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It’s been a while since we last took a look at the League Power Ratings. 6 weeks to be exact. But we’re back just in time for the second round of divisional play, and will be here with you throughout the rest of the season. Let’s take a look at where we stand heading into the home stretch of what has been one of the stranger years on record.

1. The Undisputed Era (8-2, 152.83 LPR) – It’s now surprise that Vaffy Kid tops the list heading into week 11. Vaf has officially locked up a playoff spot, but he has his eyes set on more than that. A win this week will clinch him at least a tie in the West, and given his comfortable points lead over Olsen will effectively lock up the division and a first round bye. Add an Olsen and Brian lost in there and you can remove the “effectively”. After 4 straight seasons with missed playoff appearances, Vaf is back and in prime position to grab his 4th League title.
2. Lobster Beesc (7-3, 148.48 LPR) – Meade has quietly put together an extremely impressive title defense, winning 3 in a row and 5 of his last 6 to overtake Frank in the Central heading into the final round of divisional play. Now is no time to rest on his laurels though, as he plays his main divisional threat this week in a game that could very well decide the division and determine who gets the coveted first round bye.
3. Frank The Tank (7-3, 147.96 LPR) – Frank cruised into his week 10 matchup with Vaf on a 5 game winning streak, looking for a statement win that would put him in the driver’s seat for the division and the League’s best record. Instead he put up his worst game of the season. His LPR dropped 10 points as a result, but there’s certainly no reason to panic. Frank needs only one more win to lock up a playoff spot, and League analysts still peg him as the favorite to take the division with a star-studded supporting cast led by physical freaks Derrick Henry and DK Metcalf. His matchup this week with the defending champ will be key for playoff positioning.
4. The Knights of Ryan (6-4, 135.6 LPR) – Olsen has been up and down this season, with no down worse than his 77-64 loss to rival BJC 3 weeks ago which dropped him to 4-4. But Ry O managed to rebound nicely, picking up wins in the last 2 weeks that give him a 2 game lead in the wild card race. The division is probably a long shot at this point, but he has to be feeling good about his postseason chances.
5. Brainbusters (6-4, 132.46 LPR) – If you’re looking for another team that has positioned themselves nicely heading into the home stretch after an up and down year, look no further than BJC’s Brainbusters squad. After a 2-4 start, Bri Guy has run off 4 straight wins to take the lead in the East, and he did it all without posting a game above 108 points. You take em where you can get em in The League, and Brian took advantage. He looks to be headed back to the postseason if he can grab another win or two.
6. Down With The Brown (4-6, 126.91 LPR) – Nick is currently on the outside looking in in the playoff race, but LPR has him as The League’s 6th best team through 10 weeks. After a 3-1 start, everything was looking up for Down With the Brown. But Michael Thomas shenanigans led to 5 straight losses for what was thought of as one of The League’s top teams, before Diamonds finally snapped the streak with an impressive 144 point display in Week 10. Though officially eliminated from the division race he sits only one game out of the last wild card spot as he attempts to salvage what was once a promising season.
7. 2 Feets In (4-6, 126.65 LPR) – Jack has simply never been able to find the right balance this season, following up 2 losses with 2 wins and then another 2 losses the last 6 weeks. It’s been enough to keep him in contention for a wild card spot, however, and if he can finally stack a couple of wins together he might have a shot at getting one of his 2 feets into the dance.
8. The Meat Mavens (4-6, 125.61 LPR) – It’s been a lackluster year for the Maven, but somehow not lackluster enough to eliminate him in the League’s Survivor Series. Still, he’s dropped 3 of his last 4 and looks to be sputtering at exactly the wrong time. He’ll need to turn things around quickly if he wants a chance at that first career playoff win. If not, he could find himself back in the Anthem running.
9. CARONIE (5-5, 123.51 LPR) – Marky Mark currently holds the final wild card spot, so who cares where he ranks in the LPR right? Mark’s ranking has more to do with the fact that he hasn’t topped 116 points in any game this season, but he’s consistently put himself in positions to win and half the time this year, it’s paid off. If it pays off a couple more times, he’ll be dancing, and maybe even as the division winner. If not, there’s a bunch of 4-6 teams nipping at his heels.
10. Del Boca Vista (4-6, 123.12 LPR) – Jay Hey is one of those teams hoping to bit Ya Boy’s heels off. Like many, Jay’s had a roller coaster of the year, featuring a dizzying array of waiver moves and trades to try and improve his position. Whether they’ve paid off is debatable, but at least he’s still in the hunt even with the injuries sustained by CMC. And in the East, who knows what will happen?
11. So Much Honey (3-7, 110.96 LPR) – It certiainly looks as if Cody is dead in the water at this point after his 4th straight loss. The lowlight was undoubtedly the back to back losses where he failed to break 70 in weeks 8 and 9. He might have an outside shot if he manages to win out, but more likely is he’s staring at a bye in the Anthem Bowl.
12. La-Hoo-Za-Her (2-8, 107.4 LPR) – The Commish isn’t dead in the water, he’s just circling the drain. He stinks, fantasy stinks, everything stinks.

