by CBS Fantasy Journalist

Mercer Mustangs won their 4th in a row, while New Chester Thorobreds took yet another hit to the loss column. That and more in this week’s Around the League report.

Rolling Along

Coming into the game, Happy Valley Violence were the 2nd highest scoring team during the previous three weeks. They scored a decent amount of points this week, but it wasn’t enough. Coaches Chris Paret, Jeffrey Ozarski, and John Trzeciak’s team could not make it much of a game, losing to Chicago Mud 83.5 to 65.5.

The loss drops Happy Valley Violence to the last spot in the Cappelletti division at 5 – 7. The win makes it three in a row for Chicago Mud, which gives them a 5 – 6 record.

Chicago Mud relied heavily on Miles Sanders, who totaled 25.5 points. That was good for 2nd place among all players this week. The Packers defense had no answer to him on Sunday, who ultimately finished the game with 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Happy Valley Violence had a very balanced lineup, but it was balanced at too low of a level. Daniel Jones was the ‘worst’ player, scoring 8, while Brian Robinson Jr. was the best on the team with 16.(1) Jones’ 8 point performance made him the worst performer on Happy Valley Violence for the first time this year.

Next week, Happy Valley Violence will be playing Miami Muffdivers. The game will have both the league’s top two players, Travis Kelce and Stefon Diggs, on the field.

As for Chicago Mud, they will match up with Big Oregon Bang. Big Oregon Bang will have to put their wide receiver depth to the test in that one, as Marquise Brown has his bye week.

Showstopper

Last year’s playoff loss at the hands of New Chester Thorobreds might still be ringing in Coach David Zilberfarb’s ears, but they got some measure of revenge this week. Frelinghuysen Froglickers got the job done against New Chester Thorobreds, winning 75.5 to 61.

The win gets Frelinghuysen Froglickers back above .500 at 6 – 5. The defeat puts New Chester Thorobreds on a three game losing streak, and puts their record at 6 – 5.

Justin Jefferson separated himself from the rest of the crew on Frelinghuysen Froglickers, scoring 20.5 points. Jefferson’s performance on Thursday night took him from the 7th best player to the 4th best player in the league. He can’t seem to play a game without at least one spectacular catch and finished Thursday’s game with 139 receiving yards and a touchdown.

New Chester Thorobreds, meanwhile, were having a terrible time moving the ball down the field, with the whole team gaining only 291 yards. That was the lowest yards gained total of any team this week.

Frelinghuysen Froglickers and Boxboro Blowfish play next week in a battle for the Cappelletti division lead. Meanwhile, New Chester Thorobreds will be playing Mercer Mustangs. New Chester Thorobreds couldn’t have asked for a much worse time to play Mercer Mustangs, who are coming into the game on a four game winning streak.

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Philadelphia Griffins get to go home happy for the first time in five weeks. They slid by Boxboro Blowfish, winning 101.5 to 97. In addition to the win, Philadelphia Griffins completed their 3rd straight game of scoring more points than the week before.

After suffering their first back-to-back losses of the season, Boxboro Blowfish sits at 6 – 4 – 1. The win brings Philadelphia Griffins to 4 – 7.

Philadelphia Griffins, who were the underdog in this matchup, got off to a so-so start early. Brandon McManus and Jakobi Meyers both did poorly, together coming up with only 7.5 points. Underperforming is the new normal for Meyers, who has gone three straight games without hitting his projected point total.

While Philadelphia Griffins were playing well, Boxboro Blowfish were really cooking. Chris Godwin carried the water, scoring 20 points. Godwin only failed to catch one of his 13 targets and finished the game with 110 receiving yards and this incredibly close touchdown.

Boxboro Blowfish would have done even better on Sunday if not for a poor effort from Dameon Pierce (8.1 points below expected). Pierce only rushed five times for eight yards and brought in six targets for another eight on Sunday.

