Ten managers, one collective blackout
Week 6 was the ugliest week this league has produced. Teams averaged 122.20 points, almost 17 below the previous low of 138.88 from Week 2. Corey had the week's high score at 139.56. That would have been below the league average in Weeks 1, 4 and 5. Every earlier weekly high cleared 170. Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami and Minnesota were all on bye, which explains some of it. It doesn't explain the rest.
The NFL made things hard. Lamar Jackson missed a second straight game with his ankle. Jalen Hurts is done for the season with blood clots. Kansas City ruled out Rashee Rice on Friday, two full days before kickoff. Cam Skattebo got six snaps and zero touches in the Giants' loss to the Saints. That should have been a week for careful managers. Instead, Grant started Rashee Rice anyway.
The worst part is how many of these losses were self-inflicted. Two teams lost with a winning lineup sitting on their own bench. Zach left 25.10 points there and lost by 1.94. Grant had the week's best player and its best QB, then started a receiver his own NFL team had ruled out two days earlier. Zach lost, Dan lost, and Jared's team named after the two of them lost too. Four of the ten teams left at least 12 points on the bench. The playoff picture is wide open, mostly because nobody can get out of their own way.
Scoreboard 5 games · tap a stat for the chart
Game of the week · decided by 1.94
Sloppy SteaksChris · 3-3
118.74
Just Joshin’ YaZach · 3-3
116.80
Zach leads the league in points and still found a way to lose to the team ranked eighth. DeVonta Smith (20.5) and Luther Burden (17.5) sat on his bench while Denzel Boston (2.5) and MarShawn Lloyd (1.0) started. His best possible lineup was 141.90, which would have been the top score in the league. Instead he lost to a team he outscores by 145 points on the season. Just Joshin’ Ya? Nobody's laughing, Zach.
Chris set a perfect lineup. Matthew Golden led Sloppy Steaks with 22.4, and kicker Matt Gay added 12 in a game decided by under two. That's three straight wins after an 0-3 start, and the least-wasted bench in the league this season. The Steaks are sloppy in name only.
Blowout of the week
CeeDanzNutz69Kevin · 3-3
136.92
troth19Tristan · 3-3
85.26
Tristan started 3-0. Three weeks later he's 3-3 and coming off the lowest score of the week. Cam Skattebo was in his lineup and got six snaps and no touches. Bijan Robinson ran nine times for 61 yards and lost eight yards receiving, for 7.3 points. Kyle Pitts scored 23.0 on the bench. Kirk Cousins threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns on the bench, good for 19.52. Even Tristan's best possible lineup, 114.76, loses this game by 22. That's not bad luck. That's a bad roster.
Kevin didn't need to be good, and he was anyway. Jaxon Smith-Njigba scored 25.4 and George Kittle added 17.9. He still left DK Metcalf's 20.3 on the bench, and it didn't matter at all. The team name is still the worst thing about CeeDanzNutz69.
Top score of the week
Ayatollah Ka’imiCorey · 4-2
139.56
Zach & Dan’s Sex SnuggieJared · 3-3
120.36
Corey named his team after a kicker, and the kicker delivered. Ka’imi Fairbairn closed out Houston's 34-31 win in London and put up 11 points here. C.J. Stroud threw for 312 yards and three scores, good for 23.98. Kenneth Walker ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns, good for 27.9. First place, top score, no notes.
Jared set a perfect lineup and still lost by 19. Tyler Shough and Michael Penix gave him 50 points at QB. His running backs, Derrick Henry and Tyler Allgeier, combined for 10.80. Davante Adams left Sunday's game with a non-contact leg injury and is now listed out. Jared named his team after Zach and Dan, and this week it played like both of them.
The name didn’t age well
Jeffstein IslandJeff · 4-2
136.48
Gonna TetTee fuck JeffDan · 2-4
122.22
Dan renames his team every week after whoever he's playing. This week it was Jeff, and Jeff won by 14. The name is now 2-4 at predicting the future. So is Dan. Consider "Gonna TetTee Lose to Jeff." It's accurate.
