He outscored almost the whole league and still lost
Greg Leite's big week ran into an even bigger Snap.
Week two proved a hard truth: a great score buys nothing against a better one, and a bad decision costs points whether or not it costs the game. The Snap posted the league's best number. Two other teams built winning lineups and never used them. One manager followed his own advice to the letter and won anyway, 32.74 points he never needed.
🏆 WINNER OF THE WEEK — Drew Richardson (The Snap)
Drew Richardson's The Snap scored the week's best number, 159.42, finishing 25.9 points over its own projection. Jaxon Smith-Njigba delivered 42.5 of those, the league's best output from any player this week, and Drew's total now sits at a league-best 321.18 for the season. That's not a fluke; that's a ceiling.
💀 LOSER OF THE WEEK — Kevin Gaffney (Mean Machine)
Kevin Gaffney's Mean Machine put up the week's low score, 86.32, and lost by the smallest margin the league offers, 0.98. He started Malik Nabers's 1.1 over Caleb Douglas's 3.9, a swap that alone would have won the game. He also sat his own kept running back, Quinshon Judkins, and his 9.8, behind Jeremiyah Love's 7.5. Kevin Gaffney, at what point does the bench become the safer play?
| Final | Margin |
|---|---|
| The Snap 159.42, YAC_all_day 119.52 | 39.9 |
| Chase to Witch Mountain 132.72, Hail Mary Poppins 94.46 | 38.26 |
| 4*TOWN AND GOAL 116.68, The Empire Strikes Backfield 101.2 | 15.48 |
| Redcoats 118.08, For The Birds 97.14 | 20.94 |
| Don't Sweat The Technique 87.3, Mean Machine 86.32 | 0.98 |
Mathew Clark's Redcoats banked a first recorded win in that pile of finals, 118.08 to 97.14, and it counts in the standings exactly as much as the Snap's rout did.
Greg Leite's Week That Wasn't Enough
Greg Leite's YAC_all_day scored 119.52, enough to outscore seven of the nine other teams in the league this week. Only two scores were higher, and one of them was standing across from him: Drew Richardson's Snap, at 159.42, for a beatdown of 39.9. Outscoring almost the whole room and still losing is a special kind of unlucky.
There were real bright spots. Josh Allen, the first non-keeper quarterback off Greg's board, scored 40.82, and James Cook III, kept at a round-two cost, put up 20.9. But Rachaad White's 14.3 sat on the bench while Bijan Robinson, the round-one keeper, started for only 11.1. Greg's projected draft rank slipped from fifth to eighth after the week — a projection, not a verdict, but back-to-back losses either way.
| # | Team | W-L | GB | PF | Streak | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Snap | 2-0 | — | 321.2 | W2 | — |
| 2 | Chase to Witch Mountain | 2-0 | — | 292.7 | W2 | — |
| 3 | 4*TOWN AND GOAL | 2-0 | — | 257 | W2 | ▲1 |
| 4 | For The Birds | 1-1 | 1 | 240.1 | L1 | ▼1 |
| 5 | Redcoats | 1-1 | 1 | 217.6 | W1 | ▲2 |
| 6 | Don't Sweat The Technique | 1-1 | 1 | 215.4 | W1 | — |
| 7 | The Empire Strikes Backfield | 1-1 | 1 | 206.7 | L1 | ▼2 |
| 8 | YAC_all_day | 0-2 | 2 | 217.8 | L2 | — |
| 9 | Hail Mary Poppins | 0-2 | 2 | 185.4 | L2 | — |
| 10 | Mean Machine | 0-2 | 2 | 163.6 | L2 | — |
That loss keeps YAC_all_day at 0-2. Three teams share the league's best record at 2-0: Drew's Snap, David Andreassen's Chase to Witch Mountain, and Jim Gascon's 4*TOWN AND GOAL. The Snap has the most points of the three, 321.18, not the only team on top of the standings.
David Andreassen Took the Desk's Advice Literally
Last week's Blitzboard told David Andreassen to play his bench, after Chase to Witch Mountain won while stranding 70.76 points and started Dak Prescott's 14.4 over Caleb Williams's 37.26. He'd already swapped David Montgomery into the flex for this week, and we said so approvingly. Forty-five minutes after that edition landed at 2:21 on Tuesday, David benched Prescott for Williams at 3:07, then benched his own keeper, Tetairoa McMillan, twenty-two seconds after that.
