We are currently 10 weeks into the 2022 season. What a strange season. So far we have seen players thought to have little upside like Tua and Fields run circles around future Hall of Famers like Rodgers Brady and Wilson. For our league personally we have seen some managers aggressively attempt to position themselves for greatness and in the process we have seen some of the most questionable trades in the history of our league. Meanwhile other managers have been unwilling to even entertain trading back ups or defenses or even injured players. For me personally I have found much of this particularly frustrating. I can't remember a year as frustrating or annoying playing fantasy football than this season. I want you guys to close your eyes and think about Holeman. Going all in on his favorite player and having to watch a bizzaro world every week where a future hall of famer can't score. How frustrating a season it must be. I feel even with that those frustrations must pale in comparison to other managers this year. We all know the great amount of luck involved in fantasy football. No matter how much the analytics point in one direction anything can happen Any Given Sunday. That being said this year feels particularly different.
Scheduling
Has there ever been a year where scheduling has played a bigger role in the landscape of the league? Currently the 10th and 12th place teams are effectively eliminated already from contention despite being 6th and 8th in points. 6th and 8th doesn't stand out as elite teams, but when you take a look at the rosters you will find they contain a lot of elite talent. I'm sure most managers would gladly swap rosters with them. Both managers have been aggressive at improving their teams all year and mostly successful at doing so. Phillip doing most of his damage through the waiver wire (news flash. Waivers are not dead) and George wheeling and dealing his way to a boss ass starting line up. The only thing these managers did wrong was... play the wrong teams each week.
Week 1. George scored 101.62 and lost. Outscored 8 teams
Week 2. Phillip scored 97.36 lost
Week 3. Phillip scores 93.1 in a down week that saw just one team break 100. Lost. Outscored 7 other teams
Week 4. George scored 110.48. Lost. Outscored 8 teams.
Week 5. Phillip scored 110.48. Lost. Outscored 7 teams
Week 7. Phillip scores 95.18. Lost. Outscored 6 teams.
Week 10. Phillip scored 96.18 (with Cooper Kupp scoring negative points) Lost. Outscored 6 teams.
Meanwhile there have been 6 wins awarded to teams that failed to score 80 points in this time.
In addition to scheduling effectively eliminating 2 teams prematurely it has also effected the top of the league as none of the 3 highest scoring teams are in first and the 5th highest is currently sitting outside the playoffs. So has scheduling been more impactful this year than ever before? Well boys I dove into every previous season in PWS and here's what I found.
There have been 3 seasons in which the team with the most regular season points did not make the playoffs. Ironically both managers to be shafted were George (twice) and Phillip. So perhaps this isn't the worst season we have ever seen for scheduling but it's definitely among the top 5 worst and I would personally rank it top 3 due to how much it's benefited some .... as Soliz would say... "Bum Teams"
Now for some of my other findings:
When traveling through the depths of our history I came across some.... let's call them "interesting" items of note.
Who remembers 2011 ? Jamaal Charles and Darren McFadden were running wild. Tom Brady only had 3 rings. Tim Tebow was taking the league by storm. Oh... and one other magical event. (See picture below)
The imperfect season. Now I know what you guys are thinking. "We know this already Joe. George didn't win a game one season. Who cares?" Ok well take a closer look. You will see the season high for scoring is 81. George has always taken pride in chasing greatness. We all witnessed the great 81 Kobe Bryant scored in 2006 and no one thought that number would ever be matched. It might have taken George 5 years but he eventually tied the great Black Mamba with a season high in 2011 with 81 of his own. Simply amazing. What a time to be alive!
Now, what if I told you a team that never scored above 81 in a single season didn't hold the record for lowest ppg in a season ? No this isn't a joke. George posted a per game scoring average of 70.38. The record for lowest ppg in a single season is actually 65.69. Likely an unbreakable record set back in 2008 by the original TPC.
Moving on,
I brought up the frequency in which the 2022 Muddog teams have hit an elite scoring threshold and it was largely brushed to the side like no big deal. So it got me thinking. How many times has any team scored 120 plus each year and how many times has any team eclipsed 100 ?
2021 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 10
2020 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8
2019 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7
2018 - Team with the most games scoring 120 + 1 most times scoring 100 - 10. Both by the PWS single season points record holder at 1528. A truly special team yet No championship
2017 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 6
2016 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 7
2015 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0 Team with most number of 100+ games 6
2014 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 1 Team with most number of 100+ games 10
2013 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7
2012 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 6
2011 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8
2010 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 8
2009 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7
2008 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 6
2007 - Teams to score 120+ five or more times 0. Team with most number of 100+ games 7
In conclusion what the Muddog squads have accomplished in 10 games thus far has only been done twice in our 16 year league history.
Fun Facts
In our 16 year history Nick Edel has a grand total of 261 roster moves. In the last 3 seasons Brett has 255. By the end of this season Brett will likely have more roster moves in a 3 year stretch than Nick Edel has his whole PWS career.
Lowest point total in a single week is 35 points set by Ebers/Bo in their last season with us. They accomplished this twice in a 3 week span that season. Likely an unbreakable record. They sure do know how to go out in style.
Highest point total for a single week is 184 set by Dylan. I think the only way this falls is if we move to ppr
Will some of these records fall ? Will we ever see another #imperfectseason ? Does George pop champagne bottles every year when each team has officially won a game ? Will anyone challenge the lowest point total records ? Will we ever switch to ppr to challenge the highest single game point total record ? Will Nick Edel ever start making an average amount of roster moves ? Will Russ ever cook again or force his manager to do the cooking for him at next year's draft ? Can anyone stop Soliz this year now that he has Cooper Kupp again ? So many questions. Tune into your yahoo fantasy apps to find out!