The 2020 season technically kicked off on Thursday, but as we all know, nothing really gets decided until the game’s kick off on the Lord’s day. There’s something special about that first football Sunday of the year, listening to the blowhards on ESPN blow smoke as you sip your morning coffee, running over your lineup one last time as you sense the last vestiges of summer giving way to the coming autumn crisp that instinctively transports you back to years gone by. Against all odds, that day is here, once again, in the year 2020. In a year where so much has gone wrong, this, at least, has gone right. Football is back. The League is back.

The Brainbusters vs. Del Boca Vista

Our first matchup features two postseason teams from last year vying to take the next step. BJC’s Brainbusters squad finished the 2019 season in 3rd place, rebounding from a last place finish in 2018 to earn his third 3rd place finish in the past 4 seasons. Unfortunately for the Bri Guy, he hasn’t been able to break through the Semi-Final round, and has still not played in a championship game since 2004. He’s hoping that this is the year he puts an end to that 15 season streak, and he’s counting on the Nick Chubb/Aaron Jones duo to be the horses that carry him there. Cooper Kupp and Jarvis Landry highlight a steady if non-flashy receiving crew, with hopes that a resurgent Todd Gurley can prove to be a dynamic presence in the flex slot.

Jay’s Del Boca Vista is likewise hoping that this season will prove to be a breakthrough. Jay Hey has seemingly come a long way since his back to back Anthem performances a few years ago, once again reaching the postseason last year. Armed in 2020 with the first pick in the Draft, Jay selected the other-worldly dual threat superstar Christian McCaffrey, and managed to pair him with other-worldly QB Patrick Mahomes. The WR crew is headlined by Allen Robinson and the explosive Tyler Lockett, to go along with the always reliable Robert Woods in the flex. Evan Engram gives Jay a potential dynamic presence at the TE position if he manages to stay healthy.

In terms of their Week 1 matchup, Jay is projected to have the upper hand, entering the game as a 14 point favorite. However, Mahomes has already come in 5.5 points under projection, narrowing him to a mere 9 point favorite entering Sunday. We should have a good idea at the winner of this one at the conclusion of Sunday’s games, though Jay does have Engram and his kicker going tomorrow night.

Lenny the Fournette vs. So Much Honey

The other East matchup also features a pair of playoff teams from last season. Marky Mark finished 4th last season, but as usual has factored into much of this season’s post-draft drama already. After selecting Michael Thomas in the first round and pairing him with Chris Godwin, Mark took Leonard Fournette, who was promptly cut the next day. After a couple of days of The League holding its breath to see where Fournette landed, the former Jags RB decided to stay in Florida and head down to Tampa Bay, maybe the best possible landing spot. The rest of Mark’s running backs are rookie ball carriers in strong situations, in Jonathan Taylor and JK Dobbins. Keenan Allen slides in nicely in the flex spot.

Cody had to forfeit his championship crown last year, but he put together a solid title defense and proved he’s not merely a one hit wonder. This year he’ll look to climb the mountain once again, and he believes rookie sensation Clyde Edwards-Helaire will be the one to take him there. DeAndre Hopkins, Adam Thielen, and Zach Ertz highlight a stout aerial attack. The RB2 position is in a bit of flux for So Much Honey, however. It looks like Tarik Cohen will get the nod in Week 1, but Cody has to be hoping that one of rookies DeAndre Swift or Antonio Gibson will emerge as a solid option.

These two teams entered Thursday pretty evenly matched projection-wise, with Cody as a slight favorite. CEH’s performance on Thursday gave him a slight boost vs. projection, and is now a 3 point favorite.

The Ebukoo Ooba Ebukams vs. The Midnight Rider

This Week 1 matchup is a rehash of last year’s Week 13 matchup that wound up propelling Diamonds on a shocking run to the title game and finished off another heartbreaking near playoff miss for the Commish. The Commish wound up with the second pick in the draft and used it to select Saquon Barkley, who will pair in the backfield with Seattle ballcarrier Chris Carson. The receiving core is the big story here though, specifically the early season injuries which have put a damper on The Ebukoo Ooba Ebukams short term expectations. 2nd round pick Kenny Golloday will miss the first game with a hamstring issue, while fourth rounder Courtland Sutton is a late Monday night game time decision.

