Around the League – Week 7
The Pigskins (Diane) returned to the win column and trimmed the gap to first place, but Buzzing Jackets (Eric Strevel) still holds Soleil’s top spot. Diane is now 86.52 season points behind Eric, down from 103.82 last week. The binoculars are still useful, Diane, but at least the view is getting clearer.
Week 7 also delivered a battle between two Jims for the scoring crown, a big comeback for Kurt, and a finish that left Glen just 1.50 points short. Angie went from last week’s lowest AFC score to this week’s biggest AFC victory. Apparently, she took the previous recap personally.
Soleil Standings Watch
The top three in Soleil’s combined AFC and NFC standings after Week 7 are:
- Buzzing Jackets (Eric Strevel), NFC: 6-1, with 881.48 season points.
- 2-Min Drill (Jim Meeder), NFC: 6-1, with 850.28 season points.
- The Pigskins (Diane), AFC: 6-1, with 794.96 season points.
Ground & Pound (Carol Stack) completes the four-team group at 6-1, holding fourth overall with 738.42 season points.
All four leaders won, keeping the order unchanged. Eric earned his third straight victory, Jim Meeder his sixth, and Carol her fifth. Diane bounced back from her first loss by defeating Overtime RICHARD, 121.78–114.32.
Jim Meeder cut Eric’s scoring lead from 56.00 to 31.20 points. The Jackets remain out front, but that two-minute drill is moving down the field.
Five teams follow at 5-2: Jim’s Fantasy Force, Touchdown Dance Denise, Gray-t Gridiron, FowlBall, and Out of my way. Jim Kappes moved into fifth overall and now has Soleil’s third-highest season scoring total at 835.02.
The leaders have company—and two of the people chasing Eric answer to Jim. That should make the trash talk pleasantly confusing.
Soleil High Score: Meeder Wins the Battle of the Jims
2-Min Drill (Jim Meeder) scored 129.28 points, earning the NFC scoring crown and Soleil’s highest team total of Week 7.
Jim improved to 6-1 with his sixth consecutive victory. After losing the opener, he hasn’t lost since.
His closest challenger for the weekly scoring title was Jim’s Fantasy Force (Jim Kappes) at 128.64.
The difference: 0.64 points.
Two Jims, one scoring crown, and less than a point separating the bragging rights. Meeder gets this round. Kappes may want a recount, but the decimal places appear to be in working order.
AFC High Score: The Force Moves into Second
Jim’s Fantasy Force (Jim Kappes) defeated Motor City Cats (Rick), 128.64–89.32, claiming the AFC scoring crown.
The 39.32-point victory gave Jim his second straight win, improved his record to 5-2, and moved him into second place in the AFC.
Jim also passed Denise for the conference’s season scoring lead with 835.02 points. That’s a productive week: a win, a scoring crown, and a better seat in the standings.
Rick fell to 3-4 and ninth in the AFC. A week after getting Motor City back to .500, the Cats ran into a Force they couldn’t steer around.
Biggest Wins: Kurt and Angie Make Their Comebacks Count
Both conferences’ biggest winners snapped four-game losing streaks:
- NFC: Super Bowl or Bust (Kurt) defeated Chris on 3, 125.00–73.30, by 51.70 points.
- AFC: Tipsy Tacklers (Angie) defeated Brooke View Trailblazers (Sheila / Mitch), 126.28–82.42, by 43.86 points.
Kurt delivered Soleil’s largest victory, improved to 3-4, and climbed to eighth in the NFC. After four straight losses, the “Super Bowl” half of his team name finally got some attention.
Chris fell to 1-6 with a sixth consecutive defeat. This one offered little suspense and even less reason to keep refreshing the score.
Angie also improved to 3-4, taking eighth in the AFC. Last week, she scored 58.56, the conference’s lowest total. This week, she more than doubled it. Whatever changed in the Tacklers’ preparation, it deserves another appearance next Sunday.
The Trailblazers fell to 1-6 and remain last in the AFC. Sheila and Mitch brought 82.42 points; Angie arrived with a much larger agenda.
Closest Finish: Carol Leaves Glen Looking for Spare Change
Ground & Pound (Carol Stack) edged Sunday Funday (Glen), 86.72–85.22, in Soleil’s closest matchup of Week 7.
The margin: 1.50 points.
Carol earned her fifth straight victory, improved to 6-1, and kept fourth overall.
Ground & Pound continues to get excellent mileage out of every point. Carol apparently considers comfortable margins an unnecessary expense.
Glen fell to 2-5 with a second straight loss. Last week the Dawgs interrupted Sunday Funday; this week Carol left him searching the couch cushions for another point and a half.
The AFC’s closest finish belonged to The Pigskins (Diane), who defeated Overtime RICHARD, 121.78–114.32, by 7.46 points.
