Week 7 Recap: Too Many Williamses

By Mel AIper, CTDB Analyst

Seven weeks in, the Chunky Monkeys are still alone in first at 11-3 but the lead is dwindling. Gang Green is two games back at 9-5 and has quietly become the league’s top scorer, 1.1 points ahead of A Squad Called Blitz. Three teams sit at 8-6 including the hottest team in the leauge - Battle Angel who was 0-4 after two weeks, eight wins in ten results since.

The City of Angels Masterminds are headed the other way. They were 7-3 after Week 5 and are 7-7 now, after two straight 0-2 weeks. LA Buffy has lost five straight and sits alone in last for the first time all season.

The Monkeys finally lost their first head-to-head matchup this past week and it was the Angels who did it with a lineup that sounds like a family reunion: two Williamses ran the ball and a third caught it.

The games

Battle Angel 141, Chunky Monkeys 124

Three running backs, two of them named Williams, carried the Angels. Javonte Williams put up 22, Kyren Williams 17 and Josh Jacobs 18, and the three of them outscored the Monkeys’ running backs 56 to 28. Jameson Williams, a first-round pick, led the team with 24, and Colston Loveland added 16 at tight end. Bryce Young gave GM Will only 9 at quarterback, and the backs covered for him easily. That’s depth.

The Monkeys’ passing game held up its end. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 27, Luther Burden III added 22, and Rhamondre Stevenson scored 20, most of it on a broken reception. With Trevor Lawrence’s Jaguars on a bye, the weekly QB1 debate took the week off, and Tyler Shough gave the Monkeys a serviceable 19. It was a top-half score, so the Monkeys still banked a win in the standings. The Angels have now won eight of thirteen in this series since 2021. 

Custom J 154, Jail Yard Boyz 142

This ended up being the game of the week. Custom J got help from everywhere in the cousins’ game. Tony Pollard, a fifth-round pick, went for 35, the best day by any starter in the league. Trey McBride added 22. Then came the kids: Omar Cooper Jr., the 22-dollar Wednesday claim, caught 20 in his first week, and KC Concepcion, a ninth-round rookie, added 19. GM Josh signed Kyler Murray on Friday for a dollar with Lamar Jackson out and got 17. Custom J’s 154 was the best score of the week, the first time it has topped the board all season.

GM Victor did nothing wrong - just came up a bit short. Drake Maye threw for 35, Tee Higgins caught 24, Bucky Irving ran for 24, and the Boyz set the best lineup they could have, with nothing worth starting left on the bench. It was the second-best score in the league, and it lost. The Boyz won this matchup last year. Not this time.

Philadelphia Phreaks 116, Crunch Bunch 105

GM Ping won this one before kickoff. He started Makai Lemon and Ollie Gordon II over J.K. Dobbins and Darius Cooper, and Lemon and Gordon gave him 16 and 17. Kirk Cousins, the free Friday signing from two weeks ago, threw for 27, and Saquon Barkley came back on Monday night and scored 14 on nine snaps. The Eagles defense finished at minus 8 in the same game, but the Phreaks had already done enough.

Coach Eddie stuck with Jordan Love, the 5-dollar pickup who had earned the job, and Love gave him 24. Joe Burrow, of course, picked this week to throw for 40 from the bench. Amon-Ra St. Brown caught 20, but Kenneth Walker III, A.J. Brown and Tetairoa McMillan combined for 20, and Kyle Monangai, ruled out before Thursday’s game, stayed in the lineup for a zero. The Bunch had won the last four in this series. The Phreaks, who win every other week like clockwork, ended it.

Gang Green 129, LA Buffy 94

This one was won and lost at receiver. Zay Flowers, an early MVP contender, caught 24 for Gang Green, and Jared Goff, filling in during Josh Allen’s bye, threw for 25. Christian McCaffrey hurt his hamstring on the opening drive and still finished with 19, and Braelon Allen, a waiver pickup, added 16. Derrick Henry gave Gang Green 5 and Garrett Wilson 4, and they won anyway.

Buffy’s backfield and quarterback showed up. Matthew Stafford threw for 25, Tre Tucker caught 19, and Cam Skattebo ran for 19 a week after a bagel. Buffy’s receivers and tight end did not. Nico Collins, a keeper, scored 2, Sam LaPorta 2, Jordan Addison 3 and DK Metcalf 7, and the lowest score of the week followed. Gang Green has now won four straight in this series, and Buffy is alone at the bottom. GM Roger deserves better luck than this.

