2017: Award Nominees Part 2

For most of us, the season is over, and the lucky few are pressing on with their playoff dreams. We still have the forfeit playoffs, but our chances of winning the title are zilch. But, you can still win something, as we have the annual LOC awards!!

Awards and Nominees

Coach of the Year: The coach that was astounding in a variety of areas throughout the season. A master at picking the right players, managing the roster, and above all winning games

1. Dave Stubbs: Now it might surprise you to see Coach Stubbs Sr nominated for this, but it's easy to forget how good his team was at the start of the season. Yeah, they lost Rodgers in the middle which scuppered things, but they also had more injuries and recovered from it all to nearly sneak a playoff spot. A fine coaching effort. 

2. Pat Allen: What can you say about Coach Allen? Well, for the second year in the row his side has been one of the best in the league. They've been pretty good at picking the right side all year long, and have had a number of great performances. 

3. Ben Sherwood: Everything I said about Coach Allen, applies here as well. Except Coach Sherwood has staved off a Corona Bowl hangover to have another strong season. What's more, they've scarcely made a waiver move all year, making team selection that much more important. 

4. Chris Leach: Two years ago if we told Chris he was in contention for Coach of the Year he'd probably say we were dreaming, but here we are. And it's a thoroughly deserved nomination. They've arguably been the best team this year, posting great scores week in week out, and achieved double digit wins. Hats off to Chris. 

General Manager of the Year: The GM that had a great draft, executed good trades, and was consistently playing the waiver wire and free agents to field a team

1. Naithan Stubbs: An award Coach Stubbs Jr is no stranger to winning, and this has been another fine season. They came out of the draft with a very strong team, but suffered countless injuries in the first month of the season, including losing 5 players to IR. Through a series of short term trades and expert waiver adds, the team had enough talent to achieve a winning season. 

2. Ollie Burdett: Much like Bear Necessities, it's easy to forget just how good Burdettinators were early in the seasons. They didn't get the wins, but this was a combo of leaving points on the bench and being outscored - not the GMs fault. The team has definitely been better than the record indicates. 

3. Phil Merritt: We said it early on, and it held true. This is probably the best team Coach Merritt has ever drafted. The lineup is just filled with studs, and they've been able to add a few pieces along the way to bolster this. They've been scored on a ton this year which has hit them in the win column, but the team itself has been strong.
4. Chris Leach: A deserving coach, but also a deserving GM. Coach Leach has had his fair share of gaffes in years past (Toby Gerhart anyone?), but they silenced the critics this year with a great draft, highlighted by 3 RB1s. They've picked up a number of contributors along the way as well, leading to a very deep roster.  

League Commissioner's Award: The Commissioner's personal award to individuals who show great sportsmanship, good efforts outside of the league, and provide contribution to the league off the field

1. Chris Leach: The co-host himself, we've grown accustomed to Chris's colour commentary on the podcast for many years, and this year was no different. Giving up many of his Thursday evenings to host the podcast, his contribution to the show has been invaluable and makes it a lot more watchable. 

2. Tom Barnes: No season in the LOC is without it's controversies and challenges, and while the commissioner is the face of the league, make no mistake the EDOTLOCCA does a lot behind the scenes to help. Not only this, we had a record number of articles this season.

3. Viv Nathwani: When no one else would, Viv put his hand up for the League Ombudsman role and was elected unanimously. While we haven't seen any articles, he has provided support to the league office with various challenges and decisions over the season. 

4. Ollie Burdett: Ollie has stepped in on the podcast a number of times this season when the co-host couldn't make it. What Ollie brings to the podcast is a less colourful style, but definitely a more analytical one, and his insights on the show make it a good change up from the colour commentary of the co-host.  

2017: Award Nominees Part 1

For most of us, the season is over, and the lucky few are pressing on with their playoff dreams. We still have the forfeit playoffs, but our chances of winning the title are zilch. But, you can still win something, as we have the annual LOC awards!!

Awards and Nominees

Comeback Award: An award for a team that had a great comeback, either from a year or multiple years of bad seasons, or who had an impressive in season turnaround

1. Chris Leach: Yes, Chris did win the award last year. But, he gets another nomination for his continued recovery from what can only be known as "the dark years". Last year he was 6-8, so this year is still a continued improvement, and certainly deserving of a nomination.

2. Naithan Stubbs: Leaving the draft Gridiron Gang had swathes of optimism. That was subdued pretty much from the word go, as they went on to suffer a number of injuries over the start of the season, 5 players to IR to be exact, as well as an 0-2 record. But they steadied the ship, and achieved a winning record.

3. Dave Stubbs: Much the same as above. Bear Necessities were steaming it the first few weeks of the season, but then Rodgers went down and it fell apart. Other players got injured too. But despite all of that, and a bad few weeks, Coach Stubbs Sr got the team back on the horse and they had a very strong finish to the season.

4. Nigel Wells: Some of you might be confused by this one, but here's the deal. Coach Wells had an auto drafted team. Granted, probably the best there has ever been, but it's hard to pick up an auto drafted team and roll with it. Not to mention they were coming off a Corona Bowl loss AND contemplated retirement. Yet they have a winning record. That's a comeback story if I've ever heard one.

Overachiever Award: For the team that defied all expectations to achieve what they did in the season

1. Ollie Gardner: Coach Gardner won this one last year, but arguably deserves it again. It wasn't until Pat's 3rd season when he learnt the ropes and became competitive. Coach Gardner's only had 2, but was reasonably close to playoffs each year. This year team selection let them down leading the league in points left on the bench, but they've showed continue growth.

2. Naithan Stubbs: I hate to copy and paste, but the above rings true here. The amount of injuries this team suffered right at the start of the year should have crippled this team. They've over performed given the players they lost, and they've also benefited from conceding the least amount of points.

3. Nigel Wells: Ok so copy and pasting isn't so bad. I'll say it again. Coach Wells had an auto drafted team. Last time that happened to ADRZ they had an abysmal year. But that didn't stop Coach Wells, and ADRZ went on to have a winning season and another playoff berth.

4. Ross Nunn: Now you might be confused to see a team with a deserved losing record in the overachiever award category. But, just remember that early injuries sapped this team AND they've scarcely added a waiver player. The RBs have been unequivocally the worst group in the league this year. And yet, they've been competitive near every week of the season. We were talking about this team potentially losing the most games in history at one point, but they've definitely been a far better than that.  

Luck Award: For a team that did well but ultimately had a bit of luck swing their way, either engineered by them or the fantasy gods themselves

1. Naithan Stubbs: No surprises for this nomination. Gridiron Gang have conceded the lowest amount of points this year - albeit not substantially. If you look at their schedule, they've had barely any gypsy wins, but not conceding a lot does help the cause.

2. Ollie Gardner: Much of the season narrative of this team is "they're getting wins despite not topping 100 points". They only topped 90 points 4 times, yet for much of the season had a winning record. They got some gypsy wins.

3. Nigel Wells: I am starting to question whether ADRZ is getting lucky, or there genuinely is some fear factor going on. Because for the 3rd year in a row they find themselves with a far lower points conceded than most other teams. Now they've also been the highest scorer this year, but the low points do help.

4: Ross Nunn: Again, you may be confused here, but let me explain. Coach Nunn has started Jamaal Charles, Jacquizz Rodgers, Matt Forte, Paul Perkins, D'Onta Foreman, Theo Riddick and J.D. McKissic at RB this year. Despite that horror show, they've been competitive in a lot of games this year, and had some really nice scores. Sure, there's an element of skill, but there's also an element of luck.

