Some Sunday morning facts and figures for each matchup as we head into Sunday play of the final game of the first slate of division matchups.
The Meat Mavens (2-0) vs Bishop Sycamore (2-0)
While the Maven holds a lifetime losing record against The Commish at 11-15, he has inched considerably closer to .500 over the last few years, claiming 6 of the last 7 head to head matchups. And he has to feel good about his chances of winning this one after his fourth 2-0 start of his career (2006, 2013, 2019). After making history with his first career playoff victory last year, Ant looks to set another personal milestone this week with a win that would give him his first career 3-0 start. A hot start from DJ Moore on Thursday night has these projections neck and neck.
The Commish also comes in boasting a 2-0 record, his first such start since the 2018 season that he’d rather forget (5-0 / 7-2 start that saw him lose his last 4 and miss the postseason). He also has a bit of history on the line here, as he looks to become the first owner to reach the career 150 win mark. Some injury questions linger this week with star wideout DeAndre Hopkins edging towards a gamete decision and Odell Beckham Jr slated to play his first game in nearly a year after a torn ACL. We may see some lineup shuffling from the Commish before kickoff in this pivotal battle for the top of the West.
Jaystar Royco (1-1) vs 2 Feets In (1-1)
These teams had polar opposite week 2 games, starting with Jay who came in off of a stellar opening game performance and laid a huge dud in his week 2 loss to BJC. Jay’s 56 point performance in the loss was his 3rd worst career outing, and his 90 point margin of defeat was the worst of his 13 year career. He gets another shot at career win number 75 this week in a matchup with Jacky G, with the lifetime series between the two teams split at 6 wins a side. Although Jack has won 3 of the last 4, Jay did get the W in last year’s matchup.
Speaking of career win 75, Jack put that notch in his belt last week with a League leading 157 point performance. At 75-77-1 for his career, a win this week would push him to the precipice of a career .500 record, which only 4 League members currently possess. Jack’s performance last week was only 2 points off his career best point total of 159, which he set in week 4 of last season. The projections have Jack as a pretty big favorite this week, as Jay deals with injuries to Dalvin Cook and Jerry Jeudy and AB missing the week with covid.
The Diamond Empire (0-2) vs Brainbusters (2-0)
They say to throw out the stats when divisional foes square off, and the Diamond Empire is perfectly fine with that after its performance the first two weeks. Nick has only started 0-2 in his career one other time, and it was 10 years ago in a season that saw him finish a career worst 2-11. He has failed to reach 91 points in either of the first two games, which he has lost by a combined 120 points. He will once again seek his 75th career victory, but his opponent is maybe The League’s most feared team through the first two weeks. Perhaps the good news is that he’s won 3 of the last 4 matchups against him.
BJC comes in with his first 2-0 start since 2017 and the fourth of his career, but the point totals he’s putting up in this start are much more impressive than any other he’s previously put together. Averaging an astounding 150.5 points per game, its the best two game points stretch of Brian’s 19 year career. He’ll go for his 3rd career 3-0 start this week in matchup featuring the League’s current 1 seed vs the current 12 seed. Brian has a 7-6 career lifetime record, and he’ll look to take another strike at the hear of The Diamond Empire.
Frank The Tank (1-1) vs Ressica Jobinson (0-2)
Frank has very impressive rebound performance in Week 2 to get himself back to .500 and avoid a dreaded 0-2 start. He improved to 15 games over .500 for his career in the process and heads into a rematch of last year’s championship game on a win streak. It also gave him a career 10-9 record vs Meade, a mark he can’t quite claim against defending champ Vaf. The win was made more impressive due to the fact that Jarvis Landry left the game after just 1.4 points. He’ll have a slight projected edge in this one even without Landry, as JuJu slides into the starting lineup for the Tank.
Vaf’s title defense is off to a sputtering start, as he fell to 0-2 for just the second time in his career. The last time he was 0-2 he finished the season a career worst 4-9 in the midst of a 4 year playoff drought. Obviously Vaf is hoping to avoid a similar fate and get back on the right track this week. And at least historically, Frank has been a pretty good matchup for Vaf, as he boasts a career 9-5 record vs the Tank, winning each of the last 3 including, obviously, last year’s championship victory.
Lobster Beesc (1-1) vs So Much Honey (2-0)
Meade has been perfectly mediocre to start the year, averaging just over 100 points and sporting a 1-1 record. In fact he’s been so mediocre I can’t come up with any interesting stats about his season. He caught a break week 1 and didn’t catch a break week 2. However, he did catch another massive break this week with a mid game injury to number one overall pick CMC. Meade’s been dealing a bit in the taboo art of hoping for injuries to other’s teams this year and frankly its disgusting. Its even more disgusting that its working.
On the other end of this matchup is So Much Honey, off to an overwhelming start that’s made masseuse’s statewide rush to get extra towels. Fresh off an outstanding if controversial rendition of the National Anthem, no doubt aided by soothing his vocal chords with copious amounts of warm honey, Cody is 2-0 for the first time since 2017 and looking for the first 3-0 start of his career. His 137 and 153 point outbursts are his best back to back performances since way back in 2013, coincidentally also in weeks 1 and 2. Cody earned his first playoff berth that year, ultimately falling in The League Semis. He’ll look to repeat that trend this year, but it will take some great management these next few weeks with McCaffrey on the sidelines with a hammy injury.
Pastrami Papi (0-2) vs The Knights of Ryan (0-2)
Our only matchup of winless teams features a couple of teams who last went 0-2 in 2018 and never recovered. The good news for one of them is, they both started that year 0-5, which will be impossible this year. The bad news is one of them will have to fall to 0-3. Mark’s team has been slightly better than the record would indicate, averaging about 110 points per game but failing to reach the 120 point mark that has been a sort of win barometer over the last half decade or so. That’s a problem when both of your opponents put up 130+ obviously. His last 0-3 start ended with him going 3-10 on the season. Obviously he’s hoping for a much better outcome to this year.
For Olsen the struggles continue. He’s failed to post a winning record the last 4 years and dropping the first 2 this year brings his current losing streak to 5 games. The loss to The Commish week 1 is understandable with his opponent putting up 148 point points, but his week 2 loss was a big ball of frustration, as he lost 88-82 to Ant behind a no show Sunday night performance from Tyreek Hill. You simply can’t drop games when your opponent fails to score 90 points, and Olsen has only dropped one such game dating back to 2015. While Mark’s had his struggles, historically speaking Daddy Yankee has been a rough draw from Ry O: Mark is 11-6 in the all time series, though over the last 6 these teams are 3-3 against each other. Another fun fact: this is the 3rd year in a row they’ve been in the same division, and in each of the 3 previous years they were in the same division, they split their head to head matchups. Who will draw first blood this year?