Week 9 Recap

Before we get to the games, a family note. The Lindgrens went 0-3 this week, and the current losing streaks of Sportsfreak (five), BIGBOY! (four) and Big Papa (one) add up to ten straight losses. And that is in a week when two of them made a trade with each other. More on that below.

Pack Attack (139.35) vs U Don't Know (79.17)

The win Pack Attack needed, but at what cost? P Nacua went for 37.43 and then went down on the final offensive play of the game, and it looks like he is headed to IR. That would put three of Pack Attack's first four draft picks on IR: P Nacua, J Love and L Jackson. Getting more wins out of this roster is going to be tough. But this week? M Golden (34.20) had the game of his life, C Little (19.10) kicked like a running back, and the Packers D (12.00) and E Williams (12.75) both chipped in. And Pack Attack did all of that with M Willis scoring 1.03 at quarterback. 139.35 points, the second highest score of the week, a 12-1 week against the field, and Pack Attack (4-5) jumps from 29.4% to 45.6% but that isn't taking into account the injury situation. They now lead this all-time series 11-10.

U Don't Know (5-4) scored 79.17, the lowest score in the league, and went 0-13 against the field. And for the second straight week, P Mahomes (15.37) outscored J Allen (9.68) from the bench. E Chism III (13.45), the waiver receiver who replaced M Evans, was one of the bright spots. U Don't Know falls to 50.9% and is clinging to the fifth spot.

Starrfavrerodg (121.95) vs Big Papa (88.23)

Last year these two played the closest game in league history, decided by 0.02 points. This year's Game of the Week was not close. Starrfavrerodg (5-4) won by 33.72, and C Watson (31.55) did most of the damage, with J Cook III (18.13), T Smack (17.00) and N Landman (13.20) helping out. They even left M Garrett's 22.80 on the bench. Starrfavrerodg moves into a playoff spot for now at 47.8%. I picked Big Papa to find a way. They did not.

And then there is Big Papa (5-4). Last Thursday afternoon the father and son made a deal: J Jefferson and G Bernard went to Big Papa, and C.J. Stroud, B Hall and T.J. Hockenson went to BIGBOY!. For most of this season Big Papa started J Goff over C.J. Stroud. This week Stroud, now with BIGBOY!, scored 42.01, and J Goff scored 1.73. You cannot make this up! J Williams (22.88) and K Fairbairn (17.80) kept it respectable, and J Jefferson scored 5.90 in his Big Papa debut. A three game winning streak is over and Big Papa falls to 25.4% playoff chances.

HHH (171.40) vs Rapids Plungers (122.29)

HHH looks unstoppable. 171.40 points, the highest score of the week, 13-0 against the field, and eight straight wins. Some history:

• 8-1 is the best start in HHH history. Their previous best through nine weeks was 7-2 in 2009.
• Eight straight ties the longest winning streak in franchise history, matching the 2009 team. The league record in a single season is eleven, by, of all teams, Sportsfreak in 2016.
• Seventeen teams in league history have started 8-1 or better, and HHH is the first one since BIGBOY! in 2021. Only two have ever started 9-0: Showboat in 2007 and Rapids Plungers in 2010.

J Love (39.31) and J Chase (33.75) were both outstanding, D Douglas (15.10) and J Bates (15.40) chipped in, and KC Concepcion Jr. (14.45) delivered in his first week after coming over in the trade. The KFFL AI picked Rapids Plungers. I picked HHH. HHH is at 99.7% to make the playoffs and 68.8% to grab the #1 seed.

Rapids Plungers (4-5) scored 122.29, went 10-3 against the field, and lost by 49. B Robinson (26.02) and B Purdy (23.31) were good, but R Stevenson (11.43) got hurt and looks like he will miss multiple weeks. Rapids Plungers is down to 25.9% chance of making the playoffs.

