himself comfy at the bottom. Besides those two, what other differences in the standings are there compared to last season?

Six of ten teams have met or improved on their positions from last season. Some that didn't have taken large falls. GBM finds themselves two spots higher than last year at this time, when they were going through one of the worst stretches in team history. Shotti has dropped four spots, while RIPDab has dropped six. Sweet Dee and Papa improved from 10th and 9th to 5th and 6th, respectively.

## The Rankings

I know I try to do a little Halloween theme every year, so I did come up with a little something. But I can't guarantee that it's going to be a treat. This week's theme is "Losses that Haunt You (so far)."

### 1(1). Paddock 9 (5-2)

Loss that Haunts: The DUI Loss (168.20-168.28 to Pain Train)

P9 is on the best stretch of games in their franchise history. Regardless of this week’s outcome, they are guaranteed to tie their franchise record of 11 straight regular season weeks without back to back losses. Besides that, 5-2 is the best start to the season they have ever had. This is the Jurassic Renaissance. But they are haunted by the ghost of the 0.08 loss to Pain Train in week 3. An extra point kick from Dan Bailey and they'd be at 6-1, while their rival would be in 6th place instead of 2nd.

### 2(7). WhatCanBrownsDo4You (4-3)

Loss that Haunts: The Fitzmagic Finale (234.11-235.13 to GBM)

Browns have now followed a three game losing streak with a VERY convincing three game winning streak. Yahoo has them projected to finish the season 5-1 and go into the Festival with the one-seed. All the success they've had, and now they get to avenge the game that has haunted them for over a month. In week 3, Fitzpatrick gave GBM the win with his last completion of the game by throwing a 40+ yard TD to Mike Evans. The TD was the final moment (for now) of Fitzmagic, as he was benched the following week. That pass falls and Browns4You is in first place.

### 3(4). Garoppoblow Me (4-3)

Loss that Haunts: The Monday Night Meltdown (207.78-216.69 to Pain Train)

A much needed convincing win to get back on track before the toughest matchup of the season in week eight. Drake might finally be firing on all cylinders and the rest of the guys are getting back in shape, so GBM is in a much better place than they were a year ago. That being said, GBM is still haunted by bad QB play. The worst of it, so far, was in week two when Russell Wilson tallied 6 sacks, one pick six, and one lost fumble, a total of negative-11 points in a game that GBM would lose by 8.91 points.

### 4(8). Pain Train WOO WOO (5-2)

Loss that Haunts: The Amari Pooper Game (166.98-167.15 to The Shotti Bunch)

Pain Train got the last laugh in the rematch of the 2017 semifinals, where they were put out of their misery by the eventual Glory Bowl runnerup. This PT vs. RIP matchup has always been a high scoring affair. Of the 13 times these two teams have met, RIP and Pain Train have combined to break 400 points ten times. But there was nothing high scoring about the most haunting loss of Pain Train's season (so far). While losing to Papa by less than a tenth of a point a week after trading for Will Fuller V was a rough one, nothing can hurt more than dropping game one of the season to the defending champ when said champ only scores 167 points. Amari Cooper proved to be a huge letdown on MNF, scoring 8.60 points and costing Pain Train the win by 0.17.

### 5(5). The Shotti Bunch (4-3)

Loss that Haunts: The Third Annual Regular Season Revenge Game (225.15-269.06 to RIPDab)

TSB has made the semifinals every season of his career, including 2014 when they started a franchise worst 3-4. While their wins this season haven't been exactly Shotti-like, and they rank just 8th in scoring, we all know they just need to make the Festival and it could be game over. While Shotti has the largest margin of defeat in the league, their loss to RIPDab has to leave a bad taste in their mouth. For three years, RIP has been enacting revenge in the regular season coming off playoff losses. The tradition continued in 2018.

### 6(6). Papa's Posse (4-3)

Loss that Haunts: The Alfred Morris Game (149.98-163.80 to Garoppoblow Me)

One of those rare fantasy performances that is shared by players nationwide, the Alfred Morris game will live forever thanks to Matthew Berry's epic rant. Expected to be the lead back, Alfred Morris became the RB3 at gametime when Breida was a surprise Go and some guy Mostart that no one's ever heard of ended up taking RB2 duties. Morris didn't get a single point. The nail in the coffin is that both GBM and PP wanted Morris and Papa beat him to it. The first of two straight losses, Papa needs to right the ship against ailing RIPDab.

