That's right, it's me... back with another roundup article for all 8 of you to read. I took a bye week last week.... self care. ya know? This may come across as bitter (and it is a little lol), but if you are still hanging around and reading these articles, thank you SO much! There is a lot of time that goes into these so I do appreciate the views. For more content like this check out my Twitter, @ZackFFB!
If you caught last week's podcast, Al and I made a pretty exciting announcement (this is what I was actually up to last week). Given where we are in the scope of the fantasy football season, I am going to skip over a couple of segments here and touch on our brand new venture, M|W Media. This will be a first look of what M|W Media is, and why we are doing it. Don't worry, we will start with some football.
Highs & Lows: Week 13:
Let's give this a shot. One collective segment where I touch on calls I hit/missed, as well as the ups & downs of the NFL throughout the week.
I had a pretty good week of calls. As a guy who doesn't 'victory lap' very often, I do have a few takes that I want to highlight. It has been a frustrating season with plenty of missed calls on my end, so when you get some right you just have to take a minute to appreciate it:
Highs:
I "called" the Washington Football Team upset of the Pittsburg Steelers. That was a spicy take that I didn't even love saying, but I had a feeling, and this time it paid off.
Logan Thomas was my TE start of the week. Logan Thomas finished as the TE 4 in week 13
Photo: minuteformedia.com
Kirk Cousins remains in the flames with another top 10 QB finish. Cousins improves to QB 11 on the year as the Vikings continue to ride the hot hands of Dalvin Cook, Adam Thielen and rookie sensation, Justin Jefferson.
Speaking of Justin Jefferson... Jefferson should be the front-runner for OROY. Jefferson is the WR 4 overall in fantasy football this year, and he is adding his name to the record books along with some of the all time greats. Justin Herbert is fun to watch, James Robinson is a great story of a guy who went from UDFA to stud RB, but what Justin Jefferson is doing is flat out historic, and it should be recognized with OROY honors.
During the pod I mentioned that Corey Davis & A.J. Brown were in good spots vs. Cleveland this week. Brown is the no-brainer, but Davis has had a sneaky good season, highlighted by a WR 1 overall finish in week 13. I wish I would have considered Corey Davis in my Start of the Week picks, so this take is basically you could play Davis vs. you should play Davis... so meh, but still, good for Corey Davis.
Photo: tennesseetitans.com
The New York Giants expose the Seattle Seahawks. This was another marquee upset of week 13. The Giants have now strung together 4 wins and sit atop the NFC East. This is a bad loss for Seattle, but they remain safely in 2nd place in the NFC West due to a 3rd straight Cardinals loss. Seattle's loss gives Green Bay sole possession of the 2 seen if the NFC, one game behind the Saints who currently cling to the 1 seed and the first round playoff bye.
Lows:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, it makes an ass out of both of us." - Shawn Spencer.... Miles Sanders, nay, Philadelphia Eagles... what are we doing, fam? 10 carries and ONE target to your best offensive player? I'm a Packers fan and even I was massively disappointed by this outing from Sanders, especially considering he has been my start of the week for 3 straight weeks now.
Carson Wentz benched in favor of Jalen Hurts. Wentz now becomes the highest paid back up QB in the league by a LOT. It has been an abysmal year for Wentz, and it sucks. I really like the person, but the play we have seen from Carson this year has been down right bad. The Eagles are doing the right thing, and to be honest, they should have made this move sooner. As for Wentz's future with the team his contract makes things very, very interesting.
Photo: skysports.com
The Steelers have to be feelin some type of way right now. For context, this was the 3rd game they have played in 12 days... One could argue the the Steelers have been impacted the most by COVID this season and they have not even had a major outbreak (yet).
Diontae Johnson has the drops... As one of the biggest Diontae guys on #NFLTwitter, you never like to see your dude have the drops. BUT, Diontae still managed to finish as the WR 13 in week 13. Yes, he left some points on the table, but I literally saw people online calling for Diontae to be benched.... Miss me with that.
The Chargers... big yikes... blanked by the Patriots in an absolute smackdown of a game, 45-0. The Patriots defense & special teams was the key to their victory. Cam & Stidham both saw action in this game, neither QB threw for over 70 yards, but Cam accounted for 3 total TD's. The Chargers simply couldn't get anything going... literally, anything. Their unis are still dope though.
Photo: boltbeat.com
Popped Off | Dropped Off
Popped Off:
- QB - Baker Mayfield - QB 3 | 28.7 pts.
25/33 passing / 334 yds. / 4 TD | 4 rush att. / 12 yds.
- QB - Matthew Stafford - QB 5 | 26.0 pts.
27/42 passing / 402 yds. / 3 TD / 1 INT
- RB - David Montgomery - RB 1 | 25.1 pts.
Rushing - 17 att. / 72 yds. / 2 TD | Receiving - 4 rec. / 39 yds.