PackerFANatic7 (129.27) vs BIGBOY! (119.46)

PackerFANatic7 is making a real push for the playoffs! Three straight wins, 4-5, and up from 7.1% to 12.3% playoff chances. C Lamb (33.75) went off, D Prescott (21.77) and L Burden III (16.45) were good, and B Tuten (7.93), who did play Thursday night, did enough in his first week with his new team. Three weeks ago this team was 1-5. Now they are a game out of a playoff spot.

BIGBOY! (2-7) got 42.01 from C.J. Stroud in his first week on the team, and they still lost. J Jacobs left after 0.33 points and looks to be headed back to IR, and J Hill scored 15.62 on the bench. The three-peat chase is at 1.0%, which is about as close to over as it gets without the math saying so.

16hrs Ahead of You!! (112.55) vs pack slayer (106.75)

16hrs (6-3) won this one with J Gibbs scoring 10.93 and G Pickens scoring zero, which is impressive. B Irving (23.87) carried them, R Odunze (13.00), W Anderson Jr. (11.20) and O Cooper Jr. (10.90) did the rest, and 16hrs is up to 89.8%. The bad news: M Wilson is out for the season.

pack slayer (3-6) got 35.85 from K Walker III and still lost. That is the second time this season Walker has scored 35 or more, and pack slayer lost both of those games. It is not as rare as you would think, either: 22 times this season a player has scored 35 or more, and eight of them came in a loss. D Swift scored 2.07 and M Stafford 8.63, and pack slayer is down to 4.2% chance of making the playoffs.

Bossman (112.07) vs teamAlaska (84.48)

Bossman (6-3) continues to find ways to win. Somehow, someway, they are always in the thick of things every year: thirteen playoff appearances in their history, six straight from 2019 to 2024. This year is no different. J Burrow (29.89) followed up his 49.91 with another big game, T Kelce (13.67) and T Bass (13.60) helped, and Bossman won comfortably despite going 5-8 against the field. They are at 94.6% playoff odds.

teamAlaska (4-5) went 1-12 against the field. D Maye (18.18) was fine, but nobody else reached ten points, and teamAlaska falls to 8.9% chance of making the playoffs.

DaUnderdog (122.08) vs Sportsfreak (87.88)

DaUnderdog finally wins! It is their first win since Buck Mallory picked them to win it all, after two straight losses. B Bowers (21.68), C McCaffrey (19.48), T Higgins (18.60) and J Coleman (15.35) led the way, and DaUnderdog (6-3) is back up to 93.9% chance at making the playoffs.

Sportsfreak keeps losing. Five straight, 1-8, and this is the worst start in Sportsfreak history; their previous worst through nine weeks was 2-7. Fifteen teams before them started 1-8 or worse, and none of them made the playoffs. They left 72.03 points on the bench, the most in the league, including T Dell (20.25) and B Young (20.39). The playoff odds have officially hit 0.0%.

Odds and Ends

The all-play table. Bossman is 91-26 against the field, DaUnderdog 79-38 and HHH 74-43. At the bottom, Sportsfreak is 30-87. Big Papa is 42-75 and 5-4, and that kind of luck is starting to run out.

Benches. Sportsfreak left 72.03 on the bench. BIGBOY! started J Jacobs (0.33) over J Hill (15.62). And U Don't Know left the better quarterback on the bench for the second straight week.

Playoff odds after nine weeks. Every team's chances from 20,000 simulations of the 35 games left. Six make it, and the dashed line is the cut. The top four are all at 89.8% or better. Spots five and six are wide open between U Don't Know, Starrfavrerodg and Pack Attack, all between 45.6% and 50.9%.

Clinch and Elimination Watch. Nobody clinched and nobody was eliminated this week. HHH needed help from U Don't Know and Big Papa to set up a clinch next week, and neither came through. Next week, though, the math gets real: Sportsfreak is eliminated if they lose to Rapids Plungers and any two of these happen: U Don't Know beats BIGBOY!, Big Papa beats PackerFANatic7, Starrfavrerodg beats HHH.

And the ledger. The KFFL AI went 5-2. I went 5-1, missing only Big Papa. That makes it the KFFL AI 37-26 and me 32-22, which puts me back ahead on winning percentage, .593 to .587. Five weeks to go!