Dan made seven roster moves this week, more than anyone. He shuffled tight ends all week, settled on Juwan Johnson Sunday morning, and got 0.0. Then he cut Johnson this morning. Stefon Diggs (16.4) sat on the bench. Lamar Jackson, his other QB, missed a second straight week. James Cook did his job with 153 scrimmage yards. Nobody else showed up.
Jeff, meanwhile, keeps winning without scoring. Malik Nabers (28.5) and Drake Maye (23.8) led the way. The KC defense scored 16, the best of any defense that was started. Jeff is 4-2 with the fewest points in the league. Whatever's happening on that island, it's working.
Started an inactive player
Gibb It To Me BabyJohn · 3-3
125.66
GrantCarawayGrant · 2-4
120.02
Kansas City ruled Rashee Rice out on Friday. Grant started him on Sunday. He scored zero. Marvin Harrison put up 6.4 on Grant's bench, and that one swap would have won the game by 0.76. Christian McCaffrey scored 30.7, the most of anyone this week, and Trevor Lawrence added 28.34. Both were wasted. This is the one loss this week that waivers could have fixed. Tre Tucker was unowned, averaging 10.36 a game to Rice's 9.50, and scored 26.7.
John started A.J. Brown in his first game back from injured reserve. Brown caught three passes for 27 yards on 10 targets. John won anyway, which tells you everything about Grant's afternoon. Bhayshul Tuten led Gibb It To Me Baby with 24.7, and John took the gift.
The breakdown week 6 + season
Points scored vs. points left on the bench
This is each team's actual score plus the points it could have added by starting its best possible lineup. Two losses, Zach's and Grant's, would have been wins. Tristan left the most on the bench and would still have lost.
ScoredLeft on bench
CeeDanzNutz69
136.92 +17.92
Ayatollah Ka’imi
139.56 +5.20
Just Joshin’ YaBest lineup wins
116.80 +25.10
Jeffstein Island
136.48 +2.70
Gonna TetTee fuck Jeff
122.22 +12.80
Gibb It To Me Baby
125.66 +5.10
GrantCarawayBest lineup wins
120.02 +6.40
Zach & Dan’s Sex Snuggie
120.36 +0.00
Sloppy Steaks
118.74 +0.00
Where the points came from
These are Week 6 starter points by position group. Jared got 50.06 from QBs and just 10.80 from RBs. Grant got 14.10 from WR and TE combined, the least in the league. That's what happens when one of your receivers is inactive.
QBRBWR/TEK/DEF
Gonna TetTee fuck Jeff
122.22
Zach & Dan’s Sex Snuggie
120.36
Every week this season, by team
Each dot is one week's score. The orange dot is Week 6, and the dashed line is this week's league average of 122.20. Three teams posted their season low: Zach's, Jared's and Tristan's. Zach leads the league in points and just put up his worst week.
Earlier weeksWeek 6
Luck: actual wins minus expected wins
Expected wins come from the all-play record: how you'd do if you played every team every week. Jeff is 4-2 with the fewest points in the league. Dan and Kevin have played better than their records show.
Zach & Dan’s Sex Snuggie
-0.22
Gonna TetTee fuck Jeff
-0.89
Season bench of shame
This is the total points left on the bench across Weeks 1–6. Tristan has left 107.38, more than his entire Week 6 score. Chris has left the least by far.
Zach & Dan’s Sex Snuggie
99.30
Gonna TetTee fuck Jeff
77.94
Week 6 awards
Player of the weekChristian McCaffrey · 30.7GrantCaraway (Grant). The week's top scorer, wasted in a loss.
Started an inactive playerGrantCarawayGrant started Rashee Rice two days after Kansas City ruled him out. Rice scored zero in a 5.64-point loss.
Bench of shameJust Joshin’ YaZach left 25.10 on the bench in a 1.94-point loss.
Name didn’t age wellGonna TetTee fuck JeffDan played Jeff and lost to Jeff by 14.26.
Waiver heistSloppy SteaksChris claimed Matt Gay after Jeff cut him. Gay scored 12 in a 1.94-point win.
Perfect and pointlessZach & Dan’s Sex SnuggieJared set a perfect lineup and still lost by 19.20.
Matching setZach, Dan & the SnuggieZach lost. Dan lost. The team Jared named after them lost too. Three for three.