The Midnight Rider returns with a potentially explosive squad. Odell Beckham and Tyreek Hill are potentially The League’s greatest big play tandem, and Mark Andrews looks to continue to break out at the TE position. Josh Jacobs will also look to light up the Las Vegas night. The most drama surrounds Nick’s pair of Tampa players, however, in Tom Brady in Ronald Jones. The Brady story will obviously be interesting to see play out, but the RoJo story just seems like bad luck for the Midnight Rider. With Sutton’s status in doubt, Nick has wisely given rookie Jerry Jeudy the nod in the slot.

The Commish was a 2 point favorite as of Thursday, which has widened to 4 points after DeShaun Watson and Tyreek Hill faced off on Thursday. This matchup figures to feature heavily in some Monday night drama, with Barkley, Sutton, and Jeudy all slotted to play Monday.

Frank The Tank vs. Lobster Beesc

Meade begins his title defense with a tough matchup against Frank The Tank. Frank missed the postseason last year but the early season prognosticators like his chances to return to the dance this year with the solid team he’s seemingly put together. Derrick Henry and James Conner represent potentially the League’s best RB duo, Travis Kelce is one of the two best TEs in the league, and the WR crew features 3 potential breakut players in DK Metcalf, Marquisse Brown, and Will Fuller.

Meade’s squad is certainly not to be brushed aside, however. Dalvin Cook and George Kittle offer a dynamic one-two punch of elite playmaking potential, and Amari Cooper, TY Hilton, and Stefan Diggs are a solid receiving trio, even if it lacks to the consensus top-flight receiver.

Frank entered Thursday as a 7.5 point favorite, and has pushed that advantage closer to 10 as a result of solid performances from Kelce and Fuller. This is another game that could come down to the Monday night wire, as Frank has both of his starting RBs slated for Monday night matchups. If Meade does manage to get out to a lead after Sundays games, he’ll have to sweat it out Monday.

2 Feets In vs. The Knights of Ryan

After a 2018 season that saw Jack nearly pull off back to back titles, Jack was slightly humbled last year by failing to make the playoffs and an Anthem scare. He looks to return to his winning ways in 2020 behind a potential League best receiving attack. Davante Adams, Mike Evans, and DJ Moore are a deadly trio, and Joe Mixon is a steady presence at lead back. Jack is hoping that Melvin Gordon recaptures some of his former glory in his new digs in Denver to round out the squad. Dak naturally handles the reins at QB for The League’s resident Cowboys fan.

Olsen is also hoping 2020 ends better than 2019 for his Knights after another playoff miss. Zeke Elliot and Miles Sanders are an NFC East RB tandem that is among the best in the League, and David Johnson’s performance on Thursday gives Olsen the hope that this could be a three headed monster once Sanders gets healthy. The receiver position lacks the big name but if AJ Brown and/or DeVante Parker can build off their encouraging 2019 seasons that may not matter much. The returning Gronk is intriguing at TE, and Kyler Murray gives Olsen a dual threat QB entering his second year.

Jack entered Thursday as a 6 point favorite, but David Johnson’s performance has nearly erased that projection and cut the difference down to a point. This game features 2 Monday night players on each side in MG3, Diontae Johnson, AJ Brown, and Chris Boswell.

Meat Mavens vs. The Undisputed Era

Rounding out our Week 1 Preview is the matchup between the Meat Maven and Ribby Raf. Ant is hoping that the trend of previous year’s Anthem singers reaching the playoffs continues, and his inspired performance certainly warrants a bit of luck heading his way. Ant went heavy on RBs this year, with Austin Ekeler, Melvin Engram, and Raheem Mostert giving The Mavens a trio of RBs with diverse skill sets. Julio Jones is a known commodity in the WR1 slot, while CeeDee Lamb is the rookie upstart looking to set the league on fire in the WR2 spot. Russell Wilson gives Ant a consistently elite presence at QB.

Vaffy kid is looking to regain his former glory after another missed postseason last year. He avoided the Alvin Kamara holdout, and his first round pick will take the field having successfully secured the bag. Kenyan Drake gives Vaf an explosive 1-2 punch on the ground. Calvin Ridley, DJ Clark, and Michael Gallup are a receiving trio that seems to be on the rise, and of course we all witnessed what Lamar Jackson did to the league last season in his MVP campaign. Called Yahoo’s best draft, Vaf enters the season with high expectations.

The spread in this matchup reflects those expectations, with Vaf as a 9 point favorite. All of Ant’s players will be done at the conclusion of Sunday’s games, while Vaf will have his TE and defense going on Monday night. Vaf would of course love to have this wrapped up before then.

No inspirational musical chorus. No long, in-depth breakdown. Just a scrap fight to avoid the bottom. Don’t bother looking at Yahoo, here’s the actual matchups.