2017: Power Rankings Week 14

And here we are, it had to come to an end eventually. For some, this is a welcome end to a disappointing year. For others, it is a nail biting finish to a long season. We have 4 teams vying for 3 playoff spots. After that, we all wait with excitement to see who the new champion will be.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 10-3 (1): The league's best is staying strong, and despite a dropped game in between they've rebounded with a nice win against another potential playoff team. While QB is a bit of a spotty issue for the side, there's no doubt the rest of the lineup is strong (well, maybe except for TE, but they're hardly alone there). Coach Leach is putting his game plan together for the playoffs after reaching double digit wins.

2. ADRZ, 8-5 (2): Despite losing a crucial divisional game against IKSAN in Week 12, Coach Wells' has rallied and got a win, and with IKSAN's loss they've reclaimed the lead in the division. While not infallible, this is a very good side. They're hitting on all cylinders, and key players continue to shine. Given their points advantage, a win might not be necessary to make playoffs, but it would secure a berth for them.

3. IKSAN, 8-5 (3): After winning a crucial divisional game against ADRZ, Coach Sherwood lost in the friendship bowl to league leading Forge Flyers, and now find themselves in a fight for the playoffs. But they're sitting pretty right now, and were ultimately unfortunate to not win last week. Once again we could see the acronyms in the playoffs, and they're a contender once again.

4. Patistan, 8-5 (4): Another convincing win for Patistan, maintaining their hold on the division for at least one more week. And they'll be ecstatic with the result, as they won in the biggest rivalry in the LOC, securing bragging rights over Coach Merritt for another year. This team is stacked top to bottom, and although all the players don't tend to come together on a given week, they've got enough stars to make up for it.

5. Gridiron Gang, 8-5 (6): Coach Stubbs Jr has coaxed a consistent team out of a bunch of rag tag players, and finds themselves in the hunt for the playoffs again. Will this be the year they finally break through? They face a tough test against Coach Merritt in the final week of the season, and may not have the firepower needed to beat him. But, they're in with a good chance.

6. Bear Necessities, 7-6 (12, FORKED): From when I last checked in with this article Coach Stubbs Sr has really turned his team's season around. It looked very doom and gloom at one point, perhaps Tank Bowl bad, but in the last 3 weeks they've been very good and nearly pulled off a late playoff charge. They'll look to finish the season strong in what could have been a disaster of a season.

7. The Southampton Narhwals, 4-9 (9, FORKED): Speaking of disasters, Coach Nunn's team are a bit hard done by by their 4-9 record. This team hasn't been a superstar, but they've been very consistent all season long. Alas, they will almost certainly be in the Tank Bowl, but have a good shot of winning it. Maybe if Coach Nunn has learnt from the waiver moves of other teams this season they'll come roaring back next year.

8. Tanky McTankface, 5-8 (7, FORKED): It's been a tough old season for Coach Merritt. We like to rag on him, but he has pointed out he's been hard done by with the amount of points he's conceded. Though in the same breadth, they've not exactly been lighting up the scoreboard either. Still, they've been a very good team this year, and despite the early forking they are arguably a playoff calibre team.

9. Cash4Gould, 6-7 (8): This team was given a life line last week when Gridiron Gang lost and kept the division open to them, but Coach Gardner could not capitalise. And unfortunately that's really been the story all season long. This team has been punching above it's weight, but much like Southampton Narhwals, they've at the very least been reasonably consistent. Coach Allen saw his leap in the third year, and Coach Gardner certainly has the lookings of being able to accomplish the same. For now though, stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

10. Burdettinators, 5-8 (5): Coach Burdett will be one of the coaches who is happy to see this season end, as it has really been a case of what could have been for them. Starting the season on fire, they only picked up 1 win in their first 5, and despite rattling off a few wins in the middle, injuries and other oddities scuppered their season and the rest is history. They can certainly finish on a high, but for now stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

11. Tom's Tyrants, 5-8 (11, FORKED): Ever the volatile team, the MIA EDOTLOCCA has done just enough to avoid the dreaded Tank Bowl. An extremely slow start to the season saw them on the outside looking in early, but they've been better down the stretch, including a great last few weeks. Alas, the 2 time champ probably isn't beating himself up too much with his two trophies, and thinking about a 3rd for next year.

12. The Dream Team, 4-9 (10, FORKED): I personally want to apologise to Coach Nathwani when I said at the start of the season A) his window was closing, and B) this would be his year. I jynxed the latter, and expedited the former. But this is truly a season we're not used to seeing from The Dream Team. Almost certainly competing in the Tank Bowl, they'll look to finish the season on a positive note at least.

2017: Power Rankings Week 12

This next week has the potential to be a season defining one, for many reasons. We have crucial playoff match ups taking place, as well as crucial tank bowl match ups. A lot of teams hit their stride last week, and some faltered. These last 3 weeks are going to be a wild ride. Who will come out on top? Let's find out.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 9-2 (4): Turns out, Forge Flyers weren't on the come down, they just went on holiday for a couple of weeks. Go figure. And who could blame them? With so many more wins than the rest of the division they deserved some time off. And they promptly reasserted their dominance last week, securing the division title against the only team who could stop them, and their first playoff appearance since 2011 to boot.

2. ADRZ, 7-4 (1): Confession - Ben bribed me to put ADRZ at the top, as we all know what being at the top of the power rankings does to a team. Joking aside, this is the worst week ADRZ have had in a long long time, and they still got an acceptable 84 points. While they look decidedly more shaky now than they did, I'll wait another week before I lose faith in them, they're still a good team.

3. IKSAN, 7-4 (3): Much like Coach Leach, Coach Sherwood crushed a division rivals playoff hopes in a thrilling victory last week, and now face a showdown for the division lead with ADRZ this week. Despite losing Elliott, this team is still rolling and they'll get the benefit of the doubt until otherwise. With their bye players back, they're now at full strength and have a repeat in mind.

4. Patistan, 6-5 (2): That's not how Patistan drew it up. In fact, that's the complete polar opposite of what they drew up. In a game against a struggling division rival, Coach Allen's side disappeared, a trait they've shown a few times this season. It's a concern of course, but they're good more often than not so they should recover. They face a crucial game against division rival Cash4Gould this week.

5. Burdettinators, 4-7 (7): With the byes and (most of) the injury woes out of the way, Burdettinators could be back to kicking ass and taking names. They didn't quite pull it off last week against the league leaders, but they've showed some tenacity that wasn't there the last few weeks. I'm betting on them regaining their form, and they should be able to pick some wins up to end the season. Playoffs are sadly just out of reach however.

6. Gridiron Gang, 7-4 (6): Turning in another solid week and bringing home a crucial divisional victory, Gridiron Gang now takes sole possession of the Portsmouth division - at least for a week. I'll cop to the fact they've not conceded as much as other teams, no doubt that's been a part of it, but they've also been consistently posting decent scores. They face a Father Son Bowl this week.

7. Tanky McTankface, 4-7 (5): Coach Merritt's slide hear doesn't have much to do with the team's performance. Yes they're inconsistent, but they had a great week last week, of which they're always capable of. They lost an absolute must win game against division rival IKSAN, who now moves (with ADRZ) to 3 games ahead of them in the division. They're realistically out of the playoff race, but they should be good enough to avoid the tank bowl. But the cutlery however? Stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

8. Cash4Gould, 6-5 (8): Coach Gardner had a prime opportunity to seize control of the division with an epic comeback last week, but fell just short. With a fairly sizable points defect, they could have done with a W. But the season definitely isn't over, and they've had a few good weeks of late. This week against a Patistan is a must win. Let's see what the sophomore coach has up his sleeve.