It backfired completely. Caleb Williams scored 7.72 in the lineup while Dak Prescott sat for 29.76 on the bench, 22.04 points the wrong way. David Montgomery's flex return was 4.4; Tetairoa McMillan produced 15.1 doing nothing for the lineup, 10.7 more the wrong way. Between the two calls, David Andreassen benched 32.74 points he did not need, against a legal ceiling of 165.46.
He won anyway. Chase to Witch Mountain scored 132.72 to Kristen Ginter's Hail Mary Poppins 94.46, a margin of 38.26 and the Belt's first successful defense. Jonathan Taylor's 29.2 and Ja'Marr Chase's 26.5 did the carrying — the same Chase who gave him only 3.2 in week one.
Even Hail Mary Poppins had a better lineup sitting right there, 117.86, with 23.4 points left unused, and it still would have lost. David Andreassen, you can stop taking our advice so literally. The roster was right before we ever opened our mouths.
- 🏆 Top Score: The Snap — 159.42
- 🚽 Toilet Bowl: Mean Machine — 86.32
- 🔨 Beatdown: The Snap over YAC_all_day by 39.9
- 😰 Photo Finish: Don't Sweat The Technique over Mean Machine by 0.98
- 📈 Overachiever: The Snap, +25.9 over projection
- 📉 Faceplant: Don't Sweat The Technique, -34.9 under projection
- 🪑 Bench of the Week: 4*TOWN AND GOAL left Davante Adams (39.5) on the bench
- ⭐ Player of the Week: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (42.5) — started by The Snap
- 🥊 The Belt: Chase to Witch Mountain — defended against Hail Mary Poppins, 132.72 to 94.46 (1 straight defense)
The week's actual worst bench call belongs to Jim Gascon, who sat Davante Adams's 39.5 points and won anyway, 116.68 to 101.2 — proof that not every mistake costs you the week.
Steven Ginter's Thursday Plan Never Changed
Steven Ginter told us his The Empire Strikes Backfield lineup gets locked in on Thursday. This week, Thursday's plan still had Jadarian Price's five points parked in the flex over Denzel Boston, who scored 20.5 in the slot left empty for him. Swapping the two adds 15.5 points, turning 101.2 into a hypothetical 116.7 — one tick above Jim Gascon's winning 116.68.
Instead, the Empire Strikes Backfield fell, 101.2 to 116.68, a margin of 15.48. CeeDee Lamb, the first non-keeper receiver off Steven's own draft board, put up 35.3, more than enough to cover the gap Denzel Boston left behind. Steven Ginter, if Thursday's the day the Empire Strikes Backfield's lineup gets set, Thursday needs a rule: don't bench a twenty-point receiver for five.
Harold Jimenez Stole One on Monday
Harold Jimenez's Don't Sweat The Technique needed all the way to Monday to scrape together 87.3, a number 34.9 under its own projection and this week's Faceplant. Harold trailed 79 to 85.22 heading into the finale, and Isaiah Likely's 8.3 flipped it, sealing a Photo Finish, 87.3 to 86.32. Harold opened the season as the defending champion and Belt holder, then lost it to David Andreassen in week one, 160 to 128.06; Monday's escape keeps his own record from sliding further the wrong way.
Next week's title fight sends the Belt to Redcoats territory: David Andreassen defends against Mathew Clark, with no prior meeting on record between them. If David holds, that's two straight defenses; if Mathew wins, the Belt changes hands for the second time in three weeks.
The Snap meets Jim Gascon's 4*TOWN AND GOAL in a clash of two-game win streaks, series tied 1-1 — one team leaves 3-0, the other drops to 2-1. Kristen Ginter's Hail Mary Poppins tries to avoid an 0-3 start against Harold Jimenez's Don't Sweat The Technique, series tied three-three.
Dylan McGinty's For The Birds gets a shot at Greg Leite, who's lost two straight, while Steven Ginter's Empire Strikes Backfield and Kevin Gaffney's Mean Machine run back a series tied two-two. Four starters league-wide are listed out or worse, and For The Birds already has two of them — check your lineup before Sunday.
Same time next week. Set your lineups.