7. Frank The Tank (6-7) vs. 10. The Meat Mavens (6-7)

8. The Pecan Sandies (6-7) vs. 9. 2 Feets In (6-7)

The winners will play each other next week in the meaningless 7th place game. The best-seeded loser of this week will play Olsen in Week 15. The worst-seeded loser will play Vaf.

God bless America and god damnit this fucking sucks.

Notes:

• Jay continues to chug along at a historically elite pace, racking up his 8th straight 125+ point game. If he ended the season at his current OPR, it would be good for 6th all-time. Interestingly enough, 3 of the 5 teams ahead of him failed to bring home the title, while 5 of the 6 teams immediately below him won the trophy.
• Meade takes the rare OPR drop in a victory, but it’s only a slight one. Shaun has now one three straight, and stands on the precipice of locking up a playoff berth, a division title, and a first round bye with a win this week.
• Our biggest leap of the week, by far, goes to the Notorious BJC. Brian’s 187 point outburst was responsible for a 12.5 point jump in his OPR, pushing him from 5th overall to 3rd overall in the OPR ranks. We discussed where Brian’s week 10 performance ranks in the history of The League earlier, but its worth repeating: this was the second largest single week output in the League’s 17 year history, even adjusting for era, as well as the second largest margin of victory.
• Mark survived a wild Monday night matchup with a win, holding steady in OPR and in the overall standings. Its clear though that Mark’s team has fallen off quite a bit from the historic pace he was setting through the first 6 weeks. Over the last 4 games, Mark has seen his OPR take a nearly 20 point dive, as he has been lucky to go 2-2 over a stretch in which he only topped 100 points once. We know what this team is capable of, but can it get back to that championship level?
• Another week, another heartbreak for Vaf, who nearly managed to hold on despite Chris Carson working overtime to defeat him this past Monday. Vaf is second in The League in points scored, but sits 9th in the standings, and the OPR formula just decided to split the difference and slot him in at 5th.
• The Commish picked up a huge win for his playoff hopes, raising his OPR over 3.6 points and leaping over Frank and Jack to slot in at 6th in the ranks, which is where he currently stands in the playoff picture. With a 3 way tie atop the East heading into the last round of the divisional stretch, things figure to get real interesting.
• After a 5 game win streak pushed him into a tie for The League’s best record after 7 weeks, Frank has now dropped 3 straight and would be on the outside looking in at the playoffs if the season ended today. The season, however, does not end today, and Frank The Tank remains very much in the playoff mix, playing two of teams ahead of him in the postseason picture. First up: a pivotal date with Lobster Beesk.
• If the last two weeks conjured up scary images of the 2 Feels In squad of the past two years, last week offered a little bit of relief, as Jack failed to push his winning streak to 3 and couldn’t move into sole possession of first in the East. As a result, he suffered the biggest OPR drop of the week, losing 3.15 points and falling to 8th in the ranks. He still paces the field in the East because of his crucial possession of the division record tiebreaker.
• In Week 10 Diesel told his totally legal, totally cool Asian masseuse to keep on rubbing and tugging, he’s not out honey just yet. Keeping his season live with a thrilling last second victory over Vaf, Cody jumped 3 points in his OPR and pulled to within one game of a playoff spot, keeping his title defense dreams alive and well for at least another week,
• Big Tony’s baby luck wasn’t enough to defeat Scoops Ahoy this week, even though he topped 120 points for the first time since Week 1. A crucial matchup with long-time rival Commish looms.
• Another week, another loss for Ry O, his fifth straight. His playoff hopes all but gone, his season now likely turns toward playing spoiler and positioning himself to avoid the Anthem Bowl.
• Nick’s tough season may have hit its lowest point last week, where he suffered a 119 point defeat, dropping him to a season-low 103.7 OPR. The good news is he seems to be safe from this being a historically bad season. The bad news is, like Olsen, it looks like he’s down to playing spoiler for the rest of the year at 3-7.

1. Scoops Ahoy — 155.92 (+3.27)
2. Couple Screws Loose — 148.98 (-14.20)
3. Lobster Beesk — 143.31 (-18.37)
4. Brainbusters — 141.57 (+3.06)
5. Frank The Tank — 136.14 (+2.00)
6. The Undisputed Era — 134.38 (+3.69)
7. The Pecan Sandies — 128.41 (+4.02)
8. The Resistance — 122.20 (-6.16)
9. So Much Honey — 120.31 (-3.79)
10. The Meat Mavens — 116.93 (+2.90)
11. 2 Feets In — 115.50 (-4.56)
12. Midnight Rider — 103.98 (-5.70)

Notes:

• Jay’s Scoops Ahoy squad continues its climb, and ends Week 7 leading The League in OPR for the first time. Fueled by a 5 game win streak, Jay has raised his rating just a shade under 29 points since the OPR was first published in Week 3. His 155.92 current rating would be good for 6th all time if he could finish the year with the same rating.
• Finishing with such a record-setting OPR becomes harder the further we go along, as evidenced by the huge drop-offs we saw this week from Mark and Meade, who fell 14.2 and 18.4 points respectively. The cause of the drop? Both put up their season-worst games in losses, causing them to take hits in all three categories that go into OPR: 1) avg. points; 2) consistency/volatility; and 3) winning percentage.
• The historical average OPR is 126.11. So far we’ve got 7 teams above that average, and 5 teams below.
• Of the 158 total seasons that have been assigned an OPR, only 10 came in at under 100. 6 of those teams finished in last, 2 in 11th, 2 in 10th. The last team to finish below 100 was Jay’s 2014 Anthem-earning team, checking in with a 93.54 OPR.

We’re back with another edition of The League Power Rankings. With just a little under half of the regular season in the books, we’re starting to get a clearer picture of the haves and the have nots. The elite teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack, but unlike in some previous seasons the playoff picture remains wide open. Week 6 saw a couple of games shake up the standings, as well as the fall of the last remaining undefeated team. Do they also fall in the ranks? Let’s take a look:

1. Couple Screws Loose (4-2); 163.17 OPR / 134.7 ppg – There was some debate within The League HQ about whether to drop Mark’s squad in the rankings due to the injury to Patrick Mahomes, but it appears Couple Screws Loose caught a break and the injury isn’t as bad as feared. While Mark will have to navigate around losing his other-worldly signal-caller for a few weeks, he still gets to run out the Pats defense which has to be considered the MVP of the first half of the season. The rest of the roster is be more than strong enough to lead the way for a team that has topped 116 points in all but one game this year.
2. Lobster Beesk (5-1); 161.68 OPR / 131.8 ppg – Meade dropped his first game of the season last week, but only drops one spot in the rankings as a result. While his lead in the Central has been cut to only 1 game, he holds huge tiebreaker advantages in both points and division record over the next closest team in the division. Given the mess that is the East, Lobster Beesk holds the inside track to the coveted bye, thanks in large part to Christian McCaffrey’s insane start to the year.
3. Scoops Ahoy (4-2); 152.65 OPR / 126.1 ppg – We told you in the last rankings that even after an 0-2 start, the arrow was pointing up for Scoops Ahoy and to look for Jay’s squad to shoot up the rankings quickly. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what they’ve done. Scoops has now notched 4 straight victories (scoring over 130 points in each), earning themselves a tie for the West lead and the number 3 spot in the ranks. In the process, Jay’s team has raised their OPR by 25 points, their ppg by 14 points, and knocked off The League’s last unbeaten team with a 155 point performance.
4. Frank The Tank (4-2); 134.14 OPR / 107.1 ppg – Jay isn’t the only one to turn an 0-2 start into a 4-2 record, as Frank has now run off 4 straight victories of his own to catapult himself right into the thick of the playoff mix. He hasn’t done it in quite as impressive fashion, as his ppg have actually dropped by 2 in the last three weeks, but the wins have seen his OPR raised by 11 points and he’s topped 120 points twice during his streak. He’ll look to keep the ball rolling this week and smash The Resistance in a pivotal Week 7 matchup.
5. Brainbusters (3-3); 138.51 OPR / 113.1 ppg – Brian’s season thus far has been marred by inconsistency, topping 100 in odd-numbered weeks while being stuck in the 90s in even-numbered weeks. But in a season where only a few teams have been able to get any traction, Brian will certainly take the 3-3 start. The X-factor remains the RB position, where he needs Derrick Henry, Sony Michel and/or Todd Gurley to play up to their potential.
6. The Undisputed Era (2-4); 130.69 OPR / 118.9 ppg – Speaking of teams unable to gain any traction, look no further than Vaffy kid’s. His OPR and ppg are nearly identical to what they were at this point 3 weeks ago, and so is his winning percentage. While his loss to Brian in Week 5 can be chalked up to going up against the wrong team at the wrong time, his loss this past week is partly his own doing; according to The League’s sources, Vaf talked whole heaps of smack against Week 6 opponent Jacky G, effectively jinxing himself against an opponent known to dabble in the art of the jinx.
7. 2 Feets In (3-3); 120.06 OPR / 102.1 ppg – The beneficiary of Vaf’s self-jinxing, Jacky G stopped the bleeding of a 2 game losing streak and as a result has fully endured the short loss of number-one overall pick Saquon Barkley and comes out the other side in sole possession of first place in the mess of the division that is the East. It hasn’t been pretty for Jack, but Saquon’s return should reinvigorate the lineup and AJ Green is waiting in the wings as well. Jack could make a strong second half push.
8. The Resistance (3-3); 128.36 OPR / 105.5 ppg – Credit to Olsen for finding a way to stack some wins together after Antonio Brown took his early draft pick and fired it into the sun. Although he’s dropped a few spots in the rankings after losing a couple of games over the last 3 weeks, Olsen’s outlook has to look brighter with Adam Thielen beginning to click again and hopefully less stacked boxes for Le’Veon Bell with the return of Sam Darnold.
9. So Much Honey (2-4); 124.1 OPR / 112.6 ppg – It’s been a rough first half of the season for the defending champ, who has stumbled out of the gates to a disappointing 2-4 record. The loss of Davante Adams surely hasn’t helped things, but there have been improvements over the last 3 weeks which have seen Diesel’s OPR rise 6 points and his PPG rise 9 points. A big matchup with the next team in the rankings looms.
10. The Pecan Sandies (2-4); 124.39 OPR / 110.5 ppg – Speaking of rough first halves, the first 6 games have been a nightmare for The Commish, who hoped to get off to a fast start after last year’s end of season collapse. He managed to nab a much-needed victory last week over Brian to stop to bleeding for a short while, but took a hit on Thursday night with Mahomes injury surely limiting the potential of the so-far solid but underwhelming Travis Kelce. The clusterfuck that is The East is what is keeping him alive at this point.
11. Midnight Rider (2-4); 109.68 OPR / 96.8 ppg – Although it hasn’t been much, the last 3 weeks have seen some improvements from the team that began these rankings in the basement. Two weeks ago Midnight Rider notched a huge win over the defending champ in exciting fashion, and he put up a good fight against an explosive Couple Screws Loose. Again, right now in The East wins are tough to come by and even with the brutal start, Diamond’s is only a game out of first.
12. The Meat Mavens (2-4); 114.03 OPR / 97.4 ppg – Yup, rounding out the basement is a trio of East teams. It’s been a remarkable fall for Ant over these last 3 weeks after a respectable 2-1 start that saw him ranked 3rd in these power rankings. Ant has dropped his last 4 games and that tumble has landed him down here at the bottom. In the last 3 weeks, Ant has averaged a League-low 81.6 points and been outscored by 40+ points in each game. The Meat Maven’s OPR has dropped 27 points, and his ppg has dropped 16. The return of Melvin Gordon has not gone as expected. He’ll look to get out of the gutter this week against the leader of these rankings, Marky Mark.