9. The Southampton Narwhals, 4-7 (9, FORKED): Coach Nunn's team continues to impress me. Let's not forget, at one point in the season we were wondering if this team would set the record for losses in a season. Now, while they're in the running for the Tank Bowl, they're doing a damn fine job of trying to avoid it. The roster has its flaws, but it's not unreasonable to see a good finish from them at this point.

10. The Dream Team, 3-8 (10, FORKED): In a week where we finally saw some teeth from Coach Nathwani's side, they run into a buzz saw against division and tank bowl potential rival Southampton Narwhals. Now at 3-8, they're at high danger of featuring in the Tank Bowl this year. But the team showed grit, and they've had some decent scores the last few weeks, so there is still time for them to avoid it.

11. Tom's Tyrants, 4-7, (11, FORKED): Ok, so you all had Coach Barnes beating division leading, white hot ADRZ last week right? Right? Yeah, me neither. Tom's Tyrants is a volatile team. This is a fact. Another fact is you have no idea when they will go off. Last week was that week, and it could have been even better with Keenan Allen on the bench. Let's see if the two time champ can finish the season strong.

12. Bear Necessities, 5-6 (12, FORKED): Did I prematurely fork Coach Stubbs Sr' team? Perhaps? Perhaps not? I guess we'll find out. But there's no doubt they pulled off a great upset against division leading Patistan last week. As we've said all season long, with a stud QB in the roster this team can put up points - and that's exactly what they did led by a 37 point outing by Big Ben. There is still an outside chance at playoffs for this side.

2017: Power Rankings Week 11

Let me set the scene for you right now. Week 11. 4 games to go. One 8-2 team, one 7-3, and four 6-4. This playoff race is wide open folks. No one has secured a playoff berth yet (albeit one is close). There's a 3 way tie in one division, and another is close. Everything is to play for, and the next two weeks will be crucial as they are division games. Let's roll.

Power Rankings

1. ADRZ, 7-3 (2): Hello, my old friend. ADRZ makes their way back to the top of the power rankings. And deservedly so. They've been on an absolute tear of late, ripping off 4 wins straight in impressive fashion. Now with a game lead in the division, at this point playoffs is theirs to lose. This team is hot heading into the dance, seeking their 3rd straight Corona Bowl appearance. Not bad for a coach who nearly retired this season.

2. Patistan, 6-4 (3): Patistan have been on a consistent slow burn up the rankings for a few weeks now, and with good reason. The rookie RBs are finally pulling their weight, and the rest of the roster is clicking as well. With a reasonable points lead in the division, they have the edge right now, and just need to continue doing what they're doing. They're prone to trap weeks here and there, but right now they're sitting pretty.

3. IKSAN, 6-4 (4): The impressive 4 game win streak has finally been snapped. It was impressive while it lasted, but the last couple of weeks they have been running on fumes a bit. Still, I like this team. Yes, losing Zeke is like removing a limb from the team, but they still had a decent day despite that. Once they figure out the recovery plan, and get some players back from byes, they should be back to being a strong team.

4. Forge Flyers, 8-2 (1): Have the wheels come off for Coach Leach? After posting 90+ points in their first 6 of 7 games, their last 3 they have only amassed points in the 80s. Now that's been a combination of byes and other happenings, but you have to wonder what's going on here. Is this permanent, or just a blip? My ranking hedges the two, but I have a feeling this is just a blip. They might not return to power house status, but they're still a good team.

5. Tanky McTankface, 4-6 (7): This is the true definition of a boom or bust team if I've ever seen one. One week Coach Merritt is stinking up the joint, the next he is ruling the roost. As such, it makes them difficult to rank, but given their propensity to score I have to put them here. They won an absolute must win game last week, and now at 4-6 they need to keep winning for a hope at playoffs.

6. Gridiron Gang, 6-4 (6): Coach Stubbs Jr. continues his giant killing ways, taking down a team with a 4 win streak. This rag tag bunch of warriors feels like they struggle their way to points at times, but given the injury issues they had at the start of the season it's surprising they're at 6-4 at all. Gridiron Gang have been in the hunt, but just missed out, for the last 3 years. Will this be the year they finally push through and return to the playoffs?

7. Burdettinators, 4-6 (5): I questioned if the wheels were off Forge Flyers. I don't even need to question here. The wheels are firmly rolling down the road. After topping 90 points 7 weeks straight to start the season, the last 3 they've scored 84, 45 and 62. A plague of injuries and byes have caused this, but this just feel like a different team to the one we saw at the start of the year. They've still got enough talent to win some games I think, but being 2 games behind the wildcard means they've got a lot of work to do.

8. Cash4Gould, 6-4 (9): Coach Gardner is having a fine sophomore season, as he's coaxed a 6-4 record out of his team so far. But once again, this team just seemed to be lacking some juice as they failed to follow up on their strong week by only posting 82 points. But, they did have 3 players on a bye, so I'll give them a pass this time. This roster does have talent, no doubt. But consistency is still a bit hit and miss. They are firmly in the hunt though.

9. The Southampton Narwhals, 3-7 (10, FORKED): Don't look now but Coach Nunn has won two on the trot now. This team is pretty decent, and if it wasn't for early injuries that cost them a lot of wins they may have had an outside chance at the playoffs. As it stands, they're out to play spoilers and avoid the Tank Bowl, of which they seemingly have a good chance of doing right now. Keep it up!

10. The Dream Team, 3-7 (8, FORKED): Coach Nathwani is in the midst of his worst year since 2013. I said at the start of the season that it's hard to have such prolonged, sustained success in the LOC. I also predicted that The Dream Team had one more year in them and they'd win it at the end of their run. I was wrong on this, but the reasons are injuries and poor play. Coach Nathwani's job now is to ensure his first silverware isn't a tank trophy.

11. Tom's Tyrants, 3-7 (12, FORKED): Inconsistency continues to dog this team, and if it wasn't for a great day by Jared Goff their day would have looked a lot worse. This team definitely has some nice assets, but none of them came off for them this week. In their continued voyage to avoid the Tank Bowl, they should be able to sneak a few wins here and there to avoid it. In the mean time, they'll have their eye on next year.

12. Bear Necessities, 4-6 (11): Now, we all know that losing Rodgers effectively ended this team's season (unfortunately, as they started very well). After that, they've had some ok days, some not great ones, but the team does still have some players to rub together who are capable of a good day. What I cannot overlook however is intentionally playing bye week players and not even trying. Fantasy is random, and any team can win on their day, but this is a sure fire way to guarantee a loss. I hope this doesn't happen again, because it's a shame to see something like this happen. But, with another loss, I have to stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 10

Evening all! You’d think that having a week off would mean that this article would find its way to your Facebook notifications a little earlier, but instead it just meant I procrastinated even more, so we find ourselves posting just before the Thursday night game again. In other news, if it wasn’t for Forge Flyers turning the last few year of hate into results in the win column, the rest of the playoff spots are tight as! And I am excited! Let’s not waste time listening to me, we’ll get straight into the juicy stuff.