Low scoretroth19 · 85.26Tristan went from 3-0 to 3-3, with 29.50 left on the bench.
Waiver wire report week 6
Missed adds
A missed add only counts if, over the weeks before, the free agent had averaged at least as much as the starter he'd have replaced, and Sleeper projected him at least as high that week. Hindsight doesn't count.
GrantCarawayWins by 21.06
AddTre Tucker, WR · 26.7OverRashee Rice · 0.0, ruled out Friday
Wk 1–5 avg 10.36 vs 9.50
That's it, Grant. Every other free-agent boom this week came from someone with no track record. Tommy Tremble (20.6) had averaged 4.80. The Titans defense (22.0) had averaged 3.80. Chad Ryland (19.0) had averaged 8.20. J.J. McCarthy (17.32) had played one game. Nobody gets roasted for missing those.
Waiver winners
Sloppy Steaks · ChrisClaimed Matt Gay after Jeff cut him, and Gay kicked 12 in a 1.94-point win. Chris also dropped Juwan Johnson three days before his 0.0.
CeeDanzNutz69 · KevinSwapped the Jacksonville defense for New England's. NE scored 6.0 and JAX scored 1.0.
Just Joshin’ Ya · ZachGrabbed Tyler Huntley on Saturday to start in Lamar's place, and Huntley scored 13.4. It was the one thing that went right for Zach all week.
Waiver losers
Gonna TetTee fuck Jeff · DanSeven moves, the most in the league, and a net loss. Dan dropped the Washington defense (5.0) for Indianapolis (2.0), then dropped Indianapolis for Carolina (4.0). He cut Romeo Doubs, who scored 11.2. He dropped Pat Freiermuth (3.1) Sunday morning for Juwan Johnson (0.0), then cut Johnson this morning.
Jeffstein Island · JeffJeff swapped Matt Gay for Dominic Zvada and lost 4 points. Then Gay helped Chris beat Zach. The KC defense swap gained back 2.0, but it was still a net loss. Even Jeff's luck has limits.
Ayatollah Ka’imi · CoreyCorey cut Keon Coleman on Wednesday. On Sunday, Coleman caught Josh Allen's record-tying backhanded touchdown and scored 15.9. Tyler Higbee, the Sunday-morning TE fill-in, scored 4.2 and was cut this morning.
Just Joshin’ Ya · ZachHis claim on the Jacksonville defense was reasonable, since JAX had averaged 9.0. It scored 1.0 against Houston, which is a bad result, not a bad decision.
Grab these before Week 7
Geno SmithAdj 17.01
QB · NYJWk 7 vs MIA
Good matchupMIA allows the 8th-most points to QBs (19.4 a game)
Sleeper proj 16.14Matchup-adjusted 17.01
For Zach, who dropped him this week, and for Dan. Best QB on waivers, and the matchup helps.
Pat FreiermuthAdj 10.94
TE · PITWk 7 at NO
Good matchupNO allows the 7th-most points to TEs (17.9 a game)
Sleeper proj 9.67Matchup-adjusted 10.94
For Corey, with Tyler Warren out and Brenton Strange on bye. Yes, the guy Dan dropped Sunday. Juwan Johnson projects higher (10.69), but Pittsburgh's defense is a neutral matchup, and New Orleans is a good one.
Germie BernardAdj 11.48
WR · PITWk 7 at NO
Neutral matchupNO allows the 16th-most points to WRs (31.8 a game)
Sleeper proj 11.54Matchup-adjusted 11.48
For Grant, with Rice out and Brian Thomas on bye.
J.K. DobbinsAdj 10.32
RB · DENWk 7 at ARI
Neutral matchupARI allows the 14th-fewest points to RBs (20.4 a game)
Sleeper proj 10.54Matchup-adjusted 10.32
For Jared, whose RBs scored 10.80.
NYJ D/STAdj 10.90
DEF · NYJWk 7 vs MIA
Great matchupMIA allows the 5th-most points to defenses (10.4 a game)
Sleeper proj 8.63Matchup-adjusted 10.90
For anyone streaming a defense. Miami's offense has been one of the easiest for opposing defenses all season.