We’re back! And with a whole new twist! Over the offseason, the League’s historians went back into the archives and created a log of every game and every season the current League owners have ever played. Then we dug into the statistics and found the average score for each era, and managed to adjust old scores to put them in their current context. Part of this project has resulted in some stuff you’ve already seen, such as the team pages for each owner that I’m continuing to roll out. Later on in the season I’ll finish up The League Record Book, which will be incorporated into the blog as well. But one thing I haven’t really talked about is OPR, which I stole from other leagues while searching around the internet, which should provide us with some great debates going forward.

Basically, OPR, or Overall Power Rating, is a statistic that allows us to compare teams across all the different configurations and scoring settings of The League’s history. Rather then just looking at wins (which can obviously be impacted by luck) or looking at purely points (which doesn’t factor in consistency or managerial decisions such as playing a less volatile or risky player in a matchup you’re favored to win), OPR uses a formula to combine the two, as well as factoring in consistency, to give us a more complete picture of the strength of each team. The formula is 60% average points per game, 20% win percentage, and 20% consistency (comparing high scores and low scores). The score the formula spits out is your OPR.

Later on in the year I’ll make a post about the greatest and worst seasons according to OPR, but for now it should be enough just to say that the League historical average for OPR is 126, the single season high is 173.92, and the single season low is 88.04. Teams who finished the season with an OPR above 142 won the championship 10 out of 20 times.