Coaches Award

Too easy. There’s been a lot of 90s and even an agonising 99.48 point week, but triple digits was only a matter of time. And making 100 points for the first time this year was not the only thing to celebrate this week, this coach put his faith squarely in the hands of his favourite players, who may have just elevated himself to hero status. Cutler was a great play, a great pickup in The Narwhals’ talisman’s bye week and utterly critical to their second win of the season. Oh, and side note, highest scoring team of the week. Congrats to Coach Nunn, well played.

Honourable mention: Great pickup by Coach Leach with Kenyan Drake (which is a great name for a tribute act for Canadian Drake, just saying, make it happen.) who played a pivotal role in the win this week. Hey, Dolphins making people win, who would have thought it?

Wooden Spoon

One coach fell into my cardinal sin, my wooden spoon magnet (wood magnet doesn’t really work, but hey), this week and left points capable of winning their matchup on the bench. Rob Kelley may not have been drafted as a starter, but he could have replaced three separate players in Tanky McTankface’s starting lineup and changed the result of that game. Unlucky Coach Merritt, but on the upside you may just keep the Tyrants out of the Toilet Bowl – or whatever it is called this year.

Bold Predictions

Well, what can I say, the Gods intervened. My most outlandish prediction of last week became an absolute gimme when Zeke’s suspension was lifted (again). But they all count, another correct prediction in the books! Whlst we’re on the subject, the boldness of Coach Sherwood in drafting Elliott should really be credited at some point during this series of EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. And it just was. Time for the predictions.

The Dream Team vs. Tanky McTankface: Coach Merritt starting Bortles is really tempting here, really really tempting. However, I am going to take the high road and go for 600 scrimmage yards by starting RBs.

Burdettinators vs. Cash4Gould: What is crazier, Ryan Fitzpatrick starting in the LOC in 2017 or Coach Gardner being in single digits in the power rankings?? Probably the latter, therefore Fitzpatrick will throw 4 TDs, none of which go to Brate.

Forge Flyers vs. Patistan: This is going to be the highest scorer this week and the highest scoring (non-QB) player is going to be Evan Engram, career highs in yards and TDs.

Gridiron Gang vs. IKSAN: Bryant and Nelson, the second rounders! Not time for celebration though, they are the lowest and second lowest skill position players in the matchup this week.

Bear Necessities vs. ADRZ: Fitzpatrick and McCown!? We live in crazy times! Well, surely only one of them can do well and I have already gone all in on the Amish Rifle, sooooo Wilson sends McCown back to school by tripling his score.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. The Southampton Narwhals: The Miami boys do it again and go to work. 45 points on Monday night make for a spectacular comeback win.

And that is another EDOTLOCCA’s Corner in the books. Hope you all enjoyed it and I hope you are all ready for another thrilling week of the LOC. I know I am! Well; ready, set, go! It’s Week 10!

2017: Power Rankings Week 10

Back by popular demand, it's your week 10 edition of the power rankings! (pauses for applause). This time of year is a crazy time in the LOC, as teams are rising, falling and stabilizing all over the place! Let's try to figure it out.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 8-1 (1): The more things change, the more they stay the same...but I'm going to leave a little warning flag here. That's two decidedly average weeks in a row now for Coach Leach's side. We've seen it before, the best team in the regular season slowing down to end the year and one-and-doneing themselves in the playoffs. I'm not ready to say that, but it's a watch out for sure.

2. ADRZ, 6-3 (4): Coach Wells' side have really been hitting their stride the last few weeks, now winning 3 on the bounce. And this week they earned the W. With key players on a bye, the bye week fill ins all came through, some of them really heroic choices (much to my own chagrin). With a division in flux, if they can string a few more wins together they will probably lock up the division.

3. Patistan, 5-4 (5): Coach Allen rebounded nicely last week, and despite still getting little production from their elite receiver duo, they're chugging along just fine. While relying on rookie RBs is going to lead to some inconsistent scores, there's no doubt this is a good side, one that would certainly be playoff worthy. They're in a tussle for the division, and have the talent to win it.

4. IKSAN, 6-3 (6): Look, it was a down week for the side, but they still got the W and remain squarely in the running for the division. They would have been higher if it weren't for the Zeke news. That makes this team really hard to measure. With Zeke, they're in really good shape. Without, not so much. But they've won 4 in a row, you can't overlook that.

5. Burdettinators, 4-5 (2): The first time Coach Burdett's team has moved down in a long time, and I'll tell you why. The monkey was on their back for a long time, then it left. Then last week they posted 45 points. Now, they were missing a lot of players through byes, injury, etc. But this is certainly a team in flux right now. They'll stabilize I'm sure, but at 4-5, I'm not sure they have enough consistency to turn it around.

6. Gridiron Gang, 5-4 (7): Coach Stubbs Jr has missed a couple of good opportunities to seize control of their division the last few weeks, but this is a good side that is now done with its byes. A score of waiver adds and trades have masked the countless number of injuries this team has faced, now it's up to the coach whether they return to the promised land or not.

7. Tanky McTankface, 3-6 (3): Coach Merritt will be cursing my name for moving his side up again, as every time I've done it, it caused a collapse. They lost a tight one to a beatable side last week, and now at 3-6, 3 games behind in the division and wildcard, I don't think regaining their form will change their fortune. They're not getting cutlery this week, but they aren't far off.

8. The Dream Team, 3-6 (8): Coach Nathwani must be disappointed with what could have been a great season. Losing OBJ was a blow, but the number of games this team has lost that it had a chance of winning is the equivalent to a baseball bat to the face. At 3-6, 5 games behind in the division, 3 in the wildcard race, even if this team did recover a bit, I think they're just too far behind to catch up. Stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

9. Cash4Gould, 5-4 (11): Damn you Coach Gardner for ruining my narrative of your team, damn you to hell!!! This team topped 90 points for the second time this season in a great performance...only to still go onto lose. Irony is bittersweet, but for the rest of us we say how are you 5-4? I digress. This team has a solid floor, and has the potential for upside. They're in the hunt, if they can realize that potential they've got a chance.

10. The Southampton Narwhals, 2-7 (12, FORKED): Just like I've been saying all along. This is the best team in the league, hands down....nearly fooled you didn't I? But I do actually like this team, they always seem to be in and around 80-90 points, and this week they had a terrific day with a heroic play of Jay Cutler to seal the W. Weeks like this will be few and far between, but it serves to remind us that Coach Nunn is certainly not a joke.

11. Bear Necessities, 4-5 (9): Ooo err. This is getting uglier by the week. Pulling Rodgers out of this roster is like french frying when you need to pizza. If you french fry when you need to pizza, you're gonna have a bad time! Only Pat probably got this reference, but basically everything has fallen apart is what I'm saying. But, they're still in the hunt, if some players can get their act together they could turn it around.

12. Tom's Tyrants, 3-6 (10, FORKED): What is going on with this team? Coach Barnes had another bad week, of which I'm sure he'd even agree the team has become too accustomed too. Yet, they won? This roster is all over the place. They might erupt. They might whimper. They might fall somewhere in the middle. Who knows, but they're certainly playing for spoilers, you can take that to the bank.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 9

Good evening (ladies and) gents! Well, I think the elephant in the room should be addressed. Our Lord High Commissioner has decided that the Tyrants are dead in the water, he cast them aside without a second thought for how this might affect the supply of the weekly EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. Why should I continue to feed his media culture when ‘the power got cut in the building’? Well, he should have thought of that before; your EDOTLOCCA, all the nonsense I spout and all Corners that I find myself associated with are on strike! Yeah!