Going into late Sunday, our projections gave Philadelphia Griffins only a 4.6% chance of winning. Coach Nicholas Fisher’s squad blew those projections out of the water. Three players for Philadelphia Griffins beat their projections, with Josh Jacobs scoring 29.3 points more than expected. It was enough to give Philadelphia Griffins an unlikely victory.

Easy Does It

Neither Big Oregon Bang or Dallas Armadillos will get to go home satisfied, as they wound up in a 80.5 to 80.5 tie. The tie puts Big Oregon Bang’s record at 6 – 4 – 1, and Dallas Armadillos’ record at 6 – 4 – 1.

Big Oregon Bang would have certainly lost without the big effort from Nick Chubb, who put up 16.5 points. Chubb rushed for 116 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, becoming the first Brown to rush for 1,000+ yards in four consecutive seasons since the legendary Jim Brown in the process.

Big Oregon Bang also got a big effort from D.J. Moore (10.2 points above expected). Moore’s performance this week stopped his three game streak of not meeting his projections.

The tie would have been more bearable, but Big Oregon Bang also had to deal with a key player going down. Travis Etienne left Sunday’s game after just two carries, but it appears the running back avoided a more serious injury.

Dallas Armadillos, meanwhile, were relying on the efforts of Tee Higgins, who dropped 17.5 points. Higgins’ performance led Dallas Armadillos for the 2nd time this year.

Next week, Big Oregon Bang will take on the 5 – 5 Chicago Mud. Big Oregon Bang will have to play without Marquise Brown, who has a bye week. As for Dallas Armadillos, they will square off against Philadelphia Griffins next week.

Taking the Reins

After losing eight straight games, Coaches dan callahan and Ross Hessler’s squad figured: ‘Why not another?’ Orange Co. Beach Dudes got beat down by Connecticut Wildcats, losing 76.5 to 51.5. Scoring 51.5 points dropped Orange Co. Beach Dudes below Philadelphia Griffins and into last place in points scored for the season.

The loss drops Orange Co. Beach Dudes’ record to 2 – 10, while the win brings Connecticut Wildcats to 5 – 6.

Justin Herbert led a very balanced group of five overperformers for Connecticut Wildcats this week, tallying 20 points. Thanks to his three touchdown performance on Sunday, Herbert now has the second most touchdowns (88) for a quarterback in his first three seasons.

Meanwhile, Allen Lazard and Michael Carter both failed to come up with more than 1 point for Orange Co. Beach Dudes this week. That makes it three straight games where Lazard has underperformed the league average wide receiver. Lazard was playing the wrong sort of football warming up for Sunday’s game, which might explain his unimpressive two reception, 24 yard performance.

Winning Ways

Miami Muffdivers had the best record in the league coming into this game, but unfortunately for Coach Pat landy, the past was not prelude. Miami Muffdivers lost a tight one against Mercer Mustangs, 68 to 64.5. Losing by only 3.5 points, Miami Muffdivers suffered the closest loss this week.

The win brings Mercer Mustangs’ winning streak to four games, bringing their record to 5 – 6. The loss drops Miami Muffdivers’ record to 8 – 3.

After coming up with all of 1 point last week, Garrett Wilson came up clutch this week. Wilson was the clear leader on Mercer Mustangs, notching 20.5 points.

Meanwhile, Coach Landy can look to Kenyan Drake and Tyler Boyd when passing out blame for the loss. The two combined to score only 1 point. Boyd’s 1 point was the fewest he has scored this year. He has now underperformed the experts’ predictions in four straight games.

Miami Muffdivers will be going against Happy Valley Violence next week. Happy Valley Violence will enter the game with Travis Kelce, who has been the best player in the league.

Meanwhile, Mercer Mustangs will collide with New Chester Thorobreds next week. Mercer Mustangs couldn’t have asked for a much better time to play New Chester Thorobreds, who is currently on a three game losing streak.

(1)Player didn’t have fewest points on team, but did the worst versus their positional average