A Squad Called Blitz 107, City of Angels Masterminds 101

Coach Marcus played the closest game of the week short-handed. Davante Adams and Alec Pierce are on injured reserve, Tyler Warren and Deebo Samuel Sr. were out, and James Cook III and Parker Washington were on byes. Dak Prescott threw for 31 on Monday night, Ashton Jeanty ran for 18 and Brandon Aubrey kicked for 13. But Coach Marcus’s receivers and tight end managed under 20 between them, and Breece Hall, inactive again, stayed in the lineup for a zero in a 6-point loss.

Blitz didn’t need its best day. CeeDee Lamb caught 22, Jonathan Taylor ran for 18, Drake London caught 16 and Bijan Robinson added 15. Coach Thien’s 49ers trio of Brock Purdy, the kicker and the defense combined for 17. That’s not much of a stack, but it was enough. Blitz has now beaten the Masterminds five straight times, and the Masterminds’ drop from second to sixth took exactly two weeks.

Manager of the Week

This award goes to the start and sit calls that won a game.

Manager of the Week: Ping, Philadelphia Phreaks. Lemon and Gordon outscored the two players GM Ping benched by 23, in a game the Phreaks won by 10.

Honorable mention: Victor, Jail Yard Boyz. A perfect lineup and the second-best score of the week. Fantasy football doesn’t always pay you back.

Calls that cost. Two running backs who didn’t play stayed in lineups and scored zero, Hall for the Masterminds and Monangai for the Bunch. Both teams lost close ones.

The Trainer’s Room

In a keeper league, an injury costs this week’s points, the waiver money spent to cover it, and sometimes next year’s keeper.

Custom J. Jackson, a keeper, missed a third straight game with a high ankle sprain, though his coach says he’s in a decent spot for Sunday. With Brissett cut, Murray is the only cover. Ladd McConkey, another keeper, is still in the concussion protocol, and De’Von Achane remains on injured reserve.

The Masterminds. Hall, a keeper, has missed four games with a quad strain and is week to week. Samuel has a chance to return after the 49ers’ Week 8 bye.

Gang Green. McCaffrey, a keeper, has a mild hamstring strain, and the timing is kind: the 49ers are off this week. Jadarian Price, the first-round rookie, is practicing again and could come off injured reserve.

The Phreaks. Barkley tweaked the hamstring again on Monday night but doesn’t think it will keep him out. Jalen Hurts stays on injured reserve, so Cousins keeps the job.

The Monkeys and the Boyz. Rashee Rice, a Monkeys keeper, missed his third straight game with no timeline. Jordan Mason came off injured reserve and led the Vikings’ backfield on the same day Aaron Jones Sr., the Boyz’ back, aggravated his knee. Jones is day-to-day. Jaylen Waddle, a Boyz keeper, left Sunday with a chest injury.

Buffy and the Bunch. Jeremiyah Love, Buffy’s first-round rookie, missed a second game with a sprained ankle but is back at practice Wednesday. Skattebo tweaked a hamstring in overtime and gets the Giants’ bye to heal. St. Brown tweaked an ankle for the Bunch and should practice Thursday.

The Pot and the standings

Week 7 paid the David: the winner who came in furthest behind its opponent in season scoring. The Phreaks had scored 121 fewer points than the Bunch through six weeks and won anyway, so the Phreaks take it. Week 8 pays the highest-scoring team that loses.

The Monkeys lead at 11-3, and Gang Green is two back at 9-5. Blitz, the Boyz and the Angels share third at 8-6. The Masterminds are 7-7, the Phreaks 6-8, the Bunch and Custom J 5-9, and Buffy 3-11. Every team gets two results a week: one for its game, and one for finishing in the top or bottom half of the league’s scores. Ties break on head-to-head record. Of the three 8-6 teams, only Blitz and the Boyz have met, and Blitz won that one in Week 4.

Next week

The Brother Bowl returns. Josh and Eddie meet for the first of two times this season, Custom J against the Bunch, both at 5-9. Custom J is 4-2 against the Bunch since 2021 and comes in off the best score in the league. The rematch is Thanksgiving weekend, so somebody’s carving the turkey in a bad mood.

The Monkeys host Blitz in a Bay Area game, the Masterminds host Gang Green, and the Phreaks, due for a loss if the pattern holds, host the Angels. The Boyz host Buffy.