…

On the other hand, my team does suck and I clearly have nothing to play for, maybe I’ll just focus on the article. Strike over, let’s get on with it.

Coaches Award

This Coaches Award feels a little bit strange to deliver, in fact I am not quite sure how it is even possible. This team pulled off the win, in tight circumstances, despite some truly horrible performances and enough bye weeks for the whole league, let alone a single team. It speaks volumes that, despite three (three!) players combining for a mere 0.5 points (0.5!), Coach Leach dragged the Flyers to, yet another, victory. Great roster depth and smart waiver play like Will Fuller and the Bengals D – who he picked up a week early ready for bye week coverage – show why he is sitting pretty atop the league.

Wooden Spoon

EDOTLOCCA’s Corner history incoming! The Wooden Spoon can only go to one person this week, Coach Barnes. This is the first time I have ever selected myself for an award (if you can call the Wooden Spoon that), and I didn’t want to do it, but after a poor performance, the resultant fork-ing and Andrew Luck confirming himself as the worst draft pick of 2017,  I was left with no choice. Fair is fair.

Bold Predictions

Here we go, we are back in business people! After reading through and article which has been largely me moaning about my own team, sorry for that, we can now all join arms and celebrate a correct Bold Prediction! 217 receiving yards from the RBs in the Gridiron Gang, Patistan fixture in Week 8, despite Le’Veon Bell of all people barely contributing. Also, I am counting this week a 1-4 seeing as Coach Sherwood sabotaged one of my predictions fresh out the gates, not cool bro. Right, Week 9.

The Southampton Narwhals vs. Cash4Gould: Jay Ajayi finally ends Coach Gardner’s misery with a big performance. Joining the high powered Eagles he rumbles for his first two TDs of the season.

Bonus Prediction: With Tom Brady on a bye week, Coach Nunn makes the obvious move and starts Jimmy Garoppolo.

The Dream Team vs. Patistan: With Dak Prescott carrying the load for the Cowboys and Drew Brees being Drew Brees, 800 passing yards are amassed in this one.

Forge Flyers vs. Tanky McTankface: Coach Merritt is left unsure of which way to cheer when Sacksonville return, taking down Dalton more 8 plus times.

Gridiron Gang vs. ADRZ: Classic Coach Stubbs Jr., starting two RBs that 50% of the league may not have even heard of at the start of the season. Less than 75 yards between them won’t be what he was aiming for however.

Bear Necessities vs. IKSAN: This could end up turning into a game of chicken after last week… but here is the prediction: Zeke outscores McFadden. Ball’s in your court Coach Sherwood, change your line up, I dare you.

Burdettinators vs. Tom’s Tyrants: Coach Burdett whiffed on QB roulette last week, but he can’t go wrong with the ‘on fire’ Watson against the ‘wet cloth’ Colts. Another week with 4 TDs.

Okay, that’s your lot people. Despite all those concerns about industrial action and what not, we made it, another week in the books. Good luck in the games everyone and can someone make sure they do something stupid this week so that I don’t have to give myself the Wooden Spoon again? Cheers. Ttfn.

2017: Power Rankings Week 9

Week 9, here we come, and with 6 games to go it is still all to play for. One team has nearly locked up the division, others are still jostling, some are on their last legs, and a couple are realistically out of the running. These next few weeks, while not defining, will certainly go a long way to securing, or missing out on, playoffs.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 7-1 (1): Even in a week where this team was missing 6, count them SIX, players to byes, they still won. No, it wasn't a pretty performance, you'd struggle to do that being down so many players. But the fact coach Leach's side still put up an ok score and brought home the win makes you think this could be a team of destiny. With a 3 game lead and only 6 to go, they've nearly locked up a trip to the dance.

2. Burdettinators, 4-4 (2): Another dirty win, but they all count, and Coach Burdett deserves a few of them considering how the season started for them. Still, the dodgy last few weeks are a bit of an eye raiser. They have the players on the bench, so ultimately you'd expect them to consistently score well, but it's something we're going to have to keep an eye on.

3. Tanky McTankface, 3-5 (7): Coach Merritt moves up to the high spots again, but they still lost last week, and they're running out of chances. At 3-5, I think the team is great. They're finally delivering what we've seen on paper since the draft. However, they're currently 2 games behind the division and the wildcard spot. While not insurmountable, with many competitive teams still above them, they might need a lot to go there way to make the playoffs.

4. ADRZ, 5-3 (9): Boomshakala. That's all I have to say really. But ADRZ's score this week was not only their season best, but a league wide season best. It all fell right for them. And while I think they're a good consistent side, everything fell right for them last week and I'm not sure this is sustainable. But when they're not scoring 155 points, they're still pretty good and have a good chance at playoffs.

5. Patistan, 4-4 (3): Last week was a major down week for Coach Allen, one that has been really out of kilter of their season so far. I expect them to bounce back though, they've got too many good players to be scoring like that each week. Patistan on paper look like a team who should be scoring buckets of points each week, I think they'll get it together.

6. IKSAN, 5-3 (4): This team has changed narratives about 4 times already this season, and here's another: the last 3 weeks IKSAN have been goooood. I was going to put this team at 3 this week because I think they're hear to say...until I woke up to seeing Elliott has been suspended again. While they're certainly more than just Elliott, there's no doubt he's been a pillar of this team, and it takes them down a notch.

7. Gridiron Gang, 5-3 (5): Gridiron Gang have had a lackluster last couple of weeks due to a QB injury and some poor play. That will probably continue into next week with 4 players on a bye and another still out injured. Despite that, Coach Stubbs Jr. has managed to cobble a competitive side together and they remain firmly in the hunt for a playoff spot.

8. The Dream Team, 3-5 (6): It's gone a bit under the radar, but Coach Nathwani has lost his last 4 games now, only topping 90 points in one of them. It's definitely a concern, and a problem we foresaw when Beckham went down. I don't want to say they're out of it as they still have 3 wins at this stage and an ok team, but I just don't think the team has the firepower required to make a comeback at this stage. I think they'll finish well but ultimately just miss out.

9. Bear Necessities, 4-4 (8): So unfortunately, as we all expected, Aaron Rodgers was the straw that broke the camels back for this team. While Big Ben has filled in admirably in his absence, this team needs a great QB to support the rest of the roster. They had a lot of byes this week which didn't help, so they're not quite flat lining, but the prognosis is about 50/50 at this point.

10. Tom's Tyrants, 2-6 (10): Just after we thought Coach Barnes was triggering come back mode...the power got cut in the building. A dismal day, in which the light at the end of the tunnel may have dimmed for this team. 3 games behind in the division and in the wildcard race, I don't think team has the potential to overcome it. They will probably have some good weeks, but I think it's time to hand the fork to Coach Barnes. Stick a fork in 'em, THEY DONE.

11. Cash4Gould, 5-3 (12): Another week, another sub 90 point outing for Coach Gardner. In other news, another win. Go figure. QB has been a problem child for this team so far this season, but inconsistency has been the problem child's big brother. They have some nice shiny players that just aren't delivering the mail, and the supporting cast hasn't picked up the slack so far. Still, at 5-3, they're in a good spot to get hot and roll to the finish.