- RB - Jonathan Taylor - RB 3 | 21 pts.
Rushing - 13 att. / 91 yds. / 0 TD | Receiving - 3 rec. / 4 yds. / 1 TD
- WR - Corey Davis - WR 1 | 29.7 pts.
12 tgt. / 11 rec. / 182 yds. / 1 TD
- WR - Cole Beasley - WR 3 | 23.5 pts.
11 tgt. / 9 rec. / 130 yds. / 1 TD
- WR - Keke Coutee - WR 10 | 18.1 pts.
9 tgt. / 8 rec. / 141 yds. / 0 TD
- TE - Darren Waller - TE 1 | 38.5 pts.
17 tgt. / 13 rec. / 200 yds. / 2 TD
- TE - Logan Thomas - TE 3 | 20.3 pts.
11 tgt. / 9 rec. / 98 yds. / 1 TD
*************
Dropped Off:
- QB - Matt Ryan - QB 22 | 12.9 pts.
19/39 passing / 273 yds. / 1 TD
- QB - Justin Herbert - QB 30 | 4.7 pts.
26/53 passing / 209 yds. / 0 TD / 2 INT
- RB - Derrick Henry - RB 35 | 5.4
Rushing - 15 att. / 60 yds. / 0 TD | Receiving - 1 rec. / 9 yds.
- RB - Raheem Mostert - RB 38 | 4.8
Rushing - 9 att. / 42 yds. / 0 TD | Receiving - 1 rec. / 1 yds.
- WR - Cooper Kupp - WR 35 | 11.3 pts.
9 tgt. / 8 rec. / 73 yds. / 0 TD
- WR - Tyler Lockett - WR 42 | 9.3 pts.
9 tgt. / 6 rec. / 63 yds. / 0 TD
- WR - Keenan Allen - WR 50 | 7.3 pts.
11 tgt. / 5 rec. / 48 yds. / 0 TD
- TE - Noah Fant - TE 17 | 7.7 pts.
7 tgt. / 4 rec. / 57 yds. / 0 TD
- TE - Zach Ertz - TE 26 | 4.1 pts.
4 tgt. / 2 rec. / 31 yds. / 0 TD
M|W Media & What's Next
Al & I are super excited to announce M|W Media (shoutout to my lovely fiancé for help with the name and design!). M|W stands for Maplewood, this is in homage to our college house, 2504 Maplewood Drive, where some of the best memories of my life were made with some of my best friends to this very day. Al & I have always tossed around the idea of "talking sports" beyond our day-to-day conversations. With all of the hurdles that 2020 brought, we saw an opportunity to pursue a dream that was years in the making.
You might be asking yourself "Why"? It's not like A-Z FFB has not turned into some fantasy football powerhouse. You are right. We are still growing and we do have some lofty goals for what we want A-Z FFB to become. So no worries, A-Z FFB isn't going anywhere, as a matter of fact I will still be producing fantasy football related content throughout the offseason, and we will be back and better than ever for the 2021 NFL season.
So why M|W Media? Al & I have been best friends for 7+ years, while fantasy football was literally a foundational part of our friendship, we wanted an outlet to create content about more. Our tag line, "Mostly sports. Always fun" is simple, but exactly what we are striving for with all of our work. M|W Media is going to act as an umbrella for A-Z FFB and our upcoming podcast, Maplewood Happy Hour (MWHH).
We hope that you have gotten to know both Al & I better through the A-Z FFB podcast, but Maplewood Happy Hour is a chance for us to branch out to subject matter beyond fantasy football. Al & I have both found great enjoyment in podcasting (us and the other 4 millions folks who started a podcast in 2020 lol). As much as we enjoy fantasy football, I personally enjoy the time that our podcast allows us to hang out together (virtually of course) each and every week while we create content for you, the listener(s). MWHH always have 'Mostly sports. Always fun.' in mind, this won't be a podcast about nothing, but we do appreciate your patience as we take on another challenge! Come for the sports, stay for the laughs.
Our main goal with Maplewood Happy Hour is to share immersive & engaging conversations amongst friends that give our listeners a chance to hang out with us from wherever they are. When you click play, your happy hour begins, and we can't wait to share that with you. Cheers!
MWHH has not launched yet. We still have fantasy football on the docket! We are tentatively looking to make the transition from A-Z FFB to MWHH before the end of the year, be sure to follow @ZackFFB for updates on all things MWHH as we approach year end. A-Z FFB will continue through the remainder of the fantasy football playoffs, and we have some post-season reactions that we will be working on. MWHH will hit the ground running with some NFL Playoff content. Keep your eyes peeled for MWHH, coming soon.
I know you are probably here for the fantasy football, but fantasy football has led me to some amazing friendships over the years. MWHH is a chance to celebrate community & friendship, so if you enjoy the A-Z FFB Podcast, we hope you will also join in listening to MWHH!
Peace!
Zack Housholder