The power rankings of course are not solely based on OPR, as I take injuries and potential outlook into account. But anyways, on to the rankings:

1. Lobster Beesk (3-0, 167.60 OPR, 131.12 ppg) – Meade has had a dream start to the season, running out to a 3-0 record and a 2 game lead in the division. He got a lot of help in Week 2 with a lucky win where he only scored 84 points, but in each of his other two games he topped 150 and had the highest scoring output of the week. The team isn’t perfect, but there’s no glaring weaknesses so far and Christian McCaffrey, Keenan Allen and Evan Engram give him a a strong trio at each of the three skill positions.
2. Couple Screws Loose (2-1, 163.54 OPR, 135.37 ppg) – Even with his loss last week, its clear in the early going that Mark has one of The League’s strongest rosters. After a 127 point showing in Week 1, he exploded for 178.62 points in Week 2, a career high. The highlight of the team is obviously the freakishly talented Patrick Mahomes, but OBJ and Godwin bring the big play element and TE Mark Andrews has been a revelation. Mark looks strongly positioned to return to the postseason after last year’s disappointing showing.
3. The Meat Mavens (2-1, 141.67 OPR, 113.21 ppg) – The Mavens dropped his first game of the season in Week 3 but got more important news with the return of RB Melvin Gordon from his 3 week holdout. Assuming Gordon returns to form soon, Big Tony will be rolling out the best RB duo in the league with Dalvin Cook and MG3. He takes a bit of a hit in value to JuJu because of the Big Ben injury, but will look to rookie speedster Mecole Hardman to pick up the slack.
4. The Undisputed Era (1-2, 130.12 OPR, 118.61 ppg) – Vaf starts the season 1-2, but its hard not to like his rest of season outlook with Julio Jones suddenly turning into a TD machine. Nick Chubb is a firm must start, Brandin Cooks is looking like one of the better WR2 in The League, and Darren Waller has surprisingly been one of the best TEs of the young season. If rookie RB Josh Jacobs can get it going, Vaf has the potential to make some noise.
5. The Resistance (2-1, 132.51 OPR, 108.08 ppg) – Its been a roller coaster of a start for Olsen, who signed up for AB’s Wild Ride early on in the draft. While saying that didn’t work out the way he wanted is an understatement, he still stands at 2-1 after taking down Mark last week, with Adam Thielen and Marlon Mack leading the way. If the Jets manage to get their heads out of their asses when Darnold returns, the Bell and Mack pairing could be the engine that powers The Resistance to the playoffs.
6. The Pecan Sandies (1-2, 131.49 OPR, 117.49 ppg) – The Commish had a couple of heartbreakers to open the season, dropping his first game to Big Tony by less than half a point and getting saddled with Big Ben’s injury shortened start in Week 2. He finally got into the win column in Week 3 to salvage what could have been a disastrous start with what looks like a pretty solid team. Deandre Hopkins, Amari Cooper and Travis Kelce are as good of a pass-catching trio as any in The League, but the return of Melvin Gordon poses a significant threat to Austin Ekeler’s output. The Commish will need Kerryon Johnson to get rolling to pick up the slack.
7. 2 Feets In (2-1, 134.95 OPR, 108.61 ppg) – After a dominant two year stretch it looked like Jacky G was starting to come back down to earth a bit. However, that’s not to say that he didn’t build a strong team certainly capable of doing damage, as evidenced by his 2-1 start. Injuries are starting to pile up for the honeymooning newlywed however. Number one overall pick Saquon Barkley will miss at least a few weeks with a sprained ankle, and TY Hilton will miss at least this week’s game. Jack will have to weather the storm with Mike Evans and whatever else he can scrape together until he gets his team back healthy.
8. Scoops Ahoy (1-2, 127.29 OPR, 112.07 ppg) – Jay managed to get his first notch in the win column last week and avoid an 0-3 start, and the arrow is pointing up for Scoops Ahoy. Lamar Jackson has taken the league by storm in the early going, and Alvin Kamara and Aaron Jones could rival Ant for top RB duo even when MG3 fully returns to action. When Tyreek Hill returns Jay will feature the most explosive WR group out there with Hill and Lockett. This is a team that could put up some major, major points when everything is clicking and shoot up these rankings very quickly.
9. Brainbusters (1-2, 123.41 OPR, 110.01 ppg) – It seems like Brian’s squad has been stuck in neutral in the early-going, not fully living up to its potential. DeShaun Watson is a threat to put up 30+ at any point, Michael Thomas is a beast with or without Brees and Derrick Henry has kept his crazy finish from last year going. What’s been holding Brian back is his secondary guys. Watkins has been quiet since his Week 1 eruption and Sony Michel looks to be losing his grip on the Patriots backfield. Todd Gurley returning to form would be the game changer Brian is looking for.
10. Frank The Tank (1-2, 123.12 OPR, 109.23 ppg) – Frank got himself a much-needed W last week and now will look to keep the momentum rolling in a matchup with the 12th-ranked team this week. Rodgers looks like he is getting back into fantasy behemoth form, and Frank still has yet to get the breakout games from Zeke and Ertz. On the bright side, he did get that breakout game from Phillip Lindsay last week, which would be huge if he could be a plug-and-play RB for Frank The Tank. Damiem Williams will be the X-factor for Frank’s team when he returns from injury.
11. So Much Honey (1-2, 117.83 OPR, 103.91 ppg) – It hasn’t exactly been a dream title defense for Cody, who has struggled to a 1-2 start out of the gates. He finally got a breakout performance from Davante Adams on Thursday, but its been a very up and down year for most of Cody’s stars, including Chris Carson and Fournette. Mark Ingram, however, has been huge for So Much Honey through the first 3 weeks, and has kept him out of the initial power rankings basement.
12. Midnight Rider (1-2, 106.77 OPR, 92.69 ppg) – And in that basement we have the Midnight Rider Nicky Diamonds, Great song, not so great of a team so far. Nick topped 100 points for the first time last week, but still got handed his second defeat. Stefan Diggs has been a major disappointment thus far, and the rest of the squad has been too up and down to do any damage consistently. David Johnson and Joe Mixon will need to find that consistency and live up to their high draft billing to get the Midnight Rider riding in the right direction.

