Week 14

It’s Week 14 of ‘A View from Row Z’, your vaguely informed take on the madcap happenings in the Leytonstoners Bowl Fantasy League. The final week before the playoffs saw the final seedings cemented. A tough end for Reece and a ‘too little too late’ resurgence from Dali, who can’t hear us this week as he is in a cabin in the woods to think about how poor his season has been.

Top Stats - Week 14

Highest Score

Dali’s Salvadors178.64pts

Lowest Score

Leytonstoners77.02pts

Highest Bench Score

Changed Like OchoCinco63.90pts

Highest Scoring Rostered Player

Josh Allen60.88pts

Gillette Mach 3 Award

God Bless Ramerica vs Game of Throws5.67pts

Mind the Gap Award

Dali’s Salvadors vs Leytonstoners101.62pts

So Week 14 closes. I am back from my travels in the Middle East and thanks must go to my co-commissioner, Richard, for a stellar effort. I do feel slightly aggrieved that I didn’t get to write the report on Dali’s first win of the season, but you can’t win them all, as Dali well knows. It was also nice to see Reece in the WhatsApp group pay just as much attention to who was writing as he did with his team selection this season 😏. The ‘regular’ season is over for us now and playoff spots have been decided. Some of us got what we deserved and someone got the luxury of taking their foot off the gas (Richard). The waiver wire was busy, as there was another big BYE week for six teams. It looked like a couple of decent pickups for Andy in Kyler Murray (21.96pts) and CMC’s replacement, Isaac Guerendo (26.8pts). Decent, but not enough. More on that later. But now, the review.

Week 14 Score: Ramma-Lamb-a-Ding-Dong (124.87) // Changed Like OchoCinco (138.73)

This was for sure the game with the most riding on it. Reece came into it needing a win, which he got, but the win needed a 60pt plus differential, which he did not get. A valiant effort, but Matt H secured his spot in the playoffs and took Ramma-Lamb-a-Ding-Dong into the playoffs with a 5-9 record. Another excellent game from Jared Goff (28.02) and CeeDee Lamb (21.40), but the rest of them need to wake up if Matt wants to survive in the playoffs. Reece, hard luck. Your Rookie year was a rollercoaster with a couple of the narrowest results we have ever seen and probably the most commissioner-led assists. I am sure you’ll be hoping to avoid defeat by Dali in the ‘Toilet Bowl’ final in Week 15. Well played Sir! One more week then eyes on next year, yeah? Special quick shout out to Matt, who impressively has the highest PA (1888.16pts) score over the season. Surprising, as I thought Dali would have easily taken that accolade, but the stats do not lie.

Previous Score Week 7: Under the CeeDee (as it was back then) (98.69) // Changed Like OchoCinco (97.98)

Week 14 Score: Multiple Goregasms (160.22) // SnowshufflerJr (116.5)

Another big week from Besty, securing second place with a dominant win over Jen to go 9-5 for the season. He finishes with the highest PF (1937.09pts). Excellent scores from Hurts (27.22) and MASSIVE score from Chase (45.1) were the difference makers here. Well done Besty…enjoy that BYE week and rest up for Week 16. Top job. SnowshufflerJr struggled this week, losing out on that coveted playoff BYE week and 8-6 for the season. Big week from Kyren Williams (23.7) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (19.6) couldn’t turn around a bunch of non-performances from the rest of the team. It looks like an easy first playoff game for Jen against Matt H, but as we know…anything can happen, like Dali actually winning a game. Gotta keep the faith.

Previous Score Week 7: Multiple Goregasms (122.31) // SnowshufflerJr (136.20)

Week 14 Score: God Bless Ramerica (149.03) // Game of Throws (143.36)

Now for my second favourite matchup of the week. Andy and I battling it out for the coveted, if not absolutely insignificant, 4th and 5th places. Whatever the outcome, we were going to play each other in the first round of the playoffs. Thankfully, that outcome was all mine with a frankly ridiculous score by Josh Allen (60.88). I think it was the second-highest individual score in the league so far and it 100% rescued me this week. Sleeper reliably tells me that I have the most efficient team this week and also the narrowest victory. It’s worth mentioning that in the PF/PA tally, I actually have a -0.36 deficit. So basically, I broke even pointwise over the season. Not bad for an 8-6 team placing 4th in the standings. The Game of Throws gang came super close with big scores from the aforementioned Murray and Guerendo, who were picked up in the waivers. The difference maker would have been to play Kupp instead of Evans, but no such luck. We meet again next week in the first round of the playoffs and hopefully, I can dispatch the seasoned fantasy coach easily, to set up a preview of last year's final between Rich and I. Andy, don’t spoil the party 😀.

Previous Score Week 7: God Bless Ramerica (150.57) // Game of Throws (112.19)

Week 14 Score: Dali’s Salvadors (178.64) // Leytonstoners (77.02)

Now. This matchup makes me very happy. Firstly, I get to report on a Dali win for the first time this season. Secondly, I get to report on a 101.62pts loss for Richard, which is always nice, and thirdly, it was an absolute drubbing. Well done to Dali, who has finally found another win and a first versus last giant-killing. Let’s talk about Rich first. If there was an award for taking your eye off the ball then Rich would have won it and selfishly, I want to see this kind of attitude brought through to the playoffs. Not one standout performer- he may put this down to the BYE week, but there’s no room for excuses or charity here. Dali absolutely laid down a marker for next week's Toilet Bowl final, posting a season's best 178.64pts. Standout scores from Tua (27.54), Jacob’s (24.60), the frankly not human Nacua (41.80) and Tyreek (28.10) 😅. Reece must be shaking in his boots at the thought of losing to Dali in the final now. As Rich said, Redemption is spelt D.A.L.I. So it’s all to play for with Darren ‘My Other League’ Ali in Week 15’s standout matchup.

Previous Score Week 7: Dali’s Salvadors (103.98) // Leytonstoners (129.79)

So there we have it, the last week of the regular season and now we get to the real business of the playoffs. Rich and Besty have a BYE, Game of Throws and God Bless Ramerica face each other again and SnowshufflerJr and Matt Hulme’s ‘Who knows what they will be called’ team face one another. It’s the Toilet Bowl matchup that we will all be paying attention to. Can Dali salvage something from his, frankly, appalling season or will Reece redeem his Rookie season, taking some form of silverware? Let’s see…

According to Sleeper, our top picks on the waivers include:

Brock Purdy - QB

Chuba Hubbard - RB

Jauan Jennings - WR

Evan Engram - TE

Justin Tucker - K

Baltimore Ravens - DEF

LET'S GO! (any feedback is very welcome)