12. The Southampton Narwhals, 1-7 (11): Coach Nunn's only goal at this point is to win as many games as possible, and avoid having the losingest season of all time (which I believe is either 2-12 or 3-11). They're certainly not hapless. Last week was a bad week, but they've done a really good job of getting a decent amount of points each week. They need an infusion from somewhere to help them though.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 8

Hello everyone and welcome to Week 8 with yours truly, it’s another EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. So we find ourselves halfway through the LOC regular season. Some of us already starting to plan for the playoffs, some of us holding on to post season dreams and some of us looking forward to the 2018 draft where greener pastures (and hopefully no bikinis) might await. We are also fully into bye week season and some coaches have been hit hilariously hard (more on that later), so Week 8 promises to throw a few curveballs. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, the Week 7 awards.

Coaches Award

Bye weeks are quite often what separates the pretenders from the contenders. Teams with great depth or coaches adept on the waivers will always take a couple of steps forward at this point in the season. With both starting receivers out on consecutive bye weeks, rookie WR JuJu Smith-Schuster was grabbed off of waivers and proved critical in a tight win in Week 7. But what makes it more impressive? Coach Wells doesn’t even have any waiver credits for bargaining. Credit for the smart pick up and well merited win.

Honourable mention: He has had him rostered all season, but Coach Merritt has now turned to the red hot Wentz. The win was already in the bag this week, but this could be a turning point in the season.

Wooden Spoon

This one feels harsh all things considered and I would like to be the first to say that I think coming within two yards of 100 fantasy points when your roster has just been flipped upside-down is quite impressive. However, I play by strict rules here. Coach Stubbs Sr. lost a tight game when he had enough points left on the bench for the win, hard luck.

Bold Predictions

Nil-pwa. My early season hot streak has been seriously rained on. Like monsoon-ed or typhoon-ed or something else geographical. We are on a 3 week dry spell (hang on, is that contradictory?) for correct predictions. But, now it is time to get out the metaphorical brolly/parasol! – Depending on which analogy you are keeping up with.

The Southampton Narwhals vs. Forge Flyers: Wow, in biblical terms, David just swapped his slingshot for a trebuchet. Or more to the point, Goliath just had one of his legs chopped off. The byes have given The Narwhals a chance and I reckon they pull it off with their first 100 point performance of the year.

The Dream Team vs. Burdettinators: Interesting matchup in Reed vs. Ertz here. I was (half) right last week with Reed finding his feet, but Ertz has been the TE#1 so far this season. 35 points between them could be achievable.

Gridiron Gang vs. Patistan: Going to go a little bit off of the beaten track here and say that, looking at the skillsets of the starters, we will see over 200 receiving yards here… by running backs.

Cash4Gould vs. Bear Necessities: A second case of a mega bye week has been made slightly less severe by the Rodgers injury. I see this being the closest game of the week. It will be decided Monday night, by less than 3 points.

ADRZ vs. Tanky McTankface: After already talking up Wentz, I also see a big day for Wilson here with the Seahawks finally clicking and playing a high scoring Texans team. 70 combined fantasy points is not out of the question.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. IKSAN: After Murray showing up bigtime on Coach Sherwood’s bench last week, he could be in for a similar performance in London. Leaving him on the bench could be cause for a Wooden Spoon award in Week 9.

And, as if by magic, we are done. With possibly my earliest post of the season (it is amazing how much of a kiss up the ass evening plans are), I will bid you all fair well. Enjoy the rest of your evening and good luck in the games. Until next time.

2017 Power Rankings: Week 8

As we officially cross the line into the second half of the season, crunch time has begun. This is where the race really starts to heat up, and while it's still way too early to seal someone up or lay someone to rest, there's no doubt any bad weeks from here on out can cost you.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 6-1 (1): This team really is on a hot streak, and barring an injury I really can't see it slowing down. This side is probably better than Coach Leach's 2011 season (which to me says he's on for a career year). Now 3 games ahead in the division, you never want to say it's over, but it would take a real late season collapse for them not to win the division.

2. Burdettinators, 3-4 (2): It was an alright week for Coach Burdett, certainly not as good as some he has had, however this week the luck broke for him and he got the win despite that. Still a good team, they were bailed out massively by a couple of performances, but with a couple of injuries and bye weeks they weren't at full strength. Whether the luck keeps going there way or not will be interesting to see.

3. Patistan, 4-3 (4): This one is going to sting. Coach Allan was facing a 1-5 team that dropped 137 points out of nowhere on them. Still, Patistan scored 119 which is nothing to be ashamed of, and in a close division the points can make all the difference. Look for them to keep competing at a high level as the season goes on.

4. IKSAN, 4-3 (8): This team is slightly all over the place with their scoring, but last week was firmly an up and they've got two wins in a row now. In what is a relatively soft division (though has seemingly become a lot stronger in the space of a week) they should be able to continue with the good turnouts. I think at this point the only thing standing in IKSAN's way is IKSAN themselves.

5. Gridiron Gang, 4-3 (5): And thus ends the 4 game winning streak of Gridiron Gang. But the fact this team strung 4 wins together at all with all the injuries suffered is an accomplishment alone, and they were overdue a loss. Considering this loss was largely down to an injury at QB, and that was the only thing preventing last week from being a decent week, they should bounce back promptly.

6. The Dream Team, 3-4 (3): I really can't make out this Dream Team side. One week they're down and I think they're done, the other week they're up and I think they're all good. In reality, they're probably just an inconsistent team. With relatively few options to turn to on the bench, and a seemingly more volatile starting lineup, they'll certainly have their weeks, but there will also be some bad weeks too.

7. Tanky McTankface, 3-4 (10): Are Tanky McTankface back? Is what looks good on paper finally starting to look good in reality also? It might just well be. And turning over the reigns to Carson Wentz is quite frankly overdue, and it's a big reason for their reversal of fortunes. Amazingly only 1 game behind in the division, Coach Merritt may make a return to the playoffs yet.

8. Bear Necessities, 4-3 (6): It was a decent week in the post Aaron Rodgers era of Bear Necessities, but I think they'll be hard pressed to make it stay. Big Ben did have a decent week, but around that it feels dicey. And when you're starting 2 RBs on the same team, you know you're in a bit of hot water. Still, at 4-3, they only need a few wins to fall their way and they could still make it to the dance.

9. ADRZ, 4-3 (7): A week after losing their consistent status, they returned to the golden 90 points, but unfortunately I don't think it's going to stay. They will absolutely have good weeks, but a few players really over compensated for what was a rough week. While they absolutely are still alive in the division and the playoff race, I just have a feeling as the season go on this team will fall behind ever so slightly.

10. Tom's Tyrants, 2-5 (11): Here it is people, the Coach Barnes revival we've all been waiting for. Watch out, they'll come back and win every game and the title now. Oh right, yeah, I'm not Chris... But joking aside, this was a great week where nearly everything fell right, and I actually can see this team build off of this. Don't expect a good week every week, but they're certainly not done.

11. The Southampton Narwhals, 1-6 (12): It's quite incredible Coach Nunn's ability to turn out around 90 points each week given the injuries and the state of the roster. He has lost a number of games that could have easily gone the other way. If they even had some waiver players this season could be entirely different, but alas they are 1-6 and just looking to spoil the party for other teams now.

12. Cash4Gould, 4-3 (9): Winning cures what ails you right? It's just as well Coach Gardner has 4 wins, because this has masked what has been a really troubling season so far. They've topped 90 points just once so far. And with the current state of affairs...I'm afraid to say that's probably going to be the norm. They will have good weeks, they've got talent, but consistency is the elusive part of the equation.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 7

Good evening gents. Welcome to the latest (no pun intended but this is late in the day) edition of EDOTLOCCA’s Corner. Voted by the masses as a top three piece of LOC media, I’m as impressed as you guys that it is Week 7 and I haven’t (majorly) slipped up yet. Maybe focussing too much loyalty to the article is costing the Tyrants, maybe not, either way you should all be grateful for both having something to read on a Thursday night and an easy win at the weekend! Anyway, time for the show people, enjoy.

Coaches Award

Looking for the thing that tips a tilt each week is tricky, but with all the great minds of the LOC we can always rely on the odd piece of genius. This Coach may have been getting a bit of a hard time of late, but the best way to turn that around is to prove me wrong and pick up the W. They scavenged other teams’ sidecast players and made them starters and stars. Came Newton was critical to Week 6’s victory and it put his (new) team back in the running for the division crown. Congrats to Coach Gardner.

Wooden Spoon

Well, we were all concerned when the plan was formulated draft day. No one could claim they saw this coming, but we all understand the consequences. Rodgers is down, he has dragged Cobb and Bennett into the abyss with him, oh, and Montgomery is splitting carries with Jones. Coach Stubbs Sr., our thoughts are with you, it was bold, but it may have just backfired.

Bold Predictions

It was another week crammed full of nearly. Not only were there some delectably tight games in the LOC, but I really hit the post on some of these bold predictions. Oh well, you won’t find me crying over spilt milk, I’ll just have to make some more milk! Okay, poor choice of analogy, moving on, quickly.

The Southampton Narwhals vs. ADRZ: The Narwhals best games coincide with big Brady performances, Gronk and Gillislee counteract this by out touchdown-ing #12.

The Dream Team vs. IKSAN: Jordan Reed has not been the player any of us were expecting, can that change this week? I see him tripling Kelce’s score, could be a game changer.

Burdettinators vs. Gridiron Gang: 3 starters from San Fran, has that happened since the glory days of Kaepernick? Wow, that felt weird to type. All three combine for less than 100 yards.

Forge Flyers vs. Bear Necessities: Has there ever been a more critical injury in the LOC? The long answer is that Forge Flyers double Bear Necessities points, the short answer is probably not.

Cash4Gould vs. Tanky McTankface: The past of the New Orleans backfield vs. the future. Kamara becomes the present with a 20 point performance leading Cash4Goud to the win.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. Patistan: Two teams that started the draft receiver heavy go head to head, one is having far more success. Jones and Thomas go big for >35 points.

If this article gets any later, I will have to start a new series. Maybe ‘The twilight zone, featuring the EDOTLOCCA’. Bit of a mouthful actually, better just start writing the article earlier in the day. Peace out.

2017: Power Rankings Week 7

We’re entering the half way point of the regular season and, what’s this? We’re being invaded by cutlery!! They have made base camp in one of the LOC team’s stadiums. The rest of the league are coordinating defences as we speak. Read on to see who is most likely to be conquered by the cutlery next.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers, 4-2 (1): And back to normal service. After Coach Leach succumbed to his first loss of the season, Forge Flyers have promptly righted the ship against a quality side. Even without their star qb they still rolled in a great performance, and with a 2 game lead in the division they may already be too far ahead to catch. 

2. Burdettinators, 2-4 (2): The luck finally fell Coach Burdett’s way! And by that I mean, he didn’t face an opponent on their great week. Burdettinators had their best week of the season in a long overdue, deserved victory. Time will tell if the monkey on their back is gone for good, but there’s no denying how good this team is.

3. The Dream Team, 3-3 (6): Coach Nathwani may as well rename his team ‘The Yo-Yos’ the amount of times I’ve moved them up and down. But this week I like them again despite losing, because they showed to me there is life post OBJ, and they got Peterson which is looking like a smart add to boot. 

4. Patistan, 4-2 (5): The fact that this team is still turning decent day after decent day without their top 2 receivers really doing much of anything so far is impressive in itself. Week in week out they get the points from somewhere, and if those two players turn it on this team will be hard to stop. 

5. Gridiron Gang, 4-2 (8): After a slow start, Gridiron Gang has really turned it around with 4 wins on the bounce, which is even more mind boggling when you remember the sheer number of injuries this team has suffered. If we said they were starting McKinnon, Funchess and Kittle in Week 1 you’d think their season was already over. But alas, they are squarely in the thick of it. 

6. Bear Necessities, 4-2 (3): So we can go ahead and alter that slogan from #PackersOrPanic to just #Panic. But truth be told, I’m loathe to move them down much further (to begin with at least). It was a bad day at the office on Sunday, and while the other packers are now less appealing, this is still a good team that should be good. 

7. ADRZ, 3-3 (4): Remember that uber consistent, decent ADRZ side I was talking about? Yeah you can go ahead and put that out to pasture. I’m not sure what to make of this team now. Their early waiver adds have turned sour, as have many of the options on the team. Will this be a blip, or a trend? We will have to wait and see.

8. IKSAN, 3-3 (7): Speaking of consistency, or the lack thereof, enter IKSAN. This team is all over the place, they can boom or bust, or sit squarely in the middle like they did last week. But looking at the roster they’re lucky last week wasn’t a bust. Especially now without Elliott (for the time being at least), the Winchester division could be about to get even uglier. 

9. Cash4Gould, 4-2 (12): Coach Gardner has taken away my favourite stat that they’ve not topped 90 points this season. For shame. But it was a very good week for them last week, and this team is certainly trending upward. They seem to have figured things out selection wise and players are starting to take form. 

10. Tanky McTankface, 2-4 (11): What’s this? An on paper performance that actually came through for Coach Merritt? Madness! But yes, the team on paper that looked good has finally delivered. The next question - how long will it last? I’d like to say a while, as I do think this is the best Tanky team we’ve seen, so let’s go with that. 

11. Tom’s Tyrants, 1-5 (9): It’s unfortunate Coach Barnes faced TMT last week as they had a good week against the odds, but I do also think this team might also finally be turning the corner. The team still does resemble a house of cards as opposed to bricks, but there’s some glue on there now at least, and they might get some staples soon too. 

12. Southampton Narwhals, 1-5 (10): Meanwhile....the cutlery makes it’s first appearance of the season. It’s early. Perhaps too early. But I think 2017 is already done for Southampton Narwhals. They won last week despite Brady, but without an infusion of waiver wire players I can’t see a scenario where this team comes back from 1-5. Stick a fork in ‘em, THEY DONE.

EDOTLOCCA's Corner: Week 6

Hello one and all, welcome to Week 6! Remember last week when I was saying about how Forge Flyers were undefeated? Yep, cursed them. Remember last week when I was saying about how The Southampton Narwhals were still searching for their first win? Yep, inspired them. So now all we need is a bunch of ties and there will be no zeros in the records at all. Watch this space, but certainly don’t hold your breath. Also, side note, I have just realised that this article is the only thing I use my laptop for, you should all feel very privileged. On with the awards.

Coaches Award

This team is starting to pick up some steam, riding on the back of some electric receivers. He may not have made the perfect choices for starting lineup, but his team is starting to look threatening. This week, he beat the previously unbeatable and that deserves merit in itself. All that despite having a minor debacle at the TE position. Congratulations to Coach Wells, long may t continue for you.

Honourable mention: Coach Allen nearly makes it two weeks on the bounce. He didn’t have a lot to choose from in Week 5, but he got just enough points on the scoreboard. That is his toughest bye week out of the way and he nailed it, great result.

Wooden Spoon

So many points on the bench, so so many points on the bench. From the DEF that he paid a premium for to the young QB setting scoreboards alight to the WR drafted to be a starter, all the cogs were there. It was a cruel 0.68 point loss for Burdettinators and I am convinced Coach Burdett will be kicking himself. Onwards and upwards, he still has a stellar roster.

Bold Predictions

No, stupidly precise, not even close, even further away, kind of along the right lines and finally back to just no. The run was nice why it lasted, almost certainly historic if anyone bothered to keep track of this, but now both my team and predictions are fresh out of form. Time for a heroic turnaround, for both, please?

The Southampton Narwhals vs. Burdettinators: Let’s get this straight, Burdettinator’s RBs will outscore The Narwhals’ RBs. They will also score more TDs between them than the Narwhals’ whole team.

The Dream Team vs. Forge Flyers: More outstanding RB talent on display. All starting RBs go over 100 yards, except of course Ameer Abdullah, because the Lions don’t do that sort of thing.

Gridiron Gang vs. Bear Necessities: Hmm, a selection problem for Coach Stubbs Sr., too many GB RBs. His bench GB RB outscores his starting GB RB and Coach Stubbs Jr. steals a tight Father/Son Bowl.

Cash4Gould vs. Patistan: Both these teams will have their top scoring player in the FLEX position. (Disclaimer: that is currently Bryant and Hogan, if either of those players are moved from the FLEX position, the prediction is treated as correct.)

ADRZ vs. IKSAN: Top two drafted TEs, both may or may not play, those are the kind of headlines that the acronym bowl are made of! I say they both play and they combine for over 30 points.

Tom’s Tyrants vs. Tanky McTankface: This matchup has got WRs written all over it, the yardage totals are close, but only Tanky McTankface gets any receiving TDs, crucial in this 6-pointer (wrong sport).

That’s your lot kind people. I hoped you enjoyed the latest edition of EDOTLOCCA’s Corner and I hope you all win this week, wouldn’t that be nice, if we could all win? Probably wouldn’t do much for the competitive side of the league I suppose, but you take the good with the bad. Until next time.

2017: Power Rankings Week 6

And we're back for another week! Hopefully you're done partying or crying depending on how your week went, and fully focused on Week 6! Stunning to think we are already nearly half way through the regular season, and we're already seeing how divisions are shaping up and who might be too far behind to catch up. Let's roll.

Power Rankings

1. Forge Flyers. 4-1 (1): And with that, there are no longer any undefeated teams remaining this season. The first game we've really seen Coach Leach's side have a hiccup, and they still posted a respectable 85 points, which looks a lot worse than it was as they got less than 3 points from their backup QB. Normal service should resume this week.

2. Burdettinators, 1-4 (2): Now I'm going to break my power ranking rules slightly hear and rate this team on paper, because if we're talking about depth and talent, they should arguably be top of this list. But bad luck continues to haunt them, losing close games to teams who have great weeks. The wins have to come soon (you would think), but right now they've got a monkey on their back.

3. Bear Necessities, 4-1 (5): One would think after losing one of the key proponents of #PackersOrPanic in Montgomery would hurt this team - but in fact getting the back up Jones has not changed a thing - for now. This team will continue to roll on the back of Packers, but when Montgomery comes back, a time share could certainly impact their potential. But for now, I see no reason to hold them back.

4. ADRZ, 3-2 (3): As you were. I could end this analysis here, but I won't. ADRZ have scored between 89-95 points 3 games already, and the two outliers pretty much average out to that. They are uber consistent, and as such that will win the games more often than not. They've been somewhat lucky with their opponents (where have we heard that before), but they are hitting the magic mark each week.

5. Patistan, 4-1 (4): Another team that has just been really consistent so far, picking up a big win last week. While on paper the players they have certainly aren't pretty, inspiring or exotic, they've got some junk yard dogs who are going to fight to put up points each week, and that's really all you can ask for. Look for them to keep on rolling.

6. The Dream Team, 3-2 (6): Some may be befuddled at my decision to keep Coach Nathwani's side at 6 after a 68 point week in an uneven start to the season, but I'll tell you why. Yes, they lost OBJ, but they really only had him for a couple of healthy games anyway and still have 3 wins. They also had 4 players on a bye this week, and key ones at that. Don't expect the OBJ injury to take the wind out of their sales entirely.

7. IKSAN, 2-3 (7): Again, don't read too much into a week where Coach Sherwood lost to the only winless team in the league. They too had some bye week issues, but I am less confident in a rebound from this team than I am in The Dream Team. They have some good players, but there's definitely an air of inconsistency around them, and with the Elliott suspension looming the sky could fall swiftly.

8. Gridiron Gang, 3-2 (8): Another win for Gridiron Gang, and another player lost too injury. How many more injuries will this team get? But somehow, for each injury, they seem to find a viable replacement from the scrap heap each time. They're not posting awesome scores, but they've been relatively consistent of late, and as long as they can maintain that they should pick up some wins.

9. Tom's Tyrants, 1-4 (9): I'm not quite ready to bump this team back down yet....but I'm close. Getting Martin in the lineup will help a lot, and if (when?) Luck returns it should provided another boost - but in the meantime this team will be living off the waiver wire for some positions. Coach Barnes has turned teams around before, let's see if he's got another one in him.

10. Southampton Narhwals, 1-4 (11): Huzzah! Coach Nunn is finally on the board with his first win of the season, and with another decent week it is whole heatedly deserved. And this week, they didn't even need #BradyOrBust to do it, as the points came from other places. They're going to struggle to pile up points, but they've shown a tenacity for getting an ugly 90 points each week. 

11. Tanky McTankface, 1-4 (10): There was a point on Sunday where Coach Merritt said "I don't think this is going to be my year". He might be right. Though, his team did pick it up a bit after he said this. But outside of one week, consistency has really dodged this team so far. Key players just aren't delivering. However, they are getting some players back from a bye, so all is not lost.

12. Cash4Gould, 3-2 (12): Yes they got a win, but it was another eh week for this team, who has still yet to top 90 points. Much like The Tuckfards, key players aren't firing, and up until now they've been leaving points on the bench. That wasn't even the case this week. Is there time to turn it around? Absolutely, they've already got 3 wins in the bag. But as the EDOTLOCCA said, they may have a drawer full of cutlery not before long.

2017: Week 5 Status Report

Gridiron Gang
- Jerick McKinnon: ankle, full practice, will play
- Wendell Smallwood: knee, questionable, unlikely to play

Tom’s Tyrants
- John Brown: quad, questionable, should play

Southampton Narwhals
- Matt Forte: toe, out
- Paul Perkins: ribs, out

IKSAN
- C.J. Prosise: knee, doubtful, unlikely to play

The Dream Team
- Nothing to report

Cash4Gould
- Nothing to report

Buredttinators
- Nothing to report

Patistan
- Nothing to report

Forge Flyers
- Marcus Mariota: hamstring, questionable, probably will not play
- Jeremy Maclin: hand, questionable, should play

ADRZ
- Kenny Golladay: hamstring, out
- Tyrell Williams: neck, questionable, should play

Bear Necessities
- Ty Montgomery: ribs, doubtful, unlikely to play

Tanky McTankface
- Ben Watson: calf, questionable, should play
- Davante Adams: head, questionable, should play