Diane improved to 6-1 and remains first in the AFC. Richard fell to 3-4 with a third straight loss, despite posting the conference’s fourth-highest score.
For a team named Overtime RICHARD, a few extra minutes would have been particularly welcome.
AFC vs. NFC: The NFC Collects the Weekly Honors
The NFC holds first and second overall through Eric and Jim Meeder, with Carol in fourth. The AFC holds third through Diane and fifth through seventh through Jim Kappes, Denise, and Deb.
For Week 7:
- Highest team score: NFC—2-Min Drill, 129.28.
- Largest victory: NFC—Super Bowl or Bust, 51.70 points.
- Closest finish: NFC—Ground & Pound, by 1.50 points.
- Highest player score in the conference highlights: NFC—Tony Pollard, 35.00.
- Overall leader: NFC—Buzzing Jackets, 6-1, with 881.48 season points.
The AFC swept the team scoring and margin highlights last week. This week, the NFC returned the favor.
The AFC can point to four of the five teams in the 5-2 chase group. The NFC can point to the top two overall spots. Chat should have no shortage of volunteer conference spokespersons.
Player Highlights
Tony Pollard led the NFC’s player highlights with 35.00 fantasy points, while Joe Burrow topped the AFC with 28.88.
Those are the performances that make managers feel very good about their lineup decisions—whether those decisions required hours of research or simply leaving the obvious starter alone.
Mike Evans in the AFC and Trevor Lawrence in the NFC were each listed at 0 in the weekly lowest-player highlights.
Lawrence led both conferences’ player highlights last week with 28.34. One week you’re the headline; the next, managers would prefer to skip that section of the scoreboard.
Around the League Notes
Out of my way (Dave) defeated Brown Paper Baggers (Brian), 111.78–90.40, earning his fourth straight victory and improving to 5-2. Dave remains fifth in the AFC and moved to ninth overall. The team name is beginning to sound like advance notice.
Brian fell to 2-5, ending his two-game winning streak. Last week, 63.50 points bought him a victory. This week, 90.40 wasn’t enough. Apparently, the sale ended.
Gray-t Gridiron (Deb) defeated Let’s Go!! (Steve), 106.48–93.20, earning a third straight win and reaching 5-2. Deb remains fourth in the AFC and seventh overall. Beating Diane last week clearly wasn’t the end of the celebration.
Steve fell to 1-6 with a third consecutive loss. After defeats by 0.18 and 3.46 points, this week’s 13.28-point margin offered less suspense but no happier ending. “Let’s Go!!” remains a perfectly reasonable request.
Touchdown Dance Denise defeated NO Kneelers (Joe), 82.68–56.82, improving to 5-2 with a second straight win. Jim Kappes passed her on season points, leaving Denise third in the AFC and sixth overall. Winning and dropping a spot is one of fantasy football’s less exciting dance moves.
Joe’s 56.82 was the AFC’s lowest score. He fell to 3-4 with a second consecutive defeat and sits seventh in the conference. A few more end-zone visits would be welcome.
FowlBall (John Fowler) scored 95.52 points, earning his fourth straight victory and improving to 5-2. John remains fourth in the NFC and eighth overall. The flight plan appears to be working.
Senior Football (David McCleskey) scored 111.40 points, snapped a two-game losing streak, and improved to 4-3. David climbed to fifth in the NFC and tenth overall. There’s still plenty of offense left in that playbook.
Serenity Now (Howard / David) scored 73.62 and suffered a third straight loss, falling to 4-3 and sixth in the NFC. After starting 4-0, Howard and David may need to add deep breathing to the weekly lineup routine.
Barking Dawgs (Michael Parker) posted 123.74 points, the NFC’s third-highest score, and still lost. Michael fell to 3-4, ending a two-game winning streak. After spoiling other managers’ plans for two weeks, the Dawgs joined the “great score, wrong opponent” club. Plenty of bark, plenty of points, and somehow no biscuit.
Any Given Pam scored 47.20, Soleil’s lowest team total of Week 7, falling to 2-5 and tenth in the NFC. After last week’s 115.14-point victory, this Sunday was considerably quieter. Pam would probably prefer not to give this particular performance again.
Waddle we talking about here (Dan Gillis) improved his weekly score to 94.42, up 36.20 points from last week, but remains 0-7 and Soleil’s only manager seeking a first victory. The scoring is moving in the right direction, Dan. Now we just need the win column to join the procession.
Got a victory speech, a bench-player regret, or a little friendly trash talk? Bring it to Chat. Meeder has the scoring crown, Kappes has a 0.64-point grievance, Kurt and Angie have comeback stories, and Glen may be collecting donations toward his missing 1.50 points.