### 7(3). RIPDab (2-5)

Loss that Haunts: The "Why Would You Start Buffalo Defense" Game (209.33-227.38 to Pain Train)

When it’s bad it’s awful. RIPDab is on his longest losing streak since 2014, when he lost 7 straight games. At 2-5, the team has already surpassed their loss total from last season (4). Dab has benched the win numerous times this season, most notably in their week five 5 point loss to Paddock 9 when they left 72 points on their bench. But last week's loss to Pain Train has to hurt. After shitting on Buffalo all week long, Dab opted to start their defense against a Colts offense that ranks 13th in passing offense. Over half a dozen FA defenses would have done the trick for RIP, including a Denver defense that owned and dropped on October 9th.

### 8(2). Sweet Dee (3-4)

Loss that Haunts: The Gordon Game (184.31-188.17 to The Shotti Bunch)

The Dee/Pain Train trade continues to provide drama in 2018. The same week that Pain Train loses Will Fuller for the season (could still finish 1st in Texans receiving, Watson loves him so much), Royce Freeman is hurt (not injured) and will miss some time. Shotti isn’t exactly the ideal matchup when you’re trying to get your team out of a rut, and while losing two in a row doesn’t scream tailspin, losing four of the last five almost qualifies. But this last one should have been a win. Shotti didn't realize the Chargers were playing in the London game and didn't swap out Gordon (O) in time. With a goose-egg in his lineup, Dee still couldn't capitalize. She's benched Larry Legend for T.Gabriel. Gabriel scored 6, his lowest total of the season, while Larry scored 15, his second most of the season.

### 9(10). ma ma momma said (2-5)

Loss that Haunts: The Alfred Morris Game...Again (246.24-249.04 to The Shotti Bunch)

After winning six of their first seven against GBM, momma has now lost three of the last four. While the tide shifts in this storied rivalry, momma’s focus must now shift to Sweet Dee, against whom they are a whopping 8-2. You might notice that Shotti is haunting the fuck out of half the league at this point. Three close wins for the reigning champ, wins that should have been losses. Matt Breida wasn't expected to play all week, so momma had no choice but to start Sammy Watkins (3.93 points). Turns out Breida was fine and scored 18.53 points on Monday Night Football. In case Papa forgot, Alfred Morris scored 0.

### 10(9). Bell of Da Ball (2-5)

Loss that Haunts: The Whole Season

Bell has gone ahead and beaten last year's first and second place teams, but lost to all three of the consolation teams from 2017. Bell is trying to survive by picking up the backups of all the injured players across the league, but it's just not tranlating to wins. It's at the point now where Le'Veon coming back is too little too late. Bell needs to go 5-1 to guarantee a playoff spot and 4-2 to have a chance at one. They need this win more than anyone in the LOC this week.

## Matchups of the Week

From top to bottom, this is one of the best week's of matchups so far this season.

GBM vs. Browns4You are two of the highest scoring teams in the LOC. Earlier this year, GBM won the Fitzmagic game. Since then, Browns has amped up their dominance and sits in 3rd place with the most points scored int he league. Can GBM pull an upset and put themselves in 3rd place or higher?

8th vs. 6th doesn't sound exciting, but it is. RIPDab and Papa are both on losing streaks that absolutely need to end. Papa was in first place two weeks ago and they are cascading. RIP is on the verge of losing his entire seaseon. One of these teams is in huge trouble after this week. The other breathes a sigh of relief.

Momma said and Sweet Dee are in the same boat. Two consolation teams fighting to not tie the LOC record of most consecutive seasons missing the Festival of Champions. Sweet Dee is still playing very well and narrowly missed a W last week, but the results are the results. They are having another typical October and cannot shake the patented Dee Drop that has plagued them their whole career. This is the week they show they aren't going anywhere just yet. Or momma keeps playoff hopes alive by breaking their three game losing streak.

Two powerhouses go at it in the 1st vs. 5th battle between new blood and reigning champ. Paddock 9 is projected to win this rematch of the week two beatdown he handed The Shotti Bunch, but has some problems in his flex spot. Shotti has been scraping by and could be due for a big one, but QB matchups are weak and he's out his two best RBs. Shotti has not lost two games to the same team in one season since 2014, when he lost twice to both Pain Train and Browns4You. In case you're curious, it has happened just three times total for Shotti. The third time was in 2012, to Pat's ex-girlfriend.

Finally, Pain Train vs. Bell of Da Ball. This is a big prove yourself game for both teams. Bell needs to prove that he's still fantasy relevant. Pain Train needs to take care of business or he will face the noise yet again claiming his team isn't for real. PT has already made a grave mistake in benching Will Fuller and his 36 points.