After a lively lottery filled with dramatic twists and turns and special guest appearance, the 2019 Draft Order is officially set in stone. You can catch a replay of the lottery livestream at the link below.

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MnxnvNVWWjxO

And of course, the Draft Order:

1. Jacky G
2. Meade
3. Jay Hey
4. Olsen
5. Frank
6. Nicky Diamonds
7. The Commish
8. Cody
9. Marky Mark
10. Vaffy
11. BJC
12. Big Tony

After 15 weeks, it all comes down to this. 12 men set sail on the journey on that fateful late August day with dreams of glory and infamy dancing through their heads. And one by one they fell. Some went overboard during the early season storms. Others were forced to walk to plank at the midpoint, their wounds too much to overcome. One collapsed in on himself like a dying star, and more fell victim to the unrelenting toll The League bestows on all brave enough to step foot within. And now, in Week 16, only two remain.

This is it. Mano y mano for the right to be called League Champion, the highest honor possible in all of the known world and possibly the known universe. At 1:00, both men will enter the arena. Only one will walk out as champion.

In one corner, there is 2 Feets In, owned, managed and captained by Jacky G. The reigning champion, 13-1 on the year, his eyes set on becoming only the second back to back champion in League history. Goliath.

In the other corner, Cody Daily’s So Much Honey squad. His first championship game appearance, left for dead just a few weeks ago before an improbable turn of events resulted in him being crowned the East champ. David.

Its all on the line here. Jacky G, embracing the chance to make history, telling the world that “it would mean everything” to join the repeat champion club, reminding The League that he told them before the season began that he had “no plans to return the trophy this year”. With the weight of history on his back, Jack defiantly says that there is “no pressure. Preparation is key and i feel i do a phenomenal job with preparing my squad mentally and physically throughout the week. We will be ready.” He acknowledges, almost tongue-in-cheek, that he will need to finish against a “tough opponent” but that he puts no stock into all the talk surrounding the matchup. “We don’t really put any weight into those statistics. All i can do is make sure my squad is ready to compete.”

Cody, meanwhile, is out to prove that this isn’t just a damn show, this is a damn fight. He’s not just happy to be here. “It really means a lot, making it in the championship game has been a dream of mine for very long,” Daily said, “but the only win that truly matters is this week’s.” Sick of the hot takes from all the pundits, Cody went one step further, guaranteeing that he pulls off what would rank among the greatest upsets in League history, a 7-6 team taking down a 12-1 regular season juggernaut. “Good luck to Jack but it’s my turn to be on the Throne. I’m not worried about what anyone has to say, my team has gotten me this far and they will lead me to victory”.

The drama is there. The fireworks are set. All thats left is for someone to light the fuse. It is Championship Sunday. Let the games begin.

NEW YORK — In a move that is sure to up the drama of Championship/Anthem Weekend to new heights, this afternoon League owner Cody Daily guaranteed that his So Much Honey squad will emerge from his championship bout with Jacky G with his name etched into The Trophy.

Surrounded by a swarm of reporters at The League’s Media Day, Daily announced that he couldn’t care less about the talking head’s opinions, he just wants to kiss Ol’ Glory. When the League News Network recited the hot takes of the day from Stephen A. Smith (“the only thing Cody’s beating this week his meat!”) and Skip Bayless (“If Diesel went a round in the hay with Ernestine I’m not worried about him passing on the clutch gene to any future stepchildren”), Diesel laughed it off. What broke the camel’s back was hearing that arch nemesis Mike Francesa said he wasn’t man enough to guarantee a victory.

“It’s my turn to be on the throne. I’m not worried about what anyone has to say,” Cody snapped back. “My team has gotten me this far and they will lead me to victory.”

The League News Network then congratulated Cody on proving Francesa wrong as usual and guaranteeing the win. Daily responded simply, “Thank you, and thank you to The League for a great season.”