The Thin Line Between Failure and Success

Image by Nick M. W.

By Emmitt Smith and Nick M. W.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a grind for fantasy football managers.

It’s the beginning of the bad times: the bye weeks. Lineups are stretched thin, several teams have similar records, and the margin is razor thin between a perfect roster and a win sitting on your bench. 

Some teams escape the bye weeks with a winning record because of excellent coaching and savvy roster management. These teams are transformed by the end of their bye into something stronger and more dangerous. They survived the gauntlet and returned to full-strength, just in time for their playoff push.

A couple of fortunate teams will win games during the bye weeks that they had no business winning except their opponents’ rosters are gutted, so they’re facing Jimmy Garoppolo instead of Josh Allen. If this is your team, congratulations. That’s the way it goes sometimes in this shit-ass game we love and hate depending on the week. 

Week 6 was a good one for Rudy and Scum, but what does Week 7 have in store for the teams and for the rest of AGS?

Reactions

Emmitt:  This was the ugliest win that I can remember for House of Rudy this week! Yes, my damn roster looked like Aemond Targaryen fighting his cousins! Lost a damn eye, got beat up by all the incomplete passes thrown at Courtland Sutton, and aged horribly just like the pointy chinned prince, after Monday night’s “contest”. Three players, Nick, including my quarterback, just needed to score 17 points, that’s it!  My 97.5 to 94 heart attack almost cost me a deeper hole record wise. Brother I swear a panic attack was coming when it got closer to the end and our group text was super quiet, and I bet ya’ll was giggling your little asses off. But in a galaxy far, far away I see Nick you was on cruise control last week! How nice.

Nick: I was surprised to see how close it got to going the other way for you. Things looked good for you going into Monday night. By the fourth quarter, I started thinking about how sad this week’s AGS wrap-up was going to be for you. I wasn’t sure you were going to pull it off, but it was a small miracle, and now you’re still in the mix. 

I won, and it ended up being a comfortable win. It’s always nice to not have to sweat it out on a Monday night, but I think the game was still a little too close. It was one player who made the difference for me. If not for a last-minute Sunday morning roster move, I would’ve had Tony Pollard starting instead of Brand Aiyuk, and he was the reason I won last week. Without him, Rebel Scum was average. I would’ve lost by a couple of points to Owumi. He would have been 5 - 1 and on a roll. Hopefully I slowed his momentum going into the bye weeks.

Emmitt: Oh that’s huge. Yeah I agree. As long as you get a seat at the top 6, that’s all that matters. 

Looking at how you can improve your team by the trade deadline, what moves do you think you can make?

Nick: I don’t think I have any moves to make to beef up my team without taking away a contributing player to my roster. My best trade chip, Javonte Williams, is on the IR, and unless a couple of starters stay hurt or get hurt, players I would move don’t have enough value to bring me back what I need, an upgrade at QB. 

Emmitt: Overthinking has gotten my franchise in so much trouble in past years. I’ve given up my share of franchise players, and I'm still going to therapy for it. It's a long road when you gave up on Antonio Brown early in his career, or traded Drew Brees after four weeks in 2007 to Frogs for an Arizona iced tea and a bag of gummy worms. 

I still would like to trade for a better receiver because Christian Kirk is just giving me ulcers with Trevor Lawrence throwing him the ball. I don’t think a trade is necessary this year though. Overall, My bench is ok, roster is healthy, and I think I have upside on most of my players moving forward.

HUGE matchup this week between Cebert Frogs and Rudy's Replacements. Your seasons are on the line. How do you feel about it?

Emmitt: Look, I need momentum. Cebert is having a tough time this year especially after last week. We both need back-to-back wins, so this is a crucial week. I need to pick up a win against a Dalvin Cook-less Frogs because next week I got New Jax City at full strength. But anytime I matchup with the Frogs it’s gonna be some weird shit happening one way or the other. 

Biggest surprise of the week:

Nick: Aaron Jones was disappointing again. I thought he would have a decent game against the Jets, but they aren’t the lovable losers anymore. They beat up Green Bay in their own house, and then walked away with some snacks

I don’t know why the Packers don’t involve Jones more when he is the better running back of Green Bay’s running back by committee. He has a nice matchup this week. If he crushes it, then maybe I have a decent piece of trade bait. 

Another big surprise was Brandon Aiyuk scoring 25.5. I needed all of those points to hold off Who’s Coming in 2nd? Hopefully the 49ers/Chiefs game script calls for a lot of passing, and Aiyuk gets some of that love. 

Emmitt: The one thing that surprised me that Justin Herbert didn’t throw a touchdown. I mean that’s a big statline that could have really messed up my week. The man threw the ball like 57 times and couldn’t get it in the end zone! Unbelievable!

Predictions for your Week 7 matchup

Emmitt:  Rudy needs a win!

Nick: I think it’ll be a close game against Palos Verdes Prime Time. He pushed you to the limit last week. Keenan Allen could be back; it could be boom or bust for that dude. PVPT has Patty Mahomes, and that dude can keep you in a game you have no business being in. I don’t have Cooper Kupp this week, so my wide receivers are going to be Chris Olave and Mike Williams going up against the aforementioned Garrett Wilson and Curtis Samuel. That could be a wash. 

I have an advantage at running back: Ekler and Jones vs. Etienne and Fournette, but I’m not decided on the Giants DST vs the Jaguars. Not many better options out there. I think Eno Benjamin could be a spicy play for PVPT at the FLEX. I’m not settled on what I’m doing at that position yet either. FML. It’s Brandon Aiyuk or Tony Pollard, or maybe it’s Aiyuk instead of Williams. Damn, Rudy. I don’t want to over think this shit either. 

It’s going to be close, but I’ll squeeze out a win. 

AGS math. Image by Nick M. W.