Week 3 Recap – 2014

We’re now 3 weeks into the season and amazingly we still have 4 undefeated teams, which is on par with the 32 team NFL.  We’ll lose at least one more in Week 4 with a much anticipated Taco Corp Division clash between What Does John Fox Say and Knuckle Ballers.  We also have 3 winless teams, all of which saw themselves as competitors in 2014.  So far there have been quite a few surprises, and I’m sure there will be several more along the way.  We head into 9 weeks of byes to deal with, which I would imagine will make filling out the line up card tough, as we all start reaching for something, anything to plug a hole.

A bit of an aside, but I’m planning on putting all of these Recaps and Commish Reports on a separate website, so we can keep the league history in a spot that’s easier for me to manage.  As part of that, I am hoping to get a buddy that does some design stuff to fab up a bunch of team logos, as well as a league logo to spruce up the site a little.  With that, I want to make sure everyone is cool with their name going forward, and once you’ve decided on one, we won’t be allowing changes (although if we did, I’m sure the Fear Boners should have been the Wife Beaters this year).  The only time a franchise name will change, will be if new owners take over.  I’ll give until the end of Week 6 to lock your team name down, and then I’ll finish the set up of the site and hopefully have it ready for the playoffs.

Onto the recap:

Matchups

3-0 Deadly Nagintas (172.04) – 0-3 Long Snappers (122.14)

The Nagintas kept the reeling Snappers out of the win column with a thorough drubbing, which contained lots of ebbs and flows.  The Snappers are going to have to take a serious look in the mirror if the wins don’t start coming soon.  Thankfully for them, no one is running away from the division, and they could be right back in the mix with a couple wins.  The surprising Nagintas are now 3-0 and only 1 point behind the Ballers for the league lead.  They also received some good news this week, as star WR Josh Gordon will return in late november.  If they also get troubled WR Justin Blackmon back in the fold, this WR corps could be scary good.

3-0 Chalupa Batman (203.22) – 0-3 Tom Selleck’s Moustache (155.38)

The Chalupa’s had everything come together this week, having 3 of the top 10 scorers overall, but none bigger than EBFL Offensive Player of the Week, Julio Jones.  With the top score on the week, eclipsing the 200 point mark, the Chalupa’s reach 3-0 and give themselves a bump up the standings.  The Stache on the other hand, just can’t catch a break, facing the top scoring team for the 2nd straight week, and easily having the most points against in the league.  Things don’t get any easier though, as next up is the pissed off San Juan Bananas.

3-0 What Does John Fox Say? (147.00) – 2-1 San Juan Bananas (138.38)

In the matchup of unbeatens, WDJFS knocked off an injury depleted Bananas squad in a low scoring tilt.  Unfortunately they dropped another point to the Knuckle Ballers for the Taco Corp Division lead.  Those 2 head to head matchups will likely have serious playoff seeding implications, as the best a wildcard team can do is 4th seed.  The first one is on tap in Week 4, with Knuckle Ballers missing their 3 big Denver stars.  San Juan hopes to regain their winning form against the Stache.  Will they have Jamaal Charles back in the fold?

1-2 Endzone Dancers (170.02) – 1-2 Greg Schiano is an idiot (149.94)

The Dancers get their first of what they hope is many W’s this season at the expense of the Idiots.  The next few weeks will go a big way in determining if their contenders or pretenders as they face the 2 unbeaten squads from the Senor Crabs Division as well as an underperforming Rex in the City.  Taking 2 of 3 would be huge for the Dancers.  The Idiots are a bit of an enigma currently.  They have some great pieces, but they aren’t getting it done.  Having all of those QB’s rostered may be limiting their options at other positions.  Now that we’re in bye weeks, do they try to leverage their depth there to acquire talent from teams that haven’t adequately prepared for them?

3-0 Knuckle Ballers (192.24) – 0-3 Fear Boners (136.64)

The Ballers keep on rolling, knocking off the reeling Fear Boners in a blowout.  The Ballers have definitely shown they are the team to beat in the EBFL.  They’ve won all 3 matchups and finished top 2 in scoring each week, earning them the max 12 points so far.  This week will be their stiffest test yet though, facing division foe WDJFS without their 3 Denver stars.  The Boners have had a rough start to the season through injury, suspension and general suckiness.  This team is currently a dumpster fire, and if there aren’t some wins soon, the team will likely be holding a fire sale by mid-season.

1-2 Loose Bandits (174.72) – 1-2 Rex in the City (135.98)

The Bandits get the first win in franchise history at the expense of their cross-town rivals.  I don’t think anyone would have predicted this…at least not until Thursday night when Commish left an injured Roddy White in his line up.  The win and the bonus victory points puts Mo a little further from his season goal, the #1 pick in the 2015 draft.  That said, he has to like the direction his team is headed in with a number of big performances from his young stars.  The Rexes need to get their shit together.  They have too good of a team to be languishing near the bottom of the Taco Corp Division.  Their underperforming stars, especially Aaron Rodgers will have to turn it around to see this team playing meaningful Week 14 games.

Week 3 Awards

Offensive Player of the Week

Julio Jones (Chalupa Batman) – Jones (along with the rest of the Falcons) made the Buccaneers his bitch on Thursday night, to the tune of 161 yards and 2 TD’s.

Defensive Player of the Week

Bruce Carter (Fear Boners) – The lone bright spot for the Boners this week, Carter put up solid tackle numbers to go along with a turnover and a score.

Rookie of the Week

Kelvin Benjamin (Greg Schiano is an Idiot) – While he didn’t put up the multiple TD’s, his overall line of 8-118-1 was much more impressive than Matthews.

Goat of the Week

Matthew Stafford (San Juan Bananas) – There were a number of solid choices for the Bananas this week, but Stafford’s 3 turnovers and no scores take the cake.

Pickup of the Week

Jelani Jenkins (Loose Bandits) – It was a toss up between Jenkins and Stanton, but Jenkins gets the nod since 18 point days are rare for defensive players, and he’s likely more useful long term.  Hat tip to Scotty for besting the previous high bid on Niles Paul.

Bench Player of the Week

Pierre Garcon (Knuckle Ballers) – It’s a nice problem to have when you can roll out the squad the Ballers have and still have a performance like this on the bench and it not be a boneheaded coaching move.  Garcon put up 11-138-1 from the sidelines this week.

Bonehead Coaching Move of the Week

Mike Bryce (Rex in the City) – I’m pretty sure it was plastered all over every site that remotely covers football that Roddy White was out on Thursday…not to mention starting Nate Washington against a tough Cinci D when you’re a homer and have Jeremy Kerley sitting there with a